Integrating health education and health promotion into practice is routinely done by nurses. According to a national survey, the need for mental health services has increased in over two thirds of school districts.This article describes the screening of 193 adolescents in Rural Western Pennsylvania's 9th, 10th, and 11th graders for depressive symptoms. Ten percent (N=19) of students had depressive symptoms, the majority of which were female. These students were interviewed by the research team. The outcome themes and referrals are reported as well as the discussion of implications for nurses in screening for depression and health promotion.


A new surface micromachining method based on porous silicon formation followed by electropolishing is presented in this paper. It generates in a single electrochemical etch step a plate of porous silicon, releases it from the substrate without using a sacrificial layer and lifts it out of plane. The plate can be rotated by a thermal bimorph actuator. Large, flat, astuatable flip-up plates of porous silicon have been realized with a typical thickness of 30 mum and areas ranging from 250 mum by 750 mum to 2400 mum by 4000 mum. They can be turned by up to 90 degrees in the DC mode and show resonances at 60 Hz to 3 kHz, depending on the size. Its applications are microoptical systems like scanner mirrors or tunable optical filters. Layer density modulations in the porous silicon plate give an interference filter that can be tuned by tilting and serve as microspectrometer. The wavelength resolution is less than 20 nm in the visible.


The radiographic findings in the acute phase of Legionella pneumonia are generally non-specific and have been previously documented. A retrospective assessment of 12 patients with this bacterial pneumonia revealed that resolution of the radiographic findings was prolonged in five. The predominant feature in such patients is the transient finding of interstitial consolidation following the air-space consolidation, not unlike that of Mycoplasma or viral pneumonia. Eventual return to normal was evident in three patients and residual parenchymal fibrosis was noted in two patients.


The effects of benzene and its metabolites, phenol and hydroquinone, on natural killer (NK) activity in mouse spleen cells in vitro were studied. NK activity was evaluated by the specific release percentage of 51Cr from labeled YAC-1 cells after YAC-1 cells (target cells) were incubated with spleen cells (effector cells) of mice at ratios of effector cells to target cells (E/T) of 100/1, 50/1, and 25/1. Benzene was shown to inhibit NK activity at concentrations of 1×10-5 M5×10-5 M, phenol at concentrations of 1×10-75×10-5 M and hydroquinone at concentrations of 1×10-6 M1×10-5 M. Phenol and hydroquinone depressed NK activity in a dose-dependent manner.This study demonstrated that NK cell function of mouse spleen was depressed by exposure to benzene and its metabolites in vitro. Hydroquinone and phenol have very potent toxicity for suppression of immunosurveillance.


ABSTRACT This paper draws on our recent research into Muslim youth identities to consider theoretical and methodological issues with respect to gender and Muslim women's agency. Western constructions of Muslim women often portray them in essentialised ways as subordinated and without agency. We take up alternative theoretical frameworks that illuminate the limitations of modern understandings of the self and agency, and in particular their problematic association of agency with autonomy. These alternative frameworks also alert us to the possibilities of a different 'ethics of the self' in which cultivation of Islamic values and submission to the will of God can involve agonistic work on the self which is not without agency. They prompt us to consider the methodological limitations of our research approach, in particular how this agonistic work on the self could readily be flattened and rendered invisible within a focus group discussion. We reflect on the kinds of research spaces which could have been more productive for a richer portrayal of Muslim women's agency. We then turn to our data to explore the complex entanglements of our participants' submission and agency, indicating the different ways female youth assumed, negotiated, and contested 'subordinated' identities.


Creating a highly productive export-oriented agricultural sector of the economy and increasing the efficiency of agricultural production in agriculture is possible on the basis of stimulating innovation and investment. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of investment resources on the activation of innovative processes on the example of the livestock industry and to develop recommendations for increasing the innovation and investment activity of agriculture in the context of the formation of an export-oriented economy. The author's paradigm of increasing innovation and investment activity in the agricultural sector of the economy is formed on the basis of the concept of NIS, diffusion of innovations, as well as theories of structural transformation of the economy. As a result of the analysis and evaluation of the innovation and investment development of agriculture, tendencies have been identified for increasing innovative activity and the imbalance between the existing innovative potential and the effectiveness of its use. Differentiation of regions by the level of provision with investments in fixed assets in agriculture was carried out, interregional differences were revealed. The developed author's methodology for assessing the level of innovation of the livestock industry in the Russian regions will allow us to formulate approaches to improving the structural investment policy. The practical significance of the results of the study is to develop a scheme for the development of organizational and economic support for increasing innovation activity in the context of the formation of an export-oriented agricultural sector of the economy.


Astley Cooper and Benjamin Travers were two of the most influential surgeons of the early 19th century. They jointly wrote a book entitled 'Surgical Essays', which was published in 1818. The essays were on a variety of subjects such as dislocation, wounds, ligatures on the aorta and an essay on tumours. The two volume book contained only a single essay on an eye related subject by Benjamin Travers. Both volumes are included in the antiquarian library of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists. A third volume with another essay on an ophthalmic subject written by Travers was intended but never materialised.

The 40 page essay by Travers, consisting mainly of case histories was on the subject of …


This article focuses on religiousness and spirituality in the art works of psychiatric patients of Nikkilä Hospital, Finland. The pictures analysed here belong to a collection held at the Helsinki City Museum and they were made during the twentieth century. The theoretical frame of the study is a cultural study of mental health. The collection is approached as presenting a specific kind of imagery which has connections not only to the personal history and diagnoses of the patients; their cultural context and hospital environment is also taken into account. The religiousness and spirituality of the Nikkilä collection are also compared with outsider art and examples of art history internationally.


Importance End-of-life care costs are high and decedents often experience poor quality of care. Numerous factors influence changes in site of death, health care transitions, and burdensome patterns of care. Objective To describe changes in site of death and patterns of care among Medicare decedents. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective cohort study among a 20% random sample of 1 361 870 decedents who had Medicare fee-for-service (2000, 2005, 2009, 2011, and 2015) and a 100% sample of 871 845 decedents who had Medicare Advantage (2011 and 2015) and received care at an acute care hospital, at home or in the community, at a hospice inpatient care unit, or at a nursing home. Exposures Secular changes between 2000 and 2015. Main Outcomes and Measures Medicare administrative data were used to determine site of death, place of care, health care transitions, which are changes in location of care, and burdensome patterns of care. Burdensome patterns of care were based on health care transitions during the last 3 days of life and multiple hospitalizations for infections or dehydration during the last 120 days of life. Results The site of death and patterns of care were studied among 1 361 870 decedents who had Medicare fee-for-service (mean [SD] age, 82.8 [8.4] years; 58.7% female) and 871 845 decedents who had Medicare Advantage (mean [SD] age, 82.1 [8.5] years; 54.0% female). Among Medicare fee-for-service decedents, the proportion of deaths that occurred in an acute care hospital decreased from 32.6% (95% CI, 32.4%-32.8%) in 2000 to 19.8% (95% CI, 19.6%-20.0%) in 2015, and deaths in a home or community setting that included assisted living facilities increased from 30.7% (95% CI, 30.6%-30.9%) in 2000 to 40.1% (95% CI, 39.9%-30.3% ) in 2015. Use of the intensive care unit during the last 30 days of life among Medicare fee-for-service decedents increased from 24.3% (95% CI, 24.1%-24.4%) in 2000 and then stabilized between 2009 and 2015 at 29.0% (95% CI, 28.8%-29.2%). Among Medicare fee-for-service decedents, health care transitions during the last 3 days of life increased from 10.3% (95% CI, 10.1%-10.4%) in 2000 to a high of 14.2% (95% CI, 14.0%-14.3%) in 2009 and then decreased to 10.8% (95% CI, 10.6%-10.9%) in 2015. The number of decedents enrolled in Medicare Advantage during the last 90 days of life increased from 358 600 in 2011 to 513 245 in 2015. Among decedents with Medicare Advantage, similar patterns in the rates for site of death, place of care, and health care transitions were observed. Conclusions and Relevance Among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who died in 2015 compared with 2000, there was a lower likelihood of dying in an acute care hospital, an increase and then stabilization of intensive care unit use during the last month of life, and an increase and then decline in health care transitions during the last 3 days of life.


In the current work, alumina modified natural zeolite (Z-Al) was used for fluoride adsorption in aqueous solution. Effects of process parameters such as pH, temperature, initial concentration and contact time were investigated. Box–Behnken design was found effective in defining the operating conditions for fluoride sorption onto Z-Al. Confirmatory experiments were conducted to examine the reliability of the regression equation. The predicted (2.261 mg g −1 ) and experimental (2.289 mg g −1 ) capacities were found to be similar, demonstrating the accuracy of the model. The fluoride adsorption onto Z-Al was well described by the Freundlich model. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption followed a pseudo-second-order reaction. Thermodynamic parameters depicted that the fluoride adsorption on the alumina modified zeolite was a spontaneous and exothermic process. The co-existing ions affected the defluoridation performance significantly. Regeneration of exhausted Z-Al was achieved with H 2 SO 4 .


