This thesis focuses on human FcγRI, a high affinity receptor for antibodies of the IgG isotype. IgG is the most abundant antibody type in blood and all currently FDA approved therapeutic antibodies are of the IgG isotype. FcγRI, a member of the activating Fcγ receptors, exists as a complex of a ligand binding α-chain and the ITAM containing FcR γ-chain. Like other leukocyte FcR, most downstream functions are mediated via the ITAM signaling motif. However, several biological functions of FcγRI, including antigen presentation and endocytosis, appear ITAM independent, supporting a role in signaling for the α-chain. Furthermore, high affinity IgG binding by FcγRI is unique within the FcγR family. This property may hamper binding of immune complexes due to IgG saturation under serum conditions, thus making the biological role of this receptor in immunity unclear. In addition, insight in the functioning of FcγRI may be relevant for antibody therapeutic strategies. In this thesis functional implications of proteins interacting with the 'head' (Chapter 2) and the 'tail' of FcγRI (Chapter 3-5) were studied. Chapter 2 documents the effects of cytokine stimulation on monomeric and multivalent IgG binding to the class I IgG receptor. Allthough it was previously thought that, due to its high affinity, FcγRI is consistently saturated with serum IgG, We observed cytokine stimulation to enhance binding of multivalent IgG. This cytokine enhanced binding allowed association of immune complexes to IgG saturated FcγRI. In chapter 3, we address the functional implications of the association between FcγRI and the actin binding protein, fi lamin A. Filamin A interaction was found to stabilize FcγRI surface expression, thereby preventing default routing of the receptor to lysosomal compartments. The interaction between protein 4.1G and FcγRI is characterized in Chapter 4. Alanine scans and alignments with other 4.1G binding proteins suggested a membrane proximal 4.1G bindingsite on the FcγRI α-chain. In Chapter 5, the functional consequences of 4.1G and FcγRI interaction are addressed. Confocal laser scanning microscopy studies revealed a potential role for 4.1G during ingestion of large particles by macrophages. A summarizing discussion is provided in Chapter 6.


This work aims to investigate the processes responsible for the morphodynamics of barred beach during storm events. The contribution compares the response of 2 nearshore bars during storm events at a microtidal double barred beach of the Gulf of Lions, NW Mediterranean Sea (France). Storm-specific experiments were undertaken to assess the morphological evolution of the shoreface. The initial and resulting morphologies are analysed together with wave parameters offshore and water level measurements. Current circulation on the bar system is simulated with MARS-SWAN numerical model. Both storm events presented almost similar hydrodynamic characteristics, and a pre-storm morphology characterised by crescentic bar patterns. However, the resulting morphological evolution was very contrasted. In first case, the bay of the well formed, small-size, crescentic bar was disrupted. In second case the longer crescentic pattern evolve to a more ample and skewed bar morphology. Model simulations indicate that the small size rhythmic crescentic bar patterns would be more able to generate rip circulation cells than the larger crescents patterns, even if a slight change in wave incidence is observed during one of the events. On this specific dataset, our analysis indicates that the nearshore hydrodynamics at the peak of the storm is driven mostly by the pre-storm morphology that is then responsible of the morphological response during the storm.


Graphene as a zero-bandgap semiconductor is an ideal model structure to study the carrier relaxation channels, which are inefficient in conventional semiconductors. In particular, it is of fundamental interest to address the question whether Auger-type processes significantly influence the carrier dynamics in graphene. These scattering channels bridge the valence and conduction band allowing carrier multiplication, a process that generates multiple charge carriers from the absorption of a single photon. This has been suggested in literature for improving the efficiency of solar cells. Here we show, based on microscopic calculations within the density matrix formalism, that Auger processes do play an unusually strong role for the relaxation dynamics of photoexcited charge carriers in graphene. We predict that a considerable carrier multiplication takes place, confirming the potential of graphene as a new material for high-efficiency photodevices.


: To ensure security operation of power systems with high wind penetration, wind turbines (WTs) are required to participate system frequency control. The amount of WT kinetic energy used for system frequency control is discussed and minimum rotor speeds according to different WT operation states are defined to avoid large drop of mechanical power during WT frequency control. The effect of different power shapes of releasing the kinetic energy on system frequency support is investigated and two methods are proposed. The first one is aimed at reducing the rate of change of frequency (ROCOF), whereas the second one aimed to reduce both the ROCOF and frequency nadir. The proposed strategies not only make full use of the available kinetic energy but also lead to a smooth transition when the rotor re-accelerates. The performance of the proposed strategies is validated by simulations using MATLAB/Simulink. The results indicate significant improvement on system frequency control.


In classification problems, isotonic regression has been commonly used to map the prediction scores to posterior class probabilities. However, isotonic regression may suffer from overfitting, and the learned mapping is often discontinuous. Besides, current efforts mainly focus on the calibration of a single classifier. As different classifiers have different strengths, a combination of them can lead to better performance. In this paper, we propose a novel probability calibration approach for such an ensemble of classifiers. We first construct isotonic constraints on the desired probabilities based on soft voting of the classifiers. Manifold information is also incorporated to combat overfitting and ensure function smoothness. Computationally, the extended isotonic regression model can be learned efficiently by a novel optimization algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Experiments on a number of real-world data sets demonstrate that the proposed approach consistently outperforms independent classifiers and other combinations of the classifiers' probabilities in terms of the Brier score and AUC.


Electric vehicles rely on batteries that need to be frequently recharged. As an alternative to conductive charging, wireless chargers provide a higher reliability to pollution and electric failures and they also extend the situations and places where the recharge could be available without user's intervention (e.g. parking spaces, on-road). In order to optimize the performance of a wireless charger, its configuration should be dynamically adapted to the varying battery's electrical features. Towards this goal, controllers are incorporated into the system to modify the behavior of some switching devices belonging to the power electronics blocks. This paper presents a controller that acts in the DC/DC structure placed in the primary side. As a novelty, the controller infers the instantaneous battery power demands by exclusively measuring voltage and current in the primary side. In this way, there is no need for communicating (via wired or wireless links) the primary and the secondary sides. The simulation results show the ability of the controller to adapt to different battery states.


Courses in developmental and introductory mathematics are changing. Because nearly all students need mathematics coursework to graduate from a postsecondary institution, yet institutions consistently struggle to ensure that students of all demographics succeed in credit-bearing mathematics courses, student success in such courses may be viewed as an issue of social justice. In particular, there is a need for institutions to provide pathways through college-level mathematics courses that meet the needs of students with a wide array of incoming mathematical knowledge and skills. In light of questions about pedagogy, pass rates, and effects on degree completion time, some institutions have moved away from requiring students to enroll in non-creditbearing developmental mathematics courses. At Michigan State University, college-level courses in both Quantitative Literacy and College Algebra now directly enroll students who previously would have placed into Intermediate Algebra. Accompanying this shift in access are changes in course structure and content; during the 2017-2018 academic year, some course sections included an extra class meeting to help students bridge gaps in their requisite skills. While the corequisite model is an intuitive approach to supporting student learning, essentially increasing time on task and identifying needed requisite skills "just in time," these quantitative analyses show little evidence for these course sections improving students' course grades. In this context, the role and type of corequisite, supplemental instruction that best supports learning for a diverse group of students in introductory undergraduate mathematics courses remains in question. We discuss potential reasons for these results in light of existing reports on corequisite models and situate the results in the context of what social justice and equity might look like for corequisite models of introductory mathematics coursework.


This paper describes an algorithm to estimate realtime vehicle velocity using image processing technique from the known camera calibration parameters. The presented algorithm involves several main steps. First, the moving object is extracted by utilizing frame differencing technique. Second, the object tracking method is applied and the speed is estimated based on the displacement of the object's centroid. Several assumptions are listed to simplify the transformation of 2D images from 3D real-world images. The results obtained from the experiment have been compared to the estimated ground truth. From this experiment, it exhibits that the proposed algorithm has achieved the velocity accuracy estimation of about ± 1.7 km/h. Keywords—camera calibration; object tracking; velocity estimation; video image processing


We review machine learning methods employing positive definite kernels. These methods formulate learning and estimation problems in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) of functions defined on the data domain, expanded in terms of a kernel. Working in linear spaces of function has the benefit of facilitating the construction and analysis of learning algorithms while at the same time allowing large classes of functions. The latter include nonlinear functions as well as functions defined on nonvectorial data. We cover a wide range of methods, ranging from binary classifiers to sophisticated methods for estimation with structured data.


An incentivized informant scandal recently hit Orange County, California where county officials were caught lying, hiding, and not providing information about their informants. Concerned citizens, attorneys, and scholars are beginning to ask more questions as these stories receive increased nationwide attention: what should we do about false incentivized informant testimony? What can we do? Under Brady, Giglio, Ruiz, and their progeny, in criminal cases the government must turn over any material exculpatory evidence that it possesses, or that is available, when the defendant decides to go to trial. However, if the government does not know—or purports not to know—about material exculpatory information, such as an informant's testimonial history, then there are often inadequate guidelines, rules, or incentives in place for the government to seek out and turn over this type of information. Moreover, because about 95% of state and federal cases end in plea deals, an informant's credibility usually eludes public, judicial, and the accused's scrutiny. This Comment offers solutions for legislatures, courts, and other government actors to use to help reduce wrongful imprisonment caused by false incentivized informant testimony. First, it outlines the types of information about incentivized informants that the government should seek out. Second, it offers several solutions and, working within United States v. Ruiz's framework, this Comment suggests a legal standard for when the government must provide material information about an informant before a plea deal: when the government's case primarily relies on informant testimony but material exculpatory evidence in its possession shows actual innocence.


