Beans are among the most important crops that contribute substantially to the agricultural sector and household food security in Uganda. Kawanda (K) 132 (Nambale) is presently a major bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) variety of high nutritional value. However, the hard-to-cook (HTC) defect limits its utilization, requiring appropriate processing to preserve the nutrients. Banana peel ash-extract, widely used in indigenous processing of dry beans, was evaluated for chemical composition and potential in reducing cooking time of beans with HTC defect. The peel ash-extract was found to contain substantial amounts of sodium (0.36 g/ml), chloride (0.07 g/ml) and magnesium (0.04g/ml) ions. Calcium, iron, copper, zinc, sodium and phosphorus were also found in detectable amounts. Generally, addition of the peel-ash-extract was found to reduce the cooking time of K132 beans. The cooking time of K132 beans, processed in ash-extract (0.31 g/ml), reduced by 52.3%. Reduction in cooking time was also found to correlate strongly (R2=0.89) with the pH of the ash-solution. Processing of K132 beans in ash-solution of pH G 11 reduced the cooking time by nearly 50%. Sensory attributes of dry beans cooked in banana peel ash-extract were preferred to that cooked in ordinary water. Beans cooked in peel ash-extract at a concentration of 0.23 g/ml were the most preferred (5.81±0.59) to that boiled in ordinary water (4.71±0.26). The taste, flavor and acceptance scores were, in general, higher in beans processed in ash-extract than that of ordinary water. The appearance, consistency and texture of cooked beans were not significantly different (p Keywords: Banana peels, ash-extract, hard-to-cook beans, cooking time, sensory attribtes Keywords: Banana peels, ash-extract, hard-to-cook beans, cooking time, sensory attribtes


ABSTRACT Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) constitute a large and important sector of the U.S. and U.K. economies and e-commerce platforms have evolved that are designed specifically to help small business owners and entrepreneurs. Despite the popularity and importance of these digital platforms, there is a paucity of research in this area. This article contributes to theory by being the first study to map out the competitive landscape of SME e-commerce platforms in two markets using a theoretical framework and analysis that is based on business model and strategic group theories. In total, 144 platforms were analyzed using an online panel data methodology, which identified 32 leading SME e-commerce platforms in the UK and United States. These leading platforms were analyzed at the market level using cluster analysis based on strategic group theory and website content analysis. A taxonomy is proposed based on theoretical constructs derived from business model theory: value proposition, Web 2.0 sophistication, and revenue model. Five distinctive strategic groups are identified: information laggards, basic networking, advanced networking, advanced networking mature, and social media markets. The study further outlines managerial implications for SMEs, SME e-commerce platform providers, and external sponsors of the platforms—predominantly government organizations and banks.


This book provides a comprehensive account of the culture of modern Italy. Specially-commissioned essays by leading specialists focus on a wide range of political, historical and cultural questions. The volume provides information and analysis on such topics as regionalism, language, social and political cultures, the Church, feminism, organized crime, literature, art, the mass media, and music. Each essay contains suggestions for further reading on the topics covered. The Cambridge Companion to Modern Italian Culture is an invaluable source of materials for courses on all aspects of modern Italy.


Treatment with a fixed orthodontic aims to improve malocclusion and enhance the aesthetic. Traumatic injury to the mucosa of the mouth is one of the risks that often occur and can be addressed among others by using mouthwash that contains hyaluronic acid. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of 0.1% hyaluronic acid on wound healing caused by trauma of fixed rthodontic appliance in terms of size wound, redness and pain. Twenty two patients who had a traumatic injury caused by fixed appliance on buccal or labial mucosa were divided into 2 groups: K1, was instructed to rinse 10 ml solution containing 0.1% hyaluronic acid for 2 minutes after brushing teeth, 2 times a day for 4 days; K2, used the K1's instruction but using a placebo solution. Examination of size are used caliper and reddish wounds are used index measuring wound redness performed before and after treatment, and pain measurement used questionnaires. Based on the statistical analysis of t-test, the percentage of size changes and redness traumatic injury were more significant in K1 than in K2 (p<0.05). While the pain of traumatic changes in K1 than in K2 were not significant (p>0.05). The use of mouthwash containing 0.1% hyaluronic acid was concluded proved effective to accelerate the wound healing process, but does not prove effective reducing pain caused by traumatic injury due to fixed orthodontic appliance.


Most Japanese enterprises are confronted with a rapid decline of business performance due to the long time recession of the Japanese economy. They gradually lost their competitive advantages in global marketplaces especially in the business domains of matured products including PCs. Most of them are forced to take prompt measures to respond to their business environment. For the past few years, we have been conducting questionnaire surveys repeatedly about B2B information systems in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The results of these surveys show clearly that their business performances have no clear relevance to the utilization B2B information systems. In conclusion, from a management strategy point of view, Japanese SMEs are classified into the following four types: (a) a group of high technical skills in special fields irrelevant to the utilization of information systems, (b) a new business model oriented group, (c) a manpower cost reduction oriented group, and (d) a foreign manufacturing subsidiary group. In the near future, these groups seem to polarize into group (a) and group (d).


Yellow shoulder disorder (YSD) is characterized by sectors of yellow or green tissue under the peel of uniform ripening tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruit. Tissues excised from sectors of fruit expressing YSD, from adjacent red sectors, and from mature green fruit were used to compare the ultrastructural alterations in cells and tissue affected by YSD and to determine whether the disorder is caused by delayed fruit maturation or by aberrant development. Cells from YSD sectors were smaller than those from both adjacent red-ripe tissue and mature green fruit. The smaller cells from the YSD sectors were at a different developmental stage than cells of the adjacent red-ripe tissue. Chromoplasts in red-ripe tissue were more advanced in development than those in YSD sectors or mature green fruit. Using the transition from chloroplast to chromoplast and the degradation of the middle lamella between adjacent cells as developmental markers, the maturity of tissue from YSD sectors appeared to be equal or greater than that of tissue from mature green fruit. However, cell enlargement, which takes place early in fruit development, was retarded in YSD sectors. Therefore, the ultrastructural features of YSD are not compatible with a delayed ripening model for this blotchy ripening disorder. These observations provide a basis for comparing YSD in uniformly ripening tomatoes with other blotchy ripening disorders.


High strain rates have a similar influence to large deformations on the refinement of microstructure. In both cases, at large strains and high deformation rates, a strong tendency to form microbands is observed. It was found, that the width of the microbands is very sensitive to changes of the deformation parameters. It has been observed particularly, that in severely deformed materials, the width of the microbands is reduced to nanometric dimensions. Hydrostatic extrusion, which has been used in for the deformation of copper in the current work, strain rates exceeding 2 1 3.84 10 − ⋅ ε = × s were employed. In all the samples investigated, numerous microbands were found in the microstructure. The width of microbands varied from 20 to about 400 nm. Thus, the width of some of the microbands exhibited dimensions typical of nanometric materials. Additionally, a special feature was the appearance of large areas of subgrains with an average dimension of about 200 nm. These areas were identified as recrystallized dynamically, or post-dynamically. Large misorientations were found between the microbands and the surrounding "matrix'. Such misorientation facilitates the formation of high angle boundaries, which in turn contribute to the changes of microstructure and mechanical properties. The mechanism for the creation of high misorientation in the microband areas is probably different from that operating during the process of dynamic recrystalization. The results confirm the possibility of obtaining a nanometric structure at lower deformation, but at higher strain rates.


Knowledge of the antigens recognized during allograft rejection is still incomplete. Cloned cytotoxic T lymphocytes were used to study the distribution of target determinants in the dog. CTL clones were obtained with a limiting dilution technique from effector cells generated in mixed lymphocyte culture. The clones have been tested for cell-mediated cytotoxicity against PHA-stimulated lymphoblasts, monocytes, and arterial and venous endothelial cells. A limited number of patterns of lysis of one, or more than one, of the four different target cells was observed. The nature of the possible target determinants recognized by these CTL-clones is discussed.


SUMMARY: Inoculation and incubation of Azospirillurn brasilense Cd in pure quartz sand resulted in their attachment to sand particles by fibrillar material. Addition of low concentrations of nutrients, such as fructose or malate together with NH4C1 or root extract, enhanced bacterial multiplication and attachment. This attachment was relatively weak, grid depended on the presence of living bacterial cells and on growth conditions. Sequential washing after bacterial attachment decreased the number of bacterial cells in the sand. The killing of A. brasilense Cd, either before or after attachment, resulted in elimination of most of the applied cells from the sand. By comparison, light-textured soil adsorbed both dead and live bacteria. Addition of protease or EDTA to attached bacteria in sand significantly reduced the number of bacteria. The addition of various inhibitors or exposure to high temperatures yielded a reduced attachment of bacteria, proportionate to their relative inhibitory effect on growth of A. brasilense Cd. Agitating A. brasilense Cd cells immediately after addition to sand reduced bacterial attachment, but increased bacterial multiplication proportionate to the increase in agitation. Attachment of A. brasilense Cd under microaerophilic conditions was lower than under aerobic conditions, and depended on the amount, quality and composition of the available nutrients. The richer the mixture, the greater the attachment and multiplication of bacteria. Similar trends, but at a lower magnitude, were observed in light-textured soil.


Ring-headed crosses of impressive height and intricate design were first erected in Iona and Ireland from the eighth century onwards. This book deals with these but also shows how they were the culmination of a long period of development during the early Christian period. The early sculpture of Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Ireland is examined against the background of the spread of Christian beliefs and practices. Examples selected from the whole of the Celtic west between the fifth and eleventh centuries are fully discussed and illustrated. A bibliography and list of places to visit are also included.


