China's emergence as a major importer of dairy products corresponds to rapid increases in its domestic milk prices. Allocating growth in China's milk prices from 2006 to 2014 to production cost categories shows that feed concentrates and fodder account for about half of the price increases. While labor productivity grew rapidly, there was only moderate growth in milk per cow and no improvement in milk output per unit of feed. Scarcity of feed resources, particularly forage, is likely to constrain growth of China's milk production and maintain the country's demand for dairy imports.


In the following the paper analyses in detail the application of the adaptive theory in line protection, motor protection and etc of power distribution network. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technology and Multi-agent technology has also made its application in adaptive protection. Using such adaptive protection technology to improve the defects of traditional protection system can make the protection system better: more reliable, sensitive and rapid. Based on analysis of its application in power distribution network, the paper puts forward the future of adaptive protective relaying.


Sexual behaviour is an important aspect of sexual health. 18-year-old and older participants of the KiGGS cohort in KiGGS Wave 2 were asked about their sexual and contraceptive behaviour. Data from 2,966 women and 2,206 men were included in the analysis, which was adjusted to the age and sex distribution of the German population by means of weighting. More than half of the respondents report their first sexual intercourse before reaching the age of majority (women 61%, men 53%). Women report a lower age than men. With regard to the number of opposite-sex sexual partners in the last twelve months, almost 69% of women and 58% of men state that they have had contact. Three or more sexual partners were reported by 11% of women and 20% of men. 7.4% of women have same-sex and 1.4% have both same-sex and opposite-sex sexual contacts, among men the figures are 2.8% and 0.4%, respectively. When asked about the type of contraception used during the last sexual intercourse, about two thirds of the women and more than half of the men indicated the pill; a condom is used by about 44% of the women and about two thirds of the men. Almost one third of the women have already taken the morning-after pill. Overall, the results can help to support prevention and education campaigns on sexual and reproductive health.


Choice experiments (CE) are one of the most popular preference elicitation mechanisms used by applied economists. In CEs, respondents are normally asked to make choices at the moment they are asked to do so. They are also based on the assumption that the decision maker has access to and makes use of all relevant information concerning the good of interest when making their choices. However, real world choices are usually made in a dynamic context where individuals have the option to delay or reserve a transaction due to, among others, uncertainty about the product. So committing a decision at the present under conditions of uncertainty for the value of the good might have a cost (i.e., commitment cost). In this paper, we test commitment cost theory in a non-hypothetical choice experiment. Specifically, we test the possibility that gaining information about the product either at the present or in the future and the possibility of reversing the transaction in the future can influence choice behavior and WTP estimates. Our results partially support the Commitment Cost theory, suggesting that the construction of a dynamic decision context (i.e., reversibility of transaction) is important in choice experimental designs.


A cancer vaccine containing three HLA-A*2402-restricted peptide epitopes derived from cancer-testis antigens with potential immunostimulatory and antitumor activities. The peptide epitopes are derived from up-regulated lung cancer 10 (URLC10); cell division cycle associated 1 (CDCA1); and kinesin-like family member 20A (KIF20A). Upon administration, HLA-A*2402-restricted URLC10-CDCA1-KIF20A multipeptide vaccine may stimulate a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response against URL10-, CDCA1-, and KIF20A-expressing tumor cells, resulting in tumor cell lysis and decreased tumor cell proliferation. HLA-A*2402 is an MHC class I molecule that presents antigenic peptides to CD8+ T cells; epitope design restricted to epitopes that bind most efficiently to HLA-A*2402 may improve antigenic peptide immunogenicity.


SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. Il caso Casamitjana Costa v. The League Against Cruel Sports - 3. Il veganismo nella giurisprudenza italiana - 4. Pari dignita delle coscienze … - 5. (segue) e specificita del fenomeno confessionale - 6. Definire le convinzioni personali tra liberta del singolo e necessita di accertamento - 7. Spunti conclusivi.
Beyond religious pluralism. Veganism as an expression of freedom of conscience
ABSTRACT: A recent judgement of the Employment Tribunals and a following one of the Tribunal of Bologna recognized veganism as a belief worth of protection. The two judges went beyond the bounds of the religious sphere, exploring the horizon of cultural pluralism, which the Italian Republic, as a secular state, should guarantee. The sentences therefore represent a starting point for addressing the complex issue of the relationship between law and conscience, which recently acquired major importance. As a matter of fact, according to an authoritative doctrine, there is a tendency in all Western legal systems to leave moral or ethical matters to individual self-determination, in accordance with the personalist and pluralist principle. This contribution will then start from the examination of the sentences and then it will deal with some of the main problems concerning freedom of conscience and its protection.


Carbon is sequestered by plant through photosynthesis and stored as biomass in different parts of the tree including stems,
branches, leaves and roots. The objective of this study is to determine the biomass in five different growth stages of rubber
tree saplings and to develop the allometric equation for biomass estimation. Biomass of rubber tree saplings was measured
for the growth stages of 45, 90, 135, 180 and 225 days with total number of samples used was 650 saplings. Biomass was
determined by weighing the constant dry weight of the samples. Four candidate models were selected and evaluated and
Model 4 appeared to be the best allometric equations for biomass estimation of rubber tree saplings in the form of log10
W = 0.184 + 0.007 log10 D + 0.705 log10 HT + 0.002 log10 AG, (R2=0.96). The allometric equation developed in this study is
useful for the estimations of biomass in rubber tree saplings.


The genetic regulation of anterior-posterior segment pattern development has been elucidated in detail for Drosophila , but it is not canonical for insects. A surprising diversity of regulatory mechanisms is being uncovered not only between insect Orders, but also within the Order of the Diptera. This raises the question whether the same diversity of regulatory mechanisms exists within other insect Orders. This paper draws attention to the promise of the pea beetle Callosobruchus maculatus for elucidating the evolution of pattern regulation mechanisms in Coleoptera and other insect Orders. Introduction of RNase in eggs of Callosobruchus replaces anterior segments with posterior segments oriented in mirror image symmetry to the original posterior segments (double abdomens). Reversal is specific for RNase activity, for treatment of the anterior egg pole and for cytoplasmic RNA. Yield depends on developmental stage, enzyme concentration and temperature. A maximum of 30% of treated eggs reversed segment sequence after puncture in 10.0 ì g/ml RNase S reconstituted from S-protein and S-peptide at 30 C. This 0 result sets the stage for an analysis of the genetic regulation of segment pattern formation in the long germ embryo of the Coleopteran Callosobruchus and for comparison with the short germ embryo of the Coleopteran Tribolium .


Land questions have invigorated agrarian studies and economic history, with particular emphases on its control, since Marx. Words such as 'exclusion', 'alienation', 'expropriation', 'dispossession', and 'violence' describe processes that animate land histories and those of resources, property rights, and territories created, extracted, produced, or protected on land. Primitive and on-going forms of accumulation, frontiers, enclosures, territories, grabs, and racializations have all been associated with mechanisms for land control. Agrarian environments have been transformed by processes of de-agrarianization, protected area establishment, urbanization, migration, land reform, resettlement, and repeasantization. Even the classic agrarian question of how agriculture is influenced by capitalism has been reformulated multiple times at transformative conjunctures in the historical trajectories of these processes, reviving and producing new debates around the importance of land control. The authors in this collection focus primarily on new frontiers of land control and their active creation. These frontiers are sites where authorities, sovereignties, rights, and hegemonies of the recent past have been challenged by new enclosures, property regimes, and territorializations, producing new 'urban-agrarian-natured' environments, comprised of new labor and production processes; new actors, subjects, and networks connecting them; and new legal and violent means of challenging previous land controls. Some cases augment analytic tools that had seemed to have timeless applicability with new frameworks, concepts, and theoretical tools. What difference does land control make? These contributions to the debates demonstrate that the answers have been shaped by conflicts, contexts, histories, and agency, as land has been struggled over for livelihoods, revenue production, and power.


Introduction Symptomatic benign biliary strictures (BBS) in chronic pancreatitis (CP) have historically been treated with surgical biliary bypass or multiple plastic stents. We report our experience of fully covered self-expanding metal stents (fcSEMS) for this indication in a cohort of patients with CP. Methods A prospectively recorded ERCP database including all CP patients undergoing fcSEMS for BBS, between Oct 2008 and Aug 2013, was analysed. Demographics, pathology results, stent data and patient outcomes were collated. Results A total of 256 ERCPs involving biliary SEMS insertion were performed of which 115 (45%) were fcSEMS. 48/115 (42%) fcSEMS were performed in 24 patients (75% Male, median age 55 years) with BBS related to CP. Aetiological factors included alcohol (63%), autoimmune (13%) and idiopathic (8%). Surgical bypass was precluded in 23/24 (96%) patients due to extensive choledochal varices (58%), advanced cirrhosis (13%), medical comorbidities (13%), hostile surgical abdomen (13%) and autoimmune CP (13%). 17/24 (71%) patients had previous plastic biliary stent (s). 10mm diameter fcSEMS (Boston Wallflex or Cook Evolution) of 6 or 8 cm in length were used. They remained in situ for median 9.5 months (range 1–32). 13/24 (54%) patients achieved stricture remodelling, allowing trial of fcSEMS removal and follow up without stenting for median 7 months (range 0–22). These patients required median 3 fcSEMS (range 1–6) over median 24 months (range 2–51) to achieve stricture resolution. 42% (10/24) patients who had not yet achieved stricture resolution had fewer fcSEMS to date (median 1) and a shorter duration of stenting. Complications included proximal (4%) and distal stent migration (16.5%), cholecystitis (6%) and acute pancreatitis (2%). Biliary obstruction +/- cholangitis occurred in 23% at some point. 96% (46/48) fcSEMS were easily removed without needing additional procedures. One fcSEMS was in situ for 18 months (patient lost to follow up) and it was not possible to then remove it (due to tissue in-growth). Another fcSEMS in situ for 32 months (due to tissue in-growth) was removed following a "stent-in-stent" fcSEMS procedure. 2 patients died before planned removal of their first metal stent due to pre-existing comorbidity. Conclusion As suggested by smaller published series (Kaffes, GI Endoscopy 2013), FcSEMS are a safe and effective approach to managing BBS due to CP and may promote stricture remodelling. Endoscopic removal is straightforward if the fcSEMS is in situ for <12 months. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.


