During August 2005, wilted cucumber (Cucumis sativus cv. Tasty Green) plants were observed in a commercial greenhouse with a closed hydroponic system in the state of Mexico. Disease incidence was 50%. Diseased plants were detected 15 days after transplanting, when plants were overwatered. Yield was severely reduced when disease affected mature plants. Wilted plants showed basal stem lesions and root rot. Phytophthora capsici was consistently isolated from diseased tissue on corn meal agar (CMA) with tartaric acid. Oomycete identification was based on sporangial and gametangial characteristics (2). Sporangia produced on blocks of CMA at 25°C were spherical, broadly ellipsoid or obovoid with one papillae, and deciduous with a long pedicel (1). The isolates were heterothallic, and oogonia with amphigynous antheridia were observed in pairings with an A1 isolate of P. capsici, therefore, the isolates were determined to be an A2. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on 2-month-old cucumber seedlings under controlled conditions (25°C). Inoculation was performed by placing small pieces of agar with mycelium of 5- to 7-day-old cultures on the stem base and wrapping with Parafilm. Control plants were inoculated with CMA agar. No symptoms were observed on the control. Plants inoculated with the P. capsici isolated from the diseased cucumbers showed a basal stem lesion, followed by wilting and death 7 to 14 days after inoculation. The isolate was also pathogenic on tomato and eggplant that were grown at the same time in the commercial greenhouse sharing the nutrient solution. P. capsici sporangia were observed on the roots of both hosts. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. capsici affecting cucumber in a hydroponics system in Mexico. References: (1) M. Aragaki and J. Y. Uchida. Mycologia 93:137, 2001. (2) D. C. Erwin and O. K. Ribeiro. Phytophthora Diseases Worldwide. The American Phytopathological Society. St. Paul MN, 1996.


Tin- and tantalum-bearing LCT-type granitic pegmatites occur in a 45 km long belt between Eskdale and Mount Wills in north-eastern Victoria. Near Mount Wills, several compositionally zoned rare-element pegmatites contain complex assemblages of primary and secondary phosphate minerals, many of which are rare and previously unrecorded in Victoria. The phosphate assemblages can be divided into Al-rich and Fe–Mn-rich suites, in addition to ubiquitous fluorapatite. The Al-rich phosphate suite includes montebrasite, scorzalite, bertossaite and brazilianite. The Fe‒Mn phosphate suite includes heterosite, phosphoferrite, wolfeite, alluaudite (sp.), arrojadite (sp.) and jahnsite (sp.), derived from the metasomatic alteration of primary triplite. Further hydrothermal alteration of this assemblage has resulted in a secondary suite of strengite, rockbridgeite, phosphosiderite, whiteite, jahnsite and whitmoreite forming in etch cavities and fractures. A Late Silurian age of 420±4 Ma was obtained from one of the dykes via CHIME radiometric dating of monazite, suggesting a similar age for the adjacent Mount Wills Granite, which has not been reliably dated. This highly fractionated, peraluminous granite is presumed to be the source of the rare-element pegmatites based on their close spatial relationship.


BACKGROUND
 Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a rare sequela of acute pulmonary embolism that is treatable when recognized. Awareness of this disease has increased with recent advancements in therapeutic options, but delays in diagnosis remain common, and diagnostic and treatment guidelines are often not followed. Data gathered from international registries have improved our understanding of CTEPH, but these data may not be applicable to the US population owing to differences in demographics and medical practice patterns.

 OBJECTIVE
 The US CTEPH Registry (US-CTEPH-R) was developed to provide essential information to better understand the demographics, risk factors, evaluation, and treatment of CTEPH in the United States, as well as the short- and long-term outcomes of surgical and nonsurgical therapies in the modern treatment era.

 METHODS
 Thirty sites throughout the United States enrolled 750 subjects in this prospective, longitudinal, observational registry of patients newly diagnosed with CTEPH. Enrollment criteria included a mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mmHg by right heart catheterization and radiologic confirmation of CTEPH by a multidisciplinary adjudication committee. Following enrollment, subjects were followed biannually until the conclusion of the study. Quality of life surveys were administered at enrollment and biannually, and all other testing was at the discretion of the treating clinician. Details regarding surgical therapy, balloon pulmonary angioplasty, and medical therapy were collected at enrollment and at follow-up, as well as information related to health care utilization and survival.

 RESULTS
 Data from this registry will improve understanding of the demographics, risk factors, and treatment patterns of patients with CTEPH, and the longitudinal impact of therapies on quality of life, health care utilization, and survival.

 CONCLUSIONS
 This manuscript details the methodology and design of the first large, prospective, longitudinal registry of patients with CTEPH in the United States.

 CLINICALTRIAL
 ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02429284; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02429284

 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT
 DERR1-10.2196/25397


Inthis paper higher fatty acids composition, peroxide and acidic value and density of raw commercial rape oil and of oil fraction formed after each of five cycles of oil heating conducted in two ways - with and without potato chips frying, were compared. After each heating, which duration corresponded to time necessary for potato chips frying, oil was left to cool down (to room temperature) and stored in conditions similar to ones found in small gastronomy. Goal of undertaken research was usability assessment of used frying rape oil as a substrate for biofuel production. Utilization of used frying rape oil as fuel seems to be grounded by favourable ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in oil fraction, which properties stabilize as a result of surface contact with potato chips, as well as by ecological (utilization of waste), energetic (replacement of conventional crude oil based fuels) and economical (utilization of cheap wastes) reasons. K e y w o r d s: rape oil, used frying oil, fatty acids composi- tion, acidic value, peroxide number, fuel biocomponent


Zn-incorporated nanosized H-ZSM-5 zeolites were synthesized via a novel and facile route using zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) as the template in a steam-assisted conversion process. The prepared zeolites were characterized using various techniques including XRD, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, SEM, TEM, TGA, NH3-TPD and pyridine-FT-IR spectroscopy. The crystallization time and ZIF-8 loading were extensively investigated to elucidate the crystallization process, morphology and structural characteristics of the prepared zeolites. The results show that the formation of Zn-incorporated nanosized H-ZSM-5 zeolites involves two stages: dissolution-impregnation and crystallization. The increased amount of ZIF-8 helps to increase the number of active metal Zn sites. Furthermore, the incorporation of ZIF-8 effectively facilitates the formation of Lewis acid sites and increases the acidity. Thus, the Zn-incorporated nanosized H-ZSM-5 zeolites showed a high catalytic activity and H2 yield as well as excellent catalytic stability when used in dimethyl ether steam reforming.


ABSTRACT The shift in higher education towards emphasis in quality processes and practices triggered universities to question their existing quality mechanisms to meet the demands of globalisation. Within the scope, despite extensive controversy on their implementation, student evaluations of teaching quality were initiated or the existing evaluation processes started to be improved so as to respond to quality criteria as specified by a substantial number of assessment and evaluation procedures. This study investigates instructors' perceptions on the influence of student evaluations on teaching quality. It reports on findings from a qualitative study in which interviewing methodology was used to explore how student evaluations can lead to improvement of teaching quality. Data was collected from Turkish and American instructors via semi-structured questionnaire forms and analysed through thematic analysis from a comparative perspective. The findings of the study demonstrate that student evaluations can lead to improvement of teaching quality on condition that articulated concerns are elaborated on with regard to design of the evaluation scheme, administration of evaluation of teaching quality and post-evaluation procedures. Pedagogical implications are presented to widen understanding about the concerns that instructors hold in both countries as well as recommendations to be considered for ideal practice.


Analyzing motion data is a critical step when building meaningful locomotive motion datasets. This can be done by labeling motion capture data and inspecting it, through a planned motion capture session or by carefully selecting locomotion clips from a public dataset. These analyses, however, have no clear definition of coverage, making it harder to diagnose when something goes wrong, such as a virtual character not being able to perform an action or not moving at a given speed. This issue is compounded by the large amount of information present in motion capture data, which poses a challenge when trying to interpret it. This work provides a visualization and an optimization method to streamline the process of crafting locomotive motion datasets. It provides a more grounded approach towards locomotive motion analysis by calculating different quality metrics, such as: demarcating coverage in terms of both linear and angular speeds, frame use frequency in each animation clip, deviation from the planned path, number of transitions, number of used vs. unused animations and transition cost. By using these metrics as a comparison mean for different motion datasets, our approach is able to provide a less subjective alternative to the modification and analysis of motion datasets, while improving interpretability.


Introduction: Surgical site Infections (SSI) rank third among hospital acquired infections worldwide. According to the WHO report of 2016, the global burden of SSI ranges from 2.5% to 41.5%. ESBL producing E.coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are frequently being isolated from these infections owing to the high transmission density of plasmid-mediated ESBLs in hospital setting.
Aim: To survey for antimicrobial resistance encoding genes of ESBL (blaTEM, blaCTX-M and blaSHV) among Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from surgical site infections in a tertiary care hospital.
Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out over a period of one year in the department of Microbiology, SRM Medical College from March 2016-March 2017. A total of 136 pus swabs or pus aspirates were collected from post-operative male and female adult patients. Microbiological investigations of Gram staining, Culture and biochemical tests were performed with the samples. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for screening and phenotypic detection of ESBL production was carried out according to Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute guidelines, 2016. Conventional Polymerase chain Reaction (PCR) was performed using specific primers to amplify ESBL encoding genes among ESBL producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates.
Result: Out of 136 samples tested 76 (55.88%) Gram negative bacteria were isolated. The most common causative agent of SSI was Escherichia coli 30 (39.47%), followed by Klebsiella pneumonia 17 (22.37%). Phenotypic testing by combination disk method detected 40% of E.coli and 23.5% of Klebsiella to be ESBL producers. They were highly resistant to Ampicillin (86%) Cefepime (46.93%), Ceftazidime (62.75%) and Ciprofoloxacin (50.98%). blaTEM was the predominant ESBL gene detected by Conventional PCR.
Conclusion: Early and accurate detection of ESBL is essential to reduce the spread of drug resistance among nosocomial bacteria.