: Conducting nutrition research projects does not require a large, well-funded laboratory and a team of assistants. The main requirement is an inquisitive, creative, and critical mind face to face with an unsolved problem. Nevertheless, the actual process of getting started in clinical nutrition research can present obstacles for the novice clinician that can impede successful implementation and completion of the project. This article reviews the initial steps involved in generating a hypothesis, study design, and preliminary data analysis.


Monitoring flow-based systems (FBS) (e.g., water distribution systems, oil and gas pipelines, the human cardiovascular system) is of paramount importance considering their economic and health impacts. FBS monitoring typically has been achieved by costly, complex, static sensors that are strategically placed. To reduce the cost of monitoring, we propose a mobile wireless sensor network (WSN) system comprised of mobile sensors (their movement aided by the inherent flow in the FBS) and static beacons that aid in locating sensors. This article presents the first complete architectural design, algorithms, and protocols for optimal monitoring of FBS. Our proposed solution includes sensing and communication models, MAC and group management protocols for sensor and beacon communication, and algorithms for sensor and beacon placement. We compare our proposed solution with the state of the art through extensive simulations and a proof-of-concept system implementation. We demonstrate performance improvements, such as a dramatic reduction (a factor of 91) in the number of sensors when the sensing range is marginally (2.5 times) increased.


Group C serogroup includes members of the Orthobunyavirus genus (family Peribunyaviridae) and comprises 15 arboviruses that can be associated with febrile illness in humans. Although previous studies described the genome characterization of Group C orthobunyavirus, there is a gap in genomic information about the other viruses in this group. Therefore, in this study, complete genomes of members of Group C serogroup were sequenced or re-sequenced and used for genetic characterization, as well as to understand their phylogenetic and evolutionary aspects. Thus, our study reported the genomes of three new members in Group C virus (Apeu strain BeAn848, Itaqui strain BeAn12797 and Nepuyo strain BeAn10709), as well as re-sequencing of original strains of five members: Caraparu (strain BeAn3994), Madrid (strain BT4075), Murucutu (strain BeAn974), Oriboca (strain BeAn17), and Marituba (strain BeAn15). These viruses presented a typical genomic organization related to members of the Orthobunyavirus genus. Interestingly, all viruses of this serogroup showed an open reading frame (ORF) that encodes the putative nonstructural NSs protein that precedes the nucleoprotein ORF, an unprecedented fact in Group C virus. Also, we confirmed the presence of natural reassortment events. This study expands the genomic information of Group C viruses, as well as revalidates the genomic organization of viruses that were previously reported.


This paper advances the state of the art in human examination of iris images by (1) assessing the impact of different iris conditions in identity verification, and (2) introducing an annotation step that improves the accuracy of people's decisions. In a first experimental session, 114 subjects were asked to decide if pairs of iris images depict the same eye (genuine pairs) or two distinct eyes (impostor pairs). The image pairs sampled six conditions: (1) easy for algorithms to classify, (2) difficult for algorithms to classify, (3) large difference in pupil dilation, (4) disease-affected eyes, (5) identical twins, and (6) post-mortem samples. In a second session, 85 of the 114 subjects were asked to annotate matching and non-matching regions that supported their decisions. Subjects were allowed to change their initial classification as a result of the annotation process. Results suggest that: (a) people improve their identity verification accuracy when asked to annotate matching and non-matching regions between the pair of images, (b) images depicting the same eye with large difference in pupil dilation were the most challenging to subjects, but benefited well from the annotation-driven classification, (c) humans performed better than iris recognition algorithms when verifying genuine pairs of post-mortem and disease-affected eyes (i.e., samples showing deformations that go beyond the distortions of a healthy iris due to pupil dilation), and (d) annotation does not improve accuracy of analyzing images from identical twins, which remain confusing for people.


A steady-state model of crust production and destruction for the past 180 m.y. was proposed by B. Parsons and advocated by D. Rowley. Such a model has serious implications for models of secular variations in, e.g., global sea level, global climate, and seawater chemistry. This paper presents an analysis of the steady-state model and then offers alternative extensions of that model that allow for non–steady-state production of ocean crust with time. Results suggest that the observed linear decrease in area versus age of ocean floor does not force a steady-state view of seafloor spreading.


People living in the information age, are more and more attention to their own lives. It is also said, social life is more important in present and future. The social life contains three fields. In this paper, we will propose a new method for adjunctive therapy in social life. Recent years, as the bandelets transform has some benefits, many scholars are interested in this field. They proposed many methods to solve different problems in different fields. In this paper, we propose a new maximum local energy method to calculate the low coefficients of images. And then adopt the sum modified laplacian method to select the high coefficients of images. Later, we compare the results with wedgelets transform. In our experiments, we take wedgelets transform, bandelets transform, and LE-wedgelets transform for comparing the results. Beside the human vision, we also compare the results by quantitative analysis. The numerical experiments state clearly that the maximum local energy is an effect way for image fusion, which can get well performance in visual effect and quantitative analysis. During 100 clinic CT/MR fusion experiments in practice, compare with previous methods, the PSNR of our method is improved respectively 5.836, 5.337, 0.035.


While writing together, we have found a dialogical voice that has made our individual work more meaningful, grounded, and fulfilling. Together, we have found a voice that we did not have in our work alone as individuals, a voice that seems, to both of us, more vibrant, truer to our experiences as betweeners and decolonizing scholars. This writing joint-venture exemplifies the very connectedness and co-construction of meaning we advocate in any type of social science preoccupied with empowering praxis. It is also an act of resistance to the academic ranking system and the idea that better work comes from isolated individuals. We have been friends since our late teens, long before each knew what career to pursue, and we have been closely connected from that time. Writing together seems, to us at least, like another important completion of the many intersecting experiences in our lives: friendship, global migration, profession, scholarship, knowledge production, and a keen attraction to a vision of inclusiveness.


In this paper we study a certain class of endomorphisms on the space of tempered distributions. More precisely, the core of the paper deals with endomorphisms, dened on the whole space of tempered distributions, for which there exists an S-basis of the space (see section 5) formed by their eigenvectors. We call these operators S-diagonalizable operators. One of the goals of the paper is the realization that this class of endomorphisms represents in the innite-dimension al case what in nite- dimension is represented by the diagonalizable matrices. We concentrate our examination on two aspects: the study of the spectrum of these operators and the foundation of a functional calculus for them. Concerning the rst aspect, we do not assume nothing about the spectrum of these operators. The circumstance that the eigenvalue- spectrum of these operators will be continuous (more precisely it will be a connected subset of the complex plane, as it is proved in the present note) is a consequence of our denition. Moreover, the spectral measures will be not used in the construction of the functional calculus. In such a way, the denition of the function of an operator, presented in the paper, diers deeply from the usual one, in which the spectral measures of the operators play a fundamental role (as in the spectral decomposition of an operator). Note that, even in the case in which the eigenvalues-spectrum is a subset of the real line, we show that it is not necessarily coinciding with the whole real line.


To capture the transcriptional dynamics within proliferating cells, methods to differentiate nascent transcription from preexisting mRNAs are desired. One approach is to label newly synthesized mRNA transcripts in vivo through the incorporation of modified pyrimidines. However, the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is incapable of pyrimidine salvage for mRNA biogenesis. To capture cellular mRNA dynamics during Plasmodium development, we engineered parasites that can salvage pyrimidines through the expression of a single bifunctional yeast fusion gene, cytosine deaminase/uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (FCU). We show that expression of FCU allows for the direct incorporation of thiol-modified pyrimidines into nascent mRNAs. Using developmental stage-specific promoters to express FCU-GFP enables the biosynthetic capture and in-depth analysis of mRNA dynamics from subpopulations of cells undergoing differentiation. We demonstrate the utility of this method by examining the transcriptional dynamics of the sexual gametocyte stage transition, a process that is essential to malaria transmission between hosts. Using the pfs16 gametocyte-specific promoter to express FCU-GFP in 3D7 parasites, we found that sexual stage commitment is governed by transcriptional reprogramming and stabilization of a subset of essential gametocyte transcripts. We also measured mRNA dynamics in F12 gametocyte-deficient parasites and demonstrate that the transcriptional program required for sexual commitment and maturation is initiated but likely aborted due to the absence of the PfAP2-G transcriptional regulator and a lack of gametocyte-specific mRNA stabilization. Biosynthetic labeling of Plasmodium mRNAs is incredibly versatile, can be used to measure transcriptional dynamics at any stage of parasite development, and will allow for future applications to comprehensively measure RNA-protein interactions in the malaria parasite.


Introduction: Despite numerous shared underlying factors between high body mass index (BMI) and premenstrual syndrome (PMS), there are very little studies on cooccurrence of these disorders. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of PMS in overweight women compared with normal weight controls. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study. Participants were 291 university student women. The survey tool was a questionnaire containing 14 questions regarding PMS screening and another questionnaire included questions concerning demographic data. Weight and height of participants were measured in kilograms and meters. We considered BMI of more than 25 as obese. The PMS screening questions were designed based on diagnostic and statistical manual IV-TR criteria. Collected data were analyzed using the frequency tables and percentiles for describes and Chi-square test for inferences. Results: From 291 women who participated in this study, 80 cases had BMI more than 25 and 211 cases had BMI <25. In addition, 196 cases had PMS symptoms in the luteal phase of menstruation. PMS symptoms in overweight women were more than in those with BMI below 25 (83.7% vs. 61.1%). These differences were statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: High BMI may be a risk factor for occurrence of PMS.


