confounding factor may explain a part of their results: undiagnosed pulmonary embolism (PE), mimicking (or induced by) COPD exacerbation. Troponin and BNP are factors associated with poor prognosis in PE. COPD is associated with an increased risk of deep venous thrombosis and PE (particularly during exacerbation) and with an increased risk of fatal PE. In particular, COPD is associated with increased risk of death from undiagnosed PE. The real incidence of PE during exacerbation of COPD is not clearly known, ranging from 1.5% to 24.7% corresponding to the incidence of elevated troponin and BNP, as noted by Chang et al in their cohort. Therefore, it would be of great interest if Chang et al could provide us some precise answers:


SUMMARY Donor support for decentralization comes in two main categories: policy support to increase the autonomy of subnational governments (SNGs) and project/program activities to improve the responsiveness and accountability of those SNGs. In the former, donors advocate for reforms that increase the extent or 'quantity' of decentralization, whereas in the latter, they aim at the 'quality' of decentralized governance. Drawing upon this distinction, this paper's argument is twofold. The principal argument is that donors have had modest causal impacts on the quantity of decentralization because the preexisting political incentives of central governments are sufficient to explain decisions for major reforms. Decentralization advances farthest when there are regime‐level incentives to decentralize, a moderate amount when there are government‐level incentives, and minimally when donors (or other actors outside the central state) are leading champions of decentralization. The second argument of the paper is that donor efficacy is further complicated by partially conflicting emphases that sometimes tradeoff local autonomy with accountability. Implications include support for those programming efforts that pair autonomy with responsiveness at the local level. © 2014 The Authors. Public Administration and Development published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


An Escherichia coli DNA fragment containing the structural gene serU132 for the nonsense suppressor tRNASer2am was identified and purified by being cloned into a plasmid vector. Information obtained from DNA sequence analysis was used to select a serU132 fragment for insertion downstream from the bacteriophage lambda pL promoter in two pBR322-lambda derivatives. In nonsense mutant strains bearing the resulting serU132 hybrid plasmids, the presence of the lambda cI857 repressor gene carried on the same plasmid or in a prophage genome permits thermal regulation of suppressor synthesis.


Human mortality data sets can be expressed as multiway data arrays, the dimensions of which correspond to categories by which mortality rates are reported, such as age, sex, country and year. Regression models for such data typically assume an independent error distribution or an error model that allows for dependence along at most one or two dimensions of the data array. However, failing to account for other dependencies can lead to inefficient estimates of regression parameters, inaccurate standard errors and poor predictions. An alternative to assuming independent errors is to allow for dependence along each dimension of the array using a separable covariance model. However, the number of parameters in this model increases rapidly with the dimensions of the array and, for many arrays, maximum likelihood estimates of the covariance parameters do not exist. In this paper, we propose a submodel of the separable covariance model that estimates the covariance matrix for each dimension as having factor analytic structure. This model can be viewed as an extension of factor analysis to array-valued data, as it uses a factor model to estimate the covariance along each dimension of the array. We discuss properties of this model as they relate to ordinary factor analysis, describe maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods, and provide a likelihood ratio testing procedure for selecting the factor model ranks. We apply this methodology to the analysis of data from the Human Mortality Database, and show in a cross-validation experiment how it outperforms simpler methods. Additionally, we use this model to impute mortality rates for countries that have no mortality data for several years. Unlike other approaches, our methodology is able to estimate similarities between the mortality rates of countries, time periods and sexes, and use this information to assist with the imputations.


: Stimulation of afferent neurons with capsaicin enhanced the glycogen phosphorylase activity and decreased the glycogen contents in the rat liver. The glucose concentration in the blood serum was risen. Neurotoxic doses of capsaicin also enhanced the glycogen phosphorylase activity, more obviously so in adult rats. Preliminary administration of the toxic doses of capsaicin somewhat diminished the stimulating effect of capsaicin.


Abstract:Does the presidential inauguration of Workers' Party candidate Luis Inácio "Lula" da Silva signal a historic shift in Brazilian politics? What are the implications of a Lula-led government for democracy in Brazil? This article interprets the 2002 elections in the context of a broader assessment of the state of Brazilian democracy. It highlights important aspects of change while acknowledging significant points of continuity, and affirms the stability of Brazil's political system while underscoring its deficiencies in quality. In conclusion, it assesses the prospects of the current Brazilian administration.


A study of Vibrio parahaemolyticus infected patients not associated with known outbreaks and controls matched for sex, ethnicity and age (+/- 5 years) was conducted on Guam. Cases were asked if they had eaten seafood within the 24-hour period preceding onset of illness and controls were asked if they had eaten seafood within the 24-hour period preceding their interview. Cases were more likely than controls to have eaten seafood (OR = 37.59, CL [8.30-220.24]).


We have succeeded in the simple and rapid synthesis of the hydrophilic polymer-modified CeO2 nanoparticles using a supercritical hydrothermal method. To prepare the nanoparticles, Ce(OH)4 as precursor was treated in a batch-type reactor with supercritical water in the presence of either polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or polyacryl acid (PAA) as surface modifiers. The hydrophilic polymers attached to the surface of the CeO2 nanoparticles by the coordination bond between the functional groups, such as hydroxyl (–OH) or carboxyl (–COOH), of the polymers and the Ce atoms. The amount of the attached polymers on the surface of the CeO2 nanoparticles tended to increase with a decrease in the molecular weight of the polymer. The morphology and the particle size of the nanoparticles were cuboctahedral and about 20 nm, respectively. The nanoparticles were dispersed in water by virtue of the functional groups on the polymers. Notably, the ζ potential of PAA-modified CeO2 nanoparticles did not become zero in the measured pH range between 3 and 11. Interestingly, the surface modification by the polymers controlled the band gap of the nanoparticles, suggesting the possibility of tuning the electronic and the optical properties of the metal oxide nanoparticle by modifying their surface with organic molecules.


In October 2008, the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement published a report which focused on the many quality improvement approaches used in health care (Boaden et al, 2008). It reviewed the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Six Sigma, Lean thinking, Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Mass Customisation, and drew on academic and empirical sources of information to provide a series of challenges for healthcare managers and leaders. Quality improvement approaches from industry are increasingly applied in health care and this article considers what evidence exists of their effectiveness and applicability.


The Passive Aldehydes and Ketones Sampler (PAKS) method has been developed to measure airborne carbonyls (aldehydes and ketones) by derivatizing the carbonyls with dansylhydrazine (DNSH) on a solid sorbent. The method collection efficiencies are approximately 100% for most saturated carbonyls, but are significantly lower for unsaturated carbonyls. In this study, we examined the mechanisms of DNSH reactions with unsaturated carbonyls, focusing on acrolein. With a better understanding of these mechanisms, we modified the sampling substrate conditions and HPLC analysis conditions of the original PAKS method, resulting in substantially improved collection efficiencies for acrolein and crotonaldehyde. Evaluated under a variety of conditions (temperature, humidity, presence of ozone), the modified PAKS method had a collection efficiency of 99%+/- 5% for acrolein (N= 36) and 96%+/- 20% for crotonaldehyde (N= 6). The acrolein-DNSH derivative was stable within 9.6% of the initial amount, after 14 days of storage at 4 degrees C, on the collection medium; and stable within 2.8% of the initial amount, after 16 days of storage at room temperature, in extract.


A frontier of potential trade is constructed for trade flows from a world trade matrix of trade determinants to compare East Asian trade performance with that of South Asia. The results suggest that East Asian trade, led by ASEAN, is outperforming the world while South Asia lags behind significantly. Within East Asia, the transformation of Chianis trade performance is remarkable with its accession to the WTO. Australia is efficiently integrated with East Asia and performing close to its trade frontier. There is scope to lift intraregional trade among the East Asian economies but South Asia has even more unrealised potential, including within its own region.


In the busy pace of our modern lifestyle, athletes, whether a neophyte or an erudite, want the latest information on sports nutrition and they want it Now! But with sensationalist media headlines, endless advertising, and growing Internet information, what is the athlete to believe? Clearly, the need for the qualified health professional to disseminate scientifically, substantiated sports nutrition information is not just desirable, it's critical. This book is a guide to healthy eating for everyone who wants to lead a healthier life. Part one is an introduction to basic nutrition and shows you how to go from eating a poor diet to a healthy diet, while part two transitions the reader into what needs to be done to actually eat for training and competition.


We present an in vitro study of rigid registration methods for computer-aided surgery. The goals of the study were to obtain accuracy measures empirically under optimal laboratory conditions, and to identify the weak links in the registration chain. Specifically, we investigated two common registration methods (contact-based registration and image-based landmark registration) and established a framework for comparing the accuracy of both methods. The phantoms, protocols, and algorithms for tool tip calibration, contact-based registration with an optical tracker, fluoroscopic X-ray camera calibration, and fluoroscopic X-ray image-based landmark registration are described. Average accuracies of 0.5 mm (1.5 mm maximum) and 2.75 mm (3.4 mm maximum) were found for contact-based and image-based landmark registration, respectively. Based on these findings, the camera calibration was identified as being the main source of error in image-based landmark registration. Protocol improvements and algorithmic refinements to improve the accuracy of image-based landmark registration are proposed.


Bowel cancer accounts for 11% of all new cancer cases and is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Nutrition science has identified a link between high levels of red and processed meat consumption and incidence of bowel cancer. While the evidence underpinning this link remains uncertain, in 1998 and again in 2011 the UK government recommended that high consumers of red and processed meat should reduce their intake. Despite stable government advice in this area for over a decade, the UK print media have frequently reported on this issue using alarmist headlines, at the same time often attempting to undermine these recommendations. This research aims to understand the apparent mismatch between stable government advice and volatile media reporting in this area of food policy.

