NiTi-based shape memory alloys (SMAs) offer a good combination of high-strength, ductility, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility that has served them well and attracted the attention of many researchers and industries. The alloys unique thermo-mechanical ability to recover their initial shape after relatively large deformations by heating or upon unloading due to a characteristic reversible phase transformation makes them useful as damping devices, solid state actuators, couplings, etc. However, there is a need to increase the temperature of the characteristic phase transformation above 150 °C, especially in the aerospace industry where high temperatures are often seen. Prior researchers have shown that adding ternary elements (Pt, Pd, Au, Hf and Zr) to NiTi can increase transformation temperatures but most of these additions are extremely expensive, creating a need to produce cost-effective high temperature shape memory alloys (HTSMAs). Thus, the main objective of this research is to examine the relatively unstudied NiTiZr system for the ability to produce a cost effective and formable HTSMA. Transformation temperatures, precipitation paths, processability, and high-temperature oxidation are examined, specifically using high energy X-ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements, in NiTi-20 at.% Zr. This is followed by an in situ XRD study of the phase growth kinetics of the favorable H-phase nano precipitates, formed in NiTiHf and NiTiZr HTSMAs, based on prior thermo-mechanical processing in a commercial NiTi-15 at.% Hf HTSMA to examine the final processing methods and aging characteristics. Through this research, knowledge of the precipitation paths in NiTiZr and NiTiHf HTSMAs is extended and methods for characterization of phases and strains using high energy XRD are elucidated for future work in the field.


Using German and US brokerage data we find that investors are more likely to sell speculative stocks trading at a gain. Investors' gain realizations are monotonically increasing in a stock's speculativeness. This translates into a high disposition effect for speculative and a much lower disposition effect for non-speculative stocks. Our findings hold across asset classes (stocks, passive, and active funds) and explain cross-sectional differences in investor selling behavior which previous literature attributed primarily to investor demographics. Our results are robust to rank or attention effects and can be linked to realization utility and rolling mental account.


Use this guide to find resources, sources, and tools available at College of the Rockies Library to support your studies.


The proposition that "participants pursue values through institutions utilizing resources" finds expression in the problems with which participants become concerned and which they choose to address, and these choices in turn are a function of prior life experiences as revealed in policy-related autobiographies. As part of a pedagogical exercise focused on the policy process, university students in a senior seminar were invited to nominate possible problems (for development as seminar papers) and to reflect on those events in their lives that they would identify as having been significant in developing their interests in these particular problems. The 23 seminar members then Q-sorted the set of 27 problems, and factor analysis revealed six patterns of problem preference (from four Q factors, two of which were bipolar). These were in turn associated with common themes and experiences contained in the auto- biographical narratives, as examined in cases from each of the factors. Conclusions are drawn about the role of previous experiences in autobiographical memory and about the implications for goal clarification in the policy process.


The successful replacement of small-diameter blood vessels, affected by cardiovascular disease, with natural and synthetic bypass grafts remains limited due to long-term patency issues. The development of a small-diameter tissue engineered blood vessel (TEBV), with equivalent biomechanical properties to the vessel being replaced, may provide a potential solution. This thesis aims to determine the biomechanical properties of porcine coronary arteries (PCA) and the corresponding natural matrix scaffold of the artery through short-term decellularisation providing vital information for the development of an optimum TEBV, while also establishing the potential of this natural matrix scaffold to be used as a vascular tissue engineering scaffold.
The natural matrix scaffold of small-diameter (< 4 mm) PCA was achieved through a short-term decellularisation method to limit the natural degradation of the tissue. The biomechanical properties of PCA and the corresponding natural matrix scaffold of the artery were established. Tubular segments of PCA, up to 60 mm in length, were perfused with 0.1 м sodium hydroxide for 6 to 12 hours to achieve the natural matrix scaffold. Uniaxial tensile and inflation tests confirmed the scaffold maintains its non-linear response, however a less stiff, more distensible low-load response and stiffer high-load response was found compared to non-decellularised sections. Vascular smooth muscle cells were successfully seeded to the luminal and abluminal surfaces and lateral edges of decellularised sections and attachment and infiltration of the xenogeneic cells after 15 days confirmed the viability of the scaffold as a suitableenvironment for cell growth and infiltration. The maintenance of the internal elastic lamina provided a suitable surface for the attachment of endothelial cells. Biomechanical tests of the cell-infiltrated scaffold confirmed a recovery of the native artery distensibility. Additionally, the bare scaffold remained viable for 30 days under pulsatile flow at physiological pressures confirming its potential as a TEBV scaffold.


Current approaches to the realisation of software systems employ elegant domain
abstractions to handle system complexity. However, we do not preserve these
abstractions within the systems we create: rather, we defer to the language imposed
by the underlying architecture of computer hardware. Consequently, the intended
purpose of much of the software which comprises these systems becomes lost. This
results in software systems which require an in-depth knowledge of the specific
implementation in order to support subsequent change.
It is the use of computers in "real world" systems whose scale and complexity is
orders of magnitude greater than was originally anticipated by the inventors of software
languages that has contributed to the problem. In order to address this problem,
research into the application of novel techniques for large scale system
realisation is needed.
This research investigates the creation and use of domain machines which directly
execute domain abstractions, thereby preserving the structure and intent of the original
system design. The author proposes a framework for the realisation of domain
machines which when populated can provide separate specialised support for the
particular characteristics of a software system design.
The proposed framework is applied to two separate and very different case studies
that are both: on a scale with systems in industry and commerce; and are tested
through integration with an industrial/commercial software environment.
The research proves that adopting the framework is an improvement on traditional
approaches to large scale system construction and evolution, and also that the
framework is not specific to a single application domain.


Author(s): Wakeland, Anna Kearny | Advisor(s): Parast, Mana M | Abstract: Trophoblasts, the placental epithelial cells, provide the main structural and functional component of the placenta. They arise from the trophectoderm, the first lineage to be specified during embryogenesis. Trophectoderm lineage specification and the bulk of placental growth occur under low oxygen tension. In vivo, trophoblast precursor cells, known as cytotrophoblasts (CTB), proliferate under physiologic hypoxia and differentiate into invasive extravillous trophoblast (EVT). With increased oxygen tension, CTB differentiate into villous syncytiotrophoblast (STB). One major mechanism by which hypoxia regulates cell signaling is through hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF). Under hypoxia, the HIF complex is stabilized and acts as a transcription factor to mediate cellular responses to lower oxygen tension. Transgenic mice unable to form an intact HIF complex show abnormal trophoblast differentiation and placental function and die in mid-gestation. However, the role of HIF complex formation in human trophoblast differentiation has yet to be determined. For my dissertation, I explored how BMP4 signaling and oxygen tension affect trophoblast lineage specification and differentiation, and whether the effects are HIF-dependent. Using mouse trophoblast stem cells (mTSC), primary human trophoblast cells, and BMP4-treated human embryonic stem cells (hESC) as model systems, I found that, in mTSC, BMP4 inhibits differentiation into the trophoblast giant cell lineage, while in human, BMP4 decreases proliferation of CTB in explants and induces both initial trophoblast lineage specification and further differentiation in hESC. I also discovered that hypoxia promotes differentiation into EVT, and that this process is dependent on an intact HIF complex, in both primary cells and hESC. These results establish oxygen tension and HIF as a major regulator of trophoblast lineage-specific differentiation, but also confirm the utility of BMP4-treated hESC as a model which correctly recapitulates these processes in vitro. These data suggest that pluripotent stem cells may be useful in modeling human pregnancy complications such as recurrent miscarriage, preeclampsia, and intrauterine growth restriction, all of which have their roots in abnormal EVT differentiation and function.


The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has developed an automated system, named Medical Article Records System (MARS), to process bibliographic data (title, authors, affiliation, abstract, etc.) in biomedical journal articles for its MEDLINE  database. This paper describes a labeling module in the MARS, which automatically extract the bibliographic data in biomedical journal articles. The labeling module is composed of two sub modules: General label type module (GLTM) and Arbitrary label type module (ALTM). Six label types, which are commonly used in the journals, are collected from several thousand journals. Journals are classified as general label types if label types of the journals belong to one of the six label types. Otherwise, journals are classified as arbitrary label types. The GLTM processes journals that belong to general label types and the ALTM processes journals that belong to arbitrary label types. Rule-based algorithms are used for both modules and the rules are derived from analysis of several journal articles and features extracted from the optical character recognition (OCR) results. There are 126 rules derived for the GLTM and 49 rules for the ALTM. Experiments conducted with several medical journal articles show relatively accurate labeling results.


Primatologists generally agree that monkeys lack higher-order intentional capacities related to theory of mind. Yet the discovery of the so-called "mirror neurons" in monkeys suggests to many neuroscientists that they have the rudiments of intentional understanding. Given a standard philosophical view about intentional understanding, which requires higher-order intentionality, a paradox arises. Different ways of resolving the paradox are assessed, using evidence from neural, cognitive, and behavioral studies of humans and monkeys. A decisive resolution to the paradox requires substantial additional empirical work and perhaps a rejection of the standard philosophical view.


INTRODUCTION
Acute renal failure (ARF) remains highly prevalent with a high rate of morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVE
of this study was to compare use of the APACHE II scoring prognosis with that of the ATN-ISS to determine whether the APACHE II could be used for patients with ARF outside the ICU.

METHODS
For this purpose, 205 patients with ARF were accompanied in a prospective cohort. Demographic data, preexisting conditions, organ failure and characteristics of ARF were analyzed. The prognostic scores were performed with the assessment of a nephrologist.