A bottomless chasm, or at any rate one that cannot be plumbed, we call an abyss. What of the gulf into which this society of dispossession is plunging before our very eyes? That there may be no end to this descent, or that it may end only with the self-destruction of the human race — these are, of course, mere hypotheses, much like the famous "China syndrome" itself. The crushing presence of such a possibility, however, already sits in judgment over all human actions and governs the construction of the various "safety barriers" whereby a world at war with its own power hopes to avoid a terrifying end by surviving in an endless terror. The real question is therefore: How many Chernobyls will be needed before the truth of the old slogan "Revolution or death!" is recognized as the last word of the scientific thought of this century?


Cycle consistency is widely used for face editing. However, we observe that the generator tends to find a tricky way to hide information from the original image to satisfy the constraint of cycle consistency, making it impossible to maintain the rich details (e.g., wrinkles and moles) of non-editing areas. In this work, we propose a simple yet effective method named HifaFace to address the above-mentioned problem from two perspectives. First, we relieve the pressure of the generator to synthesize rich details by directly feeding the high-frequency information of the input image into the end of the generator. Second, we adopt an additional discriminator to encourage the generator to synthesize rich details. Specifically, we apply wavelet transformation to transform the image into multi-frequency domains, among which the high-frequency parts can be used to recover the rich details. We also notice that a fine-grained and wider-range control for the attribute is of great importance for face editing. To achieve this goal, we propose a novel attribute regression loss. Powered by the proposed framework, we achieve high-fidelity and arbitrary face editing, outperforming other state-of-the-art approaches.


In order to address the complex challenges facing the agricultural and natural resource industry, extension educators must collaborate with opinion leaders. Extension educators can use the assistance of opinion leaders in program design and implementation in order to best meet the needs of stakeholders and the public. Collaboration between extension educators and opinion leaders is more easily conducted when each party understands one another's cognitive style and communication channel preference. This study explored the relationship between opinion leader critical thinking style among three contextual issue groups in agriculture and natural resources and preferred communication preferences used by extension educators. The three contextual issue groups included opinion leaders from the areas of water, food safety, and genetic modification (GM). Researchers used the University of Florida Critical Thinking Inventory (UFCTI) to measure critical thinking style of 300 respondents in Florida. Each of the contextual issue groups preferred engagement with information as their preferred critical thinking style. Among the contextual issue groups, significant differences were identified between the water and food safety groups in the information seeking UFCTI score and the GM and food safety groups in the information engagement score. The preferred method of receiving information overall was visiting a website.


This paper examines behavioral economics' use of the positive-normative distinction in its critique of standard rational choice theory as normative, and argues that it departs from Robbins' understanding of that distinction in ways that suggest behavioral economists themselves do not observe that distinction. One implication of this is that behavioral economists generally do not recognize Putnam's fact-value 'entanglement thesis' while a second implication is that the charge that rational choice theory is descriptively inadequate paradoxically appears to mean that it does not employ the implicit value basis and normative vision that behavioral economics recommends, thus actually violating Robbins' distinction. This latter argument is developed through an examination of Sunstein's Choosing Not to Choose which uses nudge policy in the form of default rules to advance a different conception of freedom than standard choice theory employs. The paper goes on to argue that behavioral economics imperialism, particularly in the form of behavioral development economics imperialism, is more about promoting its implicit value basis and normative vision over that promoted by standard rational choice theory than about advancing an alternative conception of economics for social science. A final section comments on economics' status and relation to the other social sciences.


The charge collection efficiencies (CCEs) of various AC-coupled single-sided silicon microstrip sensors were measured to find an optimal sensor design for different readout methods. A 820 nm wavelength pulsed laser was used as a light generation source to study the responses of the prototype microstrip sensors. Five different microstrip sensors of two types (A and B) were designed for this purpose and were fabricated on high resistivity and n-type silicon wafers. The readout pads in types A and B were located inside and outside the guard ring surrounding the active sensor area, respectively. The sensors at an operating voltage of 80 V were irradiated by using a pulsed laser, producing ∼22000 electron-hole pairs per pulse. The signals, ADC counts, were measured by moving the sensors while maintaining the laser in a fixed position. The CCEs for 10 different microstrip sensors were calculated from the maximum and the minimum ADC counts in each designed microstrip sensor. This study showed that the hit-position dependences of the signals and the CCEs for the three different readout methods were well evaluated by using a pulsed laser without using charged particles from accelerators.


Case report: We describe a case of a 74-year-old woman who experienced visual hallucinations after ciprofloxacin administration, when she was also taking theophylline, which resolved on cessation of the ciprofloxacin. Discussion: Although uncommon, all ophthalmologists should be aware of this potential problem and be familiar with the adverse visual effects which may occur in patients simultaneously administered quinolones and theophylline (Arch Soc Esp Oftalmol 2007; 82: 299-302).


We previously reported that IFN- (cid:1) secreted by donor cytotoxic T cell 1 (Tc1) cells was the most important factor in promoting EG7 (an OVA transfection the EL4 thymoma) rejection in mice. In this study, we show that the ability of the host to respond to Tc1-secreted IFN- (cid:1) is critical for promoting acute tumor rejection, while host production of IFN- (cid:1) is not important. CFSE-labeled wild-type and IFN- (cid:1) -deficient Tc1 cells divide rapidly in secondary lymphoid organs, indicating no defect in rate of cell division. However, wild-type Tc1 cells accumulate to significantly greater numbers in the tumor than deficient Tc1 cells. Hosts injected with wild-type Tc1 effectors had more T cells within the tumor at day 4, had higher levels of MCP-1, IFN- (cid:1) -inducible protein-10, MIP-1 (cid:2) , and MIP-1 (cid:3) mRNA transcripts, had greater numbers of CD11b (cid:4) and Gr-1 (cid:4) cells within the tumor, and had massive regions of tumor cell apoptosis as compared with IFN- (cid:1) knockout Tc1 cell-treated hosts. NO has a cytostatic effect on EG7 growth in vitro, and NO is important for tumor eradication by day 22. These observations are compatible with a model in which the donor CD8 Tc1 effectors expand rapidly in the host, migrate to the tumor site, and induce the secretion of a number of chemokines that in turn recruit host cells that then attack the tumor. The Journal of Immunology, 2006, 177: 3004–3011.


Research on increasing the production of crops is increasingly important these days. This research needs a way to quantitatively measure the 3D growth of plants under controlled environments to allow a cost versus benefits analysis. Plant scientists need a non-invasive, non-destructive method to quantitatively measure the 3D growth of plants. Traditional methods, for example, measuring weight, area or volume, often negatively affects the future plant growth. Also the manual nature of this measurement can be quite time consuming, tedious and error prone. Some recent effort have been reported in the literature about the construction of autonomous systems for plant phenotype, but these are not practical for large scale accurate 3D plant growth computation. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first in the world to attempt truly 3D approach via robot assisted plant growth analysis using 3D imaging and laser scanning technology. We describe an automated system to perform 3D plant modelling using a laser scanner mounted on a robot arm to capture 3D plant data. We present a detailed overview of the system integration, including the robotic arm, laser scanner and a programmable growth chamber. We also show some results on reconstructing the 3Dmodel of a growing plant which is better than the current state of the art.


Global climate change threatens the continued existence of mankind. The rate of warming in Russia, which is 2.5 times higher than the rate of growth of the global average temperature, can lead to huge environmental and financial losses. Thus, it is increasingly necessary to modernise and develop methods and tools for adaptive regulation of national climate policy to increase its efficiency at the regional and federal levels. To this end, the methods of content analysis, grouping, modelling, comparative and correlation analysis, as well as an information asymmetry approach were used in the research. The paper substantiates the necessity of a transition from autarky and directionality to the integration of regions and the federation based on adaptation and preventive measures. The periodic assessment of climate change and relevant contributing factors should be replaced by the continuous management and regional monitoring of climate risks. Stressing the importance of transparency and comparability of information on climate risks, the research distinguished anthropogenic risks, risks of reducing the quality of life and moral climate risks. In order to promote climate preservation, an organisational and economic mechanism for the implementation of climate policy was developed, whose main function is the regional environmental management. Assessment of the decoupling effect and ranking of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in terms of the relationship between energy intensity and climate intensity proved the feasibility of using the proposed indicators to increase the efficiency of the organisational and economic mechanism. Regulatory and financial support for the mechanism can be provided by introducing a quota market, green certificates and bonds, insurance and risk hedging strategies based on a scenario approach and online-management models. The research results can be used for the digitalisation of national climate policy, as well as for the development of regional and municipal climate strategies, programmes, projects.