Keywords: Surgical Site infections, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Extended Spectrum Beta lactamase, PCR, resistant genes, TEM.


The objective of this paper is to review a number of issues related to poverty, while taking stock of the ongoing research. Most of the remaining unresolved issues in poverty analysis are related directly or indirectly to the dynamics of poverty. Before the development community can become more successful in designing and implementing poverty-alleviation strategies, within the context of growth, we need to understand better the conditions under which some households remain permanently (chronically) poor and how others move in and out of poverty. In what follows we review the state of the art under a number of interrelated headings: (1) Chronic vs. transient poverty; (2) Poverty and vulnerability; (3) The determination of the poverty line across time and countries; (4) The quantitative vs. qualitative approach to poverty measurement; and (5) Growth, inequality and poverty.


Abstract. This paper describes the study of the dynamic stability of a hydrofoiling sailing boat called the "Goodall Design Foiling Viper". The goal of Goodall Design is to make hydrofoiling accessible to a wider public, whereas it was previously reserved for professional sailors at the highest level of the sport. To allow for safe operation, stability is an essential characteristic of the boat. The aim of this work is to find a strategy to perform a dynamic stability analysis using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), which can be used in a preliminary design stage. This paper starts by establishing a theoretical framework to perform the dynamic stability analysis. A stability analysis has to be performed around an equilibrium state which depends on operating parameters such as speed, centre of gravity, etc. . A fluid-structure interaction strategy is applied to determine these equilibrium states. The last part discusses the stability characteristics of the Viper. The framework managed to assess the dynamic stability of the Viper and found 5 longitudinal eigenmodes: two complex conjugated pairs of eigenvalues and one real eigenvalue. It can be concluded that the boat was both statically and dynamically stable.


Heiner Muller observed that in Hamlet "The break-in of time into the play constitutes mythos" - by which I understand him to have meant that "myth" was one possible response to the social, political and psychological demands of Shakespeare's context. In 1600 the times would press on the text and performance of the play at many points: politically, the succession crisis which faces Denmark haunted Elizabeth's reign for decades; personally, the death of the playwright's son Hamnet (aged only 11) in 1596 may have felt like a prefiguration of the end of the Danish Prince. Hamlet's transformation of both social history and individual experience into myth is of its nature tragic: James I and VI (the philosopher king?) and Fortinbras (the soldier) succeed, but Hamnet, like Hamlet, dies, although he, too, "was likely, had he been put on,/ To have proved most royal". (5.2.404-405) This is a reminder that "the category of myth [even in the perhaps special sense suggested here] reflects the interests of those who employ it." Myths are imagined rather than revealed. In the light of these and further observations, this paper sets out to examine whether or not the image and action of the crowd in a sequence of Shakespeare's works can be said to achieve anything like the dimensions of myth. This project has been inspired and given traction by Peter Titlestad's "Hamlet the Populist Politician" and Kai Wiegandt's Crowd and Rumour in Shakespeare.


The volume assembles fresh treatments on the flâneur in literature, film and culture from a variety of angles. Its individual contributions cover established as well as previously unnoticed textual and filmic source materials in a historical perspective ranging from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. The range of topics covered demonstrates the ongoing productivity of flânerie as a viable paradigm for the artistic approach to urban culture and the continuing suitability of flânerie as an analytic category for the scholarly examination of urban representation in the arts. This productiveness also extends to the questioning, re-evaluation, and enhancement of flânerie's theoretical foundations as they were laid down by Walter Benjamin and others. The work will be particularly relevant for students and scholars of literary studies, film studies and gender studies, as well as for theoretical approaches to flânerie as an important aspect of urban culture.


In the course of ecological and taxonomical study of yeasts in Indonesia, a total of 2147 yeast isolates from 315 samples in the year 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2008 had been obtained from eight locations e.g. Liwa (Sumatera), Cibinong (Java), Cibodas (Java), Kutai (Kalimantan), Enrekang (Sulawesi), Pucak (Sulawesi), Gili and Kuta (Lombok), and Kupang (Timor). Leaves, flowers, litters, soils, epiphytic soils, insects and insect's nests were collected for yeasts isolation. Our molecular identification based on D1/D2 region of nuclear large-subunit rDNA and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions sequence data on 525 representative isolates revealed that 306 isolates belong to 48 described species (18 genera) and 209 strains belong to 19 undescribed species (19 genera), and 10 isolates were discarded because of contamination. Based on their substrates, litter had the highest yeasts genera (19) followed by soils (18), flowers (10), leaves (6), epiphytic soils (4), and insects and insect's nests (4). Genera found on soils were also common on litters. Yeasts genera found on flowers and epiphytic soils were common on leaves and litters. The genera Aureobasidium, Cryptococcus, Pseudozyma, Rhodotorula and Sporidiobolus were found in all substrates. Based on their locations, Kutai had the highest number of genera (15) followed by Cibodas (10), Cibinong (10), Enrekang (10), Kupang (10), Pucak (9), Liwa (7), and Lombok (7). The genus Cryptococcus was found in all locations. Our study shed a light to detection of many new taxa of yeasts, 41% of yeasts found in this study represented novel taxa.


The possibility of amplification of pulses of squeezed light in the regime of triggered optical superradiance is analysed. The kinetic equations are obtained which describe the dynamics of cooperative development of the population inversion and dispersion of the quadrature components of polarisation of optical centres interacting with the triggering-pulse field in the squeezed vacuum state. The dependence of the squeezing degree of the superradiance field on the squeezing degrees of the triggering-pulse field and polarisation of an amplifying medium is determined. It is shown that in the case of a sufficiently strong squeezing of the medium, the intensity of the squeezed quadrature component of the superradiance signal is lower than that of an incoherent spontaneous background. Therefore, the superradiance field can be characterised not only by a classical squeezing (when the dispersions of quadratures are not identical) but also by a quantum squeezing (when the dispersion of one quadrature is smaller than its vacuum value).


Purpose: To describe the standards of quality dental care, quality control system and the policies concerning quality assurance in dentistry, in Indian scenario. Data Source: Study of relevant literature and books. Results: Quality is described as the degree to which the entire set of characteristics of a product, process or service satisfies established or obvious needs. With respect to Quality Assurance, the government merely tends to frame the standards through accreditation. Whereas the professional organizations support the individual dentist by developing a quality assurance system and delivering tools for quality assessment. Different activities within such a quality assurance system are standards of quality dental care framed by NABH, Clinical Establishment Act standards for Dental centres and principles of Total Quality Management & Quality Assurance. Conclusion: Delivering quality dental services is one of the major challenges that dental healthcare professional are facing in the developing countries. Therefore, effort should be made to develop a fundamentally better patient care system that will lead to an improved performance. The aim of this article is to explore various quality care policies and activities to develop quality assurance system in general dentistry.


Intracellular viscosity is a crucial parameter that indicates the functioning of cells. In this work, we demonstrate the utility of TPE-Cy, a cell-permeable dye with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property, in mapping the viscosity inside live cells. Owing to the AIE characteristics, both the fluorescence intensity and lifetime of this dye are increased along with an increase in viscosity. Fluorescence lifetime imaging of live cells stained with TPE-Cy reveals that the lifetime in lipid droplets is much shorter than that from the general cytoplasmic region. The loose packing of the lipids in a lipid droplet results in low viscosity and thus shorter lifetime of TPE-Cy in this region. It demonstrates that the AIE dye could provide good resolution in intracellular viscosity sensing. This is also the first work in which AIE molecules are applied in fluorescence lifetime imaging and intracellular viscosity sensing.


Most structural materials existing in nature take the form of composite. After centuries' evolution, these materials gain highly optimized microstructures and performances. In this work, a kind of natural biomaterial, shinbone, is observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The observation result shows that the bone is a bioceramic composite consisting of hydroxyapatite layers and collagen matrix. The observation also shows that the hydroxyapatite layers are composed of hydroxyapatite sheets. The hydroxyapatite sheets are of thin and long shape and parallel distribution along the orientation of the maximum main stress of the bone. The shape and distribution of the hydroxyapatite sheets may endow the bone with favorable fracture toughness, which is analyzed and illuminated based a representational model of the hydroxyapatite sheets and the idea of maximum pullout force.


Cadaveric hip joints and prostheses were tested in a hip Function simulator which subjected the Femoral head to a cycle of loading and oscillation similar to that experienced during walking, and measured the Frictional torque transmitted to the acetabulum. For natural joints, silicone Fluids with viscosities From 10(^-2) Pa s to 30 Pa s were used as lubricants and Full Fluid Film lubrication was observed above 10(^-1) Pa s. Sodium carboxymethylcellulose solutions were also tested at the lower viscosities. Hyaluronic acid was added to one sample of synovial Fluid to increase its viscosity range and other synovial Fluid samples were digested enzymatically. Hyaluronidase digestion caused a significant increase in Friction Factor over the control samples whereas tryptic digestion had no consistent effect. No correlation between compliance of the cartilage and Frictional values was observed. Experimental prostheses with a compliant lining in the acetabular component were manufactured From a silicone elastomer. The layers varied From 0.5 to 3 mm thick, and two different clearances were tested. The prostheses were tested with SCMC and silicone Fluids. The Friction Factors obtained at low loads were higher than For a Charnley prosthesis. The swelling effect of the silicone Fluids on the elastomeric linings was investigated along with the effective elastic modulus of the arrangements.