RESULTS
The mean age was 52 +/- 18 years, 50% were male, 69% were white, 45% were treated in ICU and 55% in other units. Mortality in the ICU group was 85% and in the non-ICU group 18%. Factors that correlated with higher mortality were more prevalent in the ICU group: age, male, hospitalization with ARF, organ failure, sepsis, septic IRA, oliguria and need of dialysis. Overall, the prognostic markers were the same for both the ICU and non-ICU groups. The discrimination with the APACHE II was similar in both, ICU and non-ICU groups and calibration was better in the non-ICU group. The ATN-ISS achieved good discrimination in both the ICU and non-ICU groups, but, regarding calibration, there was a discreet over estimating of mortality in the non-ICU group. The ATN-ISS showed a greater capacity for discrimination than the APACHE II in both the ICU and non-ICU groups.

CONCLUSION
It was concluded that the APACHE II and ATN-ISS scores could be used for stratification of risk in patients with ARF treated outside of the ICU in Brazil.


To evaluate the feasibility of offering voluntary counseling and expedited human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing to women in labor, and to assess the characteristics of two rapid HIV assays compared with results from an expe-dited standard enzyme immunoassay (EIA), with Western blot confirmation, as indicated, we undertook a pilot study immediately prior to enactment of New York State regulations (August 1999) requiring expedited testing of laboring women (or newborns) with undocumented HIV status. From June 9, 1999 through July 2, 1999, we offered HIV counseling and testing (C&T) to all medically stable women in active labor, 106 of 125 (85%) of whom accepted. One woman was confirmed HIV-1 seropositive. Rapid assay sensitivity and specificity were: SUDS 100 and 98%, and Multispot 100 and 100%, respectively in comparison with 100 and 99% for the standard EIA. The positive predictive values (PPV) were SUDS 33%; Multispot 100%; and EIA 50%. While our sample size was small, it appears that the accuracy of rapid and expedited HIV assays may be improved by requiring two different reactive assays before informing women of HIV-seropositive results or initiating antiretroviral treatment.


Objective In a recent study, we found that Greenlandic Inuit children had a more adverse metabolic profile than Danish children. Aerobic fitness and adiposity could only partly account for the differences. Therefore, we set out to evaluate and compare plasma leptin and adiponectin levels in Danish and Inuit children. Methods In total, 187 Inuit and 132 Danish children (5.7–17.1 years) had examinations of anthropometrics, body fat content, pubertal staging, fasting blood and aerobic fitness. Results Plasma leptin was higher in Danish boys [3,774 (4,741–3,005)] [pg/mL unadjusted geometric mean (95% CI)] compared to both northern [2,076 (2,525–1,706)] (p<0.001) and southern (2,515 (3,137–2,016)) (p<0.001) living Inuit boys and higher in Danish girls [6,988 (8,353–5,847)] compared to southern living Inuit girls [4,910 (6,370–3,785)] (p=0.021) and tended to be higher compared to northern living Inuit girls [5,131 (6,444–4,085)] (p=0.052). Plasma adiponectin was higher for both Danish boys [22,359 (2,573–19,428)] [ng/mL unadjusted geometric mean (95% CI)] and girls [26,609 (28,994–24,420)] compared to southern living Inuit boys [15,306 (18,406–12,728)] and girls [18,864 (22,640–15,717)] (both p<0.001), respectively. All differences remained after adjustment for body fat percentage (BF%), aerobic fitness, age and puberty. The leptin/adiponectin ratio was higher in Danish boys and tended to be higher in Danish girls compared to northern living Inuit boys and girls, respectively. These differences were eliminated after adjustment for BF%, aerobic fitness, age and puberty. Conclusions In contrast to our hypothesis, plasma leptin was higher in Danish children despite a more healthy metabolic profile compared to Inuit children. As expected, plasma adiponectin was lowest in Inuit children with the most adverse metabolic profile.


Although efforts have been made to compile the history of Kurdish literature in different regions, Some of the Kurdish historians have studied the literature of the Kurdish nation in its entirety, and some others have only addressed the history of Kurdish literature in their place of residence. The author of The Image of the Garousi Bijar and Its Famous People is included in the second group. Since the works of the poets who have been studied in this research – except for four of them – have not been published until the writing of this article, the mentioned book, written by Mohammadali Koosha, was selected as the major source of this research. The present study analyses the linguistic, cultural, and religious beliefs, as well as the ground cover and indigenous characteristics in Garous region poets' works. The research method is descriptiveanalytical and the data were collected by the library and document analysis and were analyzed using the content analysis method. The result of this research showed that the poets of the region are not committed to social issues.


Object Lessons: How Nineteenth-Century Americans Learned to Make Sense of the Material World examines the ways material things—objects and pictures—were used to reason about moral issues, the differences between reality and representation, race, citizenship, and capitalism in the nineteenth-century United States. For modern scholars, an "object lesson" is simply a timeworn metaphor used to describe any sort of reasoning from concrete to abstract. But in the 1860s, object lessons were classroom exercises popular across the United States. Object lessons forced children to learn about the world through their senses instead of through texts and memorization, leading to new modes of classifying and comprehending material evidence drawn from the close study of objects, pictures, and even people. This book argues that object lessons taught Americans how to find information in things in the decades after the Civil War. More than that, this study offers the object lesson as a new tool with which contemporary scholars can interpret the meanings of nineteenth-century material, cultural, and intellectual life.


Introduction:
 Ischemic stroke is a devastating form of stroke with extremely high disability that affects more than 690,000 adults each year. Over the past decade, the transcriptional factor Nrf2 has emerged as a master regulator of cellular oxidative stress and inflammation that eventually leads to neuronal death through activation of various cytoprotective and detoxification genes, which are the central features of neurodegeneration, including stroke. Whether Nrf2 improves long-term sensorimotor outcome after ischemic stroke is not known.

 Hypothesis:
 Nrf2 may alleviate sensorimotor deficits and promote long-term recovery after stroke injury.

 Methods:
 Three- to four-month-old male C57BL/6 mice, including Nrf2 knockouts, were subjected to surgery of permanent distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO). The functional outcomes were investigated 3 days prior to and 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after pMCAO with a comprehensive behavioral test battery, including open field, modified cylinder, and corner tests.

 Results:
 There was no significant difference in behavior tests between Nrf2 knockout and wildtype mice in basal condition. After pMCAO, although Nrf2 knockout and control mice had similar function deficits in the open field test on day 1, Nrf2 deficiency compared to controls dramatically decelerated recovery in open field locomotor activity at the acute stage of cerebral stroke (1-3 days), but not at later time points. In the modified cylinder test, Nrf2-/- mice displayed remarkably severe sensorimotor deficits by the rate of total contralateral forelimb use and forelimb use in first contact events at the acute stage (0-3 days), especially on day 3, and impaired the recovery by forelimb use in first contact events at all lateral time points over 4 weeks. Such findings were supported by results in the corner test.

 Conclusion:
 These data demonstrate that Nrf2 deficiency exacerbates functional deficits and impairs long-term sensorimotor recovery after pMCAO-induced ischemic stroke damage.


Agarwood is a resin product produced by particular trees and has a certain high comercial value. In Central Bangka Regency, agarwood is the main commodity of forest. The research was aimed to determine the dynamic population of  rhizobacteria and its potential as a biological control agent to control Fusarium disease in the nursery of agarwood  ( Aquailaria  malaccensis Lamrk ) . The research was carried out by using exploration and identification methods. Sixty nine bacterial isolates were obtained from 20 samples. The samples taken were from Pangkalan Baru and Koba districts. After selection process, 49 bacterial isolates were tested for the capacity of inhibition. Results showed that 37.50 % of the bacterial isolates indicated a strong inhibition capacity, meanwhile 58.33% indicated a moderate and only 4.70% possessed a weak inhibition. Pseudomonas fluorescens , P. aerogi - nosa , P. malthophilia and Klebsiella pnemoniae were identified from the selected isolates. These bacteria were potentially able to protect plants against Fusarium disease and to promote plant growth. This research needed to be continued at the field level in order to know the real effects on plant.


Despite the suspected biological imprint on the terrestrial silicon (Si) cycle, plant contribution to the Si continental reservoir is poorly quantified. Within the soil-plant system, aqueous silicon (H4SiO40) can be retrieved from soil solution by plant uptake, clay formation and adsorption onto secondary oxides, or leached out and transferred to stream waters. Two approaches are very promising to trace Si within the soil-plant cycle: the Si stable isotopes and Ge/Si ratio. This thesis aims at quantifying the Si isotopic fractionation induced by plants and soil processes in both controlled (in vitro) and natural conditions (in situ). The model used is a tropical soil-plant system involving a Si-accumulating plant (banana, Musa acuminata Colla, cv Grande Naine) cropped on soils derived from basaltic ash but differing in weathering stage (Cameroon, West Africa). Si isotopic compositions in the different compartments of the soil-plant system were measured by MC-ICP-MS in dry plasma mode with external Mg doping. The analytical method required specific developments, and was validated by an inter-laboratory comparison of reference materials. Plant root uptake of Si, and Si transport within the plant induce an isotopic fractionation quantified in vitro and measured in situ. The plant Si isotopic signature is influenced by soil weathering stage, precisely by soil contents of clay and iron oxide. Soil clay-sized fractions sequestrate light Si isotopes following abiotic fractionating processes of mineral weathering and clay formation, leaving a residual solution enriched in heavy Si isotopes. Biogenic Si, enriched in light Si isotopes, constitutes a Si source for clay formation. Clay-sized Fe-oxides concentrate with increasing weathering and soil development. They selectively adsorb light Si isotopes by surface complexation of monomeric H4SiO40. Silicon transport within the plant produces a Ge/Si fractionation involving Ge sequestration in roots whereas weathering and clay formation induce a selective Ge sequestration in clay minerals, producing an increased Ge/Si ratio with increasing weathering, in excellent agreement with Si isotopic data. In the soil-plant system studied, Si stable isotopes thus trace three major continental processes: plant uptake and phytolith formation, sequestration of Si in clay minerals, and adsorption of Si by Fe-oxides. These biotic and abiotic processes all lead to a progressive enrichment of pore waters in heavy Si isotopes.


