Abstract:  The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the magnetic induction technique with a nonlinear tunable oscillator (the Tissue Resonance Interaction Method [TRIMprob]) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (CaP). Overall, 148 men were split into two groups (patients at risk of CaP [Group 1] and controls [Group 2]) and evaluated with the TRIMprob. Group 1 consisted of 100 patients (mean age: 63.8 ± 7.2 years) with elevated prostate‐specific antigen (>4 ng/mL) levels and/or abnormal digital rectal examination. Eleven patients (Group 2a, mean age: 59.5 ± 7.3) with previously biopsy‐proven CaP served as positive controls. In addition, 37 voluntary men (Group 2b, mean age: 39.8 ± 10.4) with normal prostate‐specific antigen and digital rectal examination without lower urinary tract symptoms served as negative controls. Non‐linear resonance was analyzed at 465 MHz and a cut‐off value of 40 units was detected as the resonance value for the best threshold to distinguish benign conditions from CaP after transrectal ultrasonography‐guided biopsy with a standard 10–12 core technique in Group 1. Mean resonance values (±standard deviation) with the TRIMprob examination for patients in Groups 1 and 2b were 36.72 ± 22.35 and 73.64 ± 10.06, respectively, whereas for patients in Group 2a, it was 13.73 ± 12.12 (P < 0.01). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the TRIMprob using the study cohort of Group 1 were found as 76%, 61.3%, 39.6% and 88.5%, respectively. Despite some technical limitations, the non‐invasive TRIMprob examination may have a role in screening protocols for CaP.


A Down's syndrome associated gene, Single Minded 2 gene short form (SIM2-s), is specifically expressed in colon tumors but not in the normal colon. Antisense inhibition of SIM2-s in a RKO-derived colon carcinoma cell line causes growth inhibition, apoptosis, and inhibition of tumor growth in a nude mouse tumoriginicity model. The mechanism of cell death in tumor cells is unclear. In the present study, we investigated the pathways underlying apoptosis. Apoptosis was seen in a tumor cell-specific manner in RKO cells but not in normal renal epithelial cells, despite inhibition of SIM2-s expression in both of these cells by the antisense. Apoptosis was depended on WT p53 status and was caspase-dependent; it was inhibited by a pharmacological inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase activity. Expression of a key stress response gene, growth arrest and DNA damage gene (GADD)45alpha, was up-regulated in antisense-treated tumor cells but not in normal cells. In an isogenic RKO cell line expressing stable antisense RNA to GADD45alpha, a significant protection of the antisense-induced apoptosis was seen. Whereas antisense-treated RKO cells did not undergo cell cycle arrest, several markers of differentiation were deregulated, including alkaline phosphatase activity, a marker of terminal differentiation. Protection of apoptosis and block of differentiation showed a correlation in the RKO model. Our results support the tumor cell-selective nature of SIM2-s gene function, provide a direct link between SIM2-s and differentiation, and may provide a model to identify SIM2-s targets.


ABSTRACT Research question: The current study investigates the income elasticities and socio-economic determinants of direct and indirect sports expenditure categories by means of a log normal hurdle regression. Research methods: The data stem from a representative sample of 3005 Flemish families with school-aged children, gathered through a sports-specific survey. A log normal hurdle regression was used to calculate the determining factors and expenditure elasticities of expenditure on sports participation. Results and findings: The results indicate that income, education and the age of the youngest child are positively related to almost all sports expenditure categories, while the number of family members and degree of urbanisation are significant for only a number of the expenditure categories. The elasticity value of the direct sports expenses is smaller than is the case for indirect sports expenditure. Between the expenditure categories large differences exist, as relatively large elasticities are found for sports holidays, transport and sports food and drinks, as opposed to low values of sports events, sports club membership, entrance fees for sports infrastructure, sports camps, clothing, footwear and equipment. Implications: The fact that income significantly influences all expenditure categories demonstrates that further policy intervention is required to make sports consumption more accessible to lower income groups. Sports enterprises and policy-makers need to be aware that negative income shifts have a more profound impact on the indirect expenditure categories, and that certain sports activities (e.g. participation events) are relatively more favoured by low-income groups than is the case for sports club membership.


Objective. To examine the microbiologic and clinical efficacy of a 5-day course of cefdinir in the treatment of tympanocentesis-documented acute otitis media (AOM). Design. Open label noncomparative trial. Setting. Primary care, ambulatory. Patients. Children ages 6 months through 12 years with signs of AOM and middle ear effusion confirmed by tympanometry in at least one ear. Intervention. Patients underwent tympanocentesis at baseline and received cefdinir 7 mg/kg twice a day for 5 days. Main outcome measures. Presumptive eradication of middle ear pathogens determined by clinical cure of signs and symptoms of AOM at end of therapy (Study Days 7 to 9) and Visit 3 (Study Days 16 to 21). Results. A total of 125 of 177 enrolled children had 134 pathogens isolated by tympanocentesis:Streptococcus pneumoniae, 69 (51.5%);Haemophilus influenzae 44 (32.8%; beta-lactamase-positive in 18 of 44 strains); beta-lactamase-positive Moraxella catarrhalis, 15 (11.2%); and Streptococcus pyogenes, 6 (4.5%). The clinical cure rates by patient in the microbiologically and overall clinically evaluable groups, respectively, were 73% (84 of 115) and 77.4% (130 of 168) at the end of therapy visit and 57.4% (66 of 115) and 61.9% (104 of 168) at Visit 3. Presumptive eradication rates at end of therapy were 8 of 11 (72.7%) and 4 of 8 (50%) for patients with penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S. pneumoniae isolates, respectively. Adverse reactions occurred in 16% of patients, with diarrhea (11%) occurring most frequently. Conclusions. A 5-day regimen of cefdinir was effective in the eradication of the common causative pathogens of nonrefractory AOM, including intermediate penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae and beta-lactamase-producing organisms. Cefdinir should be considered a suitable second line antibiotic for AOM.


Background: In Chile, occupational illnesses are defined by the "Work-related accidents and occupational illnesses law". The institutions that administer that law have the legal obligation to determine the "occupational" or "common" origin of accidents and diseases. Aim: To compare symptoms and problems at work in a group of workers consulting for presumptive occupational neurosis (ON), distinguishing cases of OC from cases of common illness (CI). Material and Methods: Two consecutive series of patients were reviewed: 100 cases diagnosed as ON (71% women) and 200 cases diagnosed as CI (69% women). The general health questionnaire-30 (GHQ-30) and a questionnaire specially devised at the institution to evaluate ON were applied to participants. Social and demographic features, reasons for consulting and clinical diagnoses were compared in both types of patients. Results: Age, marital status, educational level and type of work were similar among patients with ON and CI. Subjects with CI had a higher frequency of depressive symptoms. The main reason to consult among patients with ON was work overload. The reasons for consulting among patients with CI were interpersonal conflicts and feeling of undervaluation. Conclusions: Patients with CI are predominantly depressive and those with ON have a feeling of work overload.


Background Our understanding of how fungi evolved to develop a variety of ecological niches, is limited but of fundamental biological importance. Specifically, the evolution of enzymes affects how well species can adapt to new environmental conditions. Feruloyl esterases (FAEs) are enzymes able to hydrolyze the ester bonds linking ferulic acid to plant cell wall polysaccharides. The diversity of substrate specificities found in the FAE family shows that this family is old enough to have experienced the emergence and loss of many activities. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study we evaluate the relative activity of FAEs against a variety of model substrates as a novel predictive tool for Ascomycota taxonomic classification. Our approach consists of two analytical steps; (1) an initial unsupervised analysis to cluster the FAEs substrate specificity data which were generated by cultivation of 34 Ascomycota strains and then an analysis of the produced enzyme cocktail against 10 substituted cinnamate and phenylalkanoate methyl esters, (2) a second, supervised analysis for training a predictor built on these substrate activities. By applying both linear and non-linear models we were able to correctly predict the taxonomic Class (∼86% correct classification), Order (∼88% correct classification) and Family (∼88% correct classification) that the 34 Ascomycota belong to, using the activity profiles of the FAEs. Conclusion/Significance The good correlation with the FAEs substrate specificities that we have defined via our phylogenetic analysis not only suggests that FAEs are phylogenetically informative proteins but it is also a considerable step towards improved FAEs functional prediction.


A non-edible vegetable oil source "Pithraj" widely known as "Aphanamixis polystachya" (AP) was chosen in the current study considering the high price of edible oil sources and food security. Main forces of this study were to optimize the biodiesel production process from low-quality vegetable oil employing waste eggshell extracted heterogeneous catalyst and evaluate fuel feasibility in an unmodified diesel engine.
A heterogeneous catalyst was extracted and confirmed its activity as a catalyst by various characterization like thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis. The basic strength of the Egg CaO catalyst found to be 9.8<H_<10.1 which is very close to commercially available Pure CaO. This heterogeneous catalyst was introduced at the transesterification step to produce biodiesel which is cost effective as well as eco-friendly. Both the esterification and transesterification chemical process for biodiesel yield was optimized through response surface methodology (RSM). Product yield after degumming stage, esterification and transesterification stage were found 97.12%, 96.53% and 97.5% respectively, which is 91.4% of crude oil. When optimal reaction condition for esterification was 152.79 % (v/v of oil) methanol, 0.80% (v/v of oil) catalyst loading and 60.29 °C reaction temperature for 3 hours. The optimal condition for transesterification was found at 35.59 % (v/v of esterified oil) methanol, 1.46% (w/w of esterified oil) catalyst loading and 65.10 °C reaction temperature for 2 hours. Properties of the biodiesel and its blends with diesel conform the ASTM specification.
Finally, the produced biodiesel blends were tested in a single cylinder diesel engine at various operating condition such as (a) constant torque, variable engine speed (b) constant speed, variable torque and (c) constant speed with advancing and retarding injection timing. Combustion, performance and exhaust gas emission characteristics were investigated by 20% (v/v) and 30% (v/v) biodiesel-diesel blends and compared with ordinary diesel (OD) as well as the corresponding blends of "Millettia pinnata" biodiesel. AP diesel-biodiesel blends provide slightly decreased brake power (BP), brake thermal efficiency (1.22-0.33%) and increased brake specific fuel consumption (about 1.17-2.09%) compared to OD. In-cylinder pressure (ICP), heat release rate (HRR), mass fraction burned (MFB) and ignition delay (ID) were found to inferior in quality for AP on OD. The average CO and HC emissions were reduced to an extent of 13.90-14.27% and 4.03-10.09% for AP biodiesel blends, whereas NO, CO2 emission was found to be 2.93-5.47% and 8.61-17.23% respectively, higher than OD.


