Recent studies using stable isotope labeling with amino acids in culture (SILAC) in quantitative proteomics have made mention of the problematic conversion of isotope-coded arginine to proline in cells. The resulting converted proline peptide divides the heavy peptide ion signal causing inaccuracy when compared with the light peptide ion signal. This is of particular concern as it can effect up to half of all peptides in a proteomic experiment. Strategies to both compensate for and limit the inadvertent conversion have been demonstrated, but none have been shown to prevent it. Additionally, these methods combined with SILAC labeling in general have proven problematic in their large scale application to sensitive cell types including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from the mouse and human. Here, we show that by providing as little as 200 mg/liter l-proline in SILAC media, the conversion of arginine to proline can be rendered completely undetectable. At the same time, there was no compromise in labeling with isotope-coded arginine, indicating there is no observable back conversion from the proline supplement. As a result, when supplemented with proline, correct interpretation of "light" and "heavy" peptide ratios could be achieved even in the worst cases of conversion. By extending these principles to ESC culture protocols and reagents we were able to routinely SILAC label both mouse and human ESCs in the absence of feeder cells and without compromising the pluripotent phenotype. This study provides the simplest protocol to prevent proline artifacts in SILAC labeling experiments with arginine. Moreover, it presents a robust, feeder cell-free, protocol for performing SILAC experiments on ESCs from both the mouse and the human.


Background: Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disorder characterized by both exocrine glandular as well as extraglandular disease. Despite having known for a primarily glandular affection, the extraglandular manifestations are also frequently reported but not well studied. This study aims to evaluate extraglandular clinical features of pSS occurring as initial manifestations. Patients and methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted from 1stJanuary 2014 to 1stJanuary 2019 at Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. It comprised of collected data of patients who presented with extraglandular symptoms as initial manifestations and were diagnosed as pSS. Results: Of the 36 patients, 31 (86.1%) were female while 5 (13.9%) were males. Commonest extra glandular manifestations were arthralgia in 10 (27.7%), fatigue in 6 (16.6%), renal tubular acidosis in 6 (16.6%), peripheral neuropathy in 3 (8.3%), lymphoma in 3 (8.3%), optic neuritis in 3 (8.3%), interstitial lung disease in 2 (5.5%), and Raynaud s phenomenon in 1 (2.7%), Transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) and stroke in 1 (2.7%), and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) in 1 (2.7%) patient. Conclusion: Primary syndrome is a rare auto immune disease which apart from glandular symptoms may initially manifest with extraglandular symptoms. Though these distressing presentations are rare, they can become potentially life threatening if not recognized early. It is important to keep a high index of suspicion for early diagnosis and management to prevent devastating effects of these complications.


Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with a higher risk of mortality; however, detailed analysis on the excess risk of death of patients diagnosed with AF compared to a non-AF population has not been carried out. Material and methods: In our nationwide study, all AF patients were included if the I48 ICD-code was recorded twice in the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) database between 2009 and 2016. The annual mortality rates and rate ratios of AF patients compared with the non-AF population (excess risk) were evaluated as well as the change of these parameters between 2011 and 2016. Results: We identified 88,848 to 123,255 females and 80,525 to 116,448 males between 2011 and 2016 in the database. The excess risk of AF compared to the non-AF population was higher in females: the rate ratio (RR) was 4.47 (95% CI: 4.35–4.58; p < 0.001) versus 3.34 (95% CI: 3.27–3.40; p < 0.001) in 2011. We found significant reductions in the mortality rates of the AF population between 2011 and 2016 (18.0% p = 0.037 in females and 17.7% p < 0.001 in males) while reductions in excess mortality were significant in the older age groups (age 60 years and above). Though the age-specific mortality rates were higher among the older population and in males, mortality RR was higher in the lower age groups and in females. Conclusions: By implementing a novel methodology, we were able to express the mortality risk of the total AF population. We found relevant reduction in the age-standardised mortality rates in both sexes during this 6-year period, which exceeded the reduction of mortality rates in the non-AF population.


The current development of the isogeometric approach in various fields of mechanics is explained by the high-accuracy results which can be achieved at a reduced computational cost by codes based on non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). In the case of strongly curved beams the simple diagonal de Saint-Venant's constitutive model can lead to significant errors as it has been reported in the classic literature. Other models such as Winkler's have been proposed and seem more suitable for these kinds of structures. Unfortunately several numerical codes are based on a diagonal constitutive model which neglects the coupling effect of elongation and curvature even if a highly refined geometry description can be developed by means of NURBS. The results obtained by means of numerical codes based on isogeometrical analysis for curved beams are here reported and basic choices, computational costs and numerical accuracy of the above-mentioned constitutive models are discussed, from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. This comparison, in the authors' opinion, is necessary to avoid an excessive gap between the computational efficiency of NURBS, which are capable of very accurate geometry description, and a simplistic representation of the constitutive relations that is efficient for straight beams but not so much for curved beams whose curvature is large. The results of some selected tests are presented and discussed to highlight differences between the two approaches, showing that the small increase of computational cost of Winkler's model is well compensated by the accuracy gain.


Any surgical intervention that involves the manipulation of veins, large or small, carries the risk of acute venous congestion. Venous congestion is the product of an imbalance between arterial inflow and venous outflow, and results in the stasis of blood in the tissues that are normally drained by the affected veins. The resultant lack of tissue perfusion causes hypoxia, acidosis, and arterial thrombi formation, which can potentially progress to tissue necrosis and wet gangrene. In the past several decades, the use of leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) has been rediscovered as an effective method of relieving acute venous congestion. This updated review of leech therapy focuses on the use of medicinal leeches in a variety of clinical conditions characterized by acute venous congestion, and points out the experimental use of leeches in other pathological entities. A discussion of the recent scientific findings that explain the possible mechanisms of action of leech therapy is also provided.


ABSTRACT The experiment was carried out using escaped rainbow trout (weights between 268 and 310 g) caught in Seyhan Dam Lake, Adana, Turkey and three groups of rainbow trout (weights between 226 and 277 g) cultured in concrete freshwater ponds, in freshwater cages in Seyhan Dam Lake and in marine cages in Black Sea by private companies. Proximate composition and the fatty acid profiles of the fishes were determined. Analysis of the proximate composition of the present study revealed that the escaped rainbow trout flesh to have the highest water (74.23%) and the lowest lipid (4.47%) content while lowest level of moisture and highest levels of lipid was observed in farmed fish in ponds (68.69% and 7.78%). According to the results of fatty acid analysis, the highest saturated fatty acid (31.3%) and the lowest polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (26.51%) levels were in the escaped group obtained from wild, while PUFA levels were higher in the cultured groups. On the other hand, the levels of n3/n6 ratio were higher in escaped and marine cages groups (2.71 and 2.58) than in ponds and Dam Lake cages groups (1.75 and 1.33). According these results, rainbow trout from all groups studied are a desirable food item for human consumption.


In blasting operations in tunnels, the occurrence of back breaks caused by the high energy content of explosives leads to many problems. This project, it is tried to solve the problems caused by non-controlling blasting by controlled blasting in a pre-splitting method in one of the march tunnels of the Chehel Kooreh mine in Zahedan. To design the blasting pattern in the tunnel section, the "theory of energy transfer" and "nitronobel (Swedish) methods" were investigated with parallel and angular holes, which ultimately led to a blast pattern based on the "energy transfer theory" with parallel holes as the final design of the selection And the control hole pattern was also designed in a "pre-splitting" manner. Finally, the proposed design was implemented in the march tunnel of the Chehel Kooreh mine. Finding the results of the blasting based on the proposed design showed that the face and the roof and walls were much smoother than the blasting based operation according to the current design, which would result in more and better matching of the units with the walls and roof And preventing increased stress concentration on them. To evaluate the pre-splitting controlled blasting performance, the QCB factor is used quantitatively, after which the factor was used, the controlled blasting performance of the Chehel Kooreh mine march tunnel was excellent based on the proposed design. Review History:


Aims and Objectives: To study the clinical and complication profile of geriatric patients with CT or MRI proven ischaemic stroke and to describe the factors (clinical and laboratory parameters) associated with ischaemic stroke. Methodology: A total of 120 subjects were included in the study, out of which 80 were patients of ischaemic stroke. 40 healthy subjects served as controls in this study. The data was analysed and following clinical, demographic and laboratory observations were made. Results: The results of our study shows that 105 (8) people suffered from monoparesis, 62.5% (50) cases suffered from right hemiparesis and 27.5% (22) cases suffered from hemiparesis of the left side. In this study, 19 cases (23.75%) and 6 controls (15%) were suffering from diabetes mellitus as per the American diabetes association criteria of diagnosing diabetes. 61 cases and 34 controls showed euglycemia. Conclusion: There is a significant relationship of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, age, BMI and lipid derangements with lipoprotein (a) levels and occurrence of acute ischaemic stroke as such.


