This paper addresses some important issues regarding the nature of inflation expectations. By utilizing measures of inflation expectations formed by consumers and professionals, a series of empirical applications are performed to identify main driving forces of variations in inflation expectations. Tests of forecast efficiency consistently indicate that survey expectations are not rational, and thus the expectations of real-world economic actors, not rational agents in a model, are found to be what matter for price setting. As a logical consequence of these findings, we explore potential factors agents rely on when forecasting inflation by looking more closely on price changes in consumption expenditure categories as well as some key macroeconomic aggregates. Empirical results suggest that agents think differently how aggregate inflation evolves mainly due to the fact that each type of agents employs a distinct set of information, which can be interpreted as a dominant source of disagreement among agents.


Presented are 18 species.of aphids in combination with their food-plants found in The Netherlands from 1984 to 2005 not earlier described here. Among these are well-known species that are caught with the high suction trap andlor MOERICKE yellow water traps and aphids new for The Netherlands. The taxa new for The Netherlands are: Aphis nerii, Appendiseta robiniae, Myzocallis walshii, Myzus persicae nicotianae, Takecallis arundicolens and Takecallis arundinariae. The aphid-host plant association Aphis nasturtii + Aesculus hippocastanum is the first observation at all as far as I know (BLACKMAN & EASTOP 1994). Some of these species are restricted to warmer regions but are able now to survive in Western Europe. This could be related to higher temperatures andlor milder winters in Western Europe in the last decade. Key words: Sternorrhyncha, Aphidoidea, food-plant, global warming, virus transmission, new records, aphid-host plant association Introduction The aphid observations mentioned in this paper were done by V AN F'RANKENHUYZEN (Wageningen), PONSEN (Wageningen) and the author himself. Most observations by vAN FRANKENHUYZEN were made on his trips through the surroundings of Wageningen to make photographs for his books on insects (VAN F'RANKENHUYZEN 1992, 1996). However, not all the species they found I did see, in that case the description is from literature.


Silver nanoparticles have found tremendous applications in the field of diagnostics and therapeutics. This work was aimed to study the antioxidant activity of Ag nanoparticles in water by scavengers the free radicals produced by radiation. The antioxidant properties of silver nanoparticles prepared by wire explosion technique have been evaluated using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assay. Ag nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Visible absorption and the results showed surface Plasmon resonance absorption peaks around 397nm. The nanoparticle average size and its size distribution were determinate by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The results showed that the absorption intensity varying systematically with increasing silver nanoparticles concentration with certain limits. So Ag nanoparticles were found to have significant antioxidant capacity and thus can be used as potential radical scavenger against deleterious damages caused by the free radicals.


Purpose: A graphical and quantitative procedure for amplitude‐gated treatment planned using phase based 4DCT of free breathing patients using the Varian RPM gating system has been developed as a part of the study of phase and amplitude based imaging and treatment. There are several phase‐based CT scanning systems that produce phase‐based images for gated treatments, but for free breathing phase may not be a reliable predictor of tumor location. Good correlation has been shown between abdomen height and diaphragm position, making it a promising treatment modality. Method and Materials: A phase‐based retrospective CT scan from a Philips large bore 16 slice CT scanner is obtained and the phase markers are adjusted to delineate actual breaths. A gating window that is a subset of the whole CT scan is set and a visual representation of gated motion called a MIP(maximum intensity projection) is created to visualize any anatomical excursions. The Varian RPM data is then compared with the scan data to quantify the actual marker block motion(or chest height) during the gating window as well as for an entire phase. The scan data is then presented not only as a percentage of an average breath, but as a chest height range within the total. This information is checked on treatment days and adjusted if necessary. The gating signal and fluoroscopy are compared to a 4D DRR generated from the MIP to check for geographic as well as systematic misses. Before treatment a gated port film (gated over several breaths and dose limited) can be captured to verify gating of the treatment beam. Results: For phantom based studies of regular breathing the method is robust. The model converts phase to amplitude of abdomen height. Conclusion: This method can validate a gated treatment using different imaging modalities.


The worldwide cocoa bean shell (CBS) generation is estimated at around 900,000 tons. In their composition, this coproduct showed several bioactive compounds like methylxanthines or polyphenolic compounds. Thus, the aim of this work was to investigate the effects of different particle sizes on the chemical composition, physico-chemical, bioactive compounds content, and antioxidant properties of flours obtained from cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) bean shells. The flours obtained from CBS with different particle sizes had high content of dietary fiber (61.18–65.58 g/100 g). The polyphenolic profile identified seven compounds being epicatechin and catechin (values ranged 4.56–6.33 and 2.11–4.56 mg/g, respectively) as the most abundant compounds. Additionally, the methylxanthines theobromine and caffeine were quantified with values ranging from 7.12 to 12.77 and 4.02 to 6.13 mg/g, respectively. For the fatty acid profile, the principal compounds identified were oleic, stearic and palmitic acids. CBS had antioxidant capacity with all methods assayed. For DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays values ranged between 2.35–5.53, 3.39–11.55, and 3.84–7.62 mg Trolox equivalents/g sample, respectively. This study suggests that cocoa bean shells may constitute a valuable coproduct for the food industry due to its high content in valuable bioactive compounds.


Abstract. The use of eddy covariance (EC) CO2 flux measurements in data assimilation and other applications requires an estimate of the random uncertainty. In previous studies, the (classical) two-tower approach has yielded robust uncertainty estimates, but care must be taken to meet the often competing requirements of statistical independence (non-overlapping footprints) and ecosystem homogeneity when choosing an appropriate tower distance. The role of the tower distance was investigated with help of a roving station separated between 8 m and 34 km from a permanent EC grassland station. Random uncertainty was estimated for five separation distances with the classical two-tower approach and an extended approach which removed systematic differences of CO2 fluxes measured at two EC towers. This analysis was made for a data set where (i) only similar weather conditions at the two sites were included, and (ii) an unfiltered one. The extended approach, applied to weather-filtered data for separation distances of 95 and 173 m gave uncertainty estimates in best correspondence with an independent reference method. The introduced correction for systematic flux differences considerably reduced the overestimation of the two-tower based uncertainty of net CO2 flux measurements and decreased the sensitivity of results to tower distance. We therefore conclude that corrections for systematic flux differences (e.g., caused by different environmental conditions at both EC towers) can help to apply the two-tower approach to more site pairs with less ideal conditions.


LSMO films with various thicknesses were prepared on single crystal Si (111) substrates by sol-gel process. The films were dense and had a uniform microstructure. The films showed metallic conduction characteristics at low temperature and insulator characteristics at high temperature. The metal-insulator transition temperatures (Tmi) of the films were remarkably lower than that of the bulk ceramics. The effect is related to the distortion of crystal lattice resulted from the residual stress in the films.


Two species of coffee bean have acquired worldwide economic importance: these are, Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora variant Robusta. Arabica beans are valued most highly by the trade, as they are considered to have a finer flavor than Robusta. In this work, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is explored as a rapid alternative to wet chemical methods for authentication and quantification of coffee products. Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to spectra of freeze-dried instant coffees, acquired by DRIFT (diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform) and ATR (attenuated total reflection) sampling techniques, and reveals clustering according to coffee species. Linear discriminant analysis of the principal component scores yields 100% correct classifications for both training and test samples. The chemical origin of the discrimination is explored through interpretation of the PCA loadings. Partial least squares regression is applied to spectra of Arabica and Robusta blends to determine the relative content of each species. Internal cross-validation gives a correlation coefficient of 0.99 and a standard error of prediction of 1.20% (w/w), illustrating the potential of the method for industrial off-line quality control analysis.


The multivariate curve resolution-alternative least squares (MCR-ALS) algorithm was modified with sample insertion constraint to deconvolute the overlapping peaks in SERS spectra. The developed method was evaluated by the spectral data simulated using a Gaussian distribution function to generate two independent peaks corresponding to a capping agent and an analyte. The spectra were generated with different overlapping levels and various intensity ratios of the analyte to the capping agent. By using MCR-ALS with the sample insertion constraint, the peak of the capping agent was completely excluded to obtain a calibration model of the analyte with R2 > 0.95 under all conditions. Furthermore, our developed method was later applied to a real SERS measurement to quantify carbofuran (analyte) using the azo-coupling reaction with p-ATP (capping agent) on silver nanoparticles as a SERS substrate. A calibration model of derivative carbofuran phenol was generated with R2 = 0.99 and LOD = 28.19 ppm. To assess the performance of the calibration model, the model was used to estimate the concentration of carbofuran in an external validation set. It was found that the RMSE of prediction was only 2.109 with a promising R2 = 0.97.


The purpose of this article is to investigate how ownership structure, especially family and/or venture‐capital involvement, as well as entrepreneurial activities, defined as strategic change and renewal, help explain the involvement of independent members on boards of directors. The CEOs of 2,455 small and medium‐sized, private enterprises from practically all industries were contacted in a telephone survey, resulting in an exceptionally high response rate. The findings reveal that family firms are more reluctant to involve independent directors on their boards than non‐family firms, that presence of venture capitalists increases the frequency of independent board members and that ownership has an impact on board roles. The results do not support the hypothesised relationship that independent directors enhance entrepreneurial activities. One implication of our study is that the often‐argued‐for strategic contribution of outsiders to the boards in family firms may be overemphasised. Another implication is that family firms that choose to acquire additional capital should be aware that this could result in a change in the board composition and the loss of control of the business. However, new and external owners' inclusion on the board seems to be negotiable since there are also venture capitalists that do not insist on board representation.