Abstract. Laser-scanning optical microscopes generally do not control the polarization of the exciting laser field. We show that laser polarization and imaging mode (confocal versus two photon) exert a profound influence on the ability to detect Ca2+ changes in both cultured neurons and living myelin. With two-photon excitation, increasing ellipticity resulted in a ≈50% reduction in resting X-Rhod-1 fluorescence in homogeneous bulk solution, cell cytoplasm, and myelin. In contrast, varying the angle of a linearly polarized laser field only had appreciable effects on dyes that partitioned into myelin in an ordered manner. During injury-induced Ca2+ increases, larger ellipticities resulted in a significantly greater injury-induced signal increase in neurons, and particularly in myelin. Indeed, the traditional method of measuring Ca2+ changes using one-photon confocal mode with linearly polarized continuous wave laser illumination produced no appreciable X-Rhod-1 signal increase in ischemic myelin, compared to a robust ≈50% fluorescence increase with two-photon excitation and optimized ellipticity with the identical injury paradigm. This underscores the differences in one- versus two-photon excitation and, in particular, the under-appreciated effects of laser polarization on the behavior of certain Ca2+ reporters, which may lead to substantial underestimates of the real Ca2+ fluctuations in various cellular compartments.


This paper studies the impacts of the 2011 flood on preferences, subjective expectations, and behavioral choices among Thai rice-farming households. Our results show that experiencing the 2011 flood made farming households more risk averse, more impatient, and more altruistic, and that asset-poor farming households were more likely to be affected by the flood than better-off households. The flood also made households adjust upward their subjective expectations of future severe floods. After being hit by the 2011 flood, households lost their confidence in social safety nets, signifying the limitations of risk-sharing in the presence of covariate shocks. Middle-income households who were not prone to floods had higher expectations of public insurance following the flood. Mediating through the changes of preferences and subjective expectations, the flooded households were less likely to save money and engage in self-insurance mechanisms, as well as to invest in productive investments, but more likely to take out commercial crop insurance, especially those in the bottom and middle wealth groups. These findings shed light on the design of incentivecompatible safety nets and development interventions.


This chapter discusses the role of trust for social progress and people's well-being. It reviews the different definitions and types of trust, including rational trust, moral trust and social preferences, as well as the state of existing statistics on trust. The chapter argues in favour of the definition of trust provided by the OECD Guidelines on Measuring Trust as "a person's belief that another person or institution will act consistently with their expectations of positive behaviour". It looks at why trust matters for the well-being of people and the country where they live, and assesses the available evidence on its role in supporting social and economic relations. It analyses trust between individuals (inter-personal trust) and trust in institutions (institutional trust) as determinants of economic growth, social cohesion and well-being, as a crucial component for policy reform and for the legitimacy and sustainability of any political system. Finally, the chapter stresses the importance of integrating survey measures of trust into the routine data collection activities of National Statistical Offices, and of implementing quasi-experimental measures of trust and other social norms based on representative samples of the population as a complement to traditional survey questions.


Quantitative estimation of surface erosion of the soil, is not a current topic, the approach a working methodology for this purpose is temporal "localized" in 1950, when some researchers from the National Runoff and Soil Loss Data Center and Purdue University have made an empirical equation for the quantitative determination of eroded soil. In 1978, Wischmeier and Smith, gives Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), an equation designed to calculate the annual mean soil loss from agricultural lands. This study aims is to estimate the amount of annually soil lost by surface erosion, using specific methods and Geographyc Information Sistems data, in the administrative territory Traian Vuia, Timis County. The values of the equation coefficients were taken from the literature, under specific environmental conditions of the study area. For the calculation of some of the factors they were used satellite images. For the said territory, the average annual of soil loss through erosion ranges from 0 to 72.46 t/ha/year, these values having territorial distribution depending on the environmental conditions of each subunits. Given that data and maps were used to average scale, in the micro-regions, surface erosion can occur with greater intensity. The large number of methods of determination, but also, large differences in coefficient values used, can be detected by quantitative differences in the estimations.


Independently of the medial representation (written/spoken), language can exhibit characteristics of conceptual orality or literacy, which mainly manifest themselves on the lexical or syntactic level. In this paper we aim at automatically identifying conceptually-oral historical texts, with the ultimate goal of gaining knowledge about spoken data of historical time stages. We apply a set of general linguistic features that have been proven to be effective for the classification of modern language data to historical German texts from various registers. Many of the features turn out to be equally useful in determining the conceptuality of historical data as they are for modern data, especially the frequency of different types of pronouns and the ratio of verbs to nouns. Other features like sentence length, particles or interjections point to peculiarities of the historical data and reveal problems with the adoption of a feature set that was developed on modern language data.


The 2009 Update of the Tipping Point report estimates that there are 234 million items of e-waste in or on their way to landfill. The Report shows that a recycling scheme for televisions and computers would create 2,570 jobs nationally by the year 2015. This could be increased to 6,190 new jobs if all electronic waste items were included. Environment Victoria Campaigner Fraser Brindley said that e-waste recycling made economic sense. "The government's own figures show that a recycling scheme for televisions and computers would have a net economic benefit," Mr Brindley said. "We've shown that this will translate into thousands of green collar jobs across the country." Mr Brindley also said that a recycling scheme for televisions and computers was a good start, but that the federal government should include all other e-waste in the future. "Televisions and computers are only 38% of the e-waste going to landfill," Mr Brindley said. "We also need to deal with the mountains of mobile phones, printers, games consoles, videos and stereo that are not being recycled." This 2009 Update follows the release of the consultation regulatory impact statement (RIS) for televisions and computers. This is a government process that will inform the 5 November 2009 meeting of the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC), at which Ministers have promised to announce a recycling scheme for televisions and computers. Image: databhi ♪♫ / Flickr Related links The Tipping Point, December 2008 version (PDF)


The key purpose of these Blending Team products is to instruct treatment providers about a unique, 13-day buprenorphine intervention for opioid dependent patients. To test its effectiveness, he NIDA CTN protocol compared this 13-day buprenorphine taper intervention to an alternative treatment (clonidine detoxification) in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In contrast with the clonidine treatment group, patients who received buprenorphine provided more opioid negative urine samples upon completion of the intervention. The Short-term Opioid Withdawal Using Buprenorphine (Bup Detox) Blending Team designed a training package to instruct treatment providers on the administration of a unique,13-day Buprenorphine taper intervention for opioid dependent patients. Research conducted in both inpatient and outpatient settings by the NIDA Clinical Trials Network demonstrated that, in contrast with the clonidine treatment group, patients receiving Buprenorphine provided more opioid-negative urine samples upon completion of the intervention. This training assumes some basic prior information about what Buprenorphine is and how it is used. -4 hour classroom training providing instruction on using Buprenorphine for opioid dependent patients â?¢PowerPoint presentation â?¢Brochure â?¢Research articles


The paper examines the effect of performance accountability, regional income, e-government, internal audit capabilities, audit responses, and public officials wage on corruption in local government using fraud triangle theory framework. The increasingly widespread corruption cases even though abundance of government's programs have been done to overcome them, let this research seeks to answer whether government's priority programs are aligned with corruption eradication strategy. This paper uses local government panel data in Indonesia from 2010 to 2013 analyzed using multiple linear regression method. The result shows that performance accountability and public official wage have negative effect on corruption, while audit responses have positive effect on corruption. On the other hand, regional income, e-government, and internal audit capabilities show no evidence on effect on corruption. This finding is fairly robust in separate analysis on municipalities and local government outside Sumatra and Java. This paper provides empirical evidence that audit responses can detect corruption whereas performance accountability and the increase in regional income increases can contribute to curbing corruption.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to examine how an increase in the frequency of heavy drinking episodes affects the incidence of drunk driving and (b) to examine whether the effect of alcohol use on drunk driving is contingent on impulsivity.

METHOD
Two waves of the Young in Norway Longitudinal Study were applied (N = 2,603; response rate: 67%), when the respondents were on average 17 (1994) and 28 (2005) years of age. Measurements consisted of self-reported heavy episodic drinking, drunk driving, and impulsivity.

RESULTS
The first difference method was applied to estimate the association between heavy episodic drinking and drunk driving. This means that changes in the frequency of drunk driving were regressed on changes in the frequency of drinking. In this way, the effects of time-invariant confounders were eliminated. The results showed that every additional episode of heavy drinking was associated with a 2.6% increase in the frequency of drunk driving. The increase for males was significantly higher than among females. The analyses supported the hypothesis that impulsivity modifies the association between alcohol use and drunk driving.

CONCLUSIONS
The association between drinking and drunk driving is significantly stronger among those with a high score on impulsivity compared with those who have a low score.


ABSTRACT Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis is a wide-spread soil bacterium affiliated with the B. cereus group (Bcg) and is widely used in biocontrol products applied against mosquito and black fly larvae. For monitoring and quantification of applied B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis and its effect on indigenous B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis and Bcg assemblages, efficient and reliable tools are essential. The abundance and properties of B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis strains in the environment traditionally have been investigated with cultivation-dependent techniques, which are hampered by low sensitivity and the morphological similarity between B. cereus and B. thuringiensis. Currently available PCR-based detection and quantification tools target markers located on plasmids. In this study, a new cultivation-independent PCR-based method for efficient and specific quantification of B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis and Bcg is presented, utilizing two sets of PCR primers targeting the bacterial chromosome. Sequence database searches and empirical tests performed on target and nontarget species, as well as on bulk soil DNA samples, demonstrated that this diagnostic tool is specific for B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis and Bcg. The method will be useful for comparisons of Bcg and B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis abundances in the same samples. Moreover, the effect of B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis-based insecticide application on the total Bcg assemblages, including indigenous populations, can be investigated. This type of information is valuable in risk assessment and policy making for use of B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis in the environment.