Three hundred eight-two children were evaluated for abuse or neglect during a 30-month period in a pediatric clinic in a county hospital. Fifty-one percent presented for sexual abuse, 34% for physical abuse, and 15% for neglect. Thirteen children were hospitalized. Children examined for sexual abuse had a mean age of 5.8 years and a median age of 5 years; 71% had normal findings on examination, including 48% of those with a history of penetration. Fourteen children were brought for evaluation on the basis of caretakers' misinterpretation, overconcern, or malice. The current spectrum of patients seen for child abuse or neglect reflects increased public and professional awareness of the problem. Earlier recognition of abuse, especially greater readiness to consider sexual abuse, brings younger, less physically injured children to the clinic.


Body temperature affects nearly all processes of ectotherms. Reptiles do not generate sufficient body heat to regulate their body temperature internally and therefore use behavioural thermoregulation. We determined whether thermoregulatory effort varied among seasons in an environment where large temporal differences in environmental temperatures (Te) exist. We took 31 297 internal body temperature (Tb) measurements from 18 painted turtles (Chrysemys picta (Schneider, 1783)) throughout their active season. We estimated Te with physical models and water temperatures. We measured the range of preferred body temperatures (Tset) in a thermal gradient. Tset was 21.3–25.0 °C. We used Tb, Te, and Tset to calculate standard thermoregulation indices (Ex and de – db). An Ex of 40.7% and a de – db of 2.4 °C indicated that painted turtles are moderate thermoregulators, despite inhabiting a high-cost environment. Effort to regulate Tb increased as the thermal quality of the habitat decreased. Thermoregulatory effort w...


Extreme disasters can generate financial deficit due to the sudden an elevated need of resources for recovering the affected inventories. This paper presents the Disaster Deficit Index (DDI), developed to measure sovereign financial risk and contingent liabilities in a country according to possible catastrophic events. DDI captures the relationship between the economic loss that a country could experience when a catastrophic event takes place and the availability of funds to address the situation. The proposed model uses the procedures of the insurance industry
in establishing probable losses, based on critical impacts during a given period of exposure; for economic resilience, the model allows calculating the country's financial ability to cope with a critical impact. The DDI can be a guide for fiscal sustainability and macroeconomic risk management; these results can be studied by economic,
financial and planning analysts who can evaluate the budget problem and the need to take into account these figures in the financial planning.


The detailed procedures for high-speed cyclic loading test and the authors' first-hand experience during the tests of reinforced concrete beam-column connections subjected to cyclic displacements at frequencies as high as 20 Hz is documented in this paper. It is found necessary to give special attention to the quality of the instruments to successfully perform high-speed data acquisition. Problems faced in different phases of the high-speed tests that are not common in pseudo-dynamic tests are highlighted. The applicability of some basic criteria established for quasi-static and seismic performance in gauging the high-speed dynamic performance is also discussed. Unlike in pseudo-dynamic tests, the inertia force contributed significantly to the readings of load cells integrated with the actuators that apply the high-speed displacement cycles. The shear capacity of the tested joints was higher than that computed with the empirical equation in seismic design codes.


In countries where rain-fed agriculture constitutes a significant portion of household livelihood, increased weather variability represents a source of vulnerability to stable consumption, food security and household well-being. Weather induced income changes affect household consumption and saving decisions. We evaluate saving and consumption responses to weather variation in South Africa, leveraging a newly available panel of nationally representative households covering the period from 2008 to 2014 and long term climate data. We test our data against predictions of the standard rational consumption model and some of its main extensions (i.e., precautionary saving and myopic consumption), and compare differences among households engaged in agriculture activities versus those that do not. Furthermore, we evaluate the impact of saving on household life satisfaction and health behavior. In accordance with previous literature, we find that households save in response to both transitory and permanent income change, although the proportion saved from transitory income is significantly higher. We find signs of precautionary saving driven by non-agriculture households, while we find stronger evidences of myopic consumption for agriculture households. In addition, we show that a one-unit increase in log-saving from transitory income increases the odds of a unit increase in self-reported life satisfaction of the household head by 14%, and a one unit increase in log-saving from permanent income leads to a 6% increase in hazard ratio of having taken an HIV test. This latter result may indicate that preventative health behavior such as HIV testing requires a stronger inducement than a transitory injection of income. Further research is needed to identify the mechanisms by which saving affect life satisfaction and health seeking behavior in developing countries.


The "take a knee" controversy that embroiled the National Football League during the 2016 and 2017 seasons sparked a national debate about free speech, player expression, and what, if anything, the league or its teams should do to discipline players for refusing to stand for the national anthem. Unfortunately, the public discourse on these topics largely centered around general platitudes that oftentimes ignored—or demonstrated a lack of knowledge of—professional sports law. This disconnection led to misperceptions regarding what the players and league could—and could not—do in these circumstances. At the same time, the "take a knee" movement also brought to the surface a long-standing issue for players: the persistent racial dynamic of a large group of African American players feeling controlled by a group of almost exclusively white team owners. This essay seeks to provide greater clarity to these controversial issues by constructing the legal framework surrounding player speech and by contextualizing them in this complex racial dynamic in sports.


In the first part of this paper, we show that an AH algebra has the LP property if and only if every element of the centre of belongs to the closure of the linear span of projections in . As a consequence, a diagonal AH-algebra has the LP property if it has small eigenvalue variation in the sense of Bratteli and Elliott. The second contribution of this paper is that for an inclusion of unital -algebras with a finite Watatani index, if a faithful conditional expectation has the Rokhlin property in the sense of Kodaka et al., then has the LP property under the condition that has the LP property. As an application, let be a simple unital -algebra with the LP property, an action of a finite group onto . If has the Rokhlin property in the sense of Izumi, then the fixed point algebra and the crossed product algebra have the LP property. We also point out that there is a symmetry on the CAR algebra such that its fixed point algebra does not have the LP property.


The quality of biometric samples has a significant impact on the accuracy of a matcher. Poor quality biometric samples often lead to incorrect matching results because the features extracted from these samples are not reliable. Therefore, dynamically assigning weights to the outputs of individual matchers based on the quality of the samples presented at the input of the matchers can improve the overall recognition performance of a multibiometric system. We propose a likelihood ratio-based fusion scheme that takes into account the quality of the biometric samples while combining the match scores provided by the matchers. Instead of estimating the quality of the template and query images individually, we estimate a single quality metric for each template-query pair based on the local image quality measures. Experiments on a database of 320 users with iris and fingerprint modalities demonstrate the advantages of utilizing the quality information in multibiometric systems


Abstract Although numerous investigations have demonstrated a direct effect of cadmium (Cd) on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) activity in humans, there is virtually no data concerning the in vivo impact of this metal on circulatory mononuclear cells. In this study, the effects of a sub-lethal Cd (1 mg/kg) dose were examined in rats 48 h following a single intraperitoneal injection. Cd treatment resulted in increased total peripheral blood leukocyte levels; however, decreases in PBMC numbers were seen. These changes coincided with an accumulation of mononuclear cells in the lungs and an increase in mononuclear cells expressing CD11b. A lack of effect of Cd on spontaneous nitric oxide (NO) production and on iNOS mRNA levels in the PBMC was also noted. Differential effects of Cd on PBMC inflammatory cytokine (IL-1β, TNFα, IL-6, IFNγ, and IL-17) gene expression and production were also seen. Specifically, except for IL-1β (levels increased), there were decreases (relative to controls) in mRNA levels for all the other cytokines examined. While there were no Cd treatment-related changes in spontaneous production of the cytokines assessed, there seemed to be a trend (p = 0.06) toward a decrease in spontaneous IL-6 release. When these harvested cells were stimulated ex vivo, there was no effect from Cd exposure on LPS-stimulated IL-1β and TNFα or on ConA-stimulated IFNγ or IL-17 production, but a decrease in IL-6 production in response to LPS was, again, noted. A preliminary study with a lower Cd dose (0.5 mg/kg) revealed some of the same outcomes noted here (mononuclear cell infiltration into lungs, increases in PBMC IL-1β mRNA levels), but differential (increased IL-17 mRNA levels) or newly detected outcomes (increased levels of IL-1α mRNA) as well. The described effects of the single in vivo exposure to Cd on PBMC might contribute to a better overall understanding of the immunomodulatory potential of this environmental contaminant.


Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is a promising way to achieve high thermal efficiency and low emissions while leveraging conventional diesel engine hardware. GCI is a partially premixed combustion concept, which derives its superiority from good volatility and long ignition delay of gasoline-like fuels. The present study investigates the interaction between the piston bowl and the spray plume of a compression ignition engine that operates with a late fuel injection strategy using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. Simulations were carried out on a single cylinder of a multi-cylinder heavy-duty compression ignition engine. The engine operates at a speed of 1038 rev/min., and a compression ratio of 17. Incylinder turbulence was modelled using RNG k-ε model and the fuel spray break up was modelled using KH-RT model. A reduced chemical kinetic mechanism was used to model combustion chemistry. After validating the combustion and performance characteristics of the baseline piston against experimental results, several new piston bowl designs were generated using CAESES. Full cycle engine simulations for four selected bowl profiles were carried out. The results compare the spray-bowl interaction of the new piston bowl designs with the baseline design. It was found that the lip location and center depth of the bowl profile are the critical design parameters that influence the air utilization and heat transfer losses. The impact of spray-bowl interaction on thermal efficiency of the engine is investigated.


