Lactation is one of the most energetically demanding periods of any female mammal's life history, where individuals strike a balance with limited resources between their daily activity and towards the growth of their offspring, while still maintaining enough energy stores to maintain themselves in the process. Capital breeding systems mean that females must sustain themselves and their offspring while fasting exclusively on energy reserves acquired beforehand. Female phocids as a result must deal with pressures of a brief terrestrial existence where trade-offs in time, behaviour, energy, and responsiveness to the environment can have tangible consequences to short-term fitness and health.

The aim of this thesis was to use new techniques, specifically animal-borne accelerometers and heart rate monitors, to track behaviour and physiology and assess the inherent trade-offs therein through the core duration of lactation in a capital breeding phocid, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). Female grey seals were equipped with biologging devices on the Isle of May over three consecutive breeding seasons. Using accelerometry and heart rate techniques, I aimed (1) to remotely classify behaviour using machine learning techniques, (2) to assess trade-offs in time-activity for the duration of lactation, (3) to build a holistic picture of energy allocation within the species, and (4) to develop new methods for tracking heart rate and breathing for terrestrial mammals using grey seals as a model. I also assessed the effect that consistent individual variability in behaviour, stress-coping styles, may have on the methods developed here and how they may drive behaviour and energy trade-offs over time.

Accelerometers presented a useful way to remotely track several key behaviours, accurately classifying the core static behaviours over lactation. Consistent individual differences in stress-coping styles, as determined from measures of heart rate variability, modulated almost every aspect of behaviour and physiology measured in this study. More specifically, consistent trade-offs were identified for grey seal mothers between balancing time spent in a state of rest against remaining vigilant across multiple contexts, but also that these individual differences drove how individuals manage and expend that energy, ultimately resulting in differences in short-term fitness outcomes. Effort towards nursing, however, appeared to be largely fixed. Individual differences in energy management also appear to result in different levels of plasticity to environmental pressures, suggesting that future ambient conditions may not be suitable for breeding seals. This thesis also successfully detected breathing rates on land, revealing new evidence as to the energy saving and water conservation benefits of regularly engaging in periods of breath-hold while at rest.

Overall, this thesis has provided new tools for exploring behaviour and physiology, and the inherent trade-offs therein, with minimal disturbance to lactating phocid seals. These differences, while minute in the scope of evolutionary constraints, may be among the most important drivers for the success and survival of populations in the face of greater environmental variability as the climate continues to change.


Both Indonesia and Vietnam, as members of ASEAN, have negotiated a free trade agreement with China (ACFTA). ASEAN Member States can independently negotiate their tariff reductions. Both countries are generally aware of the opportunities access to the large Chinese market may present, but both are concerned to differing degrees about being flooded with Chinese imports, including agricultural products. As the time for implementation approaches, Indonesia has expressed a desire to renegotiate its tariff reduction schedules to protect sensitive sectors, including agriculture. By contrast, Vietnam, just over the border from China and with a history of informal trade, seems more accepting of the prospects. A global general equilibrium model, GTAP, is used to compare the potential impacts of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement on the Indonesian and Vietnamese agricultural sectors. Tariff line data are aggregated to eight primary and four processed agricultural sectors. This enables the differential impact of separate sensitive sectors for Indonesia and Vietnam to be identified. The simulated results following full implementation indicate both countries would improve their trade and welfare if the agreement is implemented as negotiated and tariff cuts are effective, although the extent of exemptions for sensitive products represent differing degrees of missed opportunities for each country. At the sectoral level, both countries can expect some reductions, compared with the baseline, in output of some agricultural sectors, but generally these changes are relatively small unless significant non-tariff barriers are addressed. From an economic perspective, structural adjustment should not be constrained in such circumstances.


The diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is frequently delayed. We hypothesized that circulating angiogenic modulatory protein levels might correspond with vascular remodeling activity and serve as sensitive biomarkers of PAH. Levels of soluble endoglin (sEng), soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (sVEGFR1), N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), C-reactive protein (CRP), and other biomarkers were measured in peripheral blood from 97 PAH patients, 16 first-degree relatives of idiopathic or heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension (HPAH) patients, and 56 controls, and correlated with disease, functional class, hemodynamic parameters, exercise capacity, and transplant-free survival. Endoglin expression was analyzed in lung tissues of six individuals with idiopathic or HPAH and four individuals without PAH. Levels of sEng, sVEGFR1, CRP, and NT-proBNP were elevated in Group I PAH of diverse etiologies, with sEng performing better than NT-proBNP in detecting PAH (receiver operator characteristic-area-under-the curve [ROC-AUC] of 0.82 ± 0.03 vs. 0.71 ± 0.05, P = 0.016). While sEng, sVEGFR1, and NT-proBNP correlated with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, sEng levels were more sensitive than NT-proBNP in detecting NYHA Class I-II disease (ROC-AUC of 0.88 ± 0.05 vs. 0.67 ± 0.08, P = 0.028). sEng, sVEGFR1, CRP, and NT-proBNP predicted transplant-free survival by univariate Cox regression. After adjusting for NT-proBNP levels, each of the other three markers predicted transplant-free survival. In multivariate analysis, sEng and CRP were independent predictors of survival. Endoglin expression was markedly enhanced in the microvascular endothelium and endovascular lesions of PAH versus control lung tissues. Circulating angiogenic proteins sEng and sVEGFR1 are sensitive markers of prognosis and function in Group I PAH, including mildly symptomatic disease, and may provide unique noninvasive data reflecting underlying remodeling activity.


Theoretical models to calculate the temperature field steel tubes reinforced columns are proposed by finite element program in this paper. The theoretical results are validated by test results, and they have a good agreement. Using the theoretical models, the influencing laws of temperature rising time; section perimeter; steel reinforcement ratio and sectional core area ratio on temperature field are further discussed. It has been found that the surface temperatures of steel tube reinforced columns increase obviously with temperature rising time, and the temperatures of steel tubes and core concrete increase slowly. The effects of sectional dimension and sectional core area ratio on temperature field are significant, but steel ratio has very little effect on temperature both of steel tube and of sectional center. These achievements make it possible to study further theoretical study on the mechanic performance of steel tube reinforced concrete columns in fire.


The neutron-activation method was used to study the content and distribution of iodine, chlorine and bromine in 53 thyroid glands removed from patients during operation and 8 thyroid glands from persons who died in accidents. It has been shown that a statistically significant decrease in the iodine concentration occurs in struma maligna, Hashimoto's disease and a mixed form of endemic euthyroid goiter. The chlorine content did not change. The bromine concentration in all form of thyroid pathology was raised. The highest bromine content was found in "cold" forms--struma maligna, and it exceeded almost by 50 times the rates in the control group. Autoradiographic studies made it possible to establish some peculiarities in the distribution of radioactive and stable iodine in the thyroid tissue depending on its morphofunctional condition. Radioactive iodine gradients in the normal tissue did not exceed 7, in mixed (parenchymatous) forms of the goiter 42.5. The distribution of stable iodine is characterized by a high irregularity. The aplastic forms of struma maligna least of all accumulate and contain stable iodine, their structure being characterized by functional monotony.