Monash University has a serious commitment to repositories and research data management. This is demonstrated by its leadership role in the National Systemic Information Infrastructure projects ARROW http://arrow.edu.au/, DART http://dart.edu.au/ and ARCHER http://archer.edu.au/ as well as the Monash University Information Management Strategy and specific data management activities. In recognition of its commitment to data management, Monash University is now the lead agent in the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) http://ands.org.au/. This is a national project which is working to develop good data management practice, collaboration, infrastructure and services. This paper outlines the development of government policy and programs in Australia as they relate to open access and the development of institutional repositories. It then provides an overview of the Monash University ARROW Repository http://arrow.monash.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Index. The main content of the paper is an examination of the way in which Monash University has responded to policy drivers around open access by establishing a complex, multi-purpose institutional repository that contains not only research publications, but also research data and multimedia research collections, providing discipline-specific support for publishing and dissemination. Conclusions are made about the future of the ARROW repositories and the learnings from the journey outlined above.Clarke, S.; Harrison, A.; Searle, S. Scholarly information repository services at Monash University. Presented at: IATUL 30th Annual Conference; 2009 Jun 1-4; Leuven, Belgium. 11 leaves.handle 1959.1/75384pid monash:9267


The San Miguel sea lion viruses (SMSV) and vesicular exanthema of swine viruses (VESV) are related morphologically and antigenically, but little has been done to determine their genotypic relationship to each other and to other caliciviruses. To examine this relationship, reverse transcriptase PCRs were performed by using oligonucleotide primer sets designed to amplify portions of the 2C RNA helicase-like and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase regions with total cellular RNA purified from virus-infected cell cultures as a template. The 2C RNA helicase primers directed the amplification of this region from eight SMSV serotypes, five VESV serotypes, and four related viruses. The RNA polymerase primer sets amplified products from all these viruses except one. Phylogenetic comparison of the caliciviruses demonstrated that SMSV, VESV, and four related viruses are closely related while being distinct from feline calicivirus, the human caliciviruses (small, round-structured viruses), and rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus and that they should be classified as a single genotype within the Caliciviridae.


In countries where large parts of the population live in absolute poverty, the need for social safety nets may be greatest, but the capacity to fund and administer them can be severely constrained. What role can social safety net programs play in very low income countries (VLICs)? Three major challenges must be faced when deciding what programs would be feasible in a VLIC: Availability of information; Administrative capacity; and, Affordability. Some special considerations of certain types of interventions apply in the specific context of VLICs: Cash transfers; Food and nutrition programs; and, Agricultural inputs. Given the need to strike a balance between investments for growth and transfers - both compete for scarce public resources - it may be helpful to follow these steps when deciding on the type and scope of social safety net programs: Re-examine the main constraints to growth and the role of public investment policy; Conduct a vulnerability assessment and identify the main risks confronting poor people; and, Identify policy interventions that have a potential both for reducing vulnerability and for enhancing growth prospects.


ABSTRACT Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) in central North Dakota undergo prebasic molt or prejuvenile molt during late summer. Nestling Yellow-headed Blackbirds initiate a complete prejuvenile molt, grow their primary and secondary regimes in about 40 days, completing molt after they leave the nest by the first week in August. Remiges are not replaced during the subsequent preformative molt, being retained until the second prebasic molt. Nonlinear (logistic) regression of primary remex growth during definitive prebasic molts of Yellow-headed Blackbirds indicated 38 days were required to complete the linear phase of growth (between 10% and 90% of total primary length). Males added 19.5 mm/d and females added 15.7 mm/d to the total length of all primaries during this linear growth phase; an average of 4–5 mm per primary remex per day. Definitive prebasic molting of primary remiges in males and females was initiated in late June, after nesting and brood rearing were completed. Molts of Yellow-headed Blackbirds were completed by early September, before birds emigrated from North Dakota during mid-September. Because of their comparatively early completion of molt and emigration from the state, as well as their more diverse diet, agricultural depredation caused by Yellow-headed Blackbirds in North Dakota is likely less than that of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles.


This problem was solved within the framework of the grant project "Solving of problems of cluster analysis with application of parallel algorithms and cloud technologies" in the Institute of Mathematics and Mathematical Modelling in Almaty. The problem of cluster analysis for the large amount of data is very important in different areas of science - genetics, biology, sociology etc. At the same time, such statistical known packages as STATISTICA, STADIA, SYSTAT and others do not allow to solve large problems. The new algorithm that uses the high processing power of GPUs for solving clustering problems by the K-means method was developed. This algorithm is implemented as a C++ application in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 with using the GPU Nvidia GeForce 660. The developed software package for solving clustering problems by the method of K - means with using GPUs allows us to handle up to 2 million records with number of features up to 25. The gain in the computing time is in factor 5. We plan to increase this factor up to 20-30 after improving the algorithms.


Antipsychotic drugs are the most effective treatment for psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. However, they are known to cause a range of side-effects including acute extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) that are both distressing and disabling. Mental health nurses play a critical role in both the detection and the management of these symptoms. A review of the literature was conducted to identify strategies for managing acute EPS. Despite a widely held belief that EPS are associated with noncompliance with medication, the data to support this hypothesis are weak. Although akathisia may negatively affect the treatment outcome, there was little evidence to suggest that parkinsonism or dystonia do. Whilst the use of anticholinergic medication may be helpful in treating acute parkinsonism and dystonia they were associated with their own side-effects and the benefit of long-term prophylactic treatment is doubtful. The literature suggests that logical prescribing and rapid detection and management of acute EPS will result in a substantial reduction in the incidence of these disabling side-effects.


Four-color anatomical drawings; some four-color images (Doppler) Comparisons between ultrasound and MRI where appropriate Practical hints and tips from leading experts throughout Explains clinical findings Correlates US imaging with pathology Provides comprehensive details of US-guided interventional techniques Extensive coverage of all anatomically relevant areas Comprehensive coverage of US of sports injuries and rheumatologic applications Separate chapter on US of nerves


Coincident with climate shifts and anthropogenic perturbations, the highly voracious jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas reached unprecedented northern latitudes along the NE Pacific margin post 1997–98. The physical or biological drivers of this expansion, as well as its ecological consequences remain unknown. Here, novel analysis from both bulk tissues and individual amino acids (Phenylalanine; Phe and Glutamic acid; Glu) in both gladii and muscle of D. gigas captured in the Northern California Current System (NCCS) documents for the first time multiple geographic origins and migration. Phe δ15N values, a proxy for habitat baseline δ15N values, confirm at least three different geographic origins that were initially detected by highly variable bulk δ15N values in gladii for squid at small sizes (<30 cm gladii length). In contrast, bulk δ15N values from gladii of large squid (>60 cm) converged, indicating feeding in a common ecosystem. The strong latitudinal gradient in Phe δ15N values from composite muscle samples further confirmed residency at a point in time for large squid in the NCCS. These results contrast with previous ideas, and indicate that small squid are highly migratory, move into the NCCS from two or more distinct geographic origins, and use this ecosystem mainly for feeding. These results represent the first direct information on the origins, immigration and habitat use of this key "invasive" predator in the NCCS, with wide implications for understanding both the mechanisms of periodic D. gigas population range expansions, and effects on ecosystem trophic structure.


This study focuses on the reasons why students from private universities who have finished their studies, but not their research work, a requirement to obtain their degree. Several studies agree that the supervision process is a fundamental factor to complete the thesis successfully. Thesis development and successful thesis completion are conditioned by a number of factors, one of which is supervisor performance. This study explores the limitations on supervision, time, and money, which are resources students need in order to finish their theses, and suggestions for improvement. The sample of the study consisted of 129 graduate candidates from different careers at a private university in Peru. The findings show that lack of supervision during the thesis development process, lack of time to develop the thesis and finance have an impact on finishing a thesis. Supervisors must have cognitive competences in scientific methodology, statistics, and the research topic, and help the students to transition from course work to independent research.


R. Fairbridge and F. Shepard proposed different sea-level curves for the late Holocene. South Florida, as a tectonically stable platform, provides a key locale from which late Quaternary sea-level measurements have been attempted. Previous studies supporting Holocene sea-level curves have focused on mangrove peat deposits, barrier ridges, and archaeological sites. However, in situ biological indicators provide the best evidence in support of varying sea-level positions during the late Holocene. The northeastern side of Key Biscayne, Florida, has two areas of rock reef where rhizoliths (i.e., fossilized root casts) are exposed within the intertidal zone. They have previously been interpreted as the fossilized roots of a former black mangrove ( Avicennia germinans ) forest. However, the morphology, size, orientation, and areal extent of the rhizoliths is best understood if they are interpreted as the former root casts of turtle grass ( Thalassia testudinum ). This interpretation would constitute in situ biological evidence of a late Holocene sea-level position at least 0.5 m higher than at present. Previously published 14C dating of the calcareous paste inside the rhizoliths suggests that they formed 1–2 k.y. before present. This corresponds to a higher than present sea-level highstand supported by independent evidence from other areas in south Florida.