The research takes the form of one extended case study, using two periods of policy development as embedded units of analysis: the first, the period 1993-1998 when the first government recommendation on red and processed meat consumption was made. The second, the period 2001-2011 when a further recommendation was made. Data was collected from archived policy documents, print media coverage and semi-structured interviews. Policy documents were analysed using the Health Policy Triangle; media coverage was analysed using content analysis and the semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The results provide evidence of: 1) Limitations in the evidence considered by policymakers. 2)Tensions over transparency in the policymaking process. 3) Consideration of the media and media coverage after the policy had been set. 4) Commercial pressures on the print media industry influencing journalists' reporting. 5) Key stakeholders including government seeking to influence print media coverage. 6) The iconic status of red and processed meat in UK media coverage, where its consumption was a presented as a matter of individual choice. 7) Long periods of inaction on the part of policy makers.

Informed by literature on agenda setting and agenda building the research sets out to answer the extent to which UK food policy is affected by media coverage, processes and norms, and goes on to combine agenda setting and mediatization theories to develop a proposed integrated theory of mediatized food policy. This has the potential to explain the interactions between media coverage and food policy and the influence of one on the other. The research also contributes to food policy scholarship by challenging the concept of 'evidence-based policy making' and to journalism studies by further describing the ways in which media processes and key media gatekeepers influence media coverage of food policies.


An interview with Michael Glawogger whose documentary practice takes him where the dirty work of the world is done. In his "Globalization Trilogy," including the recent Whores' Glory , he often puts himself in harm's way to reveal the surreality of what for much of the world is the normal.


The growing need for more relevant detail in financial statements proper to be produced annually, quarterly or monthly, and possibly continuously, translates into an urgent need for more advanced methods and tools for trend analysis. This paper takes a broader view at balance sheet analysis. We observe balance sheet items at the highest level of aggregation and compare them with the next level of detail. This exposes a multidimensional structure produced by all balance sheet items and their time points. This innovative approach to balance sheet analysis provides a new method to determine the relevance and materiality of accounting information. Instead of computing accounting ratios separately, we apply multivariate analysis as to explore the "data space" of the balance sheet of our example company: 3M. We study ten‐years of quarterly balance sheets and discuss some trends by comparing scatter plots with spectral map analysis – spectramap for short – and color coding to expose latent variables hidden in this data. We substantiate that we can explain the larger part of variance present in balance sheets in a more meaningful manner. This paper also seeks to corroborate the generality assumption that underlies the structure of the balance sheet. We strive to increase the usability of balance sheet data and underpin its explanatory power.


This "Schaum's Study Guide" is the perfect tool for getting a handle on statistics. Fully stocked with solved problems 508 of them it shows you how to work problems that may not have been fully explained in class. Plus you get 694 additional problems to use for practice, with answers at the back of the book. Ideal for independent study, brushup before exams, or preparation for professional tests, this "Schaum's" guide is clear, complete, and well-organized. It even prepares you for computer solutions of statistical problems, fully explaining the use of Minitab, the most popular statistical software. It's the perfect supplement for any course in statistics, and a super helper for the math-challenged.


Time-lapse ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements are used to image/monitor, for example, water infiltration, water table changes, and fluid/gas flow patterns. Although crosshole GPR is often preferred over surface-reflection GPR in such studies, its application is limited by the selected borehole geometry, which may be difficult to define in an optimal way, especially in experiments in which flow pathways are difficult to predict. Surface-reflection GPR data sets are generally faster to collect over relatively large areas and are therefore more efficient for covering the volume when a fast-moving tracer (e.g., gas) may infiltrate a heterogeneous subsurface medium. We have used a diffraction imaging approach on time-lapse surface-reflection GPR data to detect changes in radar wave velocity associated with gas (CO2) injected into a heterogeneous chalk succession. We initially test and evaluate the diffraction imaging approach on synthetic GPR data. Afterward, we apply the methodology to time-lapse GPR field data, and we evaluate the robustness of using information from diffractions in light of the obtained data quality. The synthetic tests indicate that diffractions provide essential information for delimiting the area affected by gas in the heterogeneous chalk section studied. Our field experiment shows that using the diffraction information alone allows for detection of gas-affected zones and, therefore, potential flow characteristics of gas movement. We infer that the CO2 flow patterns in our study most likely are determined by small-scale fractures rather than the porosity/permeability of the rock matrix. Moreover, the approach used may serve as an initial study for future more targeted experiments or for further detail-retrieving full-waveform inversion.


A 70-year-old female patient underwent cataract and glaucoma surgery on her left eye in 1996. Eleven years later, we performed two bleb needling revisions with adjunctive mytomicin-C, in order to decrease an uncontrolled intraocular pressure of 32 mmHg. After the second needling, she developed severe overfiltration, with flat anterior chamber, choroidal effusion, and impending corneal decompensation. Conservative treatment with cycloplegic and corticosteroid eye drops, acetazolamide and therapeutic contact lenses was unsuccessfully tried. Anterior chamber reformation was successively tried with air, 4% ophthalmic viscosurgical device and 1% sodium hyaluronate, with only temporary results. Compressive sutures above the overfiltering bleb were applied, unsuccessfully. In order to avoid additional corneal endothelium damage, a surgical bleb revision was performed and revealed a large area of ciliary body and choroidal exposure under the conjunctiva. It was covered by a donor scleral patch graft providing successful resolution. Nevertheless, we had to reintroduce hypotensive eyedrops. While bleb needling is a relatively safe and effective procedure, ophthalmologists should be aware of the possibility of potentially serious complications, such as in this case report.


Mechanistic research on the fouling of the compressor is necessary to delay the deterioration caused by fouling during long-term operation, and to explore methods that will lower compressor component deterioration, thereby improving the overall performance.The effects of fouling on the performance of an axial compressor stage were investigated numerically. As a representative of the realistic compressor stages, the NASA Stage 35 was considered to perform a numerical investigation by means of a commercial computational fluid dynamic code. The numerical model was validated by comparing with the experimental data available from literatures. The computed performance maps and exit parameter distributions showed a good agreement with experimental data. The model was then used to simulate the effect of fouling on compressor stage by various fouling configurations including added thickness and surface roughness levels. The mechanism of the compressor deterioration due to fouling was discussed in detail. As a result, despite the contribution of added thickness on the work capacity, it substantially narrowed the table operating ranges substantially, causing a greater effect on the overall compressor performance. The influence of roughness applied in the rotor is similar to that in the whole stage, including the drop in mass flow rate at choked and near stall point, pressure ratio, and efficiency, whereas, compressor performance slightly decreases in the stator. When the surface roughness is equal to 50 μm, the drop in mass flow rate under a low Reynolds number is less than that under normal conditions, with little influence on the stable operating range.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Hepatitis C virus infection is still common among dialysis patients, but the natural history of HCV in this group is not completely understood. Recent evidence has been accumulated showing that anti-HCV positive serologic status is significantly associated with lower survival in dialysis population; an increased risk of liver and cardiovascular disease-related mortality compared with anti-HCV negative subjects has been found. According to a novel meta-analysis (fourteen studies including 145,608 unique patients), the adjusted RR for liver disease-related death and cardiovascular mortality was 3.82 (95% CI, 1.92; 7.61) and 1.26 (95% CI, 1.10; 1.45), respectively. It has been suggested that the decision to treat HCV in patients with chronic kidney disease be based on the potential benefits and risks of therapy, including life expectancy, candidacy for kidney transplant, and co-morbidities. According to recent guidelines, the antiviral treatment of choice in HCV-infected patients on dialysis is mono-therapy but fresh data suggest the use of modern antiviral approaches (i.e., pegylated interferon plus ribavirin). The summary estimate for sustained viral response and drop-out rate was 56% (95% CI, 28–84) and 25% (95% CI, 10–40) in a pooled analysis including 151 dialysis patients on combination antiviral therapy (conventional or pegylated interferon plus ribavirin).


Aeration improves the capacity of leachfields to decontaminate and reduce the nutrient load of wastewater. To gain a better understanding of the effects of aeration, we examined the faunal and microbial communities of septic system leachfield soil (0-4 and 4-13 cm) using replicated (n = 3) mesocosms that were actively aerated (AIR) or unaerated (LEACH). Protozoa were 40 to 140 times more abundant in AIR than in LEACH soil. No nematodes were found in LEACH soil, whereas AIR soil contained 5 to 14 x 10(3) nematodes (all bacteriovores) kg(-1). Active microbial biomass was four to five times higher in AIR than LEACH soil. Proteobacteria and actinomycetes/sulfate-reducing bacteria constituted a higher proportion of the community in AIR soil, whereas anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria/firmicutes were more prominent in LEACH soil. Ratios of prokaryotic to eukaryotic phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) were higher in LEACH soil, as were membrane stress index values, whereas the starvation index was higher in AIR soil. Community-level physiological profiles showed that 29 and 30 different substrates were used for growth by LEACH and AIR soil microorganisms, respectively. The AIR soil had more microorganisms capable of growing on 10 substrates, whereas growth on two substrates was higher in LEACH soil. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) analysis of 16S rRNA gene fragments revealed greater diversity of dominant phylotypes in AIR than LEACH soil, with communities separated by treatment. Aerated leachfield soil had a larger and more diverse faunal and microbial community than unaerated soil, possibly due to differences in the type and availability of electron acceptors.