The article presents an analysis of employees' obligation to be sober in the context of legal possibilities of running preventive sobriety tests on employees. It thoroughly discusses the Supreme Court judgment policy on employees' obligation to be sober in the workplace and legal consequences of their failure to fulfil this duty. The article also conducts a critical analysis of the opinion that an employer can carry out preventive checks only based on an employee's consent expressed on his/her own initiative. The author proves that a contrary thesis is right and that, in case of some jobs, such as drivers or persons working at height, an employer is obliged to do preventive tests for employees' sobriety and employees are obliged to take such tests. At the same time, employees' consent to process data concerning the state of their sobriety is not required. Słowa kluczowe: obowiązek trzeźwości w pracy, prewencyjne kontrole trzeźwości pracowników, obowiązek dbałości o stan bezpieczeństwa i higieny pracy, prawo do bezpiecznych i higienicznych warunków pracy


In 1949, the creation of the University of Puerto Rico-School of Medicine required the recruitment of a group of faculty with expertise in the physiological sciences. The assembled group established the foundation for the Department of Physiology in the fall of 1950. Since then, the Department has made important contributions to the School of Medicine, the Medical Sciences Campus, and the University of Puerto Rico. These contributions include among others, participation in the educational programs in medicine, dentistry, and the biomedical sciences, the generation of knowledge in science through research in different components of the physiological sciences, and the development of researchers and academicians, many of whom have eventually occupied key positions in the UPR system and the private sector. Through the involvement of key faculty in the development of the MBRS-SCORE and RCMI Programs, the Department has made significant contributions to the infrastructure of the Medical Sciences Campus. Recently, the Department faculty was instrumental in the formation of the Puerto Rico Physiological Society to help promote education and research in the physiological sciences in Puerto Rico. Sixty years after its creation, the Department of Physiology is stronger than ever, and looks to the future with optimism, based on our learned experiences and our capacity to adapt in response to the evolving needs of research and education.


Metallic sandwich panels are more effective at resisting underwater blast than monolithic plates at equivalent mass/area. The present assessment of this benefit is based on a recent experimental study of the water blast loading of a sandwich panel with a multilayered core, using a Dyno-crusher test. The tests affirm that the transmitted pressure and impulse are significantly reduced when a solid cylinder is replaced by the sandwich panel. In order to fully understand the observations and measurements, a dynamic finite element analysis of the experiment has been conducted. The simulations reveal that the apparatus has strong influence on the measurements. Analytic representations of the test have been developed, based on a modified-Taylor fluid/structure interaction model. Good agreement with the finite element results and the measurements indicates that the analytic model has acceptable fidelity, enabling it to be used to understand trends in the response of multilayer cores to water blast. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


: Sound production rates of fishes can be used as an indicator for coral reef health, pro-viding an opportunity to utilize long-term acoustic recordings to assess environmental change. As acoustic datasets become more common, computational techniques need to be developed to facilitate analysis of the massive data files produced by long-term monitoring. Machine learning techniques demonstrate an advantage in the identification of fish sounds over manual sampling ap -proaches. Here we evaluated the ability of convolutional neural networks to identify and monitor call patterns for pomacentrids (damselfishes) in a tropical reef region of the western Pacific. A stationary hydrophone was deployed for 39 mo (2014−2018) in the National Park of American Samoa to continuously record the local marine acoustic environment. A neural network was trained — achieving 94% identification accuracy of pomacentrids — to demonstrate the applicability of machine learning in fish acoustics and ecology. The distribution of sound production was found to vary on diel and interannual timescales. Additionally, the distribution of sound production was correlated with wind speed, water temperature, tidal amplitude, and sound pressure level. This re search has broad implications for state-of-the-art acoustic analysis and promises to be an efficient, scalable asset for ecological research, environmental monitoring, and conservation planning.


Pushing the boundaries of oil and gas exploration and development to new frontiers have led to exposure and more significant uncertainties, which necessitates robust strategies and techniques. With the increasing water depth, longer risers, and harsh pressure and temperature conditions; the risk of riser gas getting undetected get bigger. The lack of an integrated system to anticipate the controlling parameters at the choke below the BOP constrains the tackling operations and exacerbate the side effects of oil and gas well blowouts. This leads to an urgent need for an extensive study to address the riser gas unloading (RGU) events.
 This study encompasses the development of a robust model that can characterize the effect of different parameters such as temperature, mud types, back pressure, and solubility in RGU events. It also presents comparative results of oil-based and water-based mud systems, using a novel tool based on analytical and numerical models. The analytical model is constructed using combined gas law, heat transfer mechanism, and gas solubility and bubble point pressure concepts.
 Results suggest that the oil-based mud (OBM) takes more time for gas unloading in comparison to the water-based mud. Also, a significant deviation was observed in unloading patterns while considering temperature effect. For the drilling fluid without temperature consideration, the gas unloading occur in a smaller span of time and at a higher depth. Overall, this paper will demonstrate the effect of different parameters affecting the gas unloading in the riser, and present a comparative study of different parameters using an analytical which can be used in the field to get an idea of gas prior to any response for abnormality.


A discriminative modeling is applied to optimize the structure of a Partly-Hidden Markov Model (PHMM). PHMM was proposed in our previous work to deal with the complicated temporal changes of acoustic features. It can represent observation dependent behaviors in both observations and state transitions. In the formulation of the previous PHMM, we used a common structure for all models. However, it is expected that the optimal structure which gives the best performance differs from category to category. In this paper, we designed a new structure optimization method in which the dependence of the states and the observations of PHMM are optimally defined according to each model using the weighted likelihood-ratio maximization (WLRM) criterion. The WLRM criterion gives high discriminability between the correct category and the incorrect categories. Therefore it gives model structures with good discriminative performance. We define the model structure combination which satisfy the WLRM criterion for any possible structure combinations as the optimal structures. A genetic algorithm is also applied to the adequate approximation of a full search. With results of continuous lecture talk speech recognition, the effectiveness of the proposed structure optimization is shown: it reduced the word errors compared to HMM and PHMM with a common structure for all models.


BACKGROUND: This study was done considering the role of the Red Crescent society in crisis management. In other words, this study aimed to depict a model to determine the function of public relations unit of Iranian Red Crescent society in critical conditions. METHODS: In a study with qualitative method, basic and in-depth interviews were used to gather the viewpoints of experts and specialists in communications, media and crisis management. The participants were selected via convenience sampling. As a qualitative research ends after reaching theoretical saturation of the data, research sample reached to 27. RESULTS: The collected data were summarized and presented in the form of a 23-steps model. CONCLUSION: Our findings give some indications of a more specialized model of public relations duties as an aid unit compared to some other studies in Iran and foreign countries. First, as there are no direct studies on public relations duties among the researches done on crisis management in Iran; and second, despite numerous studies on crisis management and the role of public relations in other countries, most of the presented models have up to 10 steps which are similar and highly overlapped. In fact, our presented 23-step model in addition to containing all the results of previous studies includes more detailed and specialized points about the duties of a public relation unit of an aid organization.


This report provides a literature review on the practical experience of measures in other countries with a similar legal background to New Zealand to give economic incentive to biodiversity conservation on private land. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of the measures and draws out their relevance to New Zealand. The measures identified can be broadly characterised as conservation management agreements and fixed period contracts between conservation agencies and individual landholders over defined areas of land; purchase of partial interests in land; purchase of freehold interest in land and subsequent management by a conservation agency or voluntary body; restricting landholder development rights and allowing them to trade residual entitlements; and establishing proprietary rights in wildlife products. It identifies some incentive measures not currently used in New Zealand that could be adapted for application here, such as the European Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) schemes, or the US Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Such schemes have the distinct characteristic of offering on-going incentives, and an ability to change land use practices over a wider countryside than discrete reserve areas. Many of the incentive schemes reviewed (e.g. covenants, land purchase) effectively create new reserves set aside from damaging activities. But in the context of New Zealand's biodiversity, land set aside in this manner will not revert to natural biodiversity without provision for on-going management. The literature reviewed said little about the effectiveness of particular incentive schemes in enhancing biodiversity, beyond noting their participation rates. It reports on areas covered, land-cover conserved, and involvement of land-owners but gives little indication of what would have resulted in the absence of the incentives. This review also uncovered little detailed examination of the mechanisms for disbursing funds - lump sum grants, matching grants etc - which have different administrative and compliance costs, and different effects on the incentive created for leverage of private funds on public inputs. Finally, while some landowners will volunteer sites for conservation with little encouragement or simple reimbursement of additional costs incurred for conservation, the opportunity costs of forgoing income may deter owners from offering the best sites for conservation purposes. Financial incentive instruments are not the only means of encouraging biodiversity and need to be seen in a wider policy context.


Highlighting the relationship between poor-condition private-rented sector housing and deteriorations in mental and physical health
Addressing overcrowding as a risk factor for infectious disease, and how local authorities can work to tackle both problems
Discussing the positive impact of preventative housing hazard mitigation work – fixing issues such as excess cold, damp, mould, and electrical hazards – on NHS savings, decreasing demand for medical intervention while improving long-term cost-efficiency
Exploring how to best prevent and tackle detrimental effects of substandard housing on children: increases in respiratory problems and other health issues, lower literacy rates, and negative impacts on educational performance
Outlining best-practice lessons from councils and local authorities that are implementing strategies to improve tenants' health and wellbeing


The primary function of vitamin D is to regulate calcium homeostasis, which is essential for bone formation and resorption. Although diet is a source of vitamin D, most foods are naturally lacking vitamin D. Vitamin D is also manufactured in the skin through a photolysis process, leading to a process called the "sunshine vitamin." The active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol), is biosynthesised in the kidney through the hydroxylation of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol by the CYP27B1 enzyme. It has been found that several immune cells express the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and CYP27B1; of the latter, synthesis is determined by several immune-specific signals. The realisation that vitamin D employs several molecular mechanisms to regulate innate immune responses is more recent. Furthermore, evidence collected from intervention studies indicates that vitamin D supplements may boost clinical responses to infections. This review considers the current knowledge of how immune signals regulate vitamin D metabolism and how innate immune system function is modulated by ligand-bound VDR.