The late Cretaceous to early Paleogene is a period of major deformations of the western part of the Eurasian plate
known as the Laramide deformations. These are correlated with major paleogeographic changes - widespread
upper Cretaceous marine platforms (chalk) are uplifted, intensively eroded and announced the present-day
configuration of the geology of north-western Europe.
These deformations occur in a complex geodynamic setting within both the context of the Africa-Eurasia
convergence and the North Atlantic opening. Two main mechanisms are proposed: (1) surface upwelling caused
by flows in the underlying mantle (Iceland Plume upwelling); (2) horizontal lithospheric deformations (Africa/
Eurasia convergence).
The precise ages of these deformations and the type of reliefs created (height, wavelength etc.) are still poorly
known. Here we link onshore landforms (planation surfaces and incised valleys) located on outcrops of Proterozoic
to Paleozoic basement (Armorican Massif, French Massif Central) to onshore-offshore sediment accumulation
areas (Aquitanian, Paris, Western Approaches, London, Belgium, North-Sea Basins). The aim is to propose a
topographic reconstitution of the reliefs and basins of western Europe - for the uppermost Cretaceous to the
Paleogene period - performing restored european scale cross sections (geomorphology and geology).
This study is based on two different approaches:
- Erosional domain - on the mapping and chronology of all the macroforms (weathering surfaces and associated
alterites, pediments and pediplains, incised rivers) dated by intersection with the few preserved sediments,
weathering and the volcanics.
- Depositional domain - on a more classical dataset of seismic lines and wells, coupled with biostratigraphic
revaluations (characterization and dating of vertical movements of the basins).
This work is founded and carried out in the framework of the BRGM-TOTAL project Source-to-Sink.


In order to target treatment most effectively, it would be interesting to learn who is most or least likely to improve their physical activity (PA) in response to an intervention aimed at improving PA.

A sample of 39 people with COPD [male n=24; mean (SD) age 66(8) years; FEV1 1.45(0.62) litres; BMI 27.60(5.56)] underwent a six-week home-based self-management programme (SPACE FOR COPD) which aimed to improve PA. A range of measures were taken at baseline and 6 weeks, including age, FEV1, BMI, the Incremental Shuttle Walk Test(ISWT), Endurance Shuttle Walk Test (ESWT), Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS), the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Index of Self-Efficacy (PRAISE), the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire(CRQ) and Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea grade. The SenseWear Armband (SAB) was worn for 7 days at both time points and time in moderate-vigorous activity (MVPA) in bouts of at least 10 minutes was the primary measure collected.

Time in MVPA in 10 minute bouts increased from median (IQR) 45(10-155) minutes at baseline to 96(28-246) minutes at 6 weeks. Backward stepwise linear regression was performed, entering baseline and change from baseline-6weeks on all measures, to predict change in time spent in MPVA accumulated in bouts. Only baseline MRC dyspnoea grade was significant, and accounted for 10% of the variance.

It was not possible to use baseline or change parameters to adequately predict response in PA levels after a PA intervention. It is likely that PA is influenced by a wider range of factors, including environmental and social, that cannot be accounted for in this kind of modelling.


Environmental exposure to toxic heavy metals remains one of the main serious global health concerns. The objective of this study was to determine if daily supplementation with ascorbic acid for 4 weeks could lower chicken liver cadmium concentration after intentionally exposing hens to cadmium sulfate for 1 week. Normal mix-breed adult broiler chickens (N = 24) were used in this study. The baseline liver cadmium concentration was determined using a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Each chicken then received 200 mg/kg/day cadmium sulfate and 500 mg/kg/day ascorbic acid mixed with water and feedstuff for 1 week and liver cadmium concentrations were determined. A group of chicken (n = 6) received 500 mg/kg/day ascorbic acid and another group (n = 6) did not receive ascorbic acid. The baseline of liver cadmium level was 4.63 (± 0.41) g/g. At the end of week 1, the liver cadmium concentration significantly increased to 60.9 (± 40.1) g/g (p-value < 0.01). Daily supplementation with ascorbic acid for 4 week lowered the liver cadmium concentration to 20.2 (± 13.7) g/g (p-value < 0.05). Supplementation with ascorbic acid could accelerate reduction of cadmium concentration in poultry liver after intentional exposure.


Formation and Characterization of in vitro Bioengineered Neuromuscular Junction Models Surapon N. Charoensook In vitro models of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) are emerging as a valuable tool to study synaptogenesis, synaptic maintenance, and pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Many models have previously been developed using a variety of cell sources for muscle and motoneurons, but the models can be further improved by integrating beneficial features to better mimic the native milieu of NMJ development. We created a functional in vitro model of NMJ by bioreactor cultivation of C2C12 myoblasts, transdifferentiated myocytes and stem cell-derived motoneurons with electrical stimulation. Proper coculture medium and electrical stimulation led to improved functional coupling between the emerging motoneurons and myocytes, as evidenced by mature cellular structures, increased expression of neuronal and muscular genes, clusterization of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) in the vicinity of motoneurons, and the response of the coculture to glutamate stimulation. To validate the models and demonstrate utility for pharmacological testing, we analyzed the potency of the drugs that affect key pathways during NMJ signal transduction, including acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis, ACh vesicular storage, ACh synaptic release, AChR activation, and ACh inactivation in the synaptic cleft. The models properly responded to the drugs in a concentration-dependent manner. The proposed in vitro NMJ model could thus be used in pharmacological screening and controlled studies of neuromuscular diseases.


The first chapter explores the origin of the philosophy of law and society in relation to contemporary international human rights law. Democracy as a governance system is discussed in the second chapter. First; the chapter conceptualises governance, good governance and democracy. Drawing on this, the second part of the second chapter argues that democracy is an open-source concept that should be fitted to the social and indigenous political cultures. The later part of second chapter puts the Gambian democracy in context by identifying democratic practices in state institutions based on universal democratic norms. chapters 3 and 4 examine the Gambian judiciary and legislature respectively. chapter 3 discusses the judiciary as the watchdog of the constitution, using every-day law cases to demonstrate judicial independence in The Gambia. chapter 4 on the other hand examines the oversight functions of the legislature by evaluating the roles of PAC/PEC and the Ombudsman as instruments of democratic accountability in The Gambia.


The essay analysises Michel Foucault's conception of «Ordoliberalism» as it is exposed in his "Birth of Biopolitics". Particularly, it is argued that this conception does not provide a proper distinction between «Ordoliberalism» and «Neoliberalism». As a consequence, «Neoliberalism» is regarded as a linear development of «Ordoliberalism». This conclusion is possible since Foucault does not take into the account the Ordoliberal conception of the State. A close reading of the German Ordoliberals' works, however, allows highlighting the limits of this interpretation, which is widely assumed by contemporary scholarship withouth an appropriate scrutiny. Far from regarding the market as a «constituent power», the Ordoliberals provided a specific, strong and non-Keynesian conception of the welfare state. Neoliberalism, therefore, is not the accomplishment of the teleological evolution of liberalism, but rather an historical event still open to criticism and change.


Paper presents a practical method for computing the approximate values of the normal component of the induced velocity at points in the flow field of a lifting rotor. Tables and graphs of the relative magnitudes of the normal component of the induced velocity are given for selected points in the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the rotor and on the lateral rotor axis. A method is also presented for utilizing the tables and graphs to determine the interference induced velocities arising from the second rotor of a tandem or side-by-side-rotor helicopter and the induced flow angle at a horizontal tail plane. (author).


It is the policy of the University of Maryland, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station, and University of Maryland Extension that all persons have equal opportunity and access to programs and facilities without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital or parental status, or disability. The University of Maryland Extension Agriculture and Food Systems and Environment and Natural Resources Focus Teams proudly present this publication for commercial vegetable and fruit industries.


The catastrophic surge event of 1953 on the eastern UK and northern European coastlines led to widespread agreement on the necessity of a coordinated response to understand the risk of future oceanographic flood events and, so far as possible, to afford protection against such events. One element of this response was better use of historical data and scientific knowledge in assessing flood risk. The timing of the event also coincided roughly with the birth of extreme value theory as a statistical discipline for measuring risks of extreme events, and over the last 50 years, as techniques have been developed and refined, various attempts have been made to improve the precision of flood risk assessment around the UK coastline. In part, this article provides a review of such developments. Our broader aim, however, is to show how modern statistical modelling techniques, allied with the tools of extreme value theory and knowledge of sea-dynamic physics, can lead to further improvements in flood risk assessment. Our long-term goal is a coherent spatial model that exploits spatial smoothness in the surge process characteristics and we outline the details of such a model. The analysis of the present article, however, is restricted to a site-by-site analysis of high-tide surges. Nonetheless, we argue that the Bayesian methodology adopted for such analysis enables a risk-based interpretation of results that is most natural in this setting, and preferable to inferences that are available from more conventional analyses.


Jacobian-vector products (JVPs) form the backbone of many recent developments in Deep Networks (DNs), with applications including faster constrained optimization, regularization with generalization guarantees, and adversarial example sensitivity assessments. Unfortunately, JVPs are computationally expensive for real world DN architectures and require the use of automatic differentiation to avoid manually adapting the JVP program when changing the DN architecture. We propose a novel method to quickly compute JVPs for any DN that employ Continuous Piecewise Affine (e.g., leaky-ReLU, max-pooling, maxout, etc.) nonlinearities. We show that our technique is on average $2\times$ faster than the fastest alternative over $13$ DN architectures and across various hardware. In addition, our solution does not require automatic differentiation and is thus easy to deploy in software, requiring only the modification of a few lines of codes that do not depend on the DN architecture.


We have recently reported an A to G transition at nucleotide position 3243 in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tRNALeu(UUR)) gene in a large family with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Characteristic was its maternal transmission and an associated sensorineural hearing loss. In a screening of a Dutch and French NIDDM population for the presence of the tRNALeu(UUR)) mutation we identified two new pedigrees in which NIDDM is present in combination with deafness. The mode of inheritance agrees with a maternal one. This result shows that patients with a phenotype of NIDDM and deafness can be identified within groups of NIDDM patients based on the tRNALeu(UUR)) mutation. The same mutation has also been linked to the syndrome of mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS). How the same mutation can give rise to different clinical phenotypes is not clear. We obtained the complete mtDNA sequence from our initial pedigree and identified a number of additional mutations that could confer the phenotype of the tRNA(Leu(UUR)) mutation to diabetes. We examined the presence of these additional, potentially pathogenic mutations in the mtDNA from the two new pedigrees and from a previously described British pedigree. The absence of these mutations in all three pedigrees shows that the tRNALeu(UUR)) mutation alone associates with the phenotype of NIDDM and deafness. We conclude that maternally inherited diabetes and deafness is a distinct subtype of diabetes that is associated with a single mitochondrial tRNALeu(UUR) mutation. We propose the abbreviation MIDD for this particular subtype.


