We investigate how the wage distribution differs among small and large establishments in four European countries. Findings show that within-establishment wage dispersion rises with size because large employers have a more diverse workforce. They also suggest that screening and monitoring costs imply a lower sensitivity of wages to ability in larger establishments. Smaller establishments are found to rely more on incentive-based pay mechanisms, particularly in countries with a low trade union coverage rate. Further results indicate that between-establishment wage dispersion decreases with employer size because smaller establishments are technologically more diversified and hence exhibit greater diversity in average workforce skills.


A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF HEALTH
SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF
PUBLIC HEALTH
JANUARY 2012


The prominence of social networks motivates developments in network analysis, such as link prediction, which deals with predicting the existence or emergence of links on a given network. The Vector Auto Regression (VAR) technique has been shown to be one of the best for time-series based link prediction. One VAR technique implementation uses an unweighted adjacency matrix and five additional matrices based on the similarity metrics of Common Neighbor, Adamic-Adar, Jaccard's Coefficient, Preferential Attachment and Research Allocation Index. In our previous work, we proposed the use of the Support Vector Machines (SVM) for such prediction task, and, using the same set of matrices, we gained better results. A dataset from DBLP was used to test the performance of the VAR and SVM link prediction models for two lags. In this study, we extended the VAR and SVM models by using three, four, and five lags, and these showed that both VAR and SVM improved with more data from the lags. The VAR and SVM models achieved their highest ROC-AUC values of 84.96% and 86.32% respectively using five lags compared to lower AUC values of 84.26% and 84.98% using two lags. Moreover, we identified that improving the predictive abilities of both models is constrained by the difficulty in the prediction of new links, which we define as links that do not exist in any of the corresponding lags. Hence, we created separate VAR and SVM models for the prediction of new links. The highest ROC-AUC was still achieved by using SVM with five lags, although at a lower value of 73.85%. The significant drop in the performance of VAR and SVM predictors for the prediction of new links indicate the need for more research in this problem space. Moreover, results showed that SVM can be used as an alternative method for time-series based link prediction.


ABSTRACT In high-dimensional and/or nonparametric regression problems , regularization (or penalization) is used to control model complexity and induce desired structure. Each penalty has a weight parameter that indicates how strongly the structure corresponding to that penalty should be enforced. Typically, the parameters are chosen to minimize the error on a separate validation set using a simple grid search or a gradient-free optimization method. It is more efficient to tune parameters if the gradient can be determined, but this is often difficult for problems with nonsmooth penalty functions. Here, we show that for many penalized regression problems, the validation loss is actually smooth almost-everywhere with respect to the penalty parameters. We can, therefore, apply a modified gradient descent algorithm to tune parameters. Through simulation studies on example regression problems, we find that increasing the number of penalty parameters and tuning them using our method can decrease the generalization error.


BACKGROUND: The programmable intermittent epidural bolus (PIEB) has been popularized as the optimal delivery technique for labor analgesia. Suggested advantages of this method are less local anesthetic consumption, improved maternal satisfaction, potentially shorter duration of labor, and decreased workload requirements for the anesthesia providers. However, a manual bolus is still routinely used for breakthrough pain when the PIEB is underperforming. METHODS: We conducted a laboratory-based study to quantify the flow through a multiorifice epidural catheter using the PIEB setting on an epidural pump compared to the manual epidural bolus. Four syringe volumes, 3, 5, 10, and 20 mL, were selected for this experiment. The flow in a manual bolus was also studied with and without the presence of an epidural catheter filter. A generalized estimating equation analysis was done to compare data between the groups. RESULTS: Regardless of the syringe size, there was a several-fold increase in flow when a manual bolus was used compared to a pump-administered dose, with the highest difference in the peak flow rate observed in 3-mL boluses with up to a 12-fold difference, while the difference was, at most, 7-fold in 5-mL and 10-mL boluses. Manual boluses without a filter achieve a mean peak flow rate higher than manual boluses with a filter. CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that manual boluses produced a higher flow rate compared to the CADD-Solis epidural pump (Smiths Medical). This study also found that the placement of a particulate filter reduces the flow rates generated while bolusing. Bulk flow rate is directly correlated with induced pressure and solution spread. Because higher bolus pressure has been shown to provide a more efficient distribution of local anesthetic and more efficient pain relief, these results may have impactful clinical significance and will pave the way for future studies.


The papers that comprise this monograph (vol 52 of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology series) were presented at the International Symposium on Heparin held May 13 through 15, 1974, in St Louis. The purpose of this symposium was to bring together scientists and clinicians to share insights into the biochemical properties and clinical applications of heparin. The diverse material is well organized into sections dealing with the drug's structure, function, and clinical uses. The first section deals with the molecular structure of heparin. X-ray crystallographic and physical chemical data are presented to characterize the basic structure. Biosynthetic pathways are discussed, as are the relationships between fine structure and biological properties. Also included is information on methods of heparin determination and the difficult problem of pharmacologic standardization. The second section deals primarily with the mechanisms of heparin interaction with various components of the coagulation and fibrinolytic pathways. Evidence is


The aim of this thesis is to examine the extent to which homelessness is a gendered phenomenon. In the homelessness literature direct comparisons between men and women are rare, and the ability to compare is complicated by the tendency for research to be either on 'single homelessness' or 'family homelessness'. This thesis addresses this gap and systemically explores the ways in which homelessness is a gendered phenomenon. The research for this thesis focused on homelessness practices in a specific British city. The approach was an ethnographic one and included interviews with homeless people, homeless service providers, statutory housing officers and an observational element in specialist homeless person's assessment centres.

The research found that the services provided to homeless people are not neutral in respect to gender. There were found to be differences in the treatment of men and women while homeless and in the options available to them. There were gender differences in the staff and client approaches at the homeless person's assessment centres. The use of discretion in the provision of help and support for homeless people led to different treatment for women and men. Housing officers generally viewed homeless women as more vulnerable than men, and felt that reduced options for women in terms of service provision and accommodation meant that they deserved more favourable treatment as a result. There were also found to be gendered assumptions built into homelessness legislation. Although homeless women are often seen as more vulnerable than men this was not found to translate into better service provision or options for women. In general there was less emergency and supported accommodation for women although that which was available was smaller and often better quality than men's. There were some clear gaps in provision for homeless people, especially for people with children. The uptake of resettlement services was affected by staff perceptions that women were more able and willing to move into independent accommodation than men.


A case of favourable outcome of the treatment of extremely severe acute poisoning after prolonged exposure to lethal doses of methanol is reported. The complex treatment included urgent and effective elimination of the poison (multiple gastric lavage, hemodialysis), antidote therapy (administration of ethanol), correction of decompensated metabolic acidosis (alkali therapy and infusion therapy with reamberin). These measures had beneficial effect on the clinical course of poisoning and ensured its favourable outcome.


In this paper, we present a homogenization approach that can be used in the geometrically nonlinear regime for stress‐driven and strain‐driven homogenization and even a combination of both. Special attention is paid to the straightforward implementation in combination with the finite‐element method. The formulation follows directly from the principle of virtual work, the periodic boundary conditions, and the Hill–Mandel principle of macro‐homogeneity. The periodic boundary conditions are implemented using the Lagrange multiplier method to link macroscopic strain to the boundary displacements of the computational model of a representative volume element. We include the macroscopic strain as a set of additional degrees of freedom in the formulation. Via the Lagrange multipliers, the macroscopic stress naturally arises as the associated 'forces' that are conjugate to the macroscopic strain 'displacements'. In contrast to most homogenization schemes, the second Piola–Kirchhoff stress and Green–Lagrange strain have been chosen for the macroscopic stress and strain measures in this formulation. The usage of other stress and strain measures such as the first Piola–Kirchhoff stress and the deformation gradient is discussed in the Appendix. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In this paper, we present a histogram-like estimator of a conditional density that uses cross-validation to estimate the histogram probabilities, as well as the optimal number and position of the bins. This estimator is an alternative to kernel density estimators when the dimension of the covariate vector is large. We demonstrate its applicability to estimation of Marginal Structural Model (MSM) parameters in which an initial estimator of the exposure mechanism is needed. MSM estimation based on the proposed density estimator results in less biased estimates, when compared to estimates based on a misspecified parametric model.


Discourses linking Muslims and social services are complex and differ across Western countries. This chapter presents a first effort to untangle these discourses by categorizing the frames used to address the topic in newspaper and tabloid articles in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. We analyse qualitatively the contents of a sample of articles from a large comprehensive compilation from US, British and Canadian newspapers from 2000–10. We also consider the political platforms of certain populist parties in Europe, the pronouncements of politicians and the writing and websites of American anti-Muslim activists. We organize this information based on the various frames used in the discourses on Muslims and welfare and then provide tentative explanations for the variation in the use of frame-based discourses across countries and outlets, within countries and over time. We conclude by evaluating the future political and economic impacts of the current discourses on Muslims and welfare.


The electrodeposited CuInSe2 films were investigated in this paper. The deposition parameters of various solution concentrations, applied potential, pH value and complexing agent were examined to characterize film quality. The electrolyte solution was formed by mixing an appropriate proportion of copper sulfate, indium sulfate and selenium dioxide. Sodium citrate was used as complexing agent. Citric and sulfuric acids were used for adjusting electrolyte pH value. The experimental results revealed that the deposited and annealed CIS films have an atomic ratio of [Cu]:[In]:[Se] = 26.94:26.74:46.31. It is near to the stoichiometry of an atomic ratio ([Cu]:[In]:[Se] = 1:1:2). Unfortunately, this film has a poor adhesion problem. In order to overcome the adhesion problem, the triethanolamine and sodium dodecyl sulfate are used as complexing agents and wetting agents, respectively. A good adhesion was obtained. However, these additives result in a shortcoming of insufficient indium content in the formation film.