AIM
Cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may lead to a devastating neurological outcome by inducing cerebral ischemia. However the role of external carotid artery (ECA) vasospasm has been rarely reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effect of ECA vasospasm on cerebral ischemia related neurodegeneration in the cerebral cortex after SAH.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
This study was performed on 23 rabbits, divided into three groups: control (n=5), sham (n=5), and SAH (n=13). Experimental SAH was performed by injecting 0.75 mL auricular arterial homologous blood into the cisterna magna. After three weeks, the animals were decapitated and the common carotid arteries with their external and internal branches and the brains were examined histopathologically. Vasospasm indexes (VSI) of ECAs and internal carotid arteries (ICAs) and degenerated glial cell numbers of temporal cortices (n/mm3) were estimated stereologically and the results were compared statistically.

RESULTS
Temporal cortex glial cell density was estimated as 136.950±9.257/mm3 in normal rabbits, 131.324±7.987/mm3 in sham, 112.320±6.112/mm3 in light, and 97.543±5.432/mm3 in severe ECA vasospasm. The mean VSI values of ECA of all groups were 1.95±0.21, 2.15±0.29, 2.95±0.65 and 3.12±0.276, respectively. Statistical differences between the VSI values of ECA and degenerated neuron densities in temporal cortices were significant (p < 0.005).

CONCLUSION
ECA vasospasm was observed to have a more important predictive role on the serious cerebral ischemia and neuronal degeneration after SAH. The mechanism may be related to ischemia of the parasympathetic ganglia of the lower cranial nerves and dorsal root ganglion.


This article has two overarching and intertwined themes. The first is the social and semiotic mediation of "comparative grounds"—in particular, the way people come to understand, and alter, the relative intensity of entities and events. The second is the social and semiotic mediation of "causal grounds"—in particular, the way people come to understand, and alter, the sequencing of events, or the channeling of forces. Focusing on the multiple processes that mediate people's understandings of landslides in a Mayan village in highland Guatemala, it shows the ways causal and comparative grounds relate to physical forces and phenomenological experience, as much as to communicative practices and social conventions. More generally, though less explicitly, this article is about four topics that underlie the Anthropocene: "gradients" (the way qualities vary in their intensity over space and time, and the ways such variations relate to causal processes), "grading" (the ways agents assess and alter such intensities, and experience and intervene in causal processes), "degradation" (the ways highly valuable variations in qualitative intensities are lowered or lost), and "grace" (the way agents work to maintain gradients, care for those whose lives have been degraded, and value those agents who work and care in such ways).


This paper addresses the proposition of experiential design approaches in Human Computing Interaction [HCI] and Human Interface Devices [HID]. To amplify the relationship between performer and the spectator when using emergent technologies with real time performance tools, the author refers to a set of self-crafted electronic-performance tools and a performance. This paper opens a pathway for a larger proposal that asks the reader to consider: What are the ways in which we can engineer interfaces that validate the circulation of subjugated knowledges?


Eukaryotic translation initiation factor SA (eIF-SA) (older terminology, eIF-4D) is unique in that it contains the unusual amino acid hypusine (I\"-(l-amino2-hydroxybuty1)lysine). Hypusine is formed by a posttranslational event in which a specific lysine residue is modified by a structural contribution from spermidine. Metabolic labeling of chick embryo fibroblasts with ['Hlspermidine or ['Hllysine gives rise to two distinct proteins, designated I (-20 kDa and PI 6.6) and I1 (-18 kDa and PI 6.36), that contain ['Hlhypusine. Upon incubation with ['Hllysine the labeling of the two proteins followed a similar time course and showed approximately the same ratio over the 6-h incubation period. ['HIHypusine-containing proteins from cells which had been cultured with ['Hlspermidine were employed as tracers for isolation of hypusine-containing proteins from whole chick embryos. Four such proteins were obtained. Two of these proteins, I and 11, correspond to the two native proteins synthesized in chick embryo fibroblasts; the other two forms, Ia and IIa, displayed properties suggesting that they were derived from the native proteins, I and 11, respectively, during purification. The amino acid compositions and the tryptic peptide maps of the 20-kDa protein (I) and the 18-kDa protein (11) suggest that they are closely related but distinct proteins. In fact, amino acid sequence analysis of the two major proteins revealed differences in the polypeptide backbone of the two proteins. In spite of structural differences, the two native forms (I and 11), as well as the two altered forms (Ia and IIa), were effective in stimulating methionylpuromycin synthesis, providing evidence that they are indeed functional isoforms of eIF-SA.


The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to describe how culture, disability, and prospective first-generation college student status influenced the transition decisions of five native Hawaiian students with specific learning disabilities who attended a Hawaiian-focused charter school. Students had strong ties to their history and culture which influenced all facets of their lives including their decisions about the future. Accessing postsecondary education (PSE) was viewed as a means to employment that would enable them to support their family members. The lack of economic, social, and cultural capital may present a larger barrier to accessing PSE than disability. Implications for personnel who are tasked with developing and maintaining culturally appropriate curricula and programs for students are discussed.


Four burley tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) selections differing for resistance or susceptibility to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and wildfire (Pseudomonas tabaci L., Wolf and Foster, Stevens) were developed in each of three genetic backgrounds and later evaluated to determine if introgression of genetic factors for disease resistance affected any of six agronomic characteristics and three chemical components. The selections were derived from crosses between burley tobacco isolines possessing the genetic factors, transferred from N. glutinosa L. and N. longiflora Cav., for resistance to TMV and wildfire, respectively. The four selections, the two isolines, and the original susceptible parent of each of the three families were grown for 2 years at Lexington, KY. Since the selections showing susceptible reactions to both mosaic and wildfire performed essentially the same as the original susceptible cultivars, we concluded that the parental genotypes were recovered and that comparisons of the resistant selections with their corresponding isolines and parental cultivars were valid. Consistent differences between the selections and the original cultivar were noted only in one family, and the majority of those differences favored the selections. The wildfire resistant isoline in one family was significantly different from the selections and the parental cultivar. The effect of the introgressed genetic factors for TMV and wildfire resistance on the traits evaluated depended on genetic background. However, the presence of both TMV and wildfire resistance in one breeding line should be considered no obstacle to the further improvement of most other traits.


This Article holds that the most powerful critique of criminal disenfranchisement begins by appreciating the policy's deep roots in American political ideology. First, the Article argues that only a combination of contractarian liberal, civic-virtue republican, and racially discriminatory ideologies explains the persistence of criminal disenfranchisement in the United States. Second, the Article shows that while liberal and republican ideas about self-government have long provided solid foundations for criminal disenfranchisement in American political thought, the goals and principles of both ideologies also undergoes powerful challenges to the practice. At the heart of this argument lies a paradox: although all three ideological traditions have contributed to the development of criminal disenfranchisement law in the United States, the modern commitments of both liberalism and republicanism should lead Americans to abandon the practice. By analyzing the liberal, republican, and racially discriminatory approaches to criminal disenfranchisement, the article attempts to explain both the durability and the incoherence of the policy. The article finds indefinite disenfranchisement — also called "ex-offender," "ex-felon," or permanent disenfranchisement — to be the most egregious form of the practice, as it imposes on criminal offenders something akin to the medieval condition of "civil death." But to a greater degree than many authors have recognized, temporary and indefinite disenfranchisement policies rest on fundamentally similar premises, and are equally vulnerable to principled challenge.


Many modern software systems are built on top of existing packages (modules, components, libraries). The increasing number and complexity of dependencies has given rise to automated dependency management where package managers resolve symbolic dependencies against a central repository. When declaring dependencies, developers face various choices, such as whether or not to declare a fixed version or a range of versions. The former results in runtime behaviour that is easier to predict, whilst the latter enables flexibility in resolution that can, for example, prevent different versions of the same package being included and facilitates the automated deployment of bug fixes. We study the choices developers make across 17 different package managers, investigating over 70 million dependencies. This is complemented by a survey of 170 developers. We find that many package managers support — and the respective community adapts — flexible versioning practices. This does not always work: developers struggle to find the sweet spot between the predictability of fixed version dependencies, and the agility of flexible ones, and depending on their experience, adjust practices. We see some uptake of semantic versioning in some package managers, supported by tools. However, there is no evidence that projects switch to semantic versioning on a large scale. The results of this study can guide further research into better practices for automated dependency management, and aid the adaptation of semantic versioning.


Microfluidic channels are typically fabricated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) using soft lithography and sealed against a support substrate using various irreversible/reversible techniques-the most widely used method is the irreversible bonding of PDMS to glass using oxygen plasma. These techniques are limited in their ability to seal channels against rough, uneven, and/or three-dimensional substrates. This manuscript describes the design and fabrication of soft microfluidic systems from combinations of silicone elastomers that can be reversibly sealed against an array of materials of various topographies/geometries using compression. These soft systems have channels with cross-sectional dimensions that can be decreased, reversibly, by hundreds of microns using compressive stress, and the ability to interface with virtually any support substrate. These capabilities go beyond that achievable with devices fabricated in PDMS alone and enable the integration of microfluidic functionality directly with rough and/or 3D surfaces, providing new opportunities in solution processing useful to, for example, materials science and the analytical/forensic sciences.