BACKGROUND: We have previously shown that TILs are predictive of benefit to trastuzumab and chemotherapy in HER2+ BC in the FinHER study, an adjuvant, phase III study in early-stage BC, where HER2+ patients were randomized to 9 weeks of trastuzumab or no trastuzumab in addition to chemotherapy (Loi et al, ASCO 2012). We sought to further confirm this positive association as well as to understand the composition of TILs. METHODS: The association between TILs and response to trastuzumab with chemotherapy (epirubicin/cyclophosphamide with docetaxel with or without capecitabine) was evaluated in 156 HER2+ patients from the neoadjuvant GeparQuattro trial. The primary correlative endpoint was the association between TILs (quantified using the same method as previously published) with pathological complete response rates (pCR), adjusted for clinicopathological characteristics. To understand the composition of TILs, correlations between TILs and gene expression levels of 13 pre-defined immune markers were evaluated from 202 HER2+ samples from the FinHER study. These represented T and B cell infiltration (CD3D, IGKC), Th1 (IFNG, CD8A), chemoattractants (CXCL9, CXCL13), immunosuppression (VEGFA, FOXP3, IDO1) and T-cell checkpoint receptors and ligands (PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA-4, CD80). Prognostic associations and interactions with trastuzumab were studied in Cox regression models for distant-disease free survival (DDFS). Preclinical mice models of HER2 mammary cancer were used to investigate combination therapies. RESULTS: In the GeparQuattro trial data, each 10% increment in TILs was associated with higher rates of pCR (adjusted OR:1.14 95%CI:1.01-1.29;P = 0.037) after neoadjuvant trastuzumab and chemotherapy supporting the findings from the FinHER study. Gene expression analyses using the FinHER samples revealed IDO1 and CXCL13 were most highly correlated with TILs (R = 0.58 and 0.51;p We next postulated that enhancing T-cell responses would be synergistic with trastuzumab. Trastuzumab in combination with several inhibitors of T-cell negative regulation (anti-CTLA4, anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1) resulted in higher tumor regressions compared with monotherapy in a mouse transplant model of HER2+ mammary cancer. In particular, anti-PD1 (P = 0.02) and anti-PD-L1 (P = 0.008) were most effective. In a BALB/c-MMTV-neu transgenic mice mouse model (i.e. immune tolerant to HER2 antigen), the combination of trastuzumab and anti-PD1 antibody could significantly delay mammary gland tumor formation (p CONCLUSIONS: We confirm that TILs are associated with higher responses to trastuzumab and chemotherapy. Furthermore, tumor-mediated immunosuppression is evident in the lymphocytic infiltrate with PD-1 and IDO1 significantly predictive of trastuzumab benefit. The addition of a T-cell checkpoint inhibitor in a preclinical model significantly enhanced trastuzumab responses. These combinations warrant evaluation in the clinical setting. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr S1-05.


The government of Malaysia has introduced the National Sexuality Education Guideline in 2006 to overcome social problems amongst the juveniles. An early study related to the perception of teachers and students toward the sexual education curriculum taught in schools currently was carried out. The study showed that there is a big gap between the perception of the students and teachers towards several issues, such as resources, and content adequacy of Malaysia Sexuality Education (MSE) today. The theoretical framework of MSE was designed and developed based on several learning theories, and human computer interactive theories to handle the sensitive sexuality issues of the Malaysian community especially the students. The theoretical framework was executed through a comprehensive research methodology as the model ADDIE is integrated with usage-centered design to achieve high usability courseware. In conclusion, the MSE courseware will be a tool or product to be used as a solution to teaching and learning problems in MSE.


Introduction: Low back pain is a common problem among nurses. the purpose of this study was to assess effectiveness of physical health educational program on the quality of life of nursing staff with chronic low back pain working in hospitals in yazd. Methood: This semi experimental study was carried over 119 employees with chronic low back pain working in hospitals in yazd in both intervention (n=60)and control (n=59) groups. The intervention group participated in a training program included a 180 minutes education session. Data were collected through using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) at base line and 3month follow up and analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Conclusion: This study showed the physical dimensions of quality of life including physical functioning , role physical , bodily pain and general health in the intervention group with mean age of 72/32,58/18,59/96,69/10 respectively were improved in compare with the same dimensions in control group with mean age of 60/50,47/88,38/05,51/27 at 3month follow up (P<0/0001). There were no significant improvement in terms of mental component of quality of life in intervention (P=0/855). Results: The results indicated the educational program could be effective on physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain and general health.


Olives and olive oil have established, through centuries, strong bonds with the prosperity and well being of the Mediterranean people. Numerous studies have featured them as main antioxidant sources, based on their phenolic profile, which includes phenolic acids and alcohols, polyphenols, lignans, secoiridoids, oleacein and oleocanthal. Several factors, such as cultivar, fruit maturation, processing methods, storage conditions etc. affect the presence of these significant constituents in the products. Re-use of olive mill waste water has been studied to enrich the phenolic profile of the final product. Olive oil is considered a functional food with extensive use in the food industry. The biological effects of olives and virgin olive oil components include protection against cardiovascular diseases, anti-inflammation action, neuro and endothelial protection etc. Research studies, in vitro and in vivo, in humans and in animals have been performed to better understand the metabolism and bioactivity of olives and olive oil phenolics. Olives and olive oil antioxidants are not only absorbed by the body, but can also attach to the lining of the digestive tract, contributing to the health impact afforded by these products. Laboratory methods and techniques used so far for the qualitative and quantitative identification of these compounds are cited.


Abstract The aim of this article is to investigate the construction of climate risks and to identify how it intersects with different forms of discursive categories in house owner narratives. Interviews with 44 house owners in four regions exposed to climate risks in Sweden were analyzed using the narrative method. I use intersectional risk theory, in which risk is constructed in relation to different forms of power structure, to interpret the narratives. The results indicate that narrators do risk in different ways in relation to the master narratives of the climate threat and individual environmental responsibility, which dominate the official rhetoric in Sweden. Three risk narratives are revealed in the interviews: (1) the master narrative of 'the responsible house owner,' (2) the alternative narrative of 'the vulnerable house owner', and (3) the counter-narrative of 'the safe house owner.' The climate risks talked about could relate to the narrator's own house or to risks at a local or global level. The results indicate that different intersections of class, gender, age, and place shape different ways of positioning in relation to risk, by describing oneself as more or less aware of and exposed to climate risks. The analysis also reveals that different intersections of social structures lead to shifting prerequisites for house-owner preparedness towards preventing and managing climate risks. Such an understanding is important when trying to comprehend why some house owners adapt their homes to a changed climate while others do not. Aspects like these are necessary to consider while, e.g. deciding on policy and writing information and guidelines on adaptation to climate change.


Invisibility cloaking based on optical transformation involves materials singularity at the branch cut points. Many interesting optical devices, such as the Eaton lens, also require planar media index singularities in their implementation. We show a method to transmute two singularities simultaneously into harmless topological defects formed by anisotropic permittivity and permeability tensors. Numerical simulation is performed to verify the functionality of the transmuted conformal cloak consisting of two kissing Maxwell fish eyes.


Background Snake bites are a neglected public health issue in poor rural communities, and the true burden of snake bites is not known. Kitui County has a high incidence of snake bites and no functional snake bite control programs exists. Diagnostic tests for snake species identification are not available and management mainly relies on clinical findings and administration of polyvalent antivenin. This study sought to describe common presentation patterns and treatments offered for snake bites at Kitui District Hospital, and to characterize the causative venomous snakes. Patients and methods This was a prospective case series carried out over a period of 8 months. Patients presenting at the hospital with snake bites were included in the study. A pre set questionnaire in was administered by doctors in the surgical team Results A total of 70 patients were recruited. The M:F ratio was 1:1.4, and an age range 4-60y (median 8y). 51.4% were school going children who lived in houses mostly made of earthen bricks and thatch (n=38, 54.3%). The relationship between local names and physical description of the snakes, and scientific identification from the description and clinical presentation was significant(p=0.05). Most patients achieved complete recovery (n=62, 88.6%) No death was recorded. Conclusion Snake bites are common in Kitui County. In spite of the high rates of compartment syndrome and focal gangrene, all the patients were managed locally with excellent outcomes. Recommendation Care-givers need better training and sensitization. Formulation of regionalized guidelines fed by evidencebased data is needed. Improved infrastructure including a regional centre of excellence, and education will be the best preventive strategy.