The study objective is to investigate the characteristics of clinical manifestation of pointed condylomas (PCs) in men practicing sex with men (MSM).Materials and methods. Eight MSM were under observation: 2 stable pairs and 4 unrelated homosexuals. Among them, 5 were between the ages of 18 and 26, 3 – between 40 and 51. In every case, men complained of nodular rash in the area of external genitals or anus. A test was performed to determine the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) of high (16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, 71, 82) and low (6, 11, 44) cancerogenic risk.Results. In 4 patients, PCs were previously removed by destructive therapy multiple times. Remission lasted from 1 to 9 months. At the first examination, PCs on the penis were observed in all 8 patients, and in 3 PCs were also observed in the perineal area; 3 patients had PCs on the oral mucosa along with anogenital PCs. PCs appeared in the period between 3 weeks and 1.5 months prior to doctor visit. A trend towards rapid dispersion and expansion and fusion of PCs was noted by all patients. Associations of 2 HPV types were observed in 2 patients, of 3 types – in 3 patients, of 4 types – in 2 patients. HPV types of both high and low oncogenic risk were detected, but urethra, mouth and anus materials always contained DNA markers for type 6 and 11 HPV.Conclusion. MSM have the highest risk of HPV infection. All forms of homosexual sex are risk factors for HPV infection. Multicentricity and variety of proliferative skin and mucosal lesions are characteristic of the infection caused by HPV in MSM. Even in the absence of complaints, it is necessary to examine oral mucosa, tonsils and throat to rule out possible infection (including asymptomatic forms of HPV). PCs in MSM have a tendency towards rapid dissemination and growth. Type 6 and 11 HPV absolutely dominate in PCs. Meanwhile, different types of HPV in urethral, oral and anal materials can be explained both by contamination and uneven affinity of different HPV types towards epithelial cells of derma and mucosa.


In the modern world, the exchange rate plays an important role in measuring the strength of country's economy in global economic conditions. An exchange rate is an important tool for controlling various macro-economic variables, and it is itself affected by different macro-economic variables. Pakistan is a developing country of the world and its unstable economy faces high variability in the exchange rate or devaluation of the domestic currency. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship of an exchange rate with selected macro-economic variables (i.e. import, GDP, Inflation & export), with a special focus on Pakistan's economy. It also aims at finding out the degree of strength at which selected independent variables to leave a significant impact on the exchange rate in the economy of Pakistan (i.e. during the period of 1992 to 2017). For this secondary database study, data extracted from official website of World Bank, State Bank of Pakistan and Economic Surveys of Pakistan. Multiple regression models were used to measure the empirical impact of selected independent variables on exchange rate. Findings show that the Import and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have a significant negative impact on exchange rate whereas, export and inflation have a significant positive impact on the exchange rate in the economy of Pakistan. The study recommends that the Government of Pakistan should adapt to make its exchange rate policy more effective through high production, more export with a reduction of import and price stability.


The paper introduces voluntary social distancing to the canonical epidemiology model, integrated into a conventional macroeconomic model. The model is extended to include treatment, vaccination, and government-enforced lockdown. Infection-averse individuals face a trade-off between a costly social distancing and the risk of getting infected and losing next-period labour income. We find an individual's social distancing is proportional to the welfare loss she incurs when moving to the infected compartment. It increases in the individual's psychological discount factor but decreases in the probability of receiving a vaccination. Quantitatively, a laissez-faire social distancing flattens the infection curve that minimizes the economic damage of the epidemic. A government-enforced social distancing is more effective in flattening the infection curve but has a detrimental effect on the economy.


Kirklees Council has taken up the strategic challenge to develop a Self-Care Hub, making the best use of technology to support local citizens living with a variety of long-term health conditions (LTCs). With increasing pressure on budgets and time, some service users with a LTC may see professionals for as little as an hour a year. It is therefore important to facilitate more self-care by service users. But many of them simply can't do this at present without support, and the Self-Care Hub aims to take the service user further on the journey than they could manage on their own, while still being supported by professionals when appropriate. It aims to shift the balance towards individual responsibility. Supported by Advanced Digital Innovation (UK) Ltd, and through an extensive consultation with potential users, service provider representatives and professional clinicians, Kirklees Council has developed the Self-Care Hub concept into a rich mix of facilities for educating and informing citizens, optimising access to available services, and encouraging and developing the abilities of citizens to take more responsibility to manage their care packages themselves. The service is being developed by a consortium of public health and NHS organisations in West Yorkshire and incorporates live information drawn down from national services such as NHS Choices. The Self-Care Hub is an online resource that helps people assess their own care needs, using an interactive Virtual Assistant to guide them through their options and create their own care plan. It acts as a signpost to information and a portal into health and social services, with the aim of minimising routine and straightforward caseload on professionals such as GPs and AE professionals and informal carers will also be able to access metrics where appropriate to assist in the journey. It is expected that over time, professionals will adapt the way they work, building self-care journeys into their workflows, enabling more service-user involvement. The Self-Care Hub may be expanded to offer users holding their own records (PHR), online or video and telephone access to clinicians, and online access to the information held about them on professional systems. The concept and tools could be adapted for use outside Kirklees, potentially both enhancing the business case for further developing the Hub, and reducing the cost of similar provision elsewhere in England. The service goes live from summer 2014.


