Protein kinases are an important class of drug targets with approval of 40 drugs treating diseases in immunology, inflammation and oncology. Early enablement of parallel synthetic chemistry produced large numbers of compound sets for screening, many of which were dominated by classic sp2–sp2 coupling reactions. This resulted in relatively lipophilic molecules that had unfavorable ADME properties. With the advances in synthetic organic chemistry and kinase crystallography, medicinal chemists have the power to rationally design and synthesize potent small molecule binders of kinases in drug like chemical space. Coupled with the recent focus on efficiency, more kinase inhibitors overlap potency, selectivity and ADME. Kinases can be targeted with ATP competitive inhibitors, but the architecture of the binding pockets are dynamic and the corresponding electrostatics, size and shape of the pockets can have a big impact on small molecule properties. In addition, allosteric binding pockets present other, unique pockets with different ligand requirements. In this chapter, we explore the properties of kinase pockets and the properties of small molecules targeting different pockets of the kinase landscape. In addition, property comparisons are made from different kinase inhibitor sets, including type I and II kinase inhibitors and the most recent approved drug set.


Background: The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is a small bony fish that has genetic information and organ systems similar to those seen in human beings. The zebrafish has many advantages as an experimental animal model. There have been studies of zebrafish skin, especially epidermis, but there have been no studies about the elastic fibers in zebrafish skin. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the age-related, ultrastructural changes seen in the elastic fibers in zebrafish skin using electron microscopy. Methods: We examined zebrafish skin using elastic tissue stains, the results of which were confirmed with polymerase chain reaction. We observed the ultrastructural features and age-related degenerative changes using transmission electron microscopy. Results: Elastic fibers existed as a band-like layer beneath the epidermal basement membrane in zebrafish skin, which consisted of electron-dense homogeneous core material and microfibrils surrounding it and scattered inside. Elastic fibers were prominent and compact at 30 days post-fertilization. However, with aging, they started to develop small cysts and lacunae, and finally became fragmented and cracked. Conclusion: In zebrafish skin, elastic fibers exist beneath the epidermal basement membrane and, similar to human elastic fibers, show morphologic changes with age. Therefore, this study suggests that zebrafish skin may be useful in elastic tissue research.


The attempt of the Georgian government to reform and restructure its military forces in the past ten years demonstrates the difficulty of conducting Western-style defense reform in postconflict states, which have not seen a formal end to armed conflict. Western-style reforms were intended to bring Georgia greater peace, stability, and accountability, with the added benefit of training additional soldiers to support regional peacekeeping operations. Domestic political imperatives within Georgia, however, demanded that the government restore the territorial integrity of the state by "reintegrating" South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Adjara. In this context, additional organizational and doctrinal interoperability of Georgian forces was desirable, but only to the extent that it enabled Georgian forces to meet these primary domestic political requirements. For Georgia, a country with a weak military tradition and unresolved domestic conflicts causing political controversy at home, military reform was not just an abstract step toward democracy but a potential means to an end of resolving those same conflicts by force or threat of force.


Extensive research has been conducted on unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), used for critical applications, such as military or search and rescue operations. As all those unmanned vehicles use wireless communications due to mobility constraints, it is therefore important to further define the limits of high reliability communication links in operational environments. The practical importance of this study relates to applications where antennas are located very close to plane surfaces e.g. small, unmanned, vehicles used for exploration, monitoring or rescue purposes in confined spaces. An empirical channel model allows better understanding of the RF propagation mechanisms and enables optimisation of the sensor network with certain reliability levels.


Current federal and state regulations related to brownfields promote applicable practices that contain inherent problems. The primary issue with federal and state regulations governing brownfields is that risk assessment measures and spatial distribution of contaminants are not prominently factored in brownfield redevelopment. These boundaries of the contaminants are critical for establishing proper protection of the potential exposed population such as clean-up workers. Recent public domain software developments such as the Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA) software can provide a reliable and cost effective tool for developing a comprehensive approach to brownfield redevelopment which will account for the spatial distribution of the contaminants and provide a rational solution to critical operational issues such as hotspots, restrictive zones for the protection of workers, and prioritization of clean-up operations.
Actual data from a real brownfield site in Cook County, Illinois was used in this study to evaluate SADA applicability to brownfield redevelopment. Using SADA, a sample design was established using historical data and implemented at the site. The data captured from the SADA identified site investigation was useful to identify hotspots of contaminants of concern and creation of worker restrictive zones based on future redevelopment. The results for the brownfield site classified statically significant to actual results observed and appears SADA is appropriate tool for brownfield redevelopment


Untreated streptozocin-induced diabetic (STZ-D) rats have previously been shown to have significantly increased hypothalamic concentrations of neuropeptide Y (NPY), a regulatory peptide that powerfully stimulates eating and drinking and inhibits secretion of several pituitary hormones when injected centrally. Tissue NPY concentrations have been measured by radioimmunoassay in selected hypothalamic regions microdissected from fresh, unfixed brain slices to localize diabetes-associated NPY changes precisely within the hypothalamus. Significant (35–200%) increases in NPY concentrations (P < .01 vs. matched nondiabetic controls) were found in specific hypothalamic regions between 3 and 14 wk after induction of STZ-D. These regions included the paraventricular and ventromedial nuclei and lateral hypothalamic area, major appetite-regulating areas that are sensitive to the hyperphagic and polydipsic actions of NPY. Increased NPYergic activity in these areas may, at least partly, drive the increased eating and drinking characteristic of STZ-D. NPY concentrations were also increased in the arcuate nucleus and medial preoptic area. Because both of these regions are important in modulating pituitary hormone secretion, local NPY increases may be involved in the impaired secretion of luteinizing hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, growth hormone, and prolactin known to occur in STZ-D. Our finding of NPY increases in specific hypothalamic nuclei associated with functional changes found in STZ-D suggests that this peptide may have a role in the altered metabolic and neuroendocrine regulation of the syndrome.


Introduction Less than 10% of unnatural death cases have been examined by autopsy in Japan. In particular, the causes of death in the elderly have not yet been actively investigated. Here, we evaluated the possible use of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) to investigate the causes of sudden unexpected natural death (SUND) in the elderly. Methods and subjects Death cases confirmed within 24 hours since the onset of symptoms at the Emergency Department of Mie University Hospital were defined as sudden death cases. A total of 212 sudden death cases, including 175 SUND cases, that occurred in a 3-year period from September 2006 to August 2009 were investigated. Results and discussion The number of sudden death cases was highest in patients in their seventies (56 cases, 26%), followed by patients in their eighties and sixties. Sudden death occurred more in men than in women in their fifties to seventies, while it occurred more in women than in men over the age of 90. PMCT was performed in more than 80% of SUND cases regardless of age of the deceased. The causes in 26 cases (27.1%) were established by PMCT, many of which were hemorrhagic diseases. Signs of aortic aneurysm rupture were detected by PMCT in the thoracic and abdominal areas of 8 patients in their seventies and over, whereas signs were absent in the younger group. Also, more than 18% of sudden death cases in patients in their seventies and over were bathing-related sudden death (BRSD). BRSD was rarely caused by hemorrhagic diseases, suggesting that a drop in blood pressure caused by bathing is an important factor in BRSD. Conclusion PMCT is a method that is relatively acceptable by bereaved families. It is useful for establishing the causes of approximately 30% of the SUND cases examined. The PMCT findings suggested that early detection and treatment of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms and preventive measurements of bathing-related drop in blood pressure are important for the prevention of SUND in the elderly.


The goal of water quality management on stream and watershed is to focus not on discharged loads management but on a water quality management. Discharged loads management is not goal of water quality management but way for perform with total maximum daily loads management. It is necessary to estimate the relation between non-point source with stromwater runoff (NPSSR) and water quality to select a watershed where it is required to manage NPSSR for water quality improvement. To evaluate the effects of NPSSR on stream``s water quality, we compare the aspects of water quality in dry and wet seasons using flow duration curve analysis based on flow rate variation data by actual surveying. In this study we attempt to quantify the variation characteristic of water quality and estimate the Inflow characteristic of pollution source with water quality and flow rate monitoring on 10 watersheds. We try to estimate water quality and flow rate by regression analysis and try again regression analysis with each high and low water quality data more than estimations. An analysis of relation between water quality and flow rate of 10 watersheds shows that the water quality of the Nonsan and the Ganggyeong streams had been polluted by NPSSR pollutants. Other eight streams were important point source more than NPSSR. It is wide variation range of BOD5 also high average concentration of BOD5. We have to quantify water quality variation by cv1 in wet season and cv365 in dry season with comparing the estimate of high water quality and low water quality. This method can be used to indicator for water quality variation according to flow rate.


In this paper, we show that the price spreads of copper and aluminium's futures in the London Metal Exchange (LME) and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) have strong predictive power of China's net imports of the corresponding commodities 2 months later. The modified Diebold–Mariano test of Harvey et al. (International Journal of Forecasting, 13, 1997, 281) indicates that our futures‐based model significantly outperforms the ARIMA model and static model in terms of 1‐month‐ahead out‐of‐sample forecasts of net imports. Moreover, the market timing test of Clements (Evaluating Econometric Forecasts of Economic and Financial Variables, 2005, Palgrave Macmillan, Xxxxx) indicates that there is a significantly high correlation between the predicted signs of our model and the actual outcomes. When sorting all sign predictions according to the absolute magnitude of the out‐of‐sample movements, our proposed model achieves a 100 per cent forecasting accuracy for both copper and aluminium when predicting the largest movements at the top 10 percentile.