Ulbrich Titanium Grade 2 (UNS R50400) is an unalloyed commercially pure titanium. It is the most widely used commercially pure titanium grade. It offers a combination of moderate strength and good ductility, with outstanding corrosion resistance in many challenging service environments. Titanium Grade 2 can operate in continuous service up to 425 °C (800 °F) and in intermittent service up to 540 °C (1000 °F). This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, elasticity, and tensile properties. It also includes information on corrosion resistance as well as forming, heat treating, machining, and joining. Filing Code: Ti-168. Producer or source: Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, Inc.


This thesis consists of three chapters. In the first chapter, I investigate the effects of complexity in various voting systems on individual behavior in small group electoral competitions. Using a laboratory experiment, I observe individual behavior within one of three voting systems -- plurality, instant runoff voting (IRV), and score then automatic runoff (STAR). I then estimate subjects' behavior in three different models of bounded rationality. The estimated models are a model of Level-K thinking (Nagel, 1995), the Cognitive Hierarchy (CH) model (Camerer, et al. 2004), and a Quantal Response Equilibrium (QRE) (McKelvey and Palfrey 1995). I consistently find that more complex voting systems induce lower levels of strategic thinking. This implies that policy makers desiring more sincere voting behavior could potentially achieve this through voting systems with more complex strategy sets. Of the tested behavioral models, Level-K consistently fits observed data the best, implying subjects make decisions that combine of steps of thinking with random, utility maximizing, errors.In the second chapter, I investigate the relationship between the mechanisms used to select leaders and both measures of group performance and leaders' ethical behavior. Using a laboratory experiment, we measure group performance in a group minimum effort task with a leader selected using one of three mechanisms: random, a competition task, and voting. After the group task, leaders must complete a task that asks them to behave honestly or dishonestly in questions related to the groups performance. We find that leaders have a large impact on group performance when compared to those groups without leaders. Evidence for which selection mechanism performs best in terms of group performance seems mixed. On measures of honesty, the strongest evidence seems to indicate that honesty is most positively impacted through a voting selection mechanism, which differences in ethical behavior between the random and competition selection treatments are negligible.In the third chapter, I provide an investigation into the factors and conditions that drive "free riding" behavior in dynamic innovation contests. Starting from a dynamic innovation contest model from Halac, et al. (2017), I construct a two period dynamic innovation contest game. From there, I provide a theoretical background and derivation of mixed strategies that can be interpreted as an agent's degree to which they engage in free riding behavior, namely through allowing their opponent to exert effort in order to uncover information about an uncertain state of the world. I show certain conditions must be fulfilled in order to induce free riding in equilibrium, and also analytically show the impact of changing contest prize structures on the degree of free riding. I end this paper with an experimental design to test these various theoretical conclusions in a laboratory setting while also considering the behavioral observations recorded in studies investigating similar contest models and provide a plan to analyze the data collected by this laboratory experiment.All data collected for this study consists of individual human subject data collected from laboratory experiments. Project procedures have been conducted in accordance with Purdue's internal review board approval and known consent from all participants was obtained.


Multicast and broadcast services such as teleconferencing, entertainment video, LAN bridging, and distributed data processing are highly desirable in a future B-ISDN. These services require ATM switches to handle bursty traffic with multicast connections. This paper evaluates the performance of a nonblocking multicast packet switch architecture utilizing shared-memory buffers. The copy network consists of three nonblocking networks aid two shared-memory buffers which preserve cell sequencing. An overflow controller is proposed that controls overflow of cells in the copy network and allows partial cell expansion. This switch architecture has a parallel operation and fully distributed control, and thereby scales well to large size switches.<<ETX>>


The effects of somatostatin, or somatotropin release-inhibiting factor (SRIF), and SRIF analogs in human diseases have been widely investigated to potentially expand the therapeutic applications of commercially available and newly designed compounds belonging to this class of agents. Several preclinical studies and clinical trials have demonstrated the antiproliferative and antisecretory effects of SRIF and its analogs. This review discusses results from studies investigating the secretory activity and cell viability of SRIF analogs, and the potential of new therapeutic applications of these drugs in endocrine diseases and, in particular, as a treatment for endocrine neoplasia.


Research study used a variety of methods for analyzing the institutional policies for teacher educators and prospective teachers.It browsed through the induction strategies and capacity building system being practiced by teacher training institutions. It addressed the prospective teachers, their satisfaction level with training, expectations and future roles.The percentage of trained teachers who join education department and the major reasons and factors which stopped trained teachers from joining education department have been traced out. The study was motivated by ongoing discussion on teacher training, performance and competency of teachers, status of teachers and their satisfaction level. Study provided evidence based information about teacher training situation which was equally beneficial for educational managers, educational practitioner, researchers, planners, policy developers and implementers and teachers. The outcomes will provide guideline to pre-service institutions for future planning.


Soccer is a fitness demanding sport. To prepare youth soccer players to be professional players in the future, soccer-specific fitness training is necessary besides soccer skill training. Agility, speed, and lower limb muscle power relative to body weight are the crucial physical abilities for soccer players to compete in the game. Specific training that improving agility, speed, and muscle power is beneficial to them. However, some fitness elements would be in the higher priority for the youth. PURPOSE: Through comparing the physical abilities of youth soccer players and professional soccer players, specific training can be suggested to youth players according to the differences of physical abilities. Method: 85 soccer players (19 professional, 62 youth) performed countermovement jump (CMJ) on a jump mat, 20m sprint and arrowhead agility test timed by infra-red timing gate Height and weight were also measured. BMI can be calculated. An independent t-test was used to compare the differences between youth and professional players. A significant level of p,0.05 was used. RESULTS: Significant differences (See Table 1) were found in all tests except countermovement jump test (p,0.05). Youth soccer players have a better performance than professional soccer players in the 20m sprint test. CONCLUSIONS: Poor performance compared to youth players in 20m sprint for professional soccer players was unexpected. It is possibly that speed is not the most important abilities in the game or the players have already developed their speed when they are youth. Similar lower limb muscle power relative to body weight was found in both groups in CMJ test. However, better performance was found in arrowhead agility test for the professional. As the longest distance in arrowhead test is only 10m. Fast maximum speed is not a necessary ability to have good performance in arrowhead agility test. The test results implied that professional players can accelerate and decelerate better than the youth players. This difference involves the abilities of proprioception, balance, muscle coordination and motor skill. Practical Applications: Static balance exercise, dynamic balance exercise, and plyometric exercise with multi-direction movement are suggested to improve agility. Exercises, such as eye close single leg balance on ground or foam, zig zag single leg hop with balance when landing, lateral single leg plyometric jump, bounding, running and cutting, are the examples.


Eggs of Rana clamitans in their own jelly coat are not fertilized by sperm of other species. When the eggs were surrounded by jelly from another species, they were fertilized by R. catesbeiana and R. septentrionalis sperm. The hybrid nature of the resulting embryos was confirmed by detection of paternal enzyme forms. The R. clamitans female times R. septentrionalis male embryos arrested by the tailbud stage. The R. clamitans female times R. catesbeiana male embryos developed into viable tadpoles and subsequently metamorphosed. The hybridization results coupled with the similarity of enzyme patterns indicate that R. clamitans and R. catesbeiana are genetically closely related. R. clamitans is probably not as closely related to R. septentrionalis based on the enzyme patterns. Since cross-fertilization or early developmental failures of hybrids could be explained by a small number of genes, such failures must be considered with caution in determining species relationships.


The present investigation was performed to study the frequency of recurrence of periodontitis in diabetic subjects, who, prior to the initiation of a 5-year period of monitoring, were treated for moderate to advanced periodontal disease. 20 patients with diabetes, type 1 (IDDM) or type 2 (NIDDM) and 20, sex and age matched, controls with similar amounts of periodontal tissue destruction, were selected for the study. Following a screening examination, all patients were subjected to non-surgical periodontal therapy (oral hygiene instruction, supra- and subgingival scaling). 3 months later, the baseline examination for the study was performed. This included assessments of several parameters such as: number of teeth, plaque, gingivitis, probing pocket depth and probing attachment level. 6 months after the baseline examination, all 40 subjects were recalled for a 2nd examination. Sites which at this 6-month examination exhibited bleeding on probing, and had probing depth > 5 mm, were scheduled for additional surgical therapy (modified Widman flap). Following this selective additional therapy, the main period of monitoring was initiated. During this period, a plaque control program was repeated every 3 months. Re-examinations regarding plaque, gingivitis, probing depth and probing attachment level were performed 12, 24 and 60 months after the baseline examination. The findings from the examinations disclosed that diabetics and non-diabetics alike, treated for moderately to advanced forms of adult periodontitis, during a subsequent 5-year period, were able to maintain healthy periodontal conditions. Thus, the frequency of sites which exhibited signs of recurrent disease was similar in the 2 study groups.