Delivering reliable service requires satisfactory operation of numerous line components, spanning significant geographical areas and subject to environmental, electrical, and mechanical stresses, plus normal aging. Conventional reliability practices use periodic maintenance to minimize failures, coupled with rapid restoration procedures when outages occur. Reliability statistics have shown little change in decades. Newer technologies can shorten outages, by automatically rerouting service to customers on healthy feeder segments, but they: require redundant paths for power flow; react only after outages occur; and often require communications with pole-mounted switches. Over the past decade, Texas A&M University has demonstrated that electrical waveforms, available via conventional substation-based CTs and PTs, contain evidence of failures, incipient failures, and improper operation of feeder equipment, often well before these conditions escalate and cause outages. This provides the basis for conditioned-based maintenance and outage avoidance. This paper provides examples, from operating feeders, demonstrating some of these advances.


Hydrostatic pumps and motors occupy an important position in hydraulic system. There are a lot of researches on characteristics of hydraulic pumps, but not hydraulic motors. So in order to know the characteristics of hydraulic motors we had this research. The purpose of this study is to derive and analyze the theoretical calculation of hydraulic axial piston motor torque and torque ripples. Then, analyzed the differences between torque ripples with dead place and without dead place on the valve plate, and modeling a hydraulic motor with AMESim software. Finally, theoretical calculation of hydraulic motor torque ripples was verified from the viewpoint of simulation.


SOCIAL SCIENCESOTTAWA-- Last week one of Canada's research granting councils made public-interest groups eligible for grants from a new research program to attack such societal problems as poverty, illiteracy, and poor health. The new activity, called Community University Research Alliances, is being funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), one of the country's three major funding councils. Over the next 2 years, SSHRC will make 3-year, $160,000 awards to 16 centers that will plant the seeds for what the council hopes will grow into a national network of university and community researchers working on projects that serve local needs in the social sciences.


This study examines how organizations could potentially overcome the fallout of data breaches and achieve competitive advantage, by enhancing key firm capabilities through the process of sensing threats, seizing opportunities, and transforming/reconfiguring their existing resource base. We use the dynamic capabilities framework as the theoretical basis for this study. A multiple case study approach is applied to this study, using secondary data from the case studies of Target, Anthem, and Yahoo data breaches. Our findings indicate that utilizing the dynamic capability framework and its orchestration processes of sensing, seizing, and transforming/reconfiguring the resource base worked favorably in the case of Target and Anthem. However, for Yahoo, failure to utilize the aforementioned framework and orchestration processes had negative impacts on the firm. Our findings have implications for organizations regarding how they could restructure their internal practices and contain the fallout after a data breach.


Clinical studies suggest that essential oil of Eugenia caryophyllata (Clove) buds (EOEC) is efficacious in the treatment of dental pain. In the present study, we investigated the analgesic and local anesthetic effects of EOEC and its possible mechanisms of action in acute corneal pain in rats. EOEC was extracted by hydro-distillation in a Clevenger type apparatus from clove buds. The acute corneal pain was induced by applying a drop (40 µl) of 5 M NaCl solution on the corneal surface, and the numbers of eye wipes were counted during the first 30 s. The mechanical sensation of the cornea was evaluated by calibrated Von Frey filaments. Systemic administration of EOEC (100 and 200 mg/kg, SC) and morphine (2.5 and 5 mg/kg, IP) produced a significant antinociceptive effect in acute corneal pain. Pretreatment with naloxone or atropine prevented the EOEC-induced analgesia. However, L-arginine and methylene blue did not change the suppressive effect of EOEC on corneal pain response. Topical application of EOEC, eugenol and lidocaine significantly decreased corneal sensitivity. Combination treatments of eugenol (25 µg) with lidocaine (0.5%) and EOEC (50 µg) with lidocaine (0.5%) also significantly suppressed corneal sensitivity. Systemic administration of EOEC produced analgesia in the acute corneal pain through mechanisms that involved both opioidergic and cholinergic systems. In addition, topical instillation of EOEC, eugenol, and lidocaine produced local anesthesia in the rat cornea. Sub-anesthetic doses of EOEC or eugenol produced a significant local anesthetic effect when concurrently used with the sub-anesthetic dose of lidocaine.


Risk is defined as a situation involving exposure to danger. Risk assessment by nature characterises the probability of a negative event occurring and quantifies the consequences of such an event. Risk assessment is increasingly being used in the field of animal welfare as a means of drawing comparisons between multiple welfare problems within and between species and identifying those that should be prioritised by policy-makers, either because they affect a large proportion of the population or because they have particularly severe consequences for those affected. The assessment of risk is typically based on three fundamental factors: intensity of consequences, duration affected by consequences and prevalence. However, it has been recognised that these factors alone do not give a complete picture of a hazard and its associated consequences. Rather, to get a complete picture, it is important to also consider information about the hazard itself: probability of exposure to the hazard and duration of exposure to the hazard. The method has been applied to a variety of farmed species (eg poultry, dairy cows, farmed fish), investigating housing, husbandry and slaughter procedures, as well as companion animals, where it has been used to compare inherited defects in pedigree dogs and horses. To what extent can we trust current risk assessment methods to get the priorities straight? How should we interpret the results produced by such assessments? Here, the potential difficulties and pitfalls of the welfare risk assessment method will be discussed: (i) the assumption that welfare hazards are independent; (ii) the problem of quantifying the model parameters; and (iii) assessing and incorporating variability and uncertainty into welfare risk assessments. © 2012 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare.


In decision-making problems such as the multi-armed bandit, an agent learns sequentially by optimizing a certain feedback. While the mean reward criterion has been extensively studied, other measures that reflect an aversion to adverse outcomes, such as mean-variance or conditional value-at-risk (CVaR), can be of interest for critical applications (healthcare, agriculture). Algorithms have been proposed for such risk-aware measures under bandit feedback without contextual information. In this work, we study contextual bandits where such risk measures can be elicited as linear functions of the contexts through the minimization of a convex loss. A typical example that fits within this framework is the expectile measure, which is obtained as the solution of an asymmetric least-square problem. Using the method of mixtures for supermartingales, we derive confidence sequences for the estimation of such risk measures. We then propose an optimistic UCB algorithm to learn optimal risk-aware actions, with regret guarantees similar to those of generalized linear bandits. This approach requires solving a convex problem at each round of the algorithm, which we can relax by allowing only approximated solution obtained by online gradient descent, at the cost of slightly higher regret. We conclude by evaluating the resulting algorithms on numerical experiments.


This thesis documents the micro-fabrication of a Long Range Surface Plasmon Polariton (LRSPP) biosensor device design that incorporates Bragg grating waveguides. The majority of the work involved the fine tuning of the bi-layer lithography, ultra-violet (UV) exposure and metal deposition micro-fabrication procedures. The goal was to resolve very fine features, accurately produce thin metallization and achieve a high quality metal surface. Repeatable resolution of Bragg gratings having a step-in-width from 8µm to 2µm, a 50% duty cycle and a period of 1690nm to 1800nm, was achieved with bi-layer lithography and UV exposure. A gold thickness of 35nm±5% and surface roughness of better than 2nm rms and average was achieved using thermal vacuum chamber deposition. The fabrication was performed on two different substrates; Cytop and a prefabricated Ta2O5/SiO2 multilayer stack.


This article focuses on the use of code-switched words in Hamid Khan's collections of poetry, "Velvet of Loss" and "Pale Leaf" (Three Voices). The incorporated code-switching in Khan's poetry relate to the socio-cultural issues. Hamid Khan sings the local problems and issues and indirectly tries to resolve the problems faced by his fellow beings. His style is not verbose, yet his poems compel one to ponder over the social and political problems of the day. He does so through the device of foregrounding. The data were collected on the basis of foregrounding. The words that appealed to and attracted the scholar's attention deviated from normal use of English as they are foreign words. Moreover, the data are tabulated bearing the title of the respective poems and page numbers for ready reference. In addition, the code-switched words are discussed with reference to the issues and themes implied therein. These code-switched words are: Chowkidar, Burqa, Gibranic Sorrow, Deodasi, Abaseen, Swastika and Ku Klux Klan, and Babus. Lastly, the poems containing the foregrounded foreign words (code-switching) are given in the appendix section of the paper for ready reference.


Nuclear polarization corrections to the 2P-2S Lamb shift in mu-d atoms are developed in order alpha^5 and are shown to agree with a recent calculation. The nuclear physics in the resulting corrections is then evaluated in zero-range approximation. The dominant part of the correction is very simple in form and differs from a recent potential model calculation by less than 1%. It is also demonstrated how the third-Zemach-moment contribution largely cancels against part of the polarization correction, as it did in e-d atoms and does so exactly for point-like nucleons. This suggests that it may be possible to reduce the uncertainty in the theory (of which nuclear polarization is the largest contributor) to less than 1%.


This work is focused on the effects of heat source/sink, viscous dissipation, radiation and work done by deformation on flow and heat transfer of a viscoelastic fluid over a nonlinear stretching sheet. The similarity transformations have been used to convert the governing partial differential equations into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. These equations are then solved numerically using a very efficient implicit finite difference method. Favorable comparison with previously published work is performed and it is found to be in excellent agreement. The results of this parametric study are shown in several plots and tables and the physical aspects of the problem are highlighted and discussed.