Originally designed for HNF 472, this guide contains references for state, national, international, and disease-specific statistics, as well as health promotion websites and dietary supplement information.


Alain Badiou writes that Slavoj Žižek's work 'is the first time that anyone has proposed to psychoanalyze our whole world.' I want to take Žižek seriously as a reader, even as a reading machine who consumes everything. Of course, Žižek is constantly accused of being a bad reader: sloppy, inaccurate, too rapid, dependent on secondary sources, and otherwise unreliable. Without simply exonerating Žižek from these charges, I want to consider this 'bad reading', which violates the protocols of academia and philosophy, as a method. Whereas Žižek seeks his own philosophical credentials as a 'dialectical materialist philosopher' in his ontology of incompletion – of the 'non-all' – I will argue that the true domain of his 'philosophy' is a practice of interpretation and reading. Contrary to the image of Žižek as constantly reterritorializing everything under his conceptual matrix, and more particularly the Lacanian 'Real', we find that, as in Žižek's reading of the Oedipus complex, he deterritorializes philosophy. Reversing the valence of Geoffrey Harpham's claim that Žižek is 'the end of knowledge', I will argue his method is the end of knowledge, but also the birth of truth. This truth is the displacement and reworking of philosophy coincident with the world.


OBJECTIVE
Dishevelled-Axin (DIX) domain containing 1 (DIXDC1), a novel DIX domain-containing protein and a positive regulator of Wingless (Wnt) signaling, has previously been reported to play multiple roles in neurodevelopment and neurological disorders. However, whether DIXDC1 plays a role during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the potential role of DIXDC1 in neuronal injury induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R), an in vitro model of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Neuronal injury was induced by OGD/R treatment. Relative mRNA expression of DIXDC1 was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Protein expression of DIXDC1 and β-catenin was determined by Western blot. Cell viability was examined by the cell counting kit-8 assay. Cell cytotoxicity was detected by the lactate dehydrogenase assay. Cell apoptosis was detected by the caspase-3 activity assay. The activity of Wnt/β-catenin signaling was detected by the luciferase reporter assay.

RESULTS
TWe found that DIXDC1 expression was significantly upregulated in hippocampal neurons following OGD/R treatment. Small interfering RNA-mediated silencing of DIXDC1 significantly impaired viability and promoted cell injury and apoptosis in neurons with OGD/R treatment. In contrast, overexpression of DIXDC1 increased the viability and reduced cell injury and apoptosis in neurons with OGD/R treatment, showing protective effects against OGD/R injury. Furthermore, our results showed that DIXDC1 promoted the expression of β-catenin and activation of Wnt signaling. Notably, inhibition of Wnt signaling significantly abrogated DIXDC-mediated neuroprotective effects.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrate that DIXDC1 prevents OGD/R-induced neuronal injury by promoting Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Our study indicates that DIXDC1 may play an important role in cerebral ischemia and reperfusion serving as a potential target for the treatment of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.


Aim of the study is to examine the potential utilization of satellite precipitation data to estimate the peak discharges of flash floods in ungauged Mediterranean watersheds. Cumulative precipitation heights from local rain gauge and the GPM-IMERG were correlated in a scatter plot. The calculated linear equations were used to adjust the uncalibrated GPM-IMERG precipitation data in Thasos island (Northern Greece), to investigate the mechanisms of the flash floods recorded in November 2019 and to evaluate the significance of satellite precipitation data in hydrological modeling. The uncalibrated GPM-IMERG precipitation failed to explain the flash floods phenomena. The rain gauge data are reliable to accurately predict the peak discharges only in cases, where the rain gauges are within the study area. The strong correlation between ground rainfall data and satellite spatiotemporal precipitation data (R2 > 0.65), provides linear regression equations that, through their extrapolation and appliance to the rest of the flooded area, could adjust and correct the satellite data, optimizing the efficiency and accuracy of flash flood analysis, especially in ungauged watersheds. The proposed methodology could highly contribute to the optimization of flood mitigation measures establishment, flood risk assessment, hydrological and hydraulic simulation of flash flood events in ungauged watersheds.


The automated extraction of photo-realistic 3D models of the world that can be used in applications such as virtual reality, tele-presence, digital cinematography and urban planning, is the focus of this paper. The combination of range (dense depth estimates) and image sensing (color information) provides data-sets which allow us to create photo-realistic models of high quality. The challenges are the simplification of the 3D data set, the extraction of meaningful features in both the range and 2D images and the fusion of those data-sets using the extracted features. We address all these challenges and provide results on data we gathered in outdoor scenes by a range and image sensor based on a mobile robot. Our ultimate goal is an autonomous 3D model creation system which minimizes the amount of human interaction.


Match-fixing is a key problem facing many sports, undermining the integrity and sporting spectacle of events, ruining players' careers and enabling the criminals behind the fixes to funnel funds into other illicit activities. Although for a long time authorities were reticent to act, more and more sports bodies and betting companies are now taking steps to tackle the issue, though much remains to be done. Tennis in particular has faced past criticism for its approach to combatting match-fixing, culminating in widespread media coverage of a leak of match-fixing related documents in 2016, although the Tennis Integrity Unit has since intensified its efforts to deal with the problem. In this thesis, we develop new statistical methods for identifying tennis matches in which suspicious betting activity occurs. We also make some advancements on existing sports models to enable us to better analyse tennis matches to detect this corrupt activity. Our work is among the first to use both pre-match and in-play odds data to investigate match-fixing, and to also integrate betting volumes. Our pre-match odds are sampled at several intervals during the pre-match market, allowing for more detailed analysis than other work. Our in-play odds data are recorded during every game break along with live scores so that we can explore how the odds vary as the score progresses. In particular, we look for divergences between market odds and predictions coming both from sports models and from direct predictions of odds based on in-play events. Our methods successfully identify past matches that other external sources have found to contain suspicious betting activity, and are able to quantify how unusual this activity was in relation to typical betting behaviour. This suggests that our methods, coupled with other sources of evidence, can provide a valuable quantification of suspicious betting activity in future matches.


This paper presents design and analysis performed for a dual winding electric machine. Windings of the machine are concentrated type so that electrical and magnetic isolation is maintained. For this reason, the proposed structure could be a reasonable candidate for fault tolerant applications. As required by some applications (electric accessory drive system (EADS) for hybrid electric vehicles), simultaneous motoring and generating operations can be implemented in a single housing of electric machine. Design considerations of the proposed electric machine are outlined in the paper. Also a comparison between distributed winding topology and concentrated winding topologies is performed. Finally experimental results discussed.


OF DISSERTATION NMDA RECEPTORS IN THE DORSAL VAGAL COMPLEX OF NORMAL AND DIABETIC MICE The dorsal vagal complex (DVC), containing the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMV), plays a pivotal role in autonomic regulation. Afferent fibers from peripheral organs and higher brain centers synapse in the NTS, which integrates these synaptic connections as well as information from systemically circulating hormones and metabolites. The integrated information is relayed to the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMV), which in turn, projects motor fibers to elicit parasympathetic control of digestive and other viscera. Physiological functions mediated by the DVC are disrupted in diabetic patients and synaptic plasticity within the DVC has been linked to these complications. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors have been extensively studied for their involvement in synaptic plasticity in a variety of central nervous system disorders; and their activation in the DVC modulates hepatic glucose production and feeding behavior. Although chronic disease can alter NMDA function, changes in DVC expression and/or sensitivity of NMDA receptors in diabetic states has not been addressed. Using whole cell electrophysiology, functional properties of the nuclei in the DVC were investigated in normoglycemic and type 1 diabetic mice. Preterminal NMDA (preNMDA) receptors were discovered to tonically modulate excitatory neurotransmission on terminals contacting DMV neurons. While these preNMDA receptors were not found to differentially modulate tonic excitatory neurotranmission, soma-dendritic NMDA receptor responses of NTS neurons were augmented in type 1 diabetic mice. Through the use single-cell PCR, increased NMDA receptor responses could be correlated to neurons that mediate excitatory neurotransmission and would argue that augmented NMDA receptor responses increase vagal output. In general, enhancing vagal output decreases activity of connected peripheral organs. Molecular approaches were employed to corroborate the observed functional NMDA receptors changes to their protein and mRNA expression levels. Overall, results argue that NMDA receptors are involved in synaptic plasticity in DVC of type 1 diabetic mice to enhance excitatory neurotransmission. This modulation may potentially serve as a physiological counter regulatory mechanism to control pathological disturbances of gastrointestinal homeostatic reflex responses.


This paper explains the media process in reporting political communications in the securitisation dialogue. Securitisation is the process of declaring an issue a security challenge and requires an urgent and existential cause which is too important to be put to a normal political process and merits to be dealt decisively by the top leaders on priority basis. This paper also explores media agenda and framing practices along with their ensuing effects on the process of securitisation of terrorism in Pakistan. Media has always been inclined to highlight the sellable story line, using the propaganda and interests of dominant groups in the society. Defining the relevance of media in securitisation process, this paper takes the Army Public School (APS) attack in Peshawar in 2014 as a watershed event to examine the impact on media and evaluates its contribution to securitising terrorism as a threat to the country. Two influential newspapers, Dawn and Jang were examined through content and discourse analysis. A comparison of media framing and agenda setting, before and after the APS attack, highlights the level of securitisation of terrorism in the country and the role media plays in this process.


