Human activities and climate change have greatly altered flooding regimes in many of the world's river deltas, but the impact of such changes remains poorly quantified on decadal to multidecadal timescales. This study identified the response of delta lake primary production (measured as the concentration of sedimentary pigments) to variations in flood frequency using spatial surveys and paleolimnological analyses of lakes in the Peace‐Athabasca Delta (PAD), Canada. Surveys of 61 lakes spanning a range of hydrological conditions showed that those lakes that received flood waters less frequently were associated with elevated algal production (surface sedimentary pigments) and, in some lakes, increased growth of emergent macrophytes and epiphytic diatoms. Paleolimnological analyses of five lakes corroborated the contemporary spatial survey results by showing that production of pigments from most algal groups increased during recent periods of lower flood frequency in the 20th century as determined from increases in cellulose‐inferred lake‐water oxygen isotope composition and plant macrofossils, but remained stable in a 'reference' basin. In general, past periods of elevated algal production coincided with the increased abundance of submerged macrophytes or emergent vegetation that provide habitat for attached algae. These results suggest that interdecadal declines in river discharge arising from increased aridity, hydrologic regulation or consumptive water use will cause long‐term increases in primary production and alter ecosystem processes (carbon sequestration, biological diversity) in aquatic delta ecosystems similar to the PAD where lakes become nutrient‐rich in the absence of flooding.


A net-merging method is proposed for gate-matrix layout. The method is based on a density function to calculate the minimum number of tracks necessary for the net assignment. Examples that demonstrate how this method leads to a denser gate matrix layout are included. The pitch of the gate columns is determined by the design rules, in particular, the space required to accommodate a diffused region with an internal contact window between two poly columns. In gate matrix layout, when the space between a pair of gate columns is not sufficient, the spacing between them can be increased locally to two pitches to avoid design rule violation as long as such a local change does not cause column matching problems. >


The coastal Gaza Strip, which has an area of 365 km 2 ; equivalent to about 1.5% of the area of Palestine (27,000 km 2 ), is home to a relatively large diversity of bird species, including the invasive Indian Myna ( Acridotheres tristis Linnaeus, 1766). The present study aims to address the occurrence, risks and some other ecological aspects of the Indian Myna in the Gaza Strip. This 10-year descriptive and cumulative study from 2013 to 2022 was based on field visits, direct observations, frequent meetings and discussions with stakeholders, follow-up of news and social media, as well as photography for documentary and confirmatory purposes. The results of the current study showed that the emergence of Indian Myna in the Gaza Strip began in 2006, and after 2008, its numbers increased remarkably and significantly. The bird arose in Palestine as a result of cage escapees from zoos or deliberate releases. Indian Mynas are usually abundant throughout the year in urban areas and the outskirts of the Gaza Strip, where feeding sites are available. The main habitats of Indian Minas include urban parks, gardens, agricultural orchards, and other similar environments. Potential local risks of the Indian Myna included its threats to local biodiversity, damage to domestic life and agricultural crops, as well as potential disturbance, noise and disease transmission to Gazans. Nets and sticks coated with glue were the main methods used by Gazans to capture Indian Mynas. The Indian Myna is locally sold at cheap prices of 2-3 USD per pair. A few Gazans claimed to eat the bird. It appears that the Indian Myna poses little threat in the Gaza Strip, and therefore there are no clear methods adopted by the responsible authorities to control the bird. Finally, the study recommends appropriate management strategies to stop or reduce the spread of non-native biota in the Gaza Strip when their numbers increase alarmingly and their risks increase to an intolerable extent.


In the framework of the one-boson-exchange model, we have performed an extensive study of the possible B*B̄, B*B̄*, D*D̄, D*D̄* molecular states with various quantum numbers after considering the S-wave and D-wave mixing. We also discuss the possible experimental research of these interesting states.


Generalized distributed mutual exclusion algorithms allow processes to concurrently access a set of shared resources. However, they must ensure an exclusive access to each resource. In order to avoid deadlocks, many of them are based on the strong assumption of a prior knowledge about conflicts between processes' requests. Some other approaches, which do not require such a knowledge, exploit broadcast mechanisms or a global lock, degrading message complexity and synchronization cost. We propose in this paper a new solution for shared resources allocation which reduces the communication between non-conflicting processes without a prior knowledge of processes conflicts. Performance evaluation results show that our solution improves resource use rate by a factor up to 20 compared to a global lock based algorithm.


The Remote Laboratory Management System (RLMS), REMLABNET, for the integrating and management of remote experiments for starting university level and secondary schools, is presented. Its building was initiated both from the extensive use and expertise in Internet School Experimental System (ISES), remote experiments built and the lack of a similar system for secondary schools in Europe. RLMS is built using new components, designed for the purpose, as Measureserver, web space management, data warehouse, communication board of RLMS, etc. The communication server will provide beside connection and diagnostics services also services for the teacher's comfort as white board, IP telephony, simulation inclusion, test management and reservation management. For the sake of safety, optimal access to all experiments and economical exploitation the virtualized cloud will be used.


Computers are playing an integral role in both experimental and theoretical condensed‐matter physics: In laboratories they are being used to control experiments as well as to gather and analyze data; in theoretical studies they provide the means for making detailed predictions for realistic models, for exploring systems that cannot be realized in the laboratory, such as four‐dimensional systems undergoing phase transitions or materials under extreme conditions of pressure or temperature, and for complicated symbolic manipulations. Often computers provide an essential link between experiment and theory, allowing experimentalists to test critically theoretical predictions and allowing theorists to make predictions for realistic models.


The solar-driven reduction of carbon dioxide to value-added chemical fuels is a longstanding challenge in the fields of catalysis, energy science, and green chemistry. In order to develop effective CO2 fixation, several key considerations must be balanced, including (1) catalyst selectivity for promoting CO2 reduction over competing hydrogen generation from proton reduction, (2) visible-light harvesting that matches the solar spectrum, and (3) the use of cheap and earth-abundant catalytic components. In this report, we present the synthesis and characterization of a new family of earth-abundant nickel complexes supported by N-heterocyclic carbene-amine ligands that exhibit high selectivity and activity for the electrocatalytic and photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to CO. Systematic changes in the carbene and amine donors of the ligand have been surveyed, and [Ni((Pr)bimiq1)](2+) (1c, where (Pr)bimiq1 = bis(3-(imidazolyl)isoquinolinyl)propane) emerges as a catalyst for electrochemical reduction of CO2 with the lowest cathodic onset potential (E(cat) = -1.2 V vs SCE). Using this earth-abundant catalyst with Ir(ppy)3 (where ppy = 2-phenylpyridine) and an electron donor, we have developed a visible-light photoredox system for the catalytic conversion of CO2 to CO that proceeds with high selectivity and activity and achieves turnover numbers and turnover frequencies reaching 98,000 and 3.9 s(-1), respectively. Further studies reveal that the overall efficiency of this solar-to-fuel cycle may be limited by the formation of the active Ni catalyst and/or the chemical reduction of CO2 to CO at the reduced nickel center and provide a starting point for improved photoredox systems for sustainable carbon-neutral energy conversion.


Liverpool is one of the most famous trading cities in the world. The view of its Pier Head with the Liver Building has become iconic: it has been called the second city of the British Empire and in the 1930s it became the model for Shanghai's Bund. The city suffered a slow decline in the latter half of the 20th century; industries closed or moved away, postwar architecture was mostly mediocre and the city's population fell as citizens sought employment further afield. Local people even began to shop elsewhere. As Manchester's star ascended in the late 1990s, the heart of Liverpool was in danger of becoming economically inconsequential.
In 1999, the city council set out a challenge for international developers as part of an ambitious initiative to reverse this trend and encourage people to visit, live in and invest in Liverpool once again. The vision was for a reimagined and extended city centre, one that rethought the vast and under-used space between the principal shopping area and the city's historic docks. Forty-seven developers expressed an interest and, after a rigorous selection process, the job went to Grosvenor.

The result is a 42-acre transformation, a mixed-use, retail-led development that embodies both contemporary urban design thinking and a deep sensitivity to ideas of place, identity and scale. Containing more than 30 individually designed buildings – including department stores, a bus station, apartments, hotels and a five acre park – this complex project was completed within an ambitious timetable to exceptionally high-quality thresholds. Grosvenor, and its 26 firms of architects, have created an entirely new, but uniquely Liverpudlian, urban district. This book tells the story of this Herculean project, its origins, its design and its delivery.


We propose in this paper a generalization of percolation processes in Z2 using the pretopology theory. We formalize the notion of neighborhood by extending it to the concept of proximity, expressing different types of connections that may exist between the elements of a population. A modeling and simulation of forest fire using this approach shows the efficiency of this formalism to provide a realistic and powerful modeling of complex systems.


Summary A film colored overlay has been used as an assistive device for dyslexics, Recently, several virtual colored overlays which can be used in computer were developed. But existing virtual overlays have some drawbacks which have limited colors and limited control capability over overlapped window by the overlays. Limited colors may prevent optimum color selection and limited control capability can obstruct to transfer keyboard and mouse operation to the overlapped window. In this paper, we implemented an overlay function which controls an overlapped window under the overlay window by using keyboard hooking and tray icon. We propose a method to determine the source color of a virtual overlays by estimating alpha value of alpha blending algorithm through measurement of the chromaticity and transmissivity of film overlays and implemented all colors which we can produce colors by using Intuitive Overlays. Test results of the developed virtual overlay show that all mentioned drawbacks of existing virtual overlays were eliminated and result of WRRT for 3 visual dyslexics using developed overlay shows that reading speed of 2 person are improved by 17.6%, 9.2% respectively, the speed of one person is not improved, but his reading durability is improved from 3 pages to 10 pages.