This is a case study of tourism policies made around the Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, India. The purpose of this study is to analyse the state tourism policies in Madhya Pradesh. The study is divided in two parts, the first part analyses the state tourism policies using Foucault's governmentality theory. The governmentality theory is used to expose the ideas in the policies with consideration to neoliberalism and the local communities. The first part also examine the ideas of inclusion of the local communities in tourism. The second part are interviews with officials and semi-officials that are implementing the policies. The local communities are the focus in this study since tourism is marketed as a solution to economic growth and employment. Therefore, one of the aspects is if the local communities are a resource in the development of tourism, and if there is any obstacles for the local communities to participate in the tourism industry. The material used is state tourism policies from 2005 and 2016. Interviews were conducted in Pachmarhi, Madhai, Soghagpur, Pipariya and Bhopal. The conclusion is that the state tourism policy from 2016 is clearly neo-liberal that the market and the government is clearly in concurrence. When it comes to the local communities the main problem for participation is that most of the local communities lack of skills, however the type of tourism were the local communities could be beneficiaries is not the tourism that the state government is developing.


COVID-19, acronym of coronavirus disease 2019, is a viral infectious disease which rapidly developed as a pandemic. The aetiologic agent of COVID-19 is SARS-CoV-2, or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The 2019 coronavirus is different from SARS-CoV, but it has the same host receptor: human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). SARS-CoV-2 was first discovered in 2019 in Wuhan, China, unfortunately spreading globally, resulting in the 2019-2020 pandemic, as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO). This disease started in Asia and has spread worldwide with 1,330,240 cases and 73,868 deaths at the time of writing (6th April, 2020) and many more if this disease is not contained fast. The only effective prevention methods, until a vaccine for this disease will be produced, is active testing and containment measures. This is how China, South Korea and to some extent India have been able to reduce new cases and mortality. The health care workers, especially dentists are the most vulnerable groups of people when facing this virus.


Semi-automatic 2D-to-3D conversion is a promising solution to 3D stereoscopic content creation. However, the depth continuous transition between user marked neighboring regions will be lost when user scribbles are sparse. To help solve this problem, a piecewise-continuity regularized low-rank matrix recovery method is developed. Our approach is based on the fact that a depth-map can be decomposed into a low-rank matrix and an outlier term matrix. First, an initial dense depth-map is interpolated from the user scribbles using matting Laplacian scheme under the assumption that depth-map is piecewise-continuous. Second, a piecewise-continuity constrained low-rank recovery model is developed to remove outliers which are introduced by the interpolation. Experimental comparisons with existing algorithms show that our method demonstrates significant advantage over depth continuous transition between neighboring regions.


OBJECTIVE
To report atypical cytomorphologic features in fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNABs) from two cases of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a primary neuroendocrine neoplasm of skin.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective review of FNABs with histologic correlation from six patients with MCC and a report of findings from two whose smears showed atypical features.

RESULTS
Typically the aspirates produce highly cellular smears of loosely clustered and individual, relatively monomorphic, small tumor cells with round to oval, regularly contoured nuclei. In two of our cases, the tumor cell nuclei exhibited a spectrum of pleomorphism ranging from moderately complex nuclear membranes with cleaves, indentations and protrusions in one case to large, markedly bizarre, convoluted nuclei and multinucleate tumor cells in the extreme case. Both cases were primary neoplasms, and the diagnosis was based on clinical, histologic and immunohistochemical data. Additionally, electron microscopy was performed on the tumor with bizarre nuclei and demonstrated rare, dense core neurosecretory granules and paranuclear bundles of intermediate filaments.


This paper investigates the impact of saturable absorption (SA) on the performance of optical clock recovery using a mode-locked multisection laser diode. Optical clock at 40 GHz is recovered from the multisection laser with SA section operated under a range of bias conditions. The dependence of extinction ratio and timing jitter of the recovered clock on required optical injection power, data rate detuning, and mark ratio is also evaluated under these operation conditions. The experimental results show that strong SA effect in laser cavity improves extinction ratio and suppresses timing jitter of the recovered clock, while weak or no SA effect in laser cavity offers clock recovery with larger date rate detuning range defined by timing jitter and less dependence on the variation of data mark ratio for extremely low mark ratio.


This paper highlights the importance of youth entrepreneurship in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the challenges and opportunities faced by young entrepreneurs. The authors analyze the differences between youth who become entrepreneurs by necessity or by opportunity, and also review the scope and quality of policies and programs that governments, development agencies and civil societies are implementing to support both groups of young entrepreneurs. The first step in the analysis was to estimate the magnitude the youth entrepreneurship, based on a database of household surveys for 14 Latin American and Caribbean countries covering 80 percent of the population in the region.


Sebaceous lymphadenoma is an unusual salivary gland neoplasm which is rarely correctly diagnosed pre-operatively in the parotid gland. Two cases of sebaceous lymphadenoma are presented in which, in common with most cases reported in the literature, the correct pre-operative diagnosis was not made. Sebaceous lymphadenoma rarely transforms into a malignant tumour. Fine needle aspiration cytology identifies a benign process in the majority of patients who receive appropriate treatment on this basis. Although an uncommon tumour, it should be taken into consideration in the differential diagnosis of a solitary parotid mass.


The brain-computer interface (BCI) technique is a novel control interface to translate human intentions into appropriate motion commands for robotic systems. The aim of this study is to apply an asynchronous direct-control system for humanoid robot navigation using an electroencephalograph (EEG), based active BCI. The experimental procedures consist of offline training, online feedback testing, and real-time control sessions. The amplitude features from EEGs are extracted using power spectral analysis, while informative feature components are selected based on the Fisher ratio. The two classifiers are hierarchically structured to identify human intentions and trained to build an asynchronous BCI system. For the performance test, five healthy subjects controlled a humanoid robot navigation to reach a target goal in an indoor maze by using their EEGs based on real-time images obtained from a camera on the head of the robot. The experimental results showed that the subjects successfully controlled the humanoid robot in the indoor maze and reached the goal by using the proposed asynchronous EEG-based active BCI system.


ABSTRACT The study aimed to assess the adequacy of pre-service teacher education in Turkey as perceived by preservice teachers. Specifically, the researchers investigated preservice teachers' perceptions of the adequateness of their education in terms of developing teaching skills and the major components of teacher education. The factors affecting their perceptions were also examined. In total, 1856 preservice teachers participated in the study. A questionnaire was prepared to collect data from the participants. According to the findings, teacher education should be enhanced in terms of preparing candidates for skills such as teaching in different contexts and cooperating with parents; and practicum hours needed to be improved for more effective preparation of preservice teachers. Moreover, it was also found that the preservice teachers' subject, college, orientation towards teaching and the perceived adequacy of program components played significant roles in affecting their perceptions of teacher education.


Today, climate change is taking place as an irrefutable reality of international community. This phenomenon is one of the most important challenges of the contemporary age. In fact, the negative effects of climate change and its harmful effects to the human health and environment itself, conducted international community to accept some international treaties such as the Convention on Climate Change 1992, the Kyoto Protocol 1997 and the Paris Conference 2015. The Paris agreements on the climate change is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which dealing with greenhouse gas and oblige the parties to take account of the magnitude and consequences of global warming Reducing GHG emissions for the first time. The goal of this agreement is to change the economy based on global fossil fuels over the next few decades and decrease the global warming track. The Islamic Republic of Iran also declared its agreement at the time of the initial approval of the Paris Agreement, but the process of formal accession to this agreement entails ratification by the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the general of which was passed by the Islamic Consultative Assembly and then presented to the Council. The Guardian is currently being re-examined in the Islamic Consultative Assembly to resolve the ambiguities and defects of the Guardian Council. This has led to disagreement between the proponents and the opponents of Iran's accession to the Paris Agreement. In this paper, while reviewing the legal process for the formation of the Paris Agreement, the views of the advocates and opponents of Iran's accession to the agreement were examined from the perspective of Iranian fundamental rules and regulations. According to this research, ratification and implementation of the Paris agreement could increase the country's ability to adapt new rules and regulations in order to reduce consequences of global warming Reducing GHG emissions.


Does the homosexuality of parents affect the sexual orientation or experiences of their children? Seventeen of 5,182 randomly obtained adults from six U.S. cities answered questionnaires indicating that they had a homosexual parent. Parental homosexuality may be related to findings that: (1) 5 of the 17 reported sexual relations with their parents; (2) a disproportionate fraction reported sexual relations with other caretakers and relatives; and (3) a disproportionate fraction: (a) claimed a less than exclusively heterosexual orientation (47%); (b) indicated gender dissatisfaction; and (c) reported that their first sexual experience was homosexual. Of 1,388 consecutive obituaries in a major homosexual newspaper, 87 of the gays who died had children and registered a median age of death of 47 (the 1,267 without children had a median age of death of 38); 10 lesbians did and 24 did not have children. We estimate that less than 1% of parents are bisexual or homosexual and that < 7% of gays and about a third of lesbians are parents.