The substantial increases of hepatic, splenic, and renal heme oxygenase levels that occur shortly after birth in neonatal rats were prevented by a single administration of tin-protoporphyrin (10 micromoles per kilogram of body weight). With this treatment serum bilirubin levels declined within 24 hours to near-normal adult levels and remained low throughout the postnatal period. Zinc-protoporphyrin at doses up to 50-fold greater than the effective dose of tin-protoporphyrin did not prevent the immediate increases in tissue heme oxygenase activities and in serum bilirubin levels that occur postnatally. Studies in vitro with microsomal heme oxygenase in human spleen indicate that tin-protoporphyrin is a potent competitive inhibitor of the oxidation of heme to bile pigment in this tissue.


PURPOSE
Preschool vision screenings often include refractive error or visual acuity (VA) testing to detect amblyopia, as well as alignment testing to detect strabismus. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of combining screening for eye alignment with screening for refractive error or reduced VA on sensitivity for detection of strabismus, with specificity set at 90% and 94%.

METHODS
Over 3 years, 4040 preschool children were screened in the Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study, with different screening tests administered each year. Examinations were performed to identify children with strabismus. The best screening tests for detecting children with any targeted condition were noncycloplegic retinoscopy (NCR), Retinomax autorefractor (Right Manufacturing, Virginia Beach, VA), SureSight Vision Screener (Welch-Allyn, Inc., Skaneateles, NY), and Lea Symbols (Precision Vision, LaSalle, IL and Good-Lite Co., Elgin, IL) and HOTV optotypes VA tests. Analyses were conducted with these tests of refractive error or VA paired with the best tests for detecting strabismus (unilateral cover testing, Random Dot "E" [RDE] and Stereo Smile Test II [Stereo Optical, Inc., Chicago, IL]; and MTI PhotoScreener [PhotoScreener, Inc., Palm Beach, FL]). The change in sensitivity that resulted from combining a test of eye alignment with a test of refractive error or VA was determined with specificity set at 90% and 94%.

RESULTS
Among the 4040 children, 157 were identified as having strabismus. For screening tests conducted by eye care professionals, the addition of a unilateral cover test to a test of refraction generally resulted in a statistically significant increase (range, 15%-25%) in detection of strabismus. For screening tests administered by trained lay screeners, the addition of Stereo Smile II to SureSight resulted in a statistically significant increase (21%) in sensitivity for detection of strabismus.

CONCLUSIONS
The most efficient and low-cost ways to achieve a statistically significant increase in sensitivity for detection of strabismus were by combining the unilateral cover test with the autorefractor (Retinomax) administered by eye care professionals and by combining Stereo Smile II with SureSight administered by trained lay screeners. The decision of whether to include a test of alignment should be based on the screening program's goals (e.g., targeted visual conditions) and resources.


Sleep has been regarded as a testing situation for the autonomic nervous system, because its activity is modulated by sleep stages. Sleep-related breathing disorders also influence the autonomic nervous system and can cause heart rate changes known as cyclical variation. We investigated the effect of sleep stages and sleep apnea on autonomic activity by analyzing heart rate variability (HRV). Since spectral analysis is suited for the identification of cyclical variations and detrended fluctuation analysis can analyze the scaling behavior and detect long-range correlations, we compared the results of both complementary techniques in 14 healthy subjects, 33 patients with moderate, and 31 patients with severe sleep apnea. The spectral parameters VLF, LF, HF, and LF/HF confirmed increasing parasympathetic activity from wakefulness and REM over light sleep to deep sleep, which is reduced in patients with sleep apnea. Discriminance analysis was used on a person and sleep stage basis to determine the best method for the separation of sleep stages and sleep apnea severity. Using spectral parameters 69.7% of the apnea severity assignments and 54.6% of the sleep stage assignments were correct, while using scaling analysis these numbers increased to 74.4% and 85.0%, respectively. We conclude that changes in HRV are better quantified by scaling analysis than by spectral analysis.


This paper presents, for the first time, characterization results of next generation dielectric core and build up material called RXP, which has low dielectric constant (2.93-3.48) and low loss tangent (0.0037-0.006) up to 110 GHz. Unlike LCP, this material can be made ultra-thin with low processing temperature and is ideally suited for mobile applications. Causal models suitable for high frequency applications have been extracted by measuring the response of cavity resonators using vector network analyzer and surface profiler.


The flowering phenology and floral behavior of Scutellaria discolor and S. slametensis were investigated. S. discolor is distributed over a wider range of habitats but S. slametensis is distributed over a restricted area on Mt. Slamet. Observations of flowering phenology and floral behavior were almost the same and pollination of cleistogamous flowers did not occur in both species.Based on our observations on floral and pollinator behavior, we consider both S. discolor and S.slametensis to have chasmo- and cleistogamous flowers.


Nowadays the aim of crop production is to realize the highest possible yield per production area unit by the highest possible crop safety. One of the possible ways for this is to increase of plant density or to decrease row spacing. Therefore, the plant number per unit area can be increased and the potential yield loss of individual plants is compensated by the higher plant density. The development of yield amounts of eight different genotypes was investigated in a small-plot field experiment with four replications on a calcareous chernozem soil type at the Látókép Research Site of the University of Debrecen in the crop years 2013 and 2014. Row distances of 45 and 76 cm, just as plant densities of 50 000, 70 000 and 90 000 plants per ha were set. Significant differences were found between the yield amounts of the studied hybrids in both studied crop years, while the effect of plant density on yield amount showed different results. In the crop year of 2013 the hybrids resulted high yields in the treatment with a row distance of 45 cm and plant density of 90 000 plants per ha, however, in 2014 significant yield decrease was found in comparison with the previous year, that can be attributed to the weather conditions in the months April-May and June. Optimal plant densities of hybrids, just as the corresponding expectable yield amounts were determined with quadratic equations. Optimal plant densities of the hybrids were different in the two studied crop years: in 2013, regarding the treatments set with the row distance of 45 cm, increasing plant densities resulted in higher yields, while in 2014, the yield showed decreasing tendency parallel to the increasing plant densities, that is confirmed by the fact that plant densities of 50 000 and 65 000 plants ha-1 proved to be more favourable. Regarding the treatments with a row distance of 76 cm, hybrids obtained their yield maximums by 80 327 plants ha-1 in 2013, while in the vegetation of 2014, by higher plant density (85 845 plants ha-1).


The Treasurer's announcement in February 2005 that the federal government would amend the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) to introduce criminal penalties for serious or hard-core cartel conduct focuses attention on the debate whether civil or criminal penalties are more appropriate ways to regulate corporate misconduct. This change to the TPA is yet to be enacted. However, in 1993, fundamental reforms were made to the regime of sanctions for enforcement of the statutory duties of corporate officers in Australia when the civil penalty regime, currently contained in Part 9.4B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), was introduced. By adopting this approach, it was hoped that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) could more effectively deal with corporate misconduct and that civil penalties would be a significant enforcement tool. ASIC has had success recently in using the civil penalty regime, particularly against directors in high profile cases. Nevertheless, to ensure that it is regarded as a credible regulator, this article argues that, in the light of the adverse press and perceptions surrounding ASIC's failure to institute criminal proceedings against Stephen Vizard and the difficulties in bringing civil penalty proceedings resulting from the majority decision of the High Court in Rich v ASIC, ASIC should consider shifting the balance away from civil penalty proceedings to criminal prosecutions in serious cases of corporate wrongdoing. This is especially so now with the recent victory of its US counterpart, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Enron case. The criminal convictions of former top two executives, Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay (now deceased) on 26 May 2006 and the subsequent sentencing of Skilling to 24 years and four months in prison, bring to a close a four-year investigation into the largest corporate fraud in US history and should buoy corporate regulators around the world, including ASIC to pursue criminal cases.


This study aim is to test the money neutrality in a narrow sense (M1) and a broad sense (M2) to the growth of output (GDP) in Indonesia, both in short term and long term. This research uses quarterly time series data at 2010 - 2016 periods. The analysis tool used is Error Correction Model (ECM). The results show that short-term money supply (M1 and M2) affect on output growth. However, in the long term, only money circulation in a broad sense (M2) affects on output growth, which also means that money is not neutral because it affects the real sector (GDP). Keywords: M1, M2, Population, Capital, and Economic Growth.


Since the globalization and global production chains have dominated the world, crisis have bigger effects on economies. In 70?s, 80?s, 90?s and now in 2000?s global financial crisis affect not only countries economies but also global economy. It has become a must for countries and economies to take precautions to stop system failure or to take less damage from big scale impact crisis. In order to lower the possibility of systems malfunctions in economies in case of crisis, countries or regions have to prepare themselves to reduce their vulnerability to external disturbances. Regional resilience, as the term of resilience generated in biology, describes the phenomenon of adapting capacity of a habitat against external effects. In common use it is the ability of a system to leap back or to rebound or to recover after any kind of external and internal disturb shocks and effects. Concerning the regional resilience, a diverse business structure, economy?s innovation capacity and generated added value are beneficial. In this article, the response of the specialized regions in automotive manufacturing has been analyzed in terms of regional resilience. Not only by having specialized production process, innovative designs, technology and a diversified economy within the region, but also being one of the most important economic sectors by revenue, the automotive manufactory has been a key sector for measuring regional resilience. In addition to measure the effect of automotive industry on regional resilience, the automotive manufacturing specialized regions in European Union and Turkey have been defined with location quotient technique by the employment numbers of automotive manufacturing (C29, manufacturing of motor vehicles as defined in NACE Rev.2 by Eurostat) in year 2010. Secondly, the economic performance of 20 top automotive manufacturing specialized regions across the global financial crisis in 2008 have been analyzed in years between 2006 and 2010 with shift-share analysis by employment numbers in automotive manufacturing. Therefore, the pre-shock and post-shock positions of the regions are defined. Finally, an evaluation of the economic resilience performance of the automotive specialized regions has been applied to clarify the reasons of the performances of the automotive manufacturing specialized regions, which have the different characteristic although they have same sectorial specialization, that shift-share analysis could not explain. Eventually, this article clarifies the good and the bad performance of the automotive industry specialized regions; and factors behind their performance, which build their regional economic resilience strong or weak against 2008 global financial crisis.