Summary. A retrospective study was performed to examine the natural course of uncontrolled thrombocytosis associated with chronic myeloproliferative disorders. Thirty‐eight patients with polycythaemia rubra vera (PV), myelofibrosis/myeloid metaplasia (MM), chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) or essential thrombocythaemia (ET) had platelet counts greater than 1000 × 109/1 and were followed closely for a total of 246 patient years. Eleven of the patients experienced haemorrhagic episodes. Bleeding was twice as frequent in patients over 59 years old as in those younger and no bleeding occurred in those less than 51 years of age. There was no correlation between frequency of bleeding and extent of thrombocytosis. Bleeding events occurred concurrently with use of anti‐inflammatory agents in 32% of episodes. The gastrointestinal tract was the most frequent site. Documented thrombotic events occurred in three patients, two of whom had PV with haematocrits greater than 53%. This study suggests that the thrombocytosis of myeloproliferative processes may pose a less serious threat than originally thought and that aggressive lowering of the platelet count may not be indicated in all cases.


We present results from spectral fitting of the very high state of GX 339-4 with Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Swift. We use relativistic reflection modeling to measure the spin of the black hole and inclination of the inner disk and find a spin of a = 0.95 − 0.08 + 0.02 and inclination of 30° ± 1° (statistical errors). These values agree well with previous results from reflection modeling. With the exceptional sensitivity of NuSTAR at the high-energy side of the disk spectrum, we are able to constrain multiple physical parameters simultaneously using continuum fitting. By using the constraints from reflection as input for the continuum fitting method, we invert the conventional fitting procedure to estimate the mass and distance of GX 339-4 using just the X-ray spectrum, finding a mass of 9.0 − 1.2 + 1.6 M ⊙ and distance of 8.4 ± 0.9 kpc (statistical errors).


3 Experimental research and real case applications are demonstrating that the use of fiber-reinforced 4 polymer (FRP) composite materials can be a solution to substantially improve circular cross5 section concrete columns in terms of strength, ductility, and energy dissipation. The present study 6 is dedicated to developing a new model for estimating the dilation behavior of fully and partially 7 FRP-based confined concrete columns under axial compressive loading. By considering 8 experimental observations and results, a new relation between secant Poisson's ratio and axial 9 strain is proposed. In order the model be applicable to partial confinement configurations, a 10 confinement stiffness index is proposed based on the concept of confinement efficiency factor. A 11 new methodology is also developed to predict the ultimate condition of partially FRP confined 12 concrete taking into account the possibility of concrete crushing and FRP rupture failure modes. 13 By comparing the results from experimental tests available in the literature with those determined 14 with the model, the reliability and the good predictive performance of the developed model are 15 demonstrated. 16


Matriculation
to college life can often pose adjustment problems that require identification
and help. This is especially true in societies where gender separation is the
norm. This qualitative study explores the help-seeking process from the
subjective and cultural perspective of Omani students. The processes of
help-seeking behavior within the Omani cultural framework are explored in terms
of recognizing, defining a problem, making decision, and selecting sources of
help. A triangulation methodology was used in this study that included two and
half months of observation and interaction at Sultan Qaboos University in the office of Deanship of Student Affairs,
the Counseling Center, and the Psychiatric Department of the university
hospital. Individual and focus-group interviews were conducted. The interviews
were, for the most part, extensive dialogues. Statistical documents in regard
to students' academic probation as well as newspaper articles aided in
understanding the Omani help-seeking process. The results show that Omani
students experience multiple challenges that impact their psychological
adjustments. These challenges can be associated with the novelty of academic
life and the coeducational culture of the institution. Some freshmen face with
new expectations of learning as well as separation from their close ties, and struggle
to find a balance between some of their traditional points of reference and the
new sets of values to which they are exposed at Sultan Qaboos University. The
influence of traditional culture on the dynamics of problem recognition may be
expressed by anger and rejection, declining academic achievement, and violation
of religious principles. For these students, traditional values and religious
practices are seen as key coping mechanisms.


In 2003, IBM released a document presenting its vision of autonomic computing. In this article, the author observes that the ever increasing complexity of computing systems will cross the borders of human capabilities, leading to systems that are too complex to be administrated by human beings. System administrators will no longer be able to install, configure, maintain and optimize these computing systems of the future. The solution to this problem is developing a technology that allows computing systems to manage themselves. This solution is referred to as autonomic computing.
In today's economic scenario, Online Retail Systems are gaining prominence and day by day increasing in size, leading to complexities difficult to be managed by human beings. E-Commerce Shops with thousands of articles are becoming the rule of the day. With hundreds of articles being added everyday, the administration required for efficient management of these articles, especially display selection, rejection etc are becoming a mind boggling task for human beings to manage. Parallel developments in study of buying behaviors based on various techniques like data mining, decision trees, neural networks etc are gaining significant practical ground, which also increases the complexity to be managed.
The basic idea is lay foundation for creation of autonomic systems based on the outputs from behavioral study, inventory management, etc to autonomically handle management of display, inventory predictions etc. The efficiencies achieved should in turn result in higher revenue as well as profits.
In short, the study intends to explore the feasibility of applying autonomic techniques for efficient display organization in online retail contexts by borrowing the intelligence from techniques evolving from data mining, artificial intelligence.
This paper will address the development of a taxonomy, a model framework for
?autonomic online retail? systems and the application of related standards. It will also delve into the theoretical background of specific techniques, which can be applied in this scenario. A basic model of the framework is also implemented.
The complete implementation of the framework and measurement of the efficiency gains and other effects will be continued in the doctoral research. The design of the framework and also the measurement framework is being discussed in this document.


Background: Research has demonstrated lower access to healthcare services by immigrant patients in comparison to native people. Cultural and linguistic differences have been considered as main factors that impede this access and as barriers to creating an effective relationship between immigrant patients and health professionals. Objective: The aim of this study was to better understand and synthesize the available evidence regarding the impact of immigrant patients' language proficiency on access to health care. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed to identify studies published between January 2000 and January 2019 that examined the impact of language proficiency on access to and use of health services by immigrant patients. Only articles in English were included. Cross-referencing of the identified articles was also performed. Results: A total of 140 publications was identified through online databases. In all 24 studies were reviewed, and the results were reported using four interrelated themes identified from the articles. These reports consistently showed a clear association between inadequate language ability and underuse of health care services, ineffective communication, and increased use of emergency care by immigrant patients. Identifying factors that can influence access to care, applying immigrant-friendly solutions such as provision of professional interpreters, and encouraging culturally and linguistically sensitive education may improve the quality of care and increase access to care. One study recommended utilisation of communication technologies such as telemedicine to bridge the communication gap and increase accessibility of healthcare services by immigrant patients. Conclusions: All included studies indicated that language barriers hindered access to healthcare services. The data resulting from this study can update policy and practical solutions for language barriers on access to care by immigrant patients and provide an agenda for further investigations.


Visible light of sufficient intensity inhibits melatonin biosynthesis and numerous experimental studies suggest that melatonin may protect against cancer. From a public health point of view it is important to verify or falsify the hypothesis that artificial light -or even sunlight itself - suppresses melatonin production sufficiently to increase the risk of developing cancers of internal organs. Since humans are exposed universally, even small risk elevations could lead to numerous cases. Recent epidemiological studies of people exposed to anthropogenic light-at-night in the course of shift work and first evaluations of natural light experiments in blind people and in residents of the Arctic are compatible with the possibility that light can influence - at least hormone-dependent - cancer developments via melatonin. To systematically investigate the effect of geographically different light intensities on melatonin production in man, a pan-European study is suggested. Further epidemiological investigations can contribute to the understanding of the patho-physiological relationships between light, melatonin and human biology.


of "the culture of research" mentioned by Dr Pandya. The existence of a research culture stems from its instillation into the receptive mind of the medical student. Instructors must be aware of the most recent advances, which are thus imparted to their students-leading to at least some of them sharing the thrill of the march of progress of science. In India basic sciences are rarely given their necessary due; the syllabuses are decades old and fail to cope with the rapidly changing and advancing concepts of biomedicine. The cumulative effect of the lack of knowledge of recent medical progress is an inability to use cutting edge technology to answer questions in biomedical research. Indeed, it even extends to the inability to perceive the right questions; hence the "re-search" or "trampling over well trodden ground" aspect of current Indian research. The other problems that Dr Pandya has outlined are not very different in the United States and Europe; the rejection rate for grants in the United States is closer to 90%. At least the scientist in India does not depend on his grant track record to maintain his job. Maybe this sword of Damocles is an advantage in bettering research output and functions as a goad to stimulate progress. I agree with Dr Pandya that creative youngsters are returning to India. Let us be sure that they continue to thrive there by instilling positive mechanisms for attracting good academics with active research programmes, retailoring our principles of funding, and creating scientific positions based on research output rather than seniority. Above all, agencies like the India Council of Medical Research need to make that extra effort to be of service to the scientist: to review proposals rapidly rather than taking several years and not to seem an additional politically powerful disincentive for research.


Contrast agents that specifically enhance cancers on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will allow earlier detection. Vanadium-based chelates (VCs) selectively enhance rodent cancers on MRI, suggesting selective uptake of VCs by cancers. Here we report x-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) of VC uptake by murine colon cancer. Colonic tumors in mice treated with azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium were identified by MRI. Then a gadolinium-based contrast agent and a VC were injected intravenously; mice were sacrificed and colons sectioned. VC distribution was sampled at 120 minutes after injection to evaluate the long-term accumulation. Gadolinium distribution was sampled at 10 minutes after injection due to its rapid washout. XFM was performed on 72 regions of normal and cancerous colon from five normal mice and four cancer-bearing mice. XFM showed that all gadolinium was extracellular, with similar concentrations in colon cancers and normal colon. In contrast, the average VC concentration was twofold higher in cancers versus normal tissue (p < .002). Cancers also contained numerous "hot spots" with intracellular VC concentrations sixfold higher than the concentration in normal colon (p < .0001). No hot spots were detected in normal colon. This is the first direct demonstration that VCs selectively accumulate in cancer cells and thus may improve cancer detection.