Background
Age-related declines in cognitive function and cerebral perfusion increase the risk of dementia. Although nutrition and exercise may be effective in reducing cognitive decline, the effect of lactotripeptide (LTP) on cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics remains unclear.

Objectives
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of LTP ingestion on cerebral oxygenation, cognitive function, and vascular function in middle-aged and older adults with or without an exercise intervention.

Methods
We recruited 2 separate groups of participants, one with and one without an exercise intervention. Each group was then randomly assigned into a placebo group and an LTP group. The participants ingested a placebo or LTP every day. The exercise group performed aerobic exercises 4-6 d/wk. Before and after the 8-wk intervention, we measured oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) concentration (oxy-Hb change) in the prefrontal cortex during the Stroop task (primary outcome), Stroop interference time, and carotid artery β-stiffness (both secondary outcomes).

Results
Sixty-four participants completed the study. Changes in oxy-Hb signal in the prefrontal cortex were greater in the LTP group than in the placebo group under both the exercise and nonexercise conditions (P < 0.05). In addition, the magnitude of improvement in the oxy-Hb change in the left prefrontal cortex was correlated with Stroop interference (r = -0.39, P < 0.05) and carotid β-stiffness (r = -0.41, P < 0.05).

Conclusions
An 8-wk intake of LTP increased cerebral oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex region in middle-aged and older adults, with and without exercise. The intervention-induced improvements in brain neural activation were associated with cognitive and vascular function. This trial was registered at www.umin.ac.jp as UMIN000022313.


Recent years have seen the rise of pointed and influential critiques of deference doctrines in administrative law. What many of these critiques have in common is a view that judges, not agencies, should resolve interpretive disputes over the meaning of statutes—disputes the critics take to be purely legal and almost always resolvable using lawyerly tools of statutory construction. In this article, I take these critiques, and the relatively formalist assumptions behind them, seriously and show that the critics have not acknowledged or advocated the full reform vision implied by their theoretical premises. Specifically, critics have extended their critique of judicial abdication only to what I call Type I statutory errors (that is, agency interpretations that regulate more conduct than the best reading of the statute would allow the agency to regulate) and do not appear to accept or anticipate that their theory of interpretation would also extend to what I call Type II statutory errors (that is, agency failures to regulate as much conduct as the best reading of the statute would require). As a consequence, critics have been more than willing to entertain an end to Chevron deference, an administrative law doctrine which is mostly invoked to justify Type I error, but have not shown any interest in adjusting administrative law doctrine to remedy agencies' commission of Type II error. The result is a vision of administrative law's future that is precariously slanted against legislative and regulatory action.

I critique this asymmetry in administrative law and address potential justifications of systemic asymmetries in the doctrine, such as concern about the remedial implications of addressing Type II error, finding them all wanting from a legal and theoretical perspective. I also lay out the positive case for adhering to symmetry in administrative law doctrine. In a time of deep political conflict over regulation and administration, symmetry plays, or at the very least could play, an important role in de-politicizing administrative law, clarifying what is at stake in debates about the proper level of deference to agency legal interpretations, and disciplining partisan gamesmanship. I suggest that when the conversation is so disciplined, an administrative law without deference to both Type I and Type II error is hard to imagine due to the high judicial costs of minimizing Type II error, but if we collectively choose to discard deference notwithstanding these costs, it would be a more sustainable political choice for administrative law than embracing the current, one-sided critique of deference.


The orientation behaviour of male codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) to a pheromone source (E8,E10-12OH, codlemone) with and without E8,Z10-12OH and/or E8,E10-12Ac was investigated in a flight tunnel using a three dimensional video recording system. Both E8,Z10-12OH and E8,E10-12Ac antagonized male attraction when their ratio to codlemone was increased to 20% and 5% respectively. An additive inhibitory effect was observed when both E8,Z10-12OH and/or E8,E10-12Ac were combined with codlemone. Male codling moth flying upwind showed different flight maneuvers in plumes containing codlemone with either E8,Z10-12OH or E8,E10-12Ac. Increasing the release rate of E8,Z10-12OH in codlemone plume to 10 pg/min ( i.e. , its ratio relative to codlemone was increased to100%) caused males to significantly reduce their flight speeds and angular velocity, similar effects were observed with E8,E10-12Ac when its release rate was increased only to 0.5 pg/min ( i.e. , its ratio relative to codlemone was increased to 5%). Both E8,Z10-12OH and E8,E10-12Ac caused males to increase their track angles as their concentrations increased in the codlemone plume. However, this effect was mainly due to the significant increase in the course angle for E8,Z10-12OH, and in the drift angle for E8,E10-12Ac. The relevance of these findings in relation to the orientation disruption of codling moth is briefly discussed.


In this thesis, four questions are answered about the nature of hydrogen fuel cell (HFC) research, demonstration and development (RD&D) activity in the UK and Germany: 1) how, when and where HFC innovation and diffusion has occurred, 2) which socio-technical factors best explain the nature and pace of HFC innovation and diffusion, 3) what would add and enrich theoretical and methodological approaches to researching HFCs within Innovation Studies, and 4) what policy options follow on from these insights. Firstly, a theoretical contribution involves a critique of the Technologically-specific Innovation Systems (TSISs) heuristic in terms of concepts of agency and structure, system delineation, system indicators and the quality of policy guidance. The knowledge gaps that are revealed suggest methodological modifications to the TSIS approach to event histories in terms of organisational funding – whether events are public, private and public-private – and geographical location should also be included in analyses of HFC innovation and diffusion. Secondly, an empirical contribution is made: the provision of two HFC Technological Innovation System (TIS) case studies from the UK and Germany. This evidence suggests sustained positive feedback between system functions is beginning to occur in this niche sector. Over time, HFC technologies are shown to coevolve and branch along certain pathways - and not others - depending upon structural barriers and enablers encountered by HFC actors. Thirdly, there is a contribution to policy based upon the empirical evidence. State actors should recognize that they can take responsibility for encouraging HFC growth and development. Empirically, public-private partnerships (PPPs), when used in combination with state procurement, were shown to offer HFC actors the greatest levels of agency when cutting unit costs and accelerating diffusion. Ultimately, there may well be hybridised or alternative forms of the TSIS heuristic that fare better in their analyses of HFC innovation and diffusion, however, future lines of HFC research using this approach are not advocated here. I have reached this conclusion because the knowledge gaps that I have identified with the TSIS heuristic are likely insurmountable given the TSIS heuristic's neofunctionalist ontology.


This paper studies the globalisation of CPI inflation by analysing core, energy and food components, testing for structural breaks in the relationships between domestic inflation and a corresponding country-specific foreign inflation series at the monthly frequency for OECD countries. The iterative methodology employed separates coefficient and variance breaks, while also taking account of outliers. We find that the overall pattern of globalisation in aggregate inflation is largely driven by convergence of the mean levels of the core component from the early 1990s, compatible with the introduction of inflation targeting in many countries of our sample. There is less evidence of increased synchronisation of shortrun movements in core than aggregate inflation, but an increased role for shortrun foreign energy inflation often contributes to the globalisation effect.


The objective of this study was to assess the difficulties experienced by Family Health Strategy nurses in implementing an educational intervention regarding developmental surveillance. A qualitative approach was used with the assistance of eleven nurses, who participated in developmental surveillance workshops in the context of Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. Data were collected from May to June 2009 and were analyzed on the basis of content analysis methodology, using the theme modality. Four thematic nuclei were identified: evaluation of the training course regarding developmental surveillance; difficult areas which hinder the application of the acquired knowledge; facilitating points provided by the course, and practice transformation based on the knowledge acquired during the training course. The study highlighted the urgency of incorporating contents that give priority to questions concerning the infants' developmental surveillance in undergraduate nursing education, as well as in the family health internship.


The mitochondrion is explicitly involved in cytoplasmic regulation and is the cell's major generator of ATP. Our aim was to determine whether mitochondria alone could influence fertilisation outcome. In vitro, oocyte competence can be assessed through the presence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) as indicated by the dye, brilliant cresyl blue (BCB). Using porcine in vitro fertilisation (IVF), we have assessed oocyte maturation, cytoplasmic volume, fertilisation outcome, mitochondrial number as determined by mtDNA copy number, and whether mitochondria are uniformly distributed between blastomeres of each embryo. After staining with BCB, we observed a significant difference in cytoplasmic volume between BCB positive (BCB+) and BCB negative (BCB-) oocytes. There was also a significant difference in mtDNA copy number between fertilised and unfertilised oocytes and unequal mitochondrial segregation between blastomeres during early cleavage stages. Furthermore, we have supplemented BCB- oocytes with mitochondria from maternal relatives and observed a significant difference in fertilisation outcomes following both IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) between supplemented, sham-injected and non-treated BCB- oocytes. We have therefore demonstrated a relationship between oocyte maturity, cytoplasmic volume, and fertilisation outcome and mitochondrial content. These data suggest that mitochondrial number is important for fertilisation outcome and embryonic development. Furthermore, a mitochondrial pre-fertilisation threshold may ensure that, as mitochondria are diluted out during post-fertilisation cleavage, there are sufficient copies of mtDNA per blastomere to allow transmission of mtDNA to each cell of the post-implantation embryo after the initiation of mtDNA replication during the early postimplantation stages.