Fe-substituted YFexCr1−xO3 crystalline compounds show promising magnetic and multiferroic properties. Here we report the synthesis and characterization of several compositions from this series. Using the autocombustion route, various compositions (x = 0.25, 0.50, 0.6, 0.75, 0.9, and 1) were synthesized as high-quality crystalline powders. In order to obtain microscopic and atomic information about their structure and magnetism, characterization was performed using room temperature X-ray diffraction and energy dispersion analysis as well as temperature-dependent neutron diffraction, magnetometry, and 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry. Rietveld analysis of the diffraction data revealed a crystallite size of 84 (8) nm for YFeO3, while energy dispersion analysis indicated compositions close to the nominal compositions. The magnetic results suggested an enhancement of the weak ferromagnetism for the YFeO3 phase due to two contributions. First, a high magnetocrystalline anisotropy was associated with the crystalline character that favored a unique high canting angle of the antiferromagnetic phase (13°), as indicated by the neutron diffraction analysis. This was also evidenced by the high magnetic hysteresis curves up to 90 kOe by a remarkable high critical coercivity value of 46.7 kOe at room temperature. Second, the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions between homogenous and heterogeneous magnetic pairs resulted from the inhomogeneous distribution of Fe3+ and Cr3+ ions, as indicated by 57Fe Mössbauer studies. Together, these results point to new methods of controlling the magnetic properties of these materials.


There is no consensus among pediatricians and pediatric surgeons on issues of early recognition of anorectal malformations and VACTERL abnormalities, preoperative management and methods of primary surgical correction; this in turn leads to the fact that many medical practitioners make a large number of diagnostic and technical errors. Which inevitably leads to unreasonable and redo operations, early disability and a decrease in the quality of life. Atresia is the absence of the anus, anal canal and rectal lumen. With so called "low form" of atresia, the blind end of the bowel is directly under the skin, and with "high form" at 1.5-2 cm higher. In this case, the rectus which has not descended can be communicated by fistula with neighboring organs. Recognition of atresia itself is not simple: with an external examination, the absence of the anus and the release of meconium through the anus, the presence of fistula. The picture of anorectal abnormalities varies depending on the type of defect and the presence or absence of combined defects and multiple defects. Depending on the "clinical dominant" of one or another concomitant pathology, the child was sent to the appropriate specialist. In some cases, in relation to the revealed lesions of the anorectal zone, it was necessary to adhere to expectant tactics in relation to the planned operation. This is what happened if information about a particular nosological unit made it possible, in general terms, to predict a not always positive outcome of the operation, and aggravating moments were also present.


Objective: To determine the effect of cumulative volume on all-cause morbidity and operative time. Background: Gastric bypass is an important public health procedure, but it is difficult to master with little data about how surgeon cumulative volume affects outcomes longitudinally. Methods: This was a longitudinal study of 29 surgeons during the first 6 years of performing bariatric surgery in a high-volume, regionalized center of excellence system. Cumulative volume was determined using date and time of the procedure. Cumulative volume was analyzed in blocks of 75 cases. The main outcome of interest was all-cause morbidity during the index admission and the secondary outcome was operative time. Results: Overall, 11,684 gastric bypasses were performed by 29 surgeons at 9 centers of excellence. The overall morbidity rate was 10.1% and short-term outcomes were related significantly to cumulative volume. Perioperative risk plateaued after approximately 500 cases and was lowest for surgeons who had completed more than 600 cases (odds ratio 0.53 95% confidence interval 0.26–0.96 P = 0.04) compared to the first 75 cases. Operative time also stabilized after approximately 500 cases, with an operative time 44.7 minutes faster than surgeons in their first 75 cases (95% confidence interval 37.0–52.4 min P < 0.001). Conclusions: The present study demonstrated the clear, substantial influence of surgeon cumulative volume on improved perioperative outcomes and operative time. This finding emphasizes role of the individual surgeon in perioperative outcomes and that the true learning curve needed to master a complex surgical procedure such as gastric bypass is longer than previously thought, in this case requiring approximately 500 cases to plateau.


Introduction: Transgender women (TW) face one of the highest HIV burdens worldwide. In Malaysia, 12.4% of TW are HIV infected, ∼30-fold higher than in the Malaysian adult population. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention strategy, however, little is known about TW's willingness to use PrEP or their preferences for receiving PrEP. This study examined the correlates of Malaysian TW's willingness to use PrEP and their attitudes and preferences related to delivery of PrEP and PrEP-related care. Methods: Between June and August 2017, 361 TW in Malaysia completed an online survey about their knowledge of and willingness to use PrEP for HIV prevention. Results: Only 20.2% of participants had ever previously heard of PrEP and none were currently taking PrEP. The majority (82.5%) expressed high willingness to take PrEP and most participants met the World Health Organization (WHO) indication for PrEP (82.3%). In the multivariate model, lifetime hormone use, prior postexposure prophylaxis use, and having completed a high school education were associated with higher willingness to use PrEP, while injection drug use, older age, and Chinese ethnicity were associated with lower PrEP willingness. Conclusion: TW in Malaysia are highly willing to use PrEP for HIV prevention. Differences in willingness to use PrEP identified by education, ethnicity, substance abuse, and age suggest different strategies may be needed to scale-up PrEP for this diverse community of TW.


This dissertation demonstrates the effectiveness of using narratives—stories to decipher current communications challenges within professional venues. The following three articles chronicle the construction of two organizations' narratives, identify a current professional communication challenge, introduce a solution to the identified challenge, and illustrate how the narrative approach can be applied in practice and pedagogy. Specifically, the first article presents a public administrator's narrative, which illustrates his struggle to persuade a skeptical audience to accept a controversial message. By examining the participant's narrative, the researcher and participant chose a successful solution which integrated classical rhetorical persuasive methods (ethos, pathos, logos). The primary narrative of the second article describes a federal agency's concern regarding adversarial behavior between two parties that was impeding compliance with a law. In an effort to facilitate communication between the two parties, an entry-level technical writer was assigned to revise the text of a poster. After reviewing the participant's organizational narrative, the technical writer eventually used Grice's cooperative principle to address the challenge, which led to the use of these principles in the revision of future posters and fact sheets. The third article examines the historical narrative of the plain language movement and identifies a gap between the plain language requirements of workplaces and the lack of plain language instruction in business communication courses. In an effort to reduce that gap, this article gathers plain language resources and assignments to assist educators in the integration of plain language principles into business communication curr1icula. Ultimately, this dissertation illustrates how narratives were constructed in three different situations to address current communication challenges. By highlighting the ways narratives can be constructed as


Background The transcriptional co-activator MN1 confers a worse prognosis for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when highly expressed; however, the mechanisms involved are unknown. We sought to model the effects of high MN1 expression in AML models to explore the underlying mechanisms. Methodology/Principal Findings We used cell lines and a genetically defined mouse model of AML to examine the effects of MN1 overexpression on prognosis and response to cytarabine and doxorubicin in vitro and in vivo. Murine AML that was engineered to overexpress MN1 became more aggressive in vivo, leading to shortened survival in both treated and control groups. In vitro murine AML cells that overexpressed MN1 became resistant to treatment with cytarabine and highly resistant to doxorubicin. This resistant phenotype was also seen in vivo, where treatment with the combination of cytarabine and doxorubicin selected for cells expressing MN1. When therapy-induced DNA damage levels were assessed by γH2AX foci, no reduction was seen in MN1 expressing cells arguing against a drug efflux mechanism. Despite no reduction in DNA damage, MN1-expressing cells showed less apoptosis as assessed by annexin V and propidium iodide staining. Following treatment, p53 and BIM induction were markedly reduced in cells expressing MN1. Pharmacologic inhibition of the p53 E3 ligase MDM2 resulted in increased p53 levels and improved response to doxorubicin in vitro. Conclusions/Significance MN1 overexpression accelerates an already aggressive leukemia, confers resistance to chemotherapy, and suppresses p53 and BIM induction, resulting in decreased apoptosis. This provides a mechanistic explanation of the poor prognosis observed with high MN1 expression and suggests that therapies directed at increasing p53 function may be useful for these patients.


In this paper we combine surface analytical techniques (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, optical and electron microscopy) with viable counts and statistical ANOVA methods to determine the propensity for biological adhesion on zirconium alloy surfaces. We compare the adhesion of laboratory and clinical strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Zircaloy-2 and Zircadyne-705 materials. Thermal oxidation of the alloys prior to exposure to biological species is also investigated. We present data for 72-h incubation of bacteria and alloys in both shaken and stationary environments. The results of our statistical analysis and experimental observations are relevant to the use of zirconium-based materials for biomedical applications.


Background and Hypothesis:
Atypical diabetes (DM) comprises phenotypically and potentially genotypically distinct forms of DM not fitting current sub-categories of classification. Understanding these rare and uncharacterized types of DM can potentially inform the application of personalized therapeutic approaches and is the emphasis of a recent NIH-funded Consortium focused on Rare and Atypical Diabetes (RADIANT). We aimed to employ informatic-based algorithms to identify potentially atypical DM cases from electronic medical records (EMR) to identify candidates for inclusion in RADIANT.

Project Methods:
Diabetic patients were identified based on two DM diagnostic codes, treatment with anti-diabetic medication, and two diagnostic labs elevated.  We filtered for patients with BMI <25 at diagnosis and normal lipid profile. Charts were reviewed manually.  Demographic and clinical data were extracted from EMR and entered into a REDCap database. SPSS was used for statistical analysis.

