ABSTRACT Alga-bacterium interactions are crucial for aggregate formation and carbon cycling in aquatic systems. To understand the initiation of these interactions, we investigated bacterial chemotaxis within a bilateral model system. Marinobacter adhaerens HP15 has been demonstrated to attach to the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii and induce transparent exopolymeric particle and aggregate formation. M. adhaerens possesses one polar flagellum and is highly motile. Bacterial cells were attracted to diatom cells, as demonstrated by addition of diatom cell homogenate or diatom culture supernatant to soft agar, suggesting that chemotaxis might be important for the interaction of M. adhaerens with diatoms. Three distinct chemotaxis-associated gene clusters were identified in the genome sequence of M. adhaerens, with the clusters showing significant sequence similarities to those of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Mutations in the genes cheA, cheB, chpA, and chpB, which encode histidine kinases and methylesterases and which are putatively involved in either flagellum-associated chemotaxis or pilus-mediated twitching motility, were generated and mutants with the mutations were phenotypically analyzed. ΔcheA and ΔcheB mutants were found to be swimming deficient, and all four mutants were impaired in biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces. Comparison of the HP15 wild type and its chemotaxis mutants in cocultures with the diatom revealed that the fraction of bacteria attaching to the diatom decreased significantly for mutants in comparison to that for the wild type. Our results highlight the importance of M. adhaerens chemotaxis in initiation of its interaction with the diatom. In-depth knowledge of these basic processes in interspecies interactions is pivotal to obtain a systematic understanding of organic matter flux and nutrient cycling in marine ecosystems.


Multimedia applications are rapidly spread at an ever-increasing rate introducing a number of challenging problems at the hands of the research community, The most significant and influential problem, among them, is the effective access to stored data. In spite of the popularity of keyword-based search technique in alphanumeric databases, it is inadequate for use with multimedia data due to their unstructured nature. On the other hand, a number of content-based access techniques have been developed in the context of image indexing and retrieval; meanwhile video retrieval systems start to gain wide attention, This work proposes a number of techniques constituting a fully content-based system for retrieving video data. These techniques are primarily targeting the efficiency, reliability, scalability, extensibility, and effectiveness requirements of such applications. First, an abstract representation of the video stream, known as the DC sequence, is extracted. Second, to deal with the problem of video segmentation, an efficient neural network model is introduced. The novel use of the neural network improves the reliability while the efficiency is achieved through the instantaneous use of the recall phase to identify shot boundaries. Third, the problem of key frames extraction is addressed using two efficient algorithms that adapt their selection decisions based on the amount of activity found in each video shot enabling the selection of a near optimal expressive set of key frames. Fourth, the developed system employs an indexing scheme that supports two low-level features, color and texture, to represent video data, Finally, we propose, in the retrieval stage, a novel model for performing video data matching task that integrates a number of human-based similarity factors. All our software implementations are in Java, which enables it to be used across heterogeneous platforms. The retrieval system performance has been evaluated yielding a very good retrieval rate and accuracy, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed system.


The aim of this research was twofold: firstly to highlight how the current "hybridisation" of the academic and industrial rationales exerts its influence over the new production of young scientists; secondly to compare, between five OECD countries (USA, France, Great Britain, Japan and Germany), the ways that PhDs and doctoral students are socialised within a specific -societal- set of institutional arrangements. The production of PhDs brings into play a multiplicity of institutions at various national or local levels and mobilises the various resources available to them. The interaction between them requires the agents to adopt a variety of different behaviours based on a diversity of animating principles. Thus in order to reveal the various - societal - modes of the construction of new scientific knowledge and competence, we were led to analyse simultaneously the socialisation of young scientists and the various institutional configurations. To this end, we attempted to analyse some of the essential elements that structure this process, such as the funding system, the nature of the contract between doctoral students and their supervising institutions, the rules governing the academic community, training-job transition, career paths etc.


The application trends and key design tradeoffs involved in the design of high performance microprocessors are discussed. In particular the growing importance of improved human interface technology and the need for high-performance, highly-connected systems combined with the need to continue to drive costs lower make design choices very difficult. Technical innovation in the areas of high bandwidth processor-memory interfaces, low-cost multiprocessors and software compatibility are needed in order to continue move forward. >


Cutaneous melanoma (cM) is the deadliest of all primary skin cancers. Its prognosis is strongly influenced by the stage at diagnosis, with early stages having a good prognosis and being potentially treatable with surgery alone; advanced stages display a much worse prognosis, with a high rate of recurrence and metastasis. For this reason, the accurate and early diagnosis of cM is crucial—misdiagnosis may have extremely dangerous consequences for the patient and drastically reduce their chances of survival. Although the histological exam remains the "gold standard" for the diagnosis of cM, a continuously increasing number of immunohistochemical markers that could help in diagnosis, prognostic characterization, and appropriate therapeutical choices are identified every day, with some of them becoming part of routine practice. This review aims to discuss and summarize all the data related to the immunohistochemical analyses that are potentially useful for the diagnosis of cM, thus rendering it easier to appropriately applicate to routine practice. We will discuss these topics, as well as the role of these molecules in the biology of cM and potential impact on diagnosis and treatment, integrating the literature data with the experience of our surgical pathology department.


The question of how governments should choose the frequency of payments has received little attention in the literature on the optimal design of public benefits programs. We propose a simple model in which the government chooses the length of the interval between payments, subject to a tradeoff between the administrative cost of providing more frequent benefits and the welfare gain from reducing deviations from full consumption smoothing. In our empirical application, we examine consumer and retailer responses to bimonthly payments from the Japanese National Pension System. We exploit variation in the duration of payment cycles using a unique retail dataset that links consumers to their purchase history. Our difference-in-differences style approach shows a clear spike in spending on payment dates for customers who are of retirement age relative to those who are not. While within-store average prices increase by 1.6% on payday, this effect is almost entirely due to consumers substituting towards higher quality goods rather than a retailer response. We use these reduced form estimates to parameterize the model and conclude that the optimal frequency of Japanese public pension payments is less than one month, implying the government could improve welfare by increasing payment frequency.


The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence at birth of Down syndrome in Argentina. The prevalence by jurisdiction and maternal age was calculated for the 2009-2015 period and the prevalence and proportion of prenatal diagnosis was compared according to sub-sector (public and private) and complexity level of the maternity wards. The association of Down syndrome with birth weight and gestational age was analyzed. The data source was the National Network of Congenital Anomalies of Argentina [Red Nacional de Anomalías Congénitas] (RENAC). The prevalence was 17.26 per 10,000 births; by jurisdictions it varied between 10.99 and 23.71; and by maternal age, between 10.32 in women <20 years of age and 158.06 in those ≥45 years of age. In hospitals of the private subsector there was a higher prevalence, attributable to differences in the structure of maternal age, and a greater proportion of prenatal diagnosis. There was a negative correlation between birth weight and Down syndrome (ß=-294.7; p<0.001). No difference in the median gestational age at birth between Down syndrome newborns and newborns without major anomalies was found, but the distribution of gestational age differed. Knowledge of certain epidemiological characteristics of this health issue could contribute to the implementation of health policies.


In the last decade, the basin of the Huong River has been flooded several times causing damage all over the Thua Thien Hue Province. These floods are initiated by tropical storms which are accompanied by heavy rainfall. Economic and social consequences are significant and should be restricted in the future. This assignment contributes to creating an insight in the consequences, by developing a damage map based on inundation depths and the land use in the Huong River Basin.
At the Vietnam National University of Hanoi, HEC-RAS software has been used to develop a model for inundation depths. Applying the discharges of the November 1999 flood in the Thua Thien Hue Province, an inundation map is created that is used as input for this assignment. Together with a damage function and spatial data about the settlements, the infrastructure and the agriculture, the damage map is created.
The damage function consists of depth-damage curves and maximum damage values which are compatible to the several land use types. These are collected from preliminary damage
assessments and literature concerning damage functions. The damage is calculated per land use type by multiplying the damage factor derived from the depth-damage curve with the
maximum damage for the particular grid cell.
The HEC-RAS inundation map that is used as input for the damage map, is compared with an observed inundation map of the November 1999 flood. The HEC-RAS model seems to be
insufficient to simulate the inundated surface, but the data within its prediction of the inundated areas are qualitative more significant: 26 percent of this data is similar to the observed data.
Also the accumulated damage of the resulting damage map is compared with the existing data of the November 1999 flood. The total damage based on the damage map corresponds reasonably with the reported damage in November 1999. Determining the damages and inundation surface per land use, it can be concluded that the rural settlements suffer most in case of a flood. This land use type should obtain the most attention for reducing flood consequences since it has great vulnerability for flooding and the fact that it is often located in heavily inundated areas.
The method implemented for the damage map is also used for the mortality in the Huong River Basin, but now using the inundation depths and the population density for input.
However, the obtained depth-mortality curve seems not to be valid since during the comparison with the data of the November 1999 flood, the mortality turned out to be highly
overestimated.


During fuel cell operation the electrochemical activity over the electrode area is not homogeneous in most cases. This may be due to a non-uniform water content in the membrane, an inhomogeneous temperature distribution, and reactant gradients in the cell. Consequently a variation of the current density over the cell area occurs which tends to result in inferior performance. For in situ measurements of the current density distribution in fuel cell stacks a segmented bipolar plate was developed. The segmented bipolar plate was first tested in single cells with stack endplates to verify the function of all components. The tests showed that the measurement tool works very reliable and accurate.