Social class encompasses the preferences, lifestyles, and behaviors of people in various social class groups in conjunction with the structural privileges that accompany certain social locations (Smith, 2010). Class-privileged college students typically come to campus with greater amounts of cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1980) that afford them the luxury of understanding how to navigate the middle-class environment of college (Tett, 2000). Students from poor/working- class backgrounds are, on the other hand, often without the benefit of knowing the behavioral codes and expectations of college, which can lead to negative psychological outcomes in the form of lowered self-esteem, depression, and stress. As a construct, resiliency provides a framework for understanding how some poor/working-class students are able to succeed despite these potential negative outcomes and persist through college. The study aimed to measure the class-related challenges and resiliency factors that correspond to different levels of psychological outcomes using a scale called the Poor/Working-Class Challenge and Resiliency Factor Scale (P/W-CRF).
 Data was collected using a sample of 253 four-year college students who identified as coming from a poor/working-class background. Participants filled out an online survey consisting of a demographic survey, original challenge and resiliency factor items, psychology outcome measures (self –esteem, depression, and stress), a social desirability scale, and previously validated classism and resiliency scales. Through factor analysis, two scales were generated. The first scale represented the challenges faced on campus, which was a 20-item, four factor scale with a good fit. The second, resilience scale, was a 24-item, eight factor scale with a poor fit. The overall challenge scale was found to show convergent validity with the depression, stress, and classism scales, and divergent validity with the self esteem and social desirability scales. The resilience scale demonstrated convergent validity with the self esteem and resilience scales and divergent validity with the depression and stress scales. In an effort to explore a stronger model fit for the two models, post hoc analysis offered a possible 18-item, six- factor resilience model, with a slightly improved model fit. The document will explore potential strengths and weaknesses of using these models. Finally, implications and suggestions for future research are provided in the following areas; a) Research; b) Theory; c) Clinical Practice; d) Student Affairs or Services; e) Policy; and f) High School College Counseling.


Previous experimental determination of the luminosity curve of the eye at intermediate intensities has shown a series of transitional curves intermediate between rod and cone, the appearance of which has been attributed to rod-cone interaction. However, examination of mesopic curves predicted on the basis of no interaction indicates that their major characteristics are dependent instead on the relation between rod and cone functional levels. Residual discrepancies between predicted and empirical curves require the assumption of summation between the two mechanisms at wavelengths for which sensitivity is nearly equal for both. In addition to contributing to an understanding of relations between rod and cone function, the analysis emphasizes the lack of validity of mesopic curves for photometric calculations.


This chapter describes a procedure for evaluating imager resolution. A resolution
metric is presented that predicts the effect of imager blur, noise, and sampling on
the probability of correctly identifying targets. The targeting task performance
(TTP) metric predicts the results of the target identification experiments described
in Chapter 6. The resolution metric quantifies the ability to identify
objects and, in general, to discriminate scene details. Target acquisition task performance depends on how well information is
coupled from the scene to the observer. System performance cannot be predicted
without considering the characteristics of human vision. Imager noise is
unimportant if it is too fine grained to bother the observer. Imager resolution is
wasted if it far exceeds human acuity. Figure 7.1 shows an imager connected to a
display and viewed by an observer. Observer vision is treated as a "black box."
Psychophysical data are used to characterize visual thresholds and noise. The
imager is evaluated by determining how well input spatial information is coupled
to the human visual system. Experimentally, resolution predicts the probability of identifying objects in a
known target set. Mathematically, resolution is calculated by stimulating the
imager with a broad frequency spectrum. The TTP metric is an integral of all of
the spatial frequency content that exceeds visual thresholds. TTP quantifies how
well input spatial information is coupled to the observer. Poor coupling reduces
the probability of identifying objects. Good coupling improves the probability of
identifying objects. TTP is validated by the fact that it predicts experimental
object identification probabilities.


We present a Spitzer MIPS study of the decay of debris disk excesses at 24 and 70 μm for 255 stars of types F4–K2. We have used multiple tests, including consistency between chromospheric and X-ray activity and placement on the H-R diagram, to assign accurate stellar ages. Within this spectral type range, at 24 μm, 13.6% ± 2.8% of the stars younger than 1 Gyr have excesses at the 3σ level or more, whereas none of the older stars do, confirming previous work. At 70 μm, 22.5% ± 3.6% of the younger stars have excesses at ⩾3σ significance, whereas only % of the older stars do. To characterize the far-infrared behavior of debris disks more robustly, we doubled the sample by including stars from the DEBRIS and DUNES surveys. For the F4–K4 stars in this combined sample, there is only a weak (statistically not significant) trend in the incidence of far-infrared excess with spectral type (detected fractions of 21.9, late F; 16.5, G; and 16.9, early K). Taking this spectral type range together, there is a significant decline between 3 and 4.5 Gyr in the incidence of excesses, with fractional luminosities just under 10−5. There is an indication that the timescale for decay of infrared excesses varies roughly inversely with the fractional luminosity. This behavior is consistent with theoretical expectations for passive evolution. However, more excesses are detected around the oldest stars than are expected from passive evolution, suggesting that there is late-phase dynamical activity around these stars.


When large amount of statistical information about power system component failure rate is available, statistical parametric models can be developed for predictive maintenance. Often times, only partial information is available: installation date and amount, as well as failure and replacement rates. By combining sufficiently large number of yearly populations of the components, estimation of model parameters may be possible. The parametric models may then be used for forecasting of the system's short term future failure and for formulation of replacement strategies. We employ the Weibull distribution and show how we estimate its parameters from past failure data. Using Monte Carlo simulations, it is possible to assess confidence ranges of the forecasted component performance data.


In this paper, we propose a phase reconstruction framework, named Deep Griffin–Lim Iteration (DeGLI). Phase reconstruction is a fundamental technique for improving the quality of sound obtained through some process in the time-frequency domain. It has been shown that the recent methods using deep neural networks (DNN) outperformed the conventional iterative phase reconstruction methods such as the Griffin–Lim algorithm (GLA). However, the computational cost of DNN-based methods is not adjustable at the time of inference, which may limit the range of applications. To address this problem, we combine the iterative structure of GLA with a DNN so that the computational cost becomes adjustable by changing the number of iterations of the proposed DNN-based component. A training method that is independent of the number of iterations for inference is also proposed to minimize the computational cost of the training. This training method, named sub-block training by denoising (SBTD), avoids recursive use of the DNN and enables training of DeGLI with a single sub-block (corresponding to one GLA iteration). Furthermore, we propose a complex DNN based on complex convolution layers with gated mechanisms and investigated its performance in terms of the proposed framework. Through several experiments, we found that DeGLI significantly improved both objective and subjective measures from GLA by incorporating the DNN, and its sound quality was comparable to those of neural vocoders.


Abstract Brumitt, J, Heiderscheit, B, Manske, R, Niemuth, PE, Mattocks, A, and Rauh, MJ. Preseason functional test scores are associated with future sports injury in female collegiate athletes. J Strength Cond Res 32(6): 1692–1701, 2018—Recent prospective cohort studies have reported preseason functional performance test (FPT) measures and associations with future risk of injury; however, the findings associated with these studies have been equivocal. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of a battery of FPTs as a preseason screening tool to identify female Division III (D III) collegiate athletes who may be at risk for a noncontact time-loss injury to the lower quadrant (LQ = low back and lower extremities). One hundred six female D III athletes were recruited for this study. Athletes performed 3 FPTs: standing long jump (SLJ), single-leg hop (SLH) for distance, and the lower extremity functional test (LEFT). Time-loss sport-related injuries were tracked during the season. Thirty-two (24 initial and 8 subsequent) time-loss LQ injuries were sustained during the study. Ten of the 24 initial injuries occurred at the thigh and knee. At-risk athletes with suboptimal FPT measures (SLJ ⩽79% ht; (B) SLH ⩽64% ht; LEFT ≥118 seconds) had significantly greater rates of initial (7.2 per 1,000 athletic exposures [AEs]) and total (7.6 per 1,000 AEs) time-loss thigh or knee injuries than the referent group (0.9 per 1,000 AEs; 1.0 per 1,000 AEs, respectively). At-risk athletes were 9 times more likely to experience a thigh or knee injury (odds ratio [OR] = 9.7, confidence interval [CI]: 2.3–39.9; p = 0.002) than athletes in the referent group. At-risk athletes with a history of LQ sports injury and lower off-season training habits had an 18-fold increased risk of a time-loss thigh or knee injury during the season (adjusted OR = 18.7, CI: 3.0–118.1; p = 0.002). This battery of FPTs appears useful as a tool for identifying female D III athletes at risk of an LQ injury, especially to the thigh or knee region.


Document-level machine translation leverages inter-sentence dependencies to produce more coherent and consistent translations. However, these models, predominantly based on transformers, are difficult to scale to long documents as their attention layers have quadratic complexity in the sequence length. Recent efforts on efficient attention improve scalability, but their effect on document translation remains unexplored. In this work, we investigate the efficacy of a recent linear attention model by Peng et al. (2021) on document translation and augment it with a sentential gate to promote a recency inductive bias. We evaluate the model on IWSLT 2015 and OpenSubtitles 2018 against the transformer, demonstrating substantially increased decoding speed on long sequences with similar or better BLEU scores. We show that sentential gating further improves translation quality on IWSLT.