Christopher Le Brun holds a passionate belief in the power of figurative art and the re-exploration of narrative. This book offers the most authoritative survey of his classical muscular visual vocabulary and symbolism which has brought a unique intensity and inventiveness to contemporary painting. It also gives due recognition to his work as a printmaker and sculptor through lavish illustrations, studio photographs, excerpts from sketchbooks and facsimiles of notebooks. An illuminating dialogue with curator Bryan Robertson allows Le Brun to discuss the issues that have informed his career, while texts by Charles Saumarez Smith, Director of London's National Portrait Gallery, and art historian Nobert Lynton set his work in context.


Abstract This paper investigates the impacts of domestic violence against women in Benin City. The study adopts the descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprises of all men and women in Benin City, Nigeria. Using simple random sampling technique, a sample of one hundred and seventy five participants was selected. The data collected was analyzed using the Cronbach alpha formulae for internal consistency reliability, coefficients of 0.85. The descriptive statistics; the mean and standard deviation were employed. Results showed public perception of domestic violence against women in Benin City with the test value of 2.88. Domestic violence influences separation/divorce with a test value of 2.65. The psychological effects on women account for a test value of 2.78 and the physical health issues account for a test value of 2.99. Recommendations were made based on the findings that: Constant awareness-raising as a significant approach in responding to the issues of domestic violence against women should be encouraged by helping professionals. Assistance provision for victims, interventions measures with abusers and the proper interpretation of policies in response to the phenomenon.


In 1929 the big Radio Station using very low frequency was built at YOSAMI near NAGOYA, Japan. It was used as the trade and governmental communication station between Japan and European countries. The transmitters were made in Germany, with High Frequency Alternators. The stationpsilas destinations were Warsaw, Berlin, Paris, Geneva and Rome directly. During the Second WW, it was converted to the communication system with submarines by Japanese navy and by US navy after the war. After 70 years operation, the VLF station and the big antenna towers were dismantled, however, one of the transmitters is kept in the Memorial Museum in the Floral Garden, KARIYA city as the Industrial Heritage.


In recent years, mobile apps have become the infrastructure of many popular Internet services. It is now fairly common that a mobile app serves a large number of users across the globe. Different from web-based services whose important program logic is mostly placed on remote servers, many mobile apps require complicated client-side code to perform tasks that are critical to the businesses. The code of mobile apps can be easily accessed by any party after the software is installed on a rooted or jailbroken device. By examining the code, skilled reverse engineers can learn various knowledge about the design and implementation of an app. Real-world cases have shown that the disclosed critical information allows malicious parties to abuse or exploit the app-provided services for unrightful profits, leading to significant financial losses for app vendors. One of the most viable mitigations against malicious reverse engineering is to obfuscate the software before release. Despite that security by obscurity is typically considered to be an unsound protection methodology, software obfuscation can indeed increase the cost of reverse engineering, thus delivering practical merits for protecting mobile apps. In this paper, we share our experience of applying obfuscation to multiple commercial iOS apps, each of which has millions of users. We discuss the necessity of adopting obfuscation for protecting modern mobile business, the challenges of software obfuscation on the iOS platform, and our efforts in overcoming these obstacles. Our report can benefit many stakeholders in the iOS ecosystem, including developers, security service providers, and Apple as the administrator of the ecosystem.


Dermatophytes are classified according to two systems. The first, or parasitic classifications of Sabouraud, rests on the morphology of the dermatophytes on the hair in vivo (Achorion, Trichophyton endothrix or ectothrix microides and megaspores, Microsporum) or on the absence of growth on the hair in vivo (Epidermophyton). In the second type they are classified according to their saprophytic morphology. There are many classification of this type based on the asexual state of the dermatophytes, e.g. the classification of Emmons (Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton) or the classification of Vanbreuseghem and De Vroey (Microides, Trichophyton, Microsporum, Epidermophyton, Keratinomyces). As the existence of a sexual state of the dermatophytes has been demonstrated, the dermatophytes are also classified in two perfect genera: Arthroderma and Nannizzia. In this paper it is assumed that both classification have to be used because they are not correlated.


reverse passive haemagglutination and ELISA over counterimmunoelectrophoresis is therefore 2 8fold and 9-4-fold respectively (not 2-5 and 7 7 as stated). And the cost of detecting each unit of infected blood by counterimmunoelectrophoresis is $62.50 (not $6.25). The figures for hepatitis B markers among the potential recipients suggested there was no overlap between hepatitis B surface antigen, antibody to the core antigen, and antibody to surface antigen groups (99+108+39+254=500). I find this rather surprising.


s Original Articles should be accompanied by an abstract of 250 words or less on a separate page, in either English or French. The Journal will provide translation to the other language if required. Abstracts should consist of four paragraphs headed: Background (or Objective), Methods, Results and Conclusions. Acronyms Journal standards state that a sentence must not start with an acronym. Also please define any undefined acronyms in your manuscript in a list as well as inserting the definition with its acronym where it is first used in the text. If the word is not used a minimum of 3 times throughout the manuscript, an acronym will not be necessary as the long form will be used. Acknowledgements Acknowledgements, including recognition of financial support, should be typed on a separate page at the end of the text. The SI system (systeme international d'unites) should be used in reporting all laboratory data, even if originally reported in another system. Temperatures are reported in degrees Celsius. English language text may use either British or American spelling, but should be consistent throughout. References References should be numbered in the order of their citation in the text. Those cited only in tables and legends for illustrations are numbered according to the sequence established by the first identification in the text of a particular table or illustration. Titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. References should list the names of up to six authors; if there are more, cite the first SIX, then et al. Provide the full title, year of publication, volume number and inclusive pagination for journal articles. Do not reference unpublished or "submitted" papers; these can be mentioned in the body of the text.


Crystal structure of BaTiO a doped with 8% Ca 2 + is refined using single-crystal neutron diffraction data and it is shown that the doped Ca 2 + ion substitutes only at the Ba sites. The refined cell (P4mm) parameters are a = b = 3-982(3).~, c = 4.003(3)A with a final R value of (}02 (on F). Existence of multiple domains in the crystal is ruled out based on refinement with multidomain model.


OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to determine whether or not "Does water immersion in the course of labor decrease the risk of perineal injury during vaginal delivery?" STUDY DESIGN: Review of three English Language primary studies published in 1996, 2001 and 2002. DATA SOURCES: Two Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled trials as well as One Case Control Study which evaluated Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes during labor and delivery were found using PubMed and Cochrane Databases. OUTCOME MEASURED: Each study looked at women who used water immersion during labor and those that did not. The outcomes measured were those regarding maternal and neonatal outcomes, including Perineal Trauma of varying degrees. Visual Inspection was the method employed by experienced clinicians evaluating the women after giving birth to determine the extent, if any, of damage to the perineum. Women were given a rating of Intact, Episiotomy, First, Second, Third, and in one study, Fourth degree tear. P-values were employed to assess clinical significance of outcomes measured. RESULTS: All of the studies showed that immersion in water during labor does not significantly reduce the likelihood of perineal tearing. CONCLUSION: Results of the studies measuring perineal tears in women using water immersion during labor demonstrate that water immersion during labor has no effect on the likelihood of perineal injury. The only study in which women were allowed to give birth into the water itself showed a significant decrease in the risk of vaginal trauma in women who give birth in water. Further research is warranted to determine whether actual delivery into water vs. land has a beneficial outcome for women with regard to perineal trauma and long-term sequelae.


Studies of near-seabed datasets show that salt tectonics controls the distribution and architecture of deep-water reservoirs in many salt-influenced basins. It is typically difficult, however, to study the distribution and stratigraphic evolution of depositional systems preserved at deeper, economically significant depths, reflecting poor seismic imaging of steeply dipping strata flanking high-relief salt structures. 3D seismic and borehole data from the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil allow us to identify a range of depositional elements that form the building blocks of three main tectono-stratigraphic phases. During the first phase, channel systems and lobes were confined within updip minibasins and to the hangingwalls of salt-detached faults. During the second phase, channel systems and lobes filled updip minibasins to bypass sediment downslope, with coarse clastic deposition then occurring in downdip minibasins, >100 km from the coeval shelf margin. Syndepositional seafloor relief caused: (i) channel system deflection and diversion around salt-cored highs; (ii) channel system uplift and rotation on the flanks of rising salt structures; (iii) lateral and frontal confinement of channel systems. During the final phase, rising salt walls dissected previously deposited deep-water systems, with MTCs deposition becoming increasingly important. Our results have important implications for post-salt prospectivity in the Santos Basin and other salt-influenced sedimentary basins, with a range of reservoirs and trapping styles present in this underexplored interval. More specifically, we show that large volumes of clastic sediment were not trapped behind the 'Albian Gap', a salt-controlled depocenter dominating the north-western basin margin, but were instead delivered further basinward.


Lying is an understudied activity, especially in the software field. Yet lying is apparently quite common. In a 2006 survey of software practitioners, 86 percent of the respondents had encountered such lying. The most common occurrences were in estimation and status reporting, with those forms of lying happening on 50 percent of projects, some respondents saying even 100 percent. Respondents said that when lying happens, developers at the bottom level of the management hierarchy are most aware of the lying; they often know it's happening even when their management doesn't. Respondents also provided numerous suggestions on how to diminish or eliminate lying. However, many suggested that it's human nature to lie and that little can be done about it.