According to the rule of academican E. N. Pavlovskiy, any organism of host is an environment of inhabit for a parasite (Pavlovskiy, 1934). It was analysed, which "ecological niche" or microbiotop (= microhabitat) is occupied by this or that species of symbiotic (parasitic) copepods in organisms of different groups invertebrate-hosts. The assumption lying in a basis of the given analysis means that each group of hosts may give to cohabitants only certain variants of microbiotopes independently on the general morphological structure and life mode of hosts. Five types of microbiotops offered by various groups of hosts for symbiotic copepods are designated (Ta[symbol: see text] 2). 1. The body surface of benthic invertebrates as a microbiotope is characterized by conditions being little different (concerning any kind of physical and chemical influences on copepods) from those in external environment on any other substrate. Apparently a trophical dependence plays a determining role in this case. There are certain directions in a development of adaptations, which are characteristic in some extent for all water ectoparasitic crustaceans and have one functional task--to help to an ectoparasite to keep itself on a surface of host body. In the first, the maxillules and maxillipeds significantly are developed, they get a form of large claws, with which the dopepods are strongly attached on a surface of host body and have an opportunity to move on it without a danger to be washed off. In the second, the form of the body undergoes a dorso-ventral expression and expansion of prosome, forms a cephalic shield allowing to the symbiont to press itself tightly to the host body surface and to avoid the loss of host (tab. 2). In occasions, some ectoparasites stimulate the formation of galls in skin tissues of the host, that also provides the parasite with constant conditions, without any threat to lose the host. However, this phenomenon has not a wide distribution and is observed in some groups of crustacean and echinoderm hosts. 2. The narrow tubular cavities in the organism of host either they are a part of external environment (as in channel system of spongia) or a part of internal environment of organism (as channels of blood system or thin parts of a digestive system) have always rigidly limited sizes and form. Characteristics of all parasites occupying this microbiotopes are the strong transformations. They are expressed by the reduction of legs or any other appendages (frequently in a significant degree), loss of segmentation to some extent and in eruciform (or vermiform) form of a body (tab. 2). This microbiotope is occupied by an ectoparasite in one case only (Spongicola uncifer from channel system of spongia) and by endoparasites in all other cases. 3. Large cavities connected with external environment. The formations of various genesis, such as mantle cavity of molluscs, gill cavity and marsupium of crustaceans, bursal cavity of ophiuroids and branchial cavity of ascidians, concern this type of microbiotopes. All of them are characterized by the relative difference from the external environment and rather large volume (in comparison to sizes of copepods), that provides the parasites with a sufficient protection from factors of the external environment and constant source of food such as elements of host body or food's particles brought by the water flow. Morphological changes in inhabitants of the microbiotope have two directions. They practically are absent in the overwhelming majority copepods, living in the mantle of cavity of the lamellibranches. On the other hand, the inhabitants of gill cavity and marsupium of crustaceans, bursal cavities of ophiuroids and branchial cavity of ascidians are characterized by the presence of strong transformations. Usually there are expressed in a loss of segmentation to some extent, reduction of appendages and swelling of body, as in species of the genus Sphaeronella (tab. 2). Changes are also observed in the life cycle: the tendency to reduce stages of development (development of nauplii stage, which takes place under the ovarial cover). In this case the copepodid stages hatch from the ova. 4. The internal cavity of organism of host. This type of microbiotopes in different groups of the hosts is represented in a various degree. We recognise it in a coelome of polychaetes, lacunar system of molluscs, mixocoel of crustaceans, coelome of echinoderms and cavity of body in ascidians. Two basic evolutionary directions are observed in copepods occupying this microbiotope. In the first case, the parasite is not exposed to transformations and keeps the initial plan of structure as in ancestral free-living forms. In the second case the parasites are exposed to strong transformations, they either live directly in cavity's liquid, or are surrounded by a cyst (as in Cucumaricolidae). 5. Microbiotope of the last type is most specific. The simultaneous existence in two environments--external environment (environment of the second order) and internal environment (environment of the first order) leads to the complete loss of ancestral type in a structure and level of organisation. At the same time both morphological and functional division of the parasite body into two parts produces a new formation--the ectosome and endosome. In this case we deals with the phenomenon of mesoparasitism.


INTRODUCTION
Nowadays the rubber band ligation technique is one of the most worldwide used and effective treatment of the hemorrhoidal disease.

OBJECTIVES
Our study has as a goal to analyze the success or failure of the rubber band ligation in hemorrhoids grade 1,2 and 3, to analyze their complications and to see if all symptomatic hemorrhoids should be treated with ligation at the first visit.

PATIENTS AND METHOD
A prospective and descriptive study was designed for patients who came to the Colorectal Unit with hemorrhoidal disease from September 1997 to December 2001. First, second and third degree patients were treated according to the classification of hemorrhoids of St. Mark's Hospital. The technique of ligation after Barron was applied.

RESULTS
From 261 patients with a mean age of 48.3 (range: 16-86), 181 (99 M/82 W) have been treated with Barron's method and 80 with rich fiber diet and water. Rectal bleeding was the most common symptom (91.16%). Anuscopy showed hemorrhoidal disease in all the cases. From 181 patients, 19.33% were hemorrhoids degree I, 51.93% degree II and 29.83% degree III. Two hundred and eighty-seven ligation sessions were done and the balance of ligations per patient was 2.45 and 1.5 rubber band per session. The 32% of the patients referred pain after ligation. A 13.81% of cases were operated due to persistent rectal bleeding or hemorrhoidal prolapse.

CONCLUSIONS
Symptomatic hemorrhoids degree I and II with a short clinical history should be treated initially with a rich fiber and water diet. The technique of Barron is an effective therapy to treat the hemorrhoids degree 1, 2 and in 74% of success in cases with degree 3.


The subject of this paper is Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 of the United States, a statute that for the past 35 years has allowed the U.S. to unilaterally handle its trade disputes. More specifically, the paper examines the constraining and supporting effects of the multilateral trading system (GATT and WTO) on the effectiveness of Section 301 in general (127 cases), and of retaliatory threats and sanctions in particular (44 cases). In contrast with previous empirical papers, the emphasis is on the gradual interaction between both instances, with special attention to the escalation of the multilateral dispute and the timing of retaliatory threats and sanctions (if any). The paper shows that contrary to conventional wisdom, Section 301 has been less about 'aggressive unilateralism' (Bhagwati and Patrick 1991) than about reinforcing the multilateral trading system and the U.S. agenda in it. Section 301 proceedings and retaliation were often used in contravention of international trade law; but they were also used as tools to enforce multilateral rulings or to advance the multilateral agenda upon non-Members or on new issues. To address the effectiveness question, a qualitative response model is used. Results confirm the hypothesis prevalent in the extant literature that a process of escalation at the GATT/WTO is correlated with a higher success rate of Section 301 investigations in changing the target country's policy. However, the impact is not linear; a settlement is more likely early in the bargaining stages rather than after a ruling is issued by a GATT/WTO panel. The empirical estimation is based on a comprehensive dataset on all Section 301 cases and on the related GATT/WTO dispute(s); and on 45 case studies outlined in the Appendix which, supplemented by the case studies of Bayard & Elliott (1994), are the basis for the coding of the dependent variable.


The return of the ''Children of the Night'' to the Northern Rocky Mountains is a fascinating and controversial story. The author enables the reader to understand the many steps that were needed to reintroduce wolves into one of their natural environments, as well as the reactions this prompted in US society. The book provides an incisive analysis of the efficacy and impact of public law litigation, in a way that could be used by anyone working within the public law sector, and it has the power to show the great use (or abuse) of public law litigation in the United States, even for issues relating to the presence of wildlife. The book also offers an opportunity for people in other countries to examine the role of US courts in resolving public policy issues, highlighting the bonds among science, policy, and politics that enabled the gray wolf to recover. In particular, the book shows the limits of, and the opportunities provided by, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), especially through the different interpretations of successive presidential administrations. It also explains how it is possible for politics to prevail over science through public law litigation, as seen in the 2011 delisting of the wolf in the states hosting the nation's vast majority of wolf populations. A clear overall message is that the use of public law litigation can, in some cases, enable a response based not on scientific evidence but on political issues and economic interests. It was very interesting to see how the different actors were involved in the reintroduction process. Hunters, farmers, ranchers, environmental groups, and policymakers were invited to take part in a process that involved not only the status of wolf populations in the Northern Rocky Mountains, but also the general social acceptance of this species, due to its impacts and the fear it creates. The same is happening in Europe: The natural return of wolves and the reintroduction of brown bears in the Alps have created—and are creating—issues because of these species' impacts on human activities, the rare encounters between people and these species, and a general fear and ignorance towards these species. The presence of these animals in the Alps has given rise to discussions about the possibility of coexistence of humans and large carnivores, considering not only possible impacts on human economic activities, but also society's knowledge and general acceptance of the animals. Responses to the presence of large carnivores and their impacts on human activities should be based on scientific evidence, although politics and the economic interests of lobbies (eg hunting) may greatly influence the final decisions taken. Public law litigation to solve wildlife-related issues is not common in Europe, where human–wildlife conflicts are addressed through a series of public participation meetings that involve policymakers and allow the arguments of the different economic groups and of the general public to be heard. Decisions have to be agreed among all interested actors living and working in the area of relevance for a particular species. In the United States, the return of wolves had the great power to generate responses based more on emotions and economic interests than on science. This confirms that all interested actors have to be involved in order to achieve comprehensive management and raise knowledge and acceptance among the general public. The book describes very well the management issues related to the return of wolves to the Northern Rocky Mountains, showing the points of view of the livestock and hunting industries and of environmental groups, as well as the intermediate role played by federal courts in deciding whether the Department of the Interior complied with the law. Public law litigation provides the opportunity to examine different positions in a neutral way, and the book clearly shows that wolf recovery in the Northern Rocky Mountains was successful in large part because of public law litigation and specifically because it allowed the different voices and interests to be heard. The reintroduction of wolves has been highly beneficial to the region's ecosystems, and this has brought recognition of the species' role as a regulator of ecological processes that helps to increase overall biodiversity. Fitzgerald's book enables a comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing this species in the coming years—such as its delisting on political rather than scientific grounds, the efforts of Republicans to amend the ESA, and the need for increasing the general social acceptance of wolves in the United States and worldwide. This book is an essential read not only for researchers and technicians, but for all who care for wildlife and work to promote harmonious coexistence between people and nature.