The global climate is predicted to go through great changes in the 21st century, which will have impacts on ecosystems all over the world. Aquatic ecosystems will be affected by higher annual temperatures and increased runoff from surrounding terrestrial areas. The increased runoff will cause more terrestrial organic matter (TOM) to reach the waters, which will elevate levels of dissolved organic carbon and nutrients. The higher temperature, changed water color and increased nutrient concentration are together bound to affect aquatic systems, but exactly how the systems will respond is yet unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate how periphyton and benthic grazers will react to higher temperatures and elevated amounts of TOM in the water. This was done by measuring production of periphyton and growth rates of the snail species Gyraulus acronicus when placed in treatments with higher temperature, more TOM or a combination of these two. Higher temperature was found to have a negative effect on periphyton production, while increased amounts of TOM alone had a positive effect, and the combination of these two lowered production. The results on snail performance were in most cases non-significant, but the results still suggest that possible future effects of more TOM and higher temperature on the snails will be negative.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for cervical lymph node (LN) metastasis and the clinical role of internal jugular LN (IJLN) sampling in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and who had a preoperatively undetected cervical LN. Methods: One-hundred sixty-three patients with PTC (1 ㎝ in diameter) without clinical evidence of cervical LN involvement were entered the study. All patients the received central compartment node dissection (CCND) and IJLN sampling after total thyroidectomy. We retrospectively analyzed the correlation between the metastatic rate of IJLN and the known risk factors for cervical LN metastasis in the PTC patients. The correlation between the status of the central compartment LN and IJLN metastasis was analyzed. Results: The overall metastatic rate of the central compartment LN and the IJLN was 74.8% and 50.3%, respectively. The metastatic rate of the IJLN was significantly associated with the male gender (P=0.046), primary tumor size (>2 ㎝, P=0.003) and multiplicity (P=0.006) of the PTC. A young patient age, bilaterality and extracapsular invasion did not achieve statistical significance (P>0.05). The presence of central compartment LN metastasis was a statistically significant risk factor for IJLN metastasis, especially when the rate of central compartment LN metastasis was higher than 50% in the individual patients. Conclusion: According to our study, male gender, a large tumor size (>2 ㎝), multiplicity and the presence of central compartment LN metastasis is considered to be important risk factors for IJLN metastasis in PTC patients. IJLN sampling might be proposed as a relevant tool for making the decision to perform lymphadenectomy in PTC patients with a preoperatively undetected cervical LN.


The law of succession as it relates to the inheritance of the property of a deceased person who dies testate or intestate mostly as it relates to the place of the eldest son in relation the inheritance of the 'igiobe' of a deceased Benin man under native law and custom has become an area of study that has received several pronouncements by the High Court, court of Appeal and Supreme Court, yet, the more the decisions of courts, the more new areas come up for explanations, clarifications and decisions. "Igiogbe" by the decision of the courts, is the house of the deceased where he lived, died and was buried and it cannot be inherited by or given to any child of the deceased other than the eldest male child who performs the fuel burial rites of his late father. It does not form part of the distributable estate of the deceased.The main findings of this work are firstly, that ignorance, poverty and greed are bane to the inheritance of Igiogbe of a deceased Benin man. Secondly, enforcement of the right of the eldest son to inherit his late father's igiogbe is prevalent where the first son is uneducated and poor. Thirdly, that the fact that courts void some wiles does not mean that a Benin man cannot write a will and distribute his properties therein as he wishes. A will still has place in relation to the inheritance of igiogbe under Benin native law and custom.It is therefore recommend that to ease quick settling of matters that has to do igiogbe inheritance, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism rather than by litigation should be consider more appropriate. DOI : 10.7176/JAAS/54-05 Publication date : April 30 th 2019


Abstract Objective The aim of the study was to establish whether a mother's polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) symptoms can predict her daughter's future PCOS clinical profile. Methods This was a cross-sectional study of 57 adolescents who attended a paediatric gynaecology clinic between 2017 and 2019 and had an established diagnosis of PCOS according to the 2018 criteria of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. A clinical examination and pelvic ultrasound were performed and the level of total testosterone was measured. A structured questionnaire concerning PCOS symptoms was completed by the girls' mothers. Results It was found that 51% of girls with PCOS and 44% of their mothers had an elevated body mass index (BMI), and 35% of girls had an increased waist–hip ratio (>0.85). The mother's BMI significantly predicted her daughter's BMI and waist–hip ratio. It was reported that 40% of mothers had experienced menstrual irregularities, 50% hirsutism and 67% acne, and 12% had a confirmed diagnosis of PCOS. Conclusion Our study population had several markers of poor metabolic health (increased BMI and waist–hip ratio) that were passed down from mother to daughter. No direct link was found between a mother's PCOS symptoms and those of her adolescent daughter. In order to establish definitive links between the symptoms of a mother and those of her daughter, a more comprehensive study should be conducted using a larger study sample. Additionally, a follow-up assessment of our studied adolescents would be appropriate to evaluate the progress of their symptoms.


The paper considers the dependence of the agricultural output of the main socio-economic indicators of development of regions of the Russian Federation. The calculated values of the regression statistics. Correlation and expert analysis identified the following factors: the commissioning of the total area; net financial result (profit minus loss) of organizations; investment in fixed assets. Based on regression analysis investigated the importance and significance of these equations and factors, which used F and P statistics, P values, the lower and upper limit of the interval. Draw appropriate conclusions.


Zinc (Zn) is involving in the suppressing of inflammation. However, its functionality in the knee joint under the gonarthritis (GA) is not elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the participation of Zn-buffering and stress responsive proteins metallothioneins (MTs) in the pathogenesis of the synovial tis sues under the experimental acute GA. The inflammation was induced in rats by intra-articular administra tion of carrageenan. The concentrations of MTs total protein (MTSh), Zn-bound protein (Zn-MTs), total Zn concentration in the tissue, the indexes of oxidative stress and cholinesterase activity were determined. The level of sialic acids was indicated in the blood serum. The enhancing of sialic acids concentration by 42% and cholinesterase depletion confirmed the pathology. In the animals with GA, total level of Zn in the tissue was correspondent to control. However, the MTSH and Zn-MT levels were elevated (by 79 and 46% respec -tively). This disproportionate rate can be due to partial oxidation of thiols. The superoxide dismutase activity was elevated, radical scavenging activity and protein carbonylation were correspondent to control, but the levels of catalase, glutathione–S-transferase and glutathione were decreased by 28-44%, and lipid peroxida tion (TBARS) was increased by 59% compared to control group. Principal Component Analysis confirmed the strong interrelations between MTs and peroxide-related oxidative stress indexes. This preliminary study provides the basis for the understanding of the reason for Zn imbalance in the acute Ga as the result of the impairment of thiol redox balance and proposes these biomarkers for the evaluation of knee joint pathologies.


Introduction : Peripheral perfusion index (PPI) is a non-invasive numerical value of peripheral perfusion derived from a pulse oximeter signal. It has been suggested that PPI may be a valuable adjunct diagnostic tool to detect early clinically significant hemodynamic embarrassment. The aim of this paper was to determine normal PPI in healthy newborns, in order to establish cut-off values that can be use in different pathologic settings. Material and Methods : Prospective observational study performed with term newborns, born in a tertiary level care hospital between January 1 st to December 31 st 2012. Demographic data such as gender, gestational age, birth weight and Apgar score were collected. PPI, heart rate (HR) and arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO 2 ) were evaluated simultaneous on the right hand (preductal) and on the left foot (postductal) of the newborn, before discharge from the hospital. Results : 2,032 newborns, 52% male, with a mean birth weight of 3,237 ± 432 g and median gestational age of 39 weeks, were evaluated. PPI values obtained were: preductal median of 1.6 with interquartile range of 1.2-2.3, postductal median of 1.4 with interquartile range of 1-2 (p < 0.001). Conclusions : PPI is an easily applicable non invasive method to monitor peripheral perfusion changes. We established normal PPI values in healthy Portuguese newborns. PPI was higher on the upper limb (preductal) when compared to the lower limb (postductal).This finding has important implications, in the time of choosing a single probe placement, and in the interpretation of the results.


The influence of relocating central government offices on face-to-face communication (FTFC) between the offices and citizenry is studied. To control congestion in the metropolitan area, the most widely supported idea is relocating central government offices to another place. However, this will invariably involve some impact on business actions. One of the biggest impacts anticipated is the influence on communication, especially on FTFC. This is because it is difficult to substitute FTFC for alternate communication modes. Consequently, it is important to project the influence of the relocation on FTFC. To grasp the real state of FTFC, the magnitude and quality of FTFC are surveyed. The analysis according to these surveys provides valuable insight on the distance factor of FTFC. The location factor of enterprises is also examined; i.e., the half-day travel zone is found to be the critical distance. Based on this analysis, the influence of moving central government offices from Tokyo to some hypothetical place is forecasted.


Background: Wounds with bare bone, joint and tendons in the extremities have been a formidable challenge to plastic surgeons. Although several skin substitutes are used in West, as both dermal and epidermal analogue, they are expensive and most of them are unavailable in India. It is in this scenario that Healicoll – a type 1 pure collagen as a possible dermal substitute is being investigated. The material 'Healicoll' is a type-1 native collagen derived from the bovine source and is bioengineered, biocompatible and biodegradable skin substitute. The advantages of Healicoll have led us to an increase in its use for complex wounds. Medical literature on Healicoll, thus far has only reported its use for superficial burns and ulcers. Materials & Methods: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the advantages of using an inexpensive, easily available, bioengineered skin substitute 'Healicoll' for the closure of bare bone, joints and tendon. Results: Healicoll was used in three patients with two patients having undergone surgery involving use of Healicoll for bare bones, joints and tendons after release of contracture following burns and trauma, and one patient was treated with Healicoll as an outpatient procedure for bare bones following electrical burns. The mean hospital stay was 15 days. In all the three cases, a clear neodermis had covered the bones and joints in 5 days time and was ready to support the take of skin graft. Conclusions: Based on our initial experience, Healicoll skin substitute offers an excellent alternative for rapid reconstruction obviating the need for flap cover for wounds that have been difficult to reconstruct.