Basic data on the carcinogenic action of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in animals and in man are presented, mainly from the author's own experience. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a powerful carcinogenic agent widely spread in the human environment, can be considered an indicator of PAH. Quantitative spectral-fluorescent methods developed by the author and his co-workers were used to study the circulation of BaP in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, soil, plants, animals and humans. Accumulation and degradation of PAH, as well as the background level of BaP, in the environment are described. The results were used as a basis for establishing health standards and other preventive measures against cancer.


During the passage of Typhoon 0918 (Melor) over southern Honshu in Japan on 7 and 8 October 2009, strong winds with extremely high turbulence fluctuations were observed over Shirataki Mountain and the surrounding mountains in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. These strong winds caused damage to wind turbine blades at the Shiratakiyama Wind Farm owned by Kinden Corporation. In order to investigate the causes of the blade damage, the airflow characteristics from the time of the incidences are first simulated in detail with the combined use of the WRF-ARW mesoscale meteorological model and the RIAM-COMPACT LES turbulence model (CFD model). Subsequently, in order to evaluate the wind pressure acting on the wind turbine blades, an airflow analysis is separately performed for the vicinity of the blades with the RANS turbulence model. Finally, the stress on the blades is investigated using the FEM with the RANS analysis results as the boundary conditions.


We consider algorithmic design, enhancement, and improvement of evolutionary computation as a mechanism design problem. All individuals or several groups of individuals can be considered as self-interested agents. The individuals in evolutionary computation can manipulate parameter settings and operations by satisfying their own preferences, which are defined by an evolutionary computation algorithm designer, rather than by following a fixed algorithm rule. Evolutionary computation algorithm designers or self-adaptive methods should construct proper rules and mechanisms for all agents (individuals) to conduct their evolution behaviour correctly in order to definitely achieve the desired and preset objective(s). As a case study, we propose a formal framework on parameter setting, strategy selection, and algorithmic design of evolutionary computation by considering the Nash strategy equilibrium of a mechanism design in the search process. The evaluation results present the efficiency of the framework. This primary principle can be implemented in any evolutionary computation algorithm that needs to consider strategy selection issues in its optimization process. The final objective of our work is to solve evolutionary computation design as an algorithmic mechanism design problem and establish its fundamental aspect by taking this perspective. This paper is the first step towards achieving this objective by implementing a strategy equilibrium solution (such as Nash equilibrium) in evolutionary computation algorithm.


There is increasing interest by governments and other service providers in the potential for Indigenous evaluation methods and approaches to support the evaluation of programs and services in a way that is culturally appropriate and responsive. Indigenous governments and organizations are using Indigenous evalu ation methods and approaches to inform their own program and service delivery. This article explores the current status of Indigenous evaluation in the Northwest Territories, the opportunities for expanding the use of Indigenous evaluation, and some of the challenges that must be addressed.


Introduction and Aims:This is a prospective study identifying prevalence of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) in patients ongoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) due to end stage renal disease (ESRD) and comparing clinical and biochemical characteristics among patients with and without RLS. Methods: Two hundred ESRD patients who received PD at least six months assessed by neurologist and nephrologist with regards to presence of RLS. Also, clinical and biochemical features of these patients are determined. One hundred and forty four patients were excluded from study because they had other secondary causes of RLS except for ESRD. Results: Thirteen of 56 patients (23.2%) had RLS. The use of vitamin B + folic acid supplements was significantly lower in patients with RLS than in those without RLS (69.2% vs 97.7%; p = 0.008). There was no significant difference between patient groups with and without RLS in terms of age, gender, body mass index, cause of ESRD, peritoneal membrane transport characteristic, smoking, consuming alcohol, use of erythropoietin, duration of PD, hemoglobin, serum calcium, serum phosphorus, serum albumin, levels of serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, folic acid and vitamin B12, transferrin saturation, weekly Kt/V urea value, and amount of residual urine volume (p > 0.05). Conclusion: RLS is more common among PD patients than general population. Although essential cause is not exactly known, use of folic acid and vitamin B complex decrease the RLS prevalence in this particular patient group.


Abstract More than 50 years ago biologist Garrett Hardin published his influential essay 'The Tragedy of the Commons'. In his essay, Hardin argued that in situations where people share resources, external intervention via governmental regulations or privatization of the resource is needed to avoid resource overexploitation. While the article is considered by many resource governance scholars as misleading and incomplete, it is one of the most assigned articles in environmental studies courses. Here, we present findings from a survey of instructors who teach undergraduate courses on sustainability within the USA on how Hardin's essay is used and what the understanding is of the instructors about the essay. The results from the survey demonstrate that there is a mixed understanding of the current state of knowledge about commons governance. In particular, instructors trained in the natural sciences have more misconceptions about commons governance than instructors trained in other disciplines.


Most notable emerging water desalination technologies and related publications, as examined by the authors, investigate opportunities to increase energy efficiency of the process. In this paper, the authors reason that improving energy efficiency is only one route to produce more cost-effective potable water with fewer emissions. In fact, the grade of energy that is used to desalinate water plays an equally important role in its economic viability and overall emission reduction. This paper provides a critical review of desalination strategies with emphasis on means of using low-grade energy rather than solely focusing on reaching the thermodynamic energy limit. Herein, it is argued that large-scale commercial desalination technologies have by-and-large reached their engineering potential. They are now mostly limited by the fundamental process design rather than process optimization, which has very limited room for improvement without foundational change to the process itself. The conventional approach toward more energy efficient water desalination is to shift from thermal technologies to reverse osmosis (RO). However, RO suffers from three fundamental issues: (1) it is very sensitive to high-salinity water, (2) it is not suitable for zero liquid discharge and is therefore environmentally challenging, and (3) it is not compatible with low-grade energy. From extensive research and review of existing commercial and lab-scale technologies, the authors propose that a fundamental shift is needed to make water desalination more affordable and economical. Future directions may include novel ideas such as taking advantage of energy localization, surficial/interfacial evaporation, and capillary action. Here, some emerging technologies are discussed along with the viability of incorporating low-grade energy and its economic consequences. Finally, a new process is discussed and characterized for water desalination driven by capillary action. The latter has great significance for using low-grade energy and its substantial potential to generate salinity/blue energy.


Background/Aims: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive degenerative disease characterized by cartilage degradation and chondrocyte apoptosis, which may involve aberrant sphingolipid metabolism. ABC294640 is a compound that selectively inhibits sphingosine kinase-2, a key enzyme in the sphingolipid pathway. Our goal was to assess the pharmacological effects of ABC294640 in the monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) model of OA. Methods: MIA (3 mg) was injected into the right knee joint to induce osteoarthritis in rats. Subsequently, the rats were treated with vehicle, ABC294640 or tramadol over a 28-day period. To assess pain, incapacitance readings were obtained weekly. MIA-injected knee joints were evaluated for histological damage, cartilage degradation and chondrocyte apoptosis (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling histochemistry). Results: The percent weight bearing in vehicle/MIA rats significantly (p < 0.01) decreased from 48.8 ±0.8 (day 0) to 41.9 ±2.9 (day 28). In contrast, these values in ABC294640-treated rats were virtually the same on days 0 and 28. Knee joint histology scores were less severe in ABC294640-treated rats. Cartilage proteoglycan staining was more prominent in ABC294640/MIA animals than in vehicle/MIA rats. The percentage of apoptotic chondrocytes was decreased from 39.5% (vehicle treatment) to 25.8% (ABC294640 treatment). Conclusion: ABC294640 attenuated the knee joint histological damage and pain associated with MIA-induced OA in rats.


Nigeria as a country gives much credence to tertiary education as the means for social and economic mobility, social transformation, as well as the major platform for higher level workforce development – managerial and technological. To achieve these laudable objectives, government has given approval to private individuals and organizations to own and manage private tertiary institutions of learning. This paper examines some of the glitches that accompany Nigerian tertiary education policies such as high costs, the widening gap between the upper class and indigent students, the circumvention of standards in the name of profits, among others. Suggestions made for improvement; include government regulation of tuition fee in both public and private institutions, mandatory entrepreneurial studies for undergraduates, guide against gender, religious and academic qualification discrimination, restoration of rigor and commitment in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The study concluded that for tertiary institutions in Nigeria to remain self-reliant, self-steering and able to survive in a competitive world; various educational policies should be effectively institutionalized and operationalized.


Sexual function in those living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is known to be affected by their condition, with impact on their psychosocial well-being. Little is known about the causality of low sexual functions scores and their contribution to low quality of life reports. The aim of this study was to explore how intimacy and sexuality is experienced in the context of IBD.

 This was a phenomenological study guided by van Manen's methodology. Data were collected from 43 participants from interviews and narrative accounts submitted via Google Forms. Reflection on four existential domains (body, relationships, space and time) and thematic analysis were used to interpret the data.

 Four themes were generated from data analysis: Otherness of the sick body, Interrupted connectedness, Missing out on life fullness and Fragmented openness. These led to the overarching theme Sexuality as lived incompleteness, which reflected the essence of the experiences described by participants. Their experiences were deeply embedded in everyday life, and the IBD posed an obstacle to intimacy and sexuality, negatively affecting their life, relationships, family planning and their social position, imposing limitations and isolation.

 IBD has a significant impact on sexual well-being with negative effects on overall quality of life, which may be unknown to healthcare professionals, therefore remain unaddressed. A better understanding of the potential issues could help healthcare professionals identify and address concerns and worries related to sexual well-being, and approach them in a reflective, holistic manner in situations arising in practice.