Abstract Commercial turtle harvest is considered one of the major contributing factors to declines in turtle populations. Few long-term studies have evaluated turtle population response to harvest and little is known about demographic rates for many turtle species. We gathered demographic rates from the literature for snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), smooth softshells (Apalone mutica), and spiny softshells (Apalone spinifera), which are harvested in Missouri, and developed deterministic, density-independent, stage-based matrix models to assess turtle population response to plausible harvest rates we estimated from field sampling. Further, we used population modeling to determine annual harvest rates that would result in &lgr;  =  1 for each demographic scenario. We developed one model for snapping turtles and another for both softshell species combined due to the lack of available species-specific demographic data for either softshell species. Using mean demographic rates for survival and fecundity, snapping turtle populations had a growth rate (&lgr;) of 1.023; at minimum demographic rates &lgr;  =  0.891 and at maximum demographic rates &lgr;  =  1.199. When we applied plausible, field-estimated annual harvest rates under mean demographic rates, populations decreased in all instances except when harvesting only juveniles at the minimum harvest rate. At mean demographic rates, annual harvest of both adults and juveniles should be ≤ 2.3% to maintain a stationary population (&lgr;  =  1). For softshell turtles, &lgr; was 0.952 at mean demographic rates, 0.838 at minimum demographic rates, and 1.163 at maximum demographic rates. Under mean and minimum demographic rates, no field-estimated harvest could be sustained, as any annual harvest rate resulted in &lgr; < 1. For both snapping turtles and softshells, harvest was sustainable when demographic rates were at the maximum values, which are highly improbable to occur frequently: annual harvest of 16.3% of both adult and juvenile softshells and 18.6% of adult and juvenile snapping turtles resulted in &lgr; ≥ 1. In both species, elasticity analyses demonstrated that adults, which are the most vulnerable to commercial harvest, were the most important segment of the population demographically. These results corroborate the findings of other studies which indicate that even low annual harvest rates may have detrimental effects on the long-term sustainability of turtle populations at localized scales.


How Will the Proposed E-Discovery Rules Influence Your Practice? BY the time you read this article, the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing the discovery of electronically stored information are likely to have been approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States. The Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure at the Judicial Conference developed the comprehensive package of rule amendments. After approval by the Judicial Conference, the Supreme Court of the United States will consider the amendments, and, if promulgated by the Court before May 1, 2006, the amendments will take effect on December 1, 2006, unless Congress intervenes. Approval of the amendments to the procedural rules at the Judicial Conference almost invariably leads to promulgation by the Supreme Court and acquiescence by Congress, but electronic discovery is complex and controversial. Consequently, certain amendments have drawn opposition from some elements of the plaintiff bar and special interest groups. On the whole, however, bench, bar, and academia have supported the amendment package because it is balanced, moderate, and it will provide helpful guidance in a very difficult area.1 The amendments are a well integrated package that carefully strikes a balance among a variety of views and in many key areas. While they do not solve all of the problems that attorneys have identified to the Rules Committees, the proposals should help to redress the current imbalance in electronic discovery and should contribute to reducing the burdens, costs, and uncertainty associated with electronic discovery. The amendments should advance the essential purposes of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and bring electronic discovery closer to the mandate of Federal Rule 1 and within the bounds of proportionality and balance toward which discovery has been trending over the past twenty years. The Standing Committee and its Civil Rules Advisory Committee have heard and examined view points from a wide spectrum of interested parties throughout what has been an intensive multi-year study and debate. The Standing Committee noted in its September, 2005 Report: The advisory committee first heard about problems with computer-based discovery at a discovery conference in 1996. In 1999, the then-chair laid out the advisory committee's daunting mission to devise "mechanisms for providing full disclosure in a context where potential access to information is virtually unlimited and in which full discovery could involve burdens far beyond anything justified by the interests of the parties to the litigation." The advisory committee began intensive work on this subject in 2000.2 The Report also points out that many bar organizations, attorneys, computer specialists, and members of the public, "devoted much time and energy in helping the rules committees understand and address the serious problems arising from discovery of electronically stored information."3 Study of the issues included several conferences that brought together lawyers, academics, judges, litigants, and experts in information technology with a variety of experiences and viewpoints. Indeed, three public hearings were held at which seventy-four witnesses testified and an additional 180 written comments were submitted. Many of the witnesses who testified and wrote comments were IADC members. Discovery of Electronically Stored Information is Unique The Report also highlights the unique character of e-discovery, which raises markedly different issues from conventional discovery of paper records. Electronically stored information is characterized by exponentially greater volume than hardcopy documents. Computer information, unlike paper, is dynamic. Merely turning a computer on or off can alter the information it stores. Computers operate by overwriting and deleting information, often without the operator's specific direction or knowledge. …


As compared with some other countries of the world, Korea is a well mapped land. This brief review lists some of the major maps and sets of maps of the peninsula which are useful to those interested in Korea. Old Korean maps. Korean scholars for their use in studies of Chinese and Korean literature and for their administrative work if they were chosen for government posts prepared small hand atlases. Some of these atlases have been collected by Western scholars and copies are found in the Library of Congress, American Geographical Society Library, New York Public Library and a number of other map collections. These atlases are usually made up of maps of the world, China, Korea, the eight provinces of Korea, Japan and the Loo Choo Islands.They are hand drawn and copied from some prototype. On their margins or on the reverse side of each map are brief gazetteers or comments. A description of the China-centered world map was given by Homer B. Hulburt, "An ancient map of the world," Bulletin of the American geographical society, 36 (1904), 600–05. The atlas was described and reproduced in part by H. Cordier in Description d'un atlas Sino-Coréen. Manuscript du British Museum (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1896). A Japanese, Otani, prepared a 37 page catalogue of old Korean maps which was published by the Keijo Imperial University, Seoul, in 1933, but a copy of this has not been found in American libraries.


Let l be a prime, and let Γ be a finite subgroup of GLn(Fl) = GL(V ). With these assumptions we say that Condition (C) holds if for every irreducible Γ-submodule W ⊂ ad V there exists an element g ∈ Γ with an eigenvalue α such that tr eg,αW 6= 0. Here, eg,α denotes the projection to the generalised α-eigenspace of g. This condition arises in the definition of adequacy in section 2. Let Γ denote the subset of Γ consisting of the elements that are semisimple (i.e. of order prime to l).


This paper studies the feedback effects of social media on corporate investment decisions. Using a comprehensive sample of millions of tweets from a popular social media network, I show that negative social media feedback around the announcement of a corporate acquisition increases the likelihood that the M&A deal is subsequently withdrawn, especially when the relevant tweets have a higher prominence and visibility, and when the acquiring firm's stock has low price informativeness. This effect is not subsumed by the announcement returns of the acquiring and target firm or the reaction to the M&A announcement in traditional news media. Managers use feedback from social media as a substitute for other sources of information to help guide their investment decisions.


Syngeneic transplantation of rat islets into subcutaneous tissue failed to cure streptozocin diabetes. The reason is unknown, but poor vascularization may play a role. We hypothesize that if a well-vascularized subcutaneous site could be created, islet grafts would do well. Four hundred freshly isolated mouse islets were transplanted syngeneically under the renal capsule or into the intraperitoneal cavity and compared with 800 islets in subcutaneous tissue of streptozocin-diabetic mice. Four weeks after transplantation, 14 of 14 under the renal capsule, 4 of 8 in the intraperitoneal site, and 0 of 7 in the subcutaneous tissue site achieved normoglycemia. To create vascularized organoids, we transplanted 800 mouse islets into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or polyglycolic acid (PGA) polymers in subcutaneous tissue of streptozocin-diabetic mice either immediately (four in PVA and six in PGA) or 7 days (four in PVA and four in PGA) after implantation. Four weeks after transplantation, the mean blood glucose level and body weight had no change with PVA. However, the mean body weight increased significantly with PGA and 3/10 became normoglycemic. When transplanting 400 islets with PGA polymers intraperitoneally, all animals (n=5) remained hyperglycemic 3 months later. In contrast, four of five recipients transplanted with 800 islets with PGA polymers subcutaneously became normoglycemic. The grafts from successful animals contained numerous revascularized islets containing a substantial amount of insulin. These preliminary results indicate that subcutaneous islet transplantation using PGA polymers can improve the metabolic status and, in some cases, even cure diabetes in streptozocin-diabetic mice.


This study was conducted to find out the study skills of Miriam College High School (MCHS) students and to serve as basis for a proposed Study Skills Program. A total of 144 fourth year students who came from the Grade School unit of MC in school year 2007-2008 participated in the study. At entry and after four years, these students were given the questionnaire, Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA). Mean scores were computed. Graphs were also used to illustrate the results between the pre-test and post-test. Multivariate Repeated Measures was done to find out if the mean difference between the pre-test and post-test is significant or not. Results showed a significant increase between the pre-test to the post-test in Work Method but no significant increase across groups in all SSHA scales.