BACKGROUND
Raynaud's phenomenon is a common clinical condition characterized by significant morbidity, especially in patients who have an underlying connective tissue disorder. These patients suffer from a worse clinical phenotype that at times can lead to digital vessel occlusion. Current therapies are not optimal, and better therapeutic options are needed.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the up-to-date data available on the use of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors in the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon.

METHODS
We performed a literature search of PubMed from 1990 - 2008, as well as a search of the abstracts presented at the American College of Rheumatology scientific meeting and the European League Against Rheumatism scientific meeting for the years 2001 - 2007. The search terms used were 'Raynaud's', 'phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors', ' tadalafil', 'sildenafil' and 'vardenafil'.

RESULTS/CONCLUSION
Based on current data from small clinical trials, open-label pilot studies and case series and reports, phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors may help some patients with very serious Raynaud's. A large, well-conducted multicenter, double-blind study is needed to determine the benefit and risk of these agents in Raynaud's phenomenon.


A full analysis of position-domain integrity is carried out for the recently introduced generalized integer aperture bootstrapping (GIAB) technique, a data-driven method for resolving and validating global navigation satellite system carrier-phase integer ambiguities suitable for high-integrity safety-critical systems. The analysis can be extended to all integer aperture (IA) techniques that are generalized in the sense of allowing partial integer fixing. It is shown that generalized IA methods produce relative position (baseline) estimates that suffer from nonnegligible biases. Key conditional distributions of the baseline computed from GIAB-validated ambiguities are rigorously derived for both full and partial ambiguity resolution. These distributions enable evaluation of the a posteriori risk from bias in the GIAB baseline estimate. Compared to enforced position-domain integrity risk of cycle resolution, the state-of-the-art high-integrity algorithm, GIAB is shown to satisfy tighter integrity requirements for the same measurement model.


Author(s): Liang, Wei | Abstract: China formally applied to rejoin the GATT in 1986. After more than ten years of negotiation, however, China's entry into WTO seems as remote as ever. This unprecedented long application time in the GATT/WTO history, coupled with the uniqueness of the China case and the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, has made this subject one of the heated topics in the IPE field. Many works have addressed the rules and principles of WTO and status quo of China's trade regime to imply a gap in between. By doing so, these works emphasize the insufficiency of China's progresses on reductions of tariff and non-tariff barriers, lack of transparency in its laws and regulations, and the lack of national treatment of foreign companies. These are the major issues on the negotiation table; however, little work has been done the goal of the Chinese economy, which is the reason behind its economic and trade policies and its reform on the regime. To some degree it will have deeper impacts on its policies than the nature of its economy does. Because if China is simply during the transition from non-market economy to market economy, then we can make sure that economic liberation is under way. However, if today China's situation is a combination of a transitional economy and a nationalist economy, then we have to reconsider the whole framework.By emphasizing the uniqueness of the China case as both a transitional economy and a nationalistic economy, I shall draw two main propositions from the following analysis. First, neither China nor WTO are ready for China's accession. Second, the WTO membership is crucial for China's further openness, but in the meantime, further liberalization is required of China, especially in the area where the role of the state is to be minimized. In the following sections of the paper, I shall first examine the current incompatibility between WTO, an important international economic institution, and China, a complicated unit to be incorporated. I shall then explore the uniqueness of the China case in an attempt to answer the question why neither side is ready for China's accession at this time. In the end, I shall provide certain policy recommendations for both China and WTO on this matter.