Modern medical and healthcare curricula represent a highly
complex mixture of different disciplines, specialties and
pedagogical approaches, the nature of which can be difficult to
communicate to key stakeholders at a local, national or
international level. To date, there is no standardized way of
describing curricula within outcome-based medical and
healthcare education, making evaluation and comparison of such
curricula challenging. The EC Erasmus+ funded MEDCIN (Medical
Curriculum Innovations, http://www.medcin-project.eu/) project
proposes an innovative methodological background to view,
evaluate and compare medical curricula, and to develop
user-friendly web-based tools to make this information
accessible to curriculum designers and teachers alike. Based
around the MedBiq uitous Curriculum Inventory standard
(ANSI/MEDBIQ CI.10.1-2013), an interactive prototype has been
developed to provide a flexible view and visualisations of
curriculum structures which can be explored at differing levels
of granularity. By integrating this tool, the project aims to
standardize the use of the OPTIMED curriculum management system
within the MEFANET network of medical faculties in the Czech
Republic and Slovakia. This demonstration will showcase the
MEDCIN prototype and its use of the Curriculum Inventory
standard, and invite feedback from participants on how such
technology can most usefully be applied in a global context.
The approach of using technical standards, compliant systems
and standardized vocabularies can provide greater clarity about
a curriculum structure. The benefits for faculty include being
able to better evaluate and measure their teaching against the
required outcomes, while students can better understand their
intended learning.


H offers a detailed study of 2 Corinthians and puts forth the provocative thesis that within this redemptive-historical context the letter/Spirit contrast is not to be seen as a contrast between the law and the gospel per se, but between the law itself with and without the power of the Spirit. This work breaks new ground in offering a thorough study of Paul's thought in view of the Old Testament material. Paper • $29.95


Summary Comparative morphology of platelets of the dog, cat, cow, horse, sheep, and goat was studied with the scanning electron microscope and was found generally similar. Most of the platelets were slightly biconvex or flat with relatively smooth surface and even contour. Some of these platelets had few short marginal filaments, or small shallow depressions or tiny protuberances on the surface. A small number of platelets exhibited surface irregularity and few long pseudopods which were thought to result from platelet activation during the processing of blood. The number of such irregular platelets increased in stored blood and in blood fixed at 4° C.


Synthesis of ZnO-Ag heterostructure nanoparticles was carried out by a precipitation method with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) as a stabilizer for antimicrobial and thermal studies. ZnO-Ag nanoparticles were obtained from various weight percentages of added AgNO3 relative to Zn precursors for evaluating the best composition with enhanced functional properties. The ZnO-Ag/CNCs samples were characterized systematically by TEM, XRD, UV, TGA and DTG. From the TEM studies we observed that ZnO-Ag heterostructure nanoparticles have spherical shapes with size diameters in a 9–35 nm range. The antibacterial activities of samples were assessed against the bacterial species Salmonella choleraesuis and Staphylococcus aureus. The CNCs-stabilized ZnO-Ag exhibited greater bactericidal activity compared to cellulose-free ZnO-Ag heterostructure nanoparticles of the same particle size. The incorporation of ZnO-Ag hetreostructure nanoparticles significantly increased the thermal stability of cellulose nanocrystals.


Charges are considered an integral part of protein structure and function, enhancing solubility and providing specificity in molecular interactions. We wished to investigate whether charged amino acids are indeed required for protein biogenesis and whether a protein completely free of titratable side chains can maintain solubility, stability, and function. As a model, we used a cellulose-binding domain from Cellulomonas fimi, which, among proteins of more than 100 amino acids, presently is the least charged in the Protein Data Bank, with a total of only four titratable residues. We find that the protein shows a surprising resilience toward extremes of pH, demonstrating stability and function (cellulose binding) in the pH range from 2 to 11. To ask whether the four charged residues present were required for these properties of this protein, we altered them to nontitratable ones. Remarkably, this chargeless protein is produced reasonably well in Escherichia coli, retains its stable three-dimensional structure, and is still capable of strong cellulose binding. To further deprive this protein of charges, we removed the N-terminal charge by acetylation and studied the protein at pH 2, where the C-terminus is effectively protonated. Under these conditions, the protein retains its function and proved to be both soluble and have a reversible folding-unfolding transition. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a soluble, functional protein with no titratable side chains has been produced.


This paper demonstrates the design of an 800-MHz solar-powered active wireless beacon composed of an antenna and an integrated oscillator on a low-cost paper substrate. Inkjet printing is used to fabricate the conductive circuit traces and the folded slot antenna, while the oscillator circuit is designed using off-the-shelf components mounted on the paper substrate. Flexible, low-cost, amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells are placed on top of the slot ground and provide autonomous operation of the active circuit eliminating the use of a battery. A prototype is built and characterized in terms of phase noise, radiation patterns, and the effect of solar irradiance. Such low-cost flexible circuits can find significant applications as beacon generator circuits for real-time identification and position purposes, wearable biomonitoring as well as solar-to-wireless power transfer topologies. The measured phase noise is -116 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset, while drain current is 4 mA and supply voltage is 1.8 V.


We consider a sensor network placement problem where the sensing range of a sensor depends on its location in order to model the effect of terrain features. We study how sensors should be placed in order to maximize the coverage and illustrate how digital halftoning algorithms from the field of image processing can be useful in this respect. In particular, we reduce the sensor placement problem to a corresponding image halftoning problem and then apply two well known halftoning algorithms to the problem: dither mask halftoning and direct binary search. We illustrate our approach with experimental results and show that this approach is also applicable to the problem of preferential coverage.


Traditional vaccines based on killed or attenuated microorganisms or inactivated toxins have disadvantages associated with the risks of pathogenicity reversion, contamination with infectious material, variations between vaccine batches, storage problems, among others. Peptide identification containing important epitopes within antigens could be an attractive possibility to avoid those risks. However, in general, peptides are poorly immunogenic. Adjuvants are a part of the solution to improve the immunogenicity of these peptide based vaccines. Recently, a peptide from the tick P0 acidic ribosomal protein chemically conjugated to the Bm86 protein has been assayed as vaccine candidate against ticks. This antigen formulated in oily preparations containing MontanideTM ISA50 (SEPPIC, France) generated a specific antibody response against the P0 peptide which showed an efficacy around 85% against R. sanguineus ticks when used for dog immunization. This efficacy was positively correlated with the anti-P0 antibody titers. In this paper, the immunogenicity of this chemical conjugate was assayed in dogs when Montanide™ GEL 01 (SEPPIC, France) was used as adjuvant instead of oily MontanideTM ISA 50. The antibody titers against the P0 peptide did not show statistically significant differences between the experimental groups and the evaluation of changes in the inoculation site showed significantly lesser adverse side effects in the group immunized with the antigen in Montanide™ GEL. These results validate the use of this gel as a safer adjuvant for dogs than oily Montanide, encouraging the use of this adjuvant for the technological development of the pP0-Bm86 conjugate as an anti-tick vaccine for dogs.

 Key words: Peptide vaccine, ticks, adjuvant, Montanide, dogs, P0 peptide.


A technique based on the null-field method is presented to investigate the resonance frequencies and the quality factors of isolated composite dielectric/ferrite resonators. A method of identifying the resonant modes is suggested for nonspherical resonators by analyzing the peaks of their scattering sections in the resonance frequency range. Computed resonance frequencies and quality factors for composite resonators, such as double disks, and tubular resonators with ferrite core are compared with published calculations and experiments. These comparisons show that the technique is an effective and flexible one for investigating composite resonators with relatively complicated geometries. >


Numerically controlled local wet etching (NC-LWE) is a novel technique to fabricate the ultraprecision optical components and/or finishing the functional materials. In this technique, a figuring is performed by controlling the dwelling time of the combination nozzle, which consists of a supply and a suction part of an etchant, on the workpiece. In this paper, we proposed fabrication process of millimeter-thick elliptical neutron focusing mirror substrate by applying NC-LWE figuring involving CeO2 slurry polishing. We fabricated a millimeter-thick elliptical neutron focusing mirror substrate with a figure error of less than 0.2 μm and obtained a surface roughness of less than 0.15 nm rms.


Rationale: Airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR), along with airway hyper-sensitivity, is a defining feature of asthma, and greater understanding of this emergent phenomenon may lead to better insight into and treatment of the condition. We seek a multiscale, spatially-distributed, mathematical model of the lung to help us understand the role of airway smooth muscle and parenchymal material in AHR. Methods: Our model couples together the organ scale with the tissue scale in the lung in a multiscale approach to the problem. At the organ level, parenchymal tissue is modeled as a compressible Blatz-Ko material in three dimensions, with expansion and recoil of lung tissue due to tidal breathing. The governing equations of finite elasticity deformation are solved using a finite element method. An airway tree is embedded in this tissue, with airway smooth muscle behavior described by a modified Hai-Murphy cross-bridge model (Wang et al., Biophys. J. 94:2008). Each airway segment is initially assumed to be radially symmetric and longitudinally stiff, and thus the embedded airway tree is essentially 1D. Results: Our spatially-distributed, multiscale model yields organ-level observations while incorporating tissue-level modeling detail. Preliminary results from the integrated model indicate potential use in the study of many phenomena associated with asthmatic AHR, including spatial distribution of ventilation defects, patchiness, and effects of deep inspirations.


Faith McLellan studies a cyberspace narrative of illness that grew out of a father's anguish after his son was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The essay discloses ways in which illness narratives on the Internet challenge our conceptions of authorship, readership, and closure. In these narratives, argues McLellan, communication is often spontaneous, yet the text still achieves cohesion despite, or perhaps because of, its multiple and sometimes chaotic voices.