Information systems increasingly provide options for visually inspecting data during the process of information discovery and exploration. Little research has dealt so far with user interactions with these systems, and specifically with the effects of characteristics of the displayed data and the user on performance with such systems. The study reports an experiment on users' performance with a visual exploration system. Participants had to identify target graphs within a large set of candidate graphs by using visual filtering criteria that differed in their efficiency for reducing the number of candidate graphs. A pay-off matrix and a time limit served to motivate users to select filter criteria efficiently. Performance was measured as the number of correct identifications of target graphs within a time-limit, and the number, type and position of filter criteria selected for the search. Efficiency was somewhat biased by users' preference to select filter criteria sequentially, starting from the left to the right. Rational and experiential cognitive styles affected performance, and they interacted with learning and the types of filter criteria chosen. The study shows that not only visual search tools can be used effectively but also that data and user characteristics affect task performance with such systems.


The energy consumption of the developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) continues to rise as the economic growth increases. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the consumption of the fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, and natural gas) and the renewable energy to the economic growth in the five BRICS countries. The analysis tool used was multiple linear regression using Fixed Effect Model (FEM) Method and panel data on time series from 1995 to 2014.The results showed that the consumption of fossil energy, especially coal energy, positively and significantly affects the economic growth in the BRICS countries. However the renewable energy consumption a negatively affects the economic growth in the BRICS countries.


We report the characterization of the Fc epsilon RI gamma chain which associates with the transmembrane form of CD16 to form the low affinity receptor for IgG (Fc gamma RIII) expressed on human natural killer (NK) cells. cDNA cloning and sequence analysis of Fc epsilon RI gamma from a polyclonal CD3-CD16+ NK line established that this molecule is identical to Fc epsilon RI gamma previously identified in human basophils as part of a high affinity receptor for IgE. Polymerase chain reaction analysis of Fc epsilon RI gamma gene expression in a series of CD3+CD16- and CD3-CD16+ NK clones reveals that Fc epsilon RI gamma is not directly linked to NK activity since clones of the CD3+CD16- phenotype lack Fc epsilon RI gamma RNA but nevertheless mediate cytotoxicity. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the Fc epsilon RI gamma molecule is expressed in various types within the hematopoietic system as part of multimeric surface receptors involved in different biological functions.


Background: The 2014 implementation of the Veterans Choice Program increased opportunities for Veterans to receive care in the community. Although surgical care is a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) priority, little is known about the types of surgeries provided in the VHA versus those referred to community care (CC), and whether Veterans are increasing their use of surgical care through CC with these additional opportunities. Objectives: To examine national trends across VHA facilities in the frequencies and types of surgeries provided in the VHA and through CC, and explore the association between facilities' purchase of care with rurality and surgical complexity designation. Research Design: Retrospective study using Veterans Administration (VA) outpatient and CC data from the VA's Corporate Data Warehouse (October 1, 2013–September 30, 2016). Measures: Veterans' demographics, outpatient surgeries, facility rurality, and surgical complexity. Results: Our sample included 525,283 outpatient surgeries; 79% occurred in the VHA over the study timeframe. The proportion of CC surgeries increased from 16% in October 2013 to 29% in December 2014, and then subsequently declined, leveling off at 21% in June 2016 (trend, P<0.05). These trends varied by surgery type. Increases in CC surgeries were evident for 4 surgery types: cardiovascular, digestive, eye and ocular, and male genital surgeries (all trends, P<0.05). Rural and low-complexity facilities were more likely to purchase surgical CC than their urban and high-complexity counterparts (P<0.0001). Conclusions: Although the VHA remains the primary provider of surgical care for Veterans, Veterans Choice Program implementation increased Veterans' use of CC relative to the VHA for certain types of surgeries, potentially bringing challenges to the VHA in delivering and coordinating surgical care across settings.


In this paper we consider the problem of prioritized pick-up and delivery operations under resource constraints. Our proposed formulation combines the Team Orienteering Problem with the case of Pick-up and Delivery with Time Windows and Capacity Constraints. We solved this model to optimality using an exact Branch-and-Price method, which is based on previous work. To study the performance of the solution method and its refinements, we conducted extensive computational experiments. We also applied the proposed model and method to a relevant logistic system and investigated its performance under various conditions. Finally, we present a practical method to determine the most suitable fleet configuration for a pick-up and delivery system that delivers prioritized operations to a known client base.


Background & Aims: Privacy is considered a fundamental value and one of the essential human rights that is closely with normative values, attitudes, beliefs and moral principles. Therefore, protection of patients' privacy as primary and ethical principles should be considered with all the physicians, nurses and caregivers. The study aimed to investigate the viewpoint of patients to the protection of privacy by health care practitioners of Shahid Beheshti hospital, Qom, Iran. Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted on 462 patients hospitalized in Shahid Beheshti hospital of Qom, Iran. Subjects were selected by convenient sampling method. Data collection was the privacy questionnaire. Data analyzed using the Chi-Square ، ANOVA and t- test. Results: The results of this study showed that the protection of patients' privacy was inappropriate in 19.3%, in the 48.2% was moderate and in the 32.5% was appropriate. Conclusion: According to the viewpoint of the most patients, the protection of privacy was moderate. Therefore, in order to increase the trust and satisfaction of patients and improving the provided services, the privacy of patients should be given more attention.


This paper presents a new single-ended fault-location method based on impedance measurement for distribution power systems. The algorithm, which involves an iteration estimate of the prefault voltage and least square curve fitting, provides fast and accurate fault location by comparing the calculated line reactance between the fault point and the measurement point with the known line reactance. The fault voltage and current transients measured at the measurement point are transformed into the frequency domain by the fast Fourier transform (FFT), and in order to increase the speed and accuracy of fault location, only high-frequency transient information was used. The advantages of this new method, compared with traditional single-end impedance measurement fault-location algorithms (distance protection scheme), are demonstrated both through simulation and laboratory measurements.


Modern medicine's scientific basis necessarily requires its practitioners to diagnose and treat based on a pathology's similarities rather than its differences. For a diagnosis of liver cancer, for example, the standard of care has been to treat with surgical or chemotherapeutic approaches for that tumor type. When such standard approaches fail, it is reasonable to ascribe the poor outcome to tumor- and/or patient-specific differences. In the last few decades, genetic, biochemical and informatic data have shown the diversity of cancer types suggesting new paths to treat and perhaps one day cure many cancers.


Governments and non-profit institutions increasingly are publishing data on the Internet in databases known as open data portals. The data is freely available, accessible, and used by citizens and application developers. However, there is little research about the relationship between open data portal characteristics and their effect on civic engagement. In addition to an overview of open data portals, user behavior, and civic applications, this report analyzes portal-level panel data across 36 months and 14 portals to estimate the effects of portal characteristics on civic engagement. Results show that portals with frequently updated data experience more civic engagement. These empirical findings validate the open data principle of timeliness, and are important for policy-makers designing open data policies to maximize the potential for users to add value to open data.


Hong Kong's autonomy within China is akin to a house built on sand. This article examines how Hong Kong's autonomy has weathered the waves over the years by adopting a news events analysis approach, documenting the Hong Kong government and the CCP-state's divergence from the autonomy, democratization, and human rights provisions of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law since 1997. The case study of Hong Kong indicates the profound challenge of practicing territorial autonomy within a communist state and points to a new research direction for conducting comparative autonomies studies across communist and post-communist states.


Introduction. The astroblastoma is an uncommon type ofglial tumour. It accounts for less than 1% of all tumours of the central nervous system. It originates in the tanicytes, ependymal cells present in the embryo and usually seen in adolescents and young adults. Radiologically it presents as a well-delimited, heterogeneous tumour with a solid component which takes up contrast and is cystic, giving the same signal as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The pathological characteristics are of the formation of radial astroblastic pseudorosettes with perivascular hyalinization. Case report. An 18 year old woman presented with a 15 month history ofmotor deficit of her right limbs with occasional left frontal headache and horizontal diplopia on looking towards the left. On examination there was minimal claudication of the right limbs and bilateral papilloedema. Magnetic resonance showed a very well circumscribed left prefrontal neoplasm of heterogeneous aspect, with areas of solid and cystic appearance in the different sequences. The area of cystic appearance did not show the CSF signal in all sequences of the pulse. The tumour was totally excised. On histological study there were radial astroblastic pseudorosettes with perivascular hyalinization, with two mitoses per 10 fields of great magnification and the final diagnosis wasoflow grade astroblastoma. The apparently cystic portion was composed offriable gelatinous tissue. Fifteen months after her operation the patient is still asymptomatic. Conclusion. We report the radiological and pathological findings of a low grade astroblastoma.