Heterogeneity of resident peritoneal macrophages was studied as revealed by their phagocytosis and binding of sheep erythrocytes opsonized by specific rabbit IgG. It has been shown that the macrophage heterogeneity is due to the presence of active and inactive cellular subpopulations. A mathematical model, based on the Poisson fitting of experimental histograms, was elaborated for the analysis of subpopulation composition of macrophage pool in the test of rosette formation and phagocytosis. The validity of the model was supported by physicochemical isolation of the macrophage subpopulation which was inactive in erythrocyte binding. The macrophage pool was separated into fractions by absorption--elution at different temperatures. Active and inactive macrophage subpopulations were found in all the fractions but in different ratios.


The second woman in Germany to earn a doctorate in philosophy, Edith Stein, born in 1891 into a Jewish family, became a Roman Catholic in 1922, a Carmelite nun in 1933, and was killed in Auschwitz in 1942. In October 1998, she was canonized as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. From her youth, she identified as an ardent feminist, an identity she sustained throughout her life. In her prodigious postconversion philosophical and theological writings, Stein grappled with gender theories and pioneered a progressive Christian feminism that anticipated ideas articulated by Christian feminists during recent decades. Especially evident in her reverence for both biblical Esther and Virgin Mary, Stein's writings reveal her struggle to affirm her dual Jewish and Christian identities and to integrate her phenomenological analysis of gender with her theological convictions. The resulting dilemmas highlight the creative as well as time-rooted facets of Stein's thought.


Background: There are many disorders of higher visual processing that result from damage to specific areas of the cerebral cortex that have a specific role in processing certain aspects (modalities) of vision. These can be grouped into those that affect the ventral, or "what?", pathway (e.g., object agnosia, cerebral achromatopsia, prosopagnosia, topographagnosia, and pure alexia), and those that affect the dorsal, or "where?", pathway (e.g., akinetopsia, simultanagnosia, and optic ataxia). Evidence Acquisition: This article reviews pertinent literature, concentrating on recent developments in basic science research and studies of individual patients. Results: An overview of the current understanding of higher cerebral visual processing is followed by a discussion of the various disorders listed above. Conclusions: There has been considerable progress in the understanding of how the extrastriate visual cortex is organized, specifically in relation to functionally specialized visual areas. This permits a better understanding of the individual visual agnosias resulting from damage to these areas.


Effective systems for the analysis of molecular data are of fundamental importance for real-time monitoring of the spread of infectious diseases and the study of pathogen evolution. While the Nextstrain and GISAID portals offer widely used systems for the classification of SARS-CoV-2 genomes, both present relevant limitations. Here we propose a highly reproducible method for the systematic classification of SARS-CoV-2 viral types. To demonstrate the validity of our approach, we conduct an extensive comparative genomic analysis of more than 20,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes. Our classification system delineates 12 clusters and 4 super-clusters in SARS-CoV-2, with a highly biased spatio-temporal distribution worldwide, and provides important observations concerning the evolutionary processes associated with the emergence of novel viral types. Based on the estimates of SARS-CoV-2 evolutionary rate and genetic distances of genomes of the early pandemic phase, we infer that SARS-CoV-2 could have been circulating in humans since August-November 2019. The observed pattern of genomic variability is remarkably similar between all clusters and super-clusters, being UTRs and the s2m element, a highly conserved secondary structure element, the most variable genomic regions. While several polymorphic sites that are specific to one or more clusters were predicted to be under positive or negative selection, overall, our analyses also suggest that the emergence of novel genome types is unlikely to be driven by widespread convergent evolution and independent fixation of advantageous substitutions. While, in the absence of rigorous experimental validation, several questions concerning the evolutionary processes and the phenotypic characteristics (increased/decreased virulence) remain open, we believe that the approach outlined in this study can be of relevance for the tracking and functional characterization of different types of SARS-CoV-2 genomes.


In this work, a compact imager design concept for micro and nano satellites is introduced. Although the performances of these platforms are increasing, the imagers cannot keep up with the platforms due to mass and volume limitations. Hence payloads require novel designs to have better imagers on board of these platforms, in terms of spectral resolution, spatial resolution, signal to noise ratio and field of view. The concept that we present here involves an object-space flat mirror that can be rotated around two orthogonal axes. One of the movements helps scanning the Earth in cross-track direction while the other movement helps increasing the integration time by forward motion compensation. When used in combination with a frame sensor covered with parallel filter strips, the camera can fulfill all of the above mentioned requirements simultaneously with an optimal performance. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the concept, an example design is shown that can fit into a three unit cubesat.


The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different parameters on a predictive model of pulmonary function for elementary school children in an area of low air pollution in Taiwan. Healthy children aged 7 to 12 years from three elementary schools in low-air-pollution areas (Da-Chen, Mai-Liau and Tai-Si) participated in the study. A total of 836 children (423 boys and 413 girls) were included in the study. During summer vacation, each child underwent a physical examination including a screening spirometry. A questionnaire regarding respiratory symptoms and indoor air pollutants was also completed by the children's parents. Air monitoring showed that the levels of outdoor pollutants were relatively low. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed with FVC (forced vital capacity) and FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 sec) as dependent variables. Gender, age, height, weight, technician and indoor air pollution parameters were the independent variables. The results showed that gender,height, weight and technician were the most significant variables for predicting FVC and FEV1. The various indoor air pollution parameters seemed to have no influence on the pulmonary function of children, except that mildew in bedrooms mildly decreased FEV1. Regression analysis showed that all the pulmonary function parameters measured had a positive correlation with height, whereas weight correlated only with certain parameters. Because both indoor and outdoor air pollution was relatively low, we suggest that this model could be used as a basic predictive model of pulmonary function for elementary school children in Taiwan.


Globalization has been around for a couple of centuries but never like today. Even not far just a decade ago, companies setting up a branch office overseas was a subsidiary for management team to operate. Today, there are ODM/OEM, Build-to-Order, B2B, or other kinds of business relationships, but less and less of headquarter-subsidiary relationship. The evolving of the new business relationships in today's globalization creates a huge potential quality risk which actually exists behind the whole value chain: (1) product quality from design to manufacture, and (2) quality cost due to defective products, reputation loss, recall, delinquency, etc. The Quality System used to commit quality that serves enterprise now under pressure to reapply to a cross-the-boundary value chain environment. This paper is a case study that demonstrates a methodology solving the previously addressed quality issues by installing a Qualify System into a piecewise organization in a supply chain. In this case the quality factor has been nearly eliminated since 2000 with millions of wafers supplying from supply network by adapting this methodology: a Quality System Vee Model.


The study aimed to determine the clinical characteristics of fatal methamphetamine‐related stroke in Australia, 2009–2015. There were 38 cases, 60.5% male, with a mean age of 40.3 years. In no case was there evidence that this was the first time methamphetamine had been used by the decedent, and 52.6% had known histories of injecting drug use. The stroke was hemorrhagic in 37 of 38 cases. In 21.1% of cases, the stroke was purely parenchymal and, in 18.4%, involved purely the subarachnoid space. A ruptured berry aneurysm was present in 31.6% and in 68.8% of initial subarachnoid hemorrhages. There was evidence of systemic hypertension in 8 of 25 cases in which full autopsy findings were available. With increased use of methamphetamine, there is a high probability of increased hemorrhagic stroke incidence among young people. In cases of fatal hemorrhagic stroke among young cases presenting to autopsy, the possibility of methamphetamine use should be borne in mind.


Active learning aims to identify the most informative data from an unlabeled data pool that enables a model to reach the desired accuracy rapidly. This benefits especially deep neural networks which generally require a huge number of labeled samples to achieve high performance. Most existing active learning methods have been evaluated in an ideal setting where only samples relevant to the target task, i.e., in-distribution samples, exist in an unlabeled data pool. A data pool gathered from the wild, however, is likely to include samples that are irrelevant to the target task at all and/or too ambiguous to assign a single class label even for the oracle. We argue that assuming an unlabeled data pool consisting of samples from various distributions is more realistic. In this work, we introduce new active learning benchmarks that include ambiguous, task-irrelevant out-of-distribution as well as in-distribution samples. We also propose an active learning method designed to acquire informative in-distribution samples in priority. The proposed method leverages both labeled and unlabeled data pools and selects samples from clusters on the feature space constructed via contrastive learning. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method requires a lower annotation budget than existing active learning methods to reach the same level of accuracy.


Objective: Aim of the study was to verify validity of ultrasound in detecting structural abnormalities in first trimester by comparison of ultrasonographic findings, pathological assessment and caryotype. Methods: Retrospective analysis of cases with ultrasonographically detected structural abnormalities in first-trimester screening in tertiary centre during five-year period. Concordance between ultrasound diagnosis, pathological assessment and caryotype obtained from aborted fetuses was evaluated. Results: First-trimester ultrasound screening was performed in 2121 women referred to our institution in the period 2001–2005. Range of gestational age was 12–14 weeks. Severe structural abnormity was detected in 22 cases (1.04%). There were 6 cases (27.3%) of central nervous system abnormality, 4 cases (18.2%) of congenital heart disease, 4 cases (18.2%) of abdominal wall defect, 4 cases (18.2%) of urinary system abnormality and 1 case (4.5%) of skeletal dysplasia. Multiple defects were detected in 3 fetuses (13.8%). All pregnancies were terminated according to family decision. Pathological assessment was performed in 18 fetuses (81.8%). There was complete concordance between ultrasonographic and pathological findings in all these 18 cases. Other 4 fetuses (18.2%) were not pathologically assessed because of fetal maceration. Cytogenetic analysis was performed in 16 fetuses (72.7%). Abnormal caryotype was found in 6 fetuses (37.5%). Conclusions: First-trimester ultrasound screening allows reliable early detection of severe structural abnormalities. Supported by Grant IGA MZ CR 8350–3.