The goal of out-of-distribution (OoD) detection is to identify unseen categories of inputs different from those seen during training, which is an important requirement for the safe deployment of deep neural networks in computational pathology. Additionally, to make OoD detection applicable in clinical applications, one may encounter image data distribution shifts. This paper argues that practical OoD detection should handle both semantic shift and data distribution shift simultaneously. We propose a new self-supervised OoD detector for colorectal cancer tissue types based on a clustering scheme. Our work's central tenet benefits from multi-view consistency learning with a supplementary view based on style augmentation to mitigate domain shift. The learned representation is then adapted to minimize images' predictive entropy to segregate indistribution examples from OoDs on the target data domain. We evaluated our method on two public colorectal tissue types datasets. Our method achieved state-of-the-art OoD detection performance over various self-supervised baselines. The code, data, and models are available at https://github.com/BehzadBozorgtabar/SOoD.


ABSTRACT Several functions have been attributed to the serine/threonine protein kinase encoded by open reading frame 66 (ORF66) of varicella-zoster virus (VZV), including modulation of the apoptosis and interferon pathways, down-regulation of major histocompatibility complex class I cell surface expression, and regulation of IE62 localization. The amino acid sequence of the ORF66 protein contains a recognizable conserved kinase domain. Point mutations were introduced into conserved protein kinase motifs to evaluate their importance to ORF66 protein functions. Two substitution mutants were generated, including a G102A substitution, which blocked autophosphorylation and altered IE62 localization, and an S250P substitution, which had no effect on either autophosphorylation or IE62 localization. Both kinase domain mutants grew to titers equivalent to recombinant parent Oka (pOka) in vitro. pOka66G102A had slightly reduced growth in skin, which was comparable to the reduction observed when ORF66 translation was prevented by stop codon insertions in pOka66S. In contrast, infection of T-cell xenografts with pOka66G102A was associated with a significant decrease in infectious virus production equivalent to the impaired T-cell tropism found with pOka66S infection of T-cell xenografts in vivo. Disrupting kinase activity with the G102A mutation did not alter IE62 cytoplasmic localization in VZV-infected T cells, suggesting that decreased T-cell tropism is due to other ORF66 protein functions. The G102A mutation reduced the antiapoptotic effects of VZV infection of T cells. These experiments indicate that the T-cell tropism of VZV depends upon intact ORF66 protein kinase function.


Despite evidence that a lack of interoperable information systems results in enormous costs, development, implementation, and effective use of interorganizational systems (IOS) remain an elusive goal for many companies. Lack of interoperability across systems is especially problematic for manufacturers dependent on global supply chains. We develop propositions about the characteristics of IOS that affect information transparency in supply chains. Specifically, we propose that data and process standards are necessary, but not sufficient, to solve such information transparency problems. Instead, standards need to be complemented by hub-type information technology architectures that are shared by organizations participating in an industrial field, not just by the participants in one manufacturer's supply chain. These arguments are supported by an automotive industry case study involving data and process standardization and a shared, cloud-based architecture. We conclude with additional aspects of the case that may be relevant to addressing information transparency problems in global supply chains.


Large-scale time series data are prevalent across diverse application domains including system management, biomedical informatics, social networks, finance, etc. Temporal dependency discovery performs an essential part to identify the hidden interactions among the observed time series and helps to gain more insight into the behavior of the applications. However, the time-varying sparsity of the interactions among time series often poses a big challenge to temporal dependency discovery in practice. This paper formulates the temporal dependency problem with a novel Bayesian model allowing for both the sparsity and evolution of the hidden interactions among the observed time series. Taking advantage of the Bayesian modeling, an online inference method is proposed for time-varying temporal dependency discovery. Extensive empirical studies on both the synthetic and real application time series data are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed method.


Under the view that the market is a weighted and directed network (Barabasi, 2003), this document is a first attempt to model the Colombian money market within a spatial econometrics framework. By estimating two standard spatial econometric models, we study the cost of collateralized borrowing (i.e. sell/buy backs) among Colombian financial institutions, and its relationship with the effects induced by traditional variables (leverage, size and borrowing levels), and by spatial variables resulting from observed linkages among financial institutions. The model that best fits the data is the Spatial Durbin Model, whose main findings indicate that (i) traditional variables are of low explanatory power by themselves; (ii) there exists a significant spatial dependence with regard to the cost of collateralized borrowing; (iii) the inclusion of spatial lags of the same traditional factors results in a model able to explain the existence of borrowing spreads that vary across financial institutions despite the collateralized nature of sell/buy backs; (iv) direct and spill-over effects from the spatially lagged value of financial leverage are the most significant for determining the cost of collateralized borrowing. Results are valuable since making connectedness an explanatory variable breaks with the traditional (reductionist) understanding of financial markets, which concurs with the current interest in the macro-prudential perspective of financial stability.


Leg 101 of the Ocean Drilling Program drilled 19 holes at 11 sites to investigate the geology of the Straits of Florida and the northern Bahamas. Drilling at Site 626 indicated that the Gulf Stream has had significant flow through the Straits of Florida for at least the last 24 million years. Winnowed, foraminiferal grainstones and packstones with sparse nannofossil assemblages and the reworking of older nannofossils suggest strong bottom-current activity throughout this interval. Drilling north of Little Bahama Bank and in Exuma Sound documents the growth of platform slopes during the late Cenozoic. Nannofossil biostratigraphy of the upper Cenozoic sediments from the Little Bahama Bank and Exuma Sound slope transects indicates relatively continuous deposition, with only short breaks in the periplatform ooze and/or calciturbidite accumulation during the late Pliocene. These unconformities may be linked to sea-level lowstands. Nannofossil assemblages are generally poorly preserved owing to accelerated diagenesis caused by high aragonite and high magnesium calcite contents of bank-derived material. High rates of influx of bank-derived materials appear to coincide with highstands of sea level. Periplatform sediments are largely limited to the upper Cenozoic at Little Bahama Bank. Pelagic and/or hemipelagic conditions existed during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene. A relatively complete, continuous section of Oligocene is present in the Little Bahama Bank area, although the rest of the Paleogene is thin. Paleogene material is also present in Northeast Providence Channel, although its thickness is uncertain. A thick upper Campanian chalk sequence with abundant, moderately to well-preserved nannofossils occurs in the Little Bahama Bank area. Hemipelagic nannofossil marls and marly chalks at Little Bahama Bank contain an excellent nannofossil record, which indicates a continuous lowermost to middle Cenomanian sequence overlying the upper Albian drowned platform. These hemipelagic sediments are significantly younger than the organic-rich, middle Albian limestones in Northeast Providence Channel. The latter indicate that a deep-water channel was already well established by the middle Albian.


The direct measurement of organic matter included in archaeological pottery may yield a reliable assessment of age. The main problem consists in the identification of possible origins and assessment of distortion for the age of organic inclusions. Our experiments show that shells included in pottery fabrics are strongly influenced by the reservoir effect, which may reach 500 yr or more. Other organic inclusions, such as lake ooze, do not visibly distort the age. The obtained series of radiocarbon dates have been used for the assessing the age of the early stages of pottery manufacture in southern Russia.


"Numbers in the Dark" is a collection of short stories covering the length of Italo Calvino's extraordinary writing career, from when he was a teenager to shortly before his death. They include witty allegories and wise fables; a town where everything has been forbidden apart from the game of tip-cat; a pitiable tribe watching the flight paths of guided missiles from outside their mud huts; a computer programmer considering the possible sequence of a series of brutal acts; and dialogues with Henry Ford, a Neanderthal and the gloomy, overthrown Montezuma!


This paper pursues a simple analysis of a static relationship between national income and income distribution, and obesity/overweight and undernutrition in African countries. From intuition, a relation between national income (GDP/Capita) and malnutrition is expected. Countries that have higher income are expected to have higher prevalence of obesity/overweight. Likewise, countries with higher income should have lower levels of undernutrition. This paper tests this hypothesis using macroeconomic data. The paper also analyses the role of income inequality, as measured by the GINI coefficient, as a potential driver of malnutrition. In this case, countries that have high levels of income inequality are expected to have coexistent high levels of both obesity and undernourishment. Results of this analysis show that there is a correlation between income and malnutrition. However, this relationship is weak, with a correlation coefficient of less than 50% for both undernourishment and overweight/obesity. However, the signs are as expected, even when running a simple regression of the variables. Higher national income has a positive relationship with obesity and negative relationship with undernourishment. From the regression, only the coefficient on undernourishment is significant at 5% confidence level. No significant relationship was found between income distribution and malnourishment, even on the extended logistic model. These finding are not realistically surprising. Higher income does not guarantee good nutrition, although poorer countries are expected to have high level of undernourishment. Also, there is a friction in the response of undernutrition to growth in GDP. Given the low-income elasticity of demand for food, higher income is not expected to be strongly linked to obesity. This could also be an explanation for the low response of malnutrition to income inequalities, although this latter relationship needs to be tested further with data sets of longer duration, in a time series approach. As such, it is important to lobby governments to mainstream food and nutrition security in other initiatives that increase national income, and to promote direct interventions that reduce the prevalence of undernourishment as part of meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This will ensure that high national income translates to reduction in malnutrition prevalence across countries.


The aim of this article is to unify a large part of present knowledge about the behaviour of Fourier series of functions of generalized bounded variation. The connections between various concepts are discussed, particular attention being payed to those due to Waterman and Chanturiya. Exploiting the existing interactions and utilizing the power of one or another approach to some typical questions of the Fourier theory, a number of previously unnoticed results are obtained in the course of this exposition.