Robust principal component analysis, which extracts low-dimensional data from high-dimensional data, can also be regarded as a source separation problem of the sparse error matrix and the low-rank matrix. Until recently, various methods have attempted to precisely predict the discrete rank function by assigning a weight to the nuclear norm. However, if the weights are not in ascending order, the algorithms will diverge and exhibit high computational complexity. Moreover, from the viewpoint of source separation, these methods overlook the fact that two components must be sufficiently different for accurate demixing. In this paper, we employ the incoherence term with convex shape, which considers that components must appear different from one another for boosting separability. Since it is intractable to directly exploit mutual incoherence defined in linear algebra, we guarantee the incoherence by indirectly making the sparse matrix lack the low-rank property by using the duality norm principle. This approach can also be associated with the null space. To analyze the results of the proposed algorithm geometrically, we measure the geodesic distance between the tangent spaces of the manifolds of two separate components. As this distance increases, the degree of dissimilarity of the two components is adequately assured; thus, separation succeeds. Furthermore, this paper is the first to provide insights into the relationship between source separation conditions and the derivatives of the nuclear norm and  $L_{1}$  norm. Experiments are conducted on still image separation and background subtraction to confirm the superiority of the proposed methods both qualitatively and quantitatively.


Vibratory cutting is one of the newly developed machining techniques and theories in recent years. Insight into the machining mechanism and the chip formation process in metal vibratory cutting has yet to be carried out for this technique to be used widely and efficiently. But with conventional investigation, it is much difficult, and time and energy consuming to analyze and study such principles quantitatively. A system of the computer simulation has been established and based on FEM the chip formation process was emulated. The cutting forces and temperature distribution were imitated under condition of a variety of vibratory frequencies and turning engagements. ANSYS is utilized for the quantitative analysis. Contrast and comparison experiments between vibratory and the conventional metal machining are done, revealing a good agreement between the simulation and the experiment and the inborn nature and the principles of the vibratory metal cutting.


BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to analyze medication non-adherence by measuring serum drug levels (SDL) in patients presenting with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).

METHODS
Included in the study were chronic heart failure patients presenting with signs of acute decompensation. Blood sampling for the measurement of SDL was performed shortly after presentation. SDL were measured using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The estimation of SDL was calculated from the recommended chronic cardiac medications with the exception of drugs administered as part of the acute treatment prior to blood sampling. The patients were labeled as non-adherent when any one of the evaluated medications was not found in the serum.

RESULTS
Fifty patients with ADHF were prospectively enrolled. All of the evaluated drugs were detected in the sera of 28 (56%) patients. Non-adherence was diagnosed in the remaining 22 (44%) patients. None of the evaluated medications was detected in the sera of 5 (10%) patients.

CONCLUSION
The estimation of SDL indicates that non-adherence to the recommended chronic therapy is a common problem among patients presenting with ADHF. This method should be an essential aspect of routine clinical evaluation in these patients.


Basal-looped spearheads were prevalent in the British Isles during the later part of the Middle Bronze Age. Their main period of use covered the Taunton and Penard industrial phases in Britain, and the contemporary Bishopsland phase in Ireland, dating to around 1300-1000 BC. Distribution also extended to the northwestern area of Continental Europe. The diagnostic attribute of these spearheads is the loops at the base of the blade, either incorporated with in the blade, or projecting below it. Ireland is likely to have been the place of origin of the category, with manufacturing taking place in Ireland, Britain and on the Continent. 551 basal-looped spearheads are included in the studys catalogue. 54% of these come from Britain, 32% from Ireland and 14% from the Continent. A typology is developed for the category, sorting them into eight main types and establishing the chronological sequence of these types. Recovery contexts are weight ed to watery locations at 80% of the total, supporting the interpretation that much of the deposition was purposeful, and represented a form of votive offering. The condition of the spearheads is analysed, from which it can be concluded that at least two thirds had been used in some form of combat. An experimental programme was undertaken with replicas which were comb at tested at the Royal Armouries, Leeds. The programme demonstrated the versatility of the basal-looped spearhead, and its overall superiority to the rapier, the main contemporary sidearm. The basal-looped spearhead may therefore be considered the primary weapon of its time in the British Isles, with use in warfare and on ceremonial occasions. Its supremacy began to be eclipsed during the Penard phase with the introduction of the early flange-hilted swords from the Continent.


Tonsillar cancer incidence has been increasing in Sweden and many other western countries in the last decades despite that other head and neck cancers are decreasing. It is now established that Human Papillomavirus (HPV) can be accredited part of that increase. The aims of this thesis were to investigate any change in incidence of base of tongue cancer, any further increase of tonsillar cancer incidence, what role HPV may have, the prognostic value of HPV as well as the outcome of different treatment regimes on tonsillar cancer. Using the Swedish Cancer Registry, we found that the incidence for both tonsillar and base of tongue cancer has increased from 1970 to 2006-2007, for tonsillar cancer from 0.74/100000 person-years 1970-1979 to 1.65/100000 person-years 2000-2006 in Stockholm County and for base of tongue cancer from 0.15/100000 person-years 19701974 to 0.47/100000 person-years 2005-2007 in Sweden. We analyzed pre-treatment, paraffin-embedded diagnostic tumor biopsies for HPV using PCR technique and found that the proportion of HPV in both tonsillar and base of tongue cancer has increased during the last decade, reaching 93% positivity in tonsillar cancer and 83% positivity in base of tongue cancer in 2006-2007. To evaluate if HPV was transcriptionally active in these biopsies, we also tested for HPV E6 and E7 mRNA, which was positive in the vast majority of cases. For base of tongue cancer, HPV was found to be a significant prognostic factor, with improved overall as well as disease free survival compared to patients with HPV-negative tumors, irrespective of patient age, sex and tumor stage. It has been suggested that patients with HPV positive tumors possibly could be cured by less intense treatment and thus reducing side effects. When analyzing all HPV positive tonsillar cancer patients in Stockholm County, Sweden between 2000 and 2007, we compared survival and development of distant metastasis between groups that had received three different treatment regimes. No significant difference in overall or disease free survival was found between the treatment groups, but a trend of improved survival for intensified treatment was seen that needs to be studied further. The vast majority of HPV positive tonsillarand base of tongue cancers are HPV16, which means that the commercially available vaccines would protect against it. This highlights the discussion if boys/men should be included in the HPV vaccination program. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS I. Näsman A, Attner P, Hammarstedt L, Du J, Eriksson M, Giraud G, Ahrlund-Richter S, Marklund L, Romanitan M, Lindquist D, Ramqvist T, Lindholm J, Sparén P, Ye W, Dahlstrand H, Munck-Wikland E, Dalianis T. Incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) positive tonsillar carcinoma in Stockholm, Sweden: an epidemic of viral-induced carcinoma? Int J Cancer. 2009 Jul 15;125(2):362-6. II. Attner P*, Du J*, Näsman A, Hammarstedt L, Ramqvist T, Lindholm J, Marklund L, Dalianis T, Munck-Wikland E. The role of human papillomavirus in the increased incidence of base of tongue cancer. Int J Cancer. 2010 Jun 15;126(12):2879-84. III. Attner P, Du J, Näsman A, Hammarstedt L, Ramqvist T, Lindholm J, Marklund L, Dalianis T, Munck-Wikland E. Human papillomavirus and survival in patients with base of tongue cancer. Int J Cancer. 2011 Jun 15;128(12):2892-7. IV. Attner P, Näsman A, Du J, Hammarstedt L, Ramqvist T, Lindholm J, Munck-Wikland E, Dalianis T, Marklund L. Survival in patients with human papillomavirus positive tonsillar cancer in relation to treatment. Int J Cancer. 2011 Oct 31. doi: 10.1002/ijc.26490. [Epub ahead of print] *Authors contributed equally CONTENTS


Abstract Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine and metabolic disorders known with irregular menstruation, hirsutism, alopecia, obesity, infertility, and acne. These symptoms cause a negative effect on the satisfaction of body image, self-esteem, and quality of life in such patients. Recent studies emphasize the need to consider the psychological problems in these women and also the need for appropriate interventions. Objective The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of group counseling based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on body image and self-esteem in patients with PCOS. Materials and Methods In this randomized controlled trial, 52 women with PCOS were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups (n = 26/each) using the table of random numbers. Group counseling based on the ACT was held in eight sessions of 90 min once a week for the intervention group. The demographic questionnaire, Littleton development of the body image concern inventory and Rosenberg self-esteem scale were completed in both groups before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. Results The mean scores of body image concern (p = 0.001) and self-esteem (p ≤ 0.001) in the intervention group after the intervention and follow-up were significantly different from the control group. Conclusion Based on the findings of this study, use of cognitive-behavioral therapies in health care centers is recommended as a complementary method.


Abstract Since 2012, Indonesia has been obsessed with the notion of melestarikan budaya lokal (preserving local culture) as part of Indonesian Cultures. In West Java, Indonesia, the cultural revitalisation program is called "Rebo Nyunda". Rebo means Wednesday; nyunda means being Sundanese. Sunda is the dominant ethnic group in West Java and the second largest ethnic group in Indonesia. Childhood often becomes a site for implanting ideologies, including nationalist ideology through the rhetoric of anti-West. Rebo Nyunda is expected to be able to shape future generations with strong cultural roots and unshaken by negative foreign ideas. Using focus group discussions this paper investigates the extent to which teachers understand Rebo Nyunda as a mean of cultural resistance to foreign forces amid the wholesale adoption of early childhood education doctrines from the West, such as the internationalisation of early childhood education, developmentally appropriate practices, neuroscience for young children, child-centred discourse, economic investment and the commercialisation of childhood education. This paper examines the complexity of and contradictions in teachers' perceptions of Rebo Nyunda in Bandung, a city considered a melting pot of various ethnic groups in Indonesia.