Results:
A total of 21,820 individuals met criteria for DM; 208 were identified as potentially atypical. Chart review was completed for 126 cases. Fifteen were deceased and removed from the final cohort. Of those remaining, 12 (11%) exhibited features consistent with atypical diabetes. The remainder were classified as typical T2D. No significant differences regarding ethnicity or diabetes complication status were identified between typical and atypical cases. Demographics of atypical cases were, 66% female, and 33% male. The average age of diagnosis was 46.8 ± 19.3 yrs. Average BMI was 23.7 ± 4.1. Atypical diabetes individuals were more likely to present with ketoacidosis (p=0.01) exhibiting a trend towards increased insulin use (50% vs. 14%; p=0.09).

Conclusion:
Our study suggests that using EMR may be effective in flagging phenotypically distinct forms of DM in real world settings, associated with a high false positive rate. Data suggests this form of atypical diabetes represents a small percentage of overall DM cases (0.05%). Future studies will focus on application of algorithms to identify other atypical diabetes subsets.


We present an exhaustive quantitative comparison of all the known extinction curves in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC and LMC) with our understanding of the general behavior of Milky Way extinction curves. The RV-dependent CCM relationship of Cardelli, Clayton, and Mathis and the sample of extinction curves used to derive this relationship are used to describe the general behavior of Milky Way extinction curves. The ultraviolet portion of the SMC and LMC extinction curves are derived from archival IUE data, except for one new SMC extinction curve, which was measured using Hubble Space Telescope Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph observations. The optical extinction curves are derived from new (for the SMC) and literature UBVRI photometry (for the LMC). The near-infrared extinction curves are calculated mainly from 2MASS photometry supplemented with DENIS and new JHK photometry. For each extinction curve, we give RV = A(V)/E(B - V) and N(H I) values that probe the same dust column as the extinction curve. We compare the properties of the SMC and LMC extinction curves with the CCM relationship three different ways: each curve by itself, the behavior of extinction at different wavelengths with RV, and the behavior of the extinction curve Fitzpatrick and Massa fit parameters with RV. As has been found previously, we find that a small number of LMC extinction curves are consistent with the CCM relationship, but the majority of the LMC and all the SMC curves do not follow the CCM relationship. For the first time, we find that the CCM relationship seems to form a bound on the properties of all the LMC and SMC extinction curves. This result strengthens the picture dust extinction curves exhibit of a continuum of properties between those found in the Milky Way and the SMC bar. Tentative evidence based on the behavior of the extinction curves with dust-to-gas ratio suggests that the continuum of dust extinction curves is possibly caused by the environmental stresses of nearby star formation activity.


In the Masila region of Yemen, several hundred million barrels of recoverable oil occur within three Lower Cretaceous siliciclastic lithostratigraphic units of the upper Qishn Formation. The basal unit, S3, locally exceeds over 40 m in thickness. This unit overlies an erosive surface and is formed of blanket deposits of cross-bedded, fining-upward, pebbly sandstones with siliceous and dolomitic paleosols. The S3 unit reflects deposition from coarse-grained fluvial channels and related environments. The middle unit, S2, is composed of complexly interbedded sandstones and mudstones up to over 25 m thick. These deposits grade upward from S3 sediments and display cross-bedded pebbly sandstones, cross-bedded sandstones with mud drapes, and inclined heterolithic units formed of interbedded sandstones and mudstones. The S2 unit is capped by widespread churned and rooted mudstones 3-5 m thick. S2 deposition resulted from the rapid infilling of an estuary, or estuaries, created by the transgression of the fluvial systems responsible for S3 sedimentation. The uppermost unit, S1, at its base is formed of an eastern shelfal package with Helminthopsis- and Chondrites-bearing mudrocks, and western beds formed of sediments generally similar in appearance to the middle S2 unit. Above the lowest S1 deposits are marine muddy coquinas that blanket the study area. In the west, these sediments are abruptly to gradationally overlain by Ophiomorpha-bearing, fine-grained, cross-bedded shelly sandstones up to about 10 m thick. These sandstones form a north-south linear trend and are interpreted to represent a progradational pulse of subtidal shoal sediments that interrupted the general deepening trend exhibited by the upper Qishn interval. Final upper Qishn deposition was younger shelfal muddy coquinas that overlie the shoal deposits. These and younger carbonate sediments act as the uppermost seal to reservoirs in the Masila region. The upper Qishn sediments are compared to modern and Pleistocene estuarine deposits. We propose stratigraphic, depositional, and paleogeographic models for this formation and, from this analysis, we derive several implications for future petroleum operations in the region.


This work presents the development of a remote laboratory service and its application during the teaching of Control Systems subject of third course in a Telecommunication Technology and Service Engineering degree. The application was successful allowing the student to control the same components as remotely, in a similar way as they were in the laboratory. There was an elevated interest by the students, who highlighted the useful of the tool. Furthermore, this proposal solved the hardware assembly difficulties improving the qualifications in a 40% in the particular aspects in which this project could be applied.


AIM
To study the clinical characteristics in patients with conversion non-epileptic seizures, and the influence that traumatic childhood experiences could have in their psychopathologic status and personality.

METHODS
Seventeen patients with non-epileptic seizures confirmed through video-EEG were included. A structured clinical interview (SCID-DSM-III-R), a measure of personality variables (MMPI), and an interview designed for collecting data on personal history of childhood traumas were administered. Descriptive and comparative statistical methods were used.

RESULTS
More than 70% of the sample fulfilled the criteria for two or more simultaneous diagnoses in Axis I, and for at least one personality disorder. The subgroup experiencing childhood traumatic experiences showed more clinically significant MMPI scales, a younger age at correct diagnosis, and higher scores on the MMPI psychastenia and psychopathic deviation scales than the non experiencing childhood traumatics events.

CONCLUSIONS
Our sample of patients with conversion non-epileptic seizures shows a significant level of psychopathology, and the absence of a unique character substrate. Under the generic term of pseudoseizures, a number of subgroups according to childhood traumatic experiences, with different levels of severity and different clinical and personality properties, may be defined.


Influence of the electrodepositing parameters e.g. applied electric current as variable on texture formation and on mechanical properties of copper thin films was studied. Experiment was done for copper deposition from sulphate bath under galvanostatic and pulse current. It was found that copper layers exhibits different texture depending on applied current conditions during electrodepositing process. Pulse and direct current conditions leads to different texture of electrodeposited copper. Texture of electrodeposited copper coatings and mechanical properties could be correlated. It was found that, texture indexes although are not complex information about texture could be used for analysis of such correlation in technological process.


ABSTRACT The study was conducted to elucidate the possibility that a shift in color preferences of adults of the apple blossom beetle, Epicometis hirta, occurs sometime after the end of over-wintering and the onset blooming of Prunus spp. trees and between the termination of blooming and the death of the adults. Such information is needed to choose the best color of the traps used for the detection, monitoring and suppression of this major pest. In a randomized complete block experiment with 9 replicates at 3 different cherry orchard sites in Turkey, blocks of 11 differently colored traps each ere operated and serviced daily in cherry orchards from the end of hibernation of E. hirta the adults disappeared at the end of the season. The numbers of adult beetles captured in each of the 11 differently colored traps in each block were recorded daily. According to ANOVA and the Tukey's test (P < 0.01), significantly the largest numbers of E. hirta were sampled by floral white-colored traps in both the pre-bloom (experiment I-749 individuals, n = 38) and post-bloom (experiment III-263 individuals, n = 12) periods. However during the bloom period significantly the largest numbers of E. hirta were sampled by the light sky-blue-colored traps (experiment 11–715 individuals, re = 30). The effect of the color and block on population of E. hirta was tested by univariate analysis of variance; and only color effect variation was found statistically significant. Likewise the results of cluster analysis showed that floral white-colored traps were more attractive for E. hirta than traps of any other color during the pre-bloom and post-bloom periods; whereas, light sky-blue colored traps were the most attractive for E. hirta during the bloom period. These data clearly demonstrate the color preference of E. hirta shifted from floral white before the cherry trees bloomed to light sky-blue during the bloom period and back to floral white during the postbloom period. These shifts may be an adaptation to the different host plant species that are predominant during different periods of the growing season. Currently some growers in Turkey control E. hirta during the cherry bloom period by intensive trapping with light sky-blue traps. However these data suggest that the control effort should be shifted to the prebloom period with intensive trapping by floral white traps.


: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains the main cause of disability and a major public health problem worldwide. This review focuses on the neurophysiology of TBI, and the rationale and current state of evidence of clinical application of brain stimulation to promote TBI recovery, particularly on consciousness, cognitive function, motor impairments, and psychiatric conditions. We discuss the mechanisms of different brain stimulation techniques including major noninvasive and invasive stimulations. Thus far, most noninvasive brain stimu lation interventions have been nontargeted and focused on the chronic phase of recovery after TBI. In the acute stages, there is limited available evidence of the efficacy and safety of brain stimulation to improve functional outcomes. Comparing the studies across different techniques, transcranial direct current stimulation is the intervention that currently has the higher number of properly designed clinical trials, though total number is still small. We recognize the need for larger studies with target neuroplasticity modulation to fully explore the benefits of brain stimulation to effect TBI recovery during different stages of recovery.


The ever growing request for digital information raises the need for content distribution architectures providing high storage capacity, data availability and good performance. While many simple solutions for scalable distribution of quasi-static content exist, there are still no approaches that can ensure both scalability and consistency for the case of highly dynamic content, such as the data managed inside wikis.We propose a peer to peer solution for distributing and managing dynamic content, that combines two widely studied technologies: distributed hash tables (DHT) and optimistic replication. In our "universal wiki'' engine architecture (UniWiki), on top of a reliable, inexpensive and consistent DHT-based storage, any number of front-ends can be added, ensuring both read and write scalability, as well as suitability for large-scale scenarios. The implementation is based on a Distributed Interception Middleware, thus separating distribution, replication, and consistency responsibilities, and also making our system transparently usable by third party wiki engines.