The purpose of this study is to investigate if students with CLIL-education (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in Sweden receive an extended knowledge of English compared to students with traditional education. I have conducted this study by comparing the results from national tests in the English A-course and the English B-course performed by both students with CLIL-education and those with traditional education. The result of my study shows that the students with CLIL-education manage to reach a higher score on the tests than the pupils with traditional education both in the A-course and in the B-course. However, both groups reduced their result equally from the test in the A-course to the test in the B-course. There are several potential reasons for this development, but on the basis of my analysis of other research carried out in the field, I suggest the following three reasons: the students with CLIL-education talk less during the lessons, they have a greater amount of teacher supervised lessons and work a lot on their own.


Megalourethra and incontinence due to urethral coitus are very rare phenomena in women. In this paper, we report two cases of urinary incontinence due to urethral coitus where there was no vaginal anomaly or dysfunction.


To forecast the spectrum of warfare that a terrorist group is likely to conduct against a specific adversary, this paper proposes an indications and warning (I&W) methodology to comprehensively and systematically map significant indicators that need to be assessed, weighed, and correlated. A key proposition in this paper is that to adequately assess the likelihood and magnitude of the types of threats posed by contemporary terrorism three issues need to be addressed. First, as mentioned above, threat assessments need to focus on three types of warfare that characterize that spectrum of terrorist operations: CLI, CHI, and CBRN.


Summary The aim was to identify cell and genetic predictors of human blastocyst hatching success in assisted reproduction programmes via a prospective case–control study. Blastocysts, donated by couples in assisted reproduction programmes were used. Hatching success assessment was performed after 144–146 h post-fertilization. The mRNA expression levels of cathepsin V (CTSV), GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA3) and human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit 3, 5, 7 and 8 (CGB) genes were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The odds ratio (OR) of hatching due to zona pellucida (ZP) thickness, oocyte and sperm quality, embryo quality and mRNA expression of CTSV, GATA3 and CGB genes in blastocysts was determined. From 62 blastocysts included in the study, 47 (75.8%) were unable to hatch spontaneously. The ZP thickening, and oocyte and sperm quality did not affect human blastocyst ability to hatch, except the combination of cytoplasmic and extracytoplasmic oocyte dysmorphisms (OR = 1.25; 95% confidence interval = 1.08, 1.45). Hatching-capable blastocysts had higher Gardner scale grade and mRNA expression of CTSV, GATA3 and CGB genes than hatching-incapable blastocysts. The human blastocyst hatching success depends on the blastocyst Gardner grade, but not on ZP and gamete quality. Blastocyst development was regulated by CTSV, GATA3 and CGB gene expression.


Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women. Many patients ultimately progress to metastatic disease and optimal management of this disease remains a significant therapeutic challenge. Lapatinib, a dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is in clinical development for treatment of this disease. Aims: The objective of this article is to review the published evidence for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer with lapatinib, and assess its therapeutic potential. Evidence review: Most evidence has appeared in meeting abstract reports of phase I and II studies in healthy volunteers and cancer patients. Four studies have included patients with exclusively breast cancer. Complete and partial responses and stable disease has been reported in some patients. Emerging evidence indicates that complete and partial responses can be achieved in some patients with metastatic breast cancer. Lapatinib appears to be well tolerated in cancer patients and the maximum tolerated dose is in the region of 1800 mg/day. In addition, it has been used in combination with other cancer treatments. Five ongoing or planned phase II monotherapy and three phase III combination-therapy studies with lapatinib have been identified. Outcomes summary: The phase I and II studies reported to date have provided safety data and preliminary indications regarding efficacy. There is preliminary evidence that lapatinib can achieve objective response rates of 10–38% in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Patients with tumors overexpressing ErbB1 and/or ErbB2 are likely to benefit from lapatinib treatment.


The transcription factor Rora has been shown to be important for the development of ILC2 and the regulation of ILC3, macrophages and Treg cells. Here we investigate the role of Rora across CD4+ T cells, both in vitro as well as in the context of several in vivo type 2 infection models. We dissect the function of Rora using overexpression and a CD4-conditional Rora-knockout mouse, as well as a RORA-reporter mouse. We establish the importance of Rora in CD4+ T cells for controlling lung inflammation induced by Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection, and have measured the effect on downstream genes using RNA-seq. Using a systematic stimulation screen of CD4+ T cells, coupled with RNA-seq, we identify upstream regulators of Rora, most importantly IL-33 and CCL7. Our data suggest that Rora is a negative regulator of the immune system, possibly through several downstream pathways, and is under control of the local microenvironment.


A monomeric complex of Cu(II) with tinidazole [Cu(tnz)2Cl2] was synthesized. The complex decreases the formation of the nitro-radical anion (NO2˙−), which was followed by an enzyme assay involving xanthine oxidase, a model nitro-reductase. It has a binding constant value with DNA comparable to that of tinidazole. In addition to the drug efficacy of the nitro radical anion, it also has neurotoxic side effects; so it is essential to control its formation to an optimum, sufficient for bringing about cytotoxic activity on disease causing microbes but avoiding excess that could make it neurotoxic. If this is achieved through modification of the 5-nitroimidazole moiety then too much NO2˙− would not be generated, implying that the chances of the drug causing any harm to the host due to toxic side effects could be reduced. However, with decreased NO2˙− formation, in an effort to decrease complications, a certain amount of therapeutic efficacy would be compromised. Therefore, the biological activity of tinidazole and its modified form, a monomeric complex, was investigated to see how the latter compares with tinidazole under comparable conditions. Studies revealed that, in spite of decreased NO2˙− formation, the complex showed similar activity to that of tinidazole on two bacterial strains and an amoeba strain, implying that it has other attributes, not known for 5-nitroimidazoles, that enable it to match the efficacy of tinidazole. The study suggests that there is a substantial decrease in NO2˙− due to the formation of the tinidazole complex, meaning that the toxic side effects are likely to be reduced which is an advantage as it would improve the therapeutic index.


This study was conducted to investigate the possibility of learning listening skills by watching videos and explore the attitudes of students toward this method. Numerous studies are available to illustrate the effectiveness of this method; however, there is no study exploring the attitude and level of proficiency after using this method in Public Schools of Iran. Unfortunately, in Iran, after many years of education in public schools and passing many English courses, students are still not able to understand and convey their intention by using English language. For the purpose of this study, 75 male students of different Public Schools in Isfahan randomly selected and took part in it. To make sure about the homogeneity of participants the Oxford Placement Test was administered and then 60 participants with higher grades selected. A pre-test and a post-test which included 50 standardized TOEFL listening items were administered to the participants to check their levels of understanding, before and after the treatment. In addition, a questionnaire that was designed by researchers in this field was given to the participants at the end of the treatment to explore their attitudes. The result indicated that by watching videos, learners showed positive attitudes and their levels of proficiency in listening skill were significantly improved. This study has implications for EFL curriculum designing in Iran and can make Iranian EFL teachers, especially in Public Schools, aware of the importance of this method.


OBJECTIVES
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is highly prevalent in hospitals in many Asian countries. Recent emergence of community-associated (CA) MRSA worldwide has added another serious concern to the epidemiology of S. aureus infections. To understand the changing epidemiology of S. aureus infections in Asian countries, we performed a prospective, multinational surveillance study with molecular typing analysis.

METHODS
We evaluated the prevalence of methicillin resistance in S. aureus isolates in CA and healthcare-associated (HA) infections, and performed molecular characterization and antimicrobial susceptibility tests of MRSA isolates.

RESULTS
MRSA accounted for 25.5% of CA S. aureus infections and 67.4% of HA infections. Predominant clones of CA-MRSA isolates were ST59-MRSA-SCCmec type IV-spa type t437, ST30-MRSA-SCCmec type IV-spa type t019 and ST72-MRSA-SCCmec type IV-spa type t324. Previously established nosocomial MRSA strains including sequence type (ST) 239 and ST5 clones were found among CA-MRSA isolates from patients without any risk factors for HA-MRSA infection. CA-MRSA clones such as ST59, ST30 and ST72 were also isolated from patients with HA infections.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings confirmed that MRSA infections in the community have been increasing in Asian countries. Data also suggest that various MRSA clones have spread between the community and hospitals as well as between countries.


Summary The distribution of the Holocene-Recent sedimentary environments of the Nile Delta is related to secular variations of the semi-arid climate and of the Nile River sediment input and flux, and to coastal subsidence and high wave energy, together with an eastward littoral drift. The delta started to form in the Late Pliocene, with its main development taking place in the Pleistocene, associated with progradation of large volumes of coarse coastal delta sands and the offshore accumulation of turbidities (Nile Cone). In the Oligocene-Early Miocene, an ancestral Nile discharged to the NW. Fluvio-deltaic deposits appeared in the present delta area in the Late Miocene, where they built a narrow prism close to an active faulted flexure, which in the subsurface now separates the South Delta Block from the deep North Delta Basin. The stratigraphy, structure and depocentre development of the region are functions of the interaction between the E-W- to WSW-ENE-trending Mediterranean margin structures, active since the end of the Cretaceous, and the NW-, NNW- and NNE-trending Red Sea-Gulf of Suez structural fabric associated with arching and rifting from the Oligocene to Pleistocene. The main phases of tectonic activity and of clastic deposition, which also correlate with lowered sea levels, were in Late Oligocene-Early Miocene, late Middle Miocene, Tortonian-Messinian, Middle Pliocene and Early-Middle Pleistocene. Petroleum exploration in the Nile Delta has produced modest results to date with a few medium-sized gas fields and minor oil discoveries.