The experiment was conducted in male mice SBAchS57Vl/6 and Balb/c, which consumed water, obtained from the use of carbon nanotubes. in a free drinking regimen for 2 weeks (mice SBAchS57Vl/6) and 2 months (mice Balb/c) Control group consisted of three groups of animals: intact and mice received fine coal in the same concentrations as under the impact of the nanotubes. Under exposure to the maximal of the studied concentration of carbon nanotubes a significant change in the fine structure of the villi of the small intestine was found in the form of increasing the number of unstructured villi and proliferation of epithelial cells, most pronounced in duration of exposure until 2 months.


The contact between a femoral stem prosthesis and the internal surface of the cortical bone with the stress in the interface is of crucial importance with respect to loosening. However, there are no reports of strain patterns at this site, and the main aim of the current study was to investigate differences of internal and external cortical strain in the proximal femur after insertion of a stem prosthesis. The external cortical strain of a human cadaveric femur was measured with strain gauges before and after implantation of a stem prosthesis. By use of optical fibres embedded longitudinally in the endosteal cortex, deformations at the implant–internal cortex interface could also be measured. The main external deformation during loading of the intact femur occurred as compression of the medial cortex; both at the proximal and distal levels. The direction of the principal strain on the medial and lateral aspects was close to the longitudinal axis of the bone. After resection of the femoral neck and insertion of a stem prosthesis, the changes in external strain values were greatest medially at the proximal level, where the magnitude of deformation in compression was reduced to about half the values measured on the intact specimen. Otherwise, there were rather small changes in external principal strain. However, by comparing vertical strain in the external and internal cortex of the proximal femur, there were great differences in values and patterns at all positions. The transcortical differences in strain varied from compression on one side to distraction on the other and vice versa in some of the positions with a correlation coefficient of 0.07. Our results show that differences exist between the external and internal cortical strain when loading a stem prosthesis. Hence, strain at the internal cortex does not correspond and can not be deducted from measured strain at the external cortex.


The U.S. Department of Agriculture spends over $5 billion per year on conservation programs, mostly on voluntary programs that give financial assistance to farmers and landowners to provide environmental services (such as implementing nutrient management programs or planting native grasses). Since most programs cannot fund all interested parties, program managers must use some mechanism to select applicants. One option is to elicit offers through an auction. This report addresses the use of auctions in conservation programs. It considers how information in the hands of Government officials and rural landowners affects the auction's performance, and how auction design can reduce Government expenditures or encourage landowners to provide greater environmental services. Results of laboratory experiments are discussed, highlighting shortcomings of common features of conservation program auctions (such as limits on the rent landowners may request), as well as how alternative auction designs can improve performance.


In this paper, we examine what groups of children are served by core childhood social-safety net programs—including Medicaid, EITC, CTC, SNAP, and AFDC/TANF—and how that's changed over time. We find that virtually all gains in spending on the social safety net for children since 1990 have gone to families with earnings, and to families with income above the poverty line. This is the result of welfare reform and the expansion of in work tax credits. We review the available research and find that access to safety net programs during childhood leads to benefits for children and society over the long run. This evidence suggests that the changes to the social safety net may have lasting negative impacts on the poorest children. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)


In this article, the concept of competence is studied from the point of view of the semiotics of education. It will be claimed that it is a central key concept when we are trying to analyse the meaning of education. Educational action can be reasonably understood as an insecure and complicatedly mediated trial to affect another person's competence. First, the recent discussion about the concept of competence and its relatives is shortly reviewed. Then, competence is analysed and defined according to Greimassian semiotic theory as a basic determining character of an acting subject. At the same time as competence is indispensably central for understanding the subjects of action, it is problematically empirically ineffable. This ineffability has a special meaning in education, where we must try to both plan our own educative action and evaluate the learning of the student according to these invisible features. It is proposed that in the recent discourse of education, the very popular use of the concept of competence is misguided and problematically mixed with its conceptual counterpart performance. From this viewpoint, the concept of competence should rather be connected to the ontological concept of disposition. The problem of multi-dimensionality of competence is considered with the help of the Greimassian conception of modalities to create a richer and more detailed picture of the role of competence in action, and especially in education.


In this study explain rapidly changing business environment, the need for very timely and effective business information is recognized as being indispensable for organizations not only to succeed, but even to survive. Business intelligence (BI) is a concept which refers to a managerial philosophy and a tool that is used in order to help organizations and refine information and to make more effective business decisions. The sample of study is 50 industrial firms for the period 2006-2010 listed on Amman Stock Exchange .The results indicates the Knowledge economy variable measured by intellectual capital are more significant and effect of performance and this study has shown that the provision of appropriate support with regard to BI is needed as BI plays a crucial role to support decision-making in firms of all sizes more than learning and growth or financial factor but there is no significant level for customer variable


The theatre, an enigmatic world in which the actors can transform for a couple of hours the reality of the spectators in an astonishing universe. Anton Chekhov, Russian dramatist is reveling his magical wings over the creation of the theatre with one of his plays, The Seagull. The time in his plays seems unbearable and it continues endlessly without novelty. One of the character from the theatre play The Seagull is Nina Zarecinaia and represents the single woman in this play that has the power to convert her life. The Chekhov's character, Nina chose to live, love and suffer a manner to win wisdom and to find her way in life. She is more powerful that she thinks and is capable to endure her hard life without giving the possibility to come back to her old home. In this case, she is showing courage to take life as it is. Most important things about this character is that she comes back for a short period and penetrate the quiet space of the other characters, leaving behind at her leaving the appearance of death. Relying on the actions that Nina takes, we can find four elements of anthropology: empathizing, expression patterns, releasing the psychic energies and the art to detect and to avoid the unconscious traps.


Glioblastomas in children usually occur in the brainstem and are often untreatable and associated with an extremely poor prognosis. Such tumours may however occur in supratentorial locations more typically associated with adult gliomas, where the outcome is more variable, but still poor. We report the case of a boy with fragile X who also developed an inoperable midbrain glioblastoma, but who has survived 8 years after diagnosis.


Anogenital distance (AGD) serves as a marker for prenatal androgenization, reproductive development, and fertility in humans and rodents. The primary objectives of this observational study in lactating dairy cows were to (1) characterize the distribution and variability of AGD, (2) determine the relationship among AGD and potential postnatal AGD determinants of age and height, and (3) evaluate the associations between AGD and pregnancy to first artificial insemination (P/AI) and cumulative pregnancy by 250 d in milk (DIM) within parity groups (first, second, and third+ parities). The secondary objective was to evaluate the association between AGD and testosterone concentrations. The AGD (mm), age (yr), and height at hip (cm) at the time of AGD determination, and aforesaid reproductive outcomes were determined in 921 Holstein cows (first, second, and third+ parity; n = 360, 256, and 305, respectively). Plasma concentrations of testosterone were determined in a subset of 93 cows. Overall, AGD had a normal distribution and high variability [mean (±standard deviation); 131.0 ± 12.2 mm], was weakly associated with cow age and height (coefficient of determination = 0.09 and 0.04, respectively), and had an inverse relationship with P/AI in first- and second-parity cows, but not in third+ parity cows. For every 1 mm increase in AGD, the odds of P/AI decreased by 3.4 and 2.4% for first- and second-parity cows, respectively. The optimal AGD threshold to predict probability of P/AI was 127.1 mm for both first- (sensitivity: 66.4; specificity: 56.6%) and second-parity cows (sensitivity: 46.0; specificity: 70.4%). Accordingly, first- and second-parity cows were categorized into either short or long AGD (≤ or >127.1 mm), and associations with reproductive outcomes were evaluated. First-parity cows with long AGD had lower P/AI (30.9 vs. 53.6%) and decreased likelihood (hazard ratio: 0.68) of pregnancy by 250 DIM than those with short AGD. Similarly, second-parity cows with long AGD had reduced P/AI (28.3 vs. 44.4%) and a tendency for decreased likelihood (hazard ratio: 0.76) of pregnancy by 250 DIM than in cows with short AGD. The association between AGD and testosterone was weak and nonsignificant. In summary, AGD in Holstein cows was normally distributed, highly variable, and weakly associated with age and height. Besides, AGD had an inverse relationship with P/AI and cumulative pregnancy by 250 DIM in first- and second-parity cows; however, such a relationship was not evident in older (third+ parity) cows.


This paper presents a Poisson multi-Bernoulli mixture (PMBM) conjugate prior for multiple extended object estimation. A Poisson point process is used to describe the existence of yet undetected targets, while a multi-Bernoulli mixture describes the distribution of the targets that have been detected. The prediction and update equations are presented for the standard transition density and measurement likelihood. Both the prediction and the update preserve the PMBM form of the density, and in this sense the PMBM density is a conjugate prior. However, the unknown data associations lead to an intractably large number of terms in the PMBM density, and approximations are necessary for tractability. A gamma Gaussian inverse Wishart implementation is presented, along with methods to handle the data association problem. A simulation study shows that the extended target PMBM filter outperforms the extended target PHD, CPHD and LMB filters. An experiment with Lidar data illustrates the benefit of tracking both detected and undetected targets.