CLASSROO~1 ORGANIZATION AND CONTROL. Revised and Enlarged by Jesse B Scars, Leland Stamford University. Cloth. 400 pages. Boston, N ew York, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco: HoughtOll ~ltfnin Company. After ten years of appreciation and extensive use author, editor (EllwOod P. Cubberley) and publishers ltavt united in rnectmg modern conditions as developed in vanous progressiye school systems by a delightful grafting of the new spirit on the forceful vigor of the past as the best flavored fmit 1 is produced by grafting new discover' ies on the most vigorous traditional fruit trees. No teacher of chemistry today studies chemistry in his high school when an) body in the world knew what every high school student knows today as naturally as he knows how to read. This makes it impossible to lISt a hrgh school book in science that was wrrtten even a iew years ago. \Ve taught chemistry in a state nor, mal school, one of the best state normal schools in the country, We';"ere probably the first teacher of chemistry in a state normal school to use Ch:irks \Y. Eliot's (Eliot and Storer) laboratory chemistry. It was the first teztbook on chemistry that even suggested that the teacher should do anything and much less that students should see anything done. Learmng chemistry sixty years ago was to recite what the book said would happen if certain things were done. After the first year we did have a f•• very simple experiments for the students to sec what really happened. After the arrival of the Eliot and Storer's book we performed several simple experiments. As we have read much of "High School Chemistry" by George Howard Bruce-and we have read practically every new school chemistry since the electrom was discovered we are a~ palled at the ease with which the student can understand the notion of the electrons even in the third circle in the Planetary Orbits as they leap f rom one orbit to another in chcmical reactions. High school boys and girls study chemical reaction of electrons whirling about protons with as much confidence in the rules of electrons as they have in the regulations about tackling or kicking a goal from the field on the gridiron. "We have enjoyed this "High School Chemistry" with an evening 0& between lecture dates in Iowa, in midJuly, as much as anyone can eniOY golf, and It thrills me as much as a good shot docs the man at golf. II is a wonderful book dealing WIth chemical miracles. is transforming the universities and public schools. It is Important that Dr. Strayer has had Dr. Mort elaborate the Plateau where we rested for a time in the geological professionalism of individual instruction while other educational masters were preparing to create a professional personality of miraculous achievement. Rollins College, the University of \\ isconsin, the new scholastic creation in Harvard University are discovering new universes in the educational heavens. Francis \V. Kirklan, R. L Cooley, xr. R. Keyworth, T. W. Gosling and others arc revealing almost miraculous achievements. In the last three or four years personality instruction seems to have surpassed individual instruction as marvelously as television has surpassed the telephone, and in much the same way. \\'e fear this vista of the educational vision WIll be interpreted as doubtful praise of this really notable professional contribution, but it is not so intended, "The Individual Pupil" is the first attempt to adequately describe the work growing out of the professional adventures of Preston \V. Search, Fredcnck Burk and Madam ~!ontesorri, as MISS Parkhurst and Superintendent Washburn have realized the idealism of these great educational explorers. Nowhere else will there ever be found the wealth of information which Dr. ~!ort has collected and it should be appreciated, and its revelanons should be appropriated. \Ve do not undervalue the contribution made bji the creations of the Marconi system now that the Beam system 15 infinitely more important than wireless telegraphy. We would repeat our professional slogan give the signal to go and not to whoa.


Real-Time Color TreeBASIS Feature Matching on a Limited-Resource Hardware System Garrett S. Hartman Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, BYU Master of Science This research has been conducted in order to create a robust, light-weight feature detecting and matching algorithm that builds upon the foundation set by the TreeBASIS algorithm. The goal is to create a color-based version of the TreeBASIS algorithm that uses less hardware resources than the original, is more accurate in its matching capabilities, can successfully be deployed on a resource-limited FPGA platform, and can process in real time. This thesis first presents the newly designed hardware tri-channel FAST Feature Detector that finds features in color. Next the TreeBASIS algorithm is analyzed to discover what improvements can be made in order to reduce its resource usage sufficiently to be able to run on the Xilinx Virtex-4 FX60 while processing color features. At the same time, a software version of the Color TreeBASIS algorithm is compared to the original algorithm and is found to have a 93.3% accuracy on a test set of aerial images, surpassing the accuracy of TreeBASIS by nearly 12%. Then the hardware is meticulously reviewed to discover even more optimizations that allow the Color TreeBASIS algorithm to easily fit onto the Virtex-4 FX60. Next a new application for the matching algorithm, object detection, is introduced as well as the hardware needed to support it. Finally the algorithm is tested on the FPGA system for object detection and is able to successfully identify objects at 60 FPS. Color TreeBASIS proves itself to be more accurate than the TreeBASIS algorithm in the aerial images tests, it ends up using less memory and logic resources than its predecessor, even though it processes three times as much data, it is successfully deployed on a resource-limited FPGA system, and it shows accurate results in real-time object identification, generating an accurate homography 20 to 45% of the time while processing matches at a rate of 60 FPS.


Background Sacrococcygeal Teratoma (SCT) is a rare tumour that is 'benign' but carries with it a variable prognosis for survival. Methods Suspected and confirmed cases presenting before 1 year of age were selected using a regional, population-based, multiple-source, anomaly register from a birth cohort of 1,215,140. Suspected cases were analysed separately as false positive ultrasound diagnoses. Results 35 confirmed cases of SCT delivered between 1995–2012. Total and live births prevalences were 0.29 per 10,000 births (95% CI 0.19–0.38) and 0.21 per 10,000 live births (95% CI 0.13–0.29). Sex ratio (M:F) was 1:2.4. 22 cases were diagnosed prenatally (median gestation 20+1 weeks), the sensitivity of antenatal ultrasound was 62.3% (95% CI 46.8–78.9). The uptake of termination following prenatal diagnosis was 31.2%. There were 6 antenatal false positives; therefore the positive predictive value of antenatal ultrasound was 78.6% (95% CI 63.4–93.8). The confirmed anomalies for the false positives cases were spinal and neural tube defects. Histopathology was ascertained in 27 cases at surgery/postmortem, the tumours were benign (52%), immature (37%), and mixed (11%). Altman staging (final confirmed) was recorded in 25 cases; the majority of cases were stage II (56.0%). A comparison of prenatal ultrasound and MRI was made. The survival to 1 year of age amongst liveborn cases (n = 25) was 84.0% (95% CI 69.6–98.4), and amongst all cases with spontaneous outcomes (excludes terminations) was 75.0% (95% CI 59.0–91.0). Conclusion This population-based series indicates that prenatal ultrasound is relatively sensitive and specific in diagnosing SCT. The survival rate in liveborn cases is good.


This study aims to understand the multicultural teaching experiences of music teachers in the Fayetteville and Springdale public school districts through the lens of James Banks' four approaches to curriculum reform. The research is intended to add to the limited literature presently found on the definition of multicultural music education and how this type of education is implemented. The study will also increase knowledge of teacher motives for implementing multicultural education in the music classroom and highlight challenges that lie within implementation. Purposive sampling was used and in an attempt to get an information rich sample, two schools were chosen from the Fayetteville school district and six schools were chosen from the Springdale school district. A qualitative approach was used for this study. The participants were interviewed using a semi-structured set of questions and one classroom observation followed the initial interviews. The data of the interviews and observations was transcribed. The transcribed, raw data of interviews and lesson observations of each teacher was read several times and themes were identified based on the research questions using the data reduction method. The findings of the study produced a definition for multicultural music education orginating from the definitions of Banks, Carolin, and the definitions of those who participated in this study. Participants in this study implemented multicultural music education through Holidays as well as thematic units. The participants most notably used foreign language songs, instruments from other countries, and foreign dances to teach multiculturally. Most participants believed that multicultural education should be implemented in the music classroom because of the diverse population of their classrooms and the communities in which they live. Lastly, this study found that Fayetteville and Springdale music educators are teaching multiculturally in their classrooms. One of the eight teachers was thought to be implementing Banks' approach at level one, the contributions level. Six of the eight teachers were thought to be implementing Banks' approach at level two, the additive level. One of the eight teachers was thought to be implementing Banks' approach at level three, the transformation level. This dissertation is approved for Recommendation to the Graduate Council Dissertation Director: _______________________________________ Dr. Tom Smith Dissertation Committee: _______________________________________ Dr. Chris Lucas _______________________________________ Dr. Eddie Jones DISSERTATION DUPLICATION RELEASE I hereby authorize the University of Arkansas Libraries to duplicate this dissertation when needed for research and/or scholarship. Agreed __________________________________________ Candace Davis Refused __________________________________________


Choice models with nonlinear budget sets provide a precise way of accounting for the nonlinear tax structures present in many applications. In this paper we propose a nonparametric approach to estimation of these models. The basic idea is to think of the choice, in our case hours of labor supply, as being a function of the entire budget set. Then we can do nonparametric regression where the variable in the regression is the budget set. We reduce the dimensionality of this problem by exploiting structure implied by utility maximization with piecewise linear convex budget sets. This structure leads to estimators where the number of segments can differ across observations and does not affect accuracy. We give consistency and asymptotic normality results for these estimators. The usefulness of the estimator is demonstrated in an empirical example, where we find it has a large impact on estimated effects of the Swedish tax reform. Copyright The Econometric Society 2002.


The purpose of this study is to examine the basic characteristics of the single layer type microwave absorber in X band. Samples were produced from Bi system (2223) superconductor powder and metallic powder and inserted into a wave guide system where the complex reflection intensity was measured (The short circuit method) by using the vector network analyzer[1]. As the result, at the room temperature (300K), the reflection loss is apt to increase with increasing the content of the Bi system superconductor powder. Furthermore, the measured value of the reflection loss agreed with the value calculated from the complex permittivity εr* . At liquid nitrogen temperature (77K) where the superconductor powders are in the superconducting state, some differences occurred between the calculated value and the measured one of the reflection loss. For the metallic powders, copper powder showed good agreement between the calculated and the measured of reflection loss. For the magnetic material, it was concluded that the theoretical formula under consideration of complex permeability μr* should be derivated.