Regulation of protein stability and function in vivo begins during protein synthesis, when the ribosome translates a messenger RNA into a nascent polypeptide. Cotranslational processes involving a nascent protein include folding, binding to other macromolecules, enzymatic modification, and secretion through membranes. Experiments have shown that the rate at which the ribosome adds amino acids to the elongating nascent chain influences the efficiency of these processes, with alterations to these rates possibly contributing to diseases, including some types of cancer. In this review, we discuss recent insights into cotranslational processes gained from molecular simulations, how different computational approaches have been combined to understand cotranslational processes at multiple scales, and the new scenarios illuminated by these simulations. We conclude by suggesting interesting questions that computational approaches in this research area can address over the next few years.


Purpose: Government expenditure affects the behavior of both producers and consumers, and influence the distribution of income and wealth in the economy. But, a cursory look at government expenditure (recurrent and capital) in Nigeria over the year, showed that expenditure has been on the increase but the rate of increase has not translated into economic comfort (reduction in poverty and unemployment rates). Due to this assumption, this paper examined government expenditure and economic discomfort in Nigeria.
Methods: Annual time-series data from 1990-2018 were obtained from the CBN Statistical Bulletin (various issues) and the World Bank report. The descriptive statistics, ADF unit root test, and ARDL model serves as the analytical tools.
Results: Based on the empirical result, the paper concluded that government capital expenditure has a negative and significant relationship with economic discomfort. On the other hand, government recurrent expenditure is positively and insignificantly related to economic discomfort.
Implications: This result implies that while the increase in capital expenditure will depress economic discomfort, an increase in the recurrent component of the expenditure will not help to reduce economic discomfort. Based on these conclusions, the paper recommended amongst others that more government capital spending should be encouraged as it plays a critical role in reducing both poverty and unemployment rates in Nigeria.


Abstract Simulation and simulated environment are more and more exploited in these days. During the process of simulation we experiment with computer model which has to represent as accurate view of given system as possible to ensure the maximum relevance of acquired information. We simulate the states in dependence on specific conditions that can in military be e.g. time, environment, selected technology and its facilities and lot of others. This work is focused especially on input value of tactical simulators which is always represented by the decision process, respectively the decision of commander. The issue has the form of valuable decision to which its complete analysis has to precede. During this process the possible consequences and impacts are recognized so that the result could be used in real world. The work solves the synergy between simulation environment and the analysis of decision process of commander. It adds to the simulator problems one more evaluating element which could be beneficial not only in military. It appreciably increases the usage importance of one of the main advantages of simulators which is so-called "what-if" analyse. The decision element can exercise in many areas of human activity because the process of decision evaluation itself can be analysed in agreement with different criteria. Furthermore the work contains several specifications that refer to interoperability among simulators and it discusses standards, which ensures this communication and data exchange. Keywords: HLA, simulation, decision process, decision analysis.


Colorimetric methods based on the Berthelot reaction are used widely for quantitative determination of NH 4 -N in biological and environmental samples. Studies to evaluate phenol and salicylate, the most commonly used chromogenic substrates, revealed minor interferences by metallic cations, whereas up to a threefold shift in absorbance was observed with 38 diverse N-containing organic compounds. Interferences differed markedly between phenol and salicylate. The possibility of a simple correction was precluded by the fact that interferences were both positive and negative, and depended on the temperature during color development and the concentration of NH 4 -N. Fourteen compounds were evaluated as alternatives to phenol and salicylate, of which the Na salt of 2-phenylphenol (PPS) proved to be the most promising. Using PPS, macro- and microscale batch methods and an automated flow-injection method were developed. These methods are simple, convenient, and sensitive. Using the PPS microscale method, for which the limit of detection is 0.17 mg NH 4 -N L -1 , recovery of NH 4 -N added to soil extracts ranged from 98 to 104%, with a coefficient of variation of 1.4 to 2.7%. As with phenol and salicylate, precipitation of metal hydroxides was observed. Precipitation was controlled by chelation with citrate rather than ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), which suppressed color development by preventing monochloramine formation. Compared with Berthelot methods that use phenol or salicylate, interference by amino acids was decreased by up to 10-fold. Interference by other organic N compounds was virtually eliminated.


The objectives of this study were to analyze genotype by environment (GE) interactions on the seed yield of safflower genotypes by the additive main effects and multiplicative interactions (AMMI) model and to evaluate genotype (G), environment (E) and GE interactions using statistics parameter i.e. AMMI stability value (ASV) and ecovalence (W i). The trials were conducted at three locations: Shirvan, Sararood and Khoramabad for two successive cropping seasons ( ). Main effects due to E, G, and GE interactions as well as two first interaction principal components (IPCA ) were found to be significant. AMMI biplot was able to distinguish stable genotypes and environments, with high and low genotype discrimination ability. The genotypes and with higher mean seed yield than total mean were to be most stable genotypes, while the genotypes and with the highest contribution to GE interaction were to be most instable.


We present and analyze observations of polarized dust emission at 850 μm toward the central 1 × 1 pc hub-filament structure of Monoceros R2 (Mon R2). The data are obtained with SCUBA-2/POL-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) as part of the B-fields in Star-forming Region Observations survey. The orientations of the magnetic field follow the spiral structure of Mon R2, which are well described by an axisymmetric magnetic field model. We estimate the turbulent component of the magnetic field using the angle difference between our observations and the best-fit model of the underlying large-scale mean magnetic field. This estimate is used to calculate the magnetic field strength using the Davis–Chandrasekhar–Fermi method, for which we also obtain the distribution of volume density and velocity dispersion using a column density map derived from Herschel data and the C18O (J = 3 − 2) data taken with HARP on the JCMT, respectively. We make maps of magnetic field strengths and mass-to-flux ratios, finding that magnetic field strengths vary from 0.02 to 3.64 mG with a mean value of 1.0 ± 0.06 mG, and the mean critical mass-to-flux ratio is 0.47 ± 0.02. Additionally, the mean Alfvén Mach number is 0.35 ± 0.01. This suggests that, in Mon R2, the magnetic fields provide resistance against large-scale gravitational collapse, and the magnetic pressure exceeds the turbulent pressure. We also investigate the properties of each filament in Mon R2. Most of the filaments are aligned along the magnetic field direction and are magnetically subcritical.


Abstract. The nervous system is main target of the toxic action of most of organic solvents. There is little doubt that occupational solvent exposure may result in persisting neurobehavioural disturb ances — the organic solvent syndrome. Recently, the solvents are quoted among possible causes of the abnormal condition referred to as multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), and which is characterized by a psychosomatic overreactivity to a variety of chemicals present in food or ambient air. According to some authors, MCS is a manifestation of the time-dependent sensitization (TDS), a phenomenon of progressive increase in responsiveness to chemical agents following acute or intermittent exposure, and related to some functional aberrations within limbic structures. TDS is commonly induced by psychostimulant drugs. The purpose of the present paper was to show, based on the literature data, that under circumstances of acute and repeated exposure, some solvents (mainly toluene) exert effect on behaviour and on the functional state of some neurotransmitter systems similar to that exerted by drugs known to induce TDS. Of special importance is the fact that in case of solvents the behavioural and biochemical changes suggestive of sensitization appear after exposure at levels close to those admissible in the occupational exposure, and that the concentration-effect relationship is nonlinear (an inverted U curve). To date, however, only a few of the existing data may be regarded as a direct evidence of the solvent-induced TDS. It is mainly due to the fact that the experimental protocol of a TDS study does not match the experimental routine of neurotoxicity assessment. Some data suggest that some solvents are possibly unable to induce TDS. The necessity to assess the commonly used solvents for their ability to induce TDS has been emphasized.


Abstract : J.S. Trimingham has famously described Ethiopia as a beleaguered fortress in the midst of a sea of Islam, implying Christians in Ethiopia have consistently been besieged by Muslims, not vice versa. This thesis challenges this common conception by demonstrating that throughout Ethiopia's medieval period (1270-1555), the time of greatest conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and its Muslim neighbors, Muslim forces did not besiege the Ethiopian Empire. On the contrary, the Ethiopians militarily subjugated their neighboring Muslim sultanates, most prominently Ifat and Adal, and politically divided the sultanates' ruling families to keep them weak. These tactics, designed to wrest control of trade from the sultanates, were resoundingly successful until Muslims unified around military/religious leaders, primary among them being Imam Gran, who in 1531 conquered the Ethiopian Empire. Though Imperial forces reversed the conquest by 1543, a historical focus on this event still feeds the misperception that Ethiopia's history is that of a Christian kingdom ensconced in a fortress to protect itself from a beleaguering Muslim menace. This thesis concludes to the contrary that the Ethiopian Empire waded aggressively and purposefully into the sea of Islam to beleaguer its many Muslim neighbors.


We investigate the formation and evolution of plasmon-induced absorption (PIA) effect in a three-dimensional graphene waveguide structure. The PIA window is formed by near-field coupling of the graphene edge mode, the extremely destructive interference between the radiative mode and sub-radiative mode of graphene nanoribbons. The resonance intensity has a significant dependence on the coupling distance between the graphene nanoribbons. At the same time, it is particularly sensitive to the refractive index of the environment, which is promising for sensing devices. In addition, the resonant wavelength can be actively controlled by changing the Fermi energy of graphene. Moreover, it can be seen that the group time delay of the PIA window reaches -0.28  ps, which is a good candidate for ultrafast light application. Finally, additional graphene nanoribbons can also form a double-channel PIA window. Our work may provide an excellent platform for controlling the optical transmission of highly integrated plasmonic components.