This study investigated the determinants of technical, allocative and economic efficiencies among small-scale onion farmers in North wollo zone of Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 200 respondents randomly selected from designated locations in the study area. A stochastic production frontier function was fitted to the sample households. The findings revealed that land related factors such as land distance, ownership, and fragmentation explained much of the technical inefficiencies in addition to other socio-economic characteristics of farm households.(age, market access, training access ,years of experience in onion production, farm income, responsibility and field visit)were found to be significant at different levels of significance for technical efficiency. The variables that explained allocative efficiency were plot distance, market access, sources of irrigation water , extension visit, farm income and field visit. Major determinants for economic efficiency were age of the household, plot distance, fertility, source of irrigation water, extension visit, experience in onion production, land fragmentation and farm income. It is therefore suggested that any development intervention program through irrigation should consider the aforementioned socioeconomic characteristics and determinants of efficiency for success. Tenure insecurity and land fragmentation also play significant role for farmers to adopt the available technologies and maximize production on irrigated farms. Likewise, has showed positive effect on production inefficiency, calling for the need to think about policies targeting land consolidation at least with in farms, improving institutional services ( extension, market, training, attitude change on credit utilization ), soil management options and increased investment in irrigation services could jointly contribute to the improvement in efficiency of onion farmers in the study area. Keywords : Efficiency, Inefficiency, Irrigation, Amhara region, Kobo, Ethiopia


The Mesoproterozoic English Bay Complex consists of a granite–rhyolite assemblage outcropping on the shores of Lake Nipigon in western Superior Province, Canada. It intrudes Neoarchean rocks and is disconformably overlain by a rift–infracratonic basin sedimentary succession recording subsidence following a heating event. The granites and rhyolites are characterized by light rare-earth element (LREE) enrichment (La/Smn = 2.8–5.1) and only weakly fractionated heavy REE (HREE; Gd/Ybn = 1.1–1.6). The felsic igneous rocks are high-K, enriched in Zr, Nb, Y, and REE satisfying all the criteria for an A-type suite. Trace element geochemistry, particularly the absence of any negative Nb anomalies, indicates this melt did not originate in a suprasubduction zone setting, unlike the St. Francois Mountain Complex to the south. The English Bay Complex may record the northern portion of a Mesoproterozoic plume track— a plume that possibly led to earlier igneous activity and infracratonic basin formation to the north and would later interact with a suprasubduction zone margin to the south.


A device for rapid visualization of electrical and spatial inhomogeneities of a semi-insulating GaAs (p>or=106 Omega cm) is described. This visualizer is a modification of the ionization type photographic system in which a semiconducting plate is placed between transparent plane parallel electrodes in the gas discharge cell. The gas discharge gaps are formed between free surfaces of the semiconductor and electrodes. When a voltage is applied to the electrodes a discharge luminescence glows in the gap under uniform infrared illumination of the semiconductor. The uniformity of glowing over the semiconductor area is determined by electrical homogeneity and infrared absorptivity of the material. The main discharge glow patterns on both sides and after chemical etching are similar, which reflects the fact that the structural defects are continuous within the plate. The observed patterns give information about EL2 centres in the GaAs semiconductor. Technical data of the ionization-type visualizer of electrical inhomogeneities in a semiconducting plate are given.


Caroline Humphrey. The Unmaking of Soviet Life: Everyday Economies after Socialism. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2002. xviii, 265 pp. Map. Photographs. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $45.00, cloth. $18.95, paper.Caroline Humphrey has an established and well-deserved reputation as one of the leading anthropological specialists on the USSR and its successor states. This book is a collection often essays, all previously published (between 1991 and 2000) as either journal articles or chapters in edited collections, and introduced by Bruce Grant and Nancy Ries. They focus on the diverse ways in which different groups in post-Soviet Russia and Mongolia have sought to cope, both physically (largely, but not exclusively, in an economic sense) and spiritually, with the legacies of the communist past and the often harsh realities of their divergent post-communist situations. While the various situations are often depressing, Humphrey looks for signs of innovation and renovation, and can usually find them in unexpected places.One theme permeating much of the book is that most citizens have been living in a "state of radical uncertainty" and insecurity since 1991. Another is that the political and the economic continue to be too closely intertwined in the post-Soviet world, which helps to explain popular mistrust of the state. A third is that Russia and Mongolia are in many ways still societies in which conceptions of property are fluid and hazy, and in which there continues to be greater commitment to the notion of the collective than is typical in many Western (especially predominantly Protestant) societies.Part One is titled "The Politics of Locality in an Unstable State." It deals primarily with how people cope in a time of breakdown and near-chaos by attempting to create "localities," their own identifiable and manageable spaces. This assumes highly diverse forms, including even identifying goods as insider (ours) and outsider (from somewhere else). Unfortunately, it also often involves exclusion of other people, not just goods, as dislocated groups and individuals seek to bring greater stability into their lives through the construction of identifiable boundaries. Some of the analysis of provincial and village Russia resonates well with Richard Rose's arguments concerning pre-modernity in post-communist Russia.My own research interests in corruption and organized crime meant that Part Two-"Strategies Beyond the Law"-was the most interesting for this reviewer. It examines the ways in which some people have sought to cope by exploiting confusion and desperate need, or by learning ways to make the authorities more manageable and human through bribery, which can soften otherwise hard boundaries. …


abatua laygedel wendimua laygedel arsew yabluat inji hodua endaygodel Since her father cannot kill nor can her brother let them feed her by cultivating so that her stomach will not be empty [From a popular Ethiopian melody] When the property and the knowledge of a people increases, the government's policy and wealth parameters also increase. As the knowledge and wealth of people develop, the governments' instruments of policy implementation acquire additional strength [effectiveness]". Negadras Gebrehiwot Baykedagn. Written in 1917, Translated as State & Economy in Early 19th Century Ethiopia, Karnak House & Red Sea Press, 1995. pp 53-54 This paper examines the pitfalls of an otherwise well intentioned agrarian reform which formed the centre piece of the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution. It is contended that most of the non-anticipated negative consequences emanated from the adoption of Euro-centric model not sufficiently interfaced with the specificity of rural Ethiopia. The paper focuses on the implication of the reform for rural migration, the related problem of famine, redistribution of rural incomes and the impact on the welfare of the rural and the urban poor and accumulation. Finally, it brings to the fore the gist of an indigenous knowledge source on the political economy of Ethiopia which may have provided better policy reform base for the Agrarian Reform. In the search to compress the agrarian structure of Ethiopia into the social trajectory of European societies, it has been variously conceptualized as part feudal, part capitalist or wholly feudal or capitalist by writers and different political protagonists. The term feudo-bourgeoisie was the common theme which informed the political tract of analysts and activists alike on the eve and during the course of the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974. Informed by the fuedo-bourgeoisie paradigm, exempting tenants from the payment of land rent, the Reform of 1975 abolished 'land-lordism', to contain 'relation of exploitation', it prohibited the hiring in and the hiring out of labour. Similarly, it set a maximum of 10 hectares of land per peasant which could be operated without hiring labour and attendant exploitation. While most large farms were converted into State farms, those more than 10 hectares in peasant areas were apportioned to the nearby households. The great agrarian reform of Ethiopia provided an unfettered access and security of tenure especially to those who were tenants in the pre-reform period and opened up the prospect for new institutional and technological set up to unleash a dynamic process of agricultural development. However, possible gain from such a potential were constrained by setting cultivation ceiling at 10 hectare in one season rain-fed agriculture, the curtailment of open and competitive channels of marketing, undue bias in favour of State farms and the inefficient operations of the AMC. In the face of increasing population and declining per capita output of food, these contributed towards the creation of a new crisis manifested in very low producer and very high consumer prices, vastly increased imports, dependence on food aid and drastic reduction in the welfare of the urban and the rural poor. One of the root causes of the agrarian crises was the wrong conceptualization of the agrarian problem and the attendant uncritical application of statist policies in the form of State farms, marketing corporations and compulsory delivery of grain all copied without innovative adaptations from the social experiences of other societies. The policies led to mis-allocation of resources and failed to establish prices, which, while being sufficient to motivate peasants, would have been affordable by the rural and urban poor. The stifling of the movement of labour had a devastating effect on the drought prone agriculture. In the end, the institutions of the State provided comfort to the State elite at the expense of the welfare of the disadvantaged in society. By curtailing the trend towards accumulation, it stifled the medium and long-term growth prospect of the national economy. The political cost to the Derg has been obvious. GHB's conceptualization of State and peasants, defining the parameters of the role of the State in development in general and agriculture in particular and the articulation of the relation between agriculture and industry and the policy implications therein could have gone a long way in drawing more down to earth realistic agrarian policy measures at the historical moment when Ethiopia was on the threshold of radical change. Alas! as the Amharic saying goes "bej yale worq ende medab yekoteral": "that gold in one's own hand is undervalued as if it were copper" Key words: Agrarian reform; Ethiopian revolution; Peasantariat; Agrarian crises; Agrarian classes; Feudalism; Distress surplus; Gultegna; Neftegna; Peasantization; Retail Price Index.


The fossil record of birds in Gondwana is almost restricted to the Late Cretaceous. Herein we describe a new fossil from the Araripe Basin, Cratoavis cearensis nov. gen et sp., composed of an articulated skeleton with feathers attached to the wings and surrounding the body. The present discovery considerably extends the temporal record of the Enantiornithes birds at South America to the Early Cretaceous. For the first time, an almost complete and articulated skeleton of an Early Cretaceous bird from South America is documented.