The manuscript of Kearns et al . based on data from the multicenter Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study (PASS) reports on surveillance biopsies with benign result as prognostic marker for less reclassification to higher risk disease (1). The PASS cohort included men from 2008 with clinically localized low risk prostate cancer (cT1-2c disease, no previous treatment, and Gleason ≤3+4 disease).


When the WEHI7.2 mouse lymphoid cell line was treated with dexamethasone to induce apoptosis the activities and transcript levels of the antioxidant defence enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and DT-diaphorase exhibited a progressive decrease over 48 hours. Catalase activity was maintained and total SOD and DT-diaphorase activity showed smaller decreases following dexamethasone treatment of WEHI7.2 cells transfected with the bcl-2 oncogene, which protects the cells against apoptosis. Treatment of wild-type WEHI7.2 and bcl-2 transfected cells with a catalase inhibitor, aminotriazole, was not sufficient to induce apoptosis. Antioxidants, including bovine liver catalase, bovine erythrocyte CuZn-SOD, sodium selenite and Trolox, a water soluble vitamin E analogue, as well as hypoxia, inhibited dexamethasone-induced apoptosis. These results suggest that oxidant stress due to the decreased activity of antioxidant defence enzymes may play a role in dexamethasone-mediated lymphoid cell apoptosis and that bcl-2 may prevent apoptosis by maintaining the level of critical antioxidant defence mechanisms, which include catalase.


The dynamics of changes in the stimulation of human platelet guanylate cyclase by some activators in aggregating platelets was studied. It was shown that ADP-induced aggregation of human platelets (donors) is accompanied by the enhancement of the intensity of guanylate cyclase activation by sodium nitroprusside, L-arginine, protoporphyrin IX and arachidonic acid and also by the increase in cGMP content. Immediately after the induction of aggregation the intensity of guanylate cyclase activation and cGMP content begin to increase. The rise reaches its maxima within several minutes, then followed by a fall to the initial level. The peaks of the enhanced capacity for guanylate cyclase activation by the above compounds coincide in time and intensity. On the basis of the proposed hypothetical scheme of cGMP action as a regulator of platelet aggregation a possible mechanism of enhancing the capacity of guanylate cyclase to be stimulated by various activators in aggregating platelets is suggested.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of the FES-gait with augmented feedback training to the FES alone on the gait and functional performance in individuals with chronic stroke. Methods: This study used a pretest and posttest randomized control design. The subjects who signed the agreement were randomly divided into 12 experimental groups and 12 control groups. The experimental groups performed two types of augmented feedback training (knowledge of performance and knowledge of results) together with FES, and the control group performed FES on the TA and GM without augmented feedback and then walked for 30 minutes for 40 meters. Both the experimental groups and the control groups received training five times a week for four weeks. Results: The groups that received the FES with augmented feedback training significantly showed a greater improvement in single limb support (SLS) and gait velocity than the groups that received FES alone. In addition, timed up and go (TUG) test and six minute walk test (6MWT) showed a significant improvement in the groups that received FES with augmented feedback compared to the groups that received FES alone. Conclusion: Compared with the existing FES gait training, augmented feedback showed improvements in gait parameters, walking ability, and dynamic balance. The augmented feedback will be an important method that can provide motivation for motor learning to stroke patients.