We study the system of a single qubit couples to a single mode thermal field according to a multi-photon Jaynes–Cummings-type interaction with phase decoherence. Both the time evolving entanglement and the stationary state entanglement are calculated by adopting the log-negativity as a measure. It is found that the multi-photon process can enhance the stationary state entanglement of this system and can enlarge the range of the parameter Δ/g and the mean photon number of initial thermal field in which the stationary state is distillable.


Recent fieldwork has uncovered three new localities from the Lower Devonian of Mezquita de Loscos (Teruel Province, Spain) with further plant mega-fossils and the first record of micro-fossils. Such plant remains have been interpreted as belonging to a basal euphyllophyte, Taeniocrada-like stems, Hostinella genus and paired sporangia. Fourteen spore taxa were recovered, including Ambitisporites, Aneurospora, Brochotriletes, Chelinospora, Emphanisporites, Gneudnaspora and Retusotriletres, among others. New evidence confirms a Lochkovian age for this outcrop and suggests that the plant diversity was more complex than originally documented.


Borrowing imaging techniques from medicine, phenomics offers plant scientists new windows into the inner workings of living plants: infrared cameras to scan temperature profiles, spectroscopes to measure photosynthetic rates, lidar to gauge growth rates, and MRI to reveal root physiology. Institutes worldwide are racing to build facilities with instrument arrays that can scan thousands of plants a day in an approach to science akin to high-throughput DNA sequencing. The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, a new $40 million venture that is the first national lab of its kind in the world, opened its High Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre in Canberra last week. And other countries are ramping up fast.


Malaria is an infectious disease caused by Plasmodium sp with the highest clinical incidence of 12.07% in Indonesia. New anti-malaria compounds are needed to replace antimalarial drugs that are already resistant nowadays. One of the efforts to find a new anti-malaria drug is through research on traditional medicinal plants used by Indonesian tribes from the ethnopharmacology database. In silico studies provide saving solutions in the process of computer-aided drug design. Histo-aspartic protease (HAP) is essential for the growth of Plasmodium falciparum and has been validated as an antimalarial drug target. Therefore, molecular docking was used to provide new insights into the development of drugs by targeting HAP protease. There are 238 compounds from 43 medicinal plants used as targeting ligand in this study prepared by Autodock Vina for an automated docking tool. The comprehensive docking protocol was valid showed by the RMSD value of 1,275 A. The result obtained that AM50 (borrasosides A) from Borassus flabellifer was found to have the least affinity score of -10.1 kcal/mol higher compared to the native ligand. In conclusion, we are assuming that the mechanism of borrasosides A compound might get involved with HAP. Further protocols are required to prove the HAP inhibition towards Plasmodium falciparum.


The coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2)) pandemic has caused unprecedented economic crises, and changes in our lifestyle to different things that we have not experienced before in this century, which cause by movement restriction order by the authority to halt the spread of the disease around the globe. Researchers around the globe applied computational intelligence methods in numerous fields which exhibits a successful story. The computational intelligence methods play an important role in dealing with coronavirus pandemics. This research will focus on the use of computational intelligence methods in understanding the infection, accelerating drugs and treatments research, detecting, diagnosis, and predicting the virus, surveillance, and contact tracing to prevent or slow the virus from the spread, monitoring the recovery of the infected individuals. This study points out promising CI techniques utilized as an adjunct along with the current methods used in containments of COVID-19. It is imagined that this study will give CI researchers and the wider community an outline of the current status of CI applications and motivate CI researchers in harnessing CI technique possibilities in the battle against COVID-19.


The health care environment is expected to undergo significant change in the coming years. The continued growth of managed care, in particular will exert a profound impact on medical practice. This trend will be accelerated if a managed competition approach to health system reform is adopted at the federal level. As physicians continue to consider possible strategies by which to adapt to the changing practice environment, two options may merit special consideration: first, integration with other physicians, particularly through formation of a medical group and, second, vertical integration with a hospital, through formation of a PHO. Although PHOs are a relatively recent phenomenon, they represent a potentially powerful strategy by which physicians and hospitals can combine forces to take a leadership role in managed care contracting. Through careful planning, development of a sound legal structure and efficient governance process, and implementation of effective criteria for participation in the PHO, it is possible to further the goals of the physician and hospital participants, while meeting the needs of payers.


Abstract : Memory subsystem bandwidth and latency are two major problems for modern computer architectures because memory speed should grow linearly with central processing unit (CPU) speed to maintain balanced system performance. However, in recent years, CPU speed has increased much more rapidly than memory speed. One common approach to memory system design, which can provide remarkable speedup, is to use one or more fast cache memories in a hierarchical architecture. The Predictive Read Cache is an alternative to second-level cache memories with its fast, simple and inexpensive design. Previous studies show that a small predictive read cache can give a better performance improvement than a much larger second-level cache for an Intel 486 microprocessor with a very small cost. This thesis continues previous efforts in design and optimization of the predictive read cache. Using address trace data from a SPARCstation 1+ miming Sun-OS and the SPEC benchmarks, the simulations demonstrate that a small predictive read cache can give even better performance improvements than the previous results obtained using 486 trace data. Since SPARC is the most common RISC architecture today, it was of great importance to simulate the PRC by using address traces captured from a SPARC-based platform. The predictive read cache is ideal for embedded systems in space based, weapons-based and portable computing applications that utilize advanced RISC processors.


Aims: The overall aim of this thesis was to study the effects of medical problems associated with spinal cord lesions on functioning - with special interest in work participation and sexual functioning. A special aim was to explore bone mineral density and associated factors in persons with meningomyelocele. Methods: The target population comprised persons with traumatic spinal cord injury or meningomyelocele living in the county of Western Gotaland in Sweden. The subject characteristics, prevalence of medical problems and other disorders, as well as primary outcomes, were assessed with a structured questionnaire. In the osteoporosis study a physician and a physical therapist examined all subjects and assessed ambulatory status and the neurological level of the lesion. Bone mineral density in the lumbar spine, hip and forearm was measured with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. In the workplace intervention study each participant was visited by an ergonomist at the workplace where the working conditions were documented by means of video recordings, questionnaires and the ergonomist's evaluation of the workplace. Results: Work participation rate in Swedish spinal cord lesion population is about two thirds of that in the healthy population (50% against 75%). Among the men with traumatic spinal cord injury, neuropathic pain and the presence of other somatic or mental disorders were associated with work participation, whereas most of these associations were not observed in the women with traumatic spinal cord injury or in the persons with meningomyelocele. The results of the workplace intervention study showed that the working conditions of persons with spinal cord lesion can be improved by ergonomic measures. Satisfaction with sexual life was rather low in all subgroups except in the women with meningomyelocele. Medical problems associated with spinal cord lesion, such as incontinence and neuropathic pain, affected satisfaction with sexual life in persons with traumatic spinal cord injury. In persons with meningomyelocele, none of the studied medical problems was associated with satisfaction with sexual life. The results also indicated that osteopenia and osteoporosis are more common among young adults with meningomyelocele than in the normative population. The effect of medical risk factors of osteoporosis on bone mineral density was modified by ambulatory status in this patient group. Conclusions: Medical problems affect functioning in persons with spinal cord lesion. There are, however, some gender differences, as well as differences between persons with congenital and acquired spinal cord lesion. Osteoporosis is a medical problem, which must be considered when treating and rehabilitating persons with meningomyelocele. Key-words: spinal cord injuries, meningomyelocele, rehabilitation, osteoporosis, bone density, employment, sexuality


The need for sustainable rice production in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. Since rice can be grown both under rain-fed and irrigated conditions, the need for soil suitability evaluation becomes very necessary in order for supply to meet up with demand. Six land qualities viz; climate, soil physical properties, drainage, fertility status, workability and erosion were matched with irrigated rice land use requirements. The current suitability evaluation of Tomas irrigation scheme for irrigated rice, using the nonparametric method indicates that all the mapping units fall into the marginally suitable (S3fs) class, with low fertility status and coarse sandy texture as major limitations. The parametric method reveals that all the mapping units had an index of current productivity (IPC) of 5.63 (N2) which is permanently not suitable. Tomas irrigation scheme was found to be potentially moderately suitable (S2) for irrigated rice production using non-parametric method after the soil fertility status was amended.


Shear deformations in beam-like structures as well as devices allowing deflection discontinuities, besides influencing the compressive buckling, can induce instability in presence of tensile axial loads. In this work a novel study to address both the compressive and the tensile buckling in slender beams in presence of multiple internal sliders endowed with translational springs, that induce deflection discontinuities along the beam axis, is presented. The general exact closed-form solutions is derived as a function of four boundary conditions only, as in the case of homogeneous beam, irrespective on the number of concentrated singularities. The range where the tensile buckling load values are comparable to the compressive counterpart is highlighted. Furthermore, sudden switches from symmetric to anti-symmetric buckling shapes are identified. Finally, for an increasing number of deflection discontinuities an interesting comparison with a uniform column with distributed shear deformations, according to the Timoshenko model, is presented. The latter comparison suggests that elastic internal sliders, which allow transversal deflection discontinuities, can be interpreted as concentrated shear deformations and are addressed to as shear deformation singularities.