A high level of morbidity among children with aggravating sociobiological factors (aggravating biological and obstetrical history, complicated newborn period, unhappy family) has been shown. The morbidity rates by cases and by days in different age groups are 1.3-2.8 times higher than those among episodically sick children. Children from unhappy families and those having a combination of 2-3 unfavourable factors in all age groups are to a greater extent suffering from chronic diseases mainly from bronchopulmonary and rhinopharyngeal diseases. Among them a small number of children (2.1-6.6%) have the I group of health. These children are in need of timely and differentiated medicopedagogical correction.


This research attempts to critically analyse selected reported Islamic finance cases that were decided in the English courts. In addition, cases related to Islamic finance from other jurisdictions will also be analysed for comparative purposes. In doing so, the scope of the discussion will focus on the brief facts of each case, the main issues before the court and the judgment delivered by the court. A few issues regarding the international conflict of laws will be highlighted, particularly application of English law principles to Islamic contracts by civil judges. The research concludes with recommendations for ways to resolve international disputes in Islamic finance, highlights the international legal framework for Islamic finance and proposes directions for future research.


It is conjectural how traction works, but the most likely effects are: (1) it alters the relationship between the outgoing nerve root and the inflamed neuro-central joint; (2) during traction circulation in the affected capsule becomes more normal and the oedema is reduced. Once the attack has subsided the previous range of cervical movement normally returns spontaneously, so that it is unnecessary to prescribe neck-mobilizing exercises.-I am, etc.,


The first aim of this study was to establish a profile of age-related normal serum concentrations of osteocalcin (OC) in Ardenner horses. For this first part, blood samples from 49 healthy Ardenner horses were collected. The second aim was to study two biochemical markers of bone metabolism, OC and a carboxy-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX-I), in 30 young Ardenner horses during 1 year. Amongst them, 17 showed lesions of juvenile degenerative joint disease in the distal forelimbs. A specific radioimmunoassay for equine OC was used to measure the serum concentration of the marker. The serum concentration of CTX-I was measured using a commercially available human assay validated for use in the horse. The effect of age, sex, season and health status (with or without lesions) was assessed. Levels of OC fall between birth and the adult stage: this decrease being most marked between birth and 1 year of age. This age-related decrease of OC was confirmed in the 30 young Ardenner horses, but CTX-I levels remained constant in this group. The Levels of the two markers changed significantly with the season with higher concentrations during the winter. No significant difference was shown either between the two sexes or between the two health statuses.


This paper proposes the reduction effect of reconstruction filter for digital signal processing system. It is well known that the reconstruction filter limits the bandwidth of output signal processing and the output signal is staircase form or has high frequency components. For effect reduction we use the nonrecursive system which corresponds with the inverse system function of the reconstruction filter. The initial step starts with the analog system function of the reconstruction filter and is converted to a discrete-time system using the approximation of derivative technique and inverse system. This inverse discrete-time system function is a nonrecursive system to compensate the reduction effect of the reconstruction filter implemented by using the software. For hardware experiments, we use TMS320C31 digital signal processor, D/A, PIC-32 microcontroller, PWM analog output. The experimental results of the proposed principle show that it can be used to compensate the bandwidth and reduce the total harmonic distortion (THD) of high frequency signal. In addition, this experiment shows that the nonrecursive system for compensation uses only first-order system and it does not utilizes any more processor. Furthermore, it is able to increase the performance. The applications are such as digital filtering, digital control and audio processing. They can be done with high accuracy using the proposed principle.


Nonaortic cardiac surgery is associated with a low but significant incidence of type A aortic dissection (AAD). Because there are important differences in clinical presentation, surgical management, and prognosis between spontaneous and late AAD following cardiac surgery, this large multicenter study sought to determine the conditions associated with the high surgical mortality of AAD repair as a complication of nonaortic cardiac surgery and to identify management pathways to improve outcome. We found that operative mortality depends on the type of initial surgery, time to AAD, and, importantly, influenceable management factors. AAD occurred mainly in patients with preexisting aortic wall pathology, identifiable with a slightly enlarged aorta, and hypertension at sites of iatrogenic mechanical trauma. This finding emphasizes most careful surgical handling and potentially a low threshold for prophylactic replacement of the ascending aorta that is without additional operative risk in experienced centers. Diagnosis of AAD warrants a mandatory high index of suspicion and depends primarily on imaging. The majority of patients with previous cardiac surgery had no or nonspecific symptoms when AAD was detected. The single most important factor that was associated with a lower operative mortality was implementation of preoperative coronary angiography and appropriate operative management of CAD and graft disease in patients with previous CABG. Because cardiac tamponade and hemodynamic instability are rare (1%), patients with previous cardiac surgery in stable condition should undergo preoperative native coronary and graft status assessment and appropriate operative planning, including aggressive revascularization and the use of deep hypothermic cardiac arrest.


Widespread Internet use has led to the emergence of several kinds of large-scale social networks in cyberspace, most notably e-mail networks. Unfortunately, the tremendous convenience that e-mail affords comes at a high price: Although the network's underlying connectivity is hidden, making it almost impossible to build a comprehensive directory of every individual's contact lists, e-mail addresses themselves can be easily obtained from publicly available documents. Spammers have exploited this vulnerability to inundate users with unsolicited bulk e-mail. A distributed spam-filtering system that leverages e-mail networks' topological properties is more efficient and scalable than client-server-based solutions. Large-scale simulations of a prototype system reveal that this approach achieves a near-perfect spam-detection rate while minimizing bandwidth cost


In this paper we describe the synthesis of poly(ester ether urethane)s (PEEURs) by using selected raw materials to reach a biocompatible polyurethane (PU) for biomedical applications. PEEURs were synthesized by using aliphatic 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), α,ω-dihydroxy(ethylene-butylene adipate) (Polios), 1,4-butanediol (BDO) as a chain extender and calcium glycerolphosphate salt (GPCa) as a modifier used to stimulate bone tissue regeneration. The obtained unmodified (PURs) and modified with GPCa (PURs-M) PEEURs were studied by various techniques. It was confirmed that urethane prepolymer reacts with GPCa modifier. Further analysis of the obtained PURs and PURs-M by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy revealed the chemical composition typical for PUs by the confirmed presence of urethane bonds. Moreover, the FTIR and Raman spectra indicated that GPCa was incorporated into the main PU chain at least at one-side. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the PURs-M surface was in good agreement with the FTIR and Raman analysis due to the fact that inclusions were observed only at 20% of its surface, which were related to the non-reacted GPCa enclosed in the PUR matrix as filler. Further studies of hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, biocompatibility, short term-interactions, and calcification study lead to the final conclusion that the obtained PURs-M may by suitable candidate material for further scaffold fabrication. Scaffolds were prepared by the solvent casting/particulate leaching technique (SC/PL) combined with thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS). Such porous scaffolds had satisfactory pore sizes (36–100 μm) and porosity (77–82%) so as to be considered as suitable templates for bone tissue regeneration.


This book discusses how music played in the background of a computer-animated history lesson affected participants' memory for facts. A virtual environment was created that delivered the history of Australia's first lighthouse. The history lesson was presented to participants with different musical stimuli in the background and on two different display systems. Results showed that those participants who used a less immersive 3-monitor display system remembered a statistically significant higher number of facts from the historical information than those participants who used a highly immersive 3-projector 'Reality Center' display system. In addition, participants using the less immersive 3-monitor display system remembered significantly more information if no background music was played in the second half of the history lesson as compared to their peers who listened to music in the second half. Conversely, if background music was played during the second half of the history lesson in the more immersive Reality Center, participants had a higher recall of facts as compared to participants who were not exposed to music in the second half of the history lesson.


The European Clinical Trials Directive (CTD) came into force on May 1st 2004. The CTD provides the legal basis for monitoring the safety of clinical trials and covers the requirements for notification of SUSAR. Implementation of the CTD into national legislation in each Member State has resulted in various interpretations of CTD requirements. The objective of this paper is to investigate how the European Member States administer the safety reporting requirements of the CTD and to clarify the requirements for SUSAR notification in the different Member States. Data was collected through publicly available sources and questionnaires sent to the Competent Authorities and Ethics Committees in 30 European countries. The results document that Competent Authorities and Ethics Committees in the different Member States administer the legislation very differently. This has resulted in different requirements for notification of SUSARs in the Member States, as well as different requirements between the Competent Authorities and Ethics Committees in the same Member State. These requirements have not previously been described and the present overview of the legislation and the requirements of SUSAR reporting is of immediate practical use to especially non-commercial sponsors when conducting clinical trials in Europe.


A highly diastereoselective palladium-catalyzed oxidative carbocyclization-borylation of enallenes assisted by a weakly coordinating hydroxyl group was developed. The reaction afforded functionalized cyclohexenol derivatives, in which the 1,3-relative stereochemistry is controlled (d.r. > 50:1). Other weakly coordinating oxygen-containing groups (ketone, alkoxide, acetate) also assisted the carbocyclization toward cyclohexenes. The reaction proceeds via a ligand exchange on Pd of the weakly coordinating group with a distant olefin group. The high diastereoselectivity of the hydroxyl-directed reaction could be rationalized by a face-selective coordination of the distant olefin. It was demonstrated that the primary coordination of the close-by oxygen-containing functionality was necessary for the reaction to occur and removal of this functionality shut down the reaction.