This bibliography lists 328 reports, articles, and other documents recently introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system. Subject coverage includes the following areas: design, construction, and testing of aircraft and aircraft engines; aircraft components, equipment, and systems; ground support systems; and theoretical and applied aspects of aerodynamics and general fluid dynamics.


Export sales are an important route to growth for the small-to-medium sized firm. This article reports the results of an extensive empirical study of the export strategies of a large sample of high technology electronics firms, and the performance results of adopting alternate export strategies. Six strategy scenarios were identified. The results show that the types of foreign markets selected, segmentation strategies and product strategies all have a pronounced impact on export sales and export growth. The best performers—a group of firms called the "world marketers" and representing 13.5% of the sample—achieved a dramatic 188% annual growth in exports and exported 52.5% of their output. The profiles of firms that elected each strategy scenario were determined also.


There are both benefits and drawbacks to creativity. In a social group it is not necessary for all members to be creative to benefit from creativity; some merely imitate or enjoy the fruits of others' creative efforts. What proportion should be creative? This paper contains a very preliminary investigation of this question carried out using a computer model of cultural evolution referred to as EVOC (for EVOlution of Culture). EVOC is composed of neural network based agents that evolve fitter ideas for actions by (1) inventing new ideas through modification of existing ones, and (2) imitating neighbors' ideas. The ideal proportion with respect to fitness of ideas occurs when thirty to forty percent of the individuals is creative. When creators are inventing 50% of iterations or less, mean fitness of actions in the society is a positive function of the ratio of creators to imitators; otherwise mean fitness of actions starts to drop when the ratio of creators to imitators exceeds approximately 30%. For all levels or creativity, the diversity of ideas in a population is positively correlated with the ratio of creative agents.


The open pulled straw has been used effectively to vitrify preimplantation embryos because of geometric features that allow rapid rates of temperature exchange. One possible inexpensive alternative to the open pulled straw are commercially-available microcapillary pipette tips commonly used for electrophoresis. The main purpose of this study was to compare the survival rates of in vitro produced blastocysts following vitrification in microcapillary pipette tips and open pulled straws. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of type of carrier, age of expanded blastocyst, and addition of β-mercaptoethanol to post-warming culture medium on survival of vitrified in-vitro derived blastocysts. Expanded blastocysts (Day 7, 0900H and 1900H after insemination; insemination = Day 0 at 0900H) were vitrified while loaded randomly in groups of 4-10 into open pulled straws or pipette tips. Following warming, embryos were cultured in groups of up to 20 in 20 μl microdrops of modified KSOM or modified KSOM containing 100 μM β-mercaptoethanol at 38.5°C in 5% CO2 in air. Survival after warming was assessed as the percentage of vitrified embryos that re-expanded and the percent that hatched after 48 hrs culture. Post-warming survival rates were not affected by type of carrier or age of the expanded blastocyst (P>0.05). The proportions of embryos that re-expanded (55.5%) and hatched (25.7%) were higher (P<0.01) for those cultured with βmercaptoethanol than for those cultured without (re-expansion: 42.4%; hatching: 12.6%). In conclusion, the microcapillary pipette tip represents an inexpensive alternative to the open pulled straw for cryopreservation.


In the last two decades, the common agricultural policy (CAP) has been moving its main area from direct market interventions to direct payments. As these changes have disclosed highly asymmetrical bargaining power of different stakeholders in the agrifood chain, the proposed legal acts aknowledge greater importance to producers' organisations. However, agreements, decisions and concerted practices of undertakings and their associations are subject also to the competition law. The paper analyses the recent developments of competition law in EU with regard to the agricultural producers' organisations. As competition aspects will play a greater role in the future CAP, more conflicts between the general (agricultural) policy support to producers' organisations and individual provisions of competition law provisions may be expected.


There are many lessons that bioethics can learn from the Holocaust. Forefront are the lessons from the Nuremberg trials and the formation of research ethics. An often-overlooked lesson is how the Nazi regime was able to construct a hierarchy in such a way that influenced people to act in horrendous ways. Fernandes & Ecret, writing in Conatus – Journal of Philosophy 4, no. 2 (2019), highlight the influence of hierarchy on the moral silence of nurses and physicians within the Nazi regime. While we greatly enjoyed the paper, and think it is an important contribution, we find several misrepresentations of current bioethical discourse. There is not a global acceptance of euthanasia or medical aid in dying, the contemporary position in bioethics does not favor removal of conscience-based protections, and the lack of personal conscience-based protections was not the main factor in the analysis of Nazi medical hierarchy. The authors' overall conclusion that their analysis suggests the importance of strengthening personal conscience-based objections to prevent medical hierarchy from influencing immoral behavior misses the more significant issue of institutional behavior. Instead, we argue, that the lessons from the analysis of Nazi nurses and physicians speak to the importance of protecting patients from institutional conscience-based objections that violate patient rights of access to legal medical services. This paper will respond to the misrepresentations. We highlight the growing threats to health care access from religious affiliated institutions, the threats to professional ethics and physician and nurse scope of practice. We conclude that the analysis by Fernandes & Ecret does point out an important lesson, but rather than showing the importance of individual conscience protections, it speaks to the importance of protecting patient rights.


Background Ethanol is commonly used in many pe-diatric liquid formulations as a solvent or preservative, with concentrations varying widely between products per formulation design. Therefore, acute or chronic use of certain products in paediatric patients may expose them to excessive amounts of ethanol. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Europe-an Medicines Agency (EMA) recommend to exclude ethanol from medicinal products intended for use in children whenever possible. If deemed necessary, however, the FDA has set (1995) a maximum quantity of ethanol content in over-the-counter (OTC) pediat-ric formulations for different ages. Recently (2014), the EMA suggested to lower the ethanol content limit set previously (2006). The use of ethanol in paediatric for-mulations is being evaluated these days by the Israeli Drug Registration Department and new regulations regarding limitations of ethanol content in liquid pediatric formulations (both OTC and prescription drugs) are being finalised. The objective of our study was to com-pile a list of oral liquid paediatric formulations registered in Israel that contain ethanol, and identify products whose ethanol concentration may produce dangerous ethanol blood levels in infants, either by taking the recommended dosage or by accidental consumption of large amounts of the preparation. Methods The Israeli Drug Registry was searched using the following keywords: elixir, solution, syrup, suspension, drops, tincture and ethanol, and the results were sent to the Drug Registration Department to provide the exact amounts of ethanol in each product per manufacturer's data. Thirty-nine registered products were identified, of which 29 are currently registered for paediatric use. The majority of formulations are indicated for the treatment of cold and cough symptoms (n=14). Other formulations include antihistaminic, antiemetic and sedative prepara-tions (n=6); analgesics and antipyretics (n=3); antibiotics and anti-epileptics. Results The preparations were found to differ widely in ethanol content, ranging from <1% v/v to 66.4% v/v. The majority of products (n=28) contain 1%–20% v/v of ethanol, 2 products contain 20%–50% v/v of ethanol, and 1 product contains a very high concentration of ethanol (66.4% v/v). Most of the paediatric products are not ex-pected to produce ethanol blood levels that exceed the upper limit allowed (25 mg/dL) following administration of the recommended dose. However, for a 2-year-old child weighing 12 kg (on average), an accidental intake of an entire bottle of such medications may result in much higher ethanol blood levels, which may reach the toxic ethanol blood level of 50 mg/dL and even higher. Conclusion Ethanol consumption is strongly discour-aged during pregnancy and lactation, whereas children are constantly at risk for exposure to ethanol through routine use of registered medications. Many paediatricians and parents acknowledge the harmful effect of ethanol in this young population, but are unaware of the high potential for exposure. More than half (n=26) of the available products that contain alcohol do not meet the require-ments set by the new Israeli regulations and would be subject to changes accordingly (either in total volume or alcohol content of the formulation).


The effects of power and time conditions of in situ N2 plasma treatment, prior to silicon nitride (SiN) passivation, were investigated on an AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT). These studies reveal that N2 plasma power is a critical parameter to control the SiN/AlGaN interface quality, which directly affects the 2-D electron gas density. Significant enhancement in the HEMT characteristics was observed by using a low power N2 plasma pretreatment. In contrast, a marked gradual reduction in the maximum drain-source current density (IDS max) and maximum transconductance (gm max), as well as in fT and fmax, was observed as the N2 plasma power increases (up to 40% decrease for 210 W). Different mechanisms were proposed to be dominant as a function of the discharge power range. A good correlation was observed between the device electrical characteristics and the surface assessment by atomic force microscopy and Kelvin force microscopy techniques.


A pedestrian bridge can be more than just a crossing facility as it provides a gateway that connects communities. While rush and flow are taking place on the bridge, there's also a possibility of underworld happening beneath a pedestrian bridge, as shown in several spots throughout Jakarta. Based on the data of the local government in 2015, Jakarta has 324 pedestrian bridges all over the city mainly used for crossing highways and mostly placed near transit areas. It is a very common sight; as the elevated urban infrastructures in public space constructed, some residual spaces subsequently appear; consumed and owned by no one but the public— which what de SolàMorales describes as the "terrain vague" (1985) or "superfluous landscape" according to Nielsen (2002). The residual spaces beneath these pedestrian bridges connote freedom and opportunity for engagements. As the residual spaces are open to free way of perceiving, it provides potential outlets for unexpected and informal events. This paper explains further upon the phenomena of unexpected and informal events discovered beneath pedestrian bridges in crowded transit area using the study case of Lenteng Agung Pedestrian Bridge, located in South Jakarta.


We study in this paper projections of embedded timelike hypersurfaces M in Sn 1 along geodesics. We deal in more details with the case of surfaces in S 3 1 , characterise geometrically the singularities of the projections and prove duality results analogous to those of Shcherbak for central projections of surfaces in RP 3.