An experiment was conducted using broiler finishers to determine the effects of black soldier fly larvae meal on their growth performance. Thirty-two (32) chicks (Cobb strain) were selected and randomly divided into 16 groups of 2 birds each. Kitchen waste was used as a bait to attract the flies. The larvae were self-harvested according to the design of the baiting apparatus. The larvae were toasted, sun-dried and milled into powder. The fly larvae meal replaced commercial fish meal at 0% and 33% in broiler finisher diets. Two treatments were tested using a Completely Randomized Design and each treatment replicated thrice. Birds were fed from 3 to 8 weeks of age. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Data collected were subjected to a two-sample design using GenStat, and treatment effects compared by Studentized T-test. Birds fed the black soldier fly larvae meal had similar feed intake (P>0.05) to that of their counterparts fed the control diets. All birds obtained similar (P>0.05) live weight gains and feed efficiencies. Birds fed the larvae meal had higher (P<0.05) carcass dressing than their counterparts fed the control diet. There was a significant increase (P<0.05) in the levels of haemoglobin, packed cell volume and red blood cells of birds fed the larvae meal than their counterparts fed the control diet. Based on this study, it can be concluded that black soldier fly larvae meal had the potential to replace fish meal in broiler chicken diet and could replace fish meal up to 33.3% in their diet without adverse effect on growth performance. Keywords: Black soldier fly, Broiler chickens, Carcass yield, Growth, Haematology


Rate-distortion optimization can significantly improve encoder performance in MPEG-like video coding applications. Nevertheless, mode selection and motion estimation (ME) in a rate-distortion optimized setting can entail a prohibitive computational cost. In this paper, we propose a macroblock mode selection algorithm by employing computationally-efficient, yet highly-effective rate-distortion models. We also consider joint optimization of the ME with the mode selection. With our extensive analysis on various video sequences, we show that the proposed algorithm provides significant improvements with negligible increase in overall computational load. With the proposed method, we achieve 3.13, 1.78, and 1.64 dB peak signal-to-noise ratio gains over TM5 on the average, at the bit rates 2, 4, and 6 Mb/s, respectively, with CCIR-601 video. (More information about the DSP/VLSI implementation of the proposed algorithm may be found online at: http://www.ece.gatech.edu/research/labs/MCCL).


Wireless Sensor Networks offer several applications but limit in their energy resource. Efficiency and lifetime of these networks depend on the proper use of their energy. Energy in these networks can be efficiently consumed using mechanism of clustering. Any clustering mechanism depends upon the criteria used in the cluster head selection. In order to select a Cluster Head, this paper presents a mechanism HEEC-RND that takes into account three factors - the node's residual energy, node degree and node's distance from the base station. Compared with other techniques, the technique increases the network lifetime and decreases the network energy decay.


Lizards are appropriate organisms to investigate causes and correlates of communal egg laying because their general lack of parental care focuses attention on nest site choice. We field-tested hypotheses associated with nest site choice and communal egg laying in the delicate skink Lampropholis delicata, in south-eastern Australia. Specifically, we predicted that lizards would nest at sites with lower openness and solar radiation than random sites, but within crevices with higher humidity than random crevices. However, we predicted that these environmental factors would not differ between communal and solitary nest sites (based on previous research), but that egg mortality in communal nests would be higher than that in solitary nests due to conspecific interference. Despite being ground dwellers, skinks in this population nested above the ground level in narrow horizontal crevices within vertical faces of sandstone outcrops. At the broadest scale, skinks nested at sites with significantly lower canopy openness and incident (solar) radiation than random sites, while at the smallest scale, skinks nested in crevices with significantly higher relative humidity than potential nest crevices. Humidity averaged 94% in nest sites, and nesting females did not trade-off humidity for temperature, despite an inverse relationship between the two at potential nest sites. Of 60 nests, about half to two-thirds were communal. Communal nest sites did not differ from solitary nest sites with respect to temperature, humidity, rock size, aspect, height of crevice above ground, or crevice dimensions. Eggs from communal nests were three times more likely to desiccate and perish than eggs from solitary nests, a clear cost of communal nesting. Desiccation was caused by eggs being displaced from their original positions within the crevices, possibly by conspecific gravid females.


In the early 90s, the Republic of Moldova declared its independence and began to build a sovereign state. The state construction was characterized by severe political, economic and social crises that pushed many Moldovans to leave the country and look for a better life abroad. Once settled abroad, many Moldovans kept in contact with their homeland via online platforms. Additionally, they began to create online communities and social networks, and start using them as main tools to inform and share the information, to debate the political situation at home and share some opportunities. Later on, social networks became a place for political mobilization and a source of transnational influence and transfer of innovation back home. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of diaspora ́s social networks the current article acknowledges their potential to engage and mobilize the political participation of the Moldovan diaspora. Such a practice is an example of active engagement and solidarity with the Moldovans back home and points out the decisive role that Moldovan diaspora can play for the country of origin transformation. Therefore the article concludes that social networks transcended their initial aim and transformed into a space of political mobilization and participation.


Abstract Folic acid has a fundamental role in central nervous system (CNS) function at all ages, especially the methionine synthase–mediated conversion of homocysteine to methionine, which is essential for nucleotide synthesis and genomic and non-genomic methylation. Folic acid and vitamin B12 may have roles in the prevention of disorders of CNS development, mood disorders, and dementias, including Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia in elderly people. The authors examined the peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFLT) in patients with nutritional folic acid deficiency using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Patients were divided into two groups according to blood folic acid levels: blood folic acid <7 nmol/L as Group 1 and >7 nmol/L as Group 2. Peripapillary RNFL measurements were performed. There were significant positive correlations between serum folate levels and RNFLT in all quadrants (p < 0.05), except for the temportal quadrant (p = 0.41).


Noel, G. R., and L. M. Wax. 2009. Heterodera glycines population development on soybean treated with glyphosate. Nematropica 39:247-253. Soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines) is a major yield limiting pest in all major soybean producing countries. In the last decade genetically modified soybean tolerant to glyphosate has become widely planted and postemergence application of glyphosate has increased exponentially. Genetically modified crops may affect nontarget microorganisms, either directly or indirectly as in the case of glyphosate application to tolerant crops. Glyphosate translocates to soybean roots where it might affect metabolic sinks such as syncytia produced by Heterodera glycines. In 2002-2004 glyphosate tolerant soybean DSR 320 susceptible to H. glycines and DSR 327 resistant to H. glycines were grown in three different fields and either sprayed with glyphosate at the recommended rate and time of application or not sprayed. Nematode reproduction and soybean yield were determined. In all three years, Pf and Pf/Pi were significantly greater on DSR 320 when compared with DSR 327. In 2004, when Pi exceeded the damage threshold, there was a cultivar x glyphosate interaction for Pf on DSR 320 with greater numbers of eggs recovered from glyphosate treated DSR 320. In 2002 and 2003 Pi was below the damage threshold and no differences in yield occurred between the resistant and susceptible cultivars. However, in 2003 a significant cultivar × glyphosate interaction was observed for yield of DSR 320. In 2004 a significant difference in yield between DSR 320 and DSR 327 was observed. Glyphosate application affected Pf of H. glycines eggs in 2004, the only year Pi exceeded the damage threshold. However, the increase Pf did not translate into crop loss.


Acetate, nitrate, and oxalate precursors for YBCO have been spray pyrolyzed under different conditions. Shelled and nonhollow microparticles were obtained from acetate and nitrate precursors, while nonhollow agglomerates were obtained from the oxalate suspension. At low furnace temperatures, the temperature and residence time of the particles were insufficient for complete decomposition of the precursors leading to Cu_2O and Cu metal in the product. At 900 °C and above, reduced forms of CuO were not detected by x-ray measurements, and up to ∼60 wt.% YBCO was obtained. An approximate model predicting the particle and gas temperatures along the reactor under different operating conditions was developed. The model demonstrates that under the experimental conditions used here, the absorbed radiation heat by the particles from the furnace walls is significant in heating the gas. The gas and the particle temperatures are fairly close due to the effective heat transfer to the particles. At furnace temperatures of 700 °C, the maximum predicted particle temperature is about 500 °C (for ∼1 s). This explains the incomplete reactions obtained under these conditions. Above 900 °C the reactions are predicted to be complete within the first half of the furnace, leaving sufficient residence time for partial conversion into YBCO. Finally, an approximate expression predicting the relative contribution to the gas heating by the walls and the aerosol has been developed.


The fusion between fashion, technology and design is more dynamic than ever before and this collaboration has generated the rapid development of original materials and alternative fabrics. Inspired by the growing trend for eco-fashion, wearable technology and 'smart clothing', designers are experimenting with new ideas and approaches to fabrications that will take their collections to the next level. Now innovative technologies have been incorporated and more sophisticated processes have been applied to fabrics in order to achieve modern surfaces, textures and finishes, once impossible to attain using traditional materials. Featuring the work of fashion-forward designers such as Martin Margiela, this startling book explores in depth the radical new innovations in fashion technology and exciting trends in materials set to change the face of fashion. Packed with information on the hottest new stories in the textile industry, "Future Fashion" is essential for all those who want to stay on top of the emerging directions in fashion technology and future implications for material developments.


In this paper, we discuss an empirical example of the everyday aesthetics of engagement with information systems work practices. Drawing on an ethnographic study, we suggest that the information systems phenomena can be seen as a form of artwork in the practices of a new generation of IT professionals. Using the aesthetic ontology of art, an artwork is conceptualised as something that manifests, articulates, and reconfigures the human practices in a digital society. This paper is intended as an empirical contribution towards advancing the discussion of the aesthetics of engagement in the information systems literature.


This article aimed at investigating the relationship between teacher discourse and learners' achievement in higher education using teaching methodology. We found out that most teachers used action verbs which were related to concrete end of the taxonomy regardless of the students' level of proficiency and their cognitive state. The findings of this study made it clear that in observed classes: a) there was little congruency between teachers' discourse and students' proficiency level; b) teacher discourse was so limited cognitively and was incapable to target higher-level thinking processes which are placed in more abstract parts in Bloom's taxonomy; and c) higher-level thinking processes were to a great extent dependent on teachers' knowledge.