As the publisher indicates, this book is a completely updated and translated edition of the author's famous 1995 book ''Atlas zur Biologie der Wasserinsekten''. The original title was generally not available in the US and, of course, it was written in German! I concur strongly with the forward to this book written by the distinguished professor, Vincent H. Resh: ''This book is both a pleasure to study or just to peruse''. The great appeal of this book is the 912 illustrative and often stunning scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs and 156 additional text figures. The SEMs are exceptionally clear and carefully chosen to depict specific characteristics. All orders of aquatic and semiaquatic insects from around the world are treated from the Collembola or springtails to ichneumon ''diving wasps''. Coverage of the orders emphasizes respiratory and osmoregulatory adaptations, developmental cycles, and unique morphological features. The subheadings throughout the book are useful, allowing quick reference. Examples for each order are usually the taxa that are unique or remarkable in exhibiting features of great interest to the aquatic biologist. For instance, the text provides enlightening discussions of the function of chloride cells found in stonefly larvae; how the chrysomelid beetle Macroplea bites into a stalk of Potamogeton to release a bubble of oxygen to be incorporated into its plastron by hydrophobic antennae; the remarkable mating behavior of the nonwinged female water moth Acentria ephemerella; and illustrations of the 152 adhesive devices on the foreleg of a male dytiscid beetle! I want to emphasize that the plethora of information provided in this book should be incorporated in any course on aquatic entomology, ecology, or stream biology of aquatic insects. In addition, this book provides numerous useful literature citations for each order of aquatic and semiaquatic insects, several of which are not included in North American textbooks. The authors succinctly summarize the important findings of these often-classic citations. The cost of the book is very reasonable; however, it appears the book is not available through common US outlets, and may have to be ordered directly from the publisher. As a superb reference, this book should be on the shelves of anyone who is interested in aquatic insects or aquatic biology.


The Double-Edged Helix explores the impact of recent genetic discoveries on both different population segments and society as a whole. The authors address the medical and ethical implications of the new technologies, outlining potential positive and negative effects of genetic research on minorities, individuals with disabilities, and those of diverse sexual orientations. Presenting a wide array of perspectives, this book emphasizes the need to ensure that research into genetics research does not result in discrimination against people on the basis of their DNA.


Recent work in neuroscience suggests that there is a common coding in the brain between perception, imagination and execution of movement. Further, this common coding is considered to allow people to recognize their own movements when presented as abstract representations, and coordinate with these movements better. We are investigating how this 'own movement effect' could be extended to improve the interaction between players and game avatars, and how it might be leveraged to augment players' cognition. To examine this question, we have designed and developed a tangible puppet interface and 3D virtual environment that are tailored to investigate the mapping between player and avatar movements. In a set of two experiments, we show that when the puppet interface is used to transfer players' movements to the avatar, the players are able to recognize their own movements, when presented alongside others' movements. In both experiments, players did not observe their movements being transferred to the avatar, and the recognition occurred after a week of the transfer. Since the recognition effect persisted even with these two handicaps, we conclude that this is a robust effect, and the puppet interface is effective in personalizing an avatar, by transferring a player's own movements to the virtual character.


This qualitative study describes and interprets how two educational leadership programs, participants in the UCEA (University Council for Educational Administration) Program Design Network Improvement Community, identified and responded to a problem of practice by focusing on the needs of each program regarding the recruitment, selection, admission, and retention of candidates from underrepresented groups. Through collaborative learning and research, the programs were able to guide the change processes of their institutional structures to focus on attracting more diverse applicant pools that are more focused on issues of diversity in the schools they will serve.


The Frio Brine pilot is a closely monitored, small-volume (1,600 tons), short-duration experiment using injection of CO2 into high-permeability brine-bearing sandstone to test the feasibility of geologic sequestration. The experiment differed from the geoscience and engineering community's extensive previous experience in injection of CO2 and other fluids into the subsurface. It was, from inception to completion, focused on assessing monitoring strategies. An important objective of this study is to convey lessons learned to the next generation of developers of geologic CO2-injection-pilot projects. For the experiment, CO2 was injected for 10 days 1500 m below the surface. The evolution of the plume was successfully monitored with diverse tools, including downhole pressure and temperature, wireline logging, fluid sampling, cross-well techniques, and vertical seismic profiling. The injection period was brief and the formation was steeply dipping with high permeability; therefore the nineteen months since injection period takes us well into the post injection phase of monitoring. As predicted, CO2 remains stored within the formation. Surface leak detection techniques have thus far failed to detect any clear evidence of leakage except immediately above the injection zone, probably through engineered systems.


This paper discusses the dedications of three early medieval grammatical treatises: Aldhelm's Epistola ad Acircium, Boniface's Ars grammatica, and the Expossitio latinitatis (Anonymus ad Cuimnanum), which was probably written by an Irish author working in Bobbio. Grammatical texts are treated very freely in the textual transmission, as they are frequently excerpted, expanded or combined. This applies also to their paratextual elements such as letters, prefaces, and addresses, which might explain the reason why dedications of early medieval grammatical works are rarely found and why all three authors try to connect their dedications to the text on various levels. Although they employ traditional topoi such as praise of the dedicatees, apology of one's own work, and defence from critics, they show a self-awareness of their role as grammarians and authors. In talking to their dedicatees, for example, they stylise themselves as teachers addressing their pupils. The defence of grammar as an indispensable tool for buttressing religious life plays an important role in all three works. The incorporation of prayers, which are put in relation to the dedications, enhances this religious role, which is pushed by the Anonymus and Aldhelm so far as to ask for divine grace and inspiration for their works.


Enteric fever is a severe public health threat because of the rising antibiotic resistance of Salmonella species in developing countries, especially in its endemic areas like Bangladesh. This retrospective study was aimed to assess the effectiveness of a range of 17 commonly used antimicrobials against Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi A isolated from 601 enteric fever cases in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Conventional biochemical tests were used to identify Salmonella strains and the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method to perform the antibiotic sensitivity in SAIC Digital Diagnostic Lab, Dhaka. The 2017 Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guideline was employed to interpret the antibiogram results, and statistical software SPSS (version 22.0) to analyze the obtained data. The number of male patients (54.74%) dominated over their female counterparts (45.26%). The patients aged from 1 month to 75 years, with a mean of 19.74±12.79 years. Among 601 Salmonella spp. isolates, S. Typhi (56.57%) prevailed over S. Paratyphi A (43.42%). Both strains showed >85% antimicrobial insusceptibility to three major antibiotics: ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and amikacin. S. Typhi (65.29%) showed significantly greater resistance to azithromycin compared to S. Paratyhi A (14.9%) (p<0.001). Both pathogens reported over 95% sensitivity to ceftriaxone, cefixime, ceftazidime, amoxiclav, cephalexin, aztreonam, imipenem, and cefuroxime. To conclude, this study found an increased antibiotic resistance of Salmonella spp. to commonly prescribed antibiotics. These findings would help physicians and policymakers make informed decisions and provide better treatment to the affected patients.


The molecular distribution of insulin‐like growth factor I (IGF‐I) and IGF‐II among the IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) was studied before and during IGF‐I therapy in Ecuadorean adults with growth hormone receptor deficiency (GHRD). Of the total circulating IGF‐I and IGF‐II, 70% was carried by the 150 kDa complex in normal subjects, while in patients with GHRD, 50% of serum IGF‐I, but only 30–35% of serum IGF‐II, was measured within the 150 kDa IGFBP‐3 region. Administration of IGF‐I altered the concentration of IGF‐I and IGF‐II, although the percentage of total IGF measured within each IGFBP region was not affected, as the increase in IGF‐I and the decrease in IGF‐II were proportional. Similarly, serum concentrations of IGFBP‐3 and the acid‐labile subunit, measured by radioimmunoassay, were unaltered. Thus, administration of IGF‐I to patients with GHRD was unable to correct the aberrant distribution of IGFs among the IGFBPs.


Colloidal quantum dots (QDs) show great promise as LED phosphors due to their tunable narrow-band emission and ability to produce high-quality white light. Currently, the most suitable QDs for lighting applications are based on cadmium, which presents a toxicity problem for consumer applications. The most promising cadmium-free candidate QDs are based on InP, but their quality lags much behind that of cadmium based QDs. This is not only because the synthesis of InP QDs is more challenging than that of Cd-based QDs, but also because the large lattice parameter of InP makes it difficult to grow an epitaxial, defect-free shell on top of such material. Here, we propose a viable approach to overcome this problem by alloying InP nanocrystals with Zn(2+) ions, which enables the synthesis of InxZnyP alloy QDs having lattice constant that can be tuned from 5.93 Å (pure InP QDs) down to 5.39 Å by simply varying the concentration of the Zn precursor. This lattice engineering allows for subsequent strain-free, epitaxial growth of a ZnSezS1-z shell with lattice parameters matching that of the core. We demonstrate, for a wide range of core and shell compositions (i.e., varying x, y, and z), that the photoluminescence quantum yield is maximal (up to 60%) when lattice mismatch is minimal.


It has been proposed that interactions between mammalian chromosomes, or transchromosomal interactions (also known as kissing chromosomes), regulate gene expression and cell fate determination. Here we aimed to identify novel transchromosomal interactions in immune cells by high-resolution genome-wide chromosome conformation capture. Although we readily identified stable interactions in cis, and also between centromeres and telomeres on different chromosomes, surprisingly we identified no gene regulatory transchromosomal interactions in either mouse or human cells, including previously described interactions. We suggest that advances in the chromosome conformation capture technique and the unbiased nature of this approach allow more reliable capture of interactions between chromosomes than previous methods. Overall our findings suggest that stable transchromosomal interactions that regulate gene expression are not present in mammalian immune cells and that lineage identity is governed by cis, not trans chromosomal interactions.


Utilizing gender as a lens for understanding the political decisions of Cherokee men in the Revolutionary era, this article examines the evolution of Cherokee manhood as Cherokee men renegotiated their masculinity in the wake of colonial pressures. A group known as the Chickamauga sought to maintain historic expressions of manhood and developed several strategies to do so. In particular, Chickamauga men worked tirelessly to establish pan-Indian alliances and to unite military efforts against American settlers. Amid these efforts, the warrior-diplomat emerged as a masculine ideal in Cherokee society.