The most direct consequence of the expansion of non-standard employment contracts in labour market becomes "precarious work", which is characterized by job insecurity, job instability and involuntariness for nonpermanent jobs. Non-standard employment forms which are implemented increasingly in service sector as a result of attempts to make Turkish labour market more flexible, make it compulsory to problematize the precarious experience of employees. This qualitative study aims to explore how those, who are employed under fixed-term contracts, experience job insecurity and job instability and whether the experience of precariousness differentiates according to the age, gender and educational level.hdam giderek sonuclarinayginlasmasi ile birlikte ortaya cikan ize edilen egreti calisma durumlarina According to the findings of the semi-structured in-depth interviews made with 21 employees working in cleaning and security sectors operating in Bursa, phenomenon of job insecurity is experienced as the increase of unemployment risk, the danger of not finding a job again in the labour market after falling out of the job, and loss of foresight pertaining to the future in the working life. As for the job instability, it arises as both the gradual loss of employees' abilities to build their careers and postponement of short term and long term decisions in their everyday lives. On the other hand, all participants' accepting their jobs compulsorily completes the precariousness characteristics of their jobs. Furthermore, it was found that those who were influenced by job insecurity and job instability utmost are women and young people who have high level of education. These findings point out that precariousness peculiar to service sector jobs in Turkey causes multi-dimensional problems for temporary employees.


In 1940, the newspaper columnist Westbrook Pegler exposed the criminal past and organized crime connections of George Scalise, the president of the Building Service Employees International Union. Later that same year, Scalise was indicted and then convicted of criminal charges. This widely reported scandal tarnished the labor movement and served to vindicate conservative critics of organized labor, who cited such corruption to support efforts to rein in union power. Scalise's career demonstrates how organized crime came to control certain unions in the 1930s and the various ways corrupt officials used the labor movement for private gain. This scandal also highlights the biased reporting on union corruption, which depicted employers simply as victims, when many of them played a much more complicit role. The real victims were workers, who found themselves forced to join a union organization that did nothing but levy a tax on their employment. For many of these workers this experience left them deeply disillusioned with the labor movement.


We have shown previously that burn trauma activates the stress responsive proteins, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), and NF-&kgr;B, and we have shown further that p38 MAPK is an important mediator of cardiomyocyte TNF-&agr; secretion and cardiac dysfunction in burn trauma. Since burn trauma causes a rise in circulating catecholamine levels, we hypothesized that this increased sympathetic activity may function as an upstream activator of the p38 MARK pathway in burn trauma. This study determined whether the &agr;1-adrenergic receptor ligand phenylephrine could mimic burn trauma activation of p38 MAPK, JNK, and NF-&kgr;B nuclear translocation; and the effect of the &agr;1-adrenergic receptor antagonist prazosin on either phenylephrine or burn-mediated activation of the stress response pathway was examined. Sprague Dawley rats were divided into seven groups: Group 1, controls; Group 2, phenylephrine-treated (2 &mgr;g/kg, i.v.) control rats; Group 3, phenylephrine-treated plus prazosin-treated (1 mg/kg, i.v.) control rats; additional rats were given burn over 40% total body surface area (TBSA) and received vehicle (1 mL of 2% sucrose, PO) plus fluid resuscitation (Group 4), while in Group 5, burn rats were given prazosin (1 mg/kg, PO) plus fluid resuscitation. In Groups 6 and 7, sham-burned rats were given either vehicle (1 mL of 2% sucrose, PO) or prazosin (1 mg/kg, PO) to provide appropriate controls. Administration of phenylephrine to rats caused a significant activation of cardiac p38 MAPK/JNK activities (Western blot) and cardiac NF-&kgr;B nuclear translocation (electrophoretic mobility shift assay, EMSA). Prazosin blocked phenylephrine mediated changes in p38 MAPK/JNK activities. Burn trauma activated cardiac p38 MAPK/JNK and NF-&kgr;B, increased TNF-&agr; secretion by cardiomyocytes, and impaired cardiac function. Prazosin treatment in burns interrupted the burn-mediated signaling cascade, decreasing TNF-&agr; secretion by cardiomyocytes and preventing post-burn cardiac contractile dysfunction. Thus, burn trauma-related sympathetic activity likely activates the stress-responsive cascade, which regulates myocardial TNF-&agr; transcription/translation and culminates in cardiac contraction and relaxation defects.


In 1994, the bacterial parasite Mycoplasma gallisepticum expanded its host range and swept through populations of a novel host — eastern US populations of the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). This epizootic caused a dramatic decline in finch population numbers, has been shown to have caused strong selection on house finch morphology, and presumably caused evolutionary change at the molecular level as finches evolved enhanced resistance. As a first step toward identifying finch genes that respond to infection by Mycoplasma and which may have experienced natural selection by this parasite, we used suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and cDNA macroarray approaches to identify differentially expressed genes regulated by the Mycoplasma parasite. Two subtractive cDNA libraries consisting of 16 512 clones were developed from spleen using an experimentally uninfected bird as the 'tester' and an infected bird as 'driver', and vice versa. Two hundred and twenty cDNA clones corresponding 34 genes with known vertebrate homologues and a large number of novel transcripts were found to be qualitatively up‐ or down‐regulated genes by high‐density filter hybridization. These gene expression changes were further confirmed by a high throughout reverse Northern blot approach and in specific cases by targeted Northern analysis. blast searches show that heat shock protein (HSP) 90, MHC II‐associated invariant chain (CD74), T‐cell immunoglobulin mucin 1 (TIM1), as well as numerous novel expressed genes not found in the databases were up‐ or down‐regulated by the host in response to this parasite. Our results and macroarray resources provide a foundation for molecular co‐evolutionary studies of the Mycoplasma parasite and its recently colonized avian host.


A multinomial logit analysis is employed to analyze consumers' perceptions about purchasing biotech foods and their preferences for mandatory and voluntary labeling. Results showed that consumers who are sensitive to the possible side effects of biotech crops on wildlife and the environment are more likely to support a mandatory labeling policy. Results also indicated that respondents who believe biotech foods may have unforeseen health risks are more likely to favor mandatory labeling. Furthermore, the study found that respondents who are willing to buy a meat product produced using biotechnology are more likely to favor a voluntary labeling policy.


Desiccant systems have been proposed as energy saving alternatives to vapor compression air conditioning for handling the latent load. Desiccants are classified as either liquid or solid. The main components for a liquid desiccant system are the dehumidification and regeneration towers. This paper presents the results from a study of the performance of a packed tower absorber for lithium chloride desiccant dehumidification system. A finite difference model was developed to determine the packing height of the dehumidification towers. The finite difference model was written in MATLAB language which is a suitable model to measure the optimum height of a tower. The paper also examines the effects of different design parameters on the height of a packed tower using a mathematical model. The effects of air and liquid flow rates, air humidity, desiccant temperature and concentration were reported on the packing height and humidity effectiveness of the column. In conclusion the results of the present study are compared with previous experimental studies.


Identifying the significance of specific concepts in the diffusion of scientific knowledge is a challenging issue concerning many theoretical and practical areas. We introduce an innovative visual analytic approach to integrate microscopic and macroscopic perspectives of a rapidly growing scientific knowledge domain. Specifically, our approach focuses on statistically unexpected phrases extracted from unstructured text of titles and abstracts at the microscopic level in association with the magnitude and timeliness of their citation impact at the macroscopic level. The H-index, originally defined to measure individual scientists. productivity in terms of their citation profiles, is extended in two ways: 1) to papers and terms as a means of dividing these items into two groups so as to replace the less optimal threshold-based divisions, and 2) to take into account the timeliness of the impact of knowledge diffusion in terms of the timing of citations and publications so that attention is particularly drawn towards potentially significant and timely papers. The selected terms are connected to higher-level performance indicators, such as measures derived from the H-index, in the form of decision trees. A top-down traversal of such decision trees provides an intuitive walkthrough of concepts and phrases that may underline potentially significant but currently still latent scientific discoveries. Timeliness measures can also help to identify institutions that are at the forefront of a research field. We illustrate how widely accessible tools such as Google Earth can be utilized to disseminate such insights. The practical significance for digital libraries and fostering scientific discoveries is demonstrated through the astronomical literature related to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).


A modifed technique that allows in vivo study microcirculation in the rat lungs using a special camera. Feature of the method is stable fixation of lung tissue, which prevents its displacement during the study. Imaged surface of the lung tissue (alveoli with surrounding them on all sides capillaries).


Objectives We explored patient perceptions regarding physician attire in different clinical contexts and resultant effects on the physician–patient relationship. Setting The 900-bed University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. Participants A convenience sample of patients receiving care in dermatology, infectious diseases and neurology ambulatory clinics of the University Hospital Zurich participated in a paper-based survey. Primary and secondary outcome measures The survey instrument was randomised and showed photographs of male or female physicians wearing various forms of attire. On the basis of the respondents' ratings of how the physician's attire affected perceptions across five domains (knowledgeable, trustworthy, caring, approachable and comfort with the physician), a composite preference score for attire was calculated as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included variation in preferences by respondent characteristics and context in which care was provided. Results Of 834 patient respondents (140 in dermatology, 422 in infectious diseases and 272 in neurology), 298 (36%) agreed that physician attire was important. When compared with all available choices, the combination of white scrubs with white coat was rated highest while a business suit ranked lowest. Variation in preferences and opinions for attire were noted relative to respondent demographics and the clinical setting in which the survey was administered. For example, compared with younger patients, respondents ≥65 years of age more often reported that physician dress was both important to them and influenced how happy they were with their care (p=0.047 and p=0.001, respectively). Conclusions Outpatients at a large Swiss University hospital prefer their physicians to be dressed in white scrubs with white coat. Substantial variation among respondents based on demographics, type of physician and clinical setting were observed. Healthcare systems should consider context of care when defining policies related to dress code.