Four main stages of alteration and mineralization are present at La Caridad, Sonora, Mexico. In stage I, quartz veins are associated with orthoclase-anhydrite-biotite hydrothermal alteration within the La Caridad intrusive complex and with pervasive biotitization in andesites and diorites. A zone of propylitic alteration surrounds this biotitic zone. Weak molybdenite ± chalcopyrite ± magnetite ± pyrite ± sphalerite mineralization formed in stage I. stage II, the main hydrothermal mineralization event, is represented by quartz veins with pyrite-sericite + chlorite and is associated with chalcopyrite + pyrite ± molybdenite. In stage III, lead-zinc-silver mineralization formed in veins that were emplaced peripherally to the main system, locally overprinting the earlier events. In stage IV, intermediate-sulfidation mineralization, represented by quartz-tennantite-chalcopyrite-pyrite-sericite veinlets, formed in the core of the porphyry deposit system. The La Caridad Antigua mine, located ~3 km east of the La Caridad orebody, has a high-sulfidation epithermal assemblage that includes pyrophillite, kaolinite, alunite, quartz, and barite as gangue, and a variety of sulfides including, chalcopyrite, pyrite, enargite, tetrahedrite-tennantite, and chalcocite. A new 206Pb/238U age of zircons from an associated porphyry stock at La Caridad Antigua is 55.0 ± 1.7 Ma, identical to previous U/Pb ages determined in the porphyry Cu deposit and consistent with a spatial and temporal link between La Caridad and La Caridad Antigua deposits. Fluid inclusion data indicate that stages I and II at La Caridad were deposited by saline hydrothermal fluid at 360° to 460° and 330° to 410°C, respectively. stages III and IV were deposited by low-salinity hydrothermal fluid at 330° to 370° and 260° to 320°C, respectively. Oxygen and hydrogen isotopes indicate deposition of stages I, II, and IV either from magmatic vapor or from mixtures of magmatic and highly evaporated (lacustrine?) formation water and mixing with meteoric water in stages II and III. Sulfur and oxygen isotopes in stage 1 anhydrite indicate external derivation of sulfate and mixing of igneous and external water sources.


This paper analyses how the theme of hate depicted in Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has been transformed in representations – from the BBC's live television production by Nigel Kneale and Rudolf Cartier, in 1954, to Ridley Scott's commercial for Apple computers in 1984. It goes on to consider the significance of artist Terry Flaxton's video that was shot separately on the set and the meanings to be drawn from the interviews with east London skinheads who took part in the group-hate scene. The paper argues that Orwell's dystopian vision offers an inspiration for understanding how the nature of hate has changed from individual performance in community assemblies and mass rallies to what might be defined as an 'aggregation of behaviours'. The hate of today is not to be found on television, in advertising campaigns or festival documentaries but in Twitter storms and social media bullying.


Exposure to violence is recognized as a major health concern among adolescent populations. The evidence base that links religious involvement with risks for child violence is inconsistent. In a national analysis involving a weighted sample of 24,307 young people, we studied the perpetration of violence (fighting and bullying), as well as victimization by violence (bullying only), among young people who were affiliated with religious groups. One in four young Canadians reported involvement in such groups. Study findings confirmed some unique patterns among this group. First, these religiously involved children reported the same or greater levels of perpetration of violence than other children. Second, religiously involved children reported the same or greater levels of experiencing victimization from violence. Third, religious involvement appeared to protect against engagement in certain overt risk-taking behaviors, but not violence. These patterns were consistent even after adjustment for family, community, socioeconomic, and school-related determinants. If religious communities are to fulfill mandates that foster the protection and nurturing of children into healthy relationships, violence is best addressed using evidence-based strategies. Development of such effective preventive strategies requires the incorporation of contemporary evidence about the distribution, determinants, and possible effects of violence in such groups. Findings from our study suggest that a silence around the issue of violence may in fact be true in the context of some Canadian religious communities. Yet, if these communities make an intentional commitment to protecting children from violence and promoting healthy relationships, and are willing to learn from evidence-based practices that have shown to protect children from participating in and experiencing violent and victim behaviors, perhaps these disturbing trends could be reversed. This message is germane for all levels of leadership in Canadian religious communities.


Background. More than 10% of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) experience a severe, healthcare-associated infection, such as ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) or bloodstream infection (BSI). What could be a public health target for prevention is hotly debated, because properly adjusting for intrinsic risk factors in the patient population is difficult. We aimed to estimate the proportion of ICU-acquired VAP and BSI cases that are amenable to prevention in routine conditions. Methods. We analyzed routine data collected prospectively according to the European standard protocol for patient-based surveillance of healthcare-acquired infections in ICUs. We computed the number of infections to be expected if, after adjustment for case mix, the infection incidence in ICUs with higher infection rates could be reduced to that of the top-tenth-percentile-ranked ICU. Computations came from model-based simulation of individual patient profiles over time in the ICU. The preventable proportion was computed as the number of observed cases minus the number of expected cases divided by the number of observed cases. Results. Data for 78,222 patients admitted for more than 2 days to 525 ICUs in 6 European countries from 2005 to 2008 were available for analysis. We calculated that 52% of VAP and 69% of BSI was preventable. Conclusions. Our pragmatic, if highly conservative, estimates quantify the potential for prevention of VAP and BSI in routine conditions, assuming that variation in infection incidence between ICUs can be eliminated with improved quality of care, apart from variation attributable to differential case mix.


A basic assumtion in the study of mating systems is that the amount and disribution of food and sexual partners influence differences in reproductive success. In this study the ecological, demographic and phenotypical determinants of variation in the social and genetic mating patterns and in reproductive success were analized for a population of Water Pipits Anthus spinoletta. The breeding habitat of the species lies in a variable alpine environment. Conditions at the study site varied markedly in time and space. This is due to a patchy vegetation pattern with large differences in food resources, an increasing population size over the study years and differences in nest predation. The operational sex ratio and the age distribution were stable between breeding seasons. Out of 278 social mating patterns studied, most were monogamous (86%), followed by bachelors (9%), polygyny (3%) and polyandry (2%). For paired individuals the fitness differences of the various mating patterns were small. The population showed an age-assorted mating system. Variation in reproductive success was best explained by nest predation and age of males and females. DNA fingerprints of 393 young from 95 nests revealed extrapair parentage in 7.1% of the young from 18.9% of the nests. Since there was no significant relation between territory-specific prey biomass and reproductive success, and the occurrence of nest predation was stochastic and unpredictable, age may be the most reliable criterium for mate choice. Under these circumstances, monogamy can be expected to be the dominant pair bond, especially under conditions where both parents are required to successfully rear the young.


ABSTRACT Although nearly all local governments in China face serious fiscal challenges, fiscal pressures on some local governments are more severe than on others. Using data from 2011 through 2016, this paper measures the relative fiscal condition of local governments in a single Chinese province as a means of quantifying fiscal disparities within the province. We measure the fiscal gaps between local governments' expenditure needs and revenue-raising capacity. Expenditure needs are estimated using a regression-based strategy to identify a set of characteristics of each local government that influence the costs of delivering local public services. We measure own-source revenue-raising capacity as a function of both local GDP and actual local government revenues. Although fiscal disparities remain, they are substantially reduced after the receipt of equalizing intergovernmental transfers. Because per capita transfers to rural local governments are much larger than transfers to large city governments, post-transfer fiscal health is actually weaker in the province's larger cities than in smaller, more rural jurisdictions.


AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 14-18, 2007; Los Angeles, CA

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Tamoxifen (tam) is a selective estrogen receptor modulator widely used for the management of breast cancers. Beside estrogen receptors, the highest affinity target for tam is the membranous microsomal antiestrogen binding site (AEBS). We have previously shown that the AEBS results from the associationbetween two enzymes involved in the synthesis of cholesterolprecursors (the 3s-hydroxysterol-delta-8-delta-7-isomerase andthe 3s-hydroxysterol-delta-7-reductase) and has no affinityfor pure antiestrogens or estrogens. In order to clarify the involvement of the AEBS in the mediation of the antiproliferative action of its cognate ligands on human breast cancer cells, we have compared the effect of tam with those of a selective AEBS ligand (N-pyrrolidino-2-[4-(benzyl)-phenoxy-ethanamine-HCl) (PBPE)). We found that PBPE and tam induced a concentration-dependant growth control and a cell arrest in G0-G1 phase of the cell cycle. The growth inhibition was associated with morphological changes including an increase of the cytoplasmic volume. Tam and PBPE stimulated the induction of milk fat globule protein (MFG), milk fat membrane globule protein and lipid droplets. The ultrastructure analysis of treated cells revealed the presence of unilamellar vesicles and multilamellar bodies corresponding to the accumulation of di- and tri-glycerides as well as free and fatty acid esters of sterols respectively. Tam and PBPE stimulation of sterol accumulation is associated with the down-regulation of the HMG-CoA reductase and the inhibition of H-Ras isoprenylation. The addition of mevalonolactone inhibited the accumulation of lipid droplets suggesting that the inhibition of the isoprenoid and cholesterol biosynthesis was responsible of the lipid accumulation. Despite the inhibition of H-Ras prenylation, a 48 hours treatment of MCF-7 cells with tam and PBPE stimulated the phosphorylation of the ERK and of the P70S6 kinase. The P70S6 kinase appeared to be phosphorylated on Thr 241, Ser 424 and also on Thr 389 suggesting both the involvement of the ERK and mTOR. The phosphorylation of the P70S6 kinase lead to a stimulation of the phosphorylation of the ribosomal S6 protein which may control the expression of the MFG since rapamycine inhibits the P70S6 kinase and the expression of the MFG. Together these results indicate that tam and PBPE have a similar mechanism of action. We propose that AEBS ligands have drastic antiproliferative activity by causing these cells to undergo cell cycle arrest and differentiation. AEBS ligands such as the PBPE analogue tesmilifen is currently evaluated in Phase III clinical trials. These findings may impact the clinical use of these drugs and may improve the prophylactic use of tam for breast cancer prevention and treatment. More importantly this study demonstrates that the AEBS represent a promising target for the development of new anticancer agents.