Traditional treatment strategies and public health interventions aimed at reducing the incidence of obesity are proving inadequate at controlling the global epidemic of this condition. The main focus of any intervention should be on preventing small excesses of weight, which lead to large weight gain over time, as once a large amount of excess weight is gained, it is very difficult to lose. The only effective approach is for governments to implement radical policy change, to regulate food consumption and control the food industry in a similar way to that of the tobacco industry, by banning the advertising of selected produce, taxing certain foods, and rationing the purchase of others.


: A series is presented of 830 patients in whom elective appendectomy was performed at the time of laparotomy for other intraabdominal disease. Special emphasis is given to 490 such procedures among 1042 patients with abdominal hysterectomy, an incidence of 47%. This increases to 57% by exclusion of patients with previous appendectomy. The contraindications to elective appendectomy are discussed, as well as its morbidity, mortality, and complications. The author concludes that an elective appendectomy should be performed with abdominal and pelvic surgery whenever the opportunity is presented, provided that the procedure is not prohibited by the contraindications discussed.


We propose a method to test a prediction of the distribution of a stochastic process. In a non-Bayesian non-parametric setting, a predicted distribution is tested using a realization of the stochastic process. A test associates a set of realizations for each predicted distribution, on which the prediction passes. So that there are no type I errors, a prediction assigns probability 1 to its test set. Nevertheless, these sets are small, in the sense that "most" distributions assign it probability 0, and hence there are few type II errors. It is also shown that there exists such a test that cannot be manipulated, in the sense that an uninformed predictor who is pretending to know the true distribution is guaranteed to fail on an uncountable number of realizations, no matter what randomized prediction he employs. The notion of a small set we use is category I, described in more detail in the paper.


Carbon black-filled EPDM were investigated by means of 129Xenon NMR spectroscopy. Unvulcanized elastomer EPDM was filled with 3 types of com. available carbon blacks, differing in particle size and sp. surface. 129Xe NMR spectra indicate that Xe atoms are absorbed in the mobile EPDM domains of both filled and unfilled material. In addn., a resonance of Xe adsorbed in the bound rubber fraction was detected. From the chem. shift and line width of this resonance the authors conclude that the EPDM chains around the carbon black particles have a strongly diminished mobility.


ABSTRACT Angiotensin II (AGT-2) induces follicular prostaglandin release in a number of species and ovulation in rabbits. Conversely, AGT-2 antagonists block ovulation in cattle. To determine the mechanism of action of AGT-2, we used a bovine granulosa cell model in which luteinizing hormone (LH) increased the expression of genes essential for ovulation in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The addition of AGT-2 to LH-stimulated cells significantly increased abundance of prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) mRNA and protein, whereas AGT-2 alone had no effect. Upstream of PTGS2, AGT-2 increased abundance of mRNA encoding the epidermal growth factor-like ligands amphiregulin (AREG) and epiregulin (EREG) at 6 h posttreatment and abundance of a disintegrin and metalloprotease 17 (ADAM17), a sheddase, within 3 h of treatment. Inhibiting sheddase activity abolished the stimulatory effect of AGT-2 on AREG, EREG, and PTGS2 mRNA. The addition of selective AGT-2 antagonists to cells stimulated with LH plus AGT-2 demonstrated that AGT-2 did not act through the type 1 receptor and did not increase mitogen-activated protein kinase 3/1 phosphorylation. Combined with previous data from studies in vitro, we conclude that AGT-2 is an essential cofactor for LH in the early increase of ADAM expression/activity that induces the cascade of events leading to ovulation.


The specific recognition and binding of promoter and RNA polymerase is the first step of transcription initiation in bacteria and largely determines transcription activity. Therefore, direct analysis of the interaction between promoter and RNA polymerase in vitro may be a new strategy for promoter characterization, to avoid interference due to the cell's biophysical condition and other regulatory elements. In the present study, the specific interaction between T7 promoter and T7 RNA polymerase was studied as a model system using force spectroscopy based on atomic force microscope (AFM). The specific interaction between T7 promoter and T7 RNA polymerase was verified by control experiments, and the rupture force in this system was measured as 307.2 ± 6.7 pN. The binding between T7 promoter mutants with various promoter activities and T7 RNA polymerase was analyzed. Interaction information including rupture force, rupture distance and binding percentage were obtained in vitro, and reporter gene expression regulated by these promoters was also measured according to a traditional promoter activity characterization method in vivo Using correlation analysis, it was found that the promoter strength characterized by reporter gene expression was closely correlated with rupture force and the binding percentage by force spectroscopy. These results indicated that the analysis of the interaction between promoter and RNA polymerase using AFM-based force spectroscopy was an effective and valid approach for the quantitative characterization of promoters.


The political discourse on demographic change has gained momentum in many developed countries. When it began, the discussion centred on the question of how to influence population ageing through political means (e.g., by raising fertility rates). But political decision makers now seem to be concerned about the consequences of demographic change on societal dynamics, especially intergenerational relations. This is particularly evident in Germany, where the latest pension increase provoked a discussion about a possible transformation of the political system into a "gerontocracy", in which the elderly control public resources to their own benefit. In this paper, we investigate whether there is evidence for such a scenario by looking at two main questions. First, what is the effect of age on preferences toward social policies, which organise public transfers between generations (family and pension policies)? Second, to what extent does a possible age effect depend on further demographic factors, such as parenthood and marriage, which represent the framework of an individual's life course? In order to answer these questions, we use recent survey data (GGS 2005 and PPAS 2003), which we analyse by applying standard linear models as well as Generalised Additive Models. The latter allow us to identify the trajectories of a possible age effect and its dependency on other demographic variables. In contrast to most existing studies, our analyses show clear age effects: older people are less prone to support a variety of transfers to families than younger respondents. At the same time, the elderly are more prone to support pension policy reforms that put an even greater burden on the younger generation. We can also show that the age effects found are not always linear and follow different trajectories across the life course. We therefore argue that classical economic concepts cannot fully explain age-based support for intergenerational transfers. Age effects have to be seen in light of further demographic variables beyond a solely economically defined life cycle.


Fermented cereal-based probiotic beverages are rare and have rarely been produced in Tanzania. Though the beverages are novel, the potentiality of such beverages has for some decades been exhibited through local fermented cereal-based beverages. In recent years there has been a paradigm shift towards non-diary probiotic products because of the negative health effects milk and dairy products have on the multitude of people around the world. A quantitative study employing purposeful sampling was carried out in three regions of Mbeya, Morogoro and Kilimanjaro whereby in each of the regions; quadruplicate samples of either of the traditional cereal-based beverages locally known as Kindi, Kimpumu, Togwa or Mbege were collected from a target village and stored at 4 °C in the laboratory. Identification of probiotic microbes in the local beverages was done and probiotic Kindi, Kimpumu, Mbege and Togwa were developed using pure cultures of the identified probiotic bacteria. Probiotic cultures used were Lactobacillus brevis for Togwa, Lactobacillus plantarum for Kimpumu and Mbege and Pediococcus pentosaceus for Kindi. After 24-48 h of controlled fermentation at 37 °C; results showed that the prepared cereal-based beverages were probiotic with mean viable cell counts of 1 x 1011 cfu/mL and mean pH 4.77. During storage the probiotic cereal beverages remained stable for five days at 25 °C and 28 days (4 weeks) at 4 °C with viable cell count of 2.0 x 1011 cfu/mL and pH 3.83 at 25 °C and viable cell count of 2.0 x 1011 cfu/mL and pH 4.08 at 4 °C, respectively. There was no growth of pathogens in the beverages. The four cereal based probiotic beverages were equally accepted by consumers through a sensorial evaluation. This study shows that controlled fermentation of cereals using carefully selected probiotic bacteria results in probiotic cereal based-beverages with good quality attributes and safety and further advance the knowledge on fermented cereal substrates as nutrient-rich and promising delivery vehicles for probiotics by sustaining the growth of a large population of lactic acid bacteria.


Open Source Software (OSS) is widely used and is becoming a significant and irreplaceable part of the software engineering community. Today a huge number of OSS exist. This becomes a problem if one needs to choose from such a large pool of OSS candidates in the same category. An OSS maturity model that facilitates the software assessment and helps users to make a decision is needed. A few maturity models have been proposed in the past. However, the parameters in the model are assigned not based on experimental data but on human experiences, feelings and judgments. These models are subjective and can provide only limited guidance for the users at the best.
This dissertation has proposed a quantitative and objective model which is built from the statistical perspective. In this model, seven metrics are chosen as criteria for OSS evaluation. A linear multiple-regression model is created to assign a final score based on these seven metrics. This final score provides a convenient and objective way for the users to make a decision. The coefficients in the linear multiple-regression model are calculated from 43 OSS. From the statistical perspective, these coefficients are considered random variables. The joint distribution of the coefficients is discussed based on Bayesian statistics. More importantly, an updating rule is established through Bayesian analysis to improve the joint distribution, and thus the objectivity of the coefficients in the linear multiple-regression model, according to new incoming data. The updating rule provides the model the ability to learn and improve itself continually.