Steward of public at Law of No. 43 year 1999 arranging about legal fundament execution of reform in public service commission function of National. Where the law under law decentralize No. 32 Year 2004, please mention that management of service of public arranged by government. So that refer at law of local government can run service of themselves public.
Public service which carried out relate at one particular national concept service of public set in UU 43 / 1999 and PP25 / 2000. In management evaluation service of public, bureaucracy structure characteristic which decentralization have some benefit and target for example : Lessening ( even eliminate) role difference between organization center with existing executor organizations is field, Conducting
efficiency and thrift of monetary usage allocation, Lessening the amount of staff / abundant government officer especially at level to the and middle level (rationalization principle),
Drawing near bureaucracy with customer society. Relevant at reform service of public one of them is Human Resource and condition of borokrasi represent all important base executing of reform of service public. Reform give expectation to service of fairer public and flatten.
Expectation is that way attributed to society control him strength and level of society contribution in management of governance.
This research conducted by using method qualitative, having the character of is descriptive. This research have location in Industry Sub-Province of Gresik, where Sub-Province of Gresik a lot of Industry which have stood and or which is processing to found industry. subyek in this research : On duty Licensing and Cultivation Of Capital : Head Licensing and Cultivation of Capital as
underwriter reply and executor. Head of Sub On Duty Create Masterpiece On duty Licensing and Cultivation of Capital as executor process service Permission Found Building (IMB). Two People Staff of surveyer Subdinas Create Masterpiece. Society which consist of 5 one who have or managing Permission Found Building. process analyse the following data : Analyzing, that is all available data from various source of that is interview, perception, document. Discount Data, that is by way of conducting abstraksi. Abtraksi represent effort make ambit, statement and process which need to be taken care so that constantly within depth. Conclude or verification represent ability of researcher someone in concluding various obtained data finding dive research process take place.
Reform service of Sub-Province public of Gresik related to management service of permission found building the existence of various effort which have been conducted by Sub-Province of Gresik to water down service of public specially service of Sub-Province invesment permit of
Gresik start from giving of amenity of invesment of set in regulation of Regent, stipulating of path service of specified permit by spasial by organizer of invesment in area until to determination of institute of organizer of permit service one roof. Adequate facilities and basic
facilities in conducting permit. Constraint service of public related to management of service of
permission found building there is no him stipulating of standard service of public, besides sytem development of Standard of Operating Process which still little.. Later human resource with level of cared influence management of service of public.


Scholars in various disciplines have considered the causes, nature, and effects of trust. Prior approaches to studying trust are considered, including characteristics of the trustor, the trustee, and the role of risk. A definition of trust and a model of its antecedents and outcomes are presented, which integrate research from multiple disciplines and differentiate trust from similar constructs. Several research propositions based on the model are presented.


Abstract: The Early Palaeozoic stratigraphy and tectonic history of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas of central Argentina are complicated by metamorphism and deformation resulting from the Pampean (545–510 Ma) and Famatinian (490–440 Ma) orogenies. We report U–Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe dating of detrital zircons in two metasedimentary successions exposed at Quebrada de La Cébila (c. 28°45'S, 66°25'W): the Ambato and the La Cébila metamorphic complexes. The Ambato zircons record age peaks corresponding to Pampean (530 ± 10 Ma), Brasiliano (c. 570 and c. 640 Ma), Grenville (c. 950 to c. 1025 Ma) and minor Neoarchaean ages. Similar peaks are also apparent in the La Cébila sample but it additionally contains Palaeoproterozoic zircons (c. 2.1 Ga) corresponding to the age of the Rio de la Plata craton, from which they are considered to have been sourced. Our interpretation is that the protolith of the Ambato complex was deposited prior to juxtaposition with the craton and is older than the Early Ordovician La Cébila metamorphic complex. We infer that the craton reached its current relative position in the Mid- to Late Cambrian, after the main Pampean tectonothermal event (530–520 Ma) and before deposition of the La Cébila protolith and the Achavil Formation (Sierra de Famatina), which contain comparable detrital zircon populations.


We extended the research on autonomy-supportive teaching to universities and examined the relationships between autonomous motivation to teach and autonomy-supportive teaching. Autonomously motivated university instructors were more autonomy-supportive instructors. The freedom to make pedagogical decisions was negatively correlated with external motivation towards teaching. Participants indicated that large class sizes, high teaching loads, publication pressures, and a culture that undervalues effective undergraduate teaching undermined both student learning and their feelings of autonomy. Together these results presents a picture of a subset of university instructors who remained autonomously motivated to teach, irrespective of barriers they experienced from university administrators or policies.


Purpose: The present study aimed to confirm by classical and molecular laboratory methods hospital- associated outbreaks due to virulent Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. Methods: Eighty three Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from new-born patients, adults and hospital environment and devices in five hospital units, were analyzed for resistance to antibiotics, including last generation cephalosporins, sensitivity to bacteriophages and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles in order to evaluate the epidemiological relatedness and their clonal spreading. Polymerase chain reaction targeting fur genes and several subtractive sequences (SL 002, SL 003, SL 019, SL 020, SL 021 and SL 025) was used for virulence assessment. Results: More than 50% of strains were resistant to third generation cephalosporins and among them 69% were extended spectrum beta-lactamase producers. Phage typing associated with pulse field gel electrophoresis documented the clonal dispersion of strains. Studying the distribution of virulence sequence, our results reveal that fur gene is present in all strains and among the subtractive sequences the most frequent is SL 020 followed by SL 019. None of the analyzed sequences are present in all clinical isolates and none of the bacterial strains carry all these sequences pointing out the heterogeneity of Klebsiella pneumoniae population. Conclusions: Phage typing method associated with pulse field gel electrophoresis typing and genetic profile for virulence indicated the occurrence of hospital associated-infections produced by Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. Moreover, the results reveal that virulence pattern could be used as a molecular marker in order to define strains which are involved in the process of the development of infectious diseases.


Turkey tail medicinal mushroom, Trametes versicolor (TV), is a species with a variety of pharmacological activities. Its intracellular polysaccharopeptides are widely commercialized. Recently, we found a novel TV strain LH-1 in Taiwan and demonstrated that the extracellular polysaccharopeptide (ePSP) of LH-1 obtained from submerged culture exhibits significant immunomodulatory activity. In this in vivo study, we further evaluated the safety of orally administered LH-1 ePSP using both male and female ICR mice. The LH-1 ePSP was orally administered to mice at levels of 0 (water), 100 (low dose), 500 (medium dose), or 1000 mg/kg/day (high dose) for 28 days. Clinical observations, growth, food consumption, histopathological examination, and clinical biochemical analyses revealed no adverse effects of LH-1 ePSP in mice. There were no significant differences in the results of target organ weights, hematological analyses, and urinalysis examination among groups. However, male mice that ingested high doses of LH-1 ePSP tended to have decreased lung weights and platelet numbers. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggested that oral administration of LH-1 ePSP for 28 days is accompanied by no obvious signs of toxicity. The lack of toxicity supports the potential use of LH-1 ePSP as a food or dietary supplement.


Two field studies were conducted to study the in situ net production of extracellular carbohydrates and the distribution of benthic diatoms over a period of 24 h per study. A comparison was made between a situation where a clear surface biofilm of diatoms had developed and a situation where this was not the case, Vertical profiles were made by sampling the top 2 mm of the sediment at depth intervals of 0.2 mm using the 'cryolander' technique. In the presence of a biofilm, diatom distribution showed a consistent pattern when the sediment was emersed. In the light, most of the diatoms were present in the top 0.2 mm while in the dark, diatoms were homogeneously distributed in the upper 2 mm of the sediment. When a biofilm was absent, no clear patterns were observed. Extracellular carbohydrates were extracted from the sediment and separated in 2 operationally defined fractions (colloidal and EDTA- extractable). The 2 carbohydrate fractions showed a different dynamic behaviour. The colloidal carbohydrate fraction was highly variable while the EDTA-extractable fraction behaved more conservatively. Only in the light and in the presence of a diatom biofilm, was production of extracellular carbohydrates observed, The maximum rate of chlorophyll-normalized production of extracellular carbohydrates, expressed in glucose equivalents (g g(-1)), amounted to 20 h(-1) in the upper 0.2 mm. The molecular size distribution of both carbohydrate fractions was similar. The monosaccharide composition was also similar, except that the EDTA-extractable fraction contained a higher percentage of uronic acids, Carbohydrates produced during tidal emersion were rich in glucose and were rapidly turned over. [KEYWORDS: extracellular polymeric substances (EPS); polysaccharides; microphytobenthos; mud flat; monosaccharide composition; cryolander Polysaccharide hydrolysis rates; benthic microalgae; marine-sediments; epipelic diatoms; cohesive sediments; organic-carbon; chlorophyll-a; environments; assemblages; irradiance]