The paper describes FFT technique as a tool to estimate the velocity and other associated parameter along with its trajectory from the assigned ground station on a hypothetical vertical plane where the object moves. At each predefined points of trajectory distances with elevation and azimuth angles are measured from the ground station and then velocity is determined by matching the samples of frequency domain.


Developed in this thesis is a new control law focusing on the improvement of contour tracking of robotic manipulators. The new control scheme is a hybrid controller based on position domain control (PDC) and position synchronization control (PSC). On PDC, the system's dynamics are transformed from time domain to position domain via a one-to-one mapping and the position of the master axis motion is used as reference instead of time. The elimination of the reference motion from the control input improves contouring performance relative to time domain controllers. Conversely, PSC seeks to reduce the error of the systems by diminishing the synchronization error between each agent of the system. The new control law utilizes the aforementioned techniques to maximize the contour performance. The Lyapunov method was used to prove the proposed controller's stability. The new control law was compared to existing control schemes via simulations of linear and nonlinear contours, and was shown to provide good tracking and contouring performances.


Speech recognizers provide good performance for most users but the error rate often increases dramatically for a small percentage of talkers who are "different" from those talkers used for training. One expensive solution to this problem is to gather more training data in an attempt to sample these outlier users. A second solution, explored in this paper, is to artificially enlarge the number of training talkers by transforming the speech of existing training talkers. This approach is similar to enlarging the training set for OCR digit recognition by warping the training digit images, but is more difficult because continuous speech has a much larger number of dimensions (e.g. linguistic, phonetic, style, temporal, spectral) that differ across talkers. We explored the use of simple linear spectral warping to enlarge a 48-talker training data base used for word spotting. The average detection rate overall was increased by 2.9 percentage points (from 68.3% to 71.2%) for male speakers and 2.5 percentage points (from 64.8% to 67.3%) for female speakers. This increase is small but similar to that obtained by doubling the amount of training data.


A reliable, sensitive and selective method was successfully developed to determine 15 different mycotoxins simultaneously in foods and feeds. In this method, the homogenized sample was first treated with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) to eliminate most of coextracts, such as pigments, lipids and waxes. A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method was then carried out as a further cleaned up step, during which the polar interfering compounds such as organic acids and sugars were removed by vortexing with ODS in acetonitrile phase. Using double sample injection method, the analytes were separated by ZORBAX Eclipse plus C18 (1.8 µm, 2.1×100 mm) and detected by a MS/MS system with electrospray ionization (ESI) at multi-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The result indicated that the LOD of 15 mycotoxins were ranged from 0.07~5.0 µg/kg. Meanwhile, high correlation coefficients (r2 >0.996) of 15 mycotoxins were obtained within their respective linear ranges. The average recoveries for lower, intermediate, and high spiked levels ranged from 80.1%~95.5% in company with RSD ranged from 10.5%~19.6%. The method not only represents many advantages including simple pre-treatment, good purification and high sensitivity, but also successfully fit the minimum limiting level requests from various countries including EU, USA and Japan.


The study was conducted in Soweto, South Africa. The objective of the study was to determine the development and challenges of women entrepreneurs in Soweto, South Africa and to identify possible opportunities and improvement of women's businesses. In this study, the variables that were looked at were the motivational factors that influence women entrepreneurs to establish their own ventures, the contribution of women in the economic force of the country, the challenges that women entrepreneurs are facing in businesses, the support and developmental needs; and the possible opportunities for improvement. The key findings indicate that women were motivated by pull and push factors to start up a business. The need for flexible schedules appeared to be the factors to start up a business, followed by need for independence. The other factor is that these women had a desire for wealth. Annual turnover was also a factor, whilst difficult to ascertain with accuracy, provided a useful alternative indicator of business size and sophistication, and possibly of potential for growth. The challenges facing women in South Africa have been identified in this research as limited access to obtain funding; high corruption in procurement offices; high interest rates from banks, insufficient education and training, and difficulty to access market as well as cash flow problem. The above-mentioned challenges have priority over the women's businesses. The developmental needs and support for women entrepreneurs were found to be clear policies, organizations established in assisting women in businesses and the training needs that are supporting women entrepreneurship. Early payments by customers including Government should be facili tated and proper plans for enhancing entrepreneurial women together with education and training should be continuous.


Women worry about many things. When the worry is about health, breast cancer tops many women's lists. The fear is not irrational, and it often has a personal face. Nearly 1 in 10 women has a first-degree relative with breast cancer, and many more know a close friend or acquaintance with the disease (1). Public health agencies and advocacy groups actively promote breast cancer awareness. Popular magazines publish heart-rending stories of young women with breast cancer (2). Thus, it is not surprising that women, especially young women, have exaggerated perceptions of their risk for breast cancer (3, 4). Worry can motivate behavior to prevent disease, but it can also cloud perspective. A community survey found that 23% of women expressed interest in breast cancer chemoprevention (5). Worry about breast cancer was the strongest predictor of interest, but there was no association between interest and objectively estimated personal risk. Smokers were nearly twice as likely as nonsmokers to express interest in chemoprevention. Mortality rates underscore the irony of this finding. Of 1000 fifty-year-old women who smoke, 4 will die of breast cancer in the ensuing 10 years, whereas 13 will die of heart attacks, 10 of lung cancer, and 6 of stroke (6). Clinicians need perspective, too. Specialists may neglect competing diseases as they focus attention on what can be done within their area of interest. Primary care clinicians must respond to women's concerns about breast cancer and be proactive in helping them to identify the most promising opportunities to improve or maintain health. Setting priorities among the many interventions that compete for time in the clinical encounter is difficultand missing opportunities is justifiably a source of worry for clinicians. Furthermore, clinicians are increasingly being asked to involve patients in decisions that have no clear best choice. Evidence suggests that clinicians are not always meeting this challenge effectively (7). It is against this backdrop that women and their clinicians receive the latest recommendations for chemoprevention of breast cancer from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in this issue (8). The recommendations are accompanied by a review from Kinsinger and colleagues (9) of the four trials that have addressed the use of selective estrogen receptor modulators, specifically tamoxifen and raloxifene, for primary prevention of breast cancer. Findings were positive in two of the trials and negative in the other two. The review focuses largely on the results of the positive trials, noting that they were highly consistent with the reduced incidence of contralateral breast cancer reported in trials of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy (10). The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project P-1 Study, known as the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (BCPT) (11), enrolled women with an estimated 5-year risk greater than 1.66%, an arbitrarily chosen eligibility criterion that approximates the average risk in a 60-year-old woman. The BCPT was terminated early after finding a relative reduction in breast cancer incidence of 49% and an absolute risk reduction of just over 20 cases per 1000 women taking tamoxifen over 5 years. The effect was limited to estrogen receptorpositive tumors. The BCPT also documented significant harms associated with tamoxifen, including an increased risk for endometrial cancer, deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and stroke, especially in women older than 50 years. The Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation (MORE) trial (12) found breast cancer incidence to be 76% lower with raloxifene than with placebo, with an absolute risk reduction of 8 cases per 1000 women over 40 months. Again, the effect was limited to estrogen receptorpositive tumors, for which relative risk reduction was 90%. The two trials with negative findings were conducted in Europe. The Royal Marsden Hospital Chemoprevention Trial (13) and the Italian Tamoxifen Prevention Study (14) compared tamoxifen with placebo and failed to find a reduction in breast cancer incidence. Differences in study populations and conduct of the trial are cited as explanations for the discrepant results. All women in the Royal Marsden trial had a family history of breast cancer. Participants in the Italian study were younger than those in other trials. The use of exogenous estrogen was allowed in the European trials but not the BCPT. Adherence was better and duration of tamoxifen therapy was longer in the BCPT. On the basis of this review of the evidence, the USPSTF recommends against widespread use of chemoprevention for patients with a low or average risk for breast cancer. The USPSTF recommends discussing chemoprevention with selected patients at high risk for breast cancer and at low risk for the most serious adverse events. This is a more conservative position than might have been expected when the BCPT was terminated and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved tamoxifen in 1998 for use in women aged 35 years and older with a 5-year risk greater than 1.66%. The recommendations reflect the considerable potential harms associated with serious adverse events induced by tamoxifen. Considering the benefits and harms, the USPSTF relied on an analysis that applied equal weight to cases of breast cancer that were prevented and to cases of endometrial cancer, pulmonary embolus, and stroke induced by tamoxifen (15). However, the responses of individual women to tradeoffs between these good and bad outcomes are likely to vary considerably. The current evidence leaves many questions unanswered. Do chemoprevention agents prevent cancer or treat very early cases? How long does the effect of lowered incidence of breast cancer persist after taking a chemopreventive drug for 5 years? Will breast cancer cells develop resistance to tamoxifen? Together, these issues beg the question not directly addressed by the trials and still not answered: Does chemoprevention reduce breast cancer and all-cause mortality and, if so, by how much? This lack of evidence for the long-term effectiveness of chemoprevention is particularly troubling, given that the recommendations focus on its potential appropriateness for younger high-risk women. The differential effect of chemoprevention using tamoxifen or raloxifene on estrogen receptorpositive and estrogen receptornegative tumors raises additional as-yet-unanswered questions about the biology and early natural history of breast cancer. The answers to these questions are particularly relevant for younger women in whom breast cancer is more likely to be estrogen receptor-negative at the time of diagnosis. The USPSTF recommendations present two serious challenges for clinicians who care for women across the spectrum of age and breast cancer risk. First, clinicians must respond to the misinformed and mitigate the worry that may cloud perspective and create demand for chemoprevention when the potential harms far exceed the benefits. Second, clinicians must identify and engage the uninformed for whom, because of their risk profile and personal preferences, chemoprevention holds potential promise. Risk estimation and communication are at the center of both challenges. The USPSTF refers to the model developed by Gail and colleagues (16) as one tool for estimating risk. The BCPT used the Gail model to estimate the 5-year incidence of breast cancer for patient accrual on the basis of a woman's age, number of first-degree relatives with breast cancer, nulliparity or age at first birth, number of breast biopsies, pathologic diagnosis of atypical hyperplasia, and age at menarche. For women whose worry results from an exaggerated perception of risk, such estimates may provide reassurance, but the source of anxiety may be more complex than simple misinformation (17). Risk estimates specific to estrogen receptorpositive types of breast cancer would be more helpful. Furthermore, a perspective for good decision making requires 5-year and lifetime mortality estimates not provided by the Gail model. Just as important are estimates over varying periods of incidence and mortality for competing conditions, especially those made more likely by chemoprevention. For example, a stroke or pulmonary embolus confers a high risk for immediate physical disability and death. A diagnosis of breast cancer, distressing as it may be, does not. Therefore, a good decision about chemoprevention requires attention to the timing of harms and benefits as well as to the varied individual preferences concerning any tradeoffs between them. Given the complexity of the decision and related communication tasks, the USPSTF recommendation to discuss chemoprevention with selected patients raises more questions for clinicians than it answers. How do you help diffuse a patient's worry so that it does not cloud judgment? How do you help a woman clarify how she feels about the harms and benefits as well as their timing? How do you help younger women deal with the uncertainty about the long-term impact? When should the discussion be broadened to include other strategies for prevention, including prophylactic surgery, the prospect of waiting for more promising chemopreventive agents, or participation in current randomized trials? Evidence strongly suggests that well-designed and rigorously evaluated decision aids could help with these questions and significantly improve the quality of the decisions made. Better appreciation of current medical knowledge and uncertainties could also foster participation in trials (18, 19). Making fateful decisions that depend on medical science as well as highly personal judgments about how future illness will affect quality of life is difficult, at best. Neither doctor nor patient can do it alone. For both, the stakes are high. With breast cancer chemoprevention, clinicians and patients need to understand the limits of what we know and what we can control about the future. Breast ca