Because dissection of the common hepatic vagus branch attenuated the feeding response to intraperitoneal injection of mercaptoacetate (MA), an inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation, in rats fed a fat-enriched diet (18% fat), the effect of MA on the discharge rate in afferents of the common hepatic vagus branch was investigated. Intraportal infusion of the Na salt of MA (200, 400, and 800 mumol/kg) in rats adapted to the 18% fat diet dose dependently increased the discharge rate in afferents of the common hepatic vagus branch, whereas NaCl and the Na salt of the structurally related compound 2-mercaptopropionate had no effect. The lowest dose of MA yielding a significant increase in the discharge rate was 400 mumol/kg. This agrees with the dose dependence of the feeding response to MA. These findings are consistent with the notion that hepatic fatty acid oxidation controls food intake by modulating the discharge rate of vagal afferents.


Cortical activity is organised across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Most research on the dynamics of neuronal spiking is concerned with timescales of 1 ms − 1 s, and little is known about spiking dynamics on timescales of tens of seconds and minutes. Here, we used frequency domain analyses to study the structure of individual neurons' spiking activity and its coupling to local population rate and to arousal level across frequencies ranging from 0.01 to 100 Hz. In mouse medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the spiking dynamics of individual neurons could be quantitatively captured by a combination of interspike interval and firing rate power spectrum distributions. The relative strength of coherence with local population often differed across timescales: a neuron strongly coupled to population rate on fast timescales could be weakly coupled on slow timescales, and vice versa. On slow but not fast timescales, a substantial proportion of neurons showed firing anti-correlated with the population. Infraslow firing rate changes were largely determined by arousal rather than by local factors, which could explain the timescale dependence of population coupling strength of individual neurons. These observations demonstrate how individual neurons simultaneously partake in fast local dynamics, and slow brain-wide dynamics, extending our understanding of infraslow cortical activity beyond the mesoscale resolution of fMRI studies.


ABSTRACT Shiflett, S.A. and Backstrom, J.T., 2023. Impacts of Hurricane Isaias (2020) on geomorphology and vegetation communities of natural and planted dunes in North Carolina. Journal of Coastal Research, 39(4), 587–609. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Coastal dunes serve a crucial role in reducing inland flooding, slowing shoreline erosion, and acting as a physical barrier to protect developed coastal communities from storm-related impacts. Dunes also provide critical habitat for several shoreline species. High magnitude storms such as hurricanes and nor'easters can have profound and long-lasting impacts on low-lying coastal areas, ranging from minor and temporary beach erosion to complete devastation of entire barrier island systems. This study documents direct impacts of Category 1 Hurricane Isaias (2020), one of the strongest tropical storms to directly hit the region, on coastal dune geomorphology and vegetation of Holden Beach, a south-facing barrier island located in SE North Carolina. Impacts were investigated using a combination of pre- and poststorm real-time kinematic dune profiles, vegetation cover and type transects, prestorm high-resolution drone imagery, and poststorm National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aerial imagery. Dominant geomorphological impacts included a variety of depositional and erosional effects, which were more prominent along artificially renourished and planted coastal segments compared to adjacent natural dune systems. Geomorphological changes subsequently reduced poststorm dune vegetation density. Yet, reduced impact on vegetation species abundance (i.e. stem density) was evident at a wider, stabilized dune area, which lacked human management, compared with narrower, less mature, and actively managed (i.e. fenced and/or planted) dune areas. Dune grasses were more resilient to Hurricane Isaias than forbs; however, several volunteer forb species, noted for dune stabilization abilities, were present at unmanaged dunes. Results indicate planting a diverse palette of native coastal species, which when co-occurring fill a variety of functional roles, will increase dune resilience to tropical storms. This study provides important insights into optimizing dune management strategies for developed barrier islands and other low-lying temperate coastal regions, which may be susceptible to ongoing sea-level rise and high-energy storm events.


Energy consumption is of utmost importance in wireless mesh networks where nodes are battery operated and have limited power resources. In this paper, we develop an analytical model to estimate the throughput-capacity of a wireless mesh network and use this model to study the network's bit-per-joule performance. We assume that each node uses an IEEE 802.11 based software controlled radio whose modulation/coding scheme and rate can be dynamically selected. A topology synthesis algorithm is used to elect nodes to act as access points as well as backbone nodes (BNs). The latter form a mesh backbone network infrastructure. We present an algorithm that is used to analytically calculate an approximation of the throughput capacity performance of the network. We use this algorithm to examine the performance efficiency of the network, expressed in terms of the throughput rate per unit energy consumed under the joint setting of nodal transmit power and data rate levels. Our results show that when traffic is uniformly distributed across the area of operations, increasing the nodal transmit power levels, as well as the data rates, tend often to enhance the bit-per-joule performance of the system. We also examine the impact of the selection of the transmit data rate and power levels used in conducting the topology synthesis of the backbone network.


This article deals with the EU's involvement in global health and the reality of its 'actorness' in this domain of international politics. Observing that this last decade, the European Union (EU) has been increasingly involved in global health separately from the global health actions already initiated by the EU Member States individually, it proposes to evaluate the 'actorness' of the EU in global health by using an analytical framework which considers that role, policy and institutional instruments and influence are the three main criteria of actorness in International Relations. After testing empirically this analytical framework in order to explore how EU's involvement in global health has been materialized so far and for which kind of outcomes, it sheds light on several challenges that EU has to face when it is involved in global health. It concludes that while the EU can be considered as a global health actor, it is still an 'actor in construction' notably because it needs to build the image of an actor speaking with one voice and to be perceived as an actor with a coherent behaviour in global affairs.


In "The War for Korea, 1945-1950: A House Burning", one of our most distinguished military historians argued that the conflict on the Korean peninsula in the middle of the twentieth century was first and foremost a war between Koreans that began in 1948. In the second volume of a monumental trilogy, Allan R. Millett now shifts his focus to the twelve-month period from North Korea's invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950, through the end of June 1951 - the most active phase of the internationalized 'Korean War'. Moving deftly between the battlefield and the halls of power, Millett weaves together military operations and tactics without losing sight of Cold War geopolitics, strategy, and civil-military relations. Filled with new insights on the conflict, his book is the first to give combined arms its due, looking at the contributions and challenges of integrating naval and air power with the ground forces of United Nations Command and showing the importance of Korean support services. He also provides the most complete, and sympathetic, account of the role of South Korea's armed forces, drawing heavily on ROK and Korea Military Advisory Group sources. Millett integrates non-American perspectives into the narrative - especially those of Mao Zedong, Chinese military commander Peng Dehuai, Josef Stalin, Kim Il-sung, and Syngman Rhee. And he portrays Walton Walker and Matthew Ridgway as the heroes of Korea, both of whom had a more profound understanding of the situation than Douglas MacArthur, whose greatest flaw was not his politics but his strategic and operational incompetence. Researched in South Korean, Chinese, and Soviet as well as American and UN sources, Millett has exploited previously ignored or neglected oral history collections - including interviews with American and South Korean officers - and has made extensive use of reports based on interrogations of North Korean and Chinese POWs. The end result is masterful work that provides both a gripping narrative and a greater understanding of this key conflict in international and American history.


Aim: To evaluate the frequency and types of ocular manifestations of leukaemia in University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Method: This is a hospitalbased case control study from September 2014 to April 2015. Forty newly diagnosed leukaemic patients were enrolled into the study. Age and sex matched controls were drawn from healthy relatives of patients, staff and students of University of Benin and children of University of Benin Staff School. They had Full Blood Count, Genotype, Fasting blood sugar and other tests done to exclude confounding factors such as diabetes mellitus, HIV and hypertension. All the study subjects were interviewed and had detailed ocular examination. Refraction was done where necessary. Clinical data from each individual was obtained using interviewer administered questionnaires. These were collated and analyzed using SPSS 20. Results: A total of 160 eyes of 80 subjects were examined. There were forty new patients (cases) with leukaemia and forty controls. The age range for cases was 3 to 78 years with a mean age of 43.28 +21.48 years while the mean age for the controls was 43.30 +21.26 years. The male to female ratio was 1.35:1 with23 (57.5%) males and 17 (42.5%) females. There were 31 (77.5%) adults and 9 (22.5%) children. There were13 (32.5%) acute and 27 (67.5%) chronic leukaemia comprising of 4 (10.0%) acute myelocytic leukaemia, 9 (22.5%) acute lymphocytic leukaemia, 11 (27.5%) chronic myeloid leukaemia and 16 (40.0%) chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Ocular leukaemic disorders were present in 12 (30.0%) patients. The leading leukaemic related anterior segment disorders were conjunctival pallor 18 (22.5%) followed by subconjunctival haemorrhage 12 (15.0%) and proptosis 7 (8.8%), while the leading leukaemic posterior segment disorders were intraretinal haemorrhage 13 (16.3%) followed by retinal infiltrates, venous dilatation and tortuosity 8 (10.0%) each. The eye changes were seen more often in adults 22 eyes (35.5%) than in children 2 eyes (11.1%) and in myeloid leukaemia than in lymphoid leukemia. Conclusion: Leukaemic ophthalmopathy occurs in patients living with leukaemia, some of which are potentially blinding disorders. The frequency of these ocular disorders was significant among the cases studied.