OBJECTIVE
A study was conducted to test the biofilm-controlling functions of N-halamine tubing over an eight-month period.

METHODS
A laboratory system, simulating a teaching dental clinic, was used to test rechargeable N-halamine tubing (T) compared to an untreated control (C) using the unit manufacturer's tubing. For the long-term study, a recharged tubing (RC) treated with bleach was used to compare with the test (T) and the control (C) tubing. Source tap water was cycled through the lines at 1.4 mL/minute, five minutes on and 25 minutes off, eight hours/day, five days/week. Every three weeks, samples of effluent, recovered adherent bacteria from inside tubing surfaces, and SEM images were examined for bacterial and biofilm growth. After sampling, a recharging solution of chlorine bleach (1 : 10 dilution) was run through T and RC lines, left overnight, and rinsed out the next morning. One-way ANOVAs and Spearman correlations were performed to detect significant differences for T, RC, and C, and determine significance with time period and source water, respectively.

RESULTS
Mean log CFU/mL for C effluent > T (p = 0.028), and C tubing > T (p = 0.035). Spearman correlations were significant between effluent and source water level for T (rho = 0.817), and T tubing (0.750); between RC tubing and source water level (rho = 0.836), and time (rho = 0.745); and between C and time (rho = 0.873). SEM imaging confirmed the presence of biofilm inside RC and C, but not inside T.

CONCLUSION
N-halamine tubing completely inhibited biofilm formation without negatively affecting the physical properties of the effluent water. Further research on N-halamine tubing using a pure water source is recommended, as T effluent bacterial levels reflected the source tap water quality and proliferation of planktonic bacteria with no biofilm activity.


A detailed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and experimental investigation into characterizing the fluid flow and thermal profiles in a wind tunnel was carried out, highlighting the effect of progressive heating on the non-uniformity flow profile of air. Using controllable electrical heating elements, the operating temperatures in the test-section were gradually increased in order to determine its influence on the subsequent velocity and thermal profiles found inside the test-section. The numerical study was carried out using CFD FLUENT code, alongside validating the experimental results. Good correlation was observed as the comparison yielded a mean error of 6.4% for the air velocity parameter and 2.3% for the air temperature parameter between the two techniques. The good correlation established between the numerically predicted and experimentally tested results identified broad scope for using the advanced computational capabilities of CFD applicable to the thermal modeling of wind tunnels. For a constant temperature process, the non-uniformity and turbulence intensity in the test section was 0.9% and 0.5%, which is under the recommended guidelines for wind tunnels. The findings revealed that the increase in temperature from 20 °C to 50 °C reduced the velocity by 15.2% inside the test section.


Urease enzyme has a crucial role in the persistent habitation of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) that induces gastrointestinal diseases, in particular gastritis, duodenal, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer. Plants have long been utilized as the biggest source of substances with medicinal properties from natural origin and therefore result in less toxicity and adverse side effects upon usage. 15 medicinal plant extracts were examined against Jack bean urease activity by Berthelot reaction. Each herb was extracted using 80% aqueous methanol. The more effective extracts were further tested and their IC50 values were determined. Three plant extracts including Ginkgo biloba, Rhus coriaria, and Matricaria inodora were found to be the most effective ones with IC50 values of 36.17, 80.29, and 100.6 μg/mL, respectively.


It is very important to analyze effectively the tolerance of an optical system with high resolution as the projection lens of photolithography or as the objective lens of a microscope. We would like to find an effective assembly structure and compensators to correct aberrations through global wavefront sensitivity analysis using Zernike polynomial expansion from the field and pupil coordinates rather than from only pupil coordinates. In this paper, we introduce global wavefront coefficients by small perturbations of the optical system, and analyze the optical performance with these coefficients. From this analysis, it is possible to see how we can enlarge the tolerance through the proper assembly structure and compensators.


Two experiments were conducted to determine the influence of the tapping bar and sieve agitators (balls and brushes) on determining mean particle size and standard deviation of ground corn. Tapping bar had no influence (P>0.10) on mean and standard deviation; however the presence of balls and brushes on sieves decreased (P<0.002) mean particle size and increased (P<0.0001) standard deviation. These results suggest that balls and brushes should be used when determining mean particle size to assist particle flowability. More research should be conducted to determine the effects of the tapping bar and sieve agitators over a wider range of particle sizes.


High lactate generation and low glucose oxidation, despite normal oxygen conditions, are commonly seen in cancer cells and tumors. Historically known as the Warburg effect, this altered metabolic phenotype has long been correlated with malignant progression and poor clinical outcome. However, the mechanistic relationship between altered glucose metabolism and malignancy remains poorly understood. Here we show that inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) activity contributes to the Warburg metabolic and malignant phenotype in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. PDC inhibition occurs via enhanced expression of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase-1 (PDK-1), which results in inhibitory phosphorylation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase α (PDHα) subunit. We also demonstrate that PDC inhibition in cancer cells is associated with normoxic stabilization of the malignancy-promoting transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) by glycolytic metabolites. Knockdown of PDK-1 via short hairpin RNA lowers PDHα phosphorylation, restores PDC activity, reverts the Warburg metabolic phenotype, decreases normoxic HIF-1α expression, lowers hypoxic cell survival, decreases invasiveness, and inhibits tumor growth. PDK-1 is an HIF-1-regulated gene, and these data suggest that the buildup of glycolytic metabolites, resulting from high PDK-1 expression, may in turn promote HIF-1 activation, thus sustaining a feed-forward loop for malignant progression. In addition to providing anabolic support for cancer cells, altered fuel metabolism thus supports a malignant phenotype. Correction of metabolic abnormalities offers unique opportunities for cancer treatment and may potentially synergize with other cancer therapies.


In the late 1990s, despite years of efforts to understand and reduce coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) prevalence from more than 30% in 1970 to less than 4.2%, the level of occurrence among the US coal miners increased unexpectedly. The recent resurgence of lung diseases has raised concerns in the scientific and regulatory communities. In 2014, the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a new dust rule changing the respirable coal mine dust (RCMD) exposure limits, measurement technology, and sampling protocol. The analysis for probable causes for the substantial increase in the CWP incidence rate is rather complicated. This paper aims to conduct a review of RCMD respiratory deposition, health effects, monitoring, regulations, and particle characteristics. The primary sources of RCMD along with the health risks from potential exposure are highlighted, and the current RCMD exposure regulations of the major coal producer countries are compared. A summary of RCMD characterization studies from 1972 to the present is provided. A review of the literature revealed that numerous factors, including geological and mining parameters, advancements in mining practices, particle characteristics, and monitoring approaches are considered to contribute to the recent resurgence of RCMD lung diseases. However, the root causes of the problem are still unknown. The effectiveness of the new dust rules in the United States will probably take years to be correctly assessed. Therefore, future research is needed to understand the relationship between RCMD particle characteristics and lung deposition, and the efficacy of current monitoring practices to measure the true dose of RCMD exposure.


The Iban of Sarawak, East Malaysia, are the inhabitants of a vast equatorial rain forest which not only plays a crucial role in satisfying their material needs, but also provides them with a rich source of imagery for the portrayal of key cultural concerns and social values. That is to say, one finds that Iban collective representations are characterized by a profusion of floral and botanical forms, while the ritual use of plants features strongly in Iban religious life. Often these 'sacred' and 'profane' aspects of the plant world coincide, as in the case of Iban rice farming which both provides them with their staple diet, and at the same time is imbued with a deeply religious significance. The primary interest of this study, then, lies in its examination of the special relationship between man and plant in Iban culture. The research is based on library materials and takes, as its epistemological starting point, the idea that an understanding of metaphor can be usefully employed in the interpretation of symbolic phenomena. This approach works on two levels. On the one hand, there is the idea that a systematic examination of recurrent metaphorical forms - be they expressed in mythological narrative, ritual imagery, or everyday language - can be linked to dominant cultural values and social orientations. On the other hand, there is also the idea that a theory of metaphor - as developed in the field of literary criticism and semantics - can provide valuable insight into the way in which so-called 'symbolic phenomena' are 'actualized', or 'understood', by those for whom they operate. In the last instance, the study seeks to transcend the formal strictures of conventional structural analysis by suggesting ways in which the elaborate structures that are revealed by the latter are actually realized, or at least represented, in daily life - whether it be in the rarefied atmosphere of a religious ceremony or the more mundane setting at some commonplace activity. In doing so, the study raises a number of issues that are of a metaphysical nature - among them the question of indigenous notions of causation - thereby providing not just simply a re-evaluation of the existing ethnographic record, but also a point of departure for future inquiries in the field.


ABSTRACT Background Food fortification is implemented to increase intakes of specific nutrients in the diet, but contributions of fortified foods to nutrient intakes are rarely quantified. Objectives We quantified iron, vitamin A, and iodine intakes from fortified staple foods and condiments among women of reproductive age (WRA). Methods In subnational (Nigeria, South Africa) and national (Tanzania, Uganda) cross-sectional, clustered household surveys, we assessed fortifiable food consumption. We estimated daily nutrient intakes from fortified foods among WRA by multiplying the daily apparent fortifiable food consumption (by adult male equivalent method) by a fortification content for the food. Two fortification contents were used: measured, based on the median amount quantified from individual food samples collected from households; and potential, based on the targeted amount in national fortification standards. Results for both approaches are reported as percentages of the estimated average requirement (EAR) and recommended nutrient intake (RNI). Results Fortified foods made modest contributions to measured iron intakes (0%–13% RNI); potential intakes if standards are met were generally higher (0%–65% RNI). Fortified foods contributed substantially to measured vitamin A and iodine intakes (20%–125% and 88%–253% EAR, respectively); potential intakes were higher (53%–655% and 115%–377% EAR, respectively) and would exceed the tolerable upper intake level among 18%–56% of WRA for vitamin A in Nigeria and 1%–8% of WRA for iodine in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. Conclusions Fortified foods are major contributors to apparent intakes of vitamin A and iodine, but not iron, among WRA. Contributions to vitamin A and iodine are observed despite fortification standards not consistently being met and, if constraints to meeting standards are addressed, there is risk of excessive intakes in some countries. For all programs assessed, nutrient intakes from all dietary sources and fortification standards should be reviewed to inform adjustments where needed to avoid risk of low or excessive intakes.