We report a case of progressive visual failure and relentless, fatal paralysis in a 52-year-old man, immunosuppressed with mycophenolate mofetil. Neuropathological examination of the brain and spinal cord revealed the cause to be vacuolar myelopathy (VM). This condition is common in HIV-infected patients but is rarely reported outside this context. An association of VM with a progressive optic neuropathy has not previously been described. This report discusses the current hypotheses regarding the pathogenesis of HIV-associated VM, and lessons that can be learnt from the unusual cases occurring in HIV-negative individuals.

A 52-year-old gentleman of South Asian origin presented with a 2-month history of progressive visual failure. He had been blind in his left eye for some years due to glaucoma. He was immunosuppressed with mycophenolate mofetil (1 g twice daily), following an orthotopic liver transplant 10 years earlier for primary biliary cirrhosis. Subsequent to the transplant, he developed type II diabetes mellitus, controlled with gliclazide. While undergoing investigations to discover the cause of the visual failure, he developed a spinal cord syndrome that progressed relentlessly, leading to his death from respiratory failure less than 2 months after initial presentation.

Extensive investigations, including viral and bacterial serology, vasculitic screen, tumour markers, antineuronal antibodies, angiotensin-converting enzyme and multiple cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses, revealed few positive findings. He had active shingles, reflecting his immunocompromised state, and a persistent thrombocytopenia. MRI of his brain and spinal cord showed atrophy of the optic chiasm and tracts, signal change in the …


Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) commonly known as Kala-azar is one of the most neglected tropical disease affecting approximately 200 million poorest populations 'at risk in 109 districts of three endemic countries namely Bangladesh, India and Nepal at different levels. This tropical disease is caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani and transmitted by female Phlebotomus argentipes sand flies. The analysis of disease dynamics indicate the periodicity at seasonal and inter-annual temporal scale which forms the basis for development of advanced early warning system. Study area of highly endemic Vaishali district, Bihar, India has been taken for model development. A Systematic study of geo-environmental parameters derived from satellite data in conjunction with ground intelligence enabled modelling of infectious disease and risk villages. High resolution Indian satellites data of IRS LISS IV (multi-spectral) and Cartosat-1 (Pan) have been used for studying environmentally risk parameters viz. peri-domestic vegetation, dwelling condition, wetland ecosystem, cropping pattern, Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), detailed land use etc towards risk assessment. Univariate analysis of the relationship between vector density and various land cover categories and climatic variables suggested that all the variables are significantly correlated. Using the significantly correlated variables with vector density, a seasonal multivariate regression model has been carried out incorporating geo-environmental parameters, climate variables and seasonal time series disease parameters. Linear and non-linear models have been applied for periodicity and interannual temporal scale to predict Man-hour-density (MHD) and 'out-of-fit' data set used for validating the model with reasonable accuracy. To improve the MHD predictive approach, fuzzy model has also been incorporated in GIS environment combining spatial geo-environmental and climatic variables using fuzzy membership logic. Based on the perceived importance of the geoenvironmental parameters assigned by epidemiology expert, combined fuzzy membership has been calculated. The combined fuzzy membership indicate the predictive measure of vector density in each village. A γ factor has been introduced to have increasing effect in the higher side and decreasing effect in the lower side which facilitated for prioritisation of the villages. This approach is not only to predict vector density but also to prioritise the villages for effective control measures. A software package for modelling the risk villages integrating multivariate regression and fuzzy membership analysis models have been developed to estimate MHD (vector density) as part of the early warning system.


The internet is moving rapidly towards an interactive milieu where online communities and economies gain importance over their traditional counterparts. While this shift creates opportunities and benefits that have already improved our day-to-day life, it also brings a whole new set of problems. For example, the lack of physical interaction that characterizes most electronic transactions, leaves the systems much more susceptible to fraud and deception. Reputation mechanisms offer a novel and effective way of ensuring the necessary level of trust which is essential to the functioning of any market. They collect information about the history (i.e., past transactions) of market participants and make public their reputation. Prospective partners guide their decisions by considering reputation information, and thus make more informative choices. Online reputation mechanisms enjoy huge success. They are present in most e-commerce sites available today, and are seriously taken into consideration by human users. The economical value of online reputation raises questions regarding the trustworthiness of mechanisms themselves. Existing systems were conceived with the assumption that users will share feedback honestly. However, we have recently seen increasing evidence that some users strategically manipulate their reports. This thesis describes ways of making online reputation mechanisms more trustworthy by providing incentives to rational agents for reporting honest feedback. Different kinds of reputation mechanisms are investigated, and for each, I present mechanisms for rewarding the agents that report truthfully. Problems related to collusion (i.e., several agents coordinate their strategies in order to manipulate reputation information) and robustness are also investigated. Moreover, this thesis describes a novel application of incentive compatible reputation mechanisms to the area of quality of service monitoring, and investigates factors that motivate and bias human users when reporting feedback in existing review forums.


Pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis are predominant consequences of radiation exposure, whether planned or accidental. The present study, demonstrates radioprotective potential of a formulation, prepared by combining podophyllotoxin and rutin (G-003M), in mice exposed to 11 Gy thoracic gamma radiation (TGR). Treated mice were observed for survival and other symptomatic features. Formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS)/nitric oxide (NO) was measured in bronchoalveolar lavage cells. DNA damage and cell death were assessed in alveolar cells by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling assay. Total protein (TP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)/serum of mice to assess lung vascular permeability. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), cluster of differentiation 45, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nitrotyrosine were also estimated in lungs/BALF of differentially treated mice. Our observations revealed 100% survival in G-003M-pretreated mice against 66.50% in 11 Gy TGR exposed. Other symptoms like reduction in graying of hair, weight loss, and breathing rate were also observed in pretreated groups. Significant decline in ROS/NO and cell death in formulation pretreated mice were also observed. Decreased level of TP, LDH, and ALP in BALF/serum samples revealed G-003M-induced inhibition in lung permeability. Level of IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β1 in the lungs of these mice was found corresponding to control group at 8 weeks posttreatment. On the contrary, these cytokines raised significantly in 11 Gy TGR-exposed mice. Lung pneumonitis and fibrosis were found significantly countered in these mice. The observations revealed that G-003M could regulate immune system by curtailing radiation-induced oxidative and inflammatory stress, which has helped in minimizing radiation-inflicted pneumonitis and fibrosis.


Physical examination A reticulate hyperpigmented macular rash was present at the axillae, groins, extensor aspect of the upper limbs, buttocks, and thighs (Figure 1). Poikilodermatous changes were observed, with hypopigmented macules, epidermal atrophy and telangiectasia (Figure 2). Erythematous patches with epidermal atrophy were also seen, especially over the abdomen and chest (Figure 3). There were no mucosal lesions, palmar pits or nail dystrophy. No lymph nodes were palpable and hepatosplenomegaly was not detected.


Single-chain variable fragments (scFv) contain the heavy and light chain variable domains of immunoglobulin, joined by a short peptide linker. Previously, our laboratory has produced neutralizing scFv to epitopes of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). The in vitro delivery and expression of one of these scFv with and without the CH2-CH4 Fc domain of chicken IgY attached (scFv-Fc) by a serotype 8 fowl adenovirus (FAdV-8) vector was investigated in the present study. A panel of FAdV-8 vectors was constructed, each containing a different transgene (scFv or scFv-Fc), a different promoter to drive scFv and scFv-Fc transcription (CMVie or the fowl adenovirus major late promoter), and a different sized, right-hand end genomic deletion (52 bp or 2.3 kb). This panel was used to establish what effect these variables had on protein production, viral replication and scFv transcription, as measured by enzyme-linked imunosorbent assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results showed that, using a FAdV-8 vector containing the optimal CMVie promoter/2.3 kb deletion combination, we successfully expressed a secreted form of both scFv and scFv-Fc that were able to neutralize IBDV both in vitro and in ovo. These studies indicate that the FAdV-8 vector may be a promising candidate to deliver and express therapeutic molecules such as scFv and scFv-Fc in vivo in poultry.


Collocations are notoriously difficult for non-native speakers to translate, primarily because they are opaque and cannot be translated on a word-by-word basis. We describe a program named Champollion which, given a pair of parallel corpora in two different languages and a list of collocations in one of them, automatically produces their translations. Our goal is to provide a tool for compiling bilingual lexical information above the word level in multiple languages, for different domains. The algorithm we use is based on statistical methods and produces p-word translations of n-word collocations in which n and p need not be the same. For example, Champollion translates make...decision, employment equity, and stock market into prendre...decision, equite en matiere d'emploi, and bourse respectively. Testing Champollion on three years' worth of the Hansards corpus yielded the French translations of 300 collocations for each year, evaluated at 73% accuracy on average. In this paper, we describe the statistical measures used, the algorithm, and the implementation of Champollion, presenting our results and evaluation.


Scientists continually obtain new information that helps to understand the evolutionary history of life on Earth. Each group of organisms went through its own evolutionary journey, called its phylogeny. Each organism shares relatedness with others, and based on morphologic and genetic evidence scientists attempt to map the evolutionary pathways of all life on Earth. Historically, organisms were organized into a taxonomic classification system. However, today many scientists build phylogenetic trees to illustrate evolutionary relationships and the taxonomic classification system is expected to reflect evolutionary relationships.