RESEARCH ON DERIVING CONSISTENT LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE FROM THE GEOSTATIONARY OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SERIES Li FANG, MS George Mason University, 2011 Thesis Director: Dr. Donglian SUN Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) have been continuously monitoring earth surface since early 1970. The frequent observations provided by GOES sensors make them attractive for deriving information on the diurnal land surface temperature (LST) cycle and diurnal temperature range. These parameters are of great value for the research on the Earth's diurnal variability and climate change. Accurate extraction of satellite-based LSTs has long been an interesting and challenging research area in thermal remote sensing. However, derivation of LST from satellite measurements is a difficult task because surface emitted thermal infrared radiance is dependent on both land surface temperature and land surface emissivity (LSE), two closely coupled variables. Satellite LST retrievals have been conducted for over forty years from a variety of polar-orbiting satellites and geostationary satellites. Literature relevant to satellite-based LST retrieval techniques have been reviewed. Specifically, the evolution of two LST algorithm families, temperature and emissivity separation method (TES) and Split Window (SW) approach, have been studied in this work. This work also summarizes the LST retrieval methods especially adopted for geostationary satellites. All the existing methods could be a valuable reference to develop the LST retrieval algorithms for generating GOES LST product. The primary objective of this study is the development of models for deriving consistent GOES LSTs with high spatial and high temporal coverage. Proper LST retrieval algorithms will be studied according to the characteristics of sensors onboard the GOES series. A new TES approach is proposed in this study for deriving LST and LSE simultaneously by using multiple-temporal satellite observations from GOES 8 to GOES 12 series. Two split-window regression formulas are selected for this approach, and two satellite observations over the same geolocation within a certain time interval are utilized. This method is particularly applicable to geostationary satellite missions from which qualified multiple-temporal observations are available. Dual-window LST algorithm is adopted to derive LST from GOES M (12)-Q series. Instead of using conventional training method to generate optimum coefficients of the LST regression algorithms, a regression tree technique is introduced to automatically select the criteria and the boundary of the sub-ranges for generating algorithm coefficients under different conditions. GOES measurements as well as ancillary data, including satellite and solar geometry, water vapor, cloud mask, land emissivity etc., have been collected to test the performance of the proposed LST retrieval algorithms. In addition, in order to validate the retrieval precision, the satellite-based temperature will be compared against ground truth temperatures, which include direct skin temperature measurements from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program (ARM), as well as indirect measurements like surface long-wave radiation observations over six vegetated sites from the SURFace RADiation Budget (SURFRAD) Network. The validation results demonstrate that the proposed GOES LST algorithms are capable of deriving consistent surface temperatures with good retrieval precision. Consistent GOES LST retrievals with high spatial and temporal coverage are expected to better serve the detections and observations of meteorological phenomena and climate change over the land surface.


Chordomas are tumors derived from cells that are remnants of the notochord, particularly from its proximal and distal extremes, they are mainly midline and represent approximately 1% of all malignant bone tumors and 0.1 to 0.2% of intracranial neoplasms. Chordomas involving the sellar region are rare. Herein, we describe a 57-year-old male patient presenting with a history of retro-orbital headache, progressive loss of vision, and clinical features of hypopituitarism, for over 2 months. During evaluation, the CT scan revealed a large contrast-enhancing intrasellar tumor with a 3.6-cm largest diameter. The patient underwent transsphenoidal partial resection of the tumor, and histological examination was consistent with the diagnosis of chondroid chordoma. Although chordomas are rare, they may be considered to constitute a differential diagnostic of pituitary adenomas, especially if a calcified intrasellar tumor with bone erosion is diagnosed.


Muscle-building research is useful for athletes and bodybuilders as well as for elderly patients and those with muscle-wasting conditions. Research shows that a healthy diet, resistance exercise, and nutritional supplements are beneficial for improving body composition and the body of research on nutritional supplements for athletes is growing. However, supplementation will not improve muscle size and strength without resistance training, such as weight lifting or weight-bearing aerobics. The sports-nutrition and weight-loss industries in the United States comprise a growing market and there were reports of $14.3 billion dollars in sales of such products in 2004.1 In addition, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, this product market increased sales by 14 percent to reach $15.6 billion in 2005 and is estimated to grow at a rate of approximately 5–7 percent per year for the next 8 years.2


BACKGROUND: High-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) has been used in conjunction with conventional ventilation for infants with respiratory failure. We sought to identify parameters that were associated with successful application of HFJV in patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective review of infants who received HFJV was conducted. Subjects were enrolled if birthweight was ≤2,000 g and capillary PCO2 was ≥55 mm Hg. Ventilator parameters and physiologic data were recorded at 1 h before HFJV initiation and at hours 1, 4, and 6 following conversion. Subjects were classified as responders if capillary PCO2 was reduced by ≥10% after 1 h of HFJV. Data included peak inspiratory pressure, PEEP, capillary PCO2, and oxygen saturation index (equal to mean airway pressure × FIO2 × 100/SpO2). Because the data were not normally distributed, they are reported as median (interquartile range), and the Mann-Whitney test was used to assess differences in continuous data between groups. Categorical data were analyzed using a chi-square and Fisher exact test. RESULTS: Thirty-four premature infants (n = 24 male) were studied. Twenty-five subjects were classified as responders and demonstrated a significant reduction of capillary PCO2 and FIO2 and increased pH within the first hour. The non-responders demonstrated a higher conventional ventilation peak inspiratory pressure (25 cm H2O vs 19 cm H2O, P = .005) and had a greater postmenstrual age (30 weeks vs 26.5 weeks, P = .01). This group had a higher oxygen saturation index (7.25 vs 3.36, P = .03) and FIO2 requirements (0.6 vs 0.35, P = .038) at 4 h. CONCLUSIONS: We identified that lower postmenstrual age, improvements in capillary PCO2 and pH at 1 h, and a reduction of FIO2 were associated with good response to HFJV. These data may help to identify patients who are likely to benefit from HFJV in the neonatal intensive care unit.


Oligometastatic prostate cancer has been proposed as an intermediate stage between localized and extensively disseminated disease. Oligometastatic disease is being diagnosed more frequently due to the advances in imaging tests. Nevertheless, there is no consensus definition yet of oligometastatic prostate cancer. The importance of this entity is that several studies have pointed out that local and metastasis directed treatment may improve survival in selected patients. However, we need the results of well controlled prospective randomized clinical trials to help a better understanding and management of oligometastatic prostate cancer.


Afghanistan has experienced more than four decades of severe disruption, ever since the communist coup of April 1978 plunged the country into a state of disorder that was then severely aggravated by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979. Despite the high hopes that accompanied the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghanistan's path in the first two decades of the 21st century has proved to be anything but smooth, and this article highlights a confluence of challenges - political, diplomatic, and societal - that Afghanistan presently faces, challenges that in large measure account for the profound uncertainty that clouds its future. The article is divided into four sections. The first provides some context for the discussion of these three challenges. The remaining sections investigate the particular challenges - intra-elite rivalries, a fragile and defective peace process, and the underreported but grave threat to life and limb in Afghanistan resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic - in more detail. Together, these challenges highlight the dangers of wishful thinking about harsh realities.


Compiling database queries into executable (sub-) programs provides substantial benefits comparing to traditional interpreted execution. Many of these benefits, such as reduced interpretation overhead, better instruction code locality, and providing opportunities to use SIMD instructions, have previously been provided by redesigning query processors to use a vectorized execution model. In this paper, we try to shed light on the question of how state-of-the-art compilation strategies relate to vectorized execution for analytical database workloads on modern CPUs. For this purpose, we carefully investigate the behavior of vectorized and compiled strategies inside the Ingres VectorWise database system in three use cases: Project, Select and Hash Join. One of the findings is that compilation should always be combined with block-wise query execution. Another contribution is identifying three cases where "loop-compilation" strategies are inferior to vectorized execution. As such, a careful merging of these two strategies is proposed for optimal performance: either by incorporating vectorized execution principles into compiled query plans or using query compilation to create building blocks for vectorized processing.


The Present paper describes the ways to make intelligent fabrics by making them conducive materials, i.e. breaking away from its traditional use as electrically insulating materials. For this purpose synthetic core/cotton sheath friction spun and disk spun yarns were used and incorporated in the fabric. Two models represented structures combining sensory materials others represented structures combining highly conductive materials with traditional fibrous material production trials in producing the electric wire core/cotton – polyester sheath yarns showed more challenges than the case of optical fiber core/cotton – polyester sheath yarn


It is spring, and as the early crocuses annually blossom forth, so yet another collateral order doctrine case flowers on the Supreme Court's docket. In one of the longest-running riffs on doctrinal law, the Supreme Court in Digital Equipment is hearing its eighth case in seven years involving the collateral order doctrine of interlocutory appeal. As Casey Stengel might have said, you could look it up. In this year's collateral order outing, the Supreme Court will grapple with concepts of what court orders are important, and when and if a party has a right not to go to trial. The primary issue the Court will address is whether the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals was correct in determining that Digital Equipment Corporation had no right to immediately appeal a lower federal court's order that set aside settlement agreement on grounds of fraud after Desktop Direct, Inc. had dismissed its lawsuit against Digital Equipment Corporation as part of the agreement?The struggle between DEC and Desktop concerning whether DEC is entitled to an immediate review of the district court's decision to vacate the dismissal is significant for its potential impact on settlement negotiations. DEC would have the Supreme Court believe that, unless the Court validates a right to an appeal in this situation, litigants will always be bargaining in the shadow of the possibility that a party may be forced to go to trial when it expects that its settlement has foreclosed trial. Thus, the strong public policy concerning enforceability of settlement agreements, including standard provisions not to litigate, would be subverted if enforcement had "to await the end of the very litigation sought to be avoided." Desktop counters that, under applicable collateral order standards, DEC's rights "would be perfectly vindicable" through ordinary appellate review after trial, especially where the settlement itself was the product of fraudulent misrepresentation. Digital Equipment is significant in a broader sense in that the Supreme Court will have to clarify three aspects of the collateral order doctrine: (1) what it means when an issue involves a right not to go to trial, (2) whether the importance of the issue is a legitimate judicial concern, and, if so, (3) the methodology for assessing the importance of an issue under the collateral order standards.