This article explores the impact of consumers' regulatory goals on their relative focus on hedonic (versus utilitarian) benefits of products. Drawing from extant literature, we argue that promotion-focused consumers will exhibit more favorable attitude towards a product when its hedonic benefits are highlighted in comparison to its utilitarian benefits. Prevention-focused consumers on the other hand will exhibit more favorable attitude towards a product when its utilitarian benefits are highlighted in comparison to its hedonic benefits. We further argue that this effect is moderated by contextual factors, such as evaluation mode. In addition, we argue that the posited difference only holds when the hedonic and utilitarian products are evaluated individually. When the two products are evaluated jointly, both promotion and prevention-focused individuals will exhibit more favorable attitude towards the hedonic product. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses and findings supported our predictions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) (CCr less than 20 ml/min), we have previously demonstrated greater rates of Na excretion (ex) when Na intake was nearly all NaHCO3 as compared to NaCl (both 200 mEq Na daily). Chloride (Cl) wasting on NaHCO3 (with severe Cl restriction) occurred, however, and may in part explain the results. To avoid Cl restriction in 6 patients with CRF (CCr 10-15 ml/min) on an estimated 10 mEq Na and Cl diet, electrolyte ex was compared on NaCl supplements of 200 mEq/day versus a daily mixture of NaHCO3 (100mEq) and NaCl (100 mEq). Periods on NaCl and the mixture lasted 4 days (order randomized) separated by re-equilibration to baseline weight (wt). Mean +/- SEM ex of Na, Cl, HCO3 mEq/day and CCr and deltawt (lbs) are compared below for the 4th day of NaCl vs NaHCO3 intake. (see article). Also there were no significant differences in K excretion, blood pressure, or plasma renin activities. Mean serum HCO3 increased from 21.2 to 25.8 mEq/l (day 1 vs 5, P less than 0.01) reflecting the net positive HCO3 balance on the mixture indicated above. Thus increments of Na intake above a fixed NaCl intake were excreted similarly whether given as NaCl or NaHCO3. Greater Na ex on NaHCO3 may depend on severe Cl restriction and/or higher serum HCO3 levels. If dietary NaCl intakes are near maximum tolerance, NaHCO3 supplementation should be accompanied by reductions in NaCl intake to maintain Na balance,


A facultatively anaerobic, Gram-stain-positive, spore-forming Bacillus strain, 17-SMS-01T, isolated from spent mushroom substrate in the Fangshan District, Beijing, PR China, was initially identified as a Bacillus cereus group species based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. Strain 17-SMS-01T had the highest sequence similarities to Bacillus wiedmannii FSL W8-0169T (99.9 %), Bacillus albus N35-10-2T (99.9 %), Bacillus luti TD41T (99.9 %) and Bacillus proteolyticus TD42T (99.9 %). However, the average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) values between strain 17-SMS-01T and the most closely related species were less than the previously proposed cut-off values of 96 % (ANI) and 70 % (DDH) for differentiating species within the genus, suggesting that this strain represents a novel Bacillus group species. The fatty acid profile of strain 17-SMS-01T, which showed a predominance of iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0, supported the allocation of the strain to the genus Bacillus. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7 (100%). The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl glycerol, an unidentified aminophospholiped and unidentified lipids. The DNA G+C content of the novel strain was 35.0 mol%. The results of physiological and biochemical tests also allowed the phenotypic differentiation of strain 17-SMS-01T from the most closely related recognized species. On the basis of the phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence, strain 17-SMS-01T represents a novel Bacillus species, for which the name Bacillus fungorum sp. nov. is proposed. Type strain of the novel species is 17-SMS-01T (=MCCC 1K03483T=KCTC 33949T).


Purpose
Partial alignment for 3 D point sets is a challenging problem for laser calibration and robot calibration due to the unbalance of data sets, especially when the overlap of data sets is low. Geometric features can promote the accuracy of alignment. However, the corresponding feature extraction methods are time consuming. The purpose of this paper is to find a framework for partial alignment by an adaptive trimmed strategy.

Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors propose an adaptive trimmed strategy based on point feature histograms (PFH) coding. Second, they obtain an initial transformation based on this partition, which improves the accuracy of the normal direction weighted trimmed iterative closest point (ICP) method. Third, they conduct a series of GPU parallel implementations for time efficiency.

Findings
The initial partition based on PFH feature improves the accuracy of the partial registration significantly. Moreover, the parallel GPU algorithms accelerate the alignment process.

Research limitations/implications
This study is applicable to rigid transformation so far. It could be extended to non-rigid transformation.

Practical implications
In practice, point set alignment for calibration is a technique widely used in the fields of aircraft assembly, industry examination, simultaneous localization and mapping and surgery navigation.

Social implications
Point set calibration is a building block in the field of intelligent manufacturing.

Originality/value
The contributions are as follows: first, the authors introduce a novel coarse alignment as an initial calibration by PFH descriptor similarity, which can be viewed as a coarse trimmed process by partitioning the data to the almost overlap part and the rest part; second, they reduce the computation time by GPU parallel coding during the acquisition of feature descriptor; finally, they use the weighted trimmed ICP method to refine the transformation.


In this study, the samples of the populations from the Ankara and Bursa regions have been examined, for the first time, from the comparative taxonomic point of view. After comparison of the two separate populations, which are quite far away from each other, it has been seen that the above mentioned populations do not show important differences from each other at the species level. However, some nuance in body size have been noticed between these two populations. Hence, we may say that P. muralis populations in the Ankara and Bursa regions are not different from the nominate subspecies (P.m. muralis).


The ESAT-6 (early secretory antigenic target) molecule is a very important target for T cell recognition during infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although ESAT-6 contains numerous potential T cell epitopes, the immune response during infection is often focused toward a few immunodominant epitopes. By immunization with individual overlapping synthetic peptides in cationic liposomes (cationic adjuvant formulation, CAF01) we demonstrate that the ESAT-6 molecule contains several subdominant epitopes that are not recognized in H-2d/b mice either during tuberculosis infection or after immunization with ESAT-6/CAF01. Immunization with a truncated ESAT-6 molecule (Δ15ESAT-6) that lacks the immunodominant ESAT-61–15 epitope refocuses the response to include T cells directed to these subdominant epitopes. After aerosol infection of immunized mice, T cells directed to both dominant (ESAT-6-immunized) and subdominant epitopes (Δ15ESAT-6-immunized) proliferate and are recruited to the lung. The vaccine-promoted response consists mainly of double- (TNF-α and IL-2) or triple-positive (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2) polyfunctional T cells. This polyfunctional quality of the CD4+ T cell response is maintained unchanged even during the later stages of infection, whereas the naturally occurring infection stimulates a response to the ESAT-61–15 epitope that consist almost exclusively of CD4+ effector T cells. ESAT-6 and Δ15ESAT-6 both give significant protection against aerosol challenge with tuberculosis, but the most efficient protection against pulmonary infection is mediated by the subdominant T cell repertoire primed by Δ15ESAT-6.


Glycoside hydrolases (GHs) are very important enzymes that can catalyze the breakdown of the glycosidic bonds between carbohydrates and non-carbohydrates to synthesize GOS prebiotic sugars and hydrolyze lactose in the dairy industry. GOS can stimulate the growth of gut microbiota to have beneficial health effects in the host. The current work investigated molecular modelling and lactose substrate docking of a thermostable GH family 1 from Caldivirga maquilingensis strain IC-167 and determined its mechanism for GOS synthesis. The 3D model structure obtained from the Swiss model analysis tool revealed that GH 1 from Caldivirga maquilingensis was a tetramer with a catalytic pocket at the center of each monomer. The overall quality of the model was 93%. When lactose was docked in the catalytic site using AutoDock Vina software, the catalytic amino acid residues were identified to be Glu 387 and Glu 209 which acted as nucleophile and acid/base residues respectively. Other amino acid residues like His 153, Gln 19, Glu 432, Ala 266, Asn 267, Ser 268 and Trp 433 were also found to be surrounding the catalytic site and playing an essential role in ligand binding and recognition of the lactose substrate for GOS synthesis. These findings offer an understanding of how enzyme protein structure determines catalytic specificity, which serves as new knowledge basis to engineer GH 1 from C. maquilingensis for the biosynthesis of GOS with a broad or narrow degree of polymerization range.


Management science is based on the idea of an economic agent who seeks to maximise his personal interest, i.e. the so-called homo economicus. The bodies of academic literature of finance and marketing rely mainly on this fundamental hypothesis. However, recent developments during the last decade in these two domains such as in other management domains have highlighted the taking into account of collective actors or of actors who are more driven by collective than individual interests. This paper focuses on the need of new principles for the action for the consumer based on ethic, out of the market.


The focus of this article is the mind-body problem in mainstream modern psychology examined from a decolonial perspective. The construction of the idea of the separation of mind and body is a seminal point of division of labor in the history of modern capitalism. This division perpetuated by the mind-body dualism idea was necessary to justify the enslavement of some and employment to others. Colonization processes have had profound importance on the mind, feelings, behaviors, and political settings. Throughout its history, the subject treated in EuroAmerican psychology has sought to deal with the mind-body problem as an individual, a separate entity, not as part of the psyche as a whole. A new perspective where the mind and body play an intertwined role is necessary considering subjectivity in a cultural-historical approach. The subjective level is defined by the unification between symbolical and emotional cultural processes. The body (emotions) operates in conjunction with the culture and, when amalgamated, constitutes what we entitle as subjectivity. An ontology defines the assumptions that lie under a cosmovision and sustains a way of seeing, feeling, thinking, and acting with oneself, others, and the whole living world. It is what defines the real. The trajectory of this paper is an invitation to shed light from a decolonial perspective on social inequality concerning the present crises of humanity. The consequences of social inequality expressed today indicate the difficulties created by the dichotomy of mind and body.


Most of the land in developing and developed countries is privately owned. When private landowners make decisions on land use, other stakeholders are affected. How can we design and fund financial mechanisms that encourage landowners to manage their resources in a manner that benefits society? This article reflects on the experiences of KfW in supporting such mechanisms in Latin America, a continent that has been particularly active in developing innovative approaches to conservation. It identifies three major challenges – the institutional requirements of setting up such mechanisms, the sustainability of impacts on the farm level, and the potential to expand environmental impacts by improving cost effectiveness.