Business and financial records for 2009 from 204 New York dairy farm businesses are summarized and analyzed. This analysis uses cash accounting with accrual adjustments to measure farm profitability, financial performance, and costs of producing milk. Traditional methods of analyzing dairy farm businesses are combined with evaluation techniques that show the relationship between good management performance and financial success. The farms in the project averaged 469 cows per farm and 24,208 pounds of milk sold per cow, which represent above average size and management level for New York dairy farms. Net farm income excluding appreciation, which is the return to the operator's labor, management, capital, and other unpaid family labor, averaged $-126,820 per farm. The rate of return to all capital invested in the farm business including appreciation averaged -3.5 percent. Differences in profitability between farms continue to widen. Average net farm income excluding appreciation of the top 10 percent of farms was $189,108, while the lowest 10 percent was $-861,956. Rates of return on equity with appreciation ranged from positive 4 percent to negative 46 percent for the highest decile and the lowest decile of farms, respectively. Large freestall farms averaged the highest milk output per cow and per worker, the lowest total cost of production and investment per cow. However, in 2009, they averaged the lowest returns to labor, management and capital. Farms milking three times a day (3X) were larger, produced more milk per cow but had lower net farm incomes in 2009 than herds milking two times per day (2X). Operating costs per hundredweight of milk were $0.08 per hundredweight lower for 3X than 2X milking herds, while output per cow was 5,222 pounds higher. Farms adopting intensive grazing generally produced less milk per cow than non-grazing farms but averaged higher labor and management incomes per operator. One should not conclude that adoption of these technologies alone were responsible for differences in performance.


We analyze the impact of child labor on school achievement using Brazilian school achievement test data from the 2003 Sistema Nacional de Avaliacao da Educacao Basica (SAEB). We control for the endogeneity of child labor using instrumental variable techniques, where the instrumental variable is the average wage for unskilled male labor in the state. Using our preferred OLS estimates, we find that child labor causes a loss in students' school achievement. Children and adolescents who do not work have better school performance than students who work. Up to two hours of work per day do not have a statistically significant effect on school performance, but additional hours decrease student's achievement. Differences in work conditions affect school performance. For high school students in Portuguese, compared to students who have schooling as their only activity, students who work only at home score 4 percent lower on the tests. Those students who only work outside the house are worse off than those who only work within the house, with test scores decreasing by 5 percent. Students who work both inside and outside the house have the lowest test scores of all the working conditions, decreasing by up to 7 percent.


WiFi transceivers are available in most hand-held devices and thus are well suited for indoor localisation. However, their critical high-power consumption is challenging acceptable battery runtimes for frequent localisation (such as tracking). Alternative transceivers that operate at frequencies of 868 MHz can be expected to be included in upcoming smartphones and achieve similar transmission ranges but have significant lower power-consumption. Thus, this article analyses if these alternative transceivers - so-called Sub GHz transceivers - are better suited for frequent indoor localisation, than WiFi transceivers. Therefore, localisation accuracies and battery runtimes have been analysed via trace-driven empirical studies and battery runtime tests. The results indicate that Sub GHz transceivers are better suited than WiFi transceivers in both considered terms and are especially more robust regarding the influence of obstacles and peoples. Sub GHz transceivers achieve significant lower RSS errors and are less influenced by wall attenuations. Consequently, their localisation achieved ca. 1 m more accurate median error distances than the corresponding versions that utilise WiFi transceivers. In addition, the battery runtimes are extended by 48% when using Sub GHz transceivers instead of WiFi transceivers.


Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the phytopathogen P. syringae produce the exopolysaccharide alginate, which is a copolymer of D-mannuronic and L-guluronic acids. One of the key regulatory genes controlling alginate biosynthesis in P. aeruginosa is algT, which encodes the alternate sigma factor, sigma(22). In the present study, the algT gene product from P. syringae pv. syringae showed 90% amino acid identity with its P. aeruginosa counterpart, and sequence analysis of the region flanking algT in P. syringae revealed the presence of nadB, mucA, and mucB in an arrangement virtually identical to that of P. aeruginosa. An algT mutant of P. syringae was defective in alginate production but could be complemented with wild-type algT from P. syringae or P. aeruginosa when expressed in trans. The algT mutant also displayed increased sensitivity to heat, paraquat, and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)); the latter two compounds are known to generate reactive oxygen intermediates. Signals for activation of algT gene expression in P. syringae were investigated with an algT::uidA transcriptional fusion. Like that in P. aeruginosa, algT transcription in P. syringae was activated by heat shock. However, algT expression in P. syringae was also stimulated by osmotic stress and by exposure to paraquat, H(2)O(2), and copper sulfate. The latter two compounds are frequently encountered during colonization of plant tissue and may be unique signals for algT activation in P. syringae.