The general goal of this paper is to describe how Piaget's theory-Genetic Epistemologycan contribute to computer science education research. Using, as an example, students' understanding of the binary search algorithm, this paper illustrates how theoretical principles are applied to identify some obstacles that students face while solving an instance of that algorithm and to help students to surmount these obstacles. The methodology of research consists in conducting students interviews in which they are encouraged to express their solutions in natural language. The specific goal of the paper is to show how Piaget's ideas are used as guidelines in the design of the interviews and in the analysis of the gathered information. Selected excerpts from students' interviews are


ABSTRACT Johnson, D., Lee, J., Bamba, A., Karibuhoye, C. 2014. West African EBSAs: Building capacity for future protection. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 502–506, ISSN 0749-0208. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)'s commitment to describe marine Ecologically or BiologicallySignificant Areas (EBSAs) through the organisation of a series of regional workshops has resulted in the collation and synthesis of relevant physical and biological datasets. Groups of typically 30–50 experts have pooled knowledge, with the support of technical facilitators, to undertake these intensive scientific and technical exercises in a growing number of marine regions around the world. The results, which are then subject to consideration by the Conference of the Parties to the CBD, describe areas meeting scientific criteria for EBSAs that may require enhanced conservation and management measures. For the South-East Atlantic (West Africa), such a regional workshop took place in Namibia 8-1 April 2013 and, subject to consideration by CBD scientific subsidiary body, the Conference of the Parties to the CBD should eventually be presented with a suite of descriptions of 45 areas meeting EBSA criteria in this region in October 2014 at its 12th meeting. This paper explains the processes that took place both before and after the West African Workshop. Firstly, the Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) supported a first ever regional capacity building Workshop to facilitate the implementation of efforts towards Aichi Target 6 (sustainable fisheries) and 11 (marine protected areas), and to make connections between these targets and the EBSA process. This successful effort, held in Senegal in February 2013, prepared the ground for the subsequent EBSA Workshop. Experts became familiar with available data, with the challenges to be met and had an opportunity to exchange experiences. Sharing scientific information related to descriptions of areas meeting EBSA criteria toward achieving the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and Aichi Biodiversity Targets requires sustained effort and collaboration among various partners and experts. The Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative (GOBI) brings together partners who can contribute skills and research results to inform this process. Areas meeting EBSA criteria in the South-East Atlantic region reflect transboundary connections – from river to sea, from inshore to offshore and deep-sea ecosystems. Ultimately their sustainable use should involve spatial area management tools including, where appropriate, an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries and networks of marine protected areas. The work of selected countries since the EBSA Workshop illustrates possibilities.


Robust chronologies of Late Pleistocene and Holocene volcanic eruptions are vital for hazard analysis but accurate and precise dating of these events is often difficult. Here we apply various luminescence techniques to quartz and polymineral extracts from heated crustal xenoliths enclosed in scoria and volcanically heated bedrock in the Quaternary Eifel Volcanic Field (EVF), Germany. Consistent results from red thermoluminescence (RTL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of quartz and from post‐infrared infrared stimulated luminescence of polymineral material demonstrate complete luminescence signal resetting during lava emplacement and sufficient signal stability. RTL and OSL age underestimation of one sample with independently known age from the lava contact zone could be eliminated by annealing before laboratory regenerative irradiation. The average luminescence age of 33.6 ± 2.4 ka for the Wartgesberg eruption is in good agreement with independent age control, while the average age of 15.5 ± 1.1 ka for the Facher Höhe scoria cone is much younger than previously assumed. This result represents the third youngest known eruption in the EVF. Our new data are in line with the hypothesized climate‐controlled triggering of Eifel volcanism and confirm that active volcanism related to asthenosphere upwelling migrates from NW to SE in the EVF.


Background and Purpose: Demographic disparities in proximity to stroke care influence time to treatment and clinical outcome but remain understudied at the national level. This study quantifies the relationship between distance to the nearest certified stroke hospital and census-derived demographics. Methods: This cross-sectional study included population data by census tract from the United States Census Bureau's 2014–2018 American Community Survey, stroke hospitals certified by a state or national body and providing intravenous thrombolysis, and geographic data from a public mapping service. Data were retrieved from March to November 2020. Quantile regression analysis was used to compare relationships between road distance to the nearest stroke center for each census tract and tract-level demographics of age, race, ethnicity, medical insurance status, median annual income, and population density. Results: Two thousand three hundred eighty-eight stroke centers and 71 929 census tracts including 316 995 649 individuals were included. Forty-nine thousand nine hundred eighteen (69%) tracts were urban. Demographic disparities in proximity to certified stroke care were greater in nonurban areas than urban areas. Higher representation of individuals with age ≥65 years was associated with increased median distance to a certified stroke center in nonurban areas (0.51 km per 1% increase [99.9% CI, 0.42–0.59]) but not in urban areas (0.00 km [−0.01 to 0.01]). In urban and nonurban tracts, median distance was greater with higher representation of American Indian (urban: 0.10 km per 1% increase [0.06–0.14]; nonurban: 1.06 km [0.98–1.13]) or uninsured populations (0.02 km [0.00–0.03]; 0.27 km [0.15–0.38]). Each $10 000 increase in median income was associated with a decrease in median distance of 5.04 km [4.31–5.78] in nonurban tracts, and an increase of 0.17 km [0.10–0.23] in urban tracts. Conclusions: Disparities were greater in nonurban areas than in urban areas. Nonurban census tracts with greater representation of elderly, American Indian, or uninsured people, or low median income were substantially more distant from certified stroke care.


Information technology governance has become a key issue for organizations as IT decision-making authority and responsibility is devolved away from a central IT function to local IT units and increasingly out of the remit of IT specialists altogether. Research to date has either been conceptual treatises on the issue, or recounts the structures and mechanisms that are currently in place in the organizations studied, even though these may have emerged rather than having been explicitly planned. This paper reports on research that is exploring how to describe, diagnose, and design appropriate IT governance structures. Using a participatory research design, where researchers and practitioners are both co-subjects and coresearchers in the research process, it proposes Beer's viable systems model (VSM) as a guiding framework in considering IT governance. It illustrates how the VSM-influenced IT governance model can be used to describe, diagnose, and design an effective governance structure.


Building on previous work on competition networks and governmental performance among British local governments, this article investigates the diffusion of government quality across subnational regions of Europe through strategic interaction with neighbouring regions or competitor regions more generally. The article demonstrates the presence of spatial interdependence using standard spatial regression models and controlling for common explanations of quality of government. In particular for regions with high levels of autonomy from the national government, there is clear adjustment in government quality to be seen in response to disparities with competitor regions. The article further investigates the intensity of this geographical effect separately in the north and south of Europe in order to estimate the potential for virtuous or vicious cycles of good governance in the two regions, respectively. It is found that while regions in the north develop relatively independently of each other but respond to competitive pressure across Europe, in the south regions demonstrate a higher level of local interdependence, increasing the possibility of virtuous cycles – but also of vicious ones.


The looking for sustainable sewage sludge management technology in the wastewater treatment plants, has brought to light the biocathode microbial fuel cells (bMFCs) which allow simultaneous biological stabilization and direct energy generation, avoiding the production of biogas. In the present study, the performance of bMFCs for the treatment of secondary sludge as anodic substrate was evaluated by analyzing the removal of organic matter, destruction of volatile solids and the generation of electrical energy under different operating conditions and applying two types of cathode chambers. The results indicated that VSS and tCOD removals up to 92% and 87% respectively can be achieved in the anodic chamber generating simultaneously energy. Current and power densities of 1.80 ± 0.09 A∙m−3 and 0.43 ± 0.02 W∙m−3 respectively were reached, showing that bMFCs are a reliable alternative to generate electricity during the sewage sludge stabilization process. It was revealed that the pH value and the type of cathodic zone are statistically significant factors that influenced the performance of the bMFCs. The obtained results demonstrated that the electrochemical performance of the bMFCs was better at pH value of 6 in the anodic chamber and when aerobic cathode zone was used.


Glutamate has been shown to excite spinothalamic tract (STT) neurons and has been localized to primary afferent neurons, spinal cord projection neurons, and interneurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn. The likelihood that glutamate‐immunoreactive (GLU‐IR) terminals directly innervate STT neurons was investigated. For these studies three lamina IV or V STT cells in the lumbar spinal cords of three monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were identified electrophysiologically and characterized. Two were identified as high threshold neurons and one as a wide dynamic range neuron. Following intracellular injection of the cells with HRP and reaction to give the cells a Golgi‐like appearance, the tissues were processed for electron microscopy. Postembedding immunogold methods with antibodies specific for glutamate were used to identify GLU‐IR terminals apposing the somata and dendrites of the STT neurons, including dendrites that extended into laminae IV and III. The GLU‐IR terminals were numerous and constituted a mean of 46% of the population counted that appose the STT soma and 50% of the profiles apposing the dendrites. Fifty‐four percent of the somatic and 50% of the dendritic surface length was contacted by GLU‐IR terminals. Most terminals contained round clear vesicles and some contained a variable number of large dense core vesicles. For one of the three cells examined it was determined that 45% of the terminals apposing the soma were GLU‐IR and 30% of the terminals were gamma aminobutyric acid‐immunoreactive (GABA‐IR). In an additional monkey, a lamina I cell retrogradely labeled from the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus was found to be ensheathed in glial processes. Of the 9 terminals observed apposing the retrogradely filled STT neuron in one plane of section, 2 were GLU‐IR and 3 were GABA‐IR. The data suggest that a large percentage of the profiles adjacent to STT neurons in intermediate laminae of the spinal cord contain glutamate and many synapse directly with STT neurons.