The insight in an operating fuel cell stack via current density distribution measurement is very helpful to investigate interactions between cells. Results can be used to validate models and to optimise stack components, e.g. flow field and manifold design, as well as to detect the best stack operating conditions. By applying segmented bipolar plates as sensor plates for stack system controls an improved performance, safe operation and longer life cycles can be achieved.

The developed segmented bipolar plates with integrated current sensors were used to assemble a short stack consisting of 3 cells; each of them having an active area of 25cm2 divided into 49 segments. The design of the bipolar plate proofed very suitable for easy assembling of single cells and stacks.

First measurement results show that different current distributions can appear in the cells and these can vary from cell to cell, depending on the operating conditions of the stack. Electrical coupling between the cells was investigated and found to be only marginal for the assembly used.


Recent estimates by The World Health Organisation and The World Bank indicate that throughout the world each and every year more than 800,000 persons die as a consequence of suicide. This means that the death toll of suicide equals and in many countries even exceeds that of road traffic accidents. In addition to the number of suicidal deaths, at least ten times as many persons make non-fatal attempts to take their lives or harm themselves, often seriously enough to require medical attention and not infrequently resulting in irreversible disability. But still these figures inadequately describe the magnitude of human loss and suffering caused by suicide. If one assumes that for every suicidal death there are at least five persons whose lives are profoundly and often for many years affected by the event -emotionally, socially and economically-, by the event, then each year millions of survivor-victims are added to the tens of millions already 'out there'. Hence, suicide is an ever-recurring catastrophe of the first degree. It is not a phenomenon that first and foremost forms a dubious privilege of the so-called highly developed countries. Suicide also occurs in the developing countries and there is more than suggestive evidence that in several of these countries the suicide rate equals or even surpasses the highest national rates shown by offical statistics. It follows that suicide is an extremely important public health problem. It is, however, a problem that is painfully neglected. Throughout the world, resources devoted to the prevention of suicide are only a tiny fraction of those devoted to the prevention of comparable problems, such as road traffic accidents, or to problems oflesser magnitude, at least in the industrialized countries, such as HIV-infection and Aids. This volume, produced under the supervision and auspices of the World Health Organization, brings together for the first time information on epidemiological, clinical and preventive intervention aspects regarding suicide that have global significance and applicability. After a detailed description of the epidemiology of suicide and suicidal behaviour on an international scale, a large part of the book is devoted to the 'how-to's' of developing and organizing suicide prevention programs and services in different national and cultural settings, both at clinical and community level. In addition, a wealth of practical information for health care workers and volunteers is provided on how to evaluate and deal with acute suicide risk. Examples of successful preventive intervention programs and projects, from the developed as well as the developing world, are provided. Legal and ethical problems involved in suicide prevention are also discussed. Finally, both cultural and biological aspects of suicidal behaviour, as well as their clinical-practice relevance, are examined.


Existing design specifications used in North America and Europe do not directly treat the general limit state of local collapse of tubular truss chords at bearing supports; although these specifications do consider the very specific case related to chord wall resistance under concentrated loads applied through simple gusset plate or tubular branch connections. The lack of general and robust treatment of chord bearing strength represents an unsatisfactory situation given the fact that very large reaction forces are often applied locally to the ends of chord members with slender cross-sections in long-span overhead highway sign trusses. A number of these structures in the U.S. have been shown to be inadequate for this limit state; a situation precipitating costly retrofits, construction delays, and motorist safety concerns. This dissertation research is aimed at quantifying the bearing strength of circular chords in long, simple-span tubular trusses. Two (2) full-scale experimental tests were conducted at the University of Pittsburgh as part of the current research effort. In addition, a parametric study based on the finite element (FE) method is also carried out. The nonlinear FE modeling techniques are first validated against the experimental testing results and then employed in a parametric study whose results are reported on herein. The current study reveals that the bearing strength is influenced by the geometry of the bearing region including any adjacent intermediate truss member(s), the nature of loading, and the material properties. Using a semi-empirical approach, general capacity equations for predicting the ultimate bearing strength is developed. Capacity equations are developed for axial loading (P), moment (M), and interaction of both (P+M).


Abstract Effects of spinosad, spinosad bait, and the chloronicotinyl insecticides imidacloprid and thiacloprid on mortality of the adults and larvae of western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), were determined in the laboratory and the field. Spinosad and spinosad bait caused higher adult mortality than imidacloprid, which caused higher mortality than thiacloprid. Only spinosad bait prevented oviposition. All materials were more toxic to adults when ingested than when topically applied. Spinosad bait had the greatest residual toxicity on leaves, killing 100% of adults when aged for 14 d in the field. When materials were sprayed on infested cherries, numbers of live larvae in fruit after 8 d were lower in imidacloprid and thiacloprid than in spinosad and spinosad bait treatments, which did not differ from the control, but all materials reduced larval emergence over 30 d. In the field, spinosad and spinosad bait were as effective in suppressing larval infestations as azinphos-methyl and carbaryl, whereas imidacloprid was effective in most cases and thiacloprid was generally less effective than azinphos-methyl and carbaryl. Overall, results in the laboratory and field show that spinosad and chloronicotinyl insecticides differed significantly in their effectiveness against adults and larvae of R. indifferens but that spinosad, spinosad bait, and imidacloprid seem to be acceptable substitutes for organophosphate and carbamate insecticides for controlling this fruit fly.


The purpose of this study was to examine how a specific informant-based measure of everyday functioning, the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE; Jorm & Korten, 1988) relates to cognition and structural neuroimaging in a large multicultural, multilingual sample of Caucasians and Hispanics. Cognitive variables included selected subtests from the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS; Mungas et al., 2000): Verbal Memory, Object Naming, Verbal Attention Span, Verbal Conceptual Thinking, and Pattern Recognition. The association between the IQCODE and selected neuroimaging variables, hippocampal volume and white matter hyperintensity, was evaluated in a subsample of English- and Spanish-speaking Hispanic individuals. The cognitive variables showed strong bivariate relationships with the IQCODE, although only Verbal Memory and Object Naming independently predicted level of functional ability. Verbal Memory was the strongest predictor of functional status, accounting for 23% of the variance in the IQCODE. White matter hyperintensity was also independently related to the IQCODE, accounting for 18% of the variance. Hippocampal volume was related to the IQCODE in a simple bivariate analysis, but was not an independent predictor of reported functional status after controlling for age. The relationships between cognitive variables and functional status, as well as between the imaging variables and the IQCODE, did not differ across language-ethnic groups. (JINS, 2004, 10, 342–354.)


Background Diagnosing breast intraductal papillary lesions by fine needle aspiration (FNA) is often difficult and provides indeterminate results. The aim of this study was to determine an effective diagnostic method for intraductal papillary lesions, when the initial FNA cytology was insufficient. Patients and Methods The cytopathology records of 79 women diagnosed with intraductal papillary lesions were retrospectively evaluated. Results Of the initial FNAs, 26 specimens were classified as benign, 51 were indeterminate, and 2 were suspicious for malignancy. Repeat FNAs or core needle biopsies (CNBs) were performed on 20 and 23 cases, respectively. Thirteen of 20 cases (65%) of the second FNA specimens and 6 of 23 cases (26%) of the CNBs were indeterminate. The probability of indeterminate diagnosis was significantly lower in the CNBs than the second FNAs (p<0.05). However, some cases failed to be diagnosed by CNB, partly because the samples were insufficient for diagnosis, and partly because the lesions seemed to be beyond the diagnostic capability of CNB even with an aide of immunohistochemistry using multiple primary antibodies. Overall, 13 of 79 cases were malignant. Conclusions For intraductal papillary lesions initially diagnosed using FNA, a CNB may be recommended instead of FNA, if additional evaluation is required. An adequate CNB may facilitate accurate diagnosis, although some cases will remain indeterminate.


The present study attempts to separate the environmental motivation and healthy motivation of consumers' choice for pro-environmental products through choice experiment and latent class model. Moreover, the different motives behind pro-environmental purchase and its impact on heterogeneity of consumer preferences needs to be further examined. Data are collected by means of face-to-face interview in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong of China with a total sample size of 477 consumers. The results reveal that the consumers who are willing to buy pro-environmental products are motivated by health benefits as well as environmental considerations due to the higher consciousness of food safety and eco-environment in China. However, the healthy attributes tend to prevail in consumers' motivations. Consumers who have stronger environmental motivation will show higher preferences for pro-environmental products. It is also found that these consumers have the following characteristics: higher perception and knowledge of pro-environmental products,lower income , convenient purchase and female. Our results have implications for the improvement of government's consumption policies and the precision marketing of producers to induce consumers' participation to buy pro-environmental products, which in turn do a great benefit to environmental-friendly production and sustainable environment.