Online dialogues can meaningfully engage a diverse audience and provide a method to both educate and interest the public in complex environmental and social issues. This article discusses a series of e-dialogues conducted for the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Canada in which the public engaged in discussions concerning the risk and uncertainty around the management of nuclear waste, disposal options, and decision-making under uncertain conditions. Although these dialogues were very successful and raised new issues of public concern, we encountered some difficulties as well. We discuss these difficulties and potential remedies for others contemplating the use of online dialogues.


In the paper, different phosphorus content Ni-P coatings was prepared by electroless plating. The microstructural changes of electroless Ni-P coatings on both as-deposited condition and heat treatment were investigated by X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The relationship between microstructure of Ni-P coatings and phosphorus content and heat treatment temperature were discussed. This conclusion provided a good theoretical basis for Ni-P coating using for wear and corrosion resistances in the technology of MEMS.


The main goal of this paper is to provide an analysis of key regulatory changes in the European merger control and to evaluate their real impact on the efficiency of merger regulation. Our main contribution is an empirical analysis of a unique representative sample of 161 horizontal mergers covering the final regulatory assessments during the period from 1990 to 2008. We use stock market data to identify those cases where there are discrepancies between the Commission and market evaluation of the merger. The PROBIT model is then used to further investigate the sources of these discrepancies. Our results suggest that the Commission's decisions are not purely explained by the motive of protecting consumer welfare and that other political and institutional factors do play a role in setting policy. We did not find evidence that the Commission protects competitors at the expense of consumers and foreign firms. Moreover, we conclude that the regulatory reform introduced in 2004 has significantly enhanced efficiency of the European merger control. To the authors' best knowledge, this paper is the first study using stock market data to evaluate an impact of the recent EU merger control.


Preparation technology of Zn- peptide complexes was studied and its effects on growth performance and serum biochemical indicators were investigated by feeding Oreochromis Niloticus with feedstuff containing Zn-peptide complexes. The optimal conditions of synthesis reaction for Zn-peptide complexes prepared by zinc with peptide were described in the following: pH 5.0, temperature 80°C, and mass ratio of peptide-Zn 4:1, reaction time 30 min. Under such conditions, yield of Zn-peptide complexes was up to 54%, chelating rate of Zn was 55%, and Zn content of the complex was 6.5×104 mg/kg. A new complex formed from Zinc with peptide was identified by spectrum analysis. The 49-day feeding experiment showed that the complexes remarkably increased specific growth rate, survival rate, content of lysozyme and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP). Feed conversion ratio was significantly reduced as the additive increased. The content of total protein, albumin, and globulin were elevated too. And growth performance, body immunity, anti-oxidation function of Oreochromis Niloticus was significantly increased while the amount of the additive was 2.4 ~ 4.8 g/kg feedstuff in the experiment.


Increasing competition among industries requires them to be intelligent in order to make their best decisions and remain competitive in the market. Nowadays both human and artificial intelligence have made many contributions to this purpose and have helped businesses tremendously to achieve their goals. This paper explains why industries need to realize that intelligence and creativity are two distinct disciplines, and each needs to be treated differently in combination with artificial intelligence (AI) in order to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in the future.


The optimization of tomato taste has gained importance during the last years following consumer demands of higher quality. At the same time consumers also demand a minimum impact on the environment during cultivation. The effect of conventional and organic cultivation on the sugar and acid profile of processing cultivars has been studied in the two main growing regions in Spain. Standard and high lycopene cultivars have been used in order to study the possibility of combining organoleptic and functional quality. High differences in the acid profile (malic vs. citric) and in the sugar accumulation of the cultivars were found. In some cases, the higher values in the content of taste-related compounds coincide with previously described high lycopene contents. The cultivation system had no significant effect on malic and citric acid accumulation, but it affected sugar accumulation and the sucrose equivalents (SEq) to citric and glutamic acid ratios. On average, 7.7 and 10.4% higher contents of glucose and fructose respectively were obtained with the organic cultivation system. The SEq to citric acid and SEq to glutamic acid ratios were consequently higher with this system (8.3 and 46.3% respectively). Organic cultivation of high lycopene cultivars might be an excellent selection to combine high organoleptic and functional quality targeted to quality markets.


Introduction: A benchmarking survey of Canadian health facility libraries was conducted to provide statistical data to support health librarians in the  anagement of their libraries. The objectives were to determine the status of hospital libraries in Canada and to evaluate whether libraries meet the 2006 CHLA/ABSC Standards for Library and Information Services in Canadian Healthcare Facilities. Methods: An online survey of 63 questions, with headings of institutional profile, administration, staffing, environment, resources, and services, was created and distributed to 250 heads of hospital libraries and to Canadian library email listservs. Results: Many libraries are meeting some aspects of the Standards for administration and organization, management, traditional promotion, and accessibility. Areas of improvement include services, nontraditional promotion, library environment, and staffing. Discussion: There are no current benchmarking data available for Canadian hospital libraries and there have been many political, economic, and technological changes in past years that have had a substantial impact on libraries. Anecdotal data suggest that librarians have responded to these changes through library closures, mergers, consortial affiliations, and modifications to services. Librarians will be able to use the collected data to compare services, establish best practices, make management decisions, and prepare self-studies for accreditation purposes.


Primary intracranial melanomas are rare and occur mainly in young adults. Originating from leptomeningeal melanoblasts and extending into the parenchyma, the tumours closely resemble meningiomas, from which they are radiologically difficult to distinguish despite progress in neuroimaging. Definitive diagnosis is usually made on histopathological examination, though confirmed only after post-mortem examination in some cases. Prolonged disease-free periods, and in rare cases long-term survival, are possible following successful total surgical excision. This case presented with typical clinical features but, at 79 years old, an unusual age.


Introduction So little is known of the geology of northeastern Brazil that no apology is needed for the obvious imperfections of the present paper. Most of the notes were taken during a trip along the coast and several trips across the sedimentary beds in 1899, but I was previously somewhat familiar with the geology of the region through my work there while a member of the Geological Survey of the Empire (the Commissao Geologica do Brazil), and from subsequent trips to the interior of Pernambuco. Fortunately I have been able also to obtain valuable contributions from several correspondents whose names are mentioned in the paper to supplement my own observations. Geology of the State of Parahyba do Norte RESULTS OF PREVIOUS AND PRESENT INVESTIGATIONS Aside from the very brief references cited beyond, the only paper ever published on the geology of the state of Parahyba do Norte is that of . . .


Research on interculturality and initial foreign language (FL) teacher education has focused mainly on the development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and few studies address said topic from a critical standpoint that might allow us to think about other ways of teaching and learning (T&L) a language. This article describes a research that sought to understand what intercultural perspective is included in three initial FL teacher education programs in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. The study is framed within a qualitative research logic, with a mixed focus and a multilevel concurrent nested design, which is characterized by the simultaneous gathering and analysis of qualitative and quantitative information. From the study, it is evident that the three undergraduate programs promote a reflexive and functional model, which establishes teacher education objectives, knowledge, and specific strategies, but also challenges to be undertaken.


A new adaptive control strategy, intended to improve the ride-through capability of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) systems under unbalanced network conditions and parameter uncertainties, is introduced. The proposed strategy resorts to a model reference adaptive control plus a resonant filter. The resonant filter scheme is based on a unique synchronous reference frame that prevents the use of the customary sequence component detector, increasing the controller bandwidth accordingly. Several tests are conducted to compare the proposed scheme against existing HVDC controllers, showing an improved performance regarding: 1) elimination of the 2ω ripple on the dc voltage arising during ac-side imbalances; 2) accurate and decoupled active and reactive power tracking when converter parameters are not perfectly known.


We investigate forecasting in models that condition on variables for which future values are unknown. We consider the role of the significance level because it guides the binary decisions whether to include or exclude variables. The analysis is extended by allowing for a structural break, either in the first forecast period or just before. Theoretical results are derived for a three-variable static model, but generalized to include dynamics and many more variables in the simulation experiment. The results show that the trade-off for selecting variables in forecasting models in a stationary world, namely that variables should be retained if their noncentralities exceed unity, still applies in settings with structural breaks. This provides support for model selection at looser than conventional settings, albeit with many additional features explaining the forecast performance, and with the caveat that retaining irrelevant variables that are subject to location shifts can worsen forecast performance.


Objectives: Keratoconus (KCN) is a disorder that usually appears during adolescence and progressively reduces visual acuity. KCN may lead to differences in personality features as a result of vision loss and the numerous clinical examinations and treatment methods used from a young age. The aim of this study was to better understand the psychological characteristics of KCN patients and to define possible correlations between corneal topographic parameters and psychological state. Methods: A total of 59 KCN cases were included in the study group and were compared with 65 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. All of the participants underwent a routine ophthalmic examination that included corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), biomicroscopy, and fundoscopy. The KCN patients were evaluated busing Scheimpflug corneal topography. Psychiatric evaluations were performed using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Short Form (EPQ), the Self-Confidence Scale, the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Results: The mean age of the case and control groups was 23.98±5.7 years and 25.82±5.4 years, respectively. The KCN cases had significantly higher EPQ neuroticism subscale scores; higher MOCI subscale scores, with the exception of the doubting subscale; and higher BDI scores. Analysis of the KCN duration revealed a positive correlation with the checking and slowness subscales of the MOCI, however, there was no significant correlation between the psychometric scale scores, corneal topographic parameters, and CDVA. Conclusion: A substantially asymmetrical course and a relatively long period for KCN to result in severe vision loss might explain the lack of correlations between psychological parameters and visual acuity. Nonetheless, the apparent effect of vision loss on emotional distress cannot be disregarded; the day-to-day progressive loss of visual acuity and multiple, costly interventions may initiate or contribute to a depressive mood in KCN patients. A vicious depressive cycle and the exhaustion of long-term coping mechanisms might be underlying factors for the higher neuroticism scores seen among KCN patients. Both the personality traits and mental state of KCN patients demonstrate distinguishing properties; clinicians working with these patients should consider their mental state in addition to other factors in order to achieve better treatment outcomes.