Actually (and to no one's surprise), I do not have federal pleading all figured out. But federal civil pleading is the topic of this draft article. The article considers various aspects of federal pleading under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and following the Supreme Court's decisions in Twombly and Iqbal in terms of what appear to be the three major types of pleading defects: factual insufficiency, legal insufficiency, and insufficiency of proof. The article also considers the problems posed by frivolous complaints and the divergence of federal and state pleading standards. Along the way, the article reaches a number of provocative and somewhat unconventional conclusions. I look forward to receiving your comments.


The increasing emergence of resistance to commonly used therapies has placed a huge strain on the prevention and control of malaria; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel antimalarial agents. The aim of this research was to design and synthesise a library of potent antimalarial compounds, with desirable pharmacokinetic profiles, in order to identify a drug candidate suitable for preclinical development. This research was divided into two main sections: x The synthesis of compounds deigned to inhibit IspD, a novel target in antimalarial drug discovery x The late stage development of a series of endoperoxide-based antimalarials, which are derived from the structure of artemisinin A library of benzisothiazolinone compounds was generated to target the IspD enzyme. Many of these compounds displayed low micromolar inhibitory activity against both enzymatic and phenotypic assays in vitro and an investigation into structure-activity relationships around the core of these benzisothiazolinones was also conducted. The most potent compound to emerge, a CH2 linked benzisoselenazolone, had an IC50 of 0.17 μM against PfIspD and 5.54 μM against Pf3D7. These compounds represent a novel class of IspD inhibitor, which have the potential for further development as antimalarial agents. A number of 1,2,4,5-tetraoxane analogues were also prepared in order to develop an antimalarial agent suitable for a single-dose cure. The most potent analogue, N205, had an IC50 of 1.3 nM and an average mouse survival of 26.3 days (66% cure rate) following a single dose. A less than optimal stability profile for N205 led to the further development of another potent tetraoxane analogue, E209. Optimisation of the synthetic pathway led to the generation of E209 in a series of five high-yielding steps that are suitable for large-scale production. E209 represents the first 1,2,4,5-tetraoxane that is comparable, in terms of both efficacy and PK/PD profiles, to OZ439, and is a candidate for pre-clinical development.


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 Recommendations from the American Stroke Association stress the importance of treating stroke symptoms as medical emergencies and encourages the public to call 911 if they witness or experience a stroke. However, many patients experience delays from onset of symptoms to hospital arrival of 4 to 6 hours. Use of emergency medical service (EMS) is an important link in the chain of recovery. To investigate EMS use, tapes of calls to 911 were evaluated for 93 confirmed stroke cases arriving at the hospital by ambulance in 2 North Carolina counties during 1999. Tapes were transcribed and linked to EMS trip sheets. Seventy-two percent of patients were women, 30% were black, and their mean age was 76 years. Forty-three percent of the calls were placed by medical personnel and 37% by a family member. Only 5 of the 93 calls were made by the patient. In 42 (45%) of calls, the term "stroke" or "cerebrovascular accident" was recorded. In most instances (35 of 42) the term was first used by the caller. A decreased ability to walk or altered mental status were the two most frequently reported symptoms (30% each), followed by breathing difficulty (27%), impaired speech (25%), and muscle weakness (16%). In 78% of the calls, dispatchers sent EMS personnel to the scene at highest priority, with lights and sirens. The median time from dispatch to arrival of EMS personnel on the scene was 7 minutes. The median elapsed time from receiving the 911 call to the patient's arrival at the hospital was 42 minutes. This study suggests that most 911 calls in these two counties were dispatched with highest priority. While EMS arrived in 7 minutes, it took more than one-half hour from arrival at the scene to reach the hospital. Few calls to 911 were made by the patients themselves. The information from this study will be useful in designing public health strategies to reduce prehospital delay for stroke patients.


As a consequence of rapid globalization, the need for a coherent system of global health law and governance has never been greater. This article explores the health hazards posed by contemporary globalization on human health and the consequent urgent need for global health law to facilitate effective multilateral cooperation in advancing the health of populations equitably. It sets forth the first definition of the emerging field of "global health law." After explicating the central features identified in the definition, the article examines the "grand challenges" to reaching the full potential of global health law to advance human health in just and effective ways.


Author(s): Rivera, Chloe Monica | Abstract: Transcriptional regulation is the key mechanism responsible for differential gene expression in the 300+ human cell types during both development and disease. Here I use both genomic and epigenomic tools to characterize the role of cis-regulatory elements in transcriptional regulation. In Chapter 1, I discuss the current epigenome mapping toolkit and utilities of epigenome maps. I focus particularly on mapping of DNA methylation, chromatin modification state and chromatin structures, and emphasize the use of epigenome maps to delineate human gene regulatory sequences and developmental programs. I also provide a perspective on the progress of the epigenomics field and challenges ahead. In Chapter 2, I explore the role of a large cell-type restricted regulatory element, called a super enhancer (SE), in controlling the expression of a master regulatory transcription factor of mouse embryonic stem cells. This SE is occupied by Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, and the mediator complex, and physically interacts with the Sox2 locus via DNA looping. Using a simple and highly efficient double-CRISPR genome editing strategy the entire 13-kb SE was deleted and the transcriptional defects in the resulting monoallelic and biallelic deletion clones were characterized with RNA-seq. These results showed that the SE is responsible for over 90% of Sox2 expression, and Sox2 is the only target gene along the chromosome. These results support the functional significance of a SE in maintaining the pluripotency transcription program in mouse ESCs. In Chapter 3, my work continues to dissect the impact of SE deletion on transcription from the Sox2 locus. ChIP-seq and allelic 4C -seq assays are used to understand the impact on RNA polymerase II recruitment, open chromatin, and local interactions at the Sox2 promoter. Second, the functional study of enhancers is expanded to a selection of 100 enhancers and SEs in mouse embryonic stem cells again using a CRISPR deletion strategy. The purpose of this study is to determine which enhancers predicted by chromatin signatures are functional, to identify their target gene(s), and to determine the extent to which each enhancer contributes to the expression of their target gene(s)


Our daily online conversations with friends, family, colleagues, and strangers weave an intricate network of interactions. From these networked discussions emerge themes and topics that transcend the scope of any individual conversation. In turn, these themes direct the discourse of the network and continue to ebb and flow as the interactions between individuals shape the topics themselves. This rich loop between interpersonal conversations and overarching topics is a wonderful example of a complex system: the themes of a discussion are more than just the sum of its parts. Some of the most socially relevant topics emerging from these online conversations are those pertaining to racial justice issues. Since the shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown by White police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, the protest hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has amplified critiques of extrajudicial shootings of Black Americans. In response to #BlackLivesMatter, other online users have adopted #AllLivesMatter, a counter-protest hashtag whose content argues that equal attention should be given to all lives regardless of race. Together these contentious hashtags each shape clashing narratives that echo previous civil rights battles and illustrate ongoing racial tension between police officers and Black Americans. These narratives have taken place on a massive scale with millions of online posts and articles debating the sentiments of "black lives matter" and "all lives matter." Since no one person could possibly read everything written in this debate, comprehensively understanding these conversations and their underlying networks requires us to leverage tools from data science, machine learning, and natural language processing. In Chapter 2, we utilize methodology from network science to measure to what extent #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter are "slacktivist" movements, and the effect this has on the diversity of topics discussed within these hashtags. In Chapter 3, we precisely quantify the ways in which the discourse of #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter diverge through the application of information-theoretic techniques, validating our results at the topic level from Chapter 2. These entropy-based approaches provide the foundation for powerful automated analysis of textual data, and we explore more generally how they can be used to construct a human-in-theloop topic model in Chapter 5. Our work demonstrates that there is rich potential for weaving together social science domain knowledge with computational tools in the study of language, networks, and social movements.


Many natural phenomena may be modelled using systems of differential equations that possess symmetry. Often the modelling process introduces additional symmetries that are only approximately present in the real physical system. This thesis investigates how the inclusion of small symmetry breaking effects changes the behaviour of the original solutions, such a process is called forced symmetry breaking.

Part I introduces the general equivariant bifurcation theory required for the rest of this work. In particular, we generalise previous techniques used to study forced symmetry breaking to a certain class of Euclidean invariant problems. This allows the study of the effects of forced symmetry breaking on spatially periodic solutions to differential equations.

Part II considers spatially periodic solutions in two dimensions that are supported by the square or hexagonal lattices. The methods of Part I are applied to investigate how the translation free solutions, supported by these lattices, are altered when the perturbation term possesses certain symmetries. This leads to a partial classification theorem, describing the behaviour of these solutions.

This classification is extended in Part III to three-dimensional solutions. In particular, the cubic lattices: simple, face centred, and body centred cubic, are considered. The analysis follows the same lines as Part II, but is necessarily more complex. This complexity is also present in the results, there are much richer dynamical possibilities.

Parts II and III lead to a partial classification of the behaviour of spatially periodic solutions to differential equations in two and three dimensions.