Liberalism in America is under siege. Conservatives now treat it as an epithet and even some progressives spurn it. But according to Paul Starr, liberalism is a sturdy public philosophy, deeply rooted in our traditions, capable of making America and the world more free and secure. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness remains as good and concise a definition of liberalisms aims today as it was when Thomas Jefferson borrowed the language of John Locke for the Declaration of Independence. What distinguishes liberalism, however, is not just high aspirations but strikingly effective principles for the creation and control of power. From its origins as constitutional liberalism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the liberal project has provided the basis of the most prosperous and powerful states in the world. Modern democratic liberalism has carried forward the constitutional liberal tradition by favoring a more inclusive and egalitarian conception of liberty and opportunity. It has responded to threats to freedom and the public good from excessive concentrations of private power, while maintaining a dynamic market economy. And it has shown how government can respond to economic crisis and injusticeyet keep arbitrary power in checkby providing stronger guarantees of civil liberties and equal rights. At a time when conservative policies are weakening Americas long-term fiscal, economic, and international strength as well as its liberties, liberalism is more urgent than ever. Freedoms Power shows why liberalism worksand how it can work for America again.


textabstractDiagnostic Microbiology probably started in the late 17th century when
the Dutch scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek made microorganisms visible
for the first time. Since then, 3 major revolutions have taken place,
all of which had a major impact on the field of clinical microbiology.
The first revolution took place at the end of the 19th century after
the development of solid culture media by Robert Koch. Bacterial
culture, nowadays, still remains the cornerstone of clinical
microbiology, although technical refinements have made available
automated identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing in
most modern laboratories. The second revolution was the development of
antigen/antibody detection in the sixties and seventies of the 20th
century. Early antigen/antibody testing tended to lack some
sensitivity and specificity, a problem which is nowadays largely
resolved, however, most of these tests still show a window period
before detectable antigen/antibody levels appea!
r in the patient. The third and final revolution, the nucleic acid
(NA)-based detection of microorganisms started some 25 year ago and is
still ongoing.
Molecular diagnostic testing has made its way from basic research to
become a permanent asset for the clinical microbiology laboratory. In
fact, in clinical virology it has nearly completely replaced viral
culture as the primary means to detect active viral infection.
However, in other fields in clinical microbiology, the use of
molecular diagnostics has remained more limited to those
microorganisms that are either uncultivable or hard to culture, or
those where conventional diagnostic procedures lack sensitivity. In
this thesis, we set out to explore new possibilities of molecular
diagnostic testing within the setting of a community-based clinical
microbiology laboratory. We have shown that a universal, 16S rDNA-
based, PCR approach provides a valuable supplementary test, despite
the increased risk for contamination. However, when this risk is
carefully managed, this testing strategy has proven its use in the
diagnosis of bacterial meningitis, especially when antimicrobial t!
herapy has already started. In addition, universal bacterial PCR can
be applied to all clinical materials originating from human body sites
considered to sterile in healthy subjects.
Due to the increasing number specimens handled by the molecular
diagnostic laboratory, automation of sample preparation has become
mandatory. Although the literature shows acceptable performance for
automated NA extractors in most applications, our research has shown
that thorough evaluations of these extractors are still mandatory and
extrapolation of previous results should be done with some care. Our
research has addressed some of the primary clinical specimen types
(i.e. blood, plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid samples), as well as one
of the most difficult specimens types to be processed; feces. This has
illustrated an issue with the MagNA Pure Total Nucleic Acid Isolation
Kit, which may effect some clinical applications where maximal
sensitivity is required. On the other hand, we have also shown that
the performance of two (semi-)automated extraction platforms with
stool specimens is highly satisfactory.
To explore the possibilities of molecular diagnostic testing in
applications where culture has long since been considered the "gold
standard", we have chosen to use the diagnosis of gastroenteritis as a
model system. Classically, diagnosis of gastroenteritis focuses on
bacterial culture and detection of parasites by microscopy. However,
with the refinement of molecular diagnostics (i.e. automated sample
preparation and real-time PCR), these methods now provide an effective
alternative to conventional detection of gastrointestinal pathogens,
as is illustrated for several gastrointestinal pathogens in this thesis.
On the short term, we will probably see an increase in molecular
diagnostic testing within the clinical microbiology laboratory. This
testing will be conducted in syndrome-based detection panels. The role
of culture will therefore move from a primary detection tool to a
epidemiological tool. On the long run, developments will be technology
driven, eventually leading to "real-time" point of care diagnostics.


by Eric William Hagedorn William of Ockham's theory of mental language is among the most studied aspects of his thought; yet, surprisingly, there is little scholarly consensus on just what it is supposed to be a theory of. The most widely held view today is that Ockham's mental language is intended to be an account of human cognitive operations, akin to the Language of Thought Hypothesis held by some contemporary cognitive scientists. In this dissertation, I first raise a series of objections to this interpretation, both philosophical and textual: Ockham refrains from endorsing the key doctrines this interpretation attributes to him, and his actual discussions of mental language seem disconnected from the theory of cognition he does indeed hold. I then proceed to sketch an alternative interpretation, which takes as its starting point the sole argument that Ockham provides for positing mental language. On this interpretation, Ockham posits mental language in order to provide a collection of entities which are both compatible with his nominalist ontology and sufficient to fulfill the strictures of the Aristotelian account of scientific practice that he endorses.


Distributed learning facilitates the scaling-up of data processing by distributing the computational burden over several nodes. Despite the vast interest in distributed learning, generalization performance of such approaches is not well understood. We address this gap by focusing on a linear regression setting. We consider the setting where the unknowns are distributed over a network of nodes. We present an analytical characterization of the dependence of the generalization error on the partitioning of the unknowns over nodes. In particular, for the overparameterized case, our results show that while the error on training data remains in the same range as that of the centralized solution, the generalization error of the distributed solution increases dramatically compared to that of the centralized solution when the number of unknowns estimated at any node is close to the number of observations. We further provide numerical examples to verify our analytical expressions.


With the advent of Machine to Machine (M2M) communication, we are witnessing an increased interest towards technologies that will enable efficient and reliable operation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). Such networks are expected to include a large number of sensor devices which will generate large body of M2M traffic. To reduce the impact of this M2M traffic, efficient storage and retrieval methods should be employed in a distributed manner for the successful deployment of this technology. In this paper, a distributed storage solution is presented with the aim of reducing the impact of M2M traffic on data centres and the network backbone. The reliable and efficient storage of the sensor data is established by taking advantage of codes with Maximum Distance Separable (MDS) properties. The solution is implanted in Contiki OS using RPL protocol [1] and its performance is evaluated through simulations. Furthermore, to realise such a system, a centralised clique finding algorithm is demonstrated and benchmarked against a solution that uses a brute force approach.


The B7 costimulatory molecules govern many aspects of T cell immune responses by interacting with CD28 for costimulation, but also with CTLA-4 for immune suppression. Although blockade of CTLA-4 with Ab in humans undergoing cancer immune therapy has led to some cases of inflammatory bowel disease, spontaneous animal models of colitis that depend upon modulation of B7 interactions have not been previously described. In this study, we demonstrate that mice expressing a soluble B7-2 Ig Fc chimeric protein spontaneously develop colitis that is dependent on CD28-mediated costimulation of CD4+ T cells. We show that the chimeric protein has mixed agonistic/antagonist properties, and that it acts in part by blocking the cell intrinsic effects on T cell activation of engagement of CTLA-4. Disease occurred in transgenic mice that lack expression of the endogenous B7 molecules (B7 double knock-out mice), because of the relatively weak costimulatory delivered by the chimeric protein. Surprisingly, colitis was more severe in this context, which was associated with the decreased number of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in transgenic B7 double knock-out mice. This model provides an important tool for examining how B7 molecules and their effects on CTLA-4 modulate T cell function and the development of inflammatory diseases.


Culture filtrates of races 0, 4 and 1.2.3. of Fulvia fulva were fractionated by sequential gel chromatography on Bio-Gel P-2, ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and affinity chromatography on concanavalin A-Sepharose 4B. The fractions were characterized for their carbohydrate, phosphate and protein contents and sugar compositions. D-Galactose, D-glucose and D-mannose were the major sugars with much smaller amounts of D-glucuronic acid, D-galactosamine and D-glucosamine. Phosphate was present as a diester. The carbohydrate was present in a family of glycopeptides of disperse molecular weight, charge and sugar composition. The molecular organization of these polymers was further investigated by mild acid and alkali degradation and by acetolysis of the polysaccharide remaining after these treatments. A possible structure for the polymers is suggested.