ABSTRACT Shopping has long been recognized as an indispensable tourist activity. Hong Kong's open-air markets, where a multitude of bargaining activities can be observed, ranked as the second most popular of the island territory's diverse range of attractions in 2008 in terms of tourist arrivals. To develop cutting-edge marketing strategies that promote tourists' enjoyment of their bargaining adventure and ultimately enhance the overall shopping experience, the study reported in this article was aimed at identifying the dimensions underlying tourists' perceptions of the importance of 18 bargaining motivators and 12 bargaining attitudes and types of bargaining behavior, respectively, and subsequently evaluating the predictability of these underlying dimensions on tourists' shopping contentment indicators (overall bargaining satisfaction, the likelihood of a subsequent visit, and the likelihood of recommending open-air markets to others). A non-probability quota sampling technique was used to survey 203 Asian and non-Asian tourists in Hong Kong. A multivariate approach encompassing factor analysis and multiple regression was employed: Factor analysis delineated four underlying dimensions of factors affecting bargaining intentions. "Value for money" was shown to be the factor rated most important to tourists' bargaining intention; similarly, two underlying dimensions of bargaining attitudes and behavior—"bargain for psychological well-being" and "bargaining intensity"—were identified. Multiple regression results indicated the statistical significance of "bargaining for psychological well-being" and "bargaining intensity" to the existence of positive relations between shopping contentment indicators.


The potential of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) for monitoring phenological cycles in semi-arid lands has been demonstrated in this study. Attention was focused on two areas located only a few kilometres apart but across the political border between the Negev (Israel) and Sinai (Egypt). Although the areas are identical from the pedological, geomorphological, and climatic points of view, due to different land management, the Negev is under a continuous rehabilitation process while Sinai is under a desertification process. Four years of digital data were used to compute the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperatures (LST) over two sampling polygons. The NDVI was used to monitor the vegetation reaction to rainfall, while LST proved to be a good indicator of seasonal climatic fluctuations. Using these biological and physical variables, the potential for following the vegetation dynamics throughout the year was demonstrated. Through cluster analysis, it was shown that the movements of the Sinai desertified side in the LST-NDVI space are only due to seasonal climatic fluctuations. On the Israeli recovered side, on the other hand, three different parts of the annual ecological cycle of the indigenous vegetation are evident: the dry season in which plants reduce their activity, the rainy season, and a growing season characterised by relatively intense biological activity. Within the LST-NDVI space it was also shown that Sinai is positioned similarly to the Sahara biome and the Negev similarly to the Sahel biome. Finally, LST-NDVI data were used to estimate phenological parameters that can be exploited for defining protection policies or, on the long term, for climate change studies.


. Due to high barriers to conduct housing market research, many home sellers opt to go to the market with asymmetric information or invest large sums of money into hiring a professional. This research aims to reduce these inefficiencies by proposing a framework that provides sellers with a concrete recommendation on optimal time and price to sell a home to maximize financial gains. The core data used in this research is the NOVA Home Price dataset, which contains 34,973 house listings over multiple years in Northern Virginia. A pipeline of machine learning models, including a linear regression, random forest, XGboost and artificial neural network are trained and evaluated for performance on predicting home close prices. The final model employed is an ensemble of random forest and XGboost and is tested on both a holdout set of Northern Virginia data as well as real estate data scraped from Zillow to introduce some variance. To control for future economic trends, a long-short-term memory model is then trained using temporal data from the Federal Reserve. Finally, the algorithm distills the insights from the disparate models to provide recommendations on optimal time and price to go to market, as well as short-term investments to increase potential gains from sale. The study finds that home features coupled with macro-economic trends can offer home sellers strong recommendations on optimal time and price to list homes. This research is preliminary and should be used as a baseline for future studies.


Elevated plasma levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) have been proposed as a diet-derived biomarker of cardiometabolic disease risk. Caloric restriction is the most common dietary intervention used to improve cardiometabolic health; however, novel trends suggest a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) as a more feasible alternative. FMD is a variation of intermittent fasting, based on caloric restriction and limitation of protein sources of animal origin, applied in daily cycles during a 5-day period. As TMAO is intensively produced by gut microbiota after the consumption of animal-derived products, we aim to investigate whether a 5-day FMD affects plasma TMAO levels and markers of metabolic health. To investigate whether an increase in vegetable intake possesses similar effects on TMAO levels and metabolic parameters, healthy volunteers (n = 24) were subjected to a 5-day FMD and 19 volunteers served as a reference group (VEG). This group of volunteers consumed an additional four servings of vegetables per day, but otherwise stayed on their usual diet. FMD resulted in a twofold decrease in plasma TMAO levels, which was not evident in the volunteers from the VEG group. Moreover, FMD led to a weight loss of 2.8 ± 0.2 kg and a subsequent reduction in BMI compared to baseline. The FMD group exhibited a significant elevation in plasma ketone bodies (14-fold compared to baseline) and a decrease in IGF-1 levels by 37 ± 8 ng/mL. Since fasting glucose and C-peptide levels decreased, all volunteers in the FMD group showed improved insulin sensitivity and a decreased HOMA-IR index. In contrast, in the VEG group, only a slight reduction in plasma levels of fasting glucose and triglycerides was noted. In conclusion, we show that FMD is a viable strategy to reduce plasma levels of TMAO by limiting caloric intake and animal-derived protein consumption. The reduction in the level of TMAO could be an additional benefit of FMD, leading to a reduced risk of cardiometabolic diseases.


Background: Activities of daily living (ADL) deficits are integral components of dementia disorders, and ADL measures are among the most robust markers of the course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite this acknowledged importance, no clearly useful ADL instrument for cross-cultural application in pharmacologic trials in the early stages of AD had been available. Method: An international effort was launched to develop an ADL scale for pharmacologic trials in early AD. Steps taken from 1990 to the present included: (1) international scientific working group meetings and reviews, (2) reviews of existing measures, (3) collating of existent, nonredundant items, (4) querying experts for new items, (5) interviews with informants and subjects in the USA, France, and Germany, toward the identification of potential new items, (6) identification of an item pool based upon these procedures, (7) creation of a trial instrument, (8) piloting of this instrument, and (9) refinement of the scale based upon statistical analysis of the pilot data. Final item selection was based upon: (1) relevance for ≥ 80% of subjects in severity-stratified USA and German samples; (2) absence of gender and national biases; (3) significant (p < .05) discrimination between (a) normal versus mildly impaired and (b) mildly impaired versus moderately to moderately severely impaired subjects; and (4) Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) scores accounting for ≥ 12% of variance in the item after controlling for age and gender. Results: An ADL scale consisting of 40 items that correlate with the global and cognitive progress of AD is developed for international usage in pharmacologic trials in incipient, mild, moderate, and moderately severe AD. The scale contains 40 items falling within 13 ADL categories. The 40-item scale is shown to have .81 correlation with GDS staging,.81 with mental status assessment (Mini-Mental State Examination), and .81 with a psychometric test (the SKT) (p values < .001). Conclusion: This scale can be used to measure therapeutic response in AD.


Amino acids are ubiquitous components of living organisms and as a result they are widely distributed on the surface of the Earth. Whereas only 20 amino acids are found in proteins, a much more diverse mixture of amino acids has been detected in carbonaceous meteorites. Amino acids in living organisms consist exclusively of the L-enantiomers, but in meteorites, amino acids with chiral carbons are present as racemic mixtures. Protein amino acids undergo a variety of diagenetic reactions that produce some other amino acids but not the unique amino acids present in meteorites. Nevertheless, trace quantities of meteoritic amino acids may occur on the Earth, either as a result of bolide impact or from the capture of cosmic dust particles. The ensemble of amino acids present on the early Earth before life existed was probably similar to those in prebiotic experiments and meteorites. This generates a question about why the L-amino acids on which life is based were selected.


In the last two decades several simulation systems were developed to provide
information about temporal and spatial variations of fire spread and behaviour. FARSITE
(Fire Area Simulator), one of the most common simulators, is a spatially and temporally
explicit fire simulation system. The simulator is based on Rothermel's fire spread model,
and describes the fire spread and behaviour as a function of relationships among fuels,
topography and weather conditions. The use of FARSITE on areas different from those
where the simulator was originally developed requires a local calibration in order to
produce reliable results. This is particularly true for the Mediterranean ecosystems,
where plant communities are characterized by high specific and structural heterogeneity
and complexity, determined by the interaction of sub-arid Mediterranean climate and
human factors. Therefore, to perform FARSITE calibration, the choice of the appropriate
standard fuel models or the development of specific custom fuel models are required. In
addition, the capabilities of FARSITE simulator can be affected by other environmental
characteristics, as complex steep terrains with the resulting high spatial and temporal
variability of wind speed and direction.
In this work, FARSITE was employed to simulate spread and behaviour of four
real fires occurred in North Sardinia during 2003, 2004 and 2006 summer seasons. The
effect of fuel models, weather conditions and topography on the accuracy of FARSITE
simulations was evaluated in order to assess the capabilities of the simulator in
accurately forecasting the fire spread and behaviour in areas covered by Mediterranean
maquis. A custom fuel model, designed and developed by our working group for maquis,
provided realistic values of simulated fire behaviour. Improvements on the accuracy of
both fire spread and behaviour were also obtained using raster maps of wind speed and
direction. The results confirm that the use of both accurate wind field data and
appropriate custom fuel models is crucial to obtain accurate simulations of fire
behaviour occurring on Mediterranean vegetation during the drought season, when
most wildfires occur.