This paper presents information from a study of the use of Assistive Technology (AT) during open and distance learning (ODL) in TVET training institutions. There has been an increase in the number of people with disability enrolling into post-secondary education and, with the advent of COVID, learning has often moved to either a blended or online mode. There is also an increasing level of digitisation across the world, and a need for learners to be fluent in some of the digital technologies that are changing the nature of education and the workplace. Training for instructors is a key element of ensuring trainee success and inclusion when using AT in the learning environment. // Data were collected via a range of sources. A desktop review identified areas of appropriate literature. A survey was then developed and conducted with staff in TVET institutions which gathered data on competencies required by staff to engage learners and their experiences with AT and trainees with disability. This data resulted in the development of a course to support staff working with AT and trainees with disability in an open and distance mode. Development of the course is described along with its initial piloting and feedback from participants.


This project defines "The Rape Tunnel" problem. Before beginning the research portion of this project, background information is provided to the intended audience so that anyone reading the document can get up to speed with understandings within social justice, stakeholder histories, Indigenous perspectives, and the history of getting the project approved. From there the paper moves into a lab repot with findings that reveal a tunnel (designed as a storm drain for hundred year peak flows) is frequently being used by Cal Poly students as a walkway to campus. Also, students commonly refer to the space as "The Rape Tunnel." Survey responses further indicate that feelings of safety while using the space are not uniform across responses. Rather, feelings of safety vary depending on demographic data. Women at the intersections of disempowered identities felt the least safe in the space. After comparing western and Indigenous perspectives, the responses show that people walking through the space feel unsafe due to aspects of their identity rather than consequences of taboo actions. With the findings in mind, alternatives and follow up work to "The Rape Tunnel" problem are offered at the end of the


Amyloidosis is a multiple-organ disease for which the diagnosis is often confusing and thereby delayed. Here, we present an archetypal case illustrating such difficulties. A 51 years-old man presented a mixed dyslipemia in November 2002, in June 2004 he has finally been diagnosed with a primary AL-amyloidosis. Within these two years, the arising of a non-icteric cholestasis and a nephrotic syndrome have triggered the search for a disease related to a multiple-organ protein deposition. Confirmation of the AL-amyloidosis was obtained through an histological examination, including direct immuno-fluorescence. Amyloidosis is a life threatening disease that need to be diagnosed at an early stage, in order to maximise the therapeutic expectations. The average survival after the diagnosis of AL-amyloidosis is 5% at 10 years. Often, treatments are initiated late in the course of the disease, at a time when organ lesion are constituted, severely affecting the prognosis.


Background: Acute (AIAU) and chronic (AICU) acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)-intolerant urticaria are the major phenotypes of ASA hypersensitivity. Objective: We compared clinical features, immunologic findings and a HLA marker between AIAU and AICU. Method: We enrolled 232 patients with AIAU, 244 patients with AICU and 232 non-atopic normal controls (NC). Serum total and specific IgE to house dust mites (HDM) and Staphylococcal superantigens were measured by immunoCAP(R) system. Serum myeloperoxidase, IL-8, IL-18 and TGF-β1 were measured by ELISA. We measured antinuclear antibody by the indirect immunofluorescence method, and antithyroglobulin, antimicrosomal antibodies, and IgG to cytokeratin 14 by ELISA. HLA-DRB1*1302- DQB1*0609 was analyzed by a high resolution technique. Result: The atopy rate, and the levels of serum total and specific IgE to HDMs and TSST-1, and serum IL-18 and TGF-β1 were significantly higher in both AIAU and AICU groups than NC. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of autoantibodies between the AIAU and AICU patients. The prevalence of HLA-DRB1*1302-DQB1* 0609 was higher in both the AIAU and AICU patients. Conclusion: Atopy is a common predisposing factor for both AIAU and AICU phenotypes. Associations with autoantibodies were suggested in the pathogenesis of AIAU as well as AICU. HLA-DRB1*1302-DQB1*0609 can be a genetic marker for both AIAU and AICU. (Korean J Asthma Allergy Clin Immunol 2010;30:93-99)


Clone N1E-115 cells have specific, high-affinity binding sites for neurotensin (NT). These receptors mediate formation of cyclic GMP and other second messengers. We studied the effects of extended exposure of cells to [D-Lys8]NT(8-13) (NT2), a peptidase-resistant NT analog, on NT's ability to stimulate cyclic GMP synthesis and to bind [3H]NT to its sites on these cells. When intact N1E-115 cells were preincubated with NT2 (1 microM) for various times (15 min to 12 hr) at 37 degrees C, maximal desensitization and binding site (Bmax) loss occurred after only 15 min. Receptor affinity for [3H]NT did not change. At 0 degrees C NT2 for 15 min caused no down-regulation. After 15 min of preincubation with NT2 at 37 degrees C, the recovery of receptor binding and function after a 10 to 20 min lag-time was rapid (T1/2 = 15 min and 19 min, for binding and cyclic GMP response, respectively). After 12 hr of NT2 preincubation, it was slow (T1/2 = 212 min). Incubation of cells with cycloheximide (70 microM) for 5 hr after their exposure to NT2 for 15 min did not change the rate or extent of recovery of NT Bmax. However, cycloheximide did decrease the recovery of NT Bmax after exposure of cells to NT2 for 12 hr. Cycloheximide alone did not change NT Bmax. These data suggest that this decrease of NT receptor binding after short (15 min) and long (12 hr) exposure times to agonist involves two consecutive steps: intracellular sequestration of recyclable NT receptors, followed by receptor degradation causing true down-regulation.


According to the World Health Organization, rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide and ethambutol hydrochloride are the first-line drugs used to treat tuberculosis – an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Since 2010, tuberculosis has been treated with a fixed-dose combination containing the four drugs in only one tablet, called 4-FDC, which has simplified the treatment, minimized prescription errors and increased patients' adherence to their treatment regime. Within this context, the present review aims to show the evolution of different analytical methods that have been applied to simultaneous 4-FDC content determination in pharmaceutical formulations, such as high performance liquid chromatography, ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography, thin layer chromatography and capillary electrophoresis as separation techniques and molecular spectroscopic techniques associated with chemometric approaches, such as UV, Raman, Fourier transform infrared and near infrared.


In the current higher education climate, there is a growing perception that the pressures associated with being an academic middle manager outweigh the perceived rewards of the position. This article investigates the personal and professional circumstances that lead academics to become middle managers by drawing on data from life history interviews undertaken with 17 male and female department heads from a range of disciplines, in a post-1992 UK university. The data suggests that experiencing conflict between personal and professional identities, manifested through different socialization experiences over time, can lead to a 'turning point' and a decision that affects a person's career trajectory. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized, the findings may help other individuals and institutions move towards a firmer understanding of the academic who becomes head of department—in relation to theory, practice and research.


Diagnosis of adhesive capsulitis is a clinical diagnosis based on history and physical examination. Afflicted patients exhibit active and passive loss of motion in all planes and a positive capsular stretch sign. The effect of adhesive capsulitis on acromioclavicular biomechanics leading to tenderness has not been documented in the literature. This study reports on the incidence of acromioclavicular tenderness in the presence of adhesive capsulitis. Furthermore, we note the natural history of such acromioclavicular joint pain in relation to that of adhesive capsulitis. Over a 2-year period (2005-2007), 84 patients undergoing initial evaluation for adhesive capsulitis were prospectively examined with the use of validated outcome measures and physical examination. Acromioclavicular joint tenderness results were compared and analyzed on initial evaluation and final follow-up of at least 1 year. Forty-eight patients (57%) with adhesive capsulitis had acromioclavicular joint pain on examination. At final follow-up, as range of motion improved, a significant increase in American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons/Penn shoulder score and decrease in number of patients with acromioclavicular pain was noted with only 6 patients with residual pain (P<.05). In the presence of adhesive capsulitis, there is not only compensatory scapulothoracic motion but also acromioclavicular motion. This often results in transient symptoms at the acromioclavicular joint, which abate as the frozen shoulder resolves and glenohumeral motion improves. This is important to recognize to avoid unnecessary invasive treatment of the acromioclavicular joint when the patient presents with adhesive capsulitis.


The authors examine the hypothesis that the popularity of indexing to the S&P 500 had a self–fulfilling effect of inflating the prices of the stocks in the index during the 1990s. They conclude instead that the success of indexing results from the general efficiency of U.S. stock markets, and that the gap between the performance of index funds and active managers can be explained fully by the extra management and transaction costs involved in active management. The authors find no evidence that the success of indexing is self–fulfilling; nor can they substantiate that indexing has any permanent effect on the pricing of securities.


Conscientious disobedients often face the demand to differentiate themselves from criminals whose law-breaking actions are not undergirded by conscientious convictions. In public and philosophical discourse, conscientious disobedients are often criticised on the basis that their actions render them no different from criminals. I provide a qualified defence of disobedients in this essay. I argue that the differentiation demand can be satisfied even by disobedients who engage in what are typically regarded as radical acts of disobedience. In practical terms, this means that even disobedients who engage in actions such as arson, looting, rioting, vandalism or vigilantism can also successfully differentiate themselves from criminals.


Majorization-Minimization (MM) algorithms optimize an objective function by iteratively minimizing its majorizing surrogate and offer attractively fast convergence rate for convex problems. However, their convergence behaviors for non-convex problems remain unclear. In this paper, we propose a novel MM surrogate function from strictly upper bounding the objective to bounding the objective in expectation. With this generalized surrogate conception, we develop a new optimization algorithm, termed SPI-MM, that leverages the recent proposed SPIDER for more efficient non-convex optimization. We prove that for finite-sum problems, the SPI-MM algorithm converges to an stationary point within deterministic and lower stochastic gradient complexity. To our best knowledge, this work gives the first non-asymptotic convergence analysis for MM-alike algorithms in general non-convex optimization. Extensive empirical studies on non-convex logistic regression and sparse PCA demonstrate the advantageous efficiency of the proposed algorithm and validate our theoretical results.