This paper discusses a method to find an optimum design for a supersonic aircraft. The problem approached was optimizing the Lift-to-Drag ratio of an aircraft travelling at supersonic speeds. This was done through the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software. By setting up an initial model and allowing for several of the dimensions to be variable, a variety of aircraft shapes could be made to represent different design models. These models represented a population that could be optimized using a genetic algorithm. This paper utilized a Particle Swarm Optimization scheme, which led the population towards a converged solution. Stopping criteria was established to provide a stopping point for the population evolution and was met after four iterations.


The Penutur Jati programme is one of the initiatives under the MBMMBI policy. A report for the Penutur Jati programme under British Council, found that there are some differences around the way mentoring is understood, practiced and supported between the British Council in East Malaysia and other vendors (Brighton and SMR) in West Malaysia. With these differences the outcome may be different in one setting and another. Currently, little is known about the outcome of the Penutur Jati programme from the perspective of the Malaysian English teachers. The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Penutur Jati programme through the perspectives of mentors and the Malaysian English teachers involved in this programme using context, input, process and product components of the CIPP evaluation model developed by Stuflflebeam (1971). Interviews with the mentor and language officer was conducted and self reported teacher questionnaire were given to 46 teachers involved in the Penutur Jati programme from Jasin district to find out their perceptions on the programme. Documents were also examined in order to obtain detailed information about the Penutur Jati programme. While the data based on the questionnaire were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, content analysis was carried out to analyze the qualitative data. Multivariate Analysis of Variances with Pillai's Trace test was employed to investigate whether the significant differences among dependent variables across independent variables existed. The findings of the current study identified that there were some deficiencies in all the 4 stages of the evaluation process. Improvements were suggested in designing a pedagogical programme as in Penutur Jati Programme, administrator should consider teachers' needs and involve all stakeholders in a sustainable planning of the programme and establishing robust mechanism for monitoring programme objectives.Mentor should also use appropriate training methods that will increase teachers' capacity and confidence in teaching. Lastly in terms of training of the mentors, local customs and traditions and cultural belief should be included in their training so that they will understand local customs to avoid tension in relationship of mentor and the Malaysian English teachers.


Rheumatoid Arthritis: Discussions in Patient Management: Ducan A. Gordon, M.D., Editor. Medical Examination Publishing Co., Inc., 969 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, New York, 200 pp., 1981, $18.50 (US). This book presents a comprehensive overview of the current approaches to the management of Rheumatoid Arthritis as practiced in the Toronto teaching hospitals. It is an, information source for family practitioners, rheumatologists, physiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and other medical or para-medical staff or students involved in the management or study of arthritis. The text is based on a team approach to m anagement, with the rheumatologist as coordinator. Following an initial introduction which stresses the importance of accurate diagnosis and ongoing assessment, the subsequent chapters cover the general management of rheumatoid arthritis with alternatives well documented. These chapters cover information about medications and recommended dosages; local disease suppressive measures such as chemical synovectomy; various orthopaedic approaches; and the psychiatric and psychophysiological problems that may accompany the disease. The role of rehabilitation medicine and allied health professionals is well outlined with specific mention of modalities utilized by occupational therapy and physiotherapy. The book is very extensively referenced and the chapters well cross-referenced. The style promotes easy reading with good use of tables, relevant diagrams and chapter ''summaries. The last chapter, in particular, provides an excellent summary of the book as a whole. This can be recommended as a good reference text for any occupational therapist involved in the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or for teaching purposes.


This relates to early stage research that aims to build an integrated toolbox of instruments that can be used for environmental modeling tasks. The application area described is grape growing and wine production. A comparative study including data gathered in both New Zealand and Chile is described. Using both passive and sensor technology data is gathered from atmosphere, vines, and soil. Human sensory perceptions relating to wine taste and quality is also gathered. The project proposes a synthesizer which collects and analyzes data in real time. Computational neural network modeling methods and geographic information systems are used for result depiction. This convergence of computational techniques and information processing methods is proposed as being an example of software and systems collaboration. The project called Eno-Humanas is so named because of the bled of the precise enological data and less qualitative human perception data. It is expected that the discrete input elements of the architecture here will be demonstrably dependency-related and derived from correlation values once data gathering instruments and analytical software have been developed. At this stage of the project, these tools and methods are being built and tested. This is the first stage of the project and the proposed research that will come from it in order to answer wide questions such as the ordinal set of data values necessarily present to predict climate conditions, the relationship between vine sap rise and dew point calibrations, towards addressing the popular question of 'what makes for a good year for wine'. In addition to the bringing together of various technologies, methods and kinds of data, (geo-referential, climatic, atmospheric, terrain, plant biological and qualitative sensory expressions), the paper also describes an international research collaboration and its parameters.


This paper studies competition in the presence of digital convergence, a phenomenon that has been observed in a variety of information technology industries: handheld computing, telecommunications, consumer electronics, networking, residential broadband and broadcast video, among others. Digital convergence increases the value and flexibility of products and services, but also increases the substitutability of products that were previously in distinct industries, therefore presenting a critical trade-off for managers making technological and platform scope choices. We analyze this trade-off between product value and product substitutability by developing a new model of competition in converging industries that generalizes popular models of imperfect competition, admitting endogenous product scope choices, variable substitutability across products and industry boundaries, and purchases of multiple technology products by individual consumers. We establish four different kinds of equilibria, which characterize distinct stages of digital convergence. Our results show that early stages of convergence feature increasing prices and profitability, which eventually fall if the extent of convergence progresses beyond a critical point. However, if firms can bilaterally and strategically control the degree of convergence in their industries, their equilibrium strategies can sustain higher prices and profits even when industry boundaries blur. We also describe examples of equilibria in which consumers may buy multiple general-purpose products, using each for a specialized subset of their needs, and discuss how this may lead to cyclical demand trends between specialized and general-purpose digital products. The effect of technological changes that alter the fixed costs of expanding product scope, the variable costs of production, and the breadth of customer requirements are analyzed. Managerial guidelines based on each of our results are presented.


Malignant catatonia (MC) represents a life-threatening neuropsychiatric disorder that was widely reported long before the introduction of antipsychotic drugs. A review of the world literature on MC indicates that although the prevalence of the condition may have declined since the pre-antipsychotic drug era, it continues to occur and represents a syndrome rather than a specific disease. Although most often the outgrowth of a psychiatric disorder, MC may develop in association with diverse neurologic and medical conditions. From this perspective, neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) may be viewed as a drug-related form of this same MC syndrome. Our review also supports the proposed conceptualization of catatonia as a continuum, with milder forms at one end (termed simple or nonmalignant catatonia) and more severe forms involving hyperthermia and autonomic dysfunction (termed malignant catatonia) at the other end. In addition, findings from our review suggest that simple catatonia, MC and NMS share a common pathophysiology involving reduced dopaminergic functioning in the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits, consistent with their identity as variants of the larger unitary catatonic syndrome. Electroconvulsive therapy appears to represent the preferred treatment for MC. Antipsychotic drugs should be withheld whenever MC is suspected.


This Article contributes to theorizing of the public domain by identifying and examining different conceptions of the public domain, while pointing to the benefits and limitations of each. These conceptions include the open public domain, hybridized public domain, protective public domain, and egalitarian public domains. The goal of this Article is to analyze these various conceptions of the public domain in order to build a more robust theoretical toolkit for investigating patent law struggles over genetic and biological material and how they relate to the lives of women, particularly Indigenous women. It also offers a new conceptual analytic of "situated public domains�? as a way of understanding scientific/cultural knowledge production within the public domain as complex, contradictory, and partial. This Article, therefore, breaks open debates over intellectual property and the public domain by offering a new way of theorizing the public domain that requires a more contextualized approach and requires attention to social inequalities including gender discrimination. Thus, it argues for a decidedly critical race feminist approach to the theorizing of the public domain and patent law. To support this new conception, the Article also discusses qualitative research findings from recent fieldwork in South Africa around issues of patent law, biotechnology, and Indigenous knowledge.


This study provides a status report on the state of field experiences in K-12 online learning programs in the United States. After developing a survey instrument, teacher education programs and K-12 online learning programs were surveyed to find out what they are doing to help prepare pre-service teachers for K-12 online learning environments. While teachers are currently coming from the traditional classroom to teach in K-12 online settings, as the demand for K-12 online teachers increases, it is likely that more educators will be recruited directly from undergraduate programs. Colleges of education would benefit from addressing the growing need to prepare future K-12 online teachers, and the current study highlights the importance of continued research in this area. Important ramifications exist for the field of K-12 online learning as well as for programs of teacher education who are, whether it is realized or not, preparing tomorrow's educators for fully online, hybrid, and blended classrooms.