Introduction: India estimates third highest number of HIV infections in the world, with about 2.4 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS. Adolescents often face a significant barrier to get the in-formation, education and services required. Discussing reproductive and sexual matter freely is still a taboo in our society. Present study was designed to investigate current awareness and knowledge levels of pre university students about human immunodeficiency virus/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) transmission, misconcepts, prevention and attitude of students towards patients living with HIV/ AIDS. Materials and Method: Totally 478 students were participated and were asked to fill out a structured questionnaire form which was consisted with 42 questions. The form contained two scales, one of socio-demographical profile of the individuals and the other scale was about knowledge and attitude levels of students. Results: Findings show that overall general knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS transmission routes (60%), prevention (28.87%) and treatment (59.6%) was good among the study participants. Physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology (PCMB) student's knowledge regarding transmission, prevention, and attitude towards the People living with HIV/ AIDS (PLHA) was better compared to Physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science (PCMCS) and Commerce students (p value <0.01). Conclusion: Knowledge on modes of transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS is poor among pre university students. And biology students had better knowledge; hence the reproductive health education should be a part of curriculum in all schools, so that all learn before they are diverged into different study subjects for degree/ colleges. Public awareness programs should be directed to society.


Two prominent and similar pumice series were described on Thera in 1879— the Upper and Lower Pumice Series (UPS and LPS). Since then, geologists have treated the two series separately because they seemingly occurred at distinct levels and had different ages. Here we show that these two pumice series are identical; there is no LPS on Santorini. All stratigraphic conclusions based on the LPS from Santorini should therefore be discarded. The water-filled Santorini caldera with its steep inner slopes existed before the eruption. Volcano-tectonic effects in connection with caldera formation created concentric terraces that were mantled by the products of the Late Bronze Age (LBA) eruption. Subsequent erosion only left remnants of the mantle behind. Topographic effects followed by slumping during sedimentation caused confusion of the stratigraphy on the caldera wall. Our results are supported by geological, paleontological and archaeological evidence. Furthermore, the caldera with its minerals, pigments, harbours and hot springs was accessible for the Thereans. This reinterpretation opens new perspectives for archaeological research. The catastrophic LBA eruption (previously called the Minoan eruption) destroyed a flourishing culture on Santorini and impacted neighbouring cultures around 1613 BC.


[3H]Prazosin and [3H]WB4101 [2-(2,6-dimethoxyphenoxyethyl)aminomethyl-1,4 benzodioxane] have both been proposed to label alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in the rat central nervous system. As many discrepancies between the binding of these two ligands have arisen, we conducted these studies in order to reevaluate their binding characteristics and resolve the similarities and differences in the pharmacological characteristics of their respective binding sites. [3H]Prazosin binding is characterized by a monophasic saturation isotherm. Prazosin, indoramine, and dihydroergocryptine competitions with [3H]prazosin are steep and monophasic, and model best to a single binding site. In contrast, phentolamine and WB4101 competition curves are shallow in rat cortex, exhibiting Hill coefficients significantly less than 1.0, and model to two binding sites of approximately equal proportions. The higher and lower affinity components are defined as alpha 1A and alpha 1B, respectively. [3H]WB4101 also labels two binding sites in rat cortex and hippocampus with picomolar and nanomolar affinity, respectively. However, the nanomolar binding site is serotonergic and not adrenergic. The picomolar site (KD = 150 pm) has characteristics of an alpha 1-receptor binding site: prazosin, WB4101, and phentolamine affinities for this [3H]WB4101 binding site correlate with their affinities for the highest affinity component (alpha 1A) of [3H]prazosin binding. In addition, the Bmax of this [3H] WB4101-labeled site is equal to one-half of the total [3H]prazosin Bmax. Agonist competitions with [3H]prazosin binding are multiphasic with pseudo-Hill slopes less than 1.0 and with a rank order of affinity of epinephrine greater than norepinephrine greater than phenylephrine. When binding to the alpha 1A component is blocked by a 30 nM phentolamine mask, the same rank order of agonist affinities is preserved. Although the affinities of epinephrine and norepinephrine at the two subtypes are identical, phenylephrine is weaker at the alpha 1B site. The ratio of the potency of phentolamine versus prazosin is about 4 at the alpha 1A component but about 80 at the alpha 1B binding site. We discuss these data in relation to the reported potencies of these antagonists in blocking alpha 1-receptor-mediated responses which may correlate with our designation of alpha 1A or alpha 1B binding sites.


Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease resulting in the selective destruction of the insulin producing β-cells in the pancreas. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and the free radical nitric oxide (NO) have been implicated in mediating the destruction of β-cells, possibly through activation of the mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) JNK, ERK and p38. In addition to MAPKs, cytokine signaling also results in activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB). The upstream signaling events leading to MAPK and NF-κB activation in β-cells are not well known. The work presented in this thesis therefore aims at characterizing the regulation of MAPKs and NF-κB in human islets, with emphasis on the role of the MAPK activator MAP/ERK kinase kinase-1 (MEKK-1) in islet cell death. It was found that MEKK-1 was phosphorylated in response to the nitric oxide donor DETA/NONOate (DETA/NO), the β-cell toxin streptozotocin (STZ) and pro-inflammatory cytokines and that MEKK-1 downstream signaling in response to the same treatments involved activation of JNK but not ERK and p38. MEKK-1 was also found to be essential for cytokine-induced NF-κB activation. MEKK-1 downregulation protected human islet cells from DETA/NO-, STZ, and cytokine-induced cell death. Furthermore, overexpression of the NF-κB subunit c-Rel protected human islet cells from STZ and hydrogen peroxide-induced cell death indicating that NF-κB activity protects against cell death in human islets. In summary, these results support an essential role for MEKK-1 in the activation of JNK and NF-κB, with important consequences for human islet cell death and that strategies preventing human islets death by inhibition of the JNK pathway instead of NF-κB might be suitable.


While in the evolutionary game theory, the deterministic dynamics is mainly assumed, the stochastic dynamics as well as deterministic dynamics has been assumed in the recent several studies. A previous study developed a stochastic model of two-player games and specified the conditions required for natural selection to favor an invader eventually replacing the population consisting of the resident strategies in finite populations (Nowak et al.). It has been shown that the fixation probability of a single mutant in a population of resident strategies can be greater than 1/N, the fixation probability expected in the absence of natural selection, even when the resident strategy is ESS in the traditional sense. And Nowak et al. has derived the simple rule called the one-third law. Kurokawa and Ihara extended the two player games to n-player games and derived the {2/[n(n+1)]}1/(n–1) law (where n is the group size) as a generalized version of the one-third law. However, the {2/[n(n+1)]}1/(n–1) law holds true for some specific case, and when the law ({2/[n(n+1)]}1/(n–1) law) holds true is unexplored. This paper examines when the law ({2/[n(n+1)]}1/(n–1) law) holds true, and in addition, derives another extension of one-third law (1/[1+(n) 1/(n–1)] law).


While satellite clock combinations are routinely utilized within the IGS, they currently disregard the fact that some ACs provide integer clocks. Users have been expected to choose either a robust combined solution or select individual AC solutions that provide integer clocks allowing the user to compute a PPP-AR solution. The goal of our investigation was to develop and test a robust satellite clock combination preserving the integer nature of the clocks and therefore the carrier-phase ambiguities at the user end.
Two sets of combined clock products were generated: 1) combined integer satellite clock products, and 2) IGS clocks aligned to integer clocks. The combined products were evaluated in the position domain by processing GPS data from 29 IGS stations, observed during DOY 178 to 184 of 2016. mm-level differences were noted, which was expected as the strength lies mainly in its reliability and stable median performance and the combined product is better than or equivalent to any single AC's product in the combination process. IGS clock products aligned to an AC integer clocks yielded the best PPP-AR results, for both static and kinematic solutions.


The development of early warning indicators that identify ecosystem stress is a priority for improving ecosystem management. As microbial communities respond rapidly to environmental disturbance, monitoring their composition could prove one such early indicator of environmental stress. We combined 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the seagrass root microbiome of Halophila ovalis with seagrass health metrics (biomass, productivity and Fsulphide) to develop microbial indicators for seagrass condition across the Swan-Canning Estuary and the Leschenault Estuary (south-west Western Australia); the former which had experienced an unseasonal rainfall event leading to declines in seagrass health. Microbial indicators detected sites of potential stress that other seagrass health metrics failed to detect. Genera that were more abundant in 'healthy' seagrasses included putative methylotrophic bacteria (e.g. Methylotenera and Methylophaga), iron cycling bacteria (e.g. Deferrisoma and Geothermobacter) and N2 fixing bacteria (e.g. Rhizobium). Conversely, genera that were more abundant in 'stressed' seagrasses were dominated by putative sulphur-cycling bacteria, both sulphide-oxidising (e.g. Candidatus Thiodiazotropha and Candidatus Electrothrix) and sulphate-reducing (e.g. SEEP-SRB1, Desulfomonile and Desulfonema). The sensitivity of the microbial indicators developed here highlights their potential to be further developed for use in adaptive seagrass management, and emphasises their capacity to be effective early warning indicators of stress.


This best practice guide to teaching in the further education and skills sector, and professional organisational learning contexts, examines the key concepts underpinning effective teaching and learning and combines this with case studies which demonstrate meaningful connections between theory and practice.

Each chapter also contains discussion questions, learning activities and reflective points, allowing you to further engage with key research and relate it to your own teaching.

Offering pragmatic advice on learning design, support and delivery, coverage includes:

· Identifying learning needs and objectives
· Selecting and developing appropriate content
· Using technology to enhance learning
· Assessment, evaluation and reflection
This is an indispensible resource for anyone preparing to teach in Further Education, current Higher Education lecturers and work-based learning trainers in private and public-sector organisations.