Background In March 2016, one of our hospital pharmacies started using a robotic solution for chemotherapy compounding. This solution was placed in a production room with an EU-GMP class D classification. During an audit related to the start-up, our governing body requested to see results to determine if the robotic solution could uphold the EU-GMP classification for its respective areas, and sustain the same level of microbiological cleanliness as manual production done in an isolator. We performed extended environmental monitoring of the robotic solution for the first 6 months of production, and compared the results with routine samples from manual production. Purpose To show that the robotic solution can sustain the same level of microbiological cleanliness as manual productions in an isolator during chemotherapy compounding, in a EU-GMP class D classified production room. Material and methods The extended environmental monitoring for the first 6 months of compounding consisted of: daily monitoring with 5 settle plates, 3 were placed in the production area (require EU-GMP class A), 1 in the carousel area and 1 in the loading area (both require EU-GMP class B); weekly monitoring consisted of all swab and contact samples (see figure). Air samples were performed twice. The number of colony forming units (CFU) were determined after incubation for 7 days at 20–25°C and then for 5 days at 30–35°C. 25 separate media fill procedures, 250 media fill preparations in total, were also performed. All environmental samples for the robotic solution were sampled during preparations, and during routine activity in the production room. There were 3445 preparations compounded in the robotic solution during this period. Results Some of the environmental samples were outside the limits of their respective EU-GMP class, but less frequent and lower averages of CFU than for manual production in the isolators. The media fill preparations had no deviations. Figure Sample locations and results. Conclusion Our environmental monitoring showed that it is possible for the robotic solution to obtain at least the same level of microbiological cleanliness as manual production in an isolator in an EU-GMP class D classified production room. References and/or acknowledgements The technicians and pharmacist involved in the daily production and sampling. No conflict of interest


In this paper we introduce a new approach to topic modelling that scales to large datasets by using a compact representation of the data and by leveraging the GPU architecture. In this approach, topics are learned directly from the co-occurrence data of the corpus. In particular, we introduce a novel mixture model which we term the Full Dependence Mixture (FDM) model. FDMs model second moment under general generative assumptions on the data. While there is previous work on topic modeling using second moments, we develop a direct stochastic optimization procedure for fitting an FDM with a single Kullback Leibler objective. Moment methods in general have the benefit that an iteration no longer needs to scale with the size of the corpus. Our approach allows us to leverage standard optimizers and GPUs for the problem of topic modeling. In particular, we evaluate the approach on two large datasets, NeurIPS papers and a Twitter corpus, with a large number of topics, and show that the approach performs comparably or better than the the standard benchmarks.


A 52-year-old lady was scheduled for hemithyroidectomy for right colloid goitre. After the preanesthetic check-up, she was classified as an American society of anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I. Her baseline vitals parameters were within normal limits. After receiving premedication, she was induced and intubated with a 7.0 mm ID flexometallic endotracheal tube (ETT) preloaded with a malleable aluminium stylet. Shortly afterwards, while fixing the ETT, the size of the stylet was noticed to be shorter than initial length. Immediately, ETT was removed and replaced with a new one. The broken piece of stylet was found inside the removed ETT.


Information Retrieval (IR) based tools complement traditional static and dynamic analysis tools by exploiting the natural language found within a program's text. Tools incorporating IR have tackled problems, such as feature location, that previously required considerable human effort. However, to reap the full benefit of IR-based techniques, the language used across all software artifacts (e.g., requirement and design documents, test plans, as well as the source code) must be consistent. Vocabulary normalization aligns the vocabulary found in source code with that found in other software artifacts. Normalization both splits an identifier into its constituent parts and expands each part into a full dictionary word to match vocabulary in other artifacts. An algorithm for normalization is presented. Its current implementation incorporates a greatly improved splitter that exploits a collection of resources including several dictionaries, frequency distributions derived from the corpus of programs, and co-occurrence data. Empirical study of this new splitter, GenTest, on almost 8000 identifiers finds that it correctly splits 82%, outperforming the current state-of-the-art. A preliminary experiment with the normalization algorithm finds it improving the FLAT feature locator's scores of relevant code from 0.60 to 0.95 on a scale from 0 to 1.


Today, more and more students are choosing to study overseas. Most relish this opportunity to become "student ambassadors" for their country and community, and eagerly anticipate engaging with the people at their chosen destination. In many cases, however, they quickly encounter obstacles. In Coping with Anti-Americanism, Carol Madison Graham shows students how to break out of their comfort zone, thrive in another society, and handle the anti-Americanism they may encounter. This helpful new guide, by a study-abroad program administrator and former overseas student herself, shows how to get the most out of what can be an exciting and rewarding experience.


The equations describing the stimulated Brillouin scattering process in optical fibers with distributed gain, including an equation for the second-order Stokes wave, are numerically solved. An analytical solution for the case of no net gain or loss is also presented. We note that the presence of distributed gain along the fiber leads to a nonmonotonous evolution of the signal power and to ready generation of multiple Stokes orders. The effect of broadening the signal spectrum, as well as the influence of a copropagating or counterpropagating signal are also examined. >


Multiphoton imaging with fluorescence detection has proven to be a powerful method for moderately deep tissue imaging (less than 1 mm) with molecular specificity. However, many important endogenous biomolecules do not fluoresce (NAD) or have low efficiency (melanin). In this paper two femtosecond pulse shaping methods have been demonstrated to detect two-photon absorption (TPA), instead of fluorescence, with high sensitivity, which opens up a wide range of molecular targets. It also facilitates longer excitation wavelengths, which permit greater tissue penetration. Developing the imaging system by using these new methods will be also discussed.


This study involved the determination of the effects of binocular viewing on contrast sensitivities in 11 normal subjects and in different categories of amblyopes. These were simple anisometropic amblyopes (n=9), micro-esotropic amblyopes with anomalous BSV (n=6), esotropic amblyopes with anomalous BSV (n=3) esotropic without BSV 9n=5), exotropic amblyopes without BSV (n=2) and a group of non-amblyopic strabismics (non-amblyopic esotropes without BSV (n=4); non-amblyopic exotropes without BSV (n=2).An ophthalmic examination was carried out on all individuals. The examination procedures undertaken comprised determination of the visual acuity, subjective refraction, the results of which were confirmed by retinoscopy, and assessment of uniocular fixation patterns. The state of BSV, the direction and magnitude of the angle of deviation, the amplitude of accommodation and pupillary diameter were also determined. The subjects were accordingly placed into the appropriate groups on the basis of the basis of the results of the ophthalmic examination.Measurement of uniocular and binocular contrast sensitivities in response to stationary vertical sinusoidal grating patterns were undertaken. The stimulus display consisted of a Tektronix 5103 cathode ray tube (CRT) with a screen subtense of 2 degrees. Mean contrast threshold values were measured for monocular and binocular viewing over the range of spatial frequencies studied which varied between 8c/deg to 40c/deg depending on the group being examined.The conclusions reached were, first, in individuals with BSV (normal or anomalous), binocular enhancement of contrast sensitivities occurred. However, strabismic amblyopes without BSV and non-amblyopic strabismics without BSV did not exhibit enhanced binocular contrast sensitivities; on the contrary, binocular contrast sensitivities were reduced compared to those obtained through the better eye. Furthermore, when bifoveal stimulation was effected, a further reduction in binocular contrast sensitivity occurred.This study has thus shown that binocular contrast sensitivities are augmented compared with monocular contrast sensitivities when BSV is present, but are decreased when BSV is absent. Furthermore, correction of the angle of squint in strabismics, whether BSV is present or not, further reduces the binocular contrast sensitivities.


Modern thoracic surgery was born at about the time the Swiss Surgical Society was founded. Tuffier, Rehn, Lilienthal, Thorek were some of the pioneers. Today the important developments are esophagectomy without thoracotomy, the routine performance of cardiac transplantation and the emergence of lung transplantation. The past, present and future of these developments are outlined.


Human natural IFN-producing cells (IPC) circulate in the blood and cluster in chronically inflamed lymph nodes around high endothelial venules (HEV). Although L-selectin, CXCR4, and CCR7 are recognized as critical IPC homing mediators, the role of CXCR3 is unclear, since IPC do not respond to CXCR3 ligands in vitro. In this study, we show that migration of murine and human IPC to CXCR3 ligands in vitro requires engagement of CXCR4 by CXCL12. We also demonstrate that CXCL12 is present in human HEV in vivo. Moreover, after interaction with pathogenic stimuli, murine and human IPC secrete high levels of inflammatory chemokines. Thus, IPC migration into inflamed lymph nodes may be initially me-diated by L-selectin, CXCL12, and CXCR3 ligands. Upon pathogen encounter, IPC positioning within the lymph node may be further directed by CCR7 and IPC secretion of inflammatory chemokines may attract other IPC, promoting cluster formation in lymph nodes. The Journal of Immunology, 2002, 169: 6079–6083.


Malaria is one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity in the world, endangering billions and affecting millions of people each year. Resistance to common antimalarial drugs has proven to be a challenging problem in malaria control. In an attempt to develop efficacious compounds against sensitive and multidrug resistant falciparum malaria, four new complexes of mixed ligands (artemether and lumefantrine) were synthesized using template method. Their antiplasmodial activity potential was evaluated and compared with chloroquine and the parent ligands. The compounds were active against the tested parasite strains. The presence of the metal ions significantly improved the antiplasmodial action against the drug-resistant parasite strains when compared to chloroquine. Additionally, their biological activity was assessed using several in vitro assays. Biological and physical properties were correlated to the antimalarial activity.


Alongside recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), a new art practice has emerged in recent years that borrows and transforms these advances in the production of artworks. The actors of this emergent practice are coming from contemporary art, media and digital arts. These artists have developed an original practice of AI within their creative field. In this article, we propose a qualitative study to explore the nature of this practice. We interviewed five internationally renowned artists about how AI is integrated into their work. Through a thematic analysis of the interviews, we first find that their practice relies on crafting algorithms and data as materials. We uncover how they explicitly use this material unpredictability rather than avoid it. Secondly, we highlight the politics of their practice that consist of resisting the culture of AI research, as well as its inherent power dynamics. We also highlight how their relationship with the technology is imbued with ethics and how they rethink their role with respect to the technology. In this paper, we aim to provide the CSCW community with a way to expand the framework in which AI can be understood not only as a tool but also as cultural and political design material.