1. The interaction between the center and surround mechanisms of a variety of rabbit retinal ganglion cell classes was examined in extracellular single-unit recordings in an isolated eyecup preparation. Ganglion cell classes studied included on and off brisk sustained and transient, on and off sluggish sustained and transient, on-off and on directionally selective, orientationally selective, and large field units. The surround effects observed were qualitatively similar in all these ganglion cell classes. 2. The average response-versus-contrast functions for stimuli within the ganglion cells' receptive-field centers were relatively linear between threshold and saturation for all ganglion cell classes examined. The major effect of surround stimulation on the center response-versus-contrast function was a reduction in the slope of the linear portion of the curve, rather than a downward, parallel shift of the function. Stimulation of the surround had no systematically significant effect on the contrast threshold for the center spot, and, when it did have a significant effect, it sometimes decreased, rather than increased the magnitude of threshold. 3. Step changes in surround contrast were most effective when they were made simultaneously with step changes in the center; surround inhibition decreased significantly when it preceded stimulation of the center by > 100 ms and was generally ineffective when preceding the center by > 500 ms. The decrease in the inhibitory effect of surround stimulation was a monotonic function of delay between 0 and 500 ms. 4. Stimulation of the surround by step changes in the contrast of a sine-wave grating annulus produced qualitatively similar results to those obtained for pure luminance modulations. This suggests that the surround mechanism observed in these experiments was not due to pure luminance adaptation within the surround. The inhibitory effect of sine-wave gratings in the surround decreased monotonically as a function of spatial frequency. 5. Stimulation with a spot and an annulus that were both entirely within the ganglion cell's excitatory receptive-field center typically yielded nonadditive summation at contrasts whose linear sum of responses were below saturation. The effect of an annulus within the receptive-field center on responses elicited by a central spot quantitatively resembled the inhibition elicited from annuli in the inhibitory surround, after the excitatory center response due to the annulus was taken into account. These results suggest that the inhibiton elicited from the surrounds of the ganglion cells in these experiments extended into their receptive-field centers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


This paper deals with lack of FRBR-zation of present online catalogues and with a way to organize on the shelves resources by FRBR entities using Colon Classification book number. Main results of this analysis are: categories expressed by FBRB were already identified by Ranganathan in its bibliographic system; Colon classification book number allows a higher degree of arrangement of bibliographic resources, i.e. compliant to FRBR entities; also for this reason, Colon classification book number is better than Cutter-Sanborn system; in Classified Catalogue ideated by Ranganathan both the aspects of cataloguing (semantic and semiotic) are integrated; facet formula for book number is a special device that allows to switch from classification to identification of bibliographic resources, inasmuch book number is an identifying device included in a classification system.


A Si diffusion layer on grain-oriented low-silicon steel substrates was produced by pulse electrodeposition in KCl-NaCl-NaF-SiO2 molten salt and the effect of current density upon the composition and microstructure of the siliconized layer was investigated. The results showed that by glow discharge spectrometry (GDS), the change of Si content of siliconized layers was similar in the range of 20-60 mA/cm2. Si content in the surface was maximum, and then dropped sharply within the surface layer (< 7 m). The Si content remained nearly constant in the middle part of the siliconized layer. The content of Si near to the substrate decreased relatively slowly. The Si content in the surface and the layer thickness increased with increasing current density. Cross-sectional observations revealed that the Si diffusion layers had a two-layer structure: the top layer composed of columnar grains grown perpendicularly to the substrate surface and a transition layer with equiaxed grains was close to the substrate. In addition, the thickness of the layer was too small when the current density was 20 mA/cm2, while the layer became more porous as the current increased from 40 to 60 mA/cm2 according to SEM observations. The optimum current density for deposition was 30 mA/cm2.


Carbapenem resistance in members of the Enterobacteriaceae is increasing. To evaluate the effects of tigecycline and polymyxin B against carbapenem-non-susceptible pathogens, 89 representative clinical carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae isolates were recovered from seven hospitals from four cities in China during 2006-2009: 30 Serratia marcescens, 35 Klebsiella pneumoniae, seven Enterobacter cloacae, six Enterobacter aerogenes, five Escherichia coli, four Citrobacter freundii and two Klebsiella oxytoca isolates. Twenty-eight S. marcescens isolates were indistinguishable. The 35 K. pneumoniae isolates belonged to 12 clonal strains. Among the 89 Enterobacteriaceae isolates, 82 produced KPC-2, seven produced IMP (three produced KPC-2 simultaneously), three did not produce any carbapenemases and nine were deficient in porins. Polymyxin B was much more active than tigecycline against carbapenem-non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae. The MIC(50) and MIC(90) of imipenem, meropenem, ertapenem, polymyxin B and tigecycline were 8 and 32 µg ml(-1), 8 and 32 µg ml(-1), 16 and 128 µg ml(-1), 0.5 and 16 µg ml(-1), and 4 and 16 µg ml(-1), respectively. Rates of susceptibility to imipenem, meropenem, ertapenem and polymyxin B were 30.0%, 27.5%, 2.5% and 89.2% by CLSI criteria. The rate of susceptibility to tigecycline was 40% and 17.5% by Food and Drug Administration (MIC ≤2 µg ml(-1)) and European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (MIC ≤1 µg ml(-1)) criteria, respectively. KPC-2- or IMP-producing E. coli transconjugants exhibited reduced susceptibility to carbapenems but were susceptible to polymyxin B and tigecycline with an MIC range of 0.5-2 µg ml(-1), 0.25-2 µg ml(-1), 0.5-4 µg ml(-1), 0.5 µg ml(-1) and 0.5-1 µg ml(-1). In conclusion, carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae is mainly due to production of KPC-2, and polymyxin B is active for the carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.


Aseptic loosening at the stem cement interface has been noted as a prominent failure mode in cemented total hip replacement. It can be attributed to a tissue reaction to particulate debris generated by wear of the components. Wear can occur not only at the articulating surface but also at other load bearing interfaces due to relative micromotion. The stem cement interface has been consistently cited as a weak link. In the present study, characteristics at this interface were investigated through a series of pull out tests and a fretting wear simulation. The static shear strength was compared across a range of commercially available bone cements, with the result being higher than other studies. Fretting wear was successfully reproduced in vitro, which complied well with retrieval investigations. The research has gained a deep insight into the characteristics at the stem cement interface.


The ridgelet transformation was introduced as a sparse expansion for functions on continuous spaces that are smooth away from discontinuities along lines. Focusing on the face detection problem, a novel face detection method using ridgelet transform and BP neural network was proposed. Two stages are involved in this method. Firstly, the pretreated face images are decomposed by the ridgelet transformation. Then the corresponding ridgelet coefficients are set as the input samples for a well-designed BP neural network. The good results are thus obtained.