BACKGROUND AND AIM: Benzodiazepines (BZD) are widely prescribed to substance users. However, the nonmedical use of prescription BZD often leads to abuse and dependence. Therefore, it is important to detect BZD among substance users seeking treatment. The aim of the present study was to develop an efficient method for testing BZD on dried urine spot (DUS) and evaluating its clinical applicability. METHODS: This involved optimization of conditions for the detection, recovery, and stability of BZD from dried urine, spotted on filter paper. Enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay was used for screening whereas confirmation was done by gas chromatography. For clinical applicability, urine samples of BZD users were tested. RESULTS: The recovery was found to be 99.7% in de-ionized water from 20 μl spotted urine samples. Limit of detection, inter-day and intra-day CV were found to be 100 ng/ml, 4.22% and 3.83%, respectively. BZD were found stable in DUS for 3 weeks at room temperature, and for 3 months at 4°C and −20°C. All the urine samples of benzodiazepine users were found positive by conventional method as well as the DUS method. CONCLUSION: DUS method proved to be efficient for BZD testing with advantages of ease of collection, transportation, minimal invasiveness and small sample volume. It offers a useful alternative for BZD testing especially in developing countries where logistics of sample collection and transportation could be an important concern.


For more than two millennia, the historic Grand Trunk Road, the busy thoroughfare that extends some 1500 miles through north India and Pakistan served as the main artery of South Asia. It was also the gateway through which waves of immigrants, travelers, and invaders entered the subcontinent. As a result, a great deal of diversity and tolerance marks the road. Between 1988 and 1991, Raghubir Singh (1942-1999), one of India's renowned documentary photographers, traveled and photographed the Indian stretch of the Road. Ninety-six photographs from his journeys appear in the publication, The Grand Trunk Road: A Passage Through India (1995). Singh used the pictorial style of street photography that he is known for to capture everyday life along the path. Further, he emphasized the tremendous diversity he witnessed along the road through the selections he made for inclusion in the book and the specific manner in which he arranged many of them. By underscoring the heterogeneity, Singh provided a critical visual commentary of the political climate in India during the 1980s and early nineties. This period coincided with the rise of Hindu nationalism, which aimed to erase the subcontinent's diverse past and promote instead the idea of a homogenous/Hindu India. By documenting the road in his uniquely pictorial style and arranging the photographs in his book to draw attention to the differences and tolerance witnessed along the path, Singh demonstrated that India was not a monolithic culture as the politics of the time claimed, but a rich interwoven fabric of many varied strands.


This paper proposes a post-model selection inference procedure, called targeted undersmoothing, designed to construct uniformly valid confidence sets for a broad class of functionals of sparse high-dimensional statistical models. These include dense functionals, which may potentially depend on all elements of an unknown high-dimensional parameter. The proposed confidence sets are based on an initially selected model and two additionally selected models, an upper model and a lower model, which enlarge the initially selected model. We illustrate application of the procedure in two empirical examples. The first example considers estimation of heterogeneous treatment effects using data from the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982, and the second example looks at estimating profitability from a mailing strategy based on estimated heterogeneous treatment effects in a direct mail marketing campaign. We also provide evidence on the finite sample performance of the proposed targeted undersmoothing procedure through a series of simulation experiments.


This thesis is an investigation into understanding the role of design and designers, when branding in social media. The work presented in this study considers what value design can bring to branding in social media. It identifies design skills necessary to work in branding in social media, and investigates how design strategy and marketing strategy can relate to social media strategy. It also examines what roles designers could play in the future of social media. In order to fully answer these interdisciplinary questions and address this recent phenomenon of social media, the literature review considers three different domains and areas of expertise: marketing, design and social media. With regard to marketing the focus was on the branding literature concerned with strategic brand management and also social marketing management literature. We attempted to connect aspects of brand design that were crucial to the social media field. In the design chapter we focused on its importance to both branding and social media. We addressed the importance of design management in branding today and how it is connected to new research in social media. We analysed social media history and how it has developed into a growing and important platform for brands to connect with consumers and vice versa. We aimed to underline the way these three different areas of expertise connect with one another in an attempt to answer the research questions. We conducted the empirical work with the collaboration of the one hundred and three multidisciplinary individuals (from marketing, design and/or social media areas) who answered the online questionnaire through a quantitative method approach. Qualitative data was also gathered from the twenty-one individuals through semi-structured interviews with experts in marketing, design and social media areas. We included participants from the United Kingdom and Portugal. We developed two models based on the literature review and empirical data analysis. These models were then validated with thirteen of the expert participants in an online mixed method questionnaire. This ultimately led to the remodelling of the previous models into two new models that combined the feedback and analysis and reflected the overall findings of this thesis.


Melioidosis, an unusual infectious disease formerly confined to the Orient, is being seen with increasing frequency in the United States. We present a report of a patient who had recently traveled in the Far East and subsequently developed pulmonary melioidosis complicated by a fatal encephalitis. Although the radionuclide brain scan was markedly abnormal, computed tomographic studies were minimally abnormal on one occasion and within normal limits on another. The radionuclide brain scan appears to have greater sensitivity in diagnosis of early encephalitis and, therefore, may be the more valuable of the two studies in the diagnosis of this disorder.


It was discovered that replacement of the α-hydrogens of tyramine and tryptamine by deuterium produces a marked intensification of the blood pressure effects and nictitating membrane contraction normally produced by these amines. The results are interpreted on the basis of kinetic isotope effects at the level of monoamine oxidase and clearly establish the importance of this enzyme in the limitation of responses when tyramine and tryptamine are involved. The observed deuterium isotope effects with α,α-bisdeuterotyramine (α,α-D2-tyramine) have been reproduced with only one of the optical isomers of monodeuterotyramine. This establishes that the enzyme displays a high degree of optical specificity. The use of l-bisdeuteronorepinephrine revealed that norepinephrine cannot be attacked by the enzyme at the effector cell level.


Direct bonded copper (DBC) alumina (Al2O3) substrates are used in power electronic devices in order to transfer the heat from semiconductor devices to the heat sink and to carry high electric currents. Fatigue-induced cracks in the ceramic result in a diminished heat dissipation, leading to failure of a power device. Hence, a lifetime model concerning this failure mode is necessary. In this paper, a new lifetime model including crack initiation as well as crack propagation for the fatigue fracture of Al2O3-based DBC substrates is presented. It is based on experimental crack detection techniques and finite element method (FEM) simulations including fracture mechanics. For the validation of the lifetime model, experiments are presented which show that by appropriate design of the copper edge, the lifetime of the substrates is increased substantially.


Purpose Distracted driving is the largest increasing cause of motor vehicle crash deaths in the U.S prompting the need for interventions. Methods/approach We conducted an 8 week pilot randomised control trial of default technology configurations that block cellphone use while driving. We enrolled licensed teens who admitted to texting while driving. Participants installed a windshield-mounted device that could block phone use while driving. Data on cellphone use, vehicle speed, and trip time were collected. Participants completed a 4 week baseline monitoring phase followed by a 4 week intervention phase in one of four arms: 1) monitoring only; 2) 'opt-in' blocking; 3) 'opt-out' blocking; and 4) 'opt-out' blocking with parental notification. Using generalised linear models, we measured the difference in phone unlocks and minutes of phone use per hour of driving between the intervention and baseline periods relative to the monitor only arm. Results We enrolled 32 participants; 8 randomised to each arm. During the baseline period the teen drivers had 3.3 (IQR 1.5–5.4) unlocks per hour and 5.89 min (SD 5.88) of non-call phone use per hour of driving. There were less minutes of phone use per hour in the opt-out blocking arm (−2.06 95%; CI: −4.07,–0.09) and opt-out blocking with notification arm (−1.92; 95%: CI; −3.90, 0.44). The effect on unlocks per hour was less strong with −0.71 (95% CI: −2.24. 1.10) in the opt-out blocking arm and −0.43 (95% CI: −1.96, 1.10) in the opt-out blocking with notification arm. Conclusions Opt-out activation of cellphone blocking appears promising for reducing the amount of time the phone is unlocked while driving, but additional strategies may be needed to reduce handheld engagement among teen drivers. Significance and Contributions to Injury and Violence Prevention Science We demonstrated the feasibility of a novel approach for testing scalable smartphone-based interventions for reducing cellphone use while driving.


We present two studies that together test a fundamental yet rarely examined assumption underlying the contemporary appeal of authenticity-namely, that consumers assign higher value ratings to organizations regarded as authentic. Study 1 conducts content analysis of unsolicited online restaurant reviews entered voluntarily by consumers in three major U.S. metropolitan areas from October 2004 to October 2011; the data contain information from 1,271,796 reviews written by 252,359 unique reviewers of 18,869 restaurants. The findings show that consumers assign higher ratings to restaurants regarded as authentic, even after controlling for restaurant quality in several ways. In addition, we find that consumers perceive independent, family-owned, and specialist single-category restaurants as more authentic than they do chain, non-family-owned, and generalist multiple-category restaurants. Study 2 reinforces these findings using an experimental design in which participants were presented with photos and minimal descriptions of fictitious restaurants and then asked to evaluate the likely authenticity, quality, and overall value of the restaurants in a predetermined sequence. Central to both studies is an authenticity scale that was developed through the use of an online survey that ascertains the specific language used by individuals in referencing authenticity in the restaurant domain. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that authenticity generates higher consumer value ratings of organizations; the studies also identify certain types of organizations that are more likely to receive authenticity attributions by consumers.


Nowadays, most multimedia is stored in compressed bit stream format to save the storage apace or transmission time. This study proposes a novel technique for embedding flexible amounts of data in the bitmap of the improved Ordered Dither Block Truncation Coding (ODBTC) image, where the ordered dithering is used to dither the quantized BTC image to avoid the annoying false contour and blocking effect inherently existed in BTC image. Moreover, the LUT strategy is also used to significantly reduce the complexity. The inverse halftoning and the second round of halftoning are employed as the key steps in locating the embedded information bits. Experimental results demonstrate that an objective good quality image with flexible capacity and reasonable complexity is obtained. Moreover, the correct decoding rate of 100% is maintained, and the original host ODBTC image can also be reconstructed in the decoder when needed, which significantly boosts the flexibility in image quality control.