Purpose
Muslim entrepreneurs face various obstacles when starting their business, especially in gaining access to financing. Some financing practices have some Sharia violations, so this paper tries to explore the opportunities and challenges of one financing alternative for Muslim entrepreneurship development in Indonesia that fully complies with Sharia principles. This paper aims to further understand the concept of venture capital and how it relates to Islamic teachings, and the paper ends with the suggestion for future research direction.

Design/methodology/approach
This study uses qualitative methods with descriptive and exploratory analysis. A case study approach using semi-structured in-depth interviews with several key informants were conducted to identify the opportunities and challenges for Muslim entrepreneurs in gaining access to Islamic financing. Various literary syntheses are also provided to better understand alternative financing for business development of Muslim entrepreneurs.

Findings
Muslim entrepreneurship, depending on their goals and needs in obtaining financing, uses different models in the process of agreements with capital-funding institutions based on Sharia principles. Sharia venture capital is one alternative financing that gives freedom for Muslim entrepreneurs to develop their business based on the Islamic system, without thinking about the requirements that must be met in obtaining access to the financing. However, it seems that this scheme still has relatively low interest, especially from Muslim entrepreneurs because they do not know the information and procedures of Sharia venture capital.

Practical implications
Some policy implications include increasing capital from Sharia venture capital institutions, the role of the government in providing adequate policy support and incentives and broader socialization and education about the existence and importance of developing Sharia venture capital. Practical implications include useful information for Muslim entrepreneurs to address financing issues in their entrepreneurial activities and suggest insights for future research.

Originality/value
This study provides the link of financial access for Muslim entrepreneurs to Sharia venture capital as a new financing business innovation. Thus, it contributes to the literature on Sharia venture capital and Muslim entrepreneurship. The authors also propose some useful recommendations for further research in this field.


This study investigates the cognitive processes of five Chinese ESL undergraduates from University of Malaya (UM) by using Think-Aloud Protocols (TAPs) as the main research tool. The participants of this study are Band Three achievers in Malaysian University English Test (MUET) and they are required to write formal and informal letters on different assigned time slots. Apart from TAPs, data are also collected through interview and questionnaires from the participants to triangulate the results of study. The data findings obtained have successfully answered the research questions and achieved the objectives of the study, i.e. (i) to identify the thought processes related to writing as the respondents engage in formal and informal letter writing; (ii) to investigate the differences in cognitive processes between formal and informal letter writing (if any); (iii) to find out the factors affecting their cognitive processes during the writing duration for both types of letters. An additional writing category is added to Wang and Wen (2002)'s coding system, which is "Emotional-expressing". Results of the study also state that there are five major factors contributing to challenges faced by ESL undergraduates, namely, lack of English vocabulary, poor grammar mastery, types of writing task, other language (Malay/Mandarin) interference, and personal preference. Although there is no stark difference found between the cognitive processes in formal and informal letter composing tasks, it is noticed that participants are generally more focused and organised in composing the former. Additionally, Emotion-expressing is found to occur more frequently in the preferred task.
Keywords: Think-Aloud Protocols (TAPs), writing


Conventional high-lift systems are used for lift augmentation during start and landing operations of the majority of modern transport aircraft. Besides this, they have limited functionality during the rest of a flight mission. A possibility to provide more functionality is the use of single flap systems, that enables differential flap setting. For the implementation different technical realization can be used. In addition to dropped-hinge kinematic and fail-safe actuators, this paper presents various concepts for a novel safety device, which is integrated into the track linkage kinematic. For the so called flap track brake (FTB) an integration into the carriage is conceivable. The main task of the FTB is the prevention of flap skew in failure cases. Therefore different concepts are presented and discussed. For carriage integrated concepts a VDI 2225 like evaluation is conducted. The use of the FTB requires an adjusted drive system, which actuates every single flap with an independent and redundant electrical power unit. For investigations of the FTB and drive system in early development stage a co-simulation can be used to gain early results. Therefore the drive system can be modeled in MATLAB/Simulink and the flap kinematics are emulated in MSC/Adams.


The theory of organisational knowledge creation and conversion clarified the difference between explicit and tacit knowledge and highlighted the importance of tacit knowledge in the workplace. The key components of successful multi-agency working and accompanying group processes have been explained in terms of activity theory and the sharing of different forms of knowledge and practices. This research has illustrated how professionals in a multi-agency family support team construe their role in, and the role of, the team. The use of personal construct psychology and repertory grids (Kelly, 1951/1991) enabled team members to access their tacit knowledge about multi-agency working through sorting tasks involving similarities and differences, discrimination and selection. The sharing of elicited knowledge amongst the whole team as a participatory process helped build a common language around embedded tacit knowledge. It led to the identification of important role elements in which, for example, practitioners' roles in their previous teams influenced their views of their role in the family support team. Differences in ratings of elements for particular constructs produced dilemmas, such as whether professional identity should develop as the team evolved or when the team was established, which affected group cohesiveness. High staff turnover and lack of clarity over operational procedures within an activity system context resulted in the team oscillating between forming and storming stages of group development. This undulation together with team members' awareness of imminent comprehensive changes in core team structures and processes and their fear of the future led to incidental changes in core construing.

This research elicited individual and whole team constructs based on the tacit knowledge held by various professionals about their role and the role of the multi-agency team in which they work. The whole team's co-construction of six superordinate bi-polar constructs was evidenced in implicit, reactive and deliberative learning (Eraut, 2000).

The theory underpinning knowledge transfer (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) was supported. The research marked out the importance of activity theory (Leadbetter, 2006) in helping the team mature and perform and confirmed particular dilemmas surrounding inter-agency practice (Arming, et al., 2006).


Seedlings of aster (Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees), dusty miller ( Senecio bicolor (Willd.) Tod.), and petunia (Petunia Juss.) were subjected to brushing with burlap in two experiments. The spring experiment tested the daily duration of brushing (60, 120, or 180 minutes per day) and the autumn experiment tested the stimulus of brushing (brushing for 2 hours with single-layer, double-layer, or triple-layer burlap). Brushing was done with slow-moving apparatus. The increase in daily brushing duration led to a greater reduction of growth, although differences between the species were noted. Aster showed a growth reduction after 20 days of treatment, whereas dusty miller and petunia took longer to respond. Aster and petunia responded significantly even to the shortest daily brushing duration, whereas dusty miller needed 2 hours per day to achieve any significant growth reduction. Increasing the brushing stimulus resulted in injuries to aster leaves in autumn. Brushing with double-layer burlap caused maximum growth reductions in all the species. Brushing most clearly reduced the growth of dusty miller and petunia in autumn, but aster showed similar growth reductions in spring and autumn.


LONGDOM proffers our immense pleasure and honour in extending you a warm invitation to attend Euro Nursing 2020. It is focusing on 'Exploring the current challenges and Advancements in Healthcare and Nursing Education' to enhance and explore knowledge among Healthcare Departments, industries and to establish corporations and exchanging ideas. Providing the right stage to present stimulating Keynote talks, Plenary sessions, Discussion Panels, B2B Meetings, Poster symposia, Video Presentations and Workshops.


A wavelet transform approach using a Morlet basis function is proposed to supervise power system disturbances in this paper. With the time-frequency localization characteristics embedded in wavelets, the time and frequency information of a waveform can be presented as a visualized scheme. Different from the fast Fourier transform, the wavelet transform approach is more efficient in monitoring various disturbances as time varies. The method has been tested on the detection of various simulated disturbances including voltage sag, voltage swell, momentary interruption and oscillatory transients and on the harmonic analysis of the arc furnace from the field test data. Testing results demonstrated the practicality and advantages of the proposed method for the applications.


The problem of stance detection from Twitter tweets, has recently gained significant research attention. This paper addresses the problem of detecting the stance of given tweets, with respect to given topics, from user-generated text (tweets). We use the SemEval 2016 stance detection task dataset. The labels comprise of positive, negative and neutral stances, with respect to given topics. We develop a two-phase feature-driven model. First, the tweets are classified as neutral vs. non-neutral. Next, non-neutral tweets are classified as positive vs. negative. The first phase of our work draws inspiration from the subjectivity classification and the second phase from the sentiment classification literature. We propose the use of two novel features, which along with our streamlined approach, plays a key role deriving the strong results that we obtain. We use traditional support vector machine (SVM) based machine learning. Our system (F-score: 74.44 for SemEval 2016 Task A and 61.57 for Task B) significantly outperforms the state of the art (F-score: 68.98 for Task A and 56.28 for Task B). While the performance of the system on Task A shows the effectiveness of our model for targets on which the model was trained upon, the performance of the system on Task B shows the generalization that our model achieves. The stance detection problem in Twitter is applicable for user opinion mining related applications and other social influence and information flow modeling applications, in real life.