Preparation of bone material for radiocarbon dating is still a subject of investigation. In the past, the most problematic ages appeared to be the very old bones, i.e. those with ages close to the limit of the dating method. Development of preparative methods requires sufficient amounts of bone material as well as the possibility of verification of the ages. In the peat section at Niederweningen, ZH Switzerland, numerous bones of mammoth and other animals were found in the late 19th century. The first accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages of those bones from 1890/1891 excavations placed the age between 33,000 and 35,000 BP. The excavations in 2003/2004 provided additional material for 14C dating. An age of 45,870 ± 1080 BP was obtained on base (NaOH step) cleaned gelatin from mammoth bone, which was very close to the age of 45,430 ± 1020 BP obtained for the peat layer that buried the mammoths. The 14C age of gelatin cleaned using the ultrafiltration method obtained in this study, 45,720 ± 710 BP, is in a very good agreement with the previously obtained results. Moreover, the study shows that 3 pretreatment methods (base+Longin, Longin+ultrafiltration, and base+Longin+ultrafiltration) give ages consistent with each other and with the age of the peat section.


S-[2-Carboxy-1-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)ethyl]cysteine (I), a proposed precursor of 3-[(carboxymethyl)thio]-3-(1H-imidazol-4-yl)propanoic acid [Kinuta, Yao, Masuoka, Ohta, Teraoka & Ubuka (1991) Biochem. J. 275, 617-721], was isolated from healthy human urine by using ion-exchange column chromatography. Identification of the isolated compound with compound (I) was performed by physicochemical analyses involving i.r., m.s. and n.m.r. spectrometries as well as high-voltage paper electrophoresis, t.l.c. and paper chromatography. Compound (I) was synthesized in 80% yield by incubation of a reaction mixture containing trans-urocanic acid and 3-fold excess of cysteine at 70-75 degrees C. From these results we suggest that natural thiol compounds such as cysteine and GSH participate in the metabolism of urocanic acid, a key metabolite of L-histidine.


Academic/Practical Relevance: Our intent is to identify the underlying factors and develop an order assignment policy that can help an on-demand meal delivery service platform to grow.

Methodology: By analyzing transactional data obtained from an online meal delivery platform in Hangzhou (China) over a two-month period in 2015, we examine the impact of meal delivery performance on a customer's future orders. Through a simulation study, we illustrate the importance of incorporating our empirical results into the development of a smarter "order assignment policy".

Results: We find empirical evidence that an "early delivery'' is positively correlated with customer retention: a 10-minute earlier delivery is associated with an increase of one order per month from each customer. However, we find that the negative effect on future orders associated with "late deliveries'' is much stronger than the positive effect associated with "early deliveries". Moreover, we show empirically that a driver's individual local area knowledge and prior delivery experience can reduce late deliveries significantly. Finally, through a simulation study, we illustrate how one can incorporate our empirical results in the development of an order assignment policy that can help a platform to grow its business through customer retention.

Managerial Implications: Our empirical results and our simulation study suggest that to increase future customer orders, an on-demand service platform should address the issues arising from both the supply side (i.e., driver's local area knowledge and delivery experience) and the demand side (i.e., asymmetric impacts of early and late deliveries on future customer orders) into their operations.


The Italian Constitution (1948) defines 'work' as the founding value of the Italian Republic. This choice was not motivated by mere economic reasons, but rather stemmed from the recognition that work is the most appropriate tool for the expression of the human personality in society, that it is an asset and a right that will increase the dignity of every person, and which corresponds to a fundamental human desire to fulfil oneself in relationship with other persons and the entire world This view of work, including its technical and manual aspects, was unknown to the ancient mentality and became familiar to us through the monastic orders of the early middle ages, which began to conceive and practise human work as a means of participating in the work of creation and transmitted this value over the centuries. As we experience today, if occupation is lacking, a basic condition for the development of the person and for his/her contribution to the growth of society is lost. Given the meaning of work in human experience, it is not surprising that unemployment represents not only a worrisome economic indicator, but also the cause of ill health. At the end of 2009 unemployment in the European Union reached 10%, similar to the rate in the US; in Italy it was estimated at 8.5% in December 2009 and is expected to reach 10% in 2010. In Lombardy, although employment had been constantly increasing between 1995 and 2008, and the current unemployment rate is as low as 4.9%, 100,000 jobs were lost in 2009. Several scientific papers have demonstrated the association between lack of occupation and lack of physical and mental health. In the present period of crisis, increases of 30% in cases of anxiety syndrome and of 15% in cases of depression have been reported. An increase in suicides among unemployed persons has been documented in several countries even if there are still problems of interpretation of the causal chain of events. Mortality among the unemployed increased, not only that due to violent causes, but also mortality for all causes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. A survey in the Turin area, Northern Italy, showed a twofold increase in mortality among unemployed men. Women were affected both by husbands' unemployment and by their own unemployment because of the previous increasing rate of female occupation. The worse the occupational condition (from "seeking work" to "temporary employment" down to "unemployed and no longer seeking work") the higher the mortality: in the latter category, where the most evident problem is marginalization and social exclusion, the increase in mortality was fourfold. The role of occupational health physicians is to recognize the possible negative effects of working conditions and at the same time promote a positive approach to work, even in difficult conditions. This makes prevention more effective and promotes health. To be aware of the meaning of work makes work itself more liveable and more productive. This is how health promotion contributes to the wellbeing of the individual and, at the same time, to the development of the economy and society at large.


Nociceptin is a novel neuropeptide of the opioid peptide family recently identified as the endogenous ligand of the opioid receptor-like "orphan" receptor. Unlike other opioids, nociceptin has hyperalgesic effects in vivo. In the present study, nociceptin was found to inhibit electrical field stimulation-induced tachykinergic contractions of the guinea pig isolated bronchus preparation. The threshold effect was about 1 nM, and at 0.1 microM, nociceptin inhibited contractions evoked by 5-Hz stimulation by more than 50%. This inhibitory effect was found to be mediated by a prejunctional mechanism involving none of the classical (mu, delta and kappa) opioid receptors. Although the hypothesis that the effect of nociceptin was secondary to opioid receptor-like stimulation cannot be pharmacologically addressed, opioid receptor-like-receptor-mRNA was found to be expressed in the upper vagal sensory ganglion, where the cell bodies of the tachykinin-containing sensory neurons are located. Nociceptin immunoreactive nerve fibers in the airway wall, distinct from the tachykinin-containing fibers, were identified as an endogenous source of nociceptin. These data indicate that nociceptin may influence airway physiology by modulating tachykinergic neurotransmission.


Background Intravenous tocilizumab has been used since 2009 in Europe for the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis. Since 2015, a subcutaneous formulation is available. The switch from a monthly, intravenous, with dose adjusted for bodyweight treatment to a weekly, subcutaneous, fixed dose, leads to various questions about efficacy and toxicity. Objectives The objectives were to evaluate the efficacy maintenance (maintenance rate and DAS28 variation), the safety, the dose variation after the switch and the characteristics of patients switching to the subcutaneous form respect to those following with the intravenous tocilizumab. Methods Multicenter and retrospective study was performed from a cohort of 203 patients undergoing intravenous tocilizumab from the rheumatology unit of 7 university hospitals between September 2015 and May 2016. Assessment has been done on the records, effectiveness was assessed using the DAS28, adverse events and reasons for staying on IV form were reported. Results On the 203 records analyzed, 3 were secondarily excluded. Of the 200 patients, 77 have switched for the subcutaneous form. Mean age of the 200 patients was 58 years (+/- 13.3) with 155 women (78%) and the mean duration of rheumatoid arthritis was 14 years (+/- 10.4). 72% of patients received a standard intravenous dose (8mg/kg/month) at baseline. At the first visit after the prescription of the subcutaneous treatment, 58 patients on 65 (89%) maintained the treatment. The mean DAS28 was 1.53 (+/-1.00) at baseline and 1.19 (+/-0.78) at T1 (45 patients). Three patients received a reduced subcutaneous dose of 162mg/2 weeks following a reduced IV dose (<8 mg/kg/month) and maintained the subcutaneous treatment. About safety, there was no new case of neutropenia<1000/mm3. One severe adverse effect occurred (gastro intestinal perforation). Regard to the dose variation, for the 77 patients switching, the mean difference between intravenous and subcutaneous dose was + 29mg/week (+/-35mg) with the subcutaneous tocilizumab. Reasons for staying on IV form were essentially: the subcutaneous tocilizumab was not proposed in 55% of the cases and 17% of patients refused the subcutaneous form. Conclusions 89% of patients maintained the subcutaneous treatment after 4 months; efficacy was maintained in patients who received a reduced subcutaneous dose. Despite the higher dose after the switch (+29mg/week), there was no new case of neutropenia. Disclosure of Interest None declared


ABSTRACT UNICEF's new Millennium Development Goals and Beyond (2015. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) focus on the needs of the largest marginalised minority, individuals with disabilities, challenging us to examine issues related to exclusion and develop strategies for making an authentic sense of belonging and high-quality early childhood education a reality for over 93 million children with disabilities (United Nations Children's Fund. 2006. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=150). A first step in addressing stigma and the exclusion of individuals with disabilities is to examine materials in environments, given that positive representation in books and media contributes to a sense of belonging, increased self-esteem, and greater understanding of and attitudes towards others. Historically, the portrayal of individuals with disabilities in the literature and media has been absent or negative while the number of children with disabilities in early childhood classes has steadily increased. In this study, the representation of individuals with disabilities in school materials was examined in 32 kindergarten classes using the Inventory of Disability Representation (Favazza, P. C., and S. L. Odom. 1997. "Promoting Positive Attitudes of Kindergarten-Age Children Toward People with Disabilities." Exceptional Children 63: 405–418). Two classrooms (6%) had moderate representation, 22 classrooms (69%) had low representation, and 8 classrooms (25%) had no representation of disabilities. Implications for practice and research are presented in light of the current focus on disability rights and becoming a more inclusive society.


c-Src tyrosine kinase plays an important role in signal transduction pathways, where its activity is regulated by phosphorylation of the two tyrosine residues. We performed targeted molecular dynamics simulation to obtain trajectory of conformational change from inactive to active form. To investigate the conformational change of c-Src tyrosine kinase, we applied network analysis to time series of correlation among residues. The time series of correlation between residues during the conformational change generated by targeted molecular dynamic simulation. With centrality measures such as betweenness centrality, degree centrality, and closeness centrality, we observed a few important residues that significantly contribute to the conformational change of c-Src tyrosine kinase for the different time steps.