SUMMARY Populations of Ostertagia ostertagi established from fresh larvae and from larvae stored at 4 °C for up to 12 weeks contained about 10% inhibited early 4th-stage larvae. This value rose to 21% after 16 weeks, due to an increase in numbers of inhibited larvae while adult numbers remained unchanged. Storage at 15 °C had no effect. In the case of larvae stored at 4 °C for 8 weeks, increasing the larval dose to 90000 had no significant effect on the proportion of the dose which was inhibited. The response to low temperature storage was much weaker than in previously reported studies on British populations, which accords with our earlier conclusion that low temperature cannot be the effective stimulus for inhibition in Australia.


The accelerated pace of change in human affairs today has meant a steep increase in the (quantitative) flow of information that an individual agent must process in some fashion and a quantum leap in the (qualitative) sophistication of the processing that is required. It has been argued that the demands on processing capacities already exceed what is possible the processing gap is growing. In short, humanity is complicating things faster for itself than it is developing the capacity to cope with the consequences (i.e., there is an "ingenuity gap"). This essay considers whether there are grounds for optimism that these concerns can be addressed. It is argued that the shared assumption of governing elites that things can be in some sense "managed" in the traditional sense may not be valid. It has been shown that there are undecidable problems (which constitute a barrier to rational choice) and problems that demand impossibly high computational resources (which constitute a bound on rational choice). Various features of the real world setting that contribute to this result are considered. Most importantly, it is argued that the arithmetic of exponential growth of knowledge in a context of biological constraints for absorption/retention of knowledge by individual human beings means that the proportion of what there is to know that any one actually knows declines asymptotically and approaches a state of near-perfect ignorance – or "imperfect ignorance". The compression and filtering of information within institutions leaves them little better off. The features of human society that may allow it to nonetheless cope (e.g., distributed decision-making and the development of non-analytic solution methods) are discussed. However, rising complexity inevitably means rising vulnerability for the individual (whether a person, a corporation or a nation state). Several principles are suggested that might serve to mitigate this increased risk: first, recognize that specialization and efficiency are two-edged swords (the specialized of one era are the extinct of the next); second, respect anomalies as indicative of fundamental problems with reigning orthodox views; and third paradoxically, embrace complexity – recognize that complex systems have "sweet spots" that hover between chaos and rigidity, between control and out of control.


This report is the outcome of a close working partnership between the public, and private sectors. It builds on what has gone before, but broadens its scope, encompassing the widely differing regimes, political, economic, and social, within which corporations carry on their activities worldwide. The report stipulates there can be no single, generally applicable corporate governance model; however, from lessons learned, the Bank Group has set the mechanisms for such an exchange of experience. The report recognizes the complexity of the very concept of corporate governance, and thus focuses on the principles on which it is based. These principles - such as transparency, accountability, fairness, and responsibility - are universal in their application. And, the way these are put into practice, has to be determined by those with responsibility for implementing them. The report emphasizes governance initiatives win most support when driven from the bottom up, rather than from the top down. It reviews why corporate governance matters, by balancing diverging interests, into en internal and external architecture. The internal architecture defines the relationships among key players in the corporation, while the external rules provide a level playing field, keeping players in line, specifying globalization is bringing harmonization. In particular, the report states a mix of regulatory, and private voluntary actions are key to success, through ownership with due diligence as the solution.


The ability to communicate intention enables decentralized multi-agent robots to collaborate while performing physical tasks. In this work, we present spatial intention maps, a new intention representation for multi-agent vision-based deep reinforcement learning that improves coordination between decentralized mobile manipulators. In this representation, each agent's intention is provided to other agents, and rendered into an overhead 2D map aligned with visual observations. This synergizes with the recently proposed spatial action maps framework, in which state and action representations are spatially aligned, providing inductive biases that encourage emergent cooperative behaviors requiring spatial coordination, such as passing objects to each other or avoiding collisions. Experiments across a variety of multi-agent environments, including heterogeneous robot teams with different abilities (lifting, pushing, or throwing), show that incorporating spatial intention maps improves performance for different mobile manipulation tasks while significantly enhancing cooperative behaviors.


While it is widely known that the Jews of medieval Spain carried with them their language, literature and other traditions to the countries in which they settled following the Expulsion in 1492, little research has been conducted on the preservation of their material culture and the visual arts. In this article, these aspects are examined vis-à-vis the Judaic artistic production and visual realm of the Sephardi Jews in Morocco, who adhered to these traditions perhaps more staunchly than any other Sephardi community in modern times. The materials are divided into several categories which serve as an introduction to specific topics that each require further research. These include Hebrew book printing, Jewish marriage contracts (ketubbot), Hebrew manuscript decoration, clothing and jewellery relating to the world of the Sephardi-Moroccan woman and the interior of the home, and ceremonial objects for the synagogue.


- The aims of this study is to investigate the resistance of different SCC mixtures to aggressive solutions. The investigation included the type of the cementitious materials (silica fume and high reactivity Attapulguite-HRA) and limestone powder (chalk powder and Al-gubra). The powder content of the mixes was kept constant, 500 kg/m 3 . The slump flow, L-box, and V-funnel were performed for mixes in there fresh state. In the present work, the specimens were immersed in sulfuric acid solution with a concentration of 0. 5% up to 289 days after normal curing for 28 days. After concrete has hardened, two types of test are performed. Firstly, destructive tests are conducted including (compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and modulus of rupture). Secondly, a mass loss as non-destructive test is performed. The results obtained from this work, show that concrete mixes with chalk powder only, had the best resistance to sulfuric acid solution comparable with concrete made with Pozzolanic materials the reduction in compressive strength was 25. 9 %. In addition, concrete mixes with HRA had the worst resistance.


Author(s): Mott, Donald F.; Timbrook, Shirley K. | Abstract: Alarm/distress calls of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) were evaluated by themselves and in combination with racket bombs to determine their effectiveness in frightening Canada geese from nuisance situations at 2 Corps of Engineers campgrounds in Tennessee. Results based on goose censuses showed a significant (Pl0.05) reduction in goose numbers from nontreatment to treatment periods at both sites. Goose numbers were reduced an average of 71% when the calls alone were used. The combination of the calls and the racket bombs produced a 96% reduction in goose observations. Although a reduction in geese was observed during the treatment periods, continual harassment would appear to be necessary as reinvasion was noted after treatment was stopped. The scarcity of alternate feeding and loafing sites may have contributed to this lack of long-term control.


The author proposes systolic architectures for associative memories, resulting in systems whose performance parameters are realistically independent of size for long sequences of operations with proper optimization of instruction sequencing. The designs are based on well-known principles of pipelining and systolic operation using a collection of small building-block associative memories. Several alternative organizations, from a simple linear array to higher dimensional meshes and trees, are examined and evaluated with respect to cost and performance. The proposed architectures should lead to practical VLSI realizations of large associative memories, which would be impossible to implement under the 'operand-broadcasting' and 'reduction-by-wired-logic' paradigms.<<ETX>>


This collaborative project began in 1999 between the University of Glasgow's Special Collections and the University of Strathclyde (Centre for Scottish Cultural Studies). The aim was to create a web accessible union database of Scottish chapbooks.

Funded by a small British Academy grant, the project began by extending an existing Microsoft Access database of chapbooks held by the University of Glasgow containing 1200 items. The project involved detailed cataloguing of these chapbooks to ballad first line level including contents. Peter Asplin (Special Collections) reconstructed the Scottish Chapbooks database and Mark Denham (Information Services) produced a Web version in Cold Fusion. This was accessible via the Special Collections website.

The data was refined and developed in 2001 with advice from other partners, including the National Library of Scotland. Details of chapbooks from other libraries (385 items from Edinburgh Central Library and 144 duplicates from Stirling University) were added to the database. In 2004-05, data from 3,739 chapbooks from the National Library of Scotland was added following a grant from the British Library's Full Disclosure initiative to catalogue the Lauriston Castle Collection of chapbooks. The main impediment to expanding the catalogue to include the holdings of other library collections was funding the staffing costs to catalogue the books as well as convert the data.

At 2019, the web based chapbooks catalogue held details of 4624 different chapbooks in 7878 copies incorporating 11360 individual works including variant versions.


© TouCh MEdiCal MEdia 2014 Abstract Background: Zoptarelin doxorubicin (AEZS-108, AN-152) is an luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH)-cytotoxic hybrid drug consisting of an agonist coupled to the cytotoxic radical, doxorubicin. Methods: This is a single case report of a 66-year-old male who was diagnosed in May 2009 with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the prostatic urethra. He presented with pelvic and retroperitoneal lymph nodes (LNs). Initially he was treated with cisplatin and gemzar, followed by radical cystoprostatectomy in October 2009. He relapsed in December 2009 and he received two more lines of chemotherapy with no response. The patient entered a phase I clinical trial with zoptarelin doxorubicin, in 2011. He received zoptarelin doxorubicin every 3 weeks for nine cycles from May to October 2011. Results: After two cycles of the investigational drug, all pain and palpable lymph neck nodes disappeared. A computed tomography (CT) scan 20 months post-treatment showed a complete response. Thirty months after treatment started, the patient is symptom free with no evidence of disease. Conclusions: This is the first case of a patient with LHRH-receptor (LHRH-R) positive UC treated with zoptarelin doxorubicin that has been reported. Considering the generally poor outcome of progressive UC and the short survival of these patients, the effect of this drug in this patient has been remarkable.