Background Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a frequent, inflammatory rheumatic disease affecting elderly people. Previous studies suggest that T cell mediated immune responses contribute to PMR. However, little is known about CD4+ and CD8+ T cell subsets and their function in PMR. Furthermore, it remains to be elucidated if immune ageing contributes to the development of this ageing-related disease. We hypothesized that senescent T cells can functionally contribute to PMR pathogenesis. Therefore, we studied frequencies of circulating T cell subsets in defined stages of differentiation and assessed functional characteristics of senescent (CD28null) T cells in PMR patients. Objectives The aim of the study is to explore the frequencies and function of distinct T cell subsets in PMR. Methods Peripheral blood was obtained from eight newly-diagnosed, untreated PMR patients. Thirty-nine healthy age- matched elderly controls were recruited from the Groningen Longevity Cohort. Flow cytometric analysis of CD45RO, CCR7 and CD28 expression was used to enumerate CD4+ and CD8+ T cell differentiation subsets and senescent (CD28null) T cells. Furthermore, naïve and memory regulatory T cells were identified based on CD25 and CD45RA expression. In addition, the prevalence of IFN-gamma, TNF, IL-4 and/or IL-17 producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was assessed by intracellular cytokine staining of blood samples from all PMR patients and sixteen elderly controls after 4h in vitro stimulation with PMA/calcium-ionophore in the presence of brefeldin A Results Compared to healthy controls, PMR patients had decreased percentages of circulating terminally differentiated (CD45RO-CCR7-) CD4+ T cells. However, no differences were observed in the percentages of Th1, Th2, or Th17 cells in PMR patients. In addition, percentages of naïve and memory regulatory T cells were normal in PMR patients. In CD8+ T cells of PMR patients, percentages of naïve (CD45RO-CCR7+) cells were decreased. Interestingly, percentages of CD28null cells were increased within the effector memory (CD45RO+CCR7+) and terminally differentiated CD8+ T cell populations of PMR patients. Moreover, a significantly increased potential to produce IFN-gamma and TNF was observed in CD8+T cells of PMR patients. Conclusions Our data show premature immune ageing (loss of CD28) of effector memory and terminally differentiated CD8+T cells in PMR patients. This is associated with an enhanced pro-inflammatory potential of CD8+ T cells. In contrast, Th subsets and regulatory T cells are not altered in PMR patients. Together, these findings imply a role for pro-inflammatory, senescent CD8+ T cells in PMR pathogenesis. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The aim of this study was to synthesize structured lipid from hazelnut oil with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) by lipase-catalyzed esterification reaction. The incorporation of CLA into hazelnut oil was optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). Substrate molar ratio, time, and temperature were independent variables chosen for optimization of the reaction. Substrate molar ratio was the most significant variable on the incorporation of conjugated linoleic acid. Good quadratic model was achieved by multiple regression analysis and backward elimination. Optimal incorporation conditions were determined as follows: reaction temperature, 59 °C; time, 6 hours; substrate molar ratio, 4. Under these optimum conditions, a maximum incorporation ratio of CLA into hazelnut oil of 49.42% was achieved.


In the joined appeals of Rubin v Eurofinance and New Cap Reinsurance v Grant, the Supreme Court held that first, the traditional rules on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments applied to judgments in insolvency proceedings, and secondly, the act of lodging proof in foreign insolvency proceedings by a creditor meant that he had submitted to the jurisdiction of the supervising court. This article considers these decisions and suggests that the ruling in Rubin is sound while that in New Cap is unfounded. Further, assuming instead that the law is ripe for reform, this article considers what might be appropriate recognition and enforcement rules for judgments in insolvency proceedings.


Soluble sulfatase has been found in epiphyseal, articular, and rib cartilages and in metaphysis and bone marrow of the rat. The greatest activity in young rats is in the metaphysis. Young rats had higher levels of activity in epiphyseal and articular cartilage and in the metaphysis than did the older rats.


Background Participation in social networking is commonplace and the micro-blogging site Twitter can be considered a platform for the rapid broadcasting of news stories. Our study aimed to explore the Twitter status updates, and subsequent responses, relating to an obstetric media scandal focused on a number of perinatal deaths which occurred in a small maternity unit in the Republic of Ireland. Methods A qualitative content analysis method was utilised. A systematic analysis of Twitter status updates, over a three month period from January to March 2014, was undertaken to identify key themes arising in relation to the perinatal deaths. The comprehensive search for relevant tweets was carried out independently by two researchers using terms including the location of the hospital, the name of the programme "fatalfailures" and "rtept" where the story originated, "stillbirth", "death of a baby", "perinatal death", and "maternity". Individual twitter profiles were reviewed to collect any available demographic information. Results Our search identified 2,945 tweets relating to the reported perinatal deaths, these included 1,438 (49%) original tweets, 1208 (41%) retweets and 299 (10%) replies. Two thirds of status updates were tweeted by women. Of the individuals who tweeted, 25% worked in media and 23% within politics. Findings revealed that new events were portrayed as an addition to the original story. At the height of the controversy, updates generated scepticism in relation to the management of not only the unit in question, which was branded as unsafe, but the governance of the entire Irish maternity service. Themes of concern and uncertainty arose whereby the professional motives of the obstetric community and staffing levels in the maternity services were called into question. Conclusion Twitter activity provides a useful insight into the public's attitudes to health related events. The role of the media in influencing public opinion is well documented and this study underscores the challenges that clinicians face in light of an obstetric media scandal. Further study to identify how the obstetric community could develop tools to utilise Twitter to disseminate valid health information could be beneficial.


It is of great importance to clarify the atomic structure and strength of interfaces between metal and Si substrate in an electronic device. While interaction between atoms near the interface is complicated, ab initio molecular dynamics makes it possible to analyze such properties of interface. In this study, in order to evaluate structure and strength of Si/Al interface, evaporation process of Al atoms onto Si substrate and its tensile deformation are examined by ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. Al atoms are precipitated from above the Si(001) surface. The adhesive strength of the Al atom in the 1st layer on the surface is evaluated as 1.3nN by the tensile simulation. The 2nd layer of Al atoms are formed about 0.1nm above the 1st layer. The interval between the layers are about half of that between (111) planes in the Al single crystal lattice.


Periodical modulation of frequency, typical for spectroscopic purposes, is numerically modelled in transversely limited, propagating through a saturable two-level absorber. At modulation periods comparable with the atomic relaxation times the time and frequency dependence of the output intensity exhibits the manifestations of delayed medium response, including time-dependent lens and aperture effects that may be of importance in spectroscopy


In the dog saphenous vein (DSV), phenylephrine (PE) responses through alpha-1 adrenoceptors receptors are antagonized by both alpha-1 and alpha-2 receptor antagonists. Furthermore, pretreatment with chloroethylclonidine (CEC) eliminates prazosin binding but reduces rauwolscine binding by half (). In new functional experiments, the effects of preincubation with phenoxybenzamine (PBZ), an irreversible alpha adrenoceptor antagonist, on responses to PE and two selective alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists were evaluated. Also, the ability of prazosin or rauwolscine to prevent irreversible losses of responses to these agonists when coincubated with PBZ was determined. Preincubation in PBZ (10-300 nM) concentration dependently reduced PE Emax and the calculated fraction of residual receptors (q). Preincubation in PBZ (10-300 nM) increased KB values for prazosin (30 and 100 nM) but did not alter the KB value for rauwolscine (50 nM) acting at the residual receptors from control values. Coincubation of PBZ with prazosin partially prevented these PBZ actions (Emax partly restored) on responses to PE, but coincubation of rauwolscine (</=1 microM) with PBZ, did not. Rauwolscine competitively inhibited responses to two alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists (Schild plot pA2 values near 9). Preincubation with PBZ concentrations of >/=300 nM caused >50% reduction in Emax values of responses but did not alter the EC50 values for either agonist. Coincubation of rauwolscine with PBZ protected responses to alpha-2 agonists against PBZ (1 microM) effects. This study shows that PE initiates contractions at atypical alpha-1 adrenoceptors represented by all sites of PE action. Rauwolscine antagonizes PE actions but does not protect against PBZ inactivation. Typical alpha-2 adrenoceptors are distinguished from the unusual alpha-1 adrenoceptors by their lesser sensitivity to PBZ and their protection by rauwolscine from PBZ.


Background Currently available antithrombotic prophylaxis is not perfectly reliable in elderly patients. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Compound Danshen Tablet (CDT) in preventing thromboembolism in multiple myeloma (MM) patients treated with thalidomide-based regimens. Material/Methods MM patients treated with thalidomide-based regimens were retrospectively reviewed between January 2008 and March 2015. Patients were categorized into 3 cohorts based on thromboembolic prophylaxis used: CDT, Warfarin Tablet, and no prophylaxis. Venous thromboembolism (VTE), other adverse effects (AEs), and the changes of D-dimer and fibrinogen levels were monitored. Results Seven out of 313 MM patients (2.24%) developed venous thrombosis events (VTE) in this retrospective study, all clustering in the no prophylaxis cohort. Three patients of the Warfarin cohort (3.19%) experienced hemorrhage. Neither VTE events nor serious AEs were observed in the CDT cohort. Following Compound Danshen or Warfarin treatment for 3 months, the D-dimer and fibrinogen levels (in particular the D-dimer level) (all P<0.05), were obviously decreased relative to their respective baselines and the no prophylaxis cohort. In contrast, the 2 blotting parameters were significantly increased in the no prophylaxis cohort relative to the baseline level (All P<0.05), and were even higher in the patients experiencing VTE compared to the no VTE patients (P<0.0001 and P=0.016, respectively). Conclusions Our findings indicate CDT is an effective therapy for preventing VTE in MM patients treated with thalidomide-based regimens, and is well tolerated in long-term use.