The effects of K+ on the ouabain-(Na+ + K+)-ATPase [Mg2+-dependent, (Na+ + K+)-activated ATP phosphohydrolase, EC [18.104.22.168][1]] complex were studied using partially purified rat brain enzyme preparations. The dissociation rate of the [3H]ouabain-enzyme complex prepared with ATP, Na+, and Mg2+ decreased sharply with temperature between 37° and 22°in the absence of KCl. Potassium stabilized the complex at 37°. The dissociation rate of the [3H]ouabain-enzyme complex in the presence of KCl was temperature-insensitive. Thus the dissociation rates under these two conditions approached each other at low temperatures, and consequently a K+ effect not observed below 17°. Phlorizin, which has been shown to increase the K+ affinity of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase, enhanced the stabilizing effect of K+ on the ouabain-enzyme complex. Ouabain-enzyme complexes formed with substrates such as p -nitrophenyl phosphate, acetyl phosphate, or carbamyl phosphate, in the presence of Na+ and Mg2+, were also stabilized by K+, whereas those formed with Mg2+ and Pi weer not. The dissociation rates of [3H]ouabain from the enzyme in the presence of K+ were similar regardless of the phosphate ligand used to support the binding. The K+-induced stabilization of the ouabain-enzyme complex formed with ATP, Na+, and Mg2+ was reversible when K+ was removed. Attempts to convert the ouabain-enzyme complex prepared in the presence of Mg2+ and Pi from a K+-insensitive to a K+-sensitive conformation were unsuccessful. Deoxycholic acid partially antagonized K+ effects on the rates of [3H]ouabain binding and dissociation in the presence of ATP, Na+, and Mg2+. It is concluded that K+ stabilizes the ouabain-enzyme complex by altering its configuration and that this effect of K+ is closely related to its effect on the native phospho-enzyme. The stabilization appeared to result from a reduced accessibility of the ouabain binding site on the enzyme. The ouabain-enzyme complex prepared in the presence of ATP, Na+, and Mg2+ and treated with KCl was dissimilar to the ouabain-enzyme complex prepared with Mg2+ and Pi.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors thank Mr. Roxy H.-M. So for expert technical assistance.

 [1]: pending:yes


As events in Europe have unfolded over the last year, the contrast between political disintegration in the post-socialist world and the integration of states in Western Europe has become increasingly stark. The Soviet Union, one of the world's superpowers, has disintegrated, together with its empire, while in Europe independent states have become increasingly interwoven in the legal structure of the European Communities. The juxtaposition of these two seemingly contradictory processes often has seemed perplexing. My claim here is that at the core of both of these processes is an image rooted in a story becoming a myth. The image is of a particular relationship between law and economic activity in which competition and the free market create wealth, and law assures that such wealth will be acquired fairly and distributed equitably. The story is of the reconstruction of Europe in the wake of the Second World War. This story has acquired mythic status, and understanding it provides critical insights into the apparent contradictions in contemporary Europe. In this interpretive Essay, then, I seek to: (1) better understand these two world-changing processes, (2) identify and analyze the important and often neglected roles that law is playing in these processes, and (3) demonstrate the potential value of using narrative-imagery analysis in areas such as economic law that generally have been reserved for more conventional forms of legal thought.


Cultural diversity training in pharmacy education has evolved from standalone lectures to longitudinal courses, service-learning initiatives, rotation experiences and global health opportunities. Cultural competency frameworks have served as the scaffold for cultural diversity training, yet educators in other health care disciplines have called into question the utility of such frameworks and offered cultural humility as an alternative to foster development and lifelong learning. In order to implement and assess outcomes tied to cultural diversity successfully, this commentary discusses the five elements of culturally responsive teaching that will provide the tools necessary to integrate cultural humility across pharmacy curricula. In addition, we address how to approach faculty development to avoid common maladaptations in pedagogical movements and conclude with addressing the salient objectives to evaluate gains in student, institutional, and societal outcomes.


This article examines the limitations associated with Irigaray's concept of a culture of difference. I suggest that her concept of sexual difference depends upon a conservative fiction of sameness. I argue that a fiction of phallic sameness underpins her evangelical championing of difference, and that such a fiction retains a conservative blindness to the complexities of contemporary social relations and erases the positive effects oppositional discourses have had on the culture of modernity. I question the debt Irigaray disavows to other non-difference feminism, her insistence that woman are radically marginalized and suggest that her culture of difference is prescriptive and normative. Egalitarian feminism, understood as a postmodern project, is far more strategic, insofar as it offers a multiply-situated analysis of the relationship between women and power within modernity. I replace Irigaray's negative image of the egalitarian feminist as an unnatural woman with the figure of the cyborg who embraces ontological impurity and strategically works within culture.


Imminent lateral scaling issues with NAND Flash are forcing manufacturers to consider 3-D process integration to keep single chip memory capacities rising while keeping costs down. In this way, several layers of memory cells are stacked on top of a silicon substrate using a single series of process steps with no material bonding used. This paper presents a general and practical cost model showing the advantages of 3-D process integration together with the main parameters determining the total cost. This model suggests that a mini revolution will soon be upon us consisting of multiprogrammable stacked nonvolatile memory cells in a monolithic chip.


The use of stone and its types of processing have been very important in the vernacular architecture of the cross-border Carso. In Carso this represents an important legacy of centuries and has a uniform typological characteristic to a great extent. The stone was the main constituent of the local architecture, setting and shaping the human environment, incorporating the history of places through their specific symbolic and constructive language. The primary aim of this research is the recognition of the constructive rules and the values embedded in the Carso rural architecture by use and processing of stone. Central to this investigation is the typological reading, aimed to analyze the constructive language expressed by this legacy, through the analysis of the relationship between type, technique and material.


Rodent seizure models have significantly contributed to our basic understanding of epilepsy. However, medically intractable forms of epilepsy persist and the fundamental mechanisms underlying this disease remain unclear. Here we show that seizures can be elicited in a simple vertebrate system, for example, zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio). Exposure to a common convulsant agent (pentylenetetrazole, PTZ) induced a stereotyped and concentrationdependent sequence of behavioral changes culminating in clonus-like convulsions. Extracellular recordings from fish optic tectum revealed ictaland interictal-like electrographic discharges after application of PTZ, which could be blocked by tetrodotoxin or glutamate receptor antagonists. Epileptiform discharges were suppressed by commonly used antiepileptic drugs, valproate and diazepam, in a concentration-dependent manner. Upregulation of cfos expression was also observed in CNS structures of zebrafish exposed to PTZ. Taken together, these results demonstrate that chemically induced seizures in zebrafish exhibit behavioral, electrographic, and molecular changes that would be expected from a rodent seizure model. Therefore, zebrafish larvae represent a powerful new system to study the underlying basis of seizure generation, epilepsy, and epileptogenesis.


Flowerlike bicephalous titanium diboride (TiB2) nanowhisker clusters were fabricated by planetary ball-milling. The pure cleavage theory and crack growth mechanism were used to explain the formation process. The high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and nano electronic beam diffraction show that TiB2 superhard material always has a cleavage plane along the direction of [0001] zone axe and [10 0] zone axe because of its big interplane distance, weak bonding force between planes and low index directions. The flowerlike bicephalous TiB2 nanowhisker can be gained after repeated cleavage under high strains. The discovery could open a new path to fabricate C32 type superhard ceramic nanowhiskers.


This activity elucidates a critical and pragmatic means by which students and instructors can examine the practice of labor exploitation by neoliberal corporations. By employing critical communication pedagogy (CCP), instructors and students can learn about the ways that corporations actively steal wages from their employees and communicatively justify this theft through the ethic of individualism. In so doing, corporations break the social contract and inculcate employees to believe not in collectivism and social responsibility, but instead only in the logic of the free market. Thus, employees internalize the idea that earning at a level below what is desired is the fault of the individual and not the fault of the corporation. Employees learn to absolve corporations of any wrongdoing. Students and instructors will challenge this ideology and practice by employing the tenets of CCP to recognize and respond to labor exploitation. Courses: Business and Professional Communication, Professional Speaking, Instructional Communication, Critical Studies/Critical Theory in Communication Objectives: In this two-day activity, first, students will learn about critical communication pedagogy (CCP) and how they can apply it to respond to hegemony. Second, students will learn about the concept of labor exploitation that they may face in their future careers. Third, students will apply CCP to analyze and respond to the ways in which corporations justify labor exploitation through their communicative practices, equipping students to push back against labor exploitation in their future careers.


Cold War scholarship has largely neglected Canada's role, including the important part Canada played in U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower's defense policy. This article shows that after the Soviet thermonuclear detonation in August 1953, the Eisenhower administration urgently sought Canada's participation in joint continental air defense plans. Canadian officials thereafter struggled to minimize U.S. intrusions on their national sovereignty and ensure the integrity of Canada's national interests. To accomplish their respective goals, the two sides instituted secret, high-level consultative meetings from October 1953 through September 1954. The meetings enabled U.S. and Canadian officials to exchange views regarding U.S. proposals for an early warning network across northern Canada and allowed the Eisenhower administration to keep its Canadian counterpart apprised of U.S. defense plans. U.S.-Canadian interactions during this period set the tone for the two countries' defense relationship throughout the Cold War.