Introduction:
According to the ecological view, coordination establishes byvirtueof social context. Affordances thought of as situational opportunities to interact are assumed to represent the guiding principles underlying decisions involved in interpersonal coordination. It's generally agreed that affordances are not an objective part of the (social) environment but that they depend on the constructive perception of involved subjects. Theory and empirical data hold that cognitive operations enabling domain-specific efficacy beliefs are involved in the perception of affordances. The aim of the present study was to test the effects of these cognitive concepts in the subjective construction of local affordances and their influence on decision making in football.

Methods:
71 football players (M = 24.3 years, SD = 3.3, 21 % women) from different divisions participated in the study. Participants were presented scenarios of offensive game situations. They were asked to take the perspective of the person on the ball and to indicate where they would pass the ball from within each situation. The participants stated their decisions in two conditions with different game score (1:0 vs. 0:1). The playing fields of all scenarios were then divided into ten zones. For each zone, participants were asked to rate their confidence in being able to pass the ball there (self-efficacy), the likelihood of the group staying in ball possession if the ball were passed into the zone (group-efficacy I), the likelihood of the ball being covered safely by a team member (pass control / group-efficacy II), and whether a pass would establish a better initial position to attack the opponents' goal (offensive convenience). Answers were reported on visual analog scales ranging from 1 to 10. Data were analyzed specifying general linear models for binomially distributed data (Mplus). Maximum likelihood with non-normality robust standard errors was chosen to estimate parameters.

Results:
Analyses showed that zone- and domain-specific efficacy beliefs significantly affected passing decisions. Because of collinearity with self-efficacy and group-efficacy I, group-efficacy II was excluded from the models to ease interpretation of the results. Generally, zones with high values in the subjective ratings had a higher probability to be chosen as passing destination (βself-efficacy = 0.133, p < .001, OR = 1.142; βgroup-efficacy I = 0.128, p < .001, OR = 1.137; βoffensive convenience = 0.057, p < .01, OR = 1.059). There were, however, characteristic differences in the two score conditions. While group-efficacy I was the only significant predictor in condition 1 (βgroup-efficacy I = 0.379, p < .001), only self-efficacy and offensive convenience contributed to passing decisions in condition 2 (βself-efficacy = 0.135, p < .01; βoffensive convenience = 0.120, p < .001).

Discussion:
The results indicate that subjectively distinct attributes projected to playfield zones affect passing decisions. The study proposes a probabilistic alternative to Lewin's (1951) hodological and deterministic field theory and enables insight into how dimensions of the psychological landscape afford passing behavior. Being part of a team, this psychological landscape is not only constituted by probabilities that refer to the potential and consequences of individual behavior, but also to that of the group system of which individuals are part of. Hence, in regulating action decisions in group settings, informers are extended to aspects referring to the group-level.

References:
Lewin, K. (1951). In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Field theory in social sciences: Selected theoretical papers by Kurt Lewin. New York: Harper & Brothers.


We propose a method for accurate vehicle localization. The proposed method detects a vehicle's location and traveling lane by matching between a pre-constructed Range Data Map and laser scanner data sequences measured while the vehicle runs. The Range Data Map consists of an absolute position on the road and range data at the position. We use Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) to align multiple range data sequences. Experiments using data sequences collected while a vehicle ran on the same route with multiple traffic lanes were conducted. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of vehicle localization and traveling lane classification by the proposed method.


A unique machine for inducing bending fatigue in wire ropes was built at the US Bureau of Mines' Pittsburgh Research Center. This machine can produce nine levels of degradation through repetitive cycling of long samples of wire ropes of the types used in the mining industry. This report provides an analysis of the results of the first wire rope to be fatigued on this machine. These results have indicated that as a wire rope accumulates bending cycles, its strength first decreases because of wear and then increases due to cold working of the wires. As the amount of cold working increases, more and more of the embrittled wires break and the strength of the rope decreases rapidly. In this test, application of several of the regulatory retirement criteria to various sections of the rope suggests that there may be some inconsistency among them.


Agricultural soils are the primary anthropogenic source of atmospheric N2 O. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soils are mainly the result of microbial processes such as nitrification / denitrification.These processes have a strong dependency on environmental factors like temperature, moisture, soil and vegetation properties or the land management. Therefore emissions occur with a high spatial and temporal variability giving rise to hot spots and hot moments. Quantifying sources and sinks of GHG like CO2, N2O and CH4 for natural, agricultural and forest ecosystems is crucial for our understanding of impacts of land management on the biosphere-atmosphere exchange of GHG and for the development of mitigation options. GHG exchange from soils is driven by complex microbial and plant nutrient turnover processes and it is the net result of all physicochemical and biological processes involved in production, consumption and transport. Process oriented biogeochemical models are useful tools for integrating our knowledge of the key processes and drivers to estimate carbon and nitrogen (C and N) trace gas emissions from soils. In this study we have coupled the LandscapeDNDC ecosystem model to the CMF (Catchment Modelling Framework) hydrology model generating a modelling system capable to asses the C and N cycling and their feedbacks to crop growth and microbial processes on the landscape scale. The deployed coupling approach by the use of the parallel MPI based OpenPALM coupler enables the simulation of lateral exchange of nutrients (nitrate) with the soil water fluxes and therefore to assess the C and N cycling on the landscape scale. In this study we describe the coupling approach and present simulation results of crop growth, nutrient cycling and resulting nitrous oxide emissions on a virtual landscape.


The central goal of crystal engineering is to develop precise control over material function \emph{via} rational design of structure. A particularly successful realisation of this paradigm is the example of hybrid improper ferroelectricity in layered perovskite materials, where cation vacancies and cooperative octahedral tilts combine to break inversion symmetry. However, in the more chemically diverse and technologically relevant family of inorganic ABX$_3$ perovskites, symmetry conspires to render hybrid coupling to polar distortions impossible. In this study, we use group-theoretical analysis to uncover a profound enhancement of the number of improper ferroelectric coupling schemes available to \emph{molecular} perovskites. This enhancement arises because molecular substitution on the A- and/or X-site significantly diversifies the range of distortions possible. Not only do our insights rationalise the emergence of polarisation in a number of previously-studied materials, but we identify the fundamental importance of molecular degrees of freedom at the A-site, which are much more straightforwardly controlled from a synthetic viewpoint than are lattice, charge and orbital degrees of freedom. We envisage that the crystal design principles we develop here will be enable targeted synthesis of a large family of new acentric functional materials.


The application of three phase squirrel cage induction motor as an industrial drive is a common practice. With passage of time these industrial motors are subjected to incipient faults which if undetected can lead to a major fault. Recently artificial neural network, fuzzy logic and genetic algorithm have been employed to assist the diagnosis task and to interpret the data for machine condition. In this paper JavaNNS and LabVIEW have been used as soft computing tools to identify the induction motor faults. Feed forward neural network where the Input data's are obtained from the positive and negative sequence component derived from hardware circuit to identify the stator fault. The side band frequency of input motor current is obtained from Tektronics Power analyzer is used to identify the rotor fault. The result thus obtained is compared with the conventional technique results and have been found much more accurate in identifying the machine internal condition.


A new multilevel coding method that uses several error-correcting codes is proposed. The transmission symbols are constructed by combining symbols of codewords of these codes. Usually, these codes are binary error-correcting codes and have different error-correcting capabilities. For various channels, efficient systems can be obtained by choosing these codes appropriately. Encoding and decoding procedures for this method are relatively simple compared with those of other multilevel coding methods. In addition, this method makes effective use of soft-decisions to improve the performance of decoding. The decoding error probability is analyzed for multiphase modulation, and numerical comparisons to other multilevel coding systems are made. When equally complex systems are compared, the new system is superior to other multilevel coding systems.


A new technique based on computer multivariate analysis of natural language applied to two corpuses of free associations about "eating", one from an analogic dictionnary, the other from a sample of 2000 French adults who answered an open question (For you, what is "eating well"?) Results show the various dimensions of the representation of "eating". The dictionnary corpus yields a nodal structure of the social representation that can be considered as commonsense knowledge modelling. Results, coherent with the sociological literature, also show affective connotations related to a primitive oral state as described by psychoanalysis. The human corpus yields representational scripts that are weighted within the population and show gender and age effects. This paper was originally presented at the annual scientific meeting of AGEV and European Interdisciplinary Meeting, 1993, Potsdam, Germany. It was also published as a supplement to Ernahrungs-Umschau, vol. 42 (1995). pp. 115-120.


The nuclear reactions are very interesting and very big topic in research field, In this research paper we are describing about all types of nuclear reactions taking for light weight, medium weight and heavy weight target nucleus, which is only one types of target nucleus. Here our interest how many types nuclear reactions occur or don't occur at taking for light weight, medium weight and heavy weight target nucleus. Finding the reason why it doesn't become to taking other weight target nucleus and why it becomes in those types of targets nucleus. So we can say it can become very interesting topic in field of finding new information about nucleus reactions to taking different types of targets nucleus.