As part of a research collaboration between the Department of Mechanics and Energetics of the University of Naples Federico II (IT) and NewRail Newcastle University Centre for Railway Research (UK) has been conducted a study on the applicability of composite materials for the crashworthiness design of a train cab. The preliminary phase of work has involved the study of issues related to railway accidents and safety standards for passengers imposed by European Standards. In the next phase, we addressed the problem of redesigning the structure of an existing cab in order to reach a solution that, at the same performance, is able to increase the payload and decrease manufacturing and maintenance costs.. For this purpose, composite materials, metallic and non, has been chosen with few traditional metallic material to create virtual structures, since they are very performance and characterize by very high specific absorption energy. After a thorough comparative analysis of the characteristics of strength, energy absorption capability and applicability to a particular component of the many materials tested, it has been selected those more suitable for this purpose: mild steel, GRP, balsa wood and rigid polyurethane foam wrapped in FRP. For components made by these materials, except those made by the balsa wood, tests of mechanical characterization, needed to be able to model the correct behaviour before moving on to the stage of numerical simulations, were conducted. It has followed a consistent simulation activities with the finite element code LS-DYNA ®, to reproduce, on the individual components in each design, the impact conditions prescribed by the regulations EN15227, and, on the whole structure, the load conditions prescribed by EN12663. It has been possible to define the solution that better respond to the specified requirements, by comparing the behavioral responses of the different solutions hypothesized. The next work will consist in verifying, by static and dynamic tests on full scale prototypes of the optimized structures, the compliance between numerical and experimental results.


In liver transplantation, activation of NFkappaB occurs upon reperfusion, yet few data exist regarding NFkappaB activation during cold ischemia. We hypothesized that activation of NFkappaB may initially occur during cold ischemia, prior to reperfusion, and serve as an important determinant of postreperfusion function. To test this hypothesis, serial biopsies during porcine liver harvest were obtained immediately upon laparotomy, upon completion of dissection, after 45 and 120 min of cold ischemia, and 60 and 180 min after reperfusion. Nuclear extracts were isolated for Western blot analysis of NFkappaB. Hepatic function was assessed through bile output and sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) activity. NFkappaB expression was maximal at 45 min of cold ischemia and decreased by 120 min. The expression at 120 min of cold ischemia correlated with markers of postreperfusion function, namely bile flow and SDH activity. During reperfusion a second distinct peak occurred at 180 min. Increased expression of NFkappaB at 180 min of reperfusion correlated directly with prior expression at 120 min during cold ischemia and with increased SDH activity. These data indicate that nuclear expression of NFkappaB demonstrate two distinct peaks of activity, one during cold ischemia and one after reperfusion. Enhanced expression of NFkappaB during cold ischemia not only correlates directly with NFkappaB expression during reperfusion, but also correlates inversely with postreperfusion graft function.


Transfer learning aims at transferring knowledge from a well-labeled domain to a similar but different domain with limited or no labels. Unfortunately, existing learning-based methods often involve intensive model selection and hyperparameter tuning to obtain good results. Moreover, cross-validation is not possible for tuning hyperparameters since there are often no labels in the target domain. This would restrict wide applicability of transfer learning especially in computationally-constraint devices such as wearables. In this paper, we propose a practically Easy Transfer Learning (EasyTL) approach which requires no model selection and hyperparameter tuning, while achieving competitive performance. By exploiting intra-domain structures, EasyTL is able to learn both non-parametric transfer features and classifiers. Extensive experiments demonstrate that, compared to state-of-the-art traditional and deep methods, EasyTL satisfies the Occam's Razor principle: it is extremely easy to implement and use while achieving comparable or better performance in classification accuracy and much better computational efficiency. Additionally, it is shown that EasyTL can increase the performance of existing transfer feature learning methods.


Introduction: To draw a general picture of the current Iranian-law and Shiah Fiqh position as to the Assisted Reproduction: -whether allowed or not, and, to show how and what changes could occur in this field. Materials and Methods: Examination of the Iranian legislation and judicial decisions, consideration of jurisprudential verdicts of the eminent Shiah jurists and interpretation of the original sources of Shiah-Islamic law: Quran and Tradition of the Prophet of Islam and Twelve Shiah Imams, by the method of ljtehad. Results: 1Lack of clear and comprehensive legislation and guiding judicial decisions: no obvious enactment exists to determine whether or not the ART specialists and Medical centres are allowed to apply these techniques where sperm, egg and fertilized egg donation are concerned, 2existence of different opinions between the authoritative religious jurists in permitting the use of these techniques, and 3emergence of extensive divergence between the jurisprudential scholars in interpreting the original sources of the jurisprudence (Fiqh) which would naturally affect the legislative authority and the courts when dealing with the case. Conclusion: These results show that the position of the Iranian law is currently complicated, at least, where the case of sperm, egg and embryo donation is concerned and it is feared that the courts might decide differently if a case of such kind arise before them. This suggests that the Iranian authorities should interfere in this area of the law to provide a new legislation. Examination of the verdicts published by the current eminent Shiah jurists show that some cases, such as egg and fertilized egg donation, could be allowed religiously, although the sperm donation is somewhat complicated. However, it is suggested that the authorized authorities are to consider legal problems and social reflections arising out of using donated sperm, egg and fertilized egg when allowing these techniques


The aim of this study was to analyse the comments and judgments of special education teachers concerning the use and efficacy of Social Stories™ as a social skills intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in mainstream boys' schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Specifically, the study focused on the usefulness of Social Stories™ in improving three types of daily social interaction which children with ASD encounter in
mainstream schools in Riyadh: greeting people, playing with friends, and talking with friends at snack time. The study was informed by Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978), and was founded on the hypothesis that Social Stories™ can serve as an intervention to improve the social capacity of children with ASD in a supportive school setting The study explored the perceptions of 15 special needs teachers' using semi-structured interviews and focused on three case studies of children with ASD at two mainstream boys' schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The interviews provided qualitative information about the
use of Social Stories™ for children with ASD. The information gained was categorised into eight themes: the concept; source of Social Stories™; methods of display; use as a social intervention; benefits and drawbacks; barriers to use; cultural and contextual considerations;
and factors contributing to best use. The case studies also tracked the children's social skills over a period of 15-17 weeks and were used to evaluate the efficacy of Social Stories™ as a behavioural skills intervention.
Overall, the findings from the interviews and the case studies found that Social Stories™ displayed some effectiveness in improving the social skills of children with ASD, whether the stories were used independently or combined with other methods. The evidence indicated
that the teachers were clear about the purpose of Social Stories™ as well as possible benefits, drawbacks and barriers around their use in the classroom. They were aware of specific cultural considerations influencing the implementation and acquisition of the stories. They
also recognised various approaches to incorporating Social Stories™ in their classrooms and considered the children's specific educational needs and interests when using them. The findings of the study contributed to understanding of the use of Social Stories™ in the Middle East in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular. This study suggests a tentative framework for evaluating Social Stories™ to ensure their appropriateness for the culture and environment of Saudi Arabia, and provides a piloted mechanism to evaluate both the written and visual content of a given Social Story™ under that cultural lens. Suggestions based on the study are offered to both the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia and to teachers
working with children with ASD (in Saudi Arabia and beyond) for the development of best practices in the use of Social Stories™ as a behavioural intervention. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.


For practical operation, it is necessary to know how the solidification of liquid steel progresses i.e. when and where a strand has completely solidified. Decisions on, the casting speed, the spray water flow rates and super-heating in the tundish can only be made with the knowledge of the solidification progress. This paper describes the theoretical phenomena of the cooling inside the mould and in the seccmdary cooling zone. To achieve this a mathematical unsteady, two dimensional heat conduction model has been developed for computing the temperature field and to study the effect of casting parameters on the metallurgical properties during bar solidification. The predicted solidified thickness profile in the mould region was compared with the measured profile and good agreement has been established.


Aims. We address the variability of the quiet solar chromosphere at 1.26 mm and 3 mm with a focus on the study of spatially resolved oscillations and transient brightenings, which are small, weak events of energy release. Both phenomena may have a bearing on the heating of the chromosphere.
Methods. We used Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the quiet Sun at 1.26 mm and 3 mm. The spatial and temporal resolution of the data were 1 − 2″ and 1 s, respectively. The concatenation of light curves from different scans yielded a frequency resolution in spectral power of 0.5−0.6 mHz. At 1.26 mm, in addition to power spectra of the original data, we degraded the images to the spatial resolution of the 3 mm images and used fields of view that were equal in area for both data sets. The detection of transient brightenings was made after the effect of oscillations was removed.
Results. At both frequencies, we detected p-mode oscillations in the range 3.6−4.4 mHz. The corrections for spatial resolution and field of view at 1.26 mm decreased the root mean square (rms) of the oscillations by a factor of 1.6 and 1.1, respectively. In the corrected data sets, the oscillations at 1.26 mm and 3 mm showed brightness temperature fluctuations of ∼1.7 − 1.8% with respect to the average quiet Sun, corresponding to 137 and 107 K, respectively. We detected 77 transient brightenings at 1.26 mm and 115 at 3 mm. Although their majority occurred in the cell interior, the occurrence rate per unit area of the 1.26 mm events was higher than that of the 3 mm events; this conclusion does not change if we take into account differences in spatial resolution and noise levels. The energy associated with the transient brightenings ranged from 1.8 × 1023 to 1.1 × 1026 erg and from 7.2 × 1023 to 1.7 × 1026 erg for the 1.26 mm and 3 mm events, respectively. The corresponding power-law indices of the energy distribution were 1.64 and 1.73. We also found that ALMA bright network structures corresponded to dark mottles or spicules that can be seen in broadband Hα images from the GONG network.
Conclusions. The fluctuations associated with the p-mode oscillations represent a fraction of 0.55−0.68 of the full power spectrum. Their energy density at 1.26 mm is 3 × 10−2 erg cm−3. The computed low-end energy of the 1.26 mm transient brightenings is among the smallest ever reported, irrespective of the wavelength of the observation. Although the occurrence rate per unit area of the 1.26 mm transient brightenings was higher than that of the 3 mm events, their power per unit area is smaller likely due to the detection of many weak 1.26 mm events.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To describe oncology nurses' understandings of the function and infrastructure of, current level of participation in, and advantages and disadvantages to conducting research through cancer cooperative groups (CCGs).

DESIGN
Descriptive.