Background: Age related macular degeneration (ARMD ) is the major cause of severe visual loss in older adults.Different treatment modalities are available such as: Laser photocoagulation,photodynamic therapy,transpupillary thermotherapy,submacular surgery & anti-vegf. Aims & Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravitreally administered Bevacizumab a humanized monoclonal anti –VEGF in Neovascular Age related Macular Degeneration. Methodology: This non randomized, prospective study was carried out on 75 eyes of 75 patients attending the OPD at M & J Institute Of Ophthalmology and diagnosed as having Neovascular ARMD confirmed on FFA and SD-OCT . After taking written informed consent all patients were injected with intravitreal Bevacizumab 1.25 mg/0.05 ml. Follow up visits were scheduled one week, one month postprocedure and every monthly thereafter. Results: 75 eyes of 75 patients were included in this non randomized prospective study. & 29.33% patients required 2 injections. Visual acuity is improved more than 3 lines from baseline in 21.33% patient, 64% patient have 2-3 lines gain & 6.66% patients showed 0-1 line gain in snellen's visual acuity. 5.33% patients have a loss of 1 line from baseline & 2.66% patients showed loss of 2-3 lines. Central foveal thickness decreased more than 200 microns from baseline in 52% patients, 28% patients have decreased of 100-200 microns & 20% patients have decreased of less than 100 microns. Discussion: Approximately 10 % of ARMD patients manifest the neovascular form of the disease. 12 weeks). Our study showed that 80% patients had decrease in central foveal thickness more than 100 microns from baseline at the end of one year. 85% patients had gain of 2 or more lines on Snellen's visual acuity chart from baseline.No patient had any serious local or systemic adverse reactions.Limitations of our study is small number of patients,ICG not done,not compared with other anti-vegf drugs. Conclusion: Intravitreal Bevacizumab is a safe and effective drug in treatment of neovascular age related macular degeneration without any serious systemic or local adverse effects


Though surveys are effective in data collection, they are rarely used as a technique for empirical evaluation in software engineering. Experimental surveys (surveys with experimental design) are frequently used in social and medical sciences, but are not exploited adequately in software engineering. This paper does an attempt to use the experimental survey technique for the empirical evaluation of a new product line requirements engineering approach called issue-based variability modeling. The focus of this paper is mainly on survey and questionnaire design, and covers issues such as sampling and statistical analysis. In this survey, a population of 34 professionals was sampled into an experimental and a control group using stratified random sampling. A workshop was organized with the experimental group using issue-based variability modeling while the control group used an existing variability modeling approach. At the end of the workshop a self-administrated questionnaire was given to both the groups and the data was collected. The survey data analysis was done using basic statistics.


Aim:To examine current practiceswith regard to the safe collection, storage and disposal of sharps waste in acupuncture premises and to determine compliance with the NSW Public Health (Skin Penetration) Regulation 2000 and the NSW Health Skin Penetration Code of Best Practice.Methods:A random sample of acupuncturists in the City of Sydney local government area was selected and surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Results: All 26 acupuncturists surveyed had sharps disposal bins and complied with the Regulation, but the following elements of the Code were not uniformly followed: regular disposal of sharps (77%), disposal through a waste contractor (23%) and placement of bins out of reach of visitors (8%). Conclusion: Regular disposal of sharps containers in acupuncture premises


The Greater Caucasus Mountains are a young (∼5 m.y. old) orogen within the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone that contains the highest peaks in Europe and has an unusual topographic form for a doubly vergent orogen. In the east-central part (45°E–49°E), the range is nearly symmetric in terms of prowedge and retrowedge widths and the drainage divide is much closer to the southern margin of the range (prowedge side) than it is to the northern margin (retrowedge side). Moreover, the divide does not coincide with the topographic crest, but rather the crest is both shifted northward by as much as 40 km and traversed by several large north-flowing rivers. Both the topographic crest and drainage divide appear to coincide with zones of active rock uplift, because they are characterized by bands of high local relief and normalized channel steepness values (>300). This uplift pattern could result from a synchronous initiation of the two uplift zones or propagation of deformation either northward or southward. The two propagating scenarios differ fundamentally in their predictions for the relative ages of topographic features; northward propagation predicts that the topographic crest is younger than the drainage divide, and the southward scenario predicts the converse. Because available geologic and topographic data are consistent with both propagation directions, we use a landscape evolution model to test all three scenarios. Model results indicate that the current topography and drainage network is best explained by a northward propagation of deformation from the south flank into the interior of the east-central Greater Caucasus. Such propagation implies recent out-of-sequence deformation within the Greater Caucasus due to reactivation or development of new structures within the core of the orogen. It remains unclear if such deformation is a transient response to an accretion cycle or stems from a fundamental change in the structural architecture of the orogen.


The ultrastructure of the small intestine of gnotobiotic lambs infected with lamb astrovirus was studied. The virus was observed from 14 to 28 h p.i. in mature columnar epithelial cells covering the apical two-thirds of villi. Crystalline arrays of virus particles with a centre to centre distance of approx. 29 nm were seen in the cytoplasm and virus particles were also observed in apical pits and tubules and in lysosomes. Macrophages containing virus particles in lysosome-like organelles were seen in the lamina propria. Virus particles were released by desquamated cells disintegrating in the gut lumen. Cuboidal cells lining villi appeared from 38 to 70 h p.i., and by 120 h p.i. the villi appeared normal.


Certain implicit time stepping procedures for the incompressible Stokes or Navier-Stokes equations lead to a singular-perturbed Stokes type problem at each time step. The paper presents a convergence analysis of a geometric multigrid solver for the system of linear algebraic equations resulting from the disretization of the problem using a finite element method. Several smoothing iterative methods are considered: a smoother based on distributive iterations, the Braess-Sarazin and inexact Uzawa smoother. Convergence analysis is based on smoothing and approximation properties in special norms. A robust (independent of time step and mesh parameter) estimate is proved for the two-grid and multigrid W-cycle convergence factors.


Objective To analyze pediatricians' representations on the nutritional alternatives that are adopted when weaning becomes inevitable. Methods This is a mixed cross-sectional analytical study with probabilistic sampling. Fifty-seven randomly selected pediatricians were interviewed with the use of a semi-structured script for thematic analysis. The technique of free evocations was used, and the terms were processed using software EVOC 2005. The thematic categories were established on software NVivo10, and their co-occurrence matrix was exported and analyzed in terms of their simple similarity hierarchy on software CHIC. Results In the pediatricians' representations, whole milk was cited as a foodstuff with high allergenic risk (35.1%) and nutritionally inappropriate, and they did not recommend its use if weaning occurred before 1 year of age. The infant formula, referred by 98.3% of the pediatricians as the best alternative at the moment of weaning, was cited by 38.1% of them owing to its nutritional adequacy. The points quoted as unfavorable to the use of the formula were the price, the possibility of causing allergy and the risk of the inadequate use of such a highly industrialized product. Conclusions The pediatricians' representations show that they are sensitive to the importance of breast-feeding and at the same time, to the sociocultural difficulties inherent in the practice. Generally speaking, the interviewed pediatricians recommend the use of milk formulas, and not of whole cow's milk, if weaning occurs before the end of the first year of life.


In refineries, power-recovery turbines are widely used in the fluid catalytic cracking process to extract power from particle-laden gases. The gas particles impinging on the blades cause blade and platform erosion. This erosion can be broadly classified into primary and secondary erosion according to the dynamics of the particle/flow interactions and whether the damage is caused by direct inertial impingement or by recirculation of fine particles (1–2 μm) through the blade secondary flows, by the vortices induced by these flows. This paper reports on a new experimental method devised to simulate the secondary erosion patterns without the use of a dust-laden stream. In this method, blades coated with a sublimating material such as naphthalene are tested in a wind tunnel. The secondary flow vortices tend to increase the local rate of sublimation in those areas where surface momentum gradients are high. This simulates the condition of preferential erosion induced by the dust loading present in the vortices. Tests show the induced patterns to be quite akin to secondary erosion seen on field run blades especially in the critical erosion patterns seen near the blade roots. Design modifications were then successfully developed to minimize this secondary erosion. These were shown to have a capability of reducing the erosion by 50 to 75 percent, by utilizing platform step control and naturally induced boundary layer suction. Conversely, many other features were found surprisingly ineffective. The method was also shown to be a very effective surface flow visualization technique for internal and external surfaces. Of the approaches found to be successful in minimizing erosion damage, control of the geometry of the stator to rotor steps along the hub flow path blade platforms was critical. Steps in general have the effect of making erosion worse. The most successful approach is the introduction of an inherent suction slot and the suction flow passage between individual blade platforms.


Introduction: Hospital readmission leads to increased care cost and decreased quality of patients' life. This study aimed to determine the role of continuous care model (CCM) on hospital readmission among patients with heart failure (HF) in North West of Iran. Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial was performed on 60 HF patients admitted to Urmia University hospitals, Urmia, Iran in 2014. Participants were randomly allocated into two groups of intervention and control (30 patients in each) using randomization software. While the control group received routine hospital care, CCM was run in the intervention group during 3 months. Data were collected by questionnaire (demographic information, checklist related to readmission and questions to evaluate the treatment continuity and patients' care after hospital discharge). Readmission rates were measured and compared using descriptive and analytical statistics with SPSS version 19. Results: The mean readmission rate in both groups was approximately equal to 1.5 within three months prior to the intervention. After the intervention, the average number of readmissions greatly decreased in the intervention group from 1.53 times to 0.46, while in the control group, it increased from 1.46 to 1.76 with a significant difference between two groups (p=0.001). Conclusion: Our results confirmed that the application of CCM could significantly reduce the readmission rates in HF patients and thus lead to decrease care cost and increase the quality of life in patients' with HF.