This research adopts the utilitarian view of volunteering as a starting point: we posit that for an undergraduate student population volunteering is motivated by career enhancing and job prospects. We hypothesize that in those countries where volunteering signals positive characteristics of students and helps advance their careers, their volunteer participation will be higher. Furthermore, regardless of the signaling value of volunteering, those students who volunteer for utilitarian reasons will be more likely to volunteer but will exhibit less time-intensive volunteering. Using survey data from 12 countries (n = 9,482), we examine our hypotheses related to motivations to volunteer, volunteer participation, and country differences. Findings suggest that students motivated to volunteer for building their résumés do not volunteer more than students with other motives. However, in countries with a positive signaling value of volunteering, volunteering rates are significantly higher. As expected, students motivated by résumé building motivations have a lower intensity of volunteering.


BACKGROUND
In an era of rising differentiated thyroid cancer incidence, the rate and impact of neck reoperation may inform the intensity of earlier interventions and surveillance. This study sought to define predictors of neck reoperation and to assess its impact on survival.

METHODS
Using the California Cancer Registry linked to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development records, a retrospective cohort study was performed of 24,230 patients with total or near-total thyroidectomy for papillary or follicular thyroid cancer between 1991 and 2008 and follow-up through 2013. The primary outcome was neck reoperation 91 days to 5 years after the initial thyroid surgery. Using logistic and Cox proportional hazards regression, the impact of sociodemographics, tumor staging, and hospital thyroid cancer surgery volume on neck reoperation and survival was determined.

RESULTS
Neck reoperation was identified in 1231 (5.1%) patients in increasing odds from 1991 to 2008. In multivariable models, male sex, papillary thyroid cancer, and advancing tumor stage were associated with neck reoperation. Among men, neck reoperation was associated with Asian/Pacific Islander (odds ratio [OR] = 1.44 [confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.94]) race/ethnicity. Among women, neck reoperation was associated with younger age (15-34 years; OR = 1.50 [CI 1.17-1.92] versus ≥55 years), and Asian/Pacific Islander (OR = 1.24 [CI 1.02-1.51]) or Hispanic (OR = 1.20 [CI 1.00-1.44]) race/ethnicity. After controlling for baseline characteristics, neck reoperation predicted worse thyroid cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio = 4.26 [CI 3.50-5.19]). The effect differed between men and women, and was most pronounced among women who received radioiodine in initial treatment (hazard ratio = 8.32 [CI 6.14-11.27]).

CONCLUSIONS
Neck reoperation is becoming increasingly frequent and is strongly predictive of mortality. Advancing tumor stage, Asian/Pacific Islander race/ethnicity, male sex, as well as younger age and Hispanic ethnicity among women predict a higher risk for neck reoperation and subsequent mortality, reflecting a higher risk of persistent or more biologically aggressive disease.


We study the microstructure of the U.S. housing market using a novel data set comprising housing search and bargaining behavior for millions of interactions between sellers and buyers. We first establish a number of stylized facts, the most prominent being a nearly 50--50 split between houses that sold below final listing price and those that sold above final listing price. Second, we compare observed behavior with predictions from a large theoretical housing literature. Many predictions on the relationship between sales price, time on the market, listing price and atypicality are borne out in the data. However, existing models do not adequately explain the spread of the sales price around the final listing price. Using a modeling strategy that treats listing price changes as revisions of expectations about the sales price, we find sellers under-react to information shocks in estimating the sales price. Last, we find that the bargaining outcomes are influenced by previously undocumented buyers' bid characteristics, e.g., financing contingencies and escalation clauses, that signal a buyer's ability to complete or expedite the transaction. This suggests an important role for buyer bid characteristics, which are not explained by existing theories, in affecting bargaining power and surplus allocation in bilateral bargaining in housing transactions.


Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL

Background: Ras is a nucleotide-dependent switch that converts from an inactive GDP-bound state to an active GTP-bound state when activated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors, such as SOS. Active RasGTP then binds to and activates downstream signaling effectors. Ras is the most frequently mutated oncogene and hyperactive mutant Ras constitutively signals to effectors to promote cell survival, proliferation and metastasis. Thus, Ras oncoprotein has been considered by the cancer community to be one of the most important oncology drug targets. Despite the enormous interest and extensive exploratory efforts in industry and academia, small molecules that bind to Ras in a well-defined manner and exert inhibitory effects have not been uncovered to date. We describe in this abstract the identification and characterization of small-molecule inhibitors of the Ras oncoprotein. Materials and Methods: To explore a new means of directly targeting Ras, we used a fragment-based lead discovery approach via an NMR-based screen. Hits from the fragment screen were characterized for their interactions with Ras by NMR and X-ray crystallography and for their effects on Ras activation and signaling in reconstituted biochemical assays in vitro and in cellular assays in vivo. Results: From the fragment-based screen, we identified a group of small molecules that each bind to a common site adjacent to the switch I/II regions in the Ras protein. X-ray crystallography studies of three compound-Ras complexes indicate that the binding site can be expanded upon ligand binding. Nucleotide exchange factors, notably SOS, are required to convert inactive RasGDP to active RasGTP. We determined that the compound-binding site is located at the interface of Ras and SOS. A subset of our Ras-binding molecules indeed inhibited SOS-mediated nucleotide exchange. Further mechanistic studies revealed that through steric hindrance the compounds block the formation of the Ras-SOS complex, a key intermediate of the exchange reaction. At the cellular level, our compounds inhibit the formation of active RasGTP and prevent Ras signaling to downstream effectors. To define the potential clinic utility of these compounds, we performed biological characterization of Ras-driven tumors and identified a subset of Ras mutant tumors that depend on nucleotide exchange factors for the activation of Ras, suggesting a specific profile for the use of exchange inhibitors. Conclusions: We conclude that the compounds act as competitive inhibitors of nucleotide exchange to prevent the activation of Ras. The discovery of a binding pocket on Ras with functional significance represents a breakthrough finding that will offer a new direction for therapeutic intervention of the Ras oncoprotein. Our findings provide new opportunities to target the "undruggable" Ras oncoprotein.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4759. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4759


In exhibition of many real market data we observe characteristic traps. This behavior is especially noticeable for processes corresponding to stock prices. Till now, such economic systems were analyzed in the following manner: before the further investigation trap-data were removed or omitted and then the conventional methods used. Unfortunately, for many observations this approach seems not to be reasonable therefore we propose an alternative approach based on the subdiffusion models that demonstrate such characteristic behavior and their corresponding probability density function (pdf) is described by the fractional Fokker-Planck equation. In this paper we model market data using subdiffusion with a constant force. We demonstrate properties of the considered systems and propose estimation methods.


This thesis explores the negotiation of context and strategic redefinition of reality through
language and interaction, with an emphasis on perception/interpretation and empowerment
as a social practice. The purpose of this project is to highlight several linguistic strategies
being used by professional facilitators l in various contexts to help people overcome fear,
apathy, and self-imposed limitations. Drawing on natural language data collected through
participant-observation in several (subjectively) challenging situations - from abseiling to
frrewalking - I use pragmatics and discourse analysis to investigate the perception of
(im)possibility and people's 'commonsense' beliefs about what they can or cannot do (and
why) in order to illustrate how these ideas can be challenged or changed through
(re)framing, metaphor, and conceptual blending. I also discuss fear in terms of social
performance and demonstrate how facilitators actively deconstruct and redefme the
experience of fear through negotiated meaning in interaction. Finally, by drawing on a
range of research literature from various fields I attempt to situate my own observations of
language use within a larger body of interdisciplinary work dealing with epistemology and
issues such as perception, categorization, social knowledge claims, and the social/linguistic
construction ofreality.
. Empowerment presupposes a power imbalance, which is why the language of leaders
deserves special attention. Through their social role and context-based authority facilitators
are often in a position to influence other people's mental models and establish shared
(short-term) expectations that subtly promote a preferred interpretation of specific activities
or experiences. Various examples illustrate how participants are led to question some of
their underlying assumptions about the world, engage in 'unrealistic' activities, and attempt
the 'impossible.' By prompting the creation of imaginative metaphors and blended mental
spaces, effective facilitators can create (imaginary) conditions or incentives that promote
increased participation and trigger target behaviour through integrated action - essentially
using imaginmy realities to achieve real world results. Participants are never forced to do
anything against their will, and although these are often superficially goal-oriented
activities, the underlying purpose is to encourage people to question their self-limiting
beliefs and create a meaningful experience in order to promote empowerment in everyday
life.
I Facilitator refers to a unique social role, which presupposes specialized training or previous experience of a
particular activity. and therefore context-specific power and social authority relative to a group of participants.


1. Activity of up to 10 single units was recorded in parallel from frontal areas of behaving monkeys. 2. Spatiotemporal firing patterns were revealed by a method that detects all excessively repeating patterns regardless of their complexity or single-unit composition. 3. Excess of repeating patterns was found in 30-60% of the cases examined when timing jitter of 1-3 ms was allowed. 4. An independent test refuted the hypothesis that these patterns represented chance events. 5. In a given behavioral condition there were usually many different patterns, each repeating several times, and not one (or a few) pattern repeating many times. 6. In 13 out of 20 cases, when a single unit elevated its firing rate in association with an external event beyond 40/s, most of the spikes within that period were associated with excessively repeating spatiotemporal patterns. 7. Of 157 types of patterns whose excess was most marked, 107 were composed of spikes from one single unit, 45 of the patterns contained spikes from two single units, and only one was composed of spikes from three different single units. 8. These properties suggest that the patterns were generated by reverberations in a synfire mode within self-exciting cell assemblies.