To keep pace with the tremendous bandwidth growth in cloud networking, web-scale providers, such as Microsoft, have been quick to adopt elastic features of modern optical networks. In particular, colorless flexible-grid reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers, bandwidth-variable transceivers, and the ability to choose a variety of optical source types are integral for cloud network operators to improve network efficiency while supporting a variety of service types. We take an in-depth look at Microsoft's deployed network infrastructure and discuss the impact of elasticity on network capacity and flexibility. As a proof-of-concept, a new elastic open line system (OLS), in which the line system components and the signal sources are disaggregated, was assembled in a laboratory environment, and 4000 km of propagation over primarily nonzero dispersion-shifted fiber using multiple source types is demonstrated. Finally, the long-term goal of unifying the control plane of the OLS, DWDM signal sources, routers, and Ethernet switches under a single software-defined network controller is briefly addressed.


Woodlands, which are part of the landscape and an important source of livelihood for smallholders living in the environmentally vulnerable Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia, are experiencing rapid changes. Detecting and monitoring these changes is essential for better management of the resources and the benefits they provide to people. The study used a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the extent and pattern of woodland cover changes from 1973 to 2013. Pixel-based supervised image classification with maximum likelihood classification algorithm was used for land cover classification and change detection analyses. Local peoples' perceptions were used to explain the patterns of change and their possible reasons. Four major land cover classes were identified, with an overall accuracy of 88.3% and a Kappa statistic of 0.81 for the latest image. The analysis revealed a major land cover reversal, where woodland (92.4%) was the dominant land cover in 1973, while it was agriculture (44.7%) in 2013. A rapid reduction in woodland (54%) and forest (99%) covers took place between 1973 and 2013, with the majority of the conversions being made during the government transition period (1973 to 1986). Agriculture (3878%) and grassland (11,117%) increased tremendously during the 40-year period at the expense of woodlands and forests. Bare land increased moderately (40%). Thus, woodlands are under increasing pressure from other land uses, particularly agriculture, and declining faster. If the current trends of land cover change remain unabated it is likely that woodlands will disappear from the landscape of the area in the near future. Therefore, better forest policy and implementation tools, as well as better woodland management strategies and practices, need to be in place for woodlands to continue providing vital ecosystem goods and services to the local people, as well as to the environment.


Chlorella, among microalgae, has possibly been the most used for feeding, as well as the most researched in heterotrophic growing lately due to the highest lipid yield. The objective of this work was to study the effect of carbon and nitrogen concentration for lipid productivity and biomass production of microalga Chlorella minutissima, cultivated in absence of light. The complete factorial design used was type 22 with three repetitions at the central point, having as glucose concentration factor (1, 5 e 9 g.L-1) and as sodium nitrate (NaNO3) (0.2; 0.75 and 1.3 g.L-1), and total lipid and biomass concentration as responses, with a total number of 7 experiments. The cultivation carried out with 9 g.L-1 of glucose and 0.2 g.L-1 of NaNO3 was the one that presented better lipid concentration (29.38% w/w), better cell growth (0.89 g.L-1) and a lipid profile comprising saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in 26.6% w/w, 62.4% w/w and 11% w/w concentrations, respectively.


Tahini is a food product that is frequently preferred both directly and as a main ingredient in various ready-to-eat food products and is consumed with interest, especially in the Middle East geography. Its reputation has recently spread across continents to countries like Canada and the United States of America. Tahini was subjected to a number of analyses to ascertain its physicochemical and microbiological quality within the context of the study since it is a highly consumed product with high consumption and demand values. In this context, tahini samples of 10 different brands were collected from producers and commercially sold markets in Balikesir and Bursa. Samples were taken from two different lot numbers for each company. As a result of the analyzes made on the tahini samples, it was determined that the total oil amount of the samples changed between 49.76-58.7%, the salt amount changed between 0.001-0.0027%, the ash amount was between 1.02%-1.28%, and the moisture value was between 1.1-1.5%; as a result of microbiological cultivations in which the presence of yeast and mold were analyzed, an average of 75 CFU/g viability was determined, while Escherichia coli, which was screened as an indicator of fecal contamination, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp, which are pathogenic microorganisms, were not found to be contaminated in all tahini samples. One of the tahini samples was not found in accordance with the Turkish Food Codex Tahini Communiqué (TFC) in terms of the amount of oil. It is concluded that 90% of the samples were manufactured in line with the TFC when the results of the chemical and microbiological analyses were combined.


Ruff, Robert L. Effects of temperature on slow and fast inactivation of rat skeletal muscle Na1 channels. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Cell Physiol. 46): C937–C947, 1999.—Patchclamp studies of mammalian skeletal muscle Na1 channels are commonly done at subphysiological temperatures, usually room temperature. However, at subphysiological temperatures, most Na1 channels are inactivated at the cell resting potential. This study examined the effects of temperature on fast and slow inactivation of Na1 channels to determine if temperature changed the fraction of Na1 channels that were excitable at resting potential. The loose patch voltage clamp recorded Na1 currents (INa) in vitro at 19, 25, 31, and 37°C from the sarcolemma of rat type IIb fast-twitch omohyoid skeletal muscle fibers. Temperature affected the fraction of Na1 channels that were excitable at the resting potential. At 19°C, only 30% of channels were excitable at the resting potential. In contrast, at 37°C, 93% of Na1 channels were excitable at the resting potential. Temperature did not alter the resting potential or the voltage dependencies of activation or fast inactivation. INa available at the resting potential increased with temperature because the steady-state voltage dependence of slow inactivation shifted in a depolarizing direction with increasing temperature. The membrane potential at which half of the Na1 channels were in the slow inactivated state was shifted by 116 mV at 37°C compared with 19°C. Consequently, the low availability of excitable Na1 channels at subphysiological temperatures resulted from channels being in the slow, inactivated state at the resting potential.


Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystemic inflammatory disorder that can present with a wide array of signs and symptoms. Hepatic involvement is commonly limited to a subclinical biochemical transaminitis while clinically significant liver disease is rare. A case of a 22-year-old female who presented with abdominal pain, fevers, arthralgia, and several hepatic hypodense lesions with normal liver function tests is reported in this study. She failed to improve with antibiotics and infectious workup was largely unrevealing. She was found to have a positive ANA, high titers of anti-double-stranded DNA antibody, and was ultimately diagnosed with new-onset SLE with hepatic aseptic micro-abscesses. Her symptoms were self-limiting, and she was later started on a low-dose prednisone taper and hydroxychloroquine. This case demonstrates that hepatic involvement, despite normal liver function tests, should be considered in SLE patients presenting with abdominal pain.


Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), endopeptidases with diverse biochemical functions, can promote cancer cell invasion and metastasis by degrading the extracellular matrix. A high matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14) expression in gastric cancer tissue has been associated with metastasis and poor prognosis. To further understand this association, we investigated serum MMP-14 as a biomarker in gastric cancer patients. The patient cohort consisted of 240 gastric adenocarcinoma patients who underwent surgery at Helsinki University Hospital, Finland, between 2000 and 2009. We determined the soluble MMP-14 serum levels using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We then calculated the associations between serum levels and clinicopathologic variables using the Mann-Whitney U-test or the KruskalWallis test. We constructed survival curves using the Kaplan-Meier method and calculating the hazard ratios using the Cox proportional hazard model. We revealed a positive association between a high serum MMP-14 level and stages III–IV (p = 0.029), and between a high serum MMP-14 and distant metastasis (p = 0.022). Patients with a low serum MMP-14 had a 5-year disease-specific survival of 49.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 45.5–52.9), whereas patients with a high serum MMP-14 had a 5-year survival of 22.1% (95% CI 15.2–29.0; p = 0.001). High serum MMP-14 was a statistically significant prognostic factor among patients with an intestinal type of cancer (hazard ratio [HR] 3.54; 95% CI 1.51–8.33; p = 0.004), but not among patients with a diffuse type. The serum MMP-14 level remained an independent prognostic factor in our multivariate survival analysis (HR 1.55; 95% CI 1.02–2.35; p = 0.040). This study indicates for the first time that high serum soluble MMP-14 levels in gastric cancer serves as a marker for a poor prognosis, possibly indicating the presence of distant metastases.


Today, one of the methods in monitoring oceans is the use of radar systems or more generally the use of electromagnetic diffusion. Thanks to the deployment of satellite navigation systems (GNSS), such as GPS, GNSS signals are being used more and more as an opportunity source for this kind of observation. This paper assesses the measurement of oceanographic parameters within a few meters near the surface. The oceanographic phenomena that is currently available for recording is limited. That is why we propose a much finer analysis of the diffusion and the scattering of GNSS signals near ocean surface, by employing very fine time steps and integration over the long periods of code. The final goal is to be able to perceive very fine phenomena, among which the ocean surface kinematics. In order to achieve this, the application of sophisticated processing algorithms is needed. In this work we simulate and highlight the observable effects expected as a result of use of such a method. The work is realized as a part of the MOPS project.


In the present work, we first verify pairwise quantum discord (QD) between half-spins of a mixed three-spin (1/2,1,1/2) system with Ising-XY model for which spins (1,1/2) have Ising interaction and spins (1/2,1/2) have both XY and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions. A single-ion anisotropy property ζ is assumed for integer spin. This system is considered at the front of an external homogeneous magnetic field B in thermal equilibrium. Then, we investigate the pairwise entanglement between half-spins by using entanglement of formation (EoF) as functions of temperature T, magnetic field B and other introduced parameters. In this case, all parameters are independent of the temperature. We compare the QD and the EoF verified for the spins (1/2,1/2) and express some interesting temperature, magnetic and quantum correlation properties. Also, we study the anisotropy influences on the quantum correlation between such spins in detail, and we find that this parameter can be used as a quantum discord controller. In the second step, we investigate QD for the half-spins in a stochastic manner, i.e., when all parameters of the tripartite system are constant (independent of the temperature) except the anisotropy, which is considered as a random variable dependent on the temperature. Finally, we assume that all parameters are constant except the Ising coupling strength, which can change randomly with temperature. Ultimately, we conclude that in the experimental conditions under which some parameters may have stochastic behavior, the anisotropy can also be a good candidate to control QD.