A life cycle assessment was carried out to estimate the environmental impact of industry waste as aggregate in cement production. To confirm and add credibility to the study, an uncertainty analysis was also carried out. Results showed the impact seen from climate change, human toxicity, marine eutrophication, marine ecotoxicity, and freshwater eutrophication categories had an important contribution to overall environmental impact, due to energy use and direct emissions from clinker and limestone production stages. The most significant substances contribute to the climate change is CO2 to air; for the human toxicity, it is Hg to air and Mn to water; for the marine eutrophication and marine ecotoxicity, it is nitrate and Ni to water, respectively; for the freshwater eutrophication, it is phosphorus to water. Increasing electricity recovery rate, optimizing the raw material consumption for clinker production are highly recommended to reduce the adverse impact on the environment, and therefore reduce the pressure on the environment from dramatically increased hazardous industry waste disposal.


Climate change impacts on food production, socioeconomic changes (population and income growth  in large parts of the world) and biofuel policies affecting demand quantities have risen scientific,  political and public interest in long-term forecasts on food security. Whereas first quantitative analyses  from global economic models are starting to appear (e.g. (von Lampe et al., under review)), similar  studies on smaller regional scales are not yet available. However, acknowledging that climate change  affects crop yields differently across scales and regions (e.g. (Reidsma et al., 2007)) and considering  the specific political setting given through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Europe, the  MACSUR project focuses on the impact of climate change and socioeconomic changes on European  agriculture and its contribution to global food security. We present a Europe-wide analysis of the  effect of selected climate and socioeconomic scenarios on food security in terms of food prices using  the Common Agricultural Policy Regionalised Impact modelling system (CAPRI).


Regression models play a key role in many application domains for analyzing or predicting a quantitative dependent variable based on one or more independent variables. Automated approaches for building regression models are typically limited with respect to incorporating domain knowledge in the process of selecting input variables (also known as feature subset selection). Other limitations include the identification of local structures, transformations, and interactions between variables. The contribution of this paper is a framework for building regression models addressing these limitations. The framework combines a qualitative analysis of relationship structures by visualization and a quantification of relevance for ranking any number of features and pairs of features which may be categorical or continuous. A central aspect is the local approximation of the conditional target distribution by partitioning 1D and 2D feature domains into disjoint regions. This enables a visual investigation of local patterns and largely avoids structural assumptions for the quantitative ranking. We describe how the framework supports different tasks in model building (e.g., validation and comparison), and we present an interactive workflow for feature subset selection. A real-world case study illustrates the step-wise identification of a five-dimensional model for natural gas consumption. We also report feedback from domain experts after two months of deployment in the energy sector, indicating a significant effort reduction for building and improving regression models.


In relation to comprehensive living standard and public interests, urban cultural facility poses major influence on urban life. Compared with urban cultural facility, county cultural facility is the vinculum linking the cultural undertakings between urban and regional area, which requires rational guidance to break through the gap between urban and rural development. This thesis observed the current situation of cultural facility in Chengcheng County of Shaanxi Province, finding that the particularity of county cultural facility development and the inconsistency between supply and demand have exceeded the capacity of present development criterion. The in-depth analysis on Chengcheng County's cultural facility is based on the influential observation of indicator system, standing on a wider perspective in consideration with resident's demand, probing the suitable indicator system of cultural facility in Chengcheng County in consistency with the developing feature and trend combing with national standard and developing situation.


Although lots of research efforts have focused on group key management (GKM) for secure multicast, existing GKM schemes are inadequate for vehicle communication (VC) systems since they incur unnecessary rekeying overhead without considering the characteristics of VC systems such as Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communications and a great number of high mobility vehicles. Therefore, we propose a GKM scheme, called RSU-based decentralized key management (RDKM), dedicated for the multicast services in the VC systems. The RDKM scheme significantly reduces the rekeying overhead through delegating a part of the key management functions to the road-side infrastructure units (RSUs) and through updating the key encryption keys (KEKs) within a RSU. The performance of the RDKM scheme is analyzed in terms of communication overhead and storage overhead each of which has a strong impact on the performance of GKM. Furthermore, we propose an optimization algorithm that minimizes the weighted sum of the communication and the storage overhead, called the GKM overhead (GKMO), by appropriately determining the design parameters. The numerical results from the extensive analysis demonstrate that the RDKM scheme outperforms the existing GKM schemes in terms of the GKMO.


ABSTRACT: Woody plant encroachment into grasslands is occurring worldwide, affecting ecosystems in ways that likely influence mosquito-borne disease transmission. In the U.S. Great Plains, encroachment by eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) (ERC) may be expanding conducive habitat for mosquitoes and their hosts, but few studies have evaluated associations between ERC encroachment and West Nile virus (WNV). To test the hypotheses that mosquito abundance and WNV-infected mosquitoes increase with increasing ERC cover, we collected mosquitoes in 32 sites in Oklahoma reflecting various ERC encroachment stages. We found support for our first hypothesis, as mean abundance of Aedes albopictus increased significantly with ERC cover. However, Psorophora columbiae and Anopheles quadrimaculatus abundance decreased with increasing ERC. There was no significant association with ERC for other mosquito species. We could not test our second hypothesis due to low WNV prevalence, but the only detected WNV-infected pool of mosquitoes (Cx. tarsalis) was collected in ERC. Our results suggest ERC encroachment increases abundance of at least one medically important mosquito species, but further research is needed to clarify how encroachment affects ecology of the entire WNV disease system through changes to vector and host communities, vector-host interactions, and thus disease transmission and prevalence. Understanding relationships between woody plant encroachment and the nidus of infection for mosquito-borne diseases will be crucial for targeting public health efforts, including land management activities that limit and/or eradicate woody plant encroachment, particularly in areas with high levels of disease risk.


The issue of the Relative Age Effect (RAE) has been monitored in the field of sports for more than 30 years. Its theoretical framework is based on the premise that during the pubescent period athletes born at the beginning of the year experience earlier biological acceleration re-sulting in a higher level of physiological, mental, morphological and psychological attributes than their later-born peers. A number of publications show that this temporary advantage often manifests itself in elite competitions at the junior level, but gradually disappears during the transition to professional senior competitions. The aim of this work was to determine the level of the RAE in the elite 100 ATP tennis players (ATP Rankings) in 2016–2018. To assess the influence of the RAE, the Chi-Squared (ꭕ2) test in the variant of Goodness of Fit was used for the assessment of the conformity of expected and observed frequency distribution due to the categorical character of the research data and the large sample size. The Cohen's w val-ue calculation was used to assess the effect size (ES, since it is not a random representative selection of elements of the research set) of the ꭕ2 test values. The odds ratio (OR) was used to assess the chance of players from the Q individual quarters to get among the best 100 players. The results show that, in terms of effect size (ES), the effect of birth date in all the Top 100 players is small (w = .22) during the entire observed period 2016–2018; the influence of RAE is therefore dismissed. The ES in the individual years is again small (w = .21–.25); the influence of RAE is also dismissed. In analysing the effect of birth date, the mean rate of effect size was found in tennis players in positions 1 to 25 (w = .46) as well as in tennis play-ers in positions 51 to 75 (w = .37); the RAE influence is therefore not rejected. Only a small measure of effect size was found between positions 26 to 50 and 76 to 100 (w = .21–.25); the RAE influence is rejected. No statistically significant difference has been found between the observed and expected distribution of birth date between the observed quarters of the year (odds ratio test, p > .05) and it has not, therefore, been proven that tennis players from any of the quarters Q –Q had a better chance of getting among the Top 100 tennis players. It can be concluded that professional senior tennis had not shown the RAE influence to the extent usual in junior categories during the observed period of 2016–2018.


Curcumin is the product obtained by solvent extraction of turmeric i.e., the ground rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. (Curcuma domestica Valeton) and purification of the extract by crystallization. Extensive research within the last half a century has proven that most of these activities, associated with turmeric are due to curcumin. Curcumin has been shown to exhibit anti -oxidant, anti- inflammatory, antiviral, anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti cancer activities and thus has a potential against various malignant diseases, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and other chronic diseases. These effects are mediated through the regulation of various transcription factors, growth factors, inflammatory cytokines, protein kinases and other enzymes. Curcumin is remarkably non-toxic and exhibits limited bioavailability. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief summary of the current knowledge of the effects of curcumin. Curcumin exhibits great promise as a therapeutic agent, and is currently in human clinical trials for a variety of conditions. Since multi targeted therapy is more effective than the mono targeted therapy, curcumin has promising scope in the future research.


Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) results in systemic hypertension and altered vascular reactivity in human and rodents. We hypothesize that vascular smooth muscle (VSM) Na/Ca exchanger type-1 (NCX1) is a potential molecular mechanism mediating CIH-induced changes in vascular reactivity and blood pressure (BP). Wild type (WT) and transgenic (TG) mice with VSM-specific NCX1 overexpression were exposed to either CIH (1 min 5% nadir O2, followed by 1 min 21% O2; 8 hrs/day for 5 weeks), or normoxia (constant 21% O2). CIH resulted in greater BP elevation in TG (102 ± 3 mm Hg vs. 92 ± 6 mm Hg in normoxia, P < 0.05, n = 6 and 3, measured by intra-carotid artery catheterization under 1.5% isoflurane) than in WT (88 ± 4 mm Hg vs. 83 ± 2 mm Hg in normoxia, NS, n = 3 and 5) mice. Mesenteric small resistance arteries were then isolated and pressurized for diameter and wall thickness measurement. Compared to normoxia controls, CIH-exposed WT arteries exhibited increased resting myogenic tone (21 ± 2% vs. 16 ± 2% of PD in normoxia, P < 0.05, n = 5 each group). Moreover, myogenic reactivity in WT arteries of CIH-exposed mice shifted downward at lower range of intraluminal pressure (20-80 mm Hg), and upward at higher pressure (100-140 mm Hg). The effects of CIH were significantly greater in TG arteries compared to those in WT arteries, suggesting that VSM NCX1 augmented the myogenic response to CIH. Vasoconstrictions induced by phenylephrine (0.003-100 μM), greater in TG arteries, or high (60 mM) external K+ solution, were similar between control and CIH groups in the same genotype, suggesting that arterial contractility to agonist stimulation was not affected by CIH. Arterial wall thickness or passive diameters under various intraluminal pressures in Ca2+-free solution were not different between control and CIH groups in either genotype, suggesting a lack of arterial stiffness or remodeling. In summary, 1) CIH results in greater BP elevation in TG mice; 2) CIH leads to biphasic changes in myogenic reactivity in small resistance arteries; 3) Overexpression of VSM NCX1 exaggerates BP elevation in CIH, likely by modulating myogenic reactivity, suggesting that VSM NCX1 is a potential mechanism mediating CIH-induced hypertension.