Diabetes is a disorder affecting various-aged humans and which can with time cause serious problems for the patient. Medicinal plants are known for their hypoglycemic effects; and among which is ginger (Zingiber officinale) known also for its culinary uses. This study, therefore, was undertaken to evaluate the histological effect of 21-day treatment of aqueous ginger extract used at 500 mg / kg BW on female diabetic rats. Fifteen female albino rats were divided into three groups; Group I: control, Group II: non-treated diabetic, and Group III: ginger extract-treated diabetic rats. The ginger extract-treated diabetic group received the daily dose orally for three weeks. Results show that organ weight was not significantly changed. Light microscopic examination of 5µm sections of extract-treated Kidney and Lung of the diabetic rats revealed approximately normal histological structure compared with the untreated ones. The normal appearance of glomeruli and alveoli as well as the normal alveolar wall assumed the ameliorative effect ginger aqueous extract could have on kidney and lung of diabetic rats. These results indicated that this dose of ginger extract may be effective in the treatment of diabetic rats.


A GaAs dynamic logic family using the feedthrough evaluation concept is presented in this paper. Feedthrough logic (FTL) allows the outputs to be partially generated before the input signals arrive. A modified version of this logic, where the function and its complement are implemented in a differential structure, is also introduced. In an FTL gate, the logic outputs are reset to low during the high phase of the clock and evaluated during the low phase of the clock. Resetting to low alleviates the problems of charge sharing and leakage current associated with the other GaAs dynamic logic families. FTL logic functions can be cascaded in a domino-like fashion without a need for the intervening inverters. We employ this novel concept to design several arithmetic circuits. We compare a 4-bit ripple carry adder in FTL with the other published works in terms of device count, area, delay, clock rate and power consumption. The results demonstrate that FTL is the simplest, the fastest, and consumes least power. In addition, our FTL design compares very well with the standard CMOS technology. FTL gates are fully compatible with direct coupled field-effect transistor logic (DCFL), and therefore, can be included in a DCFL standard cell library for improving cell-based ASIC performance. To match the high-speed of the FTL combinational blocks, we present a single-ended latch for pipelining the FTL blocks. Comparisons with the other published results demonstrate the superior performance of our dynamic latch.


This paper documents the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on the Colombian labor market using household micro-data. About a quarter of employment was temporarily disrupted at the height of the first pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020. Women, the young, and the less educated were the most affected groups. Since then, a remarkable recovery, led by a rebound in informal employment, has taken place. By adjusting both employment levels and hours faster, the informal sector acted as an important margin of adjustment, particularly in those industries most affected by the first lockdown. The informal sector also appears to have played a role in decreasing the sensitivity of aggregate employment to more recent lockdowns in 2021, as the economy has learned to cope with pandemic restrictions, although the possibility of higher informality rates becoming embedded remains an substantial downside risk for long-term productivity. JEL Classification Numbers: J20, J21, J46, J48


The study aimed at verifying the effectiveness of and intervention program for increasing the emotional intelligence and reducing the emotional behavioural difficulties of fourth grade pupils at the Governorate of Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. The participants included 52 pupils divided into two groups: an experimental group of 26 pupils and a control group of 26 pupils. The researcher verified suitability based on psychological variables namely: Emotional Intelligence (EQ) using the Bar-On measure, and cognitive intelligence test using the Raven's consecutive colorful Matrices; and the emotional and behavioural problems using a scale developed by the researcher in a previous study. The Tagharid Intervention Programme (TIP) was developed based on the theory of Bar-On EQ, including activities consisting of 18 training sessions. The duration of each session was ninety (90) minutes, two meetings per week. After verifying the validity of the intervention programme by specialists, the programme was applied to pupils of the experimental group, and after the completion of the probationary period post tests were applied (EQ scale, and the OMBEP). The results of the intervention programme showed a statistically significant increase in the experimental group pupils' emotional intelligence and a statistically significant reduction in the their emotional behavioural difficulties.


This is the first contribution to a worldwide taxonomic revision of the closely related genera Haplosyllis (the main goal is to describe species within the Haplosyllis spongicola complex) and Geminosyllis . The type species, Haplosyllis spongicola , is re-described based on the syntypes and other material collected from Spanish seas. A combined taxonomic and morphometric (i.e. PCA and discriminant analysis) approach was used to study species of the Haplosyllis spongicola complex from Spanish seas. Two of them are described here as new: Haplosyllis carmenbritoae n. sp. from the Canary Islands, and Geminosyllis granulosa n. sp. from Iberian and western Mediterranean waters, and which is attributed to Geminosyllis due to the presence of a pharyngeal trepan. The third species, which also belongs to Geminosyllis , is morphologically very close to, and morphometrically indistinguishable from, H. spongicola , except for the presence of the trepan. This casts serious doubts on the relevance of this structure for separating the two genera and thus prevents us from describing this last species as new.


In wireless networks, it is well established that the throughput can be increased by opportunistically scheduling transmissions to users that have good channel conditions. Several "opportunistic" medium access control protocols have been developed, which enable distributed users to opportunistically transmit without requiring a centralized scheduler. In this paper, we consider opportunistic splitting algorithms, where a sequence of mini-slots is used to determine the appropriate user to schedule at each time. In prior work, this type of algorithm has been developed for homogeneous systems in which all users have independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) channel statistics. Here, we specify new splitting algorithms for a heterogeneous environment that may also include fairness constraints. The performance of the splitting algorithms are characterized via analysis and simulations. In particular, we show that in certain cases, a heterogeneous algorithm will perform at least as well as the homogeneous algorithm in a system with the same total number of users.


These letters are focused on the relationship between Giuseppe Levi and the Olivetti family. The core is represented by some beautiful letters of Camillo Olivetti to Giuseppe Levi, written between the late of 1939 and the early 1940. Camillo, my grandfather, was born in 1868, Levi's in 1872, and at that time were two elderly gentlemen, but still very active and concerned, being both Jewish, of their future. What clearly emerges from these letters is the character of these two individuals, the love that bound them and the ability to launch life projects despite hard times and advanced age. I think that this reading it can be useful not only to learn more about Professor Levi, but also to teach how to not succumb in face of difficulties. Key words: History - 20th Century - History of Medicine - Rockefeller Institute - Scientific Biography - Italy


Over the past few years, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks have grown extensively and dramatically changed large-scale file transfer. One of the most popular P2P network is the BitTorrent system. BitTorrent can efficiently distribute large files by optimizing the use of network bandwidth and providing scalability. Due to the open and anonymous nature of P2P systems BitTorrent also provides an ideal environment for distribution of malicious, low quality, or doctored information. A number of reputation systems, including P2PRep with its successors XRep and X2Rep, had been proposed to address security weaknesses of Gnutella P2P file sharing networks. Although it has been claimed that these methods are also applicable to the other file sharing networks, it is not clear how to achieve this task. Moreover, some of the shortcomings of these reputation systems such as online-polling only and cold-start may be exploited by malicious attackers. In this paper, we propose a reputation system, called X2BTRep, which is an extension of the X2Rep and for BitTorrent network. We show that the proposed system improves the security and the quality of information distributed over P2P networks.


Abstract. Embedded smart cameras are gaining in popularity for a number of real-time outdoor surveillance applications. However, there are still challenges, i.e., computational latency, variation in illumination, and occlusion. To solve these challenges, multimodal systems, integrating multiple imagers can be utilized. However, trade-off is more stringent requirements on processing and communication for embedded platforms. To meet these challenges, we investigated two low-complexity and high-performance preprocessing architectures for a multiple imagers' node on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). In the proposed architectures, majority of the tasks are performed on the thermal images because of the lower spatial resolution. Analysis with different sets of images show that the system with proposed architectures offers better detection performance and can reduce output data from 1.7 to 99 times as compared with full-size images. The proposed architectures can achieve a frame rate of 53 fps, logics utilization from 2.1% to 4.1%, memory consumption 987 to 148 KB and power consumption in the range of 141 to 163 mW on Artix-7 FPGA. This concludes that the proposed architectures offer reduced design complexity and lower processing and communication requirements while retaining the configurability of the system.


This study aims to find out how Ijarah in Islamic finance. This research is a type of library research (libraty research) which focuses on qualitative data management with data analysis methods using descriptive-analysis method. The results of this study are: In Banking, two types of Ijarah. The first ijarah is done in cash between the bank as a renter and the one who rents out services. The second ijarah is made in installments between banks as tenants to customers. The bank also takes advantage of this ijarah transaction. Islamic banks that operate ijarah products do leasing, both in the form of operating leases or financial leases. But in general, more Islamic banks use ijarah vomiting tamlik bit (IMBT) because it is simpler in terms of bookkeeping. Ijarah contract development is also known as ijarah muntia bi at-tamlik (IMBT).


Many anticancer therapies function largely by inducing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) or altering the ability of cancer cells to repair them. Proper and timely DNA repair requires dynamic changes in chromatin assembly and disassembly characterized by histone H3 lysine 56 acetylation (H3K56ac) and phosphorylation of the variant histone H2AX (γH2AX). Similarly, histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) functions in DNA repair, but its role in controlling dynamic changes in chromatin structure following DSBs and the histone chaperone complexes involved remain unknown. Therefore, we investigated the role of the H2B ubiquitin ligase RNF40 in the DSB response. We show that RNF40 depletion results in sustained H2AX phosphorylation and a decrease in rapid cell cycle checkpoint activation. Furthermore, RNF40 knockdown resulted in decreased H3K56ac and decreased recruitment of the facilitates chromatin transcription (FACT) complex to chromatin following DSB. Knockdown of the FACT component suppressor of Ty homolog-16 (SUPT16H) phenocopied the effects of RNF40 knockdown on both γH2AX and H3K56ac following DSB induction. Consistently, both RNF40 and SUPT16H were required for proper DNA end resection and timely DNA repair, suggesting that H2Bub1 and FACT cooperate to increase chromatin dynamics, which facilitates proper checkpoint activation and timely DNA repair. These results provide important mechanistic insights into the tumor suppressor function of H2Bub1 and provide a rational basis for pursuing H2Bub1-based therapies in conjunction with traditional chemo- and radiotherapy.