This paper investigates whether the effect of political institutions on sectoral economic performance is determined by the level of technological development of industries. Building on previous studies on the linkages among political institutions, technology and economic growth, we employ the dynamic panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator for a sample of 4,134 country-industries from 61 industries and 89 countries over the 1990-2010 period. Our main findings suggest that changes of political institutions towards higher levels of democracy, political rights and civil liberties enhance economic growth in technologically developed industries. On the contrary, the same institutional changes might retard economic growth of those industries that are below a technological development threshold. Overall, these results give evidence of a technologically conditioned nature of political institutions to be growth-promoting.


This paper studies the asymptotic power of tests of sphericity against perturbations in a single unknown direction as both the dimensionality of the data and the number of observations go to infinity. We establish the convergence, under the null hypothesis and the alternative, of the log ratio of the joint densities of the sample covariance eigenvalues to a Gaussian process indexed by the norm of the perturbation. When the perturbation norm is larger than the phase transition threshold studied in Baik et al. (2005), the limiting process is degenerate and discrimination between the null and the alternative is asymptotically certain. When the norm is below the threshold, the process is non-degenerate, so that the joint eigenvalue densities under the null and alternative hypotheses are mutually contiguous. Using the asymptotic theory of statistical experiments, we obtain asymptotic power envelopes and derive the asymptotic power for various sphericity tests in the contiguity region. In particular, we show that the asymptotic power of the Tracy-Widom-type tests is trivial, whereas that of the eigenvalue-based likelihood ratio test is strictly larger than the size, and close to the power envelope.


Massive introduction of a drug-sensitive attenuated strain of Eimeria tenella in a floor-pen heavily contaminated with a drug-resistant strain produced a marked reduction in the proportion of drug-resistant oocytsts in the litter. This provides a useful adjunct to planned immunization programs since the procedure protects the birds against subsequent challenge through immunity imparted by the introduced strain while restoring the effectiveness of the anticoccidial drug which was previously ineffective because of the predominance of drug-resistant coccidia.


This paper reviews the development, structure and process of post-occupancy evaluation (POE) as an environment-behaviour approach to assessing built environments of all sizes and types. It illustrates the use of POEs with three examples from the Health Care sector: The Canadian Hospital Evaluation Program, the Weiss Institute, and 18 independent-living apartment units. A comparison is made between POEs and the approach currently used by occupational therapy (OT) for environmental assessments. Recommendations suggest that OT's approach could be extended and strengthened through 1) incorporating POE methods and existing data from environment-behaviour studies; 2) the use of standard assessment procedures and well-validated measures; and 3) the development of a data bank on OT environmental assessments.


Reperfusion by Ca(2+)-containing solution after 10 minutes of Ca(2+)-depletion resulted in the loss of myoglobin, depletion of ATP and phosphocreatine (calcium paradox). Exhaustion of high energy phosphates exacerbated when glucose was substituted by pyruvate or acetate. Iodoacetate (30 mcM) elevated loss of myoglobin due to calcium paradox. Addition of 120 mM glucose reduced loss of myoglobin and depletion of high energy phosphates after induction of the calcium paradox. There is a close correlation between concentration of lactate and ATP in the hearts subjected to calcium paradox. Elevated activity of glycolysis protected hearts against the calcium paradox.


Seasonal blooms of cyanobacteria (CB) are a typical feature of Lake Alto Flumendosa (Sardinia, Italy). The waters of this lake are used for drinking water supply, for agricultural and industrial uses, and fish farming activities. Since cyanotoxins are not monitored in edible organisms, diet could be a relevant route of human exposure. CB also represent a threat for the health of wild and domestic animals that use lake water for beverage. Therefore, to characterize the CB community and assess the risk for human and animal population, CB dynamic, mcy B + fraction, and microcystins (MCs) concentration have been followed monthly for 18 months, in three stations. Results confirmed the presence of several toxigenic species. Planktothrix rubescens dominated between August 2011 and April 2012 (3.5×10 6 cells L -1 ), alternating with Woronichinia naegeliana (8×10 6 cells L -1 ) and Microcystis botrys (9×10 5 cells L -1 ). Dolichospermum planctonicum was always present at low densities (10 4 cells L -1 ). MCs were detected, at values well below the 1 µg L -1 threshold of WHO for drinking water. The molecular analysis of mcy B gene for P. rubescens indicated the presence of a persistent toxic population (average 0.45 mcy B/16S rDNA). Highly significant linear regressions were found between P. rubescens and the sum of the demethylated MC variants, and between M. botrys and the sum of MC-LR and MC-LA, also when co-occurring, suggesting that these two species were responsible for different MC patterns production. The regression lines indicated a quite stable MC cell quota. However, in some spotted samples very different values were obtained for both MC concentrations and cell quota (from 10-fold lower to 30-40-fold higher than the 'average') showing an unexpected significant variability in the rate of toxin production. The relatively low cell densities during the monitoring period is consistent with the low-to absent MC contamination level found in trout muscle; however, the analytical method was affected by low recovery, probably due to MC-protein binding. Our results show that, during the study period, no risk of exposure for the human and animal population occurred. However, the persistence of a complex CB community characterised by a significant toxic fraction suggests the need for periodic monitoring activity. Particularly, the hidden deep summer P. rubescens blooms, located where water is taken for drinking water supply, and M. botrys , able to produce the most toxic MC variants with high cell quota, should be kept under control. The documentation and interpretation of sudden changes in toxins concentrations deserve special attention. This is particularly relevant in proximity of fish farming plants and water catchment sites.


Given the increasing share of striking the livestock sector in the national economy is of great interest to know which are emissions generated by this and their influences on environmental factors. This paper aims to examine correlations that exist between emissions in atmosphere by notching animal farms and meteorological factors. To realize this work I make some measurements at various livestock farms. Noted that all the farms are located in different zone of the Bihor County, where the weather conditions and topography are different. I note that measurements were made with a sampler for particulate matter and with a digital gas analyzer type Oldham MX21.I also has been used mathematical simulation of dispersion of pollutants generated by equations of mathematical physics. n the equations, leading to simulate pollutant dispersion is found meteorological factors such as wind speed, temperature, upward movement of air masses, humidity, etc. Initially it presents briefly, to highlight the technological process emissions at every stage of the technological process and also in order to extract their properties. Theme paper is not addressed in the first, but certainly is a topical issue through themes. Theme is studied by the scientific community of all countries with focus on environmental protection and the development of society in correlation with the principles of sustainable development. In this connection European scientific communities are remarkable efforts that try to achieve standards that must be respected in the breeding activities. Practical implications of research, importance of work: This paper proves its usefulness especially for guiding entrepreneurs in choosing the best locations for future Agrozootechnical firm and providing information indicative of policy makers in the field of environmental protection in such an objective economic analysis. The importance of the work result by highlighting how emissions from the activity of pigs in a growth industry affects livestock farming communities


In recent years, the advancement in neuroimaging technology has given rise to various modalities of brain imaging data, which provides us with unprecedented opportunities for investigating the inner organization and activity of human brain for neurological disorder analysis. These brain data can be acquired in different forms, such as the spatio-temporal tensor data (e.g., fMRI 4D tensor image), graph data (e.g., fMRI brain connectivity networks) and multi-view graph data (e.g., fMRI and DTI brain networks). Learning from these brain data and leveraging the information for neurological disorder analysis can potentially facilitate the clinical investigation and therapeutic intervention of many brain diseases.
In this dissertation, I introduce our recent works on modeling and learning from brain data in multiple perspectives for neurological disorder analysis. In the first part, I focus on the spatio-temporal tensor modeling of fMRI image data for whole-brain classification. Then I present an approach based on interior-node topology of graphs for the clustering of brain networks. Furthermore, a multi-view clustering framework is proposed with graph embedding for the clustering of multi-view brain networks. Finally, I introduce a multi-view graph embedding approach for jointly learning the multi-view representation and detecting hubs from multi-view brain networks.


Nd-substituted Sr hexaferrite (Sr/sub 1-x/Nd/sub x/Fe/sub 12/O/sub 19/) plate-like particles were synthesized hydrothermally and then calcined at temperatures ranging from 1100/spl deg/C to 1250/spl deg/C for 2 h in air. The effects of the Nd-Sr ratio and the calcination temperature on the phase stability and magnetic properties were investigated. Nd substitution up to a Nd-Sr ratio of 1/8 increases the coercivity without causing any significant deterioration in either the saturation magnetization or the remanence.


Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis D is difficult to treat. The present pilot study investigated the efficacy and tolerability of pegylated (PEG)-interferon (IFN)-a2b in chronic hepatitis D. Patients and Methods: Twelve patients with chronic hepatitis D were prospectively treated with 1.5 mg/kg PEG-IFN-a2b for 48 weeks and followed for 24 weeks. Sustained response (SR) was defined as undetectable hepatitis delta virus (HDV) RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and normalization of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) at 6 months after treatment. Investigations included HDV RNA kinetics, determination of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HDV genotypes and histological evaluation. Results: An SR was achieved in two out of 12 of patients (17%). The negative predictive value of a less than 3 log HDV RNA decrease at month 6 was 100%. The positive predictive value of a more than 3 log HDV RNA decrease at month 6 was 67%. A marked ALT reduction at the end of treatment was observed in responders and nonresponders. Ishak histological score was comparable at baseline and significantly improved in responders compared with nonresponders at the end of follow-up (13.5 vs. 8.0; Po0.02). Conclusion: The present study indicates that PEG-IFN-a2b is a promising treatment option in chronic hepatitis D. Nonresponders could be identified by a less than 3 log decrease of HDV RNA at 6 months of treatment.