While jets appear as a fundamental result of accretion processes onto compact objects in X-ray binaries, there is as yet no standard model for their underlying physics. The origin of the observed disk-jet coupling also remains largely unknown. X-ray variability studies have revealed complex variability in the accretion flow onto stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars, on timescales as short as milliseconds. The detection of correlated broad-band rapid time variability in the jet emission would provide valuable information on how the variability is transferred along the jet and on the timescales of physical processes operating in these jets, ultimately helping to constrain internal jet physics, probe disk-jet coupling and infer accretion geometry. In recent years there have been indirect evidences for optical fast variability arising from a powerful jet. However, in optical light the emission from the outer disk can strongly contaminate the jet signal, resulting in an ambiguous identification of the source of the variability. On the other hand, at much longer wavelengths the variability, coming from far out in the jet, will be smeared out in time. Infrared variability studies are thus ideal for looking at jet variability on the fastest possible timescales. Thanks to newly available detectors and fast-readout modes, fast infrared and mid-infrared photometry is now possible. This is opening a new exciting window to study the geometry and the Physics of relativistic jets and their connection with the accretion flow. Here we present the first results from a large ongoing fast-timing multi-wavelength project, showing the first unambiguous evidence for sub-second jet variable emission. We show how this type of data already allows us to put quantitative constraints to the jet speed, geometry and physics, and discuss the great potential of new observations in the near future.


The term 'bioprospecting' was only coined within the past few decades. Today, it is still difficult to find consensus on its legal meaning. What it appears to represent is the range of activities associated with searching for, discovering and researching unique biodiversity for any potential commercial applications. The polar regions are likely sources of such uniqueness. This is what attracts bioprospectors, as polar biodiversity often contain genes, molecules or compounds, that once isolated and assessed, can be developed into a product or process of commercial value in the fields of agriculture, medicine, aquiculture, cosmetics, and pharmacy to name only a few. Bioprospecting in the Antarctic presents similar challenges to bioprospecting carried out anywhere else in the world. It also, however, carries with it unique challenges and implications specific to the Antarctic region. Bioprospecting has been underway in the Antarctic since the mid 1980s, within the context of National Antarctic programmes. Little formal debate, however, has taken place within the Antarctic Treaty System, the legal regime which governs the region. This thesis investigates the unique legal implications that bioprospecting has for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Antarctic bioprospecting also carries with it environmental and ethical implications. These will only be briefly discussed, but they too, carry with them legal obligations which are important in the context of the Antarctic. The principle legal obligations are contained within the Antarctic Treaty; being the use of the area for peaceful purposes only, freedom of scientific investigation including the free availability of scientific observations and results, and the 'frozen' but unresolved sovereignty situation that prevails while the Antarctic Treaty is in force. Sovereignty considerations are particularly important when considering resource utilization and benefit-sharing from such utilization. Beyond the Antarctic Treaty, there exist international legal instruments which carry with them other obligations that cannot be ignored. Avoiding conflicts with these international instruments must also be a fundamental consideration in any Antarctic bioprospecting regulation. The extent of these legal obligations, and their implications for bioprospecting, is the focus of this thesis. The thesis will explore these obligations and then investigate the possible future of bioprospecting in the Antarctic. Bioprospecting appears to be the latest challenge to the half century old Antarctic Treaty System. Each new challenge seems to prompt a call to investigate the system itself. So that every challenge has the possibility of altering or collapsing the system that appears to have worked extremely well in the past.


The effect of salt (LiClO4) on free volume-related microstructural, optical, and dielectric properties of lithium perchlorate (LiClO4)-doped sodium alginate (NaC6H7O6)n solid polymer electrolyte were studied using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Visible, dielectric measurements, and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) techniques. The FTIR study reveal that the LiClO4 interact
with the OAH groups of sodium alginate (NaAlg) and
forms charge transfer complex (CTC). These formed
CTC within the composite film affect the optical property
of the polymer composite, which was reflected
from UV–Visible study. The free volume was probed by
the PALS technique, which uses the o-Ps pickup lifetime
s3, as an indication of local electron density and
mean free volume radius. The o-Ps pickup intensity I3,
reflects the probability of o-Ps formation. The o-Ps
components s3 and I3 increases with salt concentration,
which shows microstructural modifications due to the
decrease in the crystallinity of the NaAlg as observed
from XRD studies. Therefore, electrical studies on the
doped NaAlg reveal that the ionic movement in the
composites is mainly due to the segmental motion of
the polymer backbone. So, the complex formation due
to doping affects the free volume-related microstructure
and hence the dielectric properties including the AC
conductivity of the polymer composites. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:1267–1274, 2014. VC 2013 Society of Plastics
Engineers


Brazilian economy, which is currently the sixth largest in the world. The sector is responsible for 27% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Moreover, it also accounts for nearly 40% of the values generated in the export and employs around 26% of the economically active population of the country. The objective of this paper is to present and discuss updated information regarding the importance of the main products of the agribusiness sector to the Brazilian economy. Special attention was given to the beef and soybean chain. The perspective and challenges of the sector are briefly presented.


This publication is a unique portrayal of the work of this contemporary artist. Ton of Holland employs two techniques in his work: first he paints on prepared linen, and then he creates the embroidery, applying flat stitch and sometimes adding pearls as a decorative element. These works are consciously genred as paintings rather than tapestries because the artist literally 'paints' with his needle and thread on prepared painter's linen instead of embroidery canvas. This unique form of artistry renders his work highly exceptional within the international art world. Besides faturing reproductions of the work, the book also gives readers a window into the world of the artist's thoughts and feelings. Ton of Holland wants to share the way in which the creative process evolves, from both a mental and technical standpoint. Sketches, ideas, inspirational sources, reverse sides of paintings, and magnificant details of the work are all used as aids to help readers gain more insight. They are not intended to explain everything, however, as there should still be enough left to the imagination. This book is particularly unique in terms of design, owing to the fact that the artist defined the overall visual aesthetics of the book in consultation with designer Dennis Koot. The two essays in the book, which are designed as a kind of illuminated news trailer, provide an art historical vision of the work and a socio-cultural vision, particularly expanding on the significance and position of the work within the homosexual subculture.


The exponential growth of social media in the last decade of the twenty first century, means that it has excelled its initial purpose as a communication method for family and friends to connect. The plethora of social media platforms that have emerged in recent years have provided a multitude of opportunities for both individuals and organizations. In line with the growth of social media is the saturation of the fitness industry both solely in Ireland and worldwide.

This study seeks to investigate the impact that both social media and social media influencers can have on the motivation of millennials to attend the gym. Six men and women who belong to the millennial cohort were interviewed, a thematic approach was used in order to acquire themes relevant to the research aims and objectives. From the analysis of themes presented from the interviews, it was concluded that social media and social media influencers do impact the motivations of millennials to attend the gym, it was also found that various types of content encouraged both gym members and non-gym members to work out or rejoin the gym.


The objective of this work is to develop and to validate a CFD model of a supersonic air ejector, a device largely used in aircrafts, and to determine how its efficiency behaves when some of its geometric parameters vary, fully exploring the physical phenomena of the problem. It is important to highlight that in the aeronautical industry the competitiveness of any device intrinsically relies on its efficiency, such that a CFD model for an ejetor is indispensable for proper design. A validation process was conducted by comparing CFD results with two supersonic air ejector experiments: one performed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1972 [1], and another by Mazzelli in 2015 [2]. The turbulence model was also validated with these experiments, and it was concluded that the k-ω GEKO model is able to reproduce the physics of the supersonic air ejector problem with greater fidelity than traditional turbulence models. After this validation process, the sensitivity of the Mazzelli case ejector efficiency to two geometric parameters was evaluated: the nozzle exit position and the ejector mixing chamber height.


PURPOSE
In this study, the authors aimed to develop a visual analogue of the widely used Speech Reception Threshold (SRT; R. Plomp & A. M. Mimpen, 1979b) test. The Text Reception Threshold (TRT) test, in which visually presented sentences are masked by a bar pattern, enables the quantification of modality-aspecific variance in speech-in-noise comprehension to obtain more insight into interindividual differences in this ability.

METHOD
Using an adaptive procedure similar to the SRT test, the TRT test determines the percentage of unmasked text needed to read 50% of sentences correctly. SRTs in stationary noise (SRT(STAT)), modulated noise (SRT(MOD)), and TRTs were determined for 34 participants with normal hearing, aged 19 to 78 years.

RESULTS
The results indicate that about 30% of the variance in SRT(STAT) and SRT(MOD) is shared with variance in TRT, which reflects the shared involvement of a modality-aspecific cognitive or linguistic ability in forming meaningful wholes of fragments of sentences.