Abstract Problem: At present, homelessness in the United States is primarily addressed by providing emergency and transitional shelter facilities. These programs do not directly address the causes of homelessness, and residents are exposed to victimization and trauma during stays. We need an alternative that is more humane, as well as more efficient and effective at achieving outcomes. Purpose: This article uses research on homelessness to devise alternative forms of emergency assistance that could reduce the prevalence and/or duration of episodes of homelessness and much of the need for emergency shelter. Methods: We review analyses of shelter utilization patterns to identify subgroups of homeless single adults and families with minor children, and propose alternative program models aimed at the particular situations of each of these subgroups. Results and conclusions: We argue that it would be both more efficient and more humane to reallocate resources currently devoted to shelters. We propose the development of community-based programs that instead would focus on helping those with housing emergencies to remain housed or to quickly return to housing, and be served by mainstream social welfare programs. We advocate providing shelter on a limited basis and reserving transitional housing for individuals recently discharged from institutions. Chronic homelessness should be addressed by permanent supportive housing.


This study enhances the capability to reproduce multi-coloured images in woven Jacquard forms where weave structure and pattern design were considerably involved in fabrication. In modern weaving, great convenience and efficiencies were established in both production and design process through digitalisation, while the colour adoption has been constrained as the applicable number of figuring yarns were limited. The enhancement toward colour realisation is traditionally related to weaving capability.
Surface colour display is dominated by additive, subtractive or optical mixing (Mathur, 2007). An additive colour system offers the largest gamut among output models yet, the light mixing principle is not suitable to apply to weave colour creation. Pre-dyed opaque yarns are used and juxtaposed; small particles of yarn colours reflect lights and they were observed as a certain form of colour. The common and crucial criterial pertinent to an optical mixing of weave colours were aligned more with the subtractive mixing principle.
A weave pattern was designed by subtractive primary colour classification and a multi-weft figuring method. Secondary colours are theoretically produced when coupled CMY layers are mixed(i.e., cyan + magenta = blue, cyan + yellow = green, magenta + yellow = red) and black is generated when all CMY primaries are mixed (Berns, 2000);however, non-bendable colours of threads are employed for colour reproduction in weaving and there is a limit to adopt a pigment mixing principle in the woven form. Therefore, each weave pattern required a modification to redefine primary colour regions and densities once an original artwork was separated and presented in greyscales levels. The weave patterns in an original subtractive scheme were altered by applying region-based segmentation to maximise the accessible colour gamut.
In this study, the weaving application developed for the multi-coloured image was introduced and the design process was explained based on a practical experiment proceeded with a newly developed weaving application.


In this thesis, I examine the influence of institutional control on three teachers' and twelve linguistically and culturally diverse childrens' perceptions and constructions of literacy meaning making in English and French in two grade six English and in two grade six French classrooms in the province of Quebec. The children in this study represent a cultural and linguistic mosaic of new arrivals, second generation immigrant and native Montreal families that include Cambodian, East Indian, French, Italian, Lebanese and Portuguese families. Similarly, the three teachers come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds that include a native Montreal Anglophone, an immigrant from Egypt who is fluent in Arabic, English, and French, and a second-generation Italian Quebecer who is fluent in Italian, English, and French. The diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the participants add a further dimension to the research project, that is, an understanding of the dialogic encounters between multilingual children and teachers during literacy events in two languages and two classroom contexts. I draw from Halliday's (1978, 1985) social theory of language use, Bakhtin's (1981, 1984) dialogical theory of discourse, and Vygotsky's (1978, 1981, 1986) socio-cultural theory of language and learning to provide a theoretical lens for viewing the childrens' appropriation of literacy meaning making practices. I audiotaped, transcribed, and interpreted the literacy events, teachers' discourse and discursive practices and the childrens' literate actions and artifacts for emerging patters. In addition, interviews were transcribed, coded for emerging patters and interpreted as socially negotiated texts.

The findings led me to four major conclusions. First, while institutional controls such as textbooks, programs, evaluation, and teacher beliefs about literacy continue to maintain power of literacy meaning making practices in these four classroom contexts, the reconstruction and negotiation of this power varies across the classroom contexts and amongst the teachers and children. Second, the teachers' discourse and discursive practices, as well as, situational complexities such as the intersections of cultures, communities, classrooms and languages shape the childrens' literacy perceptions, interpretations and constructions in English and French within and across the classroom contexts. Third, teaching practices for literacy meaning making are neither solely analytical or experimental nor are they solely explicit or implicit. The three teachers' literacy practices appear to be more along a continuum than a dichotomy, that is, they appear to be local, strategic and contexts-related. Fourth, the recognition of a plurality of literacies suggest that childrens' cultural stances and viewpoints need to be considered, as well as, the kinds of literacy experiences they are and are not being asked to engage in their English and French classrooms.


Differences in color of red wines from Vitis vinifera L. cv. Merlot and Pinot Noir grapes (vintage 2005, winemaking center Recas) were examined during the course of aging in bottle for a period of two years. The parameters evaluated in our study included chromatic parameters (color intensity and tonality), color structure (color due to monomeric anthocyanins, polymeric pigments and copigmented anthocyanins), monomeric anthocyanins content, "chemical age" and ionization of anthocyanins for red wines as young and after 4, 10, 18 and 24 months of aging in bottle. During the aging, the color intensity decreased and the tonality increased. The highest value of color intensity was registered for the young red wine Merlot (8.708) and the lowest values for Pinot Noir aged for 24 months (6.611). For color tonality, the highest value was recorded for Merlot wine after ageing in bottles for 24 months (0.96) and the smallest for young red wine Merlot (0.64). During the course of aging in bottle, the monomeric anthocyanins content decreased from 179.44 to 122.29 mg L -1 for Merlot wine and from 132.81 to 85.72 mg L -1 for Pinot Noir. By ageing, the fraction of color due to polymeric pigment increased on the basis of decreasing of color percentage due to monomeric and copigmented anthocyanins. Percentage of color assigned of copigmented anthocyanins after ageing in bottles for 24 months decreased for both analyzed wines from 22.71% to 10.87% for Pinot Noir wine and from 35.49% to 19.19% in the case of Merlot wine. Pinot Noir aged in bottle for 24 months showed the greatest contribution of polymeric pigments (67.96%) to the wine color. The "chemical age" of the wines, assessed on the basis of I 1 and I 2 indices, increased for both analyzed red wines but in different manner according to the color stabilization phenomenon. The values of these indices are very different in rapport with grapes variety and the aging time. The results are important in anticipation of the red wine color evolution during the course of aging. It outlines the idea that the red wine color can be influenced by the choosing of the aging time.


Abstract The influence of feed-forward consistency (FFC) (i.e., the consistency of mapping from the orthographic form to the pronunciation of the whole character) on character recognition and reading aloud tasks have been well documented in a sizable literature in which subjects performed better on feed-forward consistent characters than inconsistent characters. Analogous to the FFC effect in reading aloud, the feedback consistency (FBC) effect ("consistent" when a pronunciation always maps onto one orthographic form, and "inconsistent" if the pronunciation maps onto multiple orthographic forms) was observed in spelling tasks at the phoneme-grapheme levels in English (e.g., Weekes, Castles, & Davies, 2006) and French (e.g., Alegria & Mousty, 1996), where subjects had better spelling performances on feedback consistent words than inconsistent words. Although Ziegler and Muneaux (2007) showed that the size of FBC effect was predicted by the reading level (determined by a feed-forward task) of children in a spoken word recognition task, the words that are phonologically similar, in fact, are also orthographically similar in alphabetic scripts. Therefore, the poor performance on feedback inconsistent words may be attributed to the difficulty in choosing the correct answers among similar orthographic forms. Unlike alphabetic scripts, homophones in Chinese characters do not always share similar orthographic forms and orthographically similar characters may have different pronunciations. These properties allow researchers to investigate the FBC effect without confounding with orthographic similarity. The aims of the present study are three-fold: first, to find out whether similar FFC effect exists in both reading aloud and writing-to-dictation in Chinese; second, to evaluate the influence of the number of homophones of a character on writing-to-dictation across grades; and, third, to observe the possible interactions between FFC and the number of homophones. Phonetic semantic compound characters were selected as stimuli. A reading- aloud task was administered to 1,590 students and a writing-to-dictation task to 2,194 students from grades 1 to 6. The stimulus characters were categorized in terms of homophone numbers and consistency values. Data collected were analyzed using ANOVA. As expected, significant positive FFC effect (consistent characters better than inconsistent characters) was observed in reading aloud across grades. In the writing-to-dictation task, significant homophone effect was found from grade 2 to grade 6. Post hoc analyses revealed that a positive FFC effect occurred when the characters had many homophones, whereas negative FFC effect occurred when the characters had fewer homophones. The findings clarify the influences of feed-forward and feedback consistencies on writing without the possible confounding orthographic similarity factor. The significant interaction effect between FFC and homophone number suggests that the orthographic similarity of the family members in a homophone family might affect the FBC effect in different tasks.