Taking into account 4 localities where amebas of the genus Naegleria fowleri were isolated in Santiago de Cuba, necessary techniques for their adequate study using the scanning electron microscope were performed. Previously, those amebas were inoculated in experimental biomodels (mice), which allowed to determine a different level of pathogenicity, a controversial issue in several theories about their causes (some discussed here), including that maintained in their surface invagination (amebostomas or suckers). Thus, the author of this work evaluated the presence (number and characteristics) or absence of amebostomas through such device, and it is concluded that pathogenic ameboflagellates were similar to those that were not. This finding could be confirmed when they were compared with 2 strains recognized in the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Czechoslovakia. Consequently, that result rules out the above cause in the pathogenesis of amebas.


Two copper flotation tailings samples, one from the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex, Uzbekistan (sample designated AMMC) and the other from Whitehorse (WT), Yukon, Canada, were bioleached at laboratory scale. Acidophilic, iron- and sulphur-oxidizing cultures were enriched from the two tailings and these cultures were used for the testing. After 24 weeks of bioleaching in percolator columns 70-72% of the copper was leached from the AMMC tailings and 91-93% of the copper was leached from the WT tailings. The chalcopyritic nature of the copper and larger particle size of the AMMC tailings compared to the WT tailings were likely reasons that copper extraction was greater for the AMMC tailings. In-column, thiosulphate leaching of biooxidized residues yielded 90+% gold extraction for both tailings. In other testing the two cultures were subjected to an electromagnetic field during growth on ferrous iron. Compared to untreated controls, cultures subjected to the electromagnetic field oxidized iron more rapidly. Although magnetite, which exerts an electromagnetic field, was present in the AMMC tailings, there was no evidence that this magnetite had any effect on the bioleaching results. However, given the enhanced performance of the iron-grown cultures under the influence of an electromagnetic field, we believe that additional research should be performed to investigate this phenomenon


This contribution brings to a close a special issue of Hydrology and Earth System Sciences concerning the assessment of nitrogen dynamics in catchments across Europe within a semi-distributed Integrated Nitrogen model for multiple source assessment in Catchments (INCA). The wide range of issues involved in relation to hydrology and within-catchment processes, scale (from small catchments to major river basins), climate (from sub-arctic to Mediterranean regimes) and pollution (atmospheric, agricultural and urban sources) is outlined. Consideration is then given to how well the model has performed and future research requirements are outlined. Keywords: nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, organic nitrogen, catchments, streams, rivers, river basins


In the aftermath of the third wave of democratization, Latin American courts left behind decades of subservience, conservatism, and irrelevance to become central political players. They now serve as arbiters in struggles between the elected branches, and increasingly affirm fundamental rights. Indeed, some rulings champion highly controversial rights and have huge budgetary implications, sending shock waves across these new democracies. What explains this unprecedented expansion of judicial power? In trying to answer this fundamental question about the functioning of contemporary democracies, scholars of Latin America have developed a truly vibrant and theoretically dynamic body of work, one that makes essential contributions to our knowledge of judicial politics more generally. Some scholars emphasize the importance of formal judicial reforms initiated by politicians, which resulted in more autonomous and politically insulated courts. In so doing, they address a central puzzle in political science: under what conditions are politicians willing to accept limits to their power? Inspired by rational choice theory, other authors zoom in on the dynamics of inter-branch interactions, to arrive at a series of propositions about the type of political environment in which courts are more capable to assert their power. Whereas this approach focuses on the ability of judges to exercise power, a third line of scholarship looks at how ideas about the law and judicial role conceptions affect judges' willingness to intervene in high-stakes political struggles, championing some values and interests at the expense of others. Finally, more recent work asks whether assertions of judicial power make a difference in terms of rights effectiveness. Understanding the consequences of judicial decisions is essential to establishing the extent to which more assertive courts are actually capable of transforming the world around them.


ABSTRACT The present study aims at investigating the long-term cognitive effects of vocational education and training (VET) in Sweden and Denmark using data from the PIAAC Survey of Adult Skills. While Sweden has moved towards a more academic vocational education, Denmark has kept the apprenticeship system. Using multiple regression analysis we estimate the contribution of VET versus general upper-secondary education to the proficiency in literacy. The results show a higher literacy performance in those Swedish age groups in more academic VET programmes compared to the older Swedish age groups and to all the Danish age groups. A reasonable interpretation is that the amount of cognitively challenging subjects at the upper-secondary level gives a lasting imprint on literacy proficiency later in life.


Here is a treasury of favorite and little known tales from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Oceania, gracefully retold and accompanied by fascinating, detailed information of their historic and cultural backgrounds. The introduction provides an informative overview of folklore, its purpose in world cultures and in contemporary society and popular culture. Following this, the main sections of the book are arranged by tale type, covering wonder tales, hero tales, tales of kindness repaid and hope and redemption, and finally tales of fools and wise people. Each section begins by comparing the tales cross-culturally, explaining similarities and differences in the folkloric narratives. Tales from diverse cultures are then presented, introduced, and retold in a highly readable fashion.


Abstract  A population of Meridion circulare var. circulare (Greville) C.A. Agardh from Inner Mongolia was found to produce Innenschalen or internal spores. Examination of this population with light and scanning electron microscopy showed morphological differentiation between vegetative and spore morphologies. Vegetative valves typically bear costae and one rimoportula at the headpole. Spores lack costae and have two rimoportulae, one at the headpole and the other at the footpole. There is plasticity in the production of valve morphologies, and a variety of vegetative valve and spore combinations are evident. This population of M. circulare var. circulare has initial valves of over 90 μm in length, and all of the initial cells encountered are acostate and bear two rimoportulae. These observations suggest that either spores are the product of sexual reproduction, or that initial valves may be produced parthenogenetically in Meridion. Spores as products of the sexual process have not been reported in diatoms previously, and parthenogenesis in Meridion was reported previously but discounted in other published reports. The plasticity of valve morphologies expressed in M. circulare var. ciculare, between vegetative valves and spores (and back) across a short temporal period suggests that diatoms can alter their cell wall structure dramatically and quickly in response to external variables.


This paper examines the regional patterns of urbanisation in China and co-operation among Chinese cities. By studying the case of Shanghai, the authors show that the central government's objective is to develop regional urban clusters and to promote exchanges and relations on a regional basis. Regional cities adopt different methods to exploit their geographical advantages. The analysis of the regional development of Chinese cities also underlines a broader question related to the optimum size of cities, and the emergence of city networks. For financial reasons, cities have favoured expansion rather than co-operation. In the Yangtze River Delta, competition is fierce among cities to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and thus benefit from new infrastructures. Regional co-operation among Chinese cities is still not effective, therefore more policies needs to be implemented to increase coordination, as opposed to replication and competition. The way in which cities finance themselves needs to be reformed to reach this objective.


Richard Gardiner's Treaty Interpretation is a tremendous book, in terms of both substance and size. Yet in important ways the work is narrower than it might appear. Indeed its enormous merit is in large part due to the author's narrow, disciplined approach – not in spite of it. As Gardiner readily acknowledges, the book is narrow in two critical ways: first, it is more or less limited to analyzing the rules of treaty interpretation enshrined in articles 31-33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT); and second, while the book is certainly a valuable resource for students and academics, its real focus is practitioners – specifically lawyers advocating before courts and tribunals, domestic or international. For that audience, the book represents a marvelous snap-shot of the rules of, and lacunae or unresolved issues in, treaty interpretation as things stand today. Yet, as I suspect the author would agree, in light of his approach and perspective, the book should not be taken as a conclusive statement of either "what the legal rules of treaty interpretation are" within precise, decided contours, or "how those rules must be applied" to yield a mechanically "correct" result...


In a world of increasing complexity and uncertainty the question how consumers learn to trust is at the heart of marketing research. Recently, cognitive neuroscience theories and methods have been suggested to be used in marketing research, because they are expected to facilitate scientific progress in the field. This expectation is primarily driven by the idea that learning more about the brains of consumers will add a new theoretical perspective to marketing research. This new neurobiological perspective might help to better explain consumer behavior. Against this background, the objective of our study was (i) to use a certain neuroimaging technique, namely functional magnetic resonance imaging, to investigate the brain regions associated with trustworthiness judgments, and (ii) to identify the neural mechanisms underlying Toulmin's theory of argumentation, a theory that can be applied to build trust through structured communication. Our study shows that the neural mechanisms underlying Toulmin's theory of argumentation correspond to the brain regions associated with trustworthiness judgments. Therefore, our study has both theoretical and practical implications. In particular, it demonstrates that the effects of marketing communication (e.g., in advertising) based on Toulmin's theory of argumentation on consumer behavior is mediated by activation in trust-related brain areas. 1 Corresponding author: Marc Linzmajer, Zeppelin University, E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.


In this article, we examine line manager prioritisation of HR roles and the consequences for employee commitment in a health-care setting. Our analysis is based on a quantitative, multi-actor study (509 employees and 67 line managers) in four Dutch hospitals. Using sense-giving as a theoretical lens, we demonstrate that, in addition to the effects of high commitment HRM, prioritising the Employee Champion role alone and the Employee Champion and Strategic Partner roles in combination is associated with higher employee commitment. We argue that through performing roles that are evocative of deep-seated values, such as excellent patient care and concern for others, line managers can have a positive effect on staff attitudes. In a sector often beleaguered by staff turnover, exhaustion and burnout, we offer an important, empirically based framework that has the potential to improve employee commitment and, from there, enhance performance.