CONCLUSION
The TRT test, a visual analogue of the SRT test, has been developed to measure the variance in speech-in-noise comprehension associated with modality-aspecific cognitive skills. In future research, normative data of the TRT test should be developed. It would also be interesting to measure TRTs of individuals experiencing difficulties understanding speech.


This paper presents findings from a perceptual and acoustic study of vowel productions in the speech of three children with cri du chat syndrome, all raised in Norwegian-speaking communities. It is shown that for all three subjects there is considerable variation in different attempts at producing the same target vowels, but to a varying extent depending on both vowel height and quantity. There is also inter-subject variation. Furthermore, there is considerable acoustic overlap between attempts at producing different target vowels. Finally, only to a limited extent do the vowel productions of the three children form vowel spaces comparable to the vowel space of the target language, but again there is inter-subject variation.


Is the long-forgotten power of the Commission to order interim measures a satisfactory tool to safeguard the effective enforcement of EU competition law? It is not possible seriously to consider the claim without exploring the essential properties that characterize the power and that must inform its exercise. The decisional practice is scarce, and the related case law consists of a handful of judicial decisions, the latest of which is over 20 years old. What precisely is the role of the Commission's interim powers within the EU system of competition law enforcement currently in force? The present article attempts to reveal the nature of the tool in the light of multiple elements found relevant for the interpretation and application of Article 8 of Regulation 1/2003. Along the way, misapprehensions with the potential to undermine interim action by the Commission are identified.
EU law, effective enforcement, interim measures, competition law, Regulation 1/2003, Commission powers


Abstract The measures taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in, among other things, massive loss of earnings. Many people are therefore increasingly experiencing an income crisis in addition to the acute health crisis. Permanent existential insecurity remains for too many despite the numerous aid packages. The principle of need-based assistance and the determination of need for the provision of aid are proving to be insufficient. In the current crisis, earned incomes are affected most of all due to the measures taken. This leads to an asymmetric distribution of the crisis-induced burdens and thus to an asymmetric distribution of risks and burdens between performance-related and non-performance-related income, which exacerbates the redistribution in favor of capital income. The model of net basic income (NBI) shows one way to come to a solution of these problems in the crisis. Every adult person in Germany receives a monthly unconditional basic income of e.g. 550 Euros (calculated in this approach) during the crisis period. This amount is supplemented by the suspension of rent, lease, repayment and interest obligations during this period of income loss. The amount of money paid to each person is the net share of the crisis basic income. The household savings from suspending rent, lease, principal, and interest payments is the gross. After the crisis, the NBI can be raised to a full participatory UBI as economic momentum increases. In step with this, rental, lease and capital services are to be paid again in full contract amount.


Extensive public outreach activities are being conducted by Japan CCS Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "JCCS") as an integral part of the Tomakomai CCS Demonstration Project, commissioned to JCCS by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (hereinafter "METI"), aiming towards the successful delivery of Japan's first full-cycle CCS demonstration project near an urban area in Tomakomai City, Hokkaido. The total project period is 9 years from JFY (*) 2012 to 2020[1], of which from JFY2018 to 2019, the project is under the jurisdiction of New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (hereinafter "NEDO") with subsidy from METI. (*JFY denotes April of calendar year to March of following year.)

In early 2011, METI and JCCS discussed and agreed upon the common objectives; (i) the successful and smooth completion of the Tomakomai Project; (ii) prioritize Tomakomai City for the public outreach activities - ensuring that the local stakeholders understood the project and purpose of CCS; and (iii) primary emphasis on safety and security. These objectives were all in line with the overall project goal of verifying the practical use of CCS technology by around 2020.

With a view to achieving these objectives, METI and JCCS adopted the following approaches, while placing the utmost emphasis on building trust with individual stakeholders: a tailored approach to deal with the wide range of stakeholders groups in Tomakomai City to secure the confidence of each group regarding the safety of the project; an extensive approach to engage a broader community of stakeholders for dissemination of CCS and the Tomakomai CCS Demonstration Project in other areas in Japan; and a collaborative approach with METI to engage international stakeholders in order to share information and contribute towards accelerating the dissemination of CCS technology.

A key focus of our activities was to create highly visual, easy-to-understand materials that would draw public attention and help us provide people with clear and accurate information and context. JCCS constantly updated these materials in accordance with the progress of the project and customized them from community to community.

JCCS's main principles regarding public outreach activities are; first, sharing correct information based on current CCS technology; second, maintaining constant, thorough cooperation with the Tomakomai government; third, avoiding a one-way flow of information by encouraging conversation with all parties; fourth, designing our activities to create a personal connection with the audience; fifth and last, planning our activities in consideration of the benefits to the local communities.

The Tomakomai Project is recognized as a case of the central government, local community and private sector working together in carrying out a CCS project.


The computational performance of five algorithms for the traffic assignment problem (TAP) is compared with that of mid- to large-scale randomly generated grid networks. The applied procedures include the Frank-Wolfe, PARTAN, gradient projection, restricted simplicial decomposition, and disaggregate simplicial decomposition algorithms. A statistical analysis is performed to determine the relative importance of various properties (network size, congestion level, solution accuracy, zone-node ratio) of the traffic assignment problem for the five selected algorithms. Regression models, which measure central processing unit time and number of iterations consumed by each algorithm using various factors and their combinations, are derived to provide a quantitative evaluation. Ultimately, the findings of this research will be useful in guiding transportation professionals to choose suitable solution algorithms and to predict the resulting algorithm performance in TAPs.


In the seismic design of structures, estimates of design forces are usually provided to the engineer in the form of elastic response spectra. Predictive equations for elastic response spectra are derived from empirical recordings of ground motion. The geometric mean of the two orthogonal horizontal components of motion is often used as the response value in these predictive equations, although it is not necessarily the most relevant estimate of forces within the structure. For some applications it is desirable to estimate the response value on a randomly chosen single component of ground motion, and in other applications the maximum response in a single direction is required. We give adjustment factors that allow converting the predictions of geometric-mean ground-motion predictions into either of these other two measures of seismic ground-motion intensity. In addition, we investigate the relation of the strike-normal component of ground motion to the maximum response values. We show that the strike-normal component of ground motion seldom corresponds to the maximum horizontal-component response value (in particular, at distances greater than about 3 km from faults), and that focusing on this case in exclusion of others can result in the underestimation of the maximum component. This research provides estimates of the maximum response value of a single component for all cases, not just near-fault strike-normal components. We provide modification factors that can be used to convert predictions of ground motions in terms of the geometric mean to the maximum spectral acceleration ( Sa MaxRot) and the random component of spectral acceleration ( Sa Arb). Included are modification factors for both the mean and the aleatory standard deviation of the logarithm of the motions.


The present study was carried to assess the impact of mulch and drip fertigation on the chemical composition of litchi cv. Rose Scented. The experimental trial was conducted for two successive year viz. 2015-16 and 2016-17 at HRC, Pattharchatta, GBPUA&T, Pantnagar. The trial was laid in randomised block design with three replications. Twelve treatment combinations including one control (viz. surface irrigation in conjunction with soil fertilization) were examined. The treatment combinations incorporated three drip irrigation levels (i.e. 50, 75 and 100 per cent based on estimated irrigation water requirement) and two fertigation doses (1:0.5 and 1:1 N/K of recommended fertilizer dose), with and without mulch. The results revealed that the treatment combination viz. mulch application with drip irrigation at 100 per cent level and fertigation at 1:1 N/K of recommended fertilizer dose was most superior with maximum ascorbic acid, total sugar, reducing sugar and non-reducing sugar during the first as well as second year of study.


A 26-year-old patient with recurrent choriocarcinoma of the testis presented with headache and progressive left homonymous hemianopsia. On initial MRI a grade 4 arteriovenous malformation (AVM) was identified in the right occipital lobe, which was further characterized by catheter angiography. Continued worsening of the headache in the following days prompted a follow-up MRI, which revealed a new T2 hypointense nodule and adjacent vasogenic edema in the periphery of the AVM. A follow-up MRI showed a marked increase in the size of the nodule with intrinsic enhancement and worsening perilesional edema. Based on the imaging evolution, the nodule was diagnosed as a metastasis and the patient was started on chemotherapy and radiotherapy. One week after the MRI he developed a sudden hemorrhage within the mass requiring decompression craniectomy and resection of both AVM and tumor. The histopathology of the resected mass confirmed the diagnosis of choriocarcinoma metastasis to the AVM.


This paper investigated the state and the management of university law libraries in Nigeria. Issues considered included the staffing situation, location of library buildings, organisation, acquisition and processing of law books. Fifteen university law libraries in Nigeria participated in the study. A questionnaire consisting of 26 items was used as the instrument for collecting the data. The findings reveal that most of the university law libraries in Nigeria were not managed by professional law librarians. The study also shows that most of the law libraries were managed and controlled by university librarians. The paper recommends that law library staff should be exchanged among law libraries in Nigeria with a view to strengthening their capacities. Those who are professionally qualified but without law training could be exposed to relevant law seminars and conferences in order to further enhance their skills in law librarianship. Afr. J. Lib. Arch. & Inf. Sc. Vol.14(2) 2004: 177-183


The pathology of neurotransmitters is of the key importance in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. The developed method makes it possible to determine, with a high accuracy degree, the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and the activity of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) in the blood serum of patients with multiple sclerosis. The study showed that the level of neurotransmitters and the GAD activity in the blood serum of patients was reduced as compared to the controls. The neuronal transmission pathology can have the key importance in the development, progressing and clinical course of the demyelization process.