Objective: Few studies have explicitly examined the stability (that is, the tendency for individuals to stay at one diagnostic level as opposed to moving to another improved or worsened level) or progression of disordered gambling; however, conventional wisdom holds that disordered gambling is intractable and escalating. The objective of this study was to examine these assumptions. Method: We reviewed 5 recent prospective studies of gambling behaviour among nontreatment samples for evidence related to the stability and progression of disordered gambling. Results: Our review found no evidence to support the assumption that individuals cannot recover from disordered gambling (that is, the persistence assumption), no evidence to support the assumption that individuals who have more severe gambling problems are less likely to improve than individuals who have less severe gambling problems (that is, the selective-stability assumption), and no evidence to support the assumption that individuals who have some gambling problems are more likely to worsen than individuals who do not have gambling problems (that is, the progression assumption). Conclusion: Contrary to professional and conventional wisdom suggesting that gambling problems are always progressive and enduring, this review demonstrates instability and multidirectional courses in disordered gambling.


The American Dream is a concept that includes several spectra of the economic cycle in the U.S. It also actualizes values such as self-fulfillment, hard work and possibilities to achieve a better life irrespective of ones background. The discussion of what The American dream is, what it has become and how you can achieve it, varies depending on whom you ask. According to several scholars traditional values regarding the dream seem to have shifted and gone from noble ideas to more materialistic ones. If the American Dream has become a dream about plenty it would also mean that it is not only achievable through hard work but could also be financed using modern credit channels. After discussing a possible shift of content regarding the Dream and how one can obtain it, I will examine individual's propensity to purchase on credit. Furthermore, what impact education seems to have on a people's way of spending using credit. I will make use of a quantitative method and a regression analysis (using data from a national telephone survey involving 752 individuals) to study the extent individual's´ level of education affects and correlate with the amount of credit debt a person is willing to take on. The theory offers an extensive debate about whether education promotes or prevents individuals to consume using credit in America. My work fore holds two distinguished advocates (Sprenger et. al and Hume) representing two different sides of the debate concerning what impact education has on an individual when it comes to the use of credit. They will constitute the grounding for two hypotheses regarding the subject. The result of the performed analysis indicates that education correlates with a decrease in the propensity to consume using credit. The support found and given its strength, means most likely that there are other factors in addition to the variables I´ve used, which affect consumers and their propensity to use credit.


The autonomous mobile robot can move around and avoid obstacles in front by itself. The data generated by the sensors is processed using an algorithm and specific methods to determine the movement of the robot. Ultrasonic sensor installed on the Mobile robot with a straight forward position. Ultrasonic sensor can detect the obstacle 30 degrees in front, which creates the blank area of the sensor between two ultrasonic sensors. Ultrasonic sensors installed at many points to reduce that blank area. This paper offers the concept of two ultrasonic sensor redirection by mounting it tilted so when it is drawn will form a right triangle that the concept of trigonometry applied. The results of the approximate distance between the obstacle sensor becomes the hypotenuse, while the distance between the two sensors already obtained so that the distance between the mobile robot with the real obstacle can be calculated. The mechanism of mobile robot movement mimics the movement of agricultural tractors. The test results showed that the optimum angle between the two ultrasonic sensors is 35 to 55 degree. Redirection ultrasonic sensors will reduce approximately 42% of the number of sensors that are installed straight ahead.


Based on ichthyoplancton research along the southern Pacific coast of Colombia, which revealed high concentrations of fish larvae in this area, a juvenil fish survey was conducted in shallow waters « I O meter water depth) during the transition period from dry to wet season (July 21 to July 31 , 1 994). The twelve sampling stations, were distributed in fron! of the four main of this coastline, where the highest concentrations of juvenile fish were expected. At each sample station, three 15 min oblique hauls were conducted every g hours using a bottom trawl for juvenile fish of 4 mm mesh size; 53 species in 20 families were identified (21 not known as adults in the area). They were distributed as follows: Sciaenids (11), Ariids (7), Pristigasterids (6), Engraulids (6), Carangids (5), Clupeids (2), Soleids (2), Batrachoidids (2), Tetraodontids (2), Urolophids (1), Polynemids (1), Synodontids (1) and Taeniopedids (1). This ichthyofauna is cornmon in open tropical estuaries. Abundances and biomass were 0.35 ind.lm3 and 1 .61 g/m3 respectively, higher than in other tropical shallow water systems. The niches of ihe 25 species whose abundance (A) and biomass (B) contributed 97.5 % and 93.3 % respectiveIy to the total catches were: (1) pelagic-neritic (53 % A, 34 % B); (2) demersal-pelagic (1 8 % A, 28 % B); (3) demersal (22 % A, 23 % B) and (4) benthic (8 % A, 1 5 % B). The Shannon-Weaver diversity index in the four subareas ranged from 0.89 to 1.1, within the range reported for other tropical American estuarine systems. An ordination analysis (non-metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling, MDS) of the data revealed significant differences in the species composition between day and night and an importan! association among sorne species. Station position, tides and environmental parameters did not markedly influence species composition. It is concluded Ihat: (1) The area surveyed represents an important nursery and growth habitat for juvenile fish of many species that are more common as adults over soft bottoms in deep waters of the continental shelf; (2) this shallow soft bot- 10m fish cornmunity is c1early separated from those species inhabiting intertidal salt marshes, interior bays and mangrove areas; and (3) sorne of the fish species commonly living in rocky and reef habitals in adult stages, spend their juvenile stage over shallow water soft bottoms. These results confirm a rather strong niche separation between juvenile and adults fish species stages in tropical waters.


The diffusion of Sb in Si has been studied as a function of Sn-background concentration, and enhanced Sb diffusion is observed for backgrounds higher than CSn1 = 5 A— 1019 cm-3. This concentration for the onset of enhanced diffusion is significantly lower than in other reports of high-concentration vacancy-mediated diffusion in Si. These reports, however, have up to now been concerned with donor impurities, whereas Sn is an electrically neutral impurity. Some Sn precipitation occurred, and the influence upon the diffusion is estimated from experiment to be small. A number of proposed models of high-concentration diffusion are discussed on the basis of the data.


Calculations of electron impact ionization of nitrogen gas at atmospheric pressure are presented based on the kinetic Monte Carlo technique. The emphasis is on energy partitioning between primary and secondary electrons, and three different energy sharing schemes have been evaluated. The ionization behavior is based on Wannier's classical treatment. Our Monte Carlo results for the field-dependent drift velocities match the available experimental data. More interestingly, the field-dependent first Townsend coefficient predicted by the Monte Carlo calculations is shown to be in close agreement with reported data for E/N values ranging as high as 4000 Td, only when a random assignment of excess energies between the primary and secondary particles is used.


Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is sensitive to neurodegeneration and can be used to estimate the risk of converting to Alzheimer's disease (AD) in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Brain changes in AD and prodromal AD involve a pattern of widespread atrophy. The use of multivariate analysis algorithms could enable the development of diagnostic tools based on structural MRI data. In this study, we investigated the possibility of combining multiple MRI features in the form of a severity index.


We consider the general framework of planar object registration and recognition based on a set of known templates. While the set of templates is known, the tremendous set of possible affine transformations that may relate the template and the observed signature, makes any detection and recognition problem ill-defined unless this variability is taken into account. Given a noisy observation on one of the known objects, subject to an unknown affine transformation of it, our goal is to estimate the deformation that transforms some pre-chosen representation of this object (template) into the current observation. We propose a method that employs a set of nonlinear operators to replace the original high dimensional and non-linear problem by an equivalent linear least-squares problem, expressed in terms of the unknown affine transformation parameters. The proposed solution is unique and is applicable to any affine transformation regardless of the magnitude of the deformation


In this paper we consider an analogue of the well-known in image processing, Rudin-Osher-Fatemi (ROF) denoising model on a general finite directed and connected graph. We consider the space BV on the graph and show that the unit ball of its dual space can be described as the image of the unit ball of the space ' ¥ on the graph by a divergence operator. Based on this result, we propose a new fast algorithm to find the exact minimizer for the ROF model. Finally we prove convergence of the algorithm and illustrate its performance on some image denoising test examples.


More than 50 percent of the land area of the Nordic countries Finland, Norway, and Sweden are covered by dense forests and they are among the most important producers of forest products in the world. Forestry in these countries is based on sustainable management principles – reforestation follows harvesting. Furthermore, increasing demands for more gentle techniques and technologies with less negative impact on the environment ask for development and implementation of new processes and new machine solutions. The increasing interest in developing forest management approaches that are based on gentleness to the environment requires better understanding of the interaction between the forestry machines and the terrain in the harvesting process.Paper A describes the purpose for model-based and simulation design of the next generation of forestry machines and proposes an enabling modeling and model configuration framework.Paper B presents the measured soil properties, ground pressure, and multi-pass rutting results from a field test with medium-sized forwarders operating on soft soil. The test data was then correlated with results from empirically-based WES-models.Paper C presents multi-pass rutting results for a tracked forwarder, with and without loading, operating on soft soil. Various models for predicting rutting was compared with the measured single- and multi-pass results for straight and S-curve driving.Paper D presents the reasons for, and the realization of, a test rig for characterizing the shear properties of rooted soil.