Finally in Part IV the results of Part III, concerning the body centred cubic lattice, are applied to the black-eye Turing instability. In particular, the model of Gomes [39] is cast in a new light where forced symmetry breaking is present, leading to several qualitative predictions. Nonlinear optical systems and the Polyacrylamide-Methylene Blue-Oxygen reaction are also discussed.


The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of iron-substituted Co2VGa alloys, Co2-xFexVGa (x = 0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.3), were investigated. The Fe-substituted samples, prepared by arc melting, melt spinning, and annealing, crystallized in the L21 Heusler structure, without any secondary phases. The Curie temperature and high-field magnetization at 50 K decreased from 345 K and 44 emu/g (1.90 μB/f.u.) for Co2VGa to 275 K and 39 emu/g (1.66 μB/f.u.) for Co1.7Fe0.3VGa, respectively, but the maximum entropy change remained almost insensitive to Fe concentration for x ≤ 0.2, the highest value being 3.3 J/kgK at 7 T for Co1.85Fe0.15VGa. First-principle calculations show that Co2VGa retains its half-metallic band structure until at least 30% of the cobalt atoms are replaced by Fe atoms. The wide operating temperature window near room temperature and the lack of thermal and magnetic hysteresis are the interesting features of these materials for application in room-temperature magnetic refrigeration.The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of iron-substituted Co2VGa alloys, Co2-xFexVGa (x = 0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.3), were investigated. The Fe-substituted samples, prepared by arc melting, melt spinning, and annealing, crystallized in the L21 Heusler structure, without any secondary phases. The Curie temperature and high-field magnetization at 50 K decreased from 345 K and 44 emu/g (1.90 μB/f.u.) for Co2VGa to 275 K and 39 emu/g (1.66 μB/f.u.) for Co1.7Fe0.3VGa, respectively, but the maximum entropy change remained almost insensitive to Fe concentration for x ≤ 0.2, the highest value being 3.3 J/kgK at 7 T for Co1.85Fe0.15VGa. First-principle calculations show that Co2VGa retains its half-metallic band structure until at least 30% of the cobalt atoms are replaced by Fe atoms. The wide operating temperature window near room temperature and the lack of thermal and magnetic hysteresis are the interesting features of these materials for application in room-temperature magnetic refrigeration.


Cationic nanoparticles destroy immune response activators and their topical administration relieves psoriatic symptoms. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) released from damaged or dead cells combines with LL37 and is converted into an immune response activator to exacerbate psoriasis. Here, we show that cationic nanoparticles (cNPs) efficiently compete for DNA from the DNA-LL37 immunocomplex and inhibit DNA-LL37-induced cell activation. Using phenotypical images, psoriasis area and severity index scoring, histology, and immunohistochemical analysis, we demonstrate that topical application of cNPs on psoriasiform skin of a mouse model relieves psoriatic symptoms. It is noteworthy that the results were confirmed in a cynomolgus monkey model. Moreover, topically administrated cNPs showed low in vivo toxicity because of their retention in skin. Mechanistic analyses of cytokine expression in the psoriatic site, cfDNA levels in circulation and inflamed skin, skin permeation, and biodistribution of cNPs also matched the therapeutic outcomes. Therefore, we present a previously unidentified strategy of nanomedicine to treat skin inflammatory diseases, which demonstrates great potential for clinical application.


ABSTRACT Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), also called mRNA surveillance, is an important pathway used by all organisms that have been tested to degrade mRNAs that prematurely terminate translation and, as a consequence, eliminate the production of aberrant proteins that could be potentially harmful. In mammalian cells, NMD appears to involve splicing-dependent alterations to mRNA as well as ribosome-associated components of the translational apparatus. To date, human (h) Upf1 protein (p) (hUpf1p), a group 1 RNA helicase named after itsSaccharomyces cerevisiae orthologue that functions in both translation termination and NMD, has been the only factor shown to be required for NMD in mammalian cells. Here, we describe human orthologues to S. cerevisiae Upf2p and S. cerevisiae Upf3p (Caenorhabditis elegans SMG-4) based on limited amino acid similarities. The existence of these orthologues provides evidence for a higher degree of evolutionary conservation of NMD than previously appreciated. Interestingly, human orthologues toS. cerevisiae Upf3p (C. elegans SMG-4) derive from two genes, one of which is X-linked and both of which generate multiple isoforms due to alternative pre-mRNA splicing. We demonstrate using immunoprecipitations of epitope-tagged proteins transiently produced in HeLa cells that hUpf2p interacts with hUpf1p, hUpf3p-X, and hUpf3p, and we define the domains required for the interactions. Furthermore, we find by using indirect immunofluorescence that hUpf1p is detected only in the cytoplasm, hUpf2p is detected primarily in the cytoplasm, and hUpf3p-X localizes primarily to nuclei. The finding that hUpf3p-X is a shuttling protein provides additional indication that NMD has both nuclear and cytoplasmic components.


Soil moisture content (SMC) is a key parameter of environmental processes. Remote sensing provides effective methods for mapping SMC at different spatial resolutions. Using UAS-borne hyperspectral observations enables a SMC retrieval at sub-meter scales. Radiative transfer models (RTMs) such as ProSAIL or Scope include a SMC specific input variable and are thus a potential tool to derive SMC and avoiding extensive reference SMC measurements. The inverse application of RTMs supplies information on SMC and plant traits. Scope and ProSAIL involve SMC data of the root zone and at the surface, respectively. The combined use of both models offers the possibility to derive SMC at two vertical depths. Moreover, SMC relevant vegetation proxies such as leaf water content can be retrieved and alternatively used as indicator for SMC. Such plant traits are highest correlated to SMC at depths of major water uptake. However, their response can have a significant time-lag. We analyze the derivation of SMC at the soil surface and at the root zone using the SMC parameters within existing RTMs. As a first step, we investigate on the sensitivity of ProSAIL and Scope to their soil moisture parameters. We apply these findings on UAS-borne hyperspectral and TIR imagery acquired over a pre-alpine TERENO grassland area. The site is equipped with a SoilNet that measures SMC at different depths. Using this data, we assess the vertical extent of both soil moisture content parameters. By inverse modelling of the vegetation parameters and the use of the temporally continuous SoilNet data at root zone level, we analyze the time-lag between changes in SMC and the corresponding plant trait response to optimize the retrieval of SMC.


This study was designed to successfully use bioassay guided fractionation to purify phenolic antioxidants rich fractions from Actinidia macrosperma fruit. Phenolic compounds were extracted using 70% acetone by steeping technique, and the vacuum manifold solid phase extraction (SPE) using Strata C18 cartridges was used for the preliminary purification to remove more polar compounds such as sugars and proteins from the defatted crude extract resulting in an acidified aqueous fraction (F1), while moderately polar compounds were obtained in an acidified methanol fraction (F2). The total phenolic, total flavonoid contents were determined by using Folin Ciocalteu method and aluminiumchloride method respectively. In vitro radical scavenging activity was evaluated by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Phenolics of the extracts were identified using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). Total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity determined for the acidified methanol fraction (F2) (476.3 ± 12.7 mg GAE/100 g DW, 106.7 ± 7.5 mg CAE/100 g DW and 2.9 ± 0.1 mmolTrolox equivalents/100 g DW respectively) were significantly (p=0.05) higher than those for the acidified aqueous fraction (F1) (363.2 ± 18.9 mg GAE/100 g DW, 46.2 ± 0.7 mg CAE/100 g DW and 2.0 ± 1.0 mmol Trolox equivalents/100 g DW respectively). The phenolic profile, radical scavenging activity and the HPLC-DAD fingerprints of the SPE–purified extracts showed that the acidified methanol fraction (F2) was rich in flavonoids and was the most active fraction which was subjected to further purification to identify the antioxidants. The presented result along with the qualitative analysis on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with diode array detector (DAD) revealed that the bioassay guided fractionation was successfully employed to purify phenolics rich fractions from A. macrosperma kiwi fruit.


For the past ten years, many individuals and institutions in lndia have recognized the importance of community pharmacists towards patient care in addition to their traditional role as drug dispensers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current dispensing practices in various areas within a district of Tamilnadu, to identify the deficiencies vis-A -vis regulatory requirements and the interventions needed to enhance the image and status of community pharmacy practice. A surveillance study was performed in two phases. The person in-charge of a pharmacy was approached with a questionnaire and data on dispensing practices were collected through a structured interview. Workshops were conducted to provide interventions that have been identified during survey, to retail pharmacists who volunteered to participate in the workshops. The knowledge gained on completion of the workshop was assessed. The study found about 50% of the pharmacies function without pharmacists. Fifty eight percent pharmacists dispense prescription drugs without prescription. More than 80% of the retail pharmacists were not aware of rational drug use and have not even heard about transdermal patches. The retail pharmacists rarely counsel patients and examine the prescription for medical errors. Improvement in knowledge occurred among workshop attendees after the workshop. Guidelines have been compiled, which when implemented gradually, may provide impetus to community pharmacists in this area to perform the task of providing pharmaceutical services in a better and professional way.


We study the effect of transmembrane proteins on the shape, composition, and thermodynamic stability of the surrounding membrane. When the coupling between membrane composition and curvature is strong enough, the nearby membrane composition and shape both undergo a transition from overdamped to underdamped spatial variation, well before the membrane becomes unstable in the bulk. This transition is associated with a change in the sign of the thermodynamic energy and, hence, favors the early stages of coat assembly necessary for vesiculation (budding) and may suppress the activity of mechanosensitive membrane channels and transporters. Our results suggest an approach to obtain physical parameters of the membrane that are otherwise difficult to measure.