This paper presents a new simulation system for ultra-precision diamond turning of optical free-form surfaces based on fast tool servo (FTS). The functions including evaluation and analysis of optical free-form surfaces manufacturing errors, optimization for tool path, etc, are proposed. The simulation modules and functional structure of the system are designed in accordance with the functions. The errors in the process of machining can be found in advance through the simulation. Then the NC code will be modified timely. The proposed method can be used to improve product quality, shorten the development cycle, reduce costs and optimize machining process.


Computational simulation of large-scale biochemical networks can be used to analyze and predict the metabolic behavior of an organism, such as a developing seed. Based on the biochemical literature, pathways databases and decision rules defining reaction directionality we reconstructed bna572, a stoichiometric metabolic network model representing Brassica napus seed storage metabolism. In the highly compartmentalized network about 25% of the 572 reactions are transport reactions interconnecting nine subcellular compartments and the environment. According to known physiological capabilities of developing B. napus embryos, four nutritional conditions were defined to simulate heterotrophy or photoheterotrophy, each in combination with the availability of inorganic nitrogen (ammonia, nitrate) or amino acids as nitrogen sources. Based on mathematical linear optimization the optimal solution space was comprehensively explored by flux variability analysis, thereby identifying for each reaction the range of flux values allowable under optimality. The range and variability of flux values was then categorized into flux variability types. Across the four nutritional conditions, approximately 13% of the reactions have variable flux values and 10-11% are substitutable (can be inactive), both indicating metabolic redundancy given, for example, by isoenzymes, subcellular compartmentalization or the presence of alternative pathways. About one-third of the reactions are never used and are associated with pathways that are suboptimal for storage synthesis. Fifty-seven reactions change flux variability type among the different nutritional conditions, indicating their function in metabolic adjustments. This predictive modeling framework allows analysis and quantitative exploration of storage metabolism of a developing B. napus oilseed.


Scholars of political economy have raised the question of whether recent populist movements around the world signal the decline of neoliberal hegemony. What would such a decline mean for education policy, an arena that has been dominated by a neoliberal common sense for several decades? This study investigates the policy discourse of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, in order to assess the extent to which it aligns with the neoliberal common sense or draws upon discourses of populism that have been gaining traction in the last few years. Using methods of corpus linguistics, I engage in a critical discourse analysis of 59 of DeVos's public speeches delivered between 2017 and 2019 in comparison with a reference corpus of speeches delivered by DeVos's predecessors in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. The findings, informed by Ernesto Laclau's theory of populism as political logic and discourse, suggest that DeVos deploys several features of populist discourse even as she advocates policies that are characteristically neoliberal. I consider the implications of this discourse for education policy in the US.


The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the bactericidal/antibiofilm efficiency of Lonicera tatarica (LT) and Viburnum opulus (VO) extracts. The LT and VO extracts were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis reference and clinical, multidrug resistant and biofilm producing strains, isolated from ear and wound infections. The quantitative assay of the antimicrobial activity was performed by broth microdilution method in order to establish the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Subsequently, the biofilm forming ability was quantified by the microtiter assay. Our results showed that the LT and VO extracts interact differently with the growth and adherence ability of S. aureus and S. epidermidis strains. LT predominantly interfered with the bacterial growth exhibiting an inhibitory effect of similar intensity against all tested strains, while VO attenuated the ability of all tested strains to colonize the inert substratum and to form biofilms. These results are leading us to the hypothesis that Lonicera tatarica and Viburnum opulus species could be used for the development of novel antimicrobial products or strategies for fighting medical biofilms.


Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of resin infiltration on artificial caries lesion by assessing the depth of resin penetration and the change in microhardness of lesion postinfiltration. Materials and methods Totally 45 human extracted premolars were used to create an artificial demineralized lesion in enamel using demineralizing solution. A total of 15 samples (group I) were infiltrated with resin. The depth of resin penetration was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Other half (n = 30) of samples was equally divided into three subgroups and Vickers hardness number (VHN) values were obtained to measure the surface microhardness as group 11 a—before demineralization, 11 b—after demineralization, IIc—postresin infiltration. Results Mean depth of penetration in group I was 516.8 urn. There was statistically significant increase in VHN values of demineralized lesion postresin infiltration (independent Student's t-test, p < 0.001). Conclusion Penetration depth of the resin infiltrant was deep enough to render beneficial effects, while significant increase in microhardness was observed postresin infiltration. Clinical significance Infiltrant used can be considered as a valid treatment option for noncavitated lesions. How to cite this article Prajapati D, Nayak R, Pai D, Upadhya N, Bhaskar VK, Kamath P. Effect of Resin Infiltration on Artificial Caries: An in vitro Evaluation of Resin Penetration and Microhardness. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2017;10(3):250-256.


Recent evolution of pesticide-free post harvest hermetic storage for dry commodities as now used in 38 countries is described, and its current application in the storage of grain and other commodities is discussed and illustrated. Results of studies carried out on the protection of seeds, rice, maize, wheat, pulses, cocoa and coffee are presented. Plastic structures suitable for long-term storage systems have been developed and applied. The growing number of types of flexible hermetic containers for various needs, especially in tropical conditions, is documented. Types of hermetic containers include: 1) Portable containers of 60-kg to 2-tonne, called SuperGrainbags TM which are suitable for seed storage in bulk; 2) Bulk storage for household or farm use and daily withdrawal of grain of   1-tonne called Grainsafe II TM ; 3) Flexible enclosures of 5- to 1000-tonne capacity termed storage cubes or Cocoons TM , designed for storage at the farmer-cooperative and small trader level or larger commercial and strategic storage facilities; 4) Hermetic Bunker storage for longterm storage in bulk of 10,000- to 20,000-tonnes; 5) TranSafeliner TM provide quality preservation, insect control, and prevention of condensation during shipment of bagged commodities in containers across intercontinental distances. Recent applications for wheat storage in bunkers in Jordan, and cocoa storage in West Africa, and the growing use of hermetic liners for intercontinental shipments of a variety of commodities, are described. Key performance parameters for safe storage in the face of elevated humidity and temperature in preventing growth of molds and the survival of insects for dry and wet commodities are discussed. Economic analysis is provided for representative applications, including rice, maize and cocoa. Keywords : Hermetic storage, Modified atmospheres, Quality preservation, Storage insect control, Flexible storage structures


The aim of this study is to discuss the contradictions of the Olympic Games legacy for health and environment in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Public policies for sports mega-events have been criticized for contributing to and deepening the city's historical socio-spatial inequalities. Based on document research and data analysis, the article focused on establishing a proposal for a sustainable city, as provided in Law 10,257/2001, the so-called City's Statute. The article concludes with remarks on Olympic urban planning, its market orientation, and failures to overcome public health and environmental sanitation problems that will persist as a legacy after 2016.


The study examined the effect of Quality Assurance on the Effectiveness of Lagos State Junior Secondary Schools. The factors of effectiveness that were considered included teachers' input, school leadership and learning environment. A stratified sample of 30 schools was selected from a population of 313 from the six Education Districts of the state on an equal basis of five schools from each district. From each of the sample schools were also selected 30 teachers, again on stratification based on gender, qualification and experience. A questionnaire was designed for the study to collect pertinent data 900 copies of which were administered but 868 or 96.4% of which were returned. The questionnaire was subjected to a test of face validity and test-retest reliability. The reliability coefficient was found to be 0.76. The collected data were then subjected to chi -square analysis and in accordance with the hypotheses generated to guide the study. Results of the analyses indicate that quality assurance has a significant effect on each of teachers' input and school leadership but not on learning environment. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to the effect that quality assurance should be intensified and possibly private participation in the practice should be encouraged.


It is unclear whether the exceptionally highU.S. current account deficit can be sustained for a prolonged period. In this paper we approach the topic whether a gradual adjustment or a pronounced reduction of the deficit is likely to occur. We therefore characterize the dynamics of the current account deficit movements by a three-regime Markov-Switching model. Our finding is that it is possible to distinguish a regime of a strong increasing deficit, a just slightly increasing deficit and a regime of a deficit reduction. Furthermore we find that movements of the deficit are asymmetric.Whereas expansions of the current account deficit are long lasting, reductions of the deficit are rather short. This implies that a pronounced reduction is not likely to occur. Secondly we try to uncover determinants of regime shifts of the current account. Applying ordered Logit models we conclude that a combination of U.S. inflation, U.S. investment and share prices predicts pronounced changes in the current account deficit quite reliably.


This paper presents the development and testing of an Electro-Magnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) sensor prototype to detect and quantify longitudinal cracks in small diameter and difficult to inspect or unpiggable gas pipelines. The development of the system was a collaborative and jointly-funded work between Quest Integrated, Gas Technology Institute, Operations Technology Development, and US DOT, Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Admin (PHMSA).
 The initial focus for the project was to inspect 8-inch (200 mm) diameter pipes with robotic or tethered towing, with the eventual goal of a free-swimming tool. A bench scale lab prototype has been successfully completed and tested in Phase 1 of the project in 2016. The prototype demonstrated the basic approach of a EMAT tool for crack detection and sizing that could be packaged into a single module, had reasonable flaw depth sensitivity, was bidirectional, and could negotiate a 1.5 D bend.
 Phase 2 focused on identifying and solving additional implementation issues, developing a more hardened tool for field pull testing, improving flaw sizing, and the necessary internal electronics and processing algorithms. The prototype recently developed in Phase 2 was tested in an extended length of 8-inch diameter steel pipe with pre-set and controlled longitudinal cracks. The results demonstrated the applicability of the integrated prototype in locating and sizing multiple flaws in the axial direction.
 This paper discusses the EMAT sensor development and results of the laboratory testing program.