To better understand the nature of reactive adsorption of thiophene on Ni/ZnO adsorbent, the effects of ZnO textural structure on the desulfurization activity were investigated. Flower-like ZnO materials were synthesized by hydrothermal homogeneous precipitation method and the corresponding Ni/ZnO adsorbents were prepared by incipient impregnation method. The analysis results showed that both the crystalline sizes and the BET surface areas of flower-like ZnO were better than that of commercial ZnO. The activity evaluations indicated that the Ni/ZnO adsorbents prepared with ZnO possessing a favorable textural structure exhibited good activity of removing thiophene. The evolutions of the main crystalline phases of Ni/ZnO adsorbents before and after reaction confirmed that ZnO played a crucial role in taking up S element and converted it into ZnS in the reactive adsorption process. It was concluded that ZnO with larger surface area and smaller crystal particles resulted in better desulfurization activity, which may be the main reason for the better activities of the Ni/ZnO adsorbents prepared with flower-like ZnO matterials.


BACKGROUND
In a recently reported study, low doses of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) were shown to be as effective as high doses in protecting chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients against infections, although a control group was not included. With this background we started a crossover study of low-dose IVIG prophylaxis aimed at investigating its superiority over empirical treatment of infections.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty-two CLL patients with hypogammaglobulinemia (IgG < 600 mg/dL) and/or a history of at least one episode of severe infection in the 6 months preceding inclusion in the study were randomly allocated to receive either an infusion of 300 mg/kg IVIG every 4 weeks for 6 months or no treatment. Then they were switched to observation or IVIG for another 12 months; finally, they received IVIG or no therapy for 6 more months.

RESULTS
A significantly lower incidence of infectious episodes was observed during IVIG prophylaxis in 30 patients who completed the 6-month period of either observation or IVIG therapy. The same applied to the 17 patients who completed 12 months of either observation or IVIG prophylaxis. Interestingly, the restoration of serum IgG levels obtained in 17 out of 25 patients (mean percent value of IgG increase, 41.8%) did not parallel a decrease in the number of infectious episodes.

CONCLUSIONS
A protective effect against infections is demonstrated for low-dose IVIG in the present study. A benefit was shown in patients who completed either 12 or 6 months of IVIG prophylaxis; however, even this low-dose treatment is not a cost effective way to prevent infection in CLL patients.


A model of learning that expands on the Valiant model is introduced. The point of departure from the Valiant model is that the learner is placed in a Markovian environment. The environment of the learner is a (exponentially large) graph, and the examples reside on the vertices of the graph, one example on each vertex. The learner obtains the examples while performing a random walk on the graph. At each step, the learning algorithm guesses the classification of the example on the current vertex using its current hypothesis. If its guess is incorrect, the learning algorithm updates its current working hypothesis. The performance of the learning algorithm in a given environment is judged by the expected number of mistakes made as a function of the number of steps in the random walk. The predictive value of Occam algorithms under this weaker probabilistic model of the learner's environment is studied.<<ETX>>


One of the key problems in reinforcement learning is balancing exploration and exploitation. Another is learning and acting in large or even continuous Markov decision processes (MDPs), where compact function approximation has to be used. In this paper, we provide a practical solution to exploring large MDPs by integrating a powerful exploration technique, Rmax, into a state-of-the-art learning algorithm, least-squares policy iteration (LSPI). This approach combines the strengths of both methods, and has shown its effectiveness and superiority over LSPI with two other popular exploration rules in several benchmark problems.


The lipid composition of airway secretion is described. Major differences in the literature may depend on methods. Bronchoalveolar lavage includes a major contribution of alveolar surfactant. Sputum may be contaminated by secretions from the upper airways and saliva, and shows great variations in total lipids and free fatty acids. Diseases affect its composition. Tracheobronchial aspirates and washings are more direct methods and show much cholesterol, DPPC, and other phospholipids. Secretions by explants and cell cultures also show very mixed lipid composition including neutral, phospho- and other lipids. Although much airway lipid may travel up from the alveoli, there is evidence that the larger airways can secrete their own lipids. They may also arise from breakdown of cells. Their functions may include a modification of mucus rheology, an effect on ciliary beat and mucociliary clearance, a modification of mucus adhesiveness, an action on bacterial invasion, and a lessening of the tendency to collapse of small airways due to the surface activity of the lipids.


Scholars frequently assume that the Southern Agrarian movement was limited to the philosophy laid out in the landmark 1930 book I'll Take My Stand. Yet that work consisted mainly of a philosophical critique of a nation that valued "progress" above spirituality. Were it not for the Agrarians' angry reaction to criticism of their book and for a dramatic transformation of the American political and economic landscape Agrarianism would have died in 1930. But with the worsening of the Great Depression, and then Franklin D. Roosevelt's election and implementation of the New Deal, the Agrarians found their greatest opportunity to bring their ideas to the public. Encouraged by the prospect of transforming their abstraction of the South into a design for the social and economic revival of the nation, Donald Davidson, Andrew Nelson Lytle, Herman Clarence Nixon, Frank Lawrence Owsley, John Crowe Ransom, and Allen Tate wrote numerous essays countering the industrial north's place as moral exemplar; battling liberal policymakers who encouraged collective agriculture in the South; and denouncing social scientists who claimed to understand southern social relations. Emily S. Bingham and Thomas A. Underwood's carefully selected collection of six key Agrarians' essays, combined with a revealing new introduction, offers a radically revised view of the movement as it was redefined and revived during the New Deal."


Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a recognized risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. It is made of a lipoprotein particle containing apoB100 linked by a single disulfide bridge to apolipoprotein(a), a glycosylated protein with a variable mass. Some authors suggest that oxidative modification could explain the contribution of Lp(a) in the development of atheromatous lesions in a comparable way to low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Recently, the use of capillary electrophoresis to measure the variations in the relative electrophoretic mobility (REM) of LDL subjected to copper oxidation has been proposed. The aim of this work is to employ this method also to monitor the copper-induced oxidative modification of Lp(a). Migration of Lp(a) was monitored by absorption at 200 nm in a 50 mmol/L tricine, 100 mmol/L methylglucamine, pH 9.7 run buffer. Contrary to the conventional slab gel methods, our procedure provides a rapid and reproducible means to measure the electrophoretic mobility of Lp(a) (migration time <10 min with a CV% <0.5).


Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has been previously mediated by ultrasound using a low concentration of copper complex in water (sono-ATRP) or by addition of piezoelectric materials in organic solvents (mechano-ATRP). However, these procedures proceeded slowly and yielded polymers contaminated by new chains initiated by hydroxyl radicals or by residual piezoelectrics. Unexpectedly, in the presence of sodium carbonate, rapid sono-ATRP of methyl acrylate in DMSO was achieved (80% conversion in <2 h) with excellent control of molecular weights and low dispersities (Mw/Mn < 1.2). The in situ formed CuII/L-CO3 complex in the the presence of ultrasound generated CuI/L species as activators for ATRP and carbonate radical anions. The latter were scavenged by DMSO that was oxidized to dimethyl sulfone. This simple and robust process employs low-intensity ultrasound, air-stable CuII/L catalysts, and carbonate or bicarbonate salts (washing soda or baking soda) to prepare well-defined polyacrylates.


The Kamchatka group of volcanoes constitutes a great and important link in the Pacific volcanic chain which, with Java as its first link, extends diagonally across the Pacific to Alaska, the intermediate links being the Philippine Islands, the Japanese archipelago, the Kurile Islands, Kamchatka, and the Aleutian Islands. There are 127 volcanoes known in Kamchatka, 19 of which are active or solfataric. This is the greatest active group of volcanoes on the Eurasian continent. English scientific literature contains little data about the volcanoes of Kamchatka, or, for that matter, about the peninsula of Kamchatka as a whole. It needed the tremendous eruption of Shtyubelya in southern Kamchatka in 1907, effects and phenomena of which were observed as far as western Europe, to bring to the world9s attention the existence of these powerful, although remote, volcanoes. The most important writings in English about explorations in Kamchatka and about its fundamental geography . . .


To the Editor.— It was good to see a lead article in JAMA 1 highlighting the value of routine necropsy not only for teaching purposes, but also for the data on the occurrence of incidental disease that such examinations can provide. I was surprised, however, that the authors did not bemoan the falling autopsy rate that is reducing the epidemiologic value of such data. Extrapolation of their figures suggests that the autopsy will be dead at Yale University as early as 1990! There are several reasons why the prevalence rates for "surprise" cases of lung cancer at autopsy are not comparable to the incidence rates from a tumor registry. The proportion of cases that are undiagnosed prior to autopsy is somewhat arbitrary since it depends on the thoroughness of the diagnostic effort in life. There might well be more "surprises" in smaller, service-oriented hospitals than in larger, academic ones. Moreover,


A pointclass is a class of subsets of the Baire space (ωω) closed under inverse images by continuous functions. The dual of a pointclass Γ, denoted is {~A∣ A ∈ Γ}. (Complements are relative to ωω.) If Γ is nonselfdual, i.e. , then let . We say a nonselfdual pointclass Γ has the first separation property, and write Sep(Γ), iff (∀A, B ∈ Γ)(A ⋂ B = ∅ ⇒ (∃C ∈ Δ)(A ⊆ C ∧ B ⋂ = ∅)). The set C is said to separate A and B. Descriptive set theory abounds in nonselfdual pointclasses Γ, and for the more natural examples of such Γ one can always show by assuming enough determinateness that exactly one of Sep(Γ) and Sep() holds. Van Wesep [2] provides a partial explanation of this fact by showing that, assuming the full axiom of determinateness, one of Sep(Γ) and Sep() must fail for all nonselfdual pointclasses Γ. We shall complete the explanation by showing that one of Sep(Γ) and Sep() must hold. The axiom of determinateness has other interesting consequences in the general theory of pointclasses. See e.g. [3].