Hai Ren, Advisor Critical everyday life scholarship tends to theorize the domain of everyday life as a site of struggle between institutional power, or strategies, and resistance, or tactics. Nevertheless, moments of everyday crisis such as technological malfunction have been largely ignored, and researchers tend to emphasize everyday practices in moments of relative normality. This study has sought to address this gap through analyses of a particular kind of everyday crisis, the automobile malfunction. By analyzing personal narratives of automobile malfunction experiences, I have attempted to highlight the critical potential of these narratives. I conducted in-depth interviews with eight automobile drivers to gather these personal narratives about automobile malfunctions. The theories used to interpret these stories included those of Marxian critical theorists such as Michel de Certeau and Henri Lefebvre, and folklorists such as Sandra Dolby-Stahl. The application of theory enabled an emphasis on the resistant and propriety-centered elements of my informants' narratives. The automobile malfunction stories express implicit and explicit critique of the automobile's role in everyday life, as my informants described tactics for getting away without repairs, using the malfunction as a way to get out of work, and relying on strangers for automobile assistance, among other things. As everyday discourse, their stories counter the discourse of automobile advertising, which emphasizes freedom, independence, speed, mobility, and safety. Many of my informants seemed to recognize


A perennial problem in structure from motion (SfM) is visual ambiguity posed by repetitive structures. Recent disambiguating algorithms infer ambiguities mainly via explicit background context, thus face limitations in highly ambiguous scenes which are visually indistinguishable. Instead of analyzing local visual information, we propose a novel algorithm for SfM disambiguation that explores the global topology as encoded in photo collections. An important adaptation of this work is to approximate the available imagery using a manifold of viewpoints. We note that, while ambiguous images appear deceptively similar in appearance, they are actually located far apart on geodesics. We establish the manifold by adaptively identifying cameras with adjacent viewpoint, and detect ambiguities via a new measure, geodesic consistency. We demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach on a range of complex ambiguity datasets, even including the challenging scenes without background conflicts.


The anterior chamber angle (ACA) plays an important role for diagnosis and treatment of angle-closure glaucoma. Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography (AS-OCT) imaging is qualitative and quantitative assessment for the ACA structure. In this paper, we propose a novel fully automatic segmentation method for anterior chamber angle structure in AS-OCT. In our method, the initial labels are obtained by using label transfer from the AS-OCT reference dataset. Then, these labels are refined and utilized as the landmarks to support the structure segmentation. Finally, the major clinical structures: corneal boundary, iris region, and trabecular-iris contact, are extracted as the segmentation result. Experiments show that our proposed method achieve the satisfactory segmentation performance on the clinical AS-OCT dataset. Our proposed method has potential in the applications of clinical ACA parameter measurement and automatic glaucoma classification.


Although human cognition often occurs during dynamic motor actions, most studies of human brain dynamics examine subjects in static seated or prone conditions. EEG signals have historically been considered to be too noise prone to allow recording of brain dynamics during human locomotion. Here we applied a channel-based artifact template regression procedure and a subsequent spatial filtering approach to remove gait-related movement artifact from EEG signals recorded during walking and running. We first used stride time warping to remove gait artifact from high-density EEG recorded during a visual oddball discrimination task performed while walking and running. Next, we applied infomax independent component analysis (ICA) to parse the channel-based noise reduced EEG signals into maximally independent components (ICs) and then performed component-based template regression. Applying channel-based or channel-based plus component-based artifact rejection significantly reduced EEG spectral power in the 1.5- to 8.5-Hz frequency range during walking and running. In walking conditions, gait-related artifact was insubstantial: event-related potentials (ERPs), which were nearly identical to visual oddball discrimination events while standing, were visible before and after applying noise reduction. In the running condition, gait-related artifact severely compromised the EEG signals: stable average ERP time-courses of IC processes were only detectable after artifact removal. These findings show that high-density EEG can be used to study brain dynamics during whole body movements and that mechanical artifact from rhythmic gait events may be minimized using a template regression procedure.


This paper examines the characteristics of firms that complete acquisitions over the period 1972-1993. Successful acquirors tend to be larger, they have poor investment opportunities, high cash balances and high levels of free cash flow when compared to a sample of control firms. They also have higher leverage and asset growth rates than control firms. Insider ownership has a negative impact on the probability of becoming a bidder for low levels of insider ownership, but a positive impact for high levels of insider ownership. The results are stronger for acquisitions completed during the 1980s and 1990s and for acquisitions where cash is used as the form of payment. These findings are broadly consistent with arguments advanced by Jensen (1986), Roll (1986), Myers and Majluf (1984), and Stulz (1988).


Until recently, export restrictions by countries producing natural resources have not been the subject of much discussion in WTO jurisprudence. However, the situation is changing rapidly due to the prospect of an increasing scarcity of natural resources. The Appellate Body (AB) in the Chinese Minerals dispute handed down a decision upholding most of the panel rulings and reversing some. The major rulings of the AB report include the following. First, with respect to terms of reference, the AB reversed the panel's ruling that insufficiency of information and arguments in the original terms of reference could be cured by later submissions of the parties and rendered moot some other parts of the Panel's decisions. By overturning the panel ruling on this point, the AB may have tried to tighten up the discipline with respect to drafting of the terms of reference. However, it seems to the author, that this issue has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Second, the AB held that the panel's recommendation could cover not only the measures which the claimants alleged to be an infringement of WTO agreements at the time of initiating the dispute settlement procedure, but also subsequent measures, as long as they are related to implementing the Panel's recommendation; thus, it upheld the panel's ruling in this regard. The author believes that the purpose of the panel's recommendations is to rectify a WTO-inconsistent measure and bring it in conformity with WTO agreements. In a dispute like the one at hand, where the framework legislation is implemented through a series of measures; whereby some measures are abolished and renewed annually, the panel recommendation ought to have some prospective effect in order for it to be effective. Third, the AB upheld the Panel's ruling that China could not invoke a provision in its Accession Protocol to justify its export restrictions based on Article XX exceptions, as Para 11.3 of the Accession Protocol does not state that rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement (GATT 1994) are not affected. Fourth, the AB criticized the Panel report in respect of its ruling that Article XI: 2 (a) and Article XX: (g) of the GATT are mutually exclusive and application of one precludes the application of the other., The AB stated that there would be subject matters that are covered both by GATT Article XI: 2 (a) and, at the same time, by Article XX: (g). This 'overlap theory' enunciated by the AB seems to lead to a contradiction, that an application of Article XI: 2 (a) could constitute an infringement of Article XX: (g) and vice-versa, making a harmonious interpretation of these two provisions difficult. Fifth, the AB reversed that portion of the panel's holding which held that in order to satisfy the requirement of GATT Article XX: (g), the export restriction in question must be primarily aimed at guaranteeing the effectiveness of the domestic restriction because there is no wording in Article XX: (g) that would justify this requirement. The AB Report in the Chinese Export Restrictions of Minerals dispute is an important precedent in the relationship between WTO principles and export control of natural resources and it is hoped that WTO jurisprudence in this area is further enriched. Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
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Combination of theoretical and numerical analysis, an assessment approach of shallow geothermal energy project is proposed. A case study on Chongqing is carried out to verify the methods. According to the theoretical calculation, the heat transfer power per meter of typical boreholes in Chongqing is 40 W/m for cooling and 50 W/m for heating. The numerical model of 100m borehole heat exchanger (BHE) of ground sourced heat pump (GSHP) system is built, two sets of heating and cooling loads are input to calculate the ground thermal response, the results show that the thermal unbalance ratio equals to 1.5 would ensure the safe and reliable long time operation of GSHP system. By comparing the single and group borehole model, the heat transfer efficiency of BHE is not influenced by adjacent boreholes with 6m drilling spacing, the temperature distribution among boreholes almost uniform after a year running, however, the increase of cumulative temperature of the ground reaches 2.2°C after five years running.


Gap junctions are intercellular conduits that permit the passage of ions, small metabolites, and signaling molecules between cells. Connexin32 (Cx32) is a major gap junction protein in the liver and brain. Phosphorylation is integral to regulating connexin assembly, degradation, and electrical and metabolic coupling, as well as to interactions with molecular partners. Cx32 contains two intracellular tyrosine residues, and tyrosine phosphorylation of Cx32 has been detected after activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor; however, the specific tyrosine residue and the functional implication of this phosphorylation remain unknown. To address the limited available information on Cx32 regulation by tyrosine kinases, here we used the Cx32 C-terminal (CT) domain in an in vitro kinase-screening assay, which identified ephrin (Eph) receptor family members as tyrosine kinases that phosphorylate Cx32. We found that EphB1 and EphA1 phosphorylate the Cx32CT domain residue Tyr243. Unlike for Cx43, the tyrosine phosphorylation of the Cx32CT increased gap junction intercellular communication. We also demonstrated that T-cell protein-tyrosine phosphatase dephosphorylates pTyr243. The data presented above along with additional examples throughout the literature of gap junction regulation by kinases, indicate that one cannot extrapolate the effect of a kinase on one connexin to another.