Dissatisfaction over undergraduate education seems to be persistent and has been jeopardized by the boost in research performance as fuelled by global rankings. Yet it will continue to be the cornerstone and a key mission of higher education. Hence the tide is shifting and the global debate on "the world-class university" is increasingly inclusive towards excellence in teaching and learning. A renewed focus on liberal arts education is part of this global debate on redefining excellence. This article aims to explain why liberal arts education, as it is (re)emerging in different regions, seems to be an adequate response to the search for excellence in the 21st century. It explores the drivers for liberal arts education from an epistemological, economic and a social-moral point of view. The role of interdisciplinarity, generic skills, and citizenship in different regional context are discussed, and also an admission that a liberal arts education is no panacea—that various limitations should be overcome and a truly global perspective is needed.


Recent advances in the field of electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) have resulted in a rapidly increasing number of atomic models of bio-macromolecules solved using this technique and deposited in the Protein Data Bank and the Electron Microscopy Data Bank. Similar to macromolecular crystallography, validation tools for these models and maps are required. While some of these validation tools may be borrowed from crystallography, new methods specifically for cryo-EM validation are required. We discuss new computational methods and tools implemented in Phenix, including d99 to estimate resolution, phenix.auto_sharpen to improve maps, and phenix.mtriage to analyze cryo-EM maps. We suggest that cryo-EM half-maps and masks are deposited to facilitate evaluation and validation of cryo-EM derived atomic models and maps. We also present the application of these tools to deposited cryo-EM atomic models and maps.


Background The randomized clinical trial, SafeBoosC II, examined the effect of monitoring of cerebral oxygenation by near-infrared spectroscopy combined with a guideline on treatment when cerebral oxygenation was out of the target range. Data on cerebral oxygenation was collected in both the intervention and the control group. The primary outcome was the reduction in the burden of cerebral hypo- and hyperoxia between the two groups. In this study we describe the associations between the burden of cerebral hypo- and hyperoxia, regardless of allocation to intervention or control group, and the biomarkers of brain injury from birth till term equivalent age that was collected as secondary and explorative outcomes in the SafeBoosC II trial. Methods Cerebral oxygenation was continuously monitored during the first 72h of life in 166 extremely preterm infants. Cranial ultrasound was performed at day 1,4,7,14, and 35 and at term. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded at 64h. Blood-samples taken at 6 and 64 hours were analysed for the brain injury biomarkers; S100beta, brain-fatty-acid-binding-protein, and neuroketal. All analyses were conducted post hoc. Results Significantly more infants with a cerebral burden of hypoxia within the 4th quartile versus infants within quartile 1–3 were diagnosed with severe intracranial haemorrhage (11/39 versus 11/117, p = 0.003), had low burst rate on EEG (12/28 versus 21/103, p = 0.015), or died (14/41 versus 18/123, p = 0.006), whereas none of these events were significantly associated with cerebral hyperoxia. The blood biomarkers were not significantly associated with the burden of cerebral hypo- or hyperoxia. Conclusions The explorative analysis showed that early burden of cerebral hypoxia, but not hyperoxia was significantly associated with low brain electrical activity and severe intracranial haemorrhage while none of the three blood biomarkers were associated with the burden of either cerebral hypo- or hyperoxia.


The aim of this study is to examine how and in what way users of the public participate and affect the archival information that is to be preserved for the future through the examination of three archival projects involving public participation. The study seeks to examine if participation of the public could lead to increased democracy and diversity of information in the archives. The study will be performed through the examination of three participatory archives all tied to traditional archival institutions.The study is based on the theoretical framework of Benn and Gaus and their notions of public and private which they discuss using the key words access, agency and interest. The study also takes into consideration Laura Millar's theories of social memory as a means for the public good. Through a user perspective web resources tied to the projects are analyzed as well as defining documents of the archival institutions responsible of the projects. The findings are then discussed in a broader perspective using the three keywords access, agency and interest. The aim is to examine to what degree the projects allow participation through a comparative analysis of the chosen projects. The study suggests that whereas the projects aims to create access to all members of society, the chosen structures of the projects make up limitations for participation for some groups of society, affecting their opportunity to participate. Limitations of the projects, such as language, make up barriers for participation creating private spheres inside the public of the projects studied. The thesis stresses the need for the existence of a multitude of different participation projects with different forms of participation in order to properly fulfill the needs and interests of the public in the archives.This is a two years master's thesis in archival science.


The equations that govern the behavior of steel under-going reduction are complex differential equations. A method of solving these equations using a hybrid computer is described, and the peculiar problems associated with such a solution are discussed. In the hybrid implementation, differential equations can be solved very fast, and the speed of solution is governed by the number of samples one requires of the trajectory from the analog computer for useful computation in the digital computer. Thus, methods are described whereby the number of samples taken can be reduced and the accuracy of the manipulations performed by the digital computer can still be maintained. The results obtained are both accurate and rapid, and the system has the normal engineering appeal of a purely analog solution.


Abstract The soybean stalk weevil, Sternechus subsignatus Boheman 1836 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a very serious soybean pest in the Neotropical region. Both adults and larvae feed on soybean, causing significant yield losses. Adult survival was evaluated during three soybean growing seasons under controlled environmental conditions. A survival analysis was performed using a parametric survival fit approach in order to generate survival curves and obtain information that could help optimize integrated management strategies for this weevil pest. Sex of the weevils, crop season, fortnight in which weevils emerged, and their interaction were studied regarding their effect on adult survival. The results showed that females lived longer than males, but both genders were actually long-lived, reaching 224 and 176 d, respectively. Mean lifetime (l50) was 121.88 ± 4.56 d for females and 89.58 ± 2.72 d for males. Although variations were observed in adult longevities among emergence fortnights and soybean seasons, only in December and January fortnights of the 2007–2008 season and December fortnights of 2009–2010 did the statistically longest and shortest longevities occur, respectively. Survivorship data (lx) of adult females and males were fitted to the Weibull frequency distribution model. The survival curve was type I for both sexes, which indicated that mortality corresponded mostly to old individuals.


Marine seismic and magnetometer surveys, plus the drilling of two offshore wells on the northwestern shelf of Palawan, Philippines have yielded valuable information on the geology and Late Tertiary geologic history of this region . These exploration activities have shown that the structural framework of the shelf consists essentially of a thick west ward-dipping sequence of sediments of Neogene age on a basement of older rocks. Among the more common structural features of this framework are horst blocks and grabens, com pressional and supratenuous folds, deltaic and associated cut and fill structures, reefal bui ld ups and unconformities. Thus far, structural forms suggesting Late Tertiary igneous activity have not been recognized in any of the geophysical data. Integration of available drill hole data with seismic information indicates that since the deposition of several thousand meters of deep sea marine clas tic sediments on a lower Mio cene limestone depositional base in early Miocene time, the region has undergone two major periods of regression and marine transgression. These events are recorded as two prominent unconformities recognized on seismic profiles which subsequently have been identified from well information as intervening between the middle Miocene and upper Miocene, and be tween upper Miocene and Pliocene strata. Major uplift of the north Palawan block toward the end of middle Miocene time resulted in erosional truncation of the tilted lower and middle Miocene sequence. In the latter part of the Miocene, the shelf off northwestern Pala wan was once more transgressed by shallow seas, in which were deposited detrital carbonate and other clastic sediments. Some of these were laid down on synchronous highs developed on the folded and fa ulted middle and lower Miocene sequence. During the latter part of the Miocene, parts of the area may have been temporarily emerged to cause partial removal of upper Miocene sediments. The beginning of Pliocene time saw another transgression cha terized by the deposition of carbonate sediments over the shallow shelf continuing up to the present.


We present an 8-year-old male child admitted with cough and high-grade fever for 7 days and respiratory difficulty for 2 days. There was a history of blood transfusion at 2 years of age during a respiratory illness. The child was anaemic, tachycardic, tachypnoeic and hypoxic at presentation. Chest examination revealed equal air entry with fine crackles bilaterally. Blood reports were suggestive of anaemia (haemoglobin 6.5 g/dL), leucocytosis and high C reactive protein levels. Chest radiograph revealed bilateral air space opacities involving diffuse lung fields, right more than left. Relevant microbiological workup was negative. Based on the clinical scenario and investigations, a provisional diagnosis of pulmonary haemosiderosis was kept. The patient was started on intravenous pulse methylprednisolone. Fibre-optic bronchoscopy was done following recovery from the acute event. Bronchoalveolar lavage demonstrated a significant number of haemosiderin-laden macrophages confirming pulmonary haemosiderosis.


This thesis conducts a conceptual genealogy of love in sociological thought. lt
traces the passage of a positive logic of love: a disappearing logic conceived
in Goethe's art, cultivated from the social science of Comte and Marx to
classical non/Marxist sociology, and finally extinguished by late/modern
reflexive sociology. Recovering the lineage of Comte, Durkheim and Parsons,
it defends an economic politics of love in the positivist tradition against the
political culture of classical sociology and the bio-politics of current sociology.
After the demise of Marxist political economy, it examines a new order of love
transversal to the socialist and capitalist organizations.
The tripartite thesis argues that the sociological tradition has been tarrying
with a social order of love evolved from Goethe's ethic of death and
renunciation. This order expresses a disorganizing phenomenology of fate as
the modern world traverses from the fated causes. to fatal consequences of
love. In the causal loop, the fated-fatal order of love encounters the act,
freedom and risk in a multiple unfolding of reality with minimal difference. Part
I explores how a religious-political belief of fetishism practiced by Comte and
Marx comes across its fate in the historical act. Part 11 explicates why a
cultural-political calling for fraternity theorized by classical non/Marxist
sociologists runs up against its fate in sexual freedom. Part Ill reveals that a
bio-political interest in reflexivity methodized by late/modern sociologists
tumbles upon its fate in social risk. In conclusion, however, the thesis
suggests that an event of posthumous life after the liberation of humanity
continues to occur in a state of emergency because the passion for fate
escalating from social science to sociology is driven by an unrequited love of Humanity.