A mass mortality event of the long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum (Philippi, 1845) occurred during 1983-1984 across the western Atlantic. Recovery to pre-mortality densities has been slow throughout most of the Caribbean as current stocks remain low, existing at a small fraction of previously recorded levels. To measure population recovery at Puerto Rico, we surveyed 26 localities around the island during 2003-2004. At each reef, we deployed 15 × 2 m belt transects (n = 12) to detect and quantify the presence of D. antillarum and obtain data on benthic cover. Density of D. antillarum varied significantly among geographic regions and localities, though variability was high. The highest density was documented in the Culebra Island region (0.44 ind m-2), followed by the northern region of Puerto Rico (0.23 ind m-2). No individuals of D. antillarum were found in 11 of the 26 surveyed localities. These densities are still substantially lower than pre- and post-mortality estimates from Puerto Rico. Most of the reefs were characterized by high macroalgal cover and horizontal water transparency < 3 m. Urchin densities were significantly and positively correlated with percentage of coral cover, percentage of coralline algae, and water transparency


The current study assessed the olfactory sensitivity of the goldfish (Carassius auratus L.) to the catecholamines, their immediate precursors and metabolites by use of the electro-olfactogram (EOG). The olfactory system of the goldfish was found to be sensitive to both adrenaline and dopamine with thresholds of detection of 10(-7.8) and 10(-7.9) M respectively, but less so to noradrenaline (threshold of detection 10(-6.3) M). The 3-O-methoxy metabolites (metadrenaline, normetadrenaline and 3-O-methoxytyramine) evoked larger amplitude EOGs than the non-metabolized form with lower thresholds of detection. However, the olfactory system was less sensitive to the amino acid precursors L-tyrosine and L-DOPA, and markedly less so to the alpha-deaminated metabolites (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl glycol, 3,4-dihydroxy mandelic acid and dihydroxyphenyacetic acid). Sensitivity to metabolites, both alpha-deaminated and 3-O-methoxylated, was similar to the alpha-deaminated forms. Cross-adaptation studies suggested that, while there is some degree of commonality of the receptor mechanisms with L-tyrosine and L-serine, a proportion of the response to the catecholamines is due to distinct receptor subtypes. Similarly, the 3-O-methoxy metabolites also had (a) separate receptor mechanism(s), although, again, there was overlap with the adrenaline/dopamine receptor site(s). Presence of the alpha-adrenoreceptor antagonist prazosin or the peripheral DA(2) dopamine receptor antagonist domperidone caused partial attenuation of the EOG responses to adrenaline and dopamine, but had much less effect on the responses to their 3-O-methoxy metabolites. The beta-adrenoreceptor antagonist sotalol had no such effect. This suggests that the olfactory catecholamine receptors are structurally and functionally distinct from systemic adreno- and dopamine receptors. The current study raises the possibility that release of catecholamines or their 3-O-methoxy metabolites to the water may play a role in chemical communication.


Mineralized and sound dentin matrices contain inactive preforms of proteolytic enzymes that may be activated during the demineralization cycle. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that protease inhibitors (PI) preserve demineralized collagen fibrils and other constituents of the dentin matrix and thereby affect the potential for remineralization. Artificial carious lesions with lesion depths of 140 μm were created with acetate buffer (pH = 5.0, 66 hours), and remineralized using a polymer-induced-liquid-precursor (PILP) process (pH = 7.4, 14 days) containing poly(aspartic acid) (pAsp) as the process-directing agent. De- and remineralizing procedures were performed in the presence or absence of PI. Ultrastructure and mechanical recovery of demineralized dentin following PILP remineralization were examined and measured in water with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and nanoindentation. Nanomechanical properties of hydrated artificial lesions had a low elastic modulus (ER <0.4 GPa) extending about 100 μm into the lesion, followed by a sloped region of about 140 μm depth where values reached those of normal dentin (18.0–20.0 GPa). Mapping of mineral content by both micro-FTIR and micro x-ray computed tomography correlated well with modulus profiles obtained by nanoindentation. Tissue demineralized in the presence of PI exhibited higher elastic moduli (average 2.8 GPa) across the lesion and comprised a narrow zone in the outer lesion with strongly increased modulus (up to 8 GPa; p < 0.05), which might be related to the preservation of non-collagenous proteins that appear to induce calcium phosphate mineral formation even under demineralizing physical-chemical conditions. However, mechanical aspects of remineralization through the elastic modulus change, and the micromorphological aspects with SEM and TEM observation were almost identical with PILP treatments being conducted in the presence or absence of PI. Thus, the application of the protease inhibitors (PI) seemed to be less effective in promoting the remineralization of demineralized dentin.


Identifying the intent of a citation in scientific papers (e.g., background information, use of methods, comparing results) is critical for machine reading of individual publications and automated analysis of the scientific literature. We propose structural scaffolds, a multitask model to incorporate structural information of scientific papers into citations for effective classification of citation intents. Our model achieves a new state-of-the-art on an existing ACL anthology dataset (ACL-ARC) with a 13.3% absolute increase in F1 score, without relying on external linguistic resources or hand-engineered features as done in existing methods. In addition, we introduce a new dataset of citation intents (SciCite) which is more than five times larger and covers multiple scientific domains compared with existing datasets. Our code and data are available at: https://github.com/allenai/scicite.


We present an algorithm for learning decision trees using stochastic gradient information as the source of supervision. In contrast to previous approaches to gradient-based tree learning, our method operates in the incremental learning setting rather than the batch learning setting, and does not make use of soft splits or require the construction of a new tree for every update. We demonstrate how one can apply these decision trees to different problems by changing only the loss function, using classification, regression, and multi-instance learning as example applications. In the experimental evaluation, our method performs similarly to standard incremental classification trees, outperforms state of the art incremental regression trees, and achieves comparable performance with batch multi-instance learning methods.


Cluster-type headaches often seen in men, which might be a different intensity, around the eyes and in the temporal region, a type of primary headache that may continue approxi-mately between 15 and 180 minutes. In the literature, a lot of reasons of cluster- type headache had been defined . Many systemic diseases may carry this symptom . Besides, belong the interest field of ear, nose and throat physician, it can bee seen in the para-nasal sinus pathology. In the literature, Headache by the foreign bodies of maxillary sinus is considered extremely rare. In this article, in the light of the literature, we present a patient refer to our clinic with symp-toms of cluster headache, at paranasal sinus CT scanning, in the maxillary sinus fungus ball was thought, that's why caldwell-luc operation was performed and we extracted 11 pieces of glass from maxillary sinus.


We describe the anatomical and electrophysiological characteristics of a group of Helix nerve cells, styled P cells, that generate long-lasting depolarizations in response to repeated stimulations at low frequencies. Four neurones were identified in the perioesophageal ganglia of the snail Helix pomatia . Their structure was determined by intracellular injection of Lucifer Yellow, cobaltlysine or horseradish peroxidase. The soma was found to contain neurosecretory granules. These cells innervated the whole foot muscle and the mantle, but were not involved in muscle movement or locomotion. They may participate in mucus secretion. Upon depolarization they fired Ca 2+ -dependent spikes; at a critical firing rate (5–6 Hz), the spikes were converted into depolarized plateaus (+10 to +20 mV) lasting for several seconds. The plateau was Ca 2+ -dependent and persisted in Na + -free saline. It was sustained by a slowly inactivating Ca 2+ current that produced a large intracellular Ca 2+ accumulation (monitored with the Ca 2+ - sensitive dye Arsenazo III). The plateau was restricted to the soma and the proximal axon and may act as a driver potential inducing axon firing and prolonging the release of neurosecretory materials. Note: To whom reprint requests should be addressed.


Objectives: To evaluate the comparative cost efficiency across the European Union G5 countries of the erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) epoetin α (originator [Eprex®] and biosimilar [Binocrit®]; once weekly), epoetin β (NeoRecormon®; once weekly), and darbepoetin α (Aranesp®; once weekly or once every 3 weeks) under different scenarios of fixed and weight-based dosing in the management of chemotherapy-induced anemia. Methods: Direct costs of ESA treatment were calculated for one patient with cancer undergoing chemotherapy (six cycles at 3-week intervals) with ESA initiated at week 4 and continued for 15 weeks. Five scenarios were developed under fixed and weight-based dosing: continuous standard dose for 15 weeks; sustained dose escalation to 1.5× or double the standard dose at week 7, continued for 12 weeks; and discontinued dose escalation to 1.5× or double the standard dose at week 7 for a 3-week period, then 9 weeks of standard dose. Results: Under fixed dosing, the average cost of biosimilar epoetin α treatment across scenarios was €4643 (30,000 IU) or €6178 (40,000 IU). Corresponding estimates were €7168 for originator epoetin α, €7389 for epoetin β, €8299 for darbepoetin α once weekly, and €9221 for darbepoetin α once every 3 weeks. Under weight-based dosing, the average cost of biosimilar epoetin α treatment across scenarios was €4726. Corresponding estimates were €5484 for originator epoetin α, €5652 for epoetin β, and €8465 for both darbepoetin α once weekly and once every three weeks. Conclusion: Managing chemotherapy-induced anemia with biosimilar epoetin α is consistently cost efficient over treatment with originator epoetin α, epoetin β, and darbepoetin α under both fixed and weight-based dosing scenarios.


Background Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is associated with diabetic nephropathy and hyperlipidemia. Gender, age, medication adherence, lifestyle, culture and socioeconomic status could be sources of diversity in T2DM leading to differences in predisposition, development and clinical presentation. Objectives Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the influence of gender, age and treatment duration on kidney and lipid-related biochemical indices of T2DM patients attending Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria (EKSUTH). Methods Blood from diabetic patients and healthy subjects was analysed for fasting blood glucose (FBG), renal function parameters and lipid profile. Influence of age, gender and treatment duration on indices was assessed using standard baseline values. Results Dyslipidemia was pronounced among female diabetics while the incidence of diabetes was found to be higher in middle-age. The percentage of diabetics with high levels of FPG, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol after 9–10 years of treatment were lower compared with the percentage after 5–6 years of treatment. Conclusion Gender, age and treatment duration influenced clinical course of T2DM among patients presenting at EKSUTH but long term treatment appeared to improve T2DM among patients.