Those providing primary health care and referral services for the adult population should have the knowledge and positive attitudes that encourage persons, as they age, to maintain function and wellbeing. The WHO programme on Health of the Elderly is oriented to maintain wellbeing as men (and increasingly women) transit through the lifespan in increasing numbers. The key question, for clinical medicine and public health, is to identify the determinants of healthy ageing. The epidemiological thrust of the programme is designed to provide a rational basis for policy and programme development. For the countries of Asia, there is a "green field" situation with regard to knowledge about ageing. A major tool for identifying measures to prevent and control age-related disorders is the prospective, longitudinal study, although none has been conducted in ageing populations outside of industrialized countries. The top quality of evidence for assessing the efficacy of interventions directed at improving the health of the elderly is the randomized controlled trial: few such trials have been conducted outside Europe and North America. Teaching on ageing applicable to the Asian situation is just beginning, and self-health care guidance for the general public is beginning to appear in the popular press. There are moves to establish a better balance of care between hospital and community services and guides are available for assessing the quality of long term care services. The two pillars of the WHO programme on Health of the Elderly are prevention and development of alternatives to institutional care.


In the Indian context, marriage is considered as a sacrosanct institution that unites not only two individuals but also two families. In an age of increasing globalization, where a growing number of people have ties to networks of people and places across the globe, people are increasingly marrying across national boundaries. Such kinds of marriages between two people from different countries are known as transnational marriages. Marriages by and/or with Non Resident Indians (NRI marriages) are a class of transnational marriages. "Non-Resident Indian – NRI" means an individual, being a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin who is resident outside India. In ancient times, some marriages were arranged between different tribes and nations because of royalty trying to form alliances with or to influence other kingdoms or to persuade against intruders or slave traders. With the time span, these kinds of marriages resulted on one side, because of the temptation of Indian brides and bridegrooms by the Overseas Indians with the hope of rejuvenating the Indian culture and traditions whereas, on the other side, such alliances with Overseas Indians were seen as promises of better future, not for the bride/bridegroom but for her/his entire family. Now, in the modern time, there again came a shift in the concept of marriage from a sacrament bond to a contractual union. As a result, these marriages mostly turned out to be phony ones, split fast and began to pose serious long-term consequences and drastic issues not only for the wife, husband, children and families but also for the whole of the society and economy as well for which there seems to be no easy remedy either in law or in civil society. Some of the typical instances of the issues which arise in NRI marriages are: abandonment of the wife; domestic violence; non–resident Indian husband already married; continued demand for dowry, pre and post marriage. Moreover, lenient legal system abroad for getting ex-parte divorce; issue of Jurisdiction; validity of foreign court orders; maintenance or custody laws along with property rights and other ancillary legal issues also crop up because of the most important issue of the conflict of laws. The conflict of laws arises because of differences between the law of the country of nationality of a person and that of in which that person may reside or of which nationality may be acquired by him. Apart from it, in India there is absence of unified civil code making the situation more critical. No doubt, at the international level, the Hague Conference on Private International Law', is affianced in developing polygonal legal mechanisms on the issues related to person, family, or commercial situations, connected with more than one country, particularly where there are divergences in the legal systems with the mission of working for the "Progressive Unification" of these rules thereby involving this conference in finding internationally-agreed approaches to such issues. India is a member of The Hague Conference on Private International law and even though India is still not a signatory of The Hague Convention particularly on Family Law matters so far but it is already a party to some of the conventions which has been signed by it. This initiative on the part of Indian Government has helped a lot in taking judicial action against errant NRI husbands. In India, the victims of fraudulent marriages can also take recourse to legal proceedings against their overseas Indian spouses under the provisions of a number of statutory enactments at the national level and the State level. In addition to all these measures being taken at the international, national as well as State level, the judiciary has also made a lot of contribution through the deliverance of some important Judgements. However, despite of all initiatives, the phenomenon of wives abandoned by their NRI husbands has been growing invisibly. The objective of this work is to focus upon the plight of the abandoned Indian women due to the creation of various legal as well as psychological, cultural, emotional and economic issues involved because of the dearth of uniform civil law in India in addition to the conflict of laws of different nations across borders in respect of matrimonial issues. In this paper, for achieving the aim of ensuring abandoned women a capability and equity in life, adopting of measures at advocacy at global, national and at State level like: generating and implementing a new set of appropriate Private International laws along with bringing about their ( i.e., of Private International Law rules) unification among all countries of the world in the context of the abandoned brides problem; becoming party to the Hague Conventions relating to Family Law by India; creating a domestic uniform law regarding family matters by enacting a comprehensive new legislation solving family-related legal problems of NRIs together with making corresponding procedural rules providing complete responsive machinery; vesting authority in the competent courts for adjudicating NRI disputes by Indian Government and finally again forging bilateral agreements addressing the various issues of the transnational desertion of Indian women in addition to arranging social awareness campaigns educating the women and their family members about the seriousness of the issue by Government of India are suggested. For the purpose of achieving all these objectives, the present doctrinal study depends profoundly upon various International Conventions covering the domain of Private International Law specifically relating to the Family Law Matters in addition to various relevant national statutory enactments and the works of a number of jurists whose contribution is significant in this respect.


"Wars in the Woods" examines the conflicts that have developed over the preservation of forests in America, and how government agencies and advocacy groups have influenced the management of forests and their resources for more than a century. Samuel Hays provides an astute analysis of manipulations of conservation law that have touched off a battle between what he terms "ecological forestry" and "commodity forestry." Hays also reveals the pervading influence of the wood products industry, and the training of the U.S. Forest Service to value tree species marketable as wood products, as the primary forces behind forestry policy since the Forest Management Act of 1897. "Wars in the Woods" gives a comprehensive account of the many grassroots and scientific organizations that have emerged since then to combat the lumber industry and other special interest groups and work to promote legislation to protect forests, parks, and wildlife habitats. It also offers a review of current forestry practices, citing the recent federal easing of protections as a challenge to the progress made in the last third of the twentieth century. Hays describes an increased focus on ecological forestry in areas such as biodiversity, wildlife habitat, structural diversity, soil conservation, watershed management, native forests, and old growth. He provides a valuable framework for the critical assessment of forest management policies and the future study and protection of forest resources.


We present a detail-driven deep neural network for point set upsampling. A high-resolution point set is essential for point-based rendering and surface reconstruction. Inspired by the recent success of neural image super-resolution techniques, we progressively train a cascade of patch-based upsampling networks on different levels of detail end-to-end. We propose a series of architectural design contributions that lead to a substantial performance boost. The effect of each technical contribution is demonstrated in an ablation study. Qualitative and quantitative experiments show that our method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art learning-based and optimazation-based approaches, both in terms of handling low-resolution inputs and revealing high-fidelity details.


For a variety of tax, accounting, and economic reasons, leasing has become an enormously popular method of financing the acquisition of capital assets. The explosion in lease finance, however, has left many lessors exposed to substantial risks in the form of uncertainty over the residual values of the leased assets. Residual value risk has already led to substantial losses for a number of institutions in such well-established asset markets as automobiles. The extension of lease financing to more exotic assets thus presents a substantial challenge to the leasing industry's ability to identify and manage residual risks. This article presents a simulation framework for valuation of residual risks that is consistent with contemporary appraisal practice, but also explicitly recognizes the impact of uncertainty on residual values.


In adults, migrating motor complexes (MMCs) appear to be partially under hormonal modulation by motilin and pancreatic polypeptide. Preterm infants do not exhibit MMCs until 32 wk of gestation. Although plasma concentrations of motilin are similar in infants and adults, it is not known if actual hormonal modulation of MMCs is present in infants. In the first study we assessed whether plasma concentrations of motilin and pancreatic polypeptide surge with the occurrence of MMCs in term infants. In the second study we assessed whether erythromycin, a motilin receptor agonist, could induce migrating motor activity in preterm and term infants. In the first study we recorded motor activity in nine term infants who had never been fed. We determined plasma concentrations of motilin and pancreatic polypeptide in the presence and absence of MMCs. In the second study we gave the motilin agonist erythromycin intragastrically to 21 infants at a range of 24-42 wk of gestation to assess whether migrating activity could be induced via the motilin receptor. In the first study, plasma concentrations of motilin were similar during the presence and absence of MMCs, as were plasma concentrations of pancreatic polypeptide. In the second study, the administration of erythromycin induced the appearance of migrating activity in 7 of 14 infants who were older than 32 wk but in none of the infants who was younger than 32 wk. Although the motilin receptor appears to be functionally present beyond 32 wk of gestation, as assessed by in indirect pharmacologic challenge, hormonal modulation of migrating activity in the neonate by plasma motilin and pancreatic polypeptide is absent.