SETTING
Cross-sectional, Web-based needs assessment.

SAMPLE
Doctorally prepared Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) members (n = 962), ONS Clinical Trial Nurses Special Interest Group members (n = 568), and a random sample of master's-prepared ONS members (n = 2,000) for a total of 3,530 ONS members.

METHODS
A 28-item questionnaire was distributed via e-mail.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Familiarity with different cooperative groups, understanding about their functions and infrastructures, and perceived advantages and disadvantages of and barriers to conducting research through cooperative groups.

FINDINGS
Fifty-four percent of respondents reported being very familiar with cooperative groups, and 19% reported having no knowledge about their functions and infrastructures. Attending meetings and enrolling patients were the most frequently cited activities. Limited funding and time, lack of opportunities, perception that CCGs are too political, and lack of receptivity for nursing research were identified as barriers to conducting research within cooperative groups.

CONCLUSIONS
ONS members' self-described roles correlated to their participation in CCGs. Of respondents who had the education and qualifications with which to lead clinical trials as principal investigators, few reported successful collaborations with conducting research through CCGs.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Although respondents reported more advantages than disadvantages to conducting research through CCGs, they did not report a high level of involvement, such as taking the lead in conducting research. Respondents expressed interest in learning more about conducting research within cooperative groups.


Freezing events have devastating impacts on crops around the world. Climate change is resulting in more extreme freezing events as well as an increase in winter warm periods and shorter winters which can alter the process of acclimation and deacclimation leading to greater freezing susceptibility. Genes involved in freezing tolerance therefore need to be targeted by crop breeders to improve crop resistance to these events. The CBF family is one of these potential targets due to their presence across the Spermatophyta, including crop species, and their role in acclimation as transcription factors which activate cold response (COR) genes, thereby increasing freezing tolerance. Plants adapted to environments with frequent and very low temperature freezing events, such as arctic and alpine locations may, therefore, already possess modifications to these genes which improve freezing tolerance. The ability of native, dominant cover species to endure and adapt to these climatic changes can also be investigated via the study of variation within CBF over a species range.
CBF sequences were isolated from numerous arctic and alpine species. Several common polymorphisms in key CBF regions were identified and applied to Arabidopsis thaliana CBF1. The effect upon freezing tolerance and CRT/DRE activation of these modified A. thaliana CBF1 sequences were then tested. No definitive conclusions could be drawn, however potential routes of further investigation are highlighted and discussed.
CBF sequences of Empetrum nigrum samples from a wide distribution and both high and low altitude were compared, no differences between sequences which correlated with sample location, were found. However preliminary expression studies indicated a difference in the kinetics of CBF expression between samples from different locations. Further study of CBF expression kinetics within this species is highly recommended.
Routes of further exploration leading to potential targets for crops are discussed, alongside suggested routes of further investigation for Empetrum nigrum and Calluna vulgaris.


Each of these chapters contains a case study of a couple from the relevant country. Each includes a description of the everyday life of the couple with respect to the division of housework and childcare, a recounting of the history of their relationship and how it became equal, a discussion of how they balance paid work and family, and an analysis of the factors that facilitate their equality. Those factors include their conviction in gender equality, their rejection of essentialist beliefs, their familism, and their socialization in their families of origin. By showing how and why they undo gender, these couples provide lessons on how equality at home can be achieved.


Using experience with treatment young hikikomori from Nagoya University in Japan, the authors study the context and effects of online consultation (by telephone or email). This modality of therapy only works if it is a continuation of an already-established transference relation. Certain conditions are necessary to get it started, among them a minimum respect for the setting. Online consultations can be beneficial when they favor a mediating object and re-introduce a social dimension into the private world of the hikikomori.


In this paper, we propose a new deep hashing (DH) approach to learn compact binary codes for large scale visual search. Unlike most existing binary codes learning methods which seek a single linear projection to map each sample into a binary vector, we develop a deep neural network to seek multiple hierarchical non-linear transformations to learn these binary codes, so that the nonlinear relationship of samples can be well exploited. Our model is learned under three constraints at the top layer of the deep network: 1) the loss between the original real-valued feature descriptor and the learned binary vector is minimized, 2) the binary codes distribute evenly on each bit, and 3) different bits are as independent as possible. To further improve the discriminative power of the learned binary codes, we extend DH into supervised DH (SDH) by including one discriminative term into the objective function of DH which simultaneously maximizes the inter-class variations and minimizes the intra-class variations of the learned binary codes. Experimental results show the superiority of the proposed approach over the state-of-the-arts.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the polymerization behavior and depth of cure (DOC) of recently introduced resin composites for posterior use: highly filled flowable composite and composites for bulk fill. A highly filled flowable (G-aenial Universal Flo [GUF]), two bulk-fill flowables (Surefil SDR Flow [SDR] and Venus Bulk fill [VBF]), and a bulk-fill nonflowable composite (Tetric N-Ceram Bulk fill [TBF]) were compared with two conventional composites (Tetric Flow [TF], Filtek Supreme Ultra [FS]). Linear polymerization shrinkage and polymerization shrinkage stress were each measured with custom-made devices. To evaluate DOC, the composite specimen was prepared using a mold with a hole of 4 mm depth and 4 mm internal diameter. The hole was bulk filled with each of the six composites and light cured for 20 seconds, followed by 24 hours of water storage. The surface hardness was measured on the top and the bottom using a Vickers microhardness (HV) indenter. The linear polymerization shrinkage of the composite specimens after photo-initiation decreased in the following order: TF and GUF > VBF > SDR > FS and TBF (p<0.05). The polymerization shrinkage stress of the six composite groups decreased in the following order: GUF > TF and VBF > SDR > FS and TBF (p<0.05). The mean bottom surface HV of SDR and VBF exceeded 80% of the top surface HV (HV-80%). However, the bottom of GUF and TBF failed to reach HV-80%. A highly filled flowable (GUF) revealed limitations in polymerization shrinkage and DOC. Bulk-fill flowables (SDR and VBF) were properly cured in 4-mm bulk, but they shrank more than the conventional nonflowable composite. A bulk-fill nonflowable (TBF) showed comparable shrinkage to the conventional nonflowable composite, but it was not sufficiently cured in the 4-mm bulk.


The aim of the article is to construct an asymptotically consistent test, based on a subsampling approach, to verify hypothesis about existence of the individual or common deterministic cycle in coordinates of multivariate macroeconomic time series. By the deterministic cycle we mean the periodic or almost periodic fluctuations in the mean function in cyclical fluctuations. To construct test we formulate a multivariate non-parametric model containing the business cycle component in the unconditional mean function. The construction relies on the Fourier representation of the unconditional expectation of the multivariate Almost Periodically Correlated time series and is related to fixed deterministic cycle presented in the literature. The analysis of the existence of common deterministic business cycles for selected European countries is presented based on monthly industrial production indexes. Our main findings from the empirical part is that the deterministic cycle can be strongly supported by the data and therefore should not be automatically neglected during analysis without justification.


This posper presents the digital images for Libraries, Archives and Museum conceptual model (DILAM). DILAM's is based in several conceptual models from different application contexts and it was conceived in order to be compatible with the FRBR Model. DILAM might enable future developments of Dublin Core Application Profiles since it can give a starting base for the domain model development.


By developing the multidimensional model of IHRM practice localization and autonomy, this study provides a more comprehensive framework of the typology and antecedents of IHRM study within the tension between global integration and local responsiveness. In order to answer the research question to explore the types of IHRM in multinational corporations from emerging economies, and the key factors that influence MNCs' IHRM patterns, this study adopts a multiple case study approach with 9 subsidiaries (from 7 Chinese MNCs) operating in UK. A key insight is that there are different IHRM patterns exercised by Chinese MNCs with the combination of different levels of HRM practice localization and HRM autonomy. The various IHRM patterns are represented by six HRM strategies including global, transnational, opportunistic dual, passive dual, confederate, and multidomestic HRM. These specified IHRM types particularly contribute to the empirical IHRM typology studies in the context of EMNCs. A second insight reveals that the variance of IHRM patterns can be explained from both the corporate's aspect including MNCs' integrative capabilities and international strategies, and the subsidiaries' aspect including subsidiaries' entry mode and their resource dependence on parent company. Such relationships enrich our understanding of MNCs' IHRM in institutional theory, resource-based and resource dependence theories. Moreover, this study extends IHRM research in the context of emerging countries using China as an example which also provides contextual and cultural explanations for the specific IHRM strategies found in this study.


Local immune reactions in 107 women with Chlamydia-associated chronic endometritis and salpingo-oophoritis were studied on endometrial biopsy specimens. Of these women, group 1 consisted 45 patients with Chlamydia-associated chronic endometritis and salpingo-oophoritis and group 2 consisted of 62 such patients having, in addition, bacterial vaginosis and candidiasis. Among associated bacteria, epidermal staphylococci, Escherichia coli and their combinations prevailed. Pathomorphologically, in the biopsy specimens taken from the patients of group 1 a decrease in the activity of mononuclear phagocytes, secondary SIgA deficiency with the level of IgA-producing plasmocytes relatively unchanged, the moderate intensity of the synthesis of IgG and a shift in the ratio of T-helpers/T-suppressors towards the latter were observed. In the biopsy specimens of the uterine mucosa obtained from group 2 a decrease in the phagocytic activity of neutrophil granulocytes and macrophages, the pronounced suppression of IgA production by IgA plasmocytes with a sharp decrease in the amount of SIgA and an essential increase in the number of IgG-producing cells were noted. Disturbances of local immunity, observed in the presence of associated Chlamydia infection, gives grounds for the inclusion of immunomodulating preparations into the complex of therapeutic measures.