Influences exerted by tactile stimuli on the muscle activity were investigated with two methods: (1) analysis of kinematics and electromyographic (EMG) activity of eight forelimb muscles during contact placing (CP) reactions elicited by tactile stimuli applied to the dorsal, medial or lateral sides of the paw in cats, and (2) the Hoffmann (H)-reflex technique to quantify the effects of the tactile stimuli on the excitability of the alpha motoneurones of the soleus muscle in awake rats. The first group of the data showed that the tactile stimuli applied to dorsal, medial or lateral aspects of the paw led to different strategies of the forelimb movements during CP reactions. These differences arose from various patterns of activation of the elbow flexor and extensor muscles at the beginning of CP reactions and a various involvement of the medio-lateral components of movements, depending on the site of the tactile stimulus application. With the H-reflex technique it was found that the tactile stimulus diminished the excitability of alpha motoneurones of the soleus muscle when applied to the skin overlying the lateral side of the ankle joint. This effect was in line with the observation that the tactile stimulus applied to the lateral side of the paw activated the elbow flexor muscles but not their antagonists to initiate CP reaction.


The effect of heating rate and annealing time on the microstructure and texture of a commercial 0.04 %C steel, cold rolled up to 80 %, is studied. Samples have been isothermally annealed at various heating rates (12 °C/h, 20 °C/h, 40 °C/h and 650 °C/min) and then soaked at 700 °C for 15 hours. The microstructural evolution of the samples during the heating process and hold period has been followed by optical microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The electron back-scattered diffraction technique is used to reveal the texture of the samples. Tensile tests and hardness measurements are correlated with the microstructural features. Results show that (a) recrystallization occurs between 600 and 650 °C; (b) a "pancake" structure develops during recrystallization at low heating rates without appreciable grain growth; (c) samples heated at 650 °C/min exhibit an equiaxed grain structure and significant grain growth; (d) only at low heating rates the material develops a strong {111} recrystallization texture, in ccordance with the high plastic anisotropy found by mechanical testing.


Activation of the superoxide generating NADPH oxidase of phagocytes involves the assembly of a multimolecular complex and is dependent on the participation of the small molecular weight GTP-binding protein Rac (1 or 2). This model system was used for mapping functional domains in the primary sequence of Rac1, based on assessing the inhibitory effect of 90 individual overlapping pentadecapeptides, spanning the entire length of Rac1, on NADPH oxidase activation in two types of cell-free assay. Five functional domains were identified, each consisting of a cluster of contiguous residues shared by members of five groups of overlapping inhibitory peptides. Four of the five domains are exposed on the molecular surface of Rac1 and were not identified previously by mutational analysis; the fifth corresponds to a polybasic motif near the carboxyl terminus, confirming earlier reports. Screening the entire linear sequence of a protein with a battery of overlapping peptides for interference with its ability to interact with upstream or downstream molecules should be of wide applicability as a reliable, fast, and economical method for mapping of functionally relevant domains.


OBJECTIVE
--To determine the magnitude of hospitalizations for pertussis and pertussis mortality and to estimate the total burden of clinically significant pertussis in the United States.

DESIGN
--Capture-recapture methods for estimating population size from independent surveillance systems were used to analyze morbidity and mortality data from case report forms received at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from the states, and compared these data with pertussis hospitalizations compiled from a database of US hospitals participating in the Commission on Professional and Hospital Activities-Professional Activities Survey (CPHA-PAS) and death certificate reports compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

POPULATION STUDIED
--All pertussis hospitalizations and pertussis-related deaths in the United States, 1985 through 1988.

RESULTS
--We estimated that 13,557 pertussis hospitalizations (95% confidence interval [CI], 12,953 to 14,162) and 98 pertussis deaths had occurred during the 4-year study period (an average of more than 3300 hospitalizations and 25 deaths per year). The completeness of reporting hospitalizations to the CDC was 32% and to the CPHA-PAS, 23%, while the completeness of reporting pertussis deaths to the CDC was 33% and to NCHS, 23%. Patients who were hospitalized with pertussis and reported to CDC were at a higher risk for developing pneumonia (31.0% vs 20.0%, relative risk [RR], 1.6; 95% CI, 1.4 to 1.7), seizures (3.7% vs 2.1%; RR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.4 to 2.5) and encephalitis (1.2% vs 0.2%; RR, 5.3; 95% CI, 2.4 to 11.6) compared with patients recorded in the CPHA-PAS system.

CONCLUSIONS
--Our study suggests that there is substantial underreporting of pertussis, that severe complications of pertussis (including hospitalizations) are reported preferentially to the CDC, and that the national health impact of pertussis based on these indicators is considerably higher than previously published reports have suggested.


Culture filtrates (extracellular components) and material obtained from disintegrated cells (intracellular components) of cultured plaque bacteria were studied for their capacity to induce inflammatory reactions in the dental pulp. Class V cavities were prepared on the buccal surface of 94 teeth: 42 test and 52 control teeth in six adult monkeys. lyophilized bacterial components were sealed into the test cavities either alone or following an 8-h topical application of a solution of the same components in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Culture medium and PBS were applied in two sets of control cavities. A third set was restored with zinc oxide-eugenol cement. The animals were killed 32 h after the initiation of the experiment and the pulps were examined histologically. Teeth treated trophil leukocytes in the area of the pulp subjacent to the cut dentin tubules. Abscess formation was frequently found. The severe reactions which developed were independent of differences between individual animals and differences in thickness of the remaining dentin. The controls showed damage to the odontoblasts but little or no neutrophil infiltration. The findings confirm that products of bacteria applied to exposed dentin initiate inflammatory reactions in the dental pulp.


(Under the Direction of Robert Lawton Stewart, Jr. and Alexander Stelzleni) ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of annual forages in animal production systems. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of cool season annual forages on animal production and forage productivity in stocker production systems. Forages systems evaluated were rye (R), rye plus ryegrass (RRG), rye plus wheat (RW), and rye plus crimson clover and arrowleaf clover (RC). Cattle grazing RRG produced a higher amount of BW gained in two out of three years. During years of cooler temperatures and abundant precipitation, RC was able to sustain a higher amount of BW gained. Experiment 2 studied the effects of warm season annual forages on animal production and meat quality in forage-finishing operations. Forage systems evaluated were pearl millet (PM), pearl millet plus crabgrass (PMCG), sorghum x sudangrass (SS), and brown-midrib sorghum x sudangrass (BMR). No differences were found for animal production. Cattle grazing treatments of SS had more yellow fat.


The report of the UK Working Group on Expanding Access to Research Publications was based on the principle that the potential social and economic benefits of high-quality research could be maximized by making the published results freely and rapidly accessible, with minimal limitations on their use. We regarded this principle as compelling and fundamentally unanswerable. It is also widely accepted.We also recognised that research communications are already in a period of transition towards open access. The aim was to find ways to accelerate that transition, but also to sustain what is valuable in a complex ecology with many different agents and stakeholders, by managing the transition in an orderly way.Our strong view was and is that the UK should embrace the transition to open access. We do not believe that the status quo is stable, and also not that the process of change could or should be put into reverse. Rather, the Group recommended that we should seek to accelerate the process in a measured way, which promotes innovation but also sustains what is most valuable in the research communications system.


Background: Despite the high prevalence of thyroid dysfunction, the epidemiology and natural course of these disorders have not been identified yet. Aim: The present survey was conducted to determine the incidence of thyroid dysfunction and natural course of subclinical thyroid disorders in an urban community of Tehran, I.R. Iran. Subjects and methods: Serum TSH and thyroperoxidase antibody (TPOAb) were measured at baseline and after 6.7 yr from a sample of 1999 randomly selected subjects aged ≥20 yr, participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS). Median TSH value and 2.5, 5, 95, and 97.5 TSH percentiles were determined at baseline using data obtained from 808 negative TPOAb subjects with no history of any thyroid disease or surgery, goiter, nodule, taking thyroid hormone preparations or anti-thyroid drugs. In those with abnormal TSH level, total T4 and T3 uptake were measured and free T4 index was calculated. Results: Normal TSH reference range was 0.4–5.8 µU/ml according to the 2.5 and 97.5 TSH percentiles. The incidence rates of thyroid function abnormalities in 1000 subjects per year were as follows: clinical hypothyroidism: 0.28 in women and 0.21 in men; subclinical hypothyroidism: 11.59 in women and 4.69 in men; clinical hyperthyroidism: 1.4 in women and 0.21 in men; and subclinical hyperthyroidism: 5.72 in women and 3.62 in men. A significant increase was found in the frequency of positive TPOAb in women from 15.9 to 17.7% (p=0.006). Of 8 women with subclinical hypothyroidism at baseline, 5 remained unchanged, 1 became normal, and 1 developed clinical hypothyroidism at follow-up. Two women with subclinical hyperthyroidism normalized at follow-up. Of 2 men with subclinical hypothyroidism at baseline, 1 remained unchanged, whereas the other progressed to clinical hypothyroidism. Conclusion: After a 6.7 yr follow-up significant increase in the incidence of subclinical thyroid disorders was observed in both men and women, as compared to overt thyroid dysfunction. Increase in the prevalence of TPOAb positivity was observed only in women.