Fatigue is a self-limiting
response arising from physical and/or mental weariness, with a consequent
personal and economic morbidity on work performance and social relationships. Anti-fatigue
intervention is therefore urgently sought. "Qi-invigorating" Chinese tonic herbs,
which can improve the energy status in the body according to the theory of traditional
Chinese medicine, may produce beneficial effects in fatigue individuals. The
herbal formula V-Vital capsule (VVC), which comprises 3 "Qi-invigorating"
herbs, namely the root of Rhodiola rosea, Eleutherococcus senticosus and Panax quinquefolium, may produce
anti-fatigue effect. In the present study, we investigated the effect of
acute/long-term VVC treatment (acute: 0.75, 0.2 and 3.75 kg/day × 1 dose;
long-term: 0.075 and 0.25 g/kg/day × 14 doses) on weight-loaded swimming
female ICR mice. The weight-loaded swimming time until exhaustion, indicative
of exercise endurance capacity, was recorded. Plasma levels of glucose,
non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), lactate and reactive oxygen metabolites (ROM)
were measured in the exhausted mice. Glycogen levels in skeletal muscle and
liver tissues were also measured. Mitochondrial function status [such as adenine
nucleotide translocase (ANT) activity and coupling efficiency] was assayed.
Results showed that acute VVC treatment increased the exercise endurance
capacity in weight-loaded swimming mice. The ability of acute VVC treatment to
enhance the exercise endurance was associated with increases in plasma glucose
levels as well as glycogen levels in skeletal muscles and liver tissues, presumably
due to the utilization of plasma lactate for gluconeogenesis and/or glycogen
synthesis in the liver. While acute VVC treatment reduced the plasma ROM level
in weight-loaded swimming mice, it increased the ANT activity. In this regard, the
enhancement in exercise endurance afforded by acute VVC treatment might be due
to an increase in the glucose supply to the skeletal muscle, the amelioration
of systemic oxidative stress and the improvement in mitochondrial function of
skeletal muscle. Consistent with the results obtained in acute VVC treatment
experiment, the long-term VVC treatment enhances the exercise endurance in
weight-loaded swimming mice. The ensemble of results suggests that VVC may
offer a promising prospect for enhancing the exercise endurance and alleviating
fatigue in humans.


Cuff-less estimation of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure is an efficient approach for non-invasive and continuous monitoring of an individual's vitals. Although pulse transit time (PTT) based approaches have been successful in estimating the systolic and diastolic blood pressures to a reasonable degree of accuracy, there is still scope for improvement in terms of accuracies. Moreover, PTT approach requires data from sensors placed at two different locations along with individual calibration of physiological parameters for deriving correct estimation of systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) and hence is not suitable for smartphone deployment. Heart Rate Variability is one of the extensively used non-invasive parameters to assess cardiovascular autonomic nervous system and is known to be associated with SBP and DBP indirectly. In this work, we propose a novel method to extract a comprehensive set of features by combining PPG signal based and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) related features using a single PPG sensor. Further, these features are fed into a DBP feedback based combinatorial neural network model to arrive at a common weighted average output of DBP and subsequently SBP. Our results show that using this current approach, an accuracy of ±6.8 mmHg for SBP and ±4.7 mmHg for DBP is achievable on 1,750,000 pulses extracted from a public database (comprising 3000 people). Since most of the smartphones are now equipped with PPG sensor, a mobile based cuff-less BP estimation will enable the user to monitor their BP as a vital parameter on demand. This will open new avenues towards development of pervasive and continuous BP monitoring systems leading to an early detection and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.


Abstract. Calculation of gullies by remote sensing images obtained from satellite or aerial platforms is often not possible because gullies in agricultural fields, defined as the temporary gullies are filled in a very short time with tillage operations. Therefore, fast and accurate estimation of sediment loss with the temporary gully erosion is of great importance. In this study, it is aimed to monitor and calculate soil losses caused by the gully erosion that occurs in agricultural areas with low altitude unmanned aerial vehicles. According to the calculation with Pix4D, gully volume was estimated to be 10.41 m3 and total loss of soil was estimated to be 14.47 Mg. The RMSE value of estimations was found to be 0.89. The results indicated that unmanned aerial vehicles could be used in predicting temporary gully erosion and losses of soil.


The thermic effect of food at rest, during 30 min of cycle exercise, and postexercise with two sequences of exercise and meal (before or after exercise) was compared in eight lean (mean +/- SE, 12.8 +/- 0.7% body fat) and eight obese men (29.7 +/- 0.6% fat) to determine whether exercise before or after a meal enhances thermogenesis. The groups were matched for age, height, and lean body mass (LBM) in order to study the relationship between thermogenesis and body fat independent of LBM. Metabolic rate was measured by indirect calorimetry on five mornings, in randomized order, after an overnight fast. Treatments on respective days were 1) 3-h rest, no meal; 2) 3-h rest after a 750-kcal mixed meal (14% protein, 31% fat, 55% carbohydrate); 3) during and 3 h after 30 min of cycling, no meal; 4) during and 3 h after 30 min of cycling, meal 30 min before exercise; and 5) 3 h after 30 min of cycling, meal immediately after exercise. The thermic effect of food, which is the fed minus fasted caloric expenditure, was significantly greater for the lean than the obese men under the resting (mean +/- SE 53 +/- 5 vs. 26 +/- 5 kcal over 3 h for the lean and obese groups, P less than 0.01), exercise (26 +/- 4 vs. 4 +/- 2 kcal over 30 min, P less than 0.01), and both postexercise conditions. However, for the lean men the thermic effect of food was significantly greater for the meal-before-exercise than the resting and the meal-after-exercise conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


1. Carcass measurement and dissection data from 250 pigs reared at the stations of the National Pig Progeny Testing Board have been analysed to study the value of the carcass measurements in predicting the percentage lean in the carcass. 2. Differences between sexes in the carcass characteristics were generally larger than those between breeds. Gilts had a higher percentage of lean meat than the hogs, with larger eye muscle dimensions and smaller measurements of backfat thickness. 3. For pigs of the same breed and sex, the best predictions of leanness possible without cutting the carcass were derived from measurements of shoulder and minimum loin backfat (see Figure 1). Mid-backfat measurements improved the accuracy of prediction, but length and depth of carcass did not. The residual standard error in percentage lean at constant shoulder and minimum loin backfat was 2·66% of side weight overall but this was reduced to 2·28% by adjustments for breed and sex. 4. Measurements made after cutting the carcass at the last rib gave more accurate predictions of percentage lean than did the split carcass measurements. The residual standard error in percentage lean at constant B, C and K (see Figure 2) was 1·97 % of side weight overall, reduced to 1·88 % by adjustments for breed and sex. 5. The implications of these relationships in carcass grading and carcass evaluation generally are discussed.


In this work, an efficient hybridization architecture to optimize power consumption and system performance of Hybrid NoC-Bus 3D mesh is proposed. Hybrid NoC-Bus 3D mesh is a feasible architecture which takes advantage of the short inter-layer wiring delays, while suffering from inefficient intermediate buffers. To address this issue, we propose a mechanism benefiting from a low-power congestion-aware routing algorithm for vertical communication. Our extensive simulations demonstrate significant power and performance improvements compared to a typical Hybrid NoC-Bus 3D architecture.


This document analizes the preferences of public transportation system users in Cartagena de Indias - Colombia. The research uses related variables on transportation modes chosen by people and some other characteristics of the people who make such decisions. The analysis allows us to understand the behavior of public urban transportation system users in the city of Cartagena, and shows us evidence about some probable reasons associated with new informal public transportation modes, which at this moment play an important role in the public transportation market in the city. The research uses binary choice probabilistic models (Probit) and primary information collected by a survey for system users.


Objectives To explore the prevalence and associated factors of cardiovascular health as defined by the AHA among different job categories in health settings. Methods This is a cross-sectional and hospital-based survey. A total of 1329 medical professionals with a mean age of 38 years in a regional hospital in Taiwan were recruited. Information for seven combined indicators including blood pressure, fasting sugar, blood cholesterol, body mass index, time of physical activity, dietary pattern and smoking status was obtained from the employees' health profiles and questionnaires. Degree of job strain was evaluated by the Chinese version of the Job Content Questionnaire, which was derived from Karasek's demand-control model. Three types of cardiovascular health were identified as poor, intermediate and ideal. Results Prevalence of cardiovascular health in this study's population was ideal in 0.2% of the sample, intermediate in 20.6% and poor in 79.2%. There was a significantly higher percentage of poor health in workers with high strain (85.1%), and in the professions of nurse (85.3%) and physician assistant (83.1%). In the multivariate analysis, the only significant factor correlated with job strain was physical inactivity. After being adjusted, workers with high strain exhibit a higher prevalence of physical inactivity compared to those with low strain (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.38 to −2.81). Conclusions Physical inactivity is the only significant factor correlated with job strain and is associated with a work situation characterised by high strain and the professions of nurse and physician assistant. Strategies for workplace health promotion should focus on employee health literacy and motivation to exercise regularly.


A survey of microalgae biodiversity in three Kenyan Rift valley lakes identified high oil yielding species abundantly distributed naturally. The species were cultured in BBM and BG-11 media to obtain pure clones and lipids (oil) extracted by the Bligh and Dyer method. The peak lipid content ranged from 1.5 - 10.5% of algal biomass with Chlorella species showing the highest yields (10.5%), followed by Euglena acus (5.88), Nitzschia (3.68%), Ankistrodesmus falcatus (1.58%) and Scenedesmus acuminatus (1.56 %). The algae oil extracted from Chlorella spp contained significantly higher polyunsaturated long chain fatty acids with docosatetraenoate (C22:4) and octadecatetraenoate (C18:4) to be the major components. On the other hand, algae oil from Euglena spp exhibited higher mono-unsaturated long chain fatty acids with erucate (C22:1) and eicosenoate (18:1) being the major components. This implies that algae oil from Euglena spp has a much higher degree of oxidative stability compared to Chlorella spp and has can be cultivated for biofuel.