Background and aim: Previous studies indicate unrestrained cell cycle progression in liver lesions from hepatocarcinogenesis-susceptible Fisher 344 (F344) rats and a block of G1–S transition in corresponding lesions from resistant Brown Norway (BN) rats. Here, the role of the Forkhead box M1B (FOXM1) gene during hepatocarcinogenesis in both rat models and human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was assessed. Methods and results: Levels of FOXM1 and its targets were determined by immunoprecipitation and real-time PCR analyses in rat and human samples. FOXM1 function was investigated by either FOXM1 silencing or overexpression in human HCC cell lines. Activation of FOXM1 and its targets (Aurora Kinose A, Cdc2, cyclin B1, Nek2) occurred earlier and was most pronounced in liver lesions from F344 than BN rats, leading to the highest number of Cdc2–cyclin B1 complexes (implying the highest G2–M transition) in F344 rats. In human HCC, the level of FOXM1 progressively increased from surrounding non-tumorous livers to HCC, reaching the highest levels in tumours with poorer prognosis (as defined by patients' length of survival). Furthermore, expression levels of FOXM1 directly correlated with the proliferation index, genomic instability rate and microvessel density, and inversely with apoptosis. FOXM1 upregulation was due to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and glioblastoma-associated oncogene 1 (GLI1) combined activity, and its overexpression resulted in increased proliferation and angiogenesis and reduced apoptosis in human HCC cell lines. Conversely, FOXM1 suppression led to decreased ERK activity, reduced proliferation and angiogenesis, and massive apoptosis of human HCC cell lines. Conclusions: FOXM1 upregulation is associated with the acquisition of a susceptible phenotype in rats and influences human HCC development and prognosis.


This article presents a selective review of recent design PhDs that identify and analyse the methodological innovation that is occurring in the field, in order to inform future provision of research training. Six recently completed design PhDs are used to highlight possible philosophical and practical models that can be adopted by future PhD students in design. Four characteristics were found in design PhD methodology: innovations in the format and structure of the thesis, a pick-and-mix approach to research design, situating practice in the inquiry, and the validation of visual analysis. The article concludes by offering suggestions on how research training can be improved. By being aware of recent methodological innovations in the field, design educators will be better informed when developing resources for future design doctoral candidates and assisting supervision teams in developing a more informed and flexible approach to practice-based research.


Studies have been made of diurnal changes of adrenalin and noradrenalin content of the blood plasma in egg laying and molting hens. In laying hens at night time, as compared to daily period, the level of both catecholamines decreased, whereas that in molting ones--increased. In laying hens kept under illumination, catecholamine content did not undergo significant diurnal changes. Differences between laying and non-laying hens were absent during the daytime. In laying hens, noradrenalin content of the blood exhibited negative correlation with their egg productivity. Reduction of photoperiod from 14 to 6 h per day resulted in a sharp decrease of egg laying and the development of molting. Under these conditions, artificial increase of adrenalin content of the blood at night time (by means of repetitive injections) prevented the decrease in egg laying. Daily injection of this hormone did not produce this effect. Exogeneous adrenalin inhibited molting irrespectively of the time of its injection. Noradrenalin injections did not affect the molting rate and egg laying in hens. The data obtained reveal possible role of natural adrenalin in regulation of egg laying and molting in hens at night time.


BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE
Malignant cells are often associated with aberrant expression or localization of connexins. Expression of Cx26, Cx32, Cx43, and Cx45 genes were studied to gain their expression profile in tissue microarrayers consisting of various carcinomas and to elucidate their function in carcinogenesis.

METHODS
Basing on the principle of constructing tissue microarrays, the authors take use of self-made tissue arrayer to construct tissue microarrays for the different kinds of cancer specimens. Meanwhile, expression of connexin(Cx) genes, such as Cx32, Cx26, Cx43, and Cx45 in the tissue microarrays were detected in 292 cases of tumor tissues and 89 paratumor tissues by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS
(1) Three kinds of tissue microarrays consisting samples from 20 different carcinomas were constructed successfully, which contained 360, 200, or 100 spots in each receptive paraffin block with tissue cylinder of 0.75mm or 0.6mm diameter respectively.(2) The expression profiles of Cx32, Cx26, Cx43, and Cx45 in 20 kinds of carcinomas and their related adjacent-cancer tissues were gained, which were widely low expressed in carcinomas especially in nasopharyngeal carcinomas. Expression of Cx26, Cx32, Cx43, and Cx45 in carcinomas such as carcinomas of colon and recta, hepatocellular carcinomas, gastric carcinomas, lung carcinomas and thyroid cancers were significantly lower than their related adjacent-cancer tissues.

CONCLUSION
Low expression of Cx26, Cx32, Cx43, and Cx45 might play crucial roles in carcinogenesis of many kinds of carcinomas. Tissue microarrays consisting of many different kinds of carcinomas provide a new high-throughout tool for rapid and comprehensive molecular expression profiles of carcinomas, such as connexin genes.


Background and aim Huntington's disease (HD) is a fully penetrant, mainly adult-onset, autosomal dominant disorder. HD is caused by repetitions of the triplet CAG in chr 4 (4p16.3), which are pathogenic if ≥36. Globally, the prevalence is highest among populations of western European descent. In more isolated populations the origin of HD is usually a result of founder effects, which can give rise to higher than normal prevalence as well as geographical clustering. Our aim was to conduct a detailed epidemiological investigation of HD in the island of Cyprus. Methods All registered Greek Cypriot HD patients were analysed from 1984 onwards. Detailed pedigrees and maps, examining the geographic distribution of the disorder, were constructed. Results Eighty confirmed cases of HD were identified since 1984 belonging to 16 independent families concentrated in a small cluster spanning the Famagusta and Larnaca districts. Three cases were juvenile HD (JHD). In 2015 the prevalence was 7.61/100,000, and the incidence 0.12/100.000. The crude average annual incidence from 1984 to 2015 was 0.26/100000 (95% CI: 0.20–0.34). The 5-, 10-, and 15-year survival probability was 85.2%, 63.0% and 40.7% respectively, with average disease duration of 12.2 years, excluding JHD. The average age at onset was 44.2 years and the average number of CAG repeats in the mutant allele was 44. Paternal inheritance had in general a more adverse disease profile. The age at onset was found to decrease significantly over decades and with increasing number of CAG repeats. Conclusions Cyprus has HD prevalence and incidence higher than other southern European countries, making the possibility for a founder effect very likely. The geographical clustering observed points to a very likely western European origin of the disease, given the strong presence of such populations in the affected region during the middle-ages. Disease characteristics such as the median number of CAG repeats, age at onset and disease duration are comparable to other countries.


This work presents an overview of some of the tools that cybercriminals employ to trade securely. It will look at the weaknesses of these tools and how the behavior of cybercriminals will sometimes lead them to use tools in a nonoptimal manner, creating opportunities for law enforcement to identify and apprehend them. The criminal domain this article focuses on is carding, the online trade in stolen payment card details and the consequent criminal misuse of such data. However, these findings could be applied more broadly, as many of the analyzed tools are used across (cyber) criminal domains. This article is a continuation of earlier work, in which a crime script analysis of 25 carding tutorials presented the tools that cybercriminals use to cash-out stolen payment card details while remaining anonymous. We use these tutorials and an analysis of the literature to identify how they can be used incorrectly and create a typology of potential behavioral and technological pitfalls in these tools. Finally, we conclude that finding pitfalls in the usage of tools by cybercriminals has the potential to increase the efficiency of disruption, interception, and prevention approaches. However, in future work, interviews with law enforcement experts and convicted cybercriminals or still active users should be used to analyze the operational security of cybercriminals in more depth.


A novel vertical directional coupler switch with a switching-operation-induced section and an extinction-ratio-enhanced section is proposed. Switching operation is achieved by changing the refractive indexes of both cores in the switching-operation-induced section, and an improvement of extinction ratios larger than 30 dB for both cross and bar states is achieved by controlling the asymmetry of the refractive indexes of two cores in the extinction-ratio-enhanced section without changing the refractive index of the inner-cladding layer between the two waveguides. The required refractive indexes for the cores in the switching-operation-induced and extinction-ratio-enhanced sections are calculated for various thickness of the inner-cladding layer.


Economic reforms towards liberalisation began in the early eighties. The classical 'Hindu' rate of growth in the eighties had doubled from 3% to 6%, without much inflation and with declining levels of poverty. Thus we were already liberalising our economy and speeding up growth without the World Bank running the show. Infact, the post (1991)-reform period slowed down growth, increased poverty and inflation, and reversed many trends of the eighties. Today health care has become fully commodified and the private sector is the dominant provider of health care globally, as well as in India. New medical technology has aided such a development and the character of health care as a service is being eroded rapidly. This process of commodification has created a unique characteristic of the health sector making health care a supply-induced demand market. Provision of routine medical care for a wide range of diseases and symptoms in India is mostly in the private sector. As regards the public sector the large investment in health care is being wasted due to improper planning, financing and organisation of the health care delivery system. While public health services are inadequate to meet peoples health care needs the private health sector whatever be its quality and / or effectiveness has filled the gap. Private medical practice flourishes almost everywhere. Medical practice in India is a multi-system discipline and in addition is also burdened with a large number of unqualified practitioners. Private general practice is the most commonly used health care service by patients in both rural and urban areas. This translates into a whopping Rs.400 to 600 billion private health care market in the country at today's market prices. This large private health care market has grown with direct and indirect state support. The government provides concessions and subsidies to private medical professionals and hospitals to set up private practice and hospitals. The government has pioneered the introduction of modern health care services in remote areas by setting up PHCs. While the latter introduces the local population to modern health care it also provides the private sector an entry point to set themselves up. Construction of public hospitals and health centres are generally contracted out to the private sector. In recent years the government health services have introduced selectively fee-for-services at its health facilities. The government has allowed the private health sector to proliferate uncontrolled. The above are a few illustrations of how the state has helped strengthen the private health sector in India. In today's liberalised scenario, and with World Bank's advice of limiting state's role to selective health care for a selective population, the private health sector is ready for another leap in its growth. And this will mean further appropriation of people's health and a worsening health care scenario for the majority population.