Permafrost peatlands are both an important source of atmospheric CH4 and a substantial sink for atmospheric CO2. Climate change can affect this balance, with higher temperatures resulting in the conversion of permafrost soils to wetlands and associated accelerated mineralisation and increased CH4 emission. To better understand the impact of such processes on methanogen populations, we investigated the anaerobic decay of soil carbon in a low Arctic, discontinuous permafrost peatland. Cores were collected monthly from sedge and Sphagnum mires in north Sweden during the summer of 2006. We determined CH4 concentrations and production potentials, together with variations in the size of the methanogenic community as indicated by concentrations of archaeal lipid biomarkers (phosphorylated archaeol, archaeol and hydroxyarchaeol). Concentrations of methanogen biomarkers generally were higher at the sedge site, increased with depth for all sites and months, and were usually below the detection limits in shallow (<10 cm) Sphagnum peat. The distribution of biomarkers reflects the strong influence of water table depth on anaerobic conditions and methanogen populations, while differences in biomarker concentrations can be explained by differences in vegetation cover and pH. However, methanogen populations inferred from biomarker data show a decoupling from in‐situ CH4 production over the season and from CH4 production potential, suggesting that other factors such as the availability of labile organic substrates can influence methanogen abundance. Archaeal lipid biomarkers appear to offer a potential new means to investigate permafrost biogeochemical processes but the interpretation of signals remains complex. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Wheat streak mosaic is a damaging disease of cultivated bread wheat, Triticum aestivum L. em Thell., in many parts of the world. No wheat cultivar has a high level of resistance to WSMV or its vector, the wheat curl mite, Eriophyes tulipae Keifer. Genes conferring resistance to wheat curl mite colonization have been transferred from Aegilops tauschii Coss., Cmcl, and from Agropyron elongatum (Host) Beauv., Cmc2. A gene conditioning resistance to WSMV, Wsml, was transferred from Agropyron intermedium (Host) Beauv. into common wheat. To broaden the genetic base of wheat, new sources of WSMV resistance are continuously sought. This study reports a new source of WSMV resistance derived from A. intermedium and its transfer into hexaploid wheat. C-banding analysis was used to cytogenetically identify the A. intermedium chromosomes and chromosome arms in three WSMV resistant wheat-A. intermedium derivatives, designated as 6957, 6961, and 6962. All lines were identified as disomic chromosome addition lines with an A. intermedium chromosome arm in common. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used to establish homoeology of the A. intermedium chromosome arm carrying the gene or gene complex conditioning resistance to WSMV. The arm belonged to the long arm of the wheat Group 4 chromosomes, and was designated as 4Ai#3L. The added A. intermedium chromosomes present in Lines 6957 and 6961 probably originated from centricfusion. The WSMV resistance of these lines is different from that conditioned by Wsml and may have significance in breeding WSMV resistant wheat cultivars.


This paper uses a systematic literature review to suggest that three emerging critical approaches to the production of public authority are identifiable within the contemporary literature on conflict-affected and transitioning regions. The authors term these approaches the 'public authority from below perspective', the 'hybrid political orders lens', and 'political settlements analysis'. Although hailing from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, the paper argues that these approaches share important traits. First, they suggest that to understand better the nature of public authority in transitioning and conflict-affected regions it is necessary to uncover how public authority actually works rather than departing from a theory of the state. This includes accounting for how power is legitimated and practiced within each context, and how claims to public authority are connected to the provision of public goods such as security and justice. Second, they view competition, conflict and contestation as enduring features of public authority in such contexts, and call for empirical examinations of these processes to inform understandings of social change. Third, these approaches argue that public authority is an emergent property, always in production and never definitively formed. This implies that neat dichotomies such as formal/informal, private/public, and modern/traditional should be applied with caution by analysts seeking to understand public authority from the perspective of people living with insecurity and change. Despite these similarities, the paper's conclusion suggests that these approaches should be unpacked and their normative assumptions challenged. Each can then be drawn upon to arrive at empirical understandings of how public authority is produced and exercised, and how it relates to the provision of public goods in conflict-affected and transitioning regions.


The authors have observed that for InxGa1−xN epitaxial layers grown on bulk GaN substrates exhibit slip on the basal plane, when in the presence of free surfaces that intercept the heterointerface and for indium compositions x⩾0.07. This leads to almost complete relaxation of the local misfit strain by generation of radial-shape dislocation half loops. For x⩾0.17, generation of straight misfit dislocations by glide on the secondary ⟨112¯3⟩ {112¯2} slip system is observed, in addition to the radial-shape half loops at surface pits. These two mechanisms act independently with no observed interaction between them, leading to the conclusion that slip on the basal plane occurs first during the growth process. The secondary slip system is activated later and involves a significantly higher critical stress energy.


Using Mirivel's (2014) Positive Communication Model as a communication center conferencing training framework, both clients and staff were surveyed to determine  to what extent positive communication behaviors were present in communication center client/staff interactions as well as to what extent center staff self-perceptions of positive communication conferencing behaviors align with client perceptions of staff behaviors. Overall, all positive communication behaviors were present in interactions and client and staff perceptions closely aligned. The findings support the use of the Positive Communication Model as a useful framework for training communication center staff on effective conferencing behaviors.


Natural language inference requires reasoning about contradictions, negations, and their commonsense implications. Given a simple premise (e.g., "I'm mad at you"), humans can reason about the varying shades of contradictory statements ranging from straightforward negations ("I'm not mad at you") to commonsense contradictions ("I'm happy"). Moreover, these negated or contradictory statements shift the commonsense implications of the original premise in interesting and nontrivial ways. For example, while "I'm mad" implies "I'm unhappy about something," negating the premise does not necessarily negate the corresponding commonsense implications. In this paper, we present the first comprehensive study focusing on commonsense implications of negated statements and contradictions. We introduce ANION, a new commonsense knowledge graph with 624K if-then rules focusing on negated and contradictory events. We then present joint generative and discriminative inference models for this new resource, providing novel empirical insights on how logical negations and commonsense contradictions reshape the commonsense implications of their original premises.


Gravitational waves (GWs) cause the apparent position of distant stars to oscillate with a characteristic pattern on the sky. Astrometric measurements (e.g., those made by Gaia) provide a new way to search for GWs. The main difficulty facing such a search is the large size of the data set; Gaia observes more than one billion stars. In this Letter the problem of searching for GWs from individually resolvable supermassive black hole binaries using astrometry is addressed for the first time; it is demonstrated how the data set can be compressed by a factor of more than 10^{6}, with a loss of sensitivity of less than 1%. This technique was successfully used to recover artificially injected GW signals from mock Gaia data and to assess the GW sensitivity of Gaia. Throughout the Letter the complementarity of Gaia and pulsar timing searches for GWs is highlighted.


Transcriptional activation of the Cyp1B1 gene in rodents is stimulated by both polycyclic hydrocarbons and cAMP. The mouse Cyp1B1 gene structure contains three exons, of which the second nucleotide of exon 2 is the translation start site. Primer extension analysis identified a transcription start domain defining an exon 1 of 371 base pairs. The sequence 1.075 kilobases upstream of the transcription start site showed 11 xenobiotic-responsive elements (XRE) (TnGCGTG or GCGTG) that are putative aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-binding sites and three steroidogenic factor-1 motifs that are associated with cAMP-mediated transcriptional activation of genes. A transiently transfected Cyp1B1-luciferase construct, composed of exon 1 and 1.075 kilobases of 5*flanking region, was induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD; 10.0 6 3.0-fold, n 5 6) in C3H10T1/2 cells, which exclusively express Cyp1B1. The 90-base pair basal promoter contains two SP-1 sites, one SF-1 site, and a TATA-like box. TCDD induction and basal expression were dependent on positive regulatory elements present between 21075 and 2810. Five XRE motifs localized in the enhancer region were completely conserved between mouse and human CYP1B1 sequences. Similar inductions were seen in Hepa-1 cells, which express Cyp1A1 but not Cyp1B1. However, basal Cyp1B1 promoter activities were 4 ‐10-fold higher in C3H10T1/2 cells providing the enhancer region was present, partially reproducing the in vivo cell-specific expression of Cyp1B1. Gel shift experiments established that TCDD stimulates AhR binding to the downstream XRE in the enhancer region. However, oligonucleotides that encompass two other XREs show a high affinity complex of similar size that is evident even without TCDD treatment and that does not contain either the AhR or AhR nuclear translocator. The fourth XRE is immediately adjacent to an E-box, and this oligonucleotide formed a smaller complex that was dependent on this E-box sequence. Negative regulatory sequences have been located between the promoter and TCDDresponsive enhancer regions. Constitutive expression of the Cyp1B1 gene was lost in AhR-deficient cells and was restored by transfected AhR cDNA. Reporter constructs function in a parallel manner, demonstrating the key role of the AhR in constitutive as well as TCDD-induced expression of Cyp1B1 in mouse embryo fibroblasts.