Two diametrically opposed decisions pit creditors against debtors. The case of troubled homebuilder TOUSA has generated shockwaves through the lending industry. Set against the backdrop of the housing collapse and risky lending, the bankruptcy court's decision left secured creditors with a mixture of shock, anger, and worry over the repercussions. In that opinion, the bankruptcy court unwound a nearly $1 billion transaction of liens and loan proceeds, on grounds that the transactions drove the debtor company into the ground. In other words, the court found that a fraudulent transfer had occurred. Not surprisingly, the lenders appealed and the next decision in what surely will be a long line of TOUSA opinions unwound the bankruptcy court's decision – for a limited set of defendants – and effectively blessed the transaction. How can two opinions couched in the same facts disagree so vehemently at nearly every twist and turn of the case? This article examines the TOUSA I and TOUSA II opinions. It assesses the holdings and reasoning related to fraudulent transfers, reasonably equivalent value, and indirect benefits. It compares the contrasting approaches and attempts to frame the issues for the case's eventual turn in the Eleventh Circuit Court Appeals. Last, this article focuses on the effects of TOUSA I and TOUSA II and whether the prognostications are inevitable or mere puffery.


Text-to-image diffusion models show great potential in synthesizing a large variety of concepts in new compositions and scenarios. However, the latent space of initial seeds is still not well understood and its structure was shown to impact the generation of various concepts. Specifically, simple operations like interpolation and finding the centroid of a set of seeds perform poorly when using standard Euclidean or spherical metrics in the latent space. This paper makes the observation that, in current training procedures, diffusion models observed inputs with a narrow range of norm values. This has strong implications for methods that rely on seed manipulation for image generation, with applications to few-shot and long-tail learning tasks. To address this issue, we propose a novel method for interpolating between two seeds and demonstrate that it defines a new non-Euclidean metric that takes into account a norm-based prior on seeds. We describe a simple yet efficient algorithm for approximating this interpolation procedure and use it to further define centroids in the latent seed space. We show that our new interpolation and centroid techniques significantly enhance the generation of rare concept images. This further leads to state-of-the-art performance on few-shot and long-tail benchmarks, improving prior approaches in terms of generation speed, image quality, and semantic content.


The Brazilian telenovela, as a work in progress, is built on the articulation of authorship and management of audience fluctuations. It is an important object of study to bethink the dynamics of television in certain historical moments. If Brazilian telenovelas are closely aligned with the contexts in which they are broadcast, to what extent do they mediate the perception of the country's social, political and economic reality? This article is based on the hypothesis that certain interventions from executives in the plots results in the usurpation of authorship, especially at times when authoritarian postures tend to institutionalize. As these impositions implodes the foundations of a genre marked by authorial signature, our goal is to analyze the impacts on authorship when subtracted from its intertextuality and vision of the world. Our empirical object is the telenovela Babilônia (TV Globo, 2015), the last work by author Gilberto Braga (1945-2021) to be produced by Globo, in partnership with João Ximenes Braga and Ricardo Linhares, and which recorded the lowest 9pm slot audience rating ever. The concept-method to be used is that of communicational biography, which will guide the analysis through the articulation between different types of texts: the synopsis, the 80 chapters originally written compared to the chapters modified by imposition of the company's management; autobiographical accounts; and the repercussion on specialized criticism.


In this research thin film layers have been prepared at alternate layers of resistive and dielectric deposited on appropriate substrates to form four-terminal R-Y-NR network. If the gate of the MOS structures deposited as a strip of resistor film like NiCr, the MOS structure can be analyzed as R-Y-NR network. A method of analysis has been proposed to measure the shunt capacitance and the shunt conductance of certain MOS samples. Extensive literature survey has been conducted to shed some light on this particular topic has indicated a asperity of work actually addressing this issue thus indicating that there is need for further research. Mat lab program has been used to compute shunt capacitance and shunt conductance at different frequencies. The results computed by this method have been compared with the results obtained by LCR meter method and showed perfect coincident with each other. Key word: Layers of resistive and dielectric The shunt capacitance The shunt conductance Film layers LCR meter method


Sleeplessness is a common problem in modern world. But importance and results of sleeplessness in terms of consumer behaviors is an overlooked research area. Related studies take into consideration the issue in terms of health. Moreover there is not seen a field research evaluating this issue from this viewpoint in Turkey. Present study is conducted to point out possible relationships among sleeplessness and major consumer decision making styles. In order to reach this objective, a survey is applied to vocational high school students which are selected with convenience sampling. Gathered data is analyzed with statistical data analyzing program and results are interpreted. According to data analysis results, it is concluded that sleeplessness is positively related with "indecision and confusion" and "careless decision". Moreover it is depicted that sleeplessness is negatively related with "shopping avoidance". In summary, the idea of sleeplessness can have important role in consumer behavior is supported. Although research results cannot be generalized to all consumers, the results give important insights for young consumers. By taking into consideration the research results, more effective marketing decisions can be made especially by marketers targeting consumers who are young and face sleeplessness problem. Further the sleeplessness can be researched by scholars in terms of other consumer behavior and attitude dimensions like; post-purchase consumer behaviors, consumer price sensitivity, search behavior, consumer attention to advertising etc.


Photoacclimation models are a prerequisite for accurate estimates of primary production in aquatic environments under typically variable light conditions. They generally start from empiri- cal functions of the internal chlorophyll a (chl a) or nutrient quota (e.g. the Droop model). We propose that physiological variations in phytoplankton reflect phenotypic adaptation which maximizes the growth rate. Growth maximization has to account for indirect effects of the enhancement of carbon (C) acquisition by acclimation, primarily through concomitant changes in the intracellular nitrogen (N) budget. Our model expresses, for the first time, the indirect effect of alterations in N uptake on C assimilation by a parameter-free trade-off between the 2 uptake functions. The model explicitly pre- scribes optimal protein partitioning between N and C uptake and sub-partitioning into carboxylation (1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, Rubisco) and light harvesting. Applications to various published experimental data for different phytoplankton species support the validity of the optimal- ity hypothesis and point to different flexibility in the re-organization of chloroplasts between taxa as well as to different time-scales on which photoacclimation operates. Simulations of a batch culture with the haptophyte Isochrysis galbana show that a decoupling in pigment N:C from cellular N:C may explain observed lag phases in chl a:C regulation. For diatoms, seemingly stronger constraints in intra-cellular stoichiometry determine the photoacclimative response to variable light regimes, as simulated and reported for Skeletonema costatum. N and chl a quotas correlate well in nutrient- limited chemostats of Thalassiosira fluviatilis, but in part decouple under light limitation. In N limited growth, non-linearity in N:C as expressed by the Droop function results from a combination of a linear quota dependency, down-regulation of relative carboxylation capacity, and increasing N costs of chl a synthesis at elevated growth rates. Our optimality assumption that includes indirect feed- backs through the concept of protein partitioning generates an accurate model for adaptation in physiological traits.


N-trimellitylimido-L-methionine (3) as optically active diacid monomer was prepared by the reaction of trimellitic anhydride (1) with L-methionine (2) in acetic acid solution at refluxing temperature. The direct polycondensation of this amide-imide diacid monomer 3 with several aromatic diamines was carried out with tosyl chloride (TsCl)/triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO)/pyridine (Py) system (method I) and thionyl chloride (SOCl2)/Py system (method II) as condensing agents. For both methods I and II the optimized conditions for the reaction time, reaction temperature, aging time, amount of TPPO and TsCl were selected for polyamidation. The resulting novel poly(amide-imide)s (PAIs) were obtained in good yields. The inherent viscosities and thermal stability of the resulting PAIs from these methods were compared. The polymers obtained were fully characterized by IR, specific rotation, 1H-NMR spectra, elemental and thermogravimetric analyses.


BACKGROUND
Mechanical impairment of valve function by biofilms is considered to cause loss of function of voice prostheses in laryngectomized patients. Material deterioration and infiltrative growth of Candida associated biofilms have already been observed on Groningen Buttons. Goal of the study was the examination of biofilm formation and material damages on PROVOX2 voice prostheses.

METHODS
20 PROVOX2 voice prostheses were withdrawn from 17 laryngectomized patients due to aspiration (mean in-vivo time: 118 d, median 98 d). Microbial spectrum, colonization patterns and morphologies of prosthesis damage were assessed using standard microbiologic procedures and scanning electron microscopy.

RESULTS
Biofilm with various growth patterns predominantly adhered to the esophageal parts of the prostheses. Microbiologic findings showed Candida species as main colonisers on esophageal surfaces. Different morphologies of surface alteration and material infiltration of the polymer material were identified on 8 prostheses with 35 d of in-vivo time minimum.

CONCLUSION
Valve dysfunction of PROVOX2 voice prostheses can be attributed to biofilm formation on esophageal surfaces and edges of the valve flap and seating. The identified morphologies of material damage and invasive growth indicate towards lytic processes of the polymer material due to Candida associated biofilms.