The question of how words from different languages are represented and accessed in bilingual speakers is the focus of much debate in the psycholinguistic literature. In this thesis, we aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the processes that underlie naming and translation abilities in bilingual speakers. Our goals were 1) to clarify the role of cognateness across tasks, languages and
populations in relation to interactive activation models of bilingual lexical production and 2) to evaluate models that posit direct lexical links between words in two languages by examining the extent of semantic involvement across tasks. These questions were studied by collecting converging evidence from younger and older neurologically healthy participants and from brain-damaged participants with word finding deficits. The key results are as follows: 1) In healthy participants, robust cognate facilitation effects were present across tasks, languages and age groups. 2)Cognate effects were stronger in translation than in naming in healthy participants. 3)In aphasic participants, a consistent cognate advantage was observed when naming pictures in the weaker language, but less so when naming pictures in the strongest language or in translation. 4) Treating words in one language generalised to cognate words, with some generalisation to untreated tasks. 5) Aphasic participants produced fewer semantic errors in translation than in naming. Overall, this study clarifies the role of cognateness in bilingual language production. It is the first to examine cognateness effects in a within-subject design, using the same stimuli across tasks and participant groups in an attempt to resolve some of the inconsistencies in prior research, which may be related to variations in experimental protocols across studies. It is also the first to use converging evidence from aphasia in an integrated study. Our findings support interactive activation models of the bilingual lexicon and dual-route models of translation.


ABSTRACT Most DNA viruses associate with, and reorganize, nuclear domain 10 (ND10) bodies upon entry into the host nucleus. In this study, we examine the roles of the ND10 components PML, Sp100, and Daxx in the establishment of human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18) infection of primary human keratinocytes. HPV18 DNA or HPV18 quasivirus was introduced into primary human keratinocytes depleted of each ND10 protein by small interfering RNA technology, and genome establishment was determined by using a quantitative immortalization assay and measurements of viral transcription and DNA replication. Keratinocyte depletion of Sp100 resulted in a substantial increase in the number of HPV18-immortalized colonies and a corresponding increase in viral transcription and DNA replication. However, Sp100 repressed viral transcription and replication only during the initial stages of viral establishment, suggesting that Sp100 acts as a repressor of incoming HPV DNA. IMPORTANCE The intrinsic immune system provides a first-line defense against invading pathogens. Host cells contain nuclear bodies (ND10) that are important for antiviral defense, yet many DNA viruses localize here upon cell entry. However, viruses also disrupt, reorganize, and modify individual components of the bodies. In this study, we show that one of the ND10 components, Sp100, limits the infection of human skin cells by human papillomavirus (HPV). HPVs are important pathogens that cause many types of infection of the cutaneous and mucosal epithelium and are the causative agents of several human cancers. Understanding how host cells counteract HPV infection could provide insight into antimicrobial therapies that could limit initial infection. The intrinsic immune system provides a first-line defense against invading pathogens. Host cells contain nuclear bodies (ND10) that are important for antiviral defense, yet many DNA viruses localize here upon cell entry. However, viruses also disrupt, reorganize, and modify individual components of the bodies. In this study, we show that one of the ND10 components, Sp100, limits the infection of human skin cells by human papillomavirus (HPV). HPVs are important pathogens that cause many types of infection of the cutaneous and mucosal epithelium and are the causative agents of several human cancers. Understanding how host cells counteract HPV infection could provide insight into antimicrobial therapies that could limit initial infection.


This paper presents an indirect time-of-flight (TOF) measurement technique with an impulse photocurrent response of a lock-in pixel. By using a short-pulse laser, the generated photocurrent can be presumed to be an impulse response. This facilitates the utilization of the full high-speed performance of the photodetector and gives high range resolution. As a proof-of-concept, a test chip with a lock-in pixel based on draining-only modulation was implemented using 0.11 μm CMOS image-sensor technology. The test chip achieved a range resolution of 0.29 mm in a 50-mm measurable range, which corresponds to a time resolution of 1.9 ps and the successful acquisition of a 3-mm example step.


Based on virtual prototyping technology, dynamic simulation of PE-1 type ultra-precision double-sided polishing machine and its technologic parameter optimization was studied. Through the simulation of virtual prototype, which was built in ADAMS, the polishing process was analyzed. Firstly, the simulation of polishing process shows that the ratio of rotation and revolution angular speed is inversely proportional to input speed ratio of planetary system. Secondly, the simulation of movement route shows that points along the same radius have similar route style considering the same input speed ratio of planetary system. Thirdly, the optimization of material removal non-uniformity shows that the higher speed makes for higher removal quality, the speed of solar gear and gear ring is opposite when the optimum value reached. At last, the maximum removal rate was achieved on the condition of same press and speed of plate, and corresponding solar gear speed and gear ring speed were gained.


Abstract Background The decision to initiate medication is complex and is influenced by a variety of factors. There is limited information on the relative importance of factors that influence the initiation of ADHD medication. Aims To investigate the factors, and their relative importance, that influence the decision to initiate medication in adults, and parents of children, with ADHD. Methods A discrete choice experiment was conducted using eight choice tasks made up of five attributes that described the outcomes of initiating medication. A mixed multinomial logit model was used to estimate preferences for medication. Results Respondents' overall preferences for initiating medication were negative (Mean (β)= −0.72705, p < 0.1), however, significant heterogeneity was noted in preferences (SD: 0.93604, p < 0.001). Side-effects were the most important factor for both adults (Relative importance (RI) = 40.39%) and parents (RI = 41.99%). Improvement in education had a greater weighting in adults' decision-making compared to parents (RI = 36.93% vs 30.47%) while improvement in aggressive (RI = 14.38% vs 11.84%) and social behaviour (RI = 12.59% vs 10.37%) was more important to parents. Conclusions Important differences in preferences of patients and parents were identified, highlighting that the decision to initiate medication is influenced differently in different individuals and groups.


The electronic and structural properties of different members of the Ni-Mn-Ga family calculated by ab initio density functional theory are discussed. From total energy calculations, we show that the martensitic phase is the stable low temperature phase. Moreover, occurrence of ferromagnetic and paramagnetic martensitic phases for Ni2MnGa and Ni2.25Mn0.75Ga, respectively, are explained. Modifications in the density of states near the Fermi level EF are observed across the martensitic transition for Ni2MnGa, as well as in Mn2NiGa. While Ni2MnGa is ferromagnetic, we find Mn2NiGa to be ferrimagnetic. The calculated lattice constants and the magnetic moments are in good agreement with experiment.


Polar regions are critical for future climate evolution, and they experience major environmental changes. A particular focus of biogeochemical investigations in these regions lies on iron (Fe). This element drives primary productivity and, thus, the uptake of atmospheric CO2 in vast areas of the ocean. Due to the Fe-limitation of phytoplankton growth in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica is a key region for studying the change of iron fluxes as glaciers progressively melt away. The respective climate feedbacks can currently hardly be quantified because data availability is low, and iron transport and reaction pathways in Polar coastal and shelf areas are insufficiently understood. We show how novel stable Fe isotope techniques, in combination with other geochemical analyses, can be used to identify iron discharges from subglacial environments and how this will help us assessing short and long term impacts of glacier retreat on coastal ecosystems.
Stable Fe isotopes (δ56Fe) may be used to trace Fe sources and reactions, but respective data availability is low. In addition, there is a need to constrain δ56Fe endmembers for different types of sediments, environments, and biogeochemical processes.
δ56Fe data from pore waters and sequentially extracted solid Fe phases at two sites in Potter Cove (King George Island, Antarctica), a bay affected by fast glacier retreat, are presented. Close to the glacier front, sediments contain high amounts of easily reducible Fe oxides and show a dominance of ferruginous conditions compared to sediments close to the ice-free coast, where surficial oxic meltwater discharges and sulfate reduction dominates. We suggest that high amounts of reducible Fe oxides close to the glacier mainly derive from subglacial sources, where Fe liberation from comminuted material beneath the glacier is coupled to biogeochemical weathering. A strong argument for a subglacial source is the predominantly negative δ56Fe signature of reducible Fe oxides that remains constant throughout the ferruginous zone. In situ dissimilatory iron reduction (DIR) does not significantly alter the isotopic composition of the oxides. The composition of the easily reducible Fe fraction therefore suggests pre-depositional microbial cycling as it occurs in subglacial environments. Sediments influenced by oxic meltwater discharge show downcore trends towards positive δ56Fe signals in pore water and reactive Fe oxides, typical for in situ DIR as 54Fe becomes less available with increasing depth.
We found that a quantification of benthic Fe fluxes and subglacial Fe discharges based on stable Fe isotope geochemistry will be complicated because (1) diagenetic processes vary strongly at short lateral distances and (2) the variability of δ56Fe in subglacial meltwater has not been sufficiently well investigated yet. However, isotope mass balance models that consider the current uncertainties could, in combination with an application of ancillary proxies, lead to a much better quantification of Fe inputs into polar marine waters than currently available. This would consequently allow a better assessment of the flux and fate of Fe originating from the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Henkel et al. (2018) Diagenetic iron cycling and stable Fe isotope fractionation in Antarctic shelf sediments, King George Island. GCA 237, 320-338.


In this paper we give an overview of trends, options and new concepts for mobile Internet and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) services in Europe. We review technologies and standards and focus on new initiatives which allow for mobile, personalised and location-sensitive Internet and ITS services with a high degree of flexibility and user-friendliness. We give some examples of European research projects on the integration of cellular mobile radio (GSM, GPRS, UMTS) with broadcasting systems (DAB, DVB-T), satellite navigation systems (GPS, Galileo) and short range communications techniques (IrDA, Bluetooth).