This paper presents a novel and efficient texture-based method for modeling the background and detecting moving objects from a video sequence. Each pixel is modeled as a group of adaptive local binary pattern histograms that are calculated over a circular region around the pixel. The approach provides us with many advantages compared to the state-of-the-art. Experimental results clearly justify our model.


Elsewhere, 1 I argue that the implementation of the quota system in higher education in the 1960s was one of the catalysts for the rise of a large new generation of musicians and musical ensembles in Zaire during the first decade of the Second Republic. In the same source I assert that the musical style of the younger generation of musicians was laden with borrowings of phrasing referents1 2 (time-line patterns) and melodic formulae from ethnic music. Unlike the first, the last two decades of the Second Republic, stigmatized by the sagging economy and die decadence of the political structure, sent a series of negative impacts to all facets of the national life, culminating in the closing of the chapter on President Mobutu's thirty-two year regime (May 20, 1965 through May 17,1997). The failed attempt by the government to eradicate tribalism reinforced instead ethnic consciousness, whose lasting effect continues to be felt well after the May 17 liberation. While becoming indifferent to the political regime and its leadership, musicians remained faithful to their respective ethnic traditions, and reflected this ethnic awareness in the newly established style. These two realities prevailed during the last two decades of the Second Republic as sources of inspiration as the situation compounded.


This report gives the results of an investigation conducted in the NACA full-scale wind tunnel on a small parasol monoplane equipped with three different split trailing-edge wing flaps. The object of the investigation was to determine and correlate data on the characteristics of the airplane and flaps as affected by variation in flap chord, flap deflection, and flap location along the wing chord. The results give the lift, the drag, and the pitching moment characteristics of the airplane, and the flap forces and moments, the pressure distribution over the flaps and wing at one section, and the downwash characteristics of the flap and wing combinations.


Gastro-retentive drug delivery systems offer the advantage in prolonging the gastric emptying time for drugs having a narrow absorption window in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) resulting in poor absorption. Ciprofloxacin and metronidazole both have a short half-life resulting in increase in dosage regimen. Metronidazole is a nitro imidazole antibiotic and is ineffective on aerobic bacteria. Ciprofloxacin on the other hand is a broad spectrum fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent, the combination of both, is active against a broad spectrum of obligate anaerobic bacteria. The purpose of this study was to design, optimize and evaluate gastroretentive floating tablet of Metronidazole and Ciprofloxacin hydrochloride combination to increase the residence time in the stomach and thereby giving prolong action of each drug individually. Screening of the various grades of HPMC polymer for optimization of matrix forming polymer, followed by optimization of the ratio of the polymer, and the quantity of the swelling agent guar gum. The micromeritic properties, tablet evaluation properties, floating behavior and drug release studies for ciprofloxacin and metronidazole were conducted as per guidelines and compared to the marketed product dissolution profile. The tablets showed acceptable physicochemical properties. The optimization showed that HPMC E10M and HPMC K100M in the ratio of 1:2 were the best suited polymers for the matrix whereas guar gum at 3.3 % was the ideal concentration for the desired floating and drug release profile. The optimized batch was subjected to stability studies at 40 °C/75% RH for 3 months and depicted a stable formulation.


Numerical simulation, based on simple reaction models that manifest the deposition quality of silicon from silane, was undertaken to investigate the horizontal reactor, with longitudinal and transversal aspect ratios of10 and 4, respectively. The effects of Rayleigh(Ra) and Reynolds(Re) numbers on the Si deposition rate in these turbulent-type reactors are discussed. The results show that the time-averaged deposition rate is fairly uniform and fast, although the instantaneous deposition is non-uniform in these turbulent reactors. In addition, the increase of the Re number within a certain range can compensate for the path loss of the reactant and obviously enhance the downstream deposition rate, but deteriorate the transverse distribution of the deposition.


SIGNIFICANCE
Reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) play an important role in cell signaling pathways. However, the increased production of these species may disrupt cellular homeostasis, giving rise to pathological conditions. Biomaterials that are responsive to ROS/RNS can be strategically used to specifically release therapeutics and diagnostic agents to regions undergoing oxidative stress.

RECENT ADVANCES
Many nanocarriers intended to exploit redox micro-environments as triggers for drug release, summarized and compared in this review, have recently been developed. We describe these carriers' chemical structures, strategies for payload protection and oxidation-selective release, and ROS/RNS sensitivity as tested in initial studies.

CRITICAL ISSUES
ROS/RNS are unstable, so reliable measures of their concentrations in various conditions are scarce. Combined with the dearth of materials shown to respond to physiologically relevant levels of ROS/RNS, evaluations of their true sensitivity are difficult.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Oxidation-responsive nanocarriers developed thus far show tremendous potential for applicability in vivo; however, the sensitivity of these chemistries needs to be fine tuned to enable responses to physiological levels of ROS and RNS.


Washington, D.C.—Although economic growth and Iraq/terrorism are the top issues shaping voter decisions this election year, healthcare tops the second tier, emerging as an area where both candidates believe they can map out distinctive positions. Republicans see the gap narrowing between those voters who believe that Democrats will handle healthcare issues better than Republicans and expect to gain by touting their efforts to expand Medicare. The Bush campaign aims to "build on our success," says campaign health policy advisor Megan Hauck, by backing association health plans, refundable tax credits, additional tax breaks for health savings accounts, and support for health information technology.


Hip is a site very commonly affected by osteoarthritis (OA), yet few data exist in literature regarding intra-articulaar use of hyaluronic acid in this pathology. We evaluated the efficacy of Hylan G-F 20 hip viscosupplementation performed under ultrasound guidance. We enrolled 26 patients affected by symptomatic hip OA and treated them with a single intraarticular injection of Hylan G-F 20, which could be repeated every two months. The injection was performed under ultrasound guidance with an antero-superior approach. Treatment efficacy was assessed through Lequesne index, visual analogue scale (VAS) pain quantification, and NSAID intake at the timepoint zero (baseline), and after 2, 6 and 12 months. We observed a statistically significant reduction of all considered parameters at the timepoints 2 and 6 months, when compared to baseline. At 12 months the changes were still statistically significant for all parameters for about 50% of the patients. No side effect was observed, nor systemic complication. Viscosupplementation is a promising approach for hip OA, although further and wider studies are wanted to determine how long the beneficial effect lasts, and what is the optimal number of injections to administer.


Inspired by Nature several groups have developed structural and functional iron complexes mimicking the active site of the iron-hydrogenases, which show high reactivity in the H2 cleavage. Usually pendant bases have been incorporated onto families of Fe complexes in order to achieve active systems. In the view of these recent developments, in chapter two, we investigated the possibility of synthesizing novel iron (II) complexes bearing an amine internal base and providing an open site for substrate binding as catalysts for H2 activation. Pentacoordinated Fe(II) low spin complexes [(PhPNP)Fe(CO)(bdt)] (1), [(PhPNP)Fe-(CO)(Nbt)] (4), [(CyPNP)Fe(CO)(Nbt)] (5), [(dppe)Fe(CO)(Nbt)] (6) and the paramagnetic complex [(CyPNP)FeCl2] (10) have been synthesized and fully characterised. Unfortunately, when these complexes were tested as catalysts for hydrogenation reaction of a wide range of unsaturated substrates, no appreciable reactivity was observed. Same behaviour was observed in the case of complexes [(CyPNP)Fe(CO)(Cp)] (11) and [(CyPNP)Fe(CH3CN)(Cp)] (12) where the Cp ligand was installed in order to modulate the electronic and steric properties on the iron center. In chapter three, a new class of well-defined iron pincer complexes is reported. Several Fe(II) complexes supported by a 2,6-bis(phosphinito)pyridine ligand (PONOP) have been synthesized and fully characterised. In particular, the Fe-hydride complexes [(iPrPONOP)-Fe(CO)(H)Br] (14) and [(iPrPONOP)Fe(CO)(H)(CH3CN)](OTf) (15) could activate H2 at room temperature. Moreover, complexes 14 and 15 served as catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of aldehydes at room temperature. In presence of sodium formate as hydrogen donor, 14 and 15 showed an excellent reactivity in hydrogen transfer reaction of aldehydes. The mechanism of hydrogen activation and hydrogenation is discussed based on the observed reactivity of iron complexes. The feature of being chemoselective towards aldehydes and a broad functional-group tolerance make these iron-hydride systems remarkable in the class of the earth-abundant-metal hydrogenation catalysts. Chapter four is dedicated to the tuning of the Fe-PONOP systems reported in chapter three in order to synthesize similar iron(II) complexes exhibiting enhanced reactivity for H2 activation and hydrogenation of unsaturated substrates. As first attempt, complexes [(CyPONOP)Fe(CO)Br2] (22) and the analogous chloride [(CyPONOP)Fe(CO)Cl2] (23) bearing the stronger donor CyPONOP ligand were synthesized and tested as catalysts for hydrogenation reaction, but none of the substrates employed was reduced. As second attempt, the CO ligand was substituted with the better donor ligand tert-butyl isocyanide in presence of iPrPONOP as pincer ligand. Several Fe-PONOP complexes were synthesized and fully characterized. In particular the Fe-hydride complex [(iPrPONOP)Fe(tBuNC)(H)Br] (25) exhibited reactivity towards hydrogenation of aldehydes under the same reaction conditions reported for 14. No reaction was observed in presence of acetophenone, cyclohexene and 1-decene demonstrating that, although spectroscopically different, 25 did not exhibit enhanced reactivity relative to 14.