Background: Salter-Harris fractures of the distal phalanx with or without clinical evidence of nail-bed laceration are frequently undertreated. Methods: A retrospective review was performed of all patients with distal phalanx Salter-Harris fractures treated between 2004 and 2016. Results: Seventy patients were treated for 72 Salter-Harris fractures at a mean ± SD age of 11.3 ± 3.7 years. Median follow-up was 6 weeks (interquartile range, 4 to 12.6 years). The thumb was most commonly involved (n = 21), followed by long (n = 18), ring (n =17), small (n = 9), and index (n = 7) fingers. Sport-related injuries accounted for 39 fractures (54 percent). Forty-two fractures (58 percent) had at least one clinical finding suggestive of nail-bed laceration (subungual hematoma, subluxation of the proximal nail plate, skin laceration proximal to the eponychial fold, bleeding from underneath the nail plate, eponychial fold laceration, and nail plate avulsion). Among 42 fractures with at least one feature of nail-bed laceration, surgical exploration was undertaken in 38 fractures. At exploration, a nail-bed laceration was found in 31 fractures (82 percent) and soft-tissue interposition was found in 18 (47 percent). Fractures with clinical features of nail-bed laceration (n = 42) were treated with open reduction and splinting (n = 25), open reduction and percutaneous pinning (n = 13), or splinting (n = 4). Excellent results were obtained, with few unfavorable outcomes. Infectious complications occurred in six patients. Conclusion: The high rate of nail-bed laceration and soft-tissue interposition in Salter-Harris fractures with clinical features of nail-bed laceration mandates surgical exploration. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.


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The acceptor specificity of the transglycosylation reaction of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase[EC 22.214.171.124] was investigated using various sugars and sugar alcohols. L-Sorbose, D-xylose, and D-galactose, which contain configurational or structural changes relative to the D-glucopyranose unit at positions other than position 1, were also shown to be efficient acceptors in the transglycosylation reaction of this enzyme. It was shown by chemical and enzymatic methods that this enzyme could transfer glycosyl residues only to the C3-hydroxyl group of L-sorbose and C4-hydroxyl group of D-xylose, producing oligosaccharides terminated by 3-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-L-sorbose and 4-O-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-D-xylose at the reducing ends, respectively.


Background With the increasing reliance on family care giving at the end of life, we need to know more about views, experiences and understandings among different cultural and ethnic groups that make up the UK population. Aim This paper examines the perspectives of older South Asians living in East London on family care giving at the end of life. Methods Five focus groups and 29 indepth, semistructured interviews were conducted with 55 older adults aged between 52 and 78 years. Participants from six South Asian ethnic groups were recruited from 11 local community organisations. Constructive grounded theory was used to analyse the data. Findings Perspectives on family care giving at end of life among older South Asians living in East London are complex and seem to relate to inherited socio-cultural values. Value was placed on 'honour' within the family and upon the extended family and social network. Honour within the family was related to experiences of providing end of life care within marriage and the expectations of 'filial responsibility' in the provision of care. The extended family and the wider community were considered key in supporting the dying person and his or her immediate family. Conclusion This study sheds light on family care practices and understandings of 'family' within South Asian minority groups that may help service providers and practitioners who have responsibility for health and social care in the community. Future research is needed to observe family care giving in 'action' among these ethnic minorities.


Malignant glioma is a highly lethal and destructive disease with no proper cure. We have investigated some of the hallmarks of cancer in connection to glioma and found ways to disrupt these and prevent tumor growth. The work is done within the context of a glioma subtype distinguished by activation of PDGF signaling termed the proneural subtype. In two of the studies we have investigated mechanisms regulating the glioma cells themselves, and in the other two we have focused on the tumor stroma. In the first study, glioma-initiating cells were isolated in defined serum free culture medium from PDGF-B driven murine glioma and shown to be independent of EGF and FGF2 for self-renewal and proliferation. When cultured in serum the GICs displayed an aberrant differentiation pattern that was reversible. Specific depletion of the transduced PDGF-B caused a loss of self-renewal and tumorigenicity and induced oligodendrocyte differentiation. The transcription factor S-SOX5 has previously been shown to have a tumor suppressive effect on PDGF-B induced murine glioma, and to induce cellular senescence in PDGF-B stimulated cells in vitro. We found that S-SOX5 had a negative effect on proliferation of newly established human glioma cells cultured under stem cell conditions. We also revealed a connection between alterations causing up-regulation of SOX5 with the proneural subgroup and a tendency towards co-occurrence with PDGFRA alterations. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from existing ones, is an important hallmark for glioma malignancy. We found that the anti-angiogenic protein HRG had a negative effect on glioma progression in PDGF-B induced experimental tumors and that HRG was able to completely prevent formation of glioblastomas. Subsequently it was shown that HRG could skew pro-tumorigenic tumor associated macrophages into an anti-tumorigenic phenotype. Stromal cells had not previously been fully investigated in gliomas. We observed a correlation between tumor malignancy and increased numbers of tumor-associated macrophages as well as pericytes in PDGF-B induced gliomas. There was also a correlation between tumor grade and vessel functionality that had not previously been shown. Our results offer further understanding of gliomagenesis and present possible future therapies.


CdS thin films were grown on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition. Increasing deposition time from 10 to 200 min at an ultimate bath temperature of 60 °C gives rise to a red shift in optical absorption edge of ∼1 eV and a decrease in the Urbach tail width from 520 to 370 meV. A semi-empirical model was developed to account for the decrease of band gap energy with deposition time based on possible lattice contraction at the earlier stages of thin film growth. The degree of structural disorder related to the Urbach tail width was shown to be proportional to unharmonic terms in potential energy of atoms vibrating asymmetrically. An increase in band gap energy with increasing heat-treatment temperature was observed and explained by a quantized-state effective mass model in the strong confinement limit which predicts a blue shift in band gap energy of ∼0.5 eV as the grain size decreases from 7.6 to 2.2 nm due to a decrease in sulfur concentration in grains. Combined use of the Arrhenius plot and quantum size effect yields activation energy of 46 kJ mol−1 for the diffusion of sulfur during the heat treatment.


INTRODUCTION The background of the present article lies in the American tradition of ecocritical literary studies and in a concept central to it, nature writing. Our purpose is to detect the tradition of nature writing in Estonia and to analyse its characteristic traits on the example of a botany-focused book. In introducing the notion of nature writing (Finch & Elder, 2002) and applying ecocritical reading (Glotfelty & Fromm, 1996) on an exemplary text (Rebassoo, 1975a), we want to test the benefits of literary analysis for texts that have been regarded as popular science in Estonian reception and left without much critical response. There is a whole array of books on natural history that in some regard conform too little to the rules of popular science, but cannot be considered fiction either. The problem is that such texts have been written for decades, but they have not received much critical attention or feedback. The lack of conceptual tools is definitely one reason for this situation. Ecocritical interest in nature writing provides a context for re-actualizing a wide range of previously under-conceptualized publications. As a recently developed approach in literary theory that focuses on human-environment relationships (Buell, 1995; Love, 2003; Murphy, 2009), ecocriticism has taken nature writing as one of the central types of literature studied with its methods. In the Anglo-American tradition, the notions such as wilderness, experience of sublime, solitude, pastoral, and apocalypse have been central for the scholars analysing such texts (Garrard, 2009). One of the distinctive traits of the Estonian tradition of nature writing is a strong scientific background of its authors (Tuur & Maran, 2005). Scientific names, data, and explanations are routinely provided as comments to the immediate observations of natural phenomena. At the same time, such texts cannot be approached as academic papers as the writer's subjective persona is ever present in them. The solution we are offering in the present article is to consider such texts as nature writing. The dynamic model of nature writing is introduced and applied, demonstrating some possibilities of ecocritical analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Source material The source material for the present study is a book based on botanical fieldwork notes that resembles a diary rather than a research text. The author Haide-Ene Rebassoo (b. 1935) is an Estonian botanist who has published extensively on Estonian plants, plant communities, their distribution and protection; she has written chapters for encyclopaedic collections and accounts of plants for a wider public (for her bibliography, see Kukk, 1999). The present article focuses on her book titled Botaanilisi kilde 17 Hiiumaa suvest [Botanical Fragments from 17 Summers in Hiiumaa] (further referred to as BF), published in 1975. Unlike the majority of the books issued during the Soviet period, this one does not have an annotation on its impressum page. It is merely indicated that 10 000 copies of the book were printed. No reviews of the book appeared in periodicals. As the title of the book suggests, flora and botanical knowledge are the focus of the text. The time span specified in the title is 17 summers. Each year's accounts are limited to summer, or at least to the vegetation period, as this is the most suitable time for botanical explorations. The setting is specified as the island of Hiiumaa, North-West Estonia. At the beginning of the book, a hand-drawn map of Hiiumaa is presented (Fig. 1), showing the natural features of the island (rivers, swamps, islets) and the approximate locations of the settlements mentioned in the text. The elements of the natural environment are brought to the fore; no roads are marked on the map. BF has three inserted sections of black and white plant photographs, each section containing 41 to 44 photos, 129 in total. …