Bipedal robots are currently either slow, energetically inefficient and/or require a lot of control to maintain their stability. This paper introduces the FastRunner, a bipedal robot based on a new leg architecture. Simulation results of a Planar FastRunner demonstrate that legged robots can run fast, be energy efficient and inherently stable. The simulated FastRunner has a cost of transport of 1.4 and requires only a local feedback of the hip position to reach 35.4 kph from stop in simulation.


Hydrogen is one of the most promising clean energy because it has a much higher energy density than gasoline and emits no carbon dioxide after burning. For the application of hydrogen, hydrogen storage is considered as a key technology. Design and synthesis of porous material with high hydrogen storage capacity should be fully developed at first. However, none of the candidate materials developed so far has meet the DOE target yet. This review aimed to describe the presently major accomplishments and the challenges in the area of hydrogen storage. Copyright © 2018 VBRI Press.


Abstract As high-dimensional data measured with mixed-type variables gradually become prevalent, it is particularly appealing to represent those mixed-type high-dimensional data using a much smaller set of so-called factors. Due to the limitation of the existing methods for factor analysis that deal with only continuous variables, in this article, we develop a generalized factor model, a corresponding algorithm and theory for ultra-high dimensional mixed types of variables where both the sample size n and variable dimension p could diverge to infinity. Specifically, to solve the computational problem arising from the non-linearity and mixed types, we develop a two-step algorithm so that each update can be carried out in parallel across variables and samples by using an existing package. Theoretically, we establish the rate of convergence for the estimators of factors and loadings in the presence of nonlinear structure accompanied with mixed-type variables when both n and p diverge to infinity. Moreover, since the correct specification of the number of factors is crucial to both the theoretical and the empirical validity of factor models, we also develop a criterion based on a penalized loss to consistently estimate the number of factors under the framework of a generalized factor model. To demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method over the existing ones, we conducted extensive simulation studies and also applied it to the analysis of the NFBC1966 dataset and a cardiac arrhythmia dataset, resulting in more predictive and interpretable estimators for loadings and factors than the existing factor model.


Sin Nombre virus (SNV) and Andes virus (ANDV) cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in humans. Both SNV and ANDV infect Syrian hamsters, but only ANDV causes lethal disease. A co-infection study was performed to determine which virus, SNV or ANDV, would dominate the survival outcome in hamsters. Infection of hamsters with SNV 1 day before ANDV challenge did not result in disease characteristic of the latter virus, and all animals survived challenge. Control animals infected solely with ANDV all succumbed by day 14. In contrast, when viruses were injected at the same site concurrently, all hamsters succumbed to HPS disease. Hantaviruses are segmented viruses; therefore we investigated which segment might be responsible for the protective phenotype of SNV by using two SNV/ANDV reassortant viruses, both with reciprocal M-segments from the other virus (denoted ASA and SAS). Both reassortants asymptomatically infect hamsters, similar to SNV. However, unlike SNV, 1 day prior preinfection with the reassortant virus did not prevent ANDV lethality. The ASA reassortant virus, but not SAS, protected hamsters from lethal ANDV infection when administered 3 days prior to ANDV challenge. Similar to SNV preinfection, the potent innate immune stimulator poly I:C administered to hamsters 1 day before ANDV challenge prevented lethal ANDV disease. Combined, these results suggest that the difference in pathogenicity of SNV and ANDV in hamsters involves differences in early host-pathogen interactions and resultant anti-viral immune responses of both the innate and adaptive immune system.


This study was performed to evaluate the role of Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) on the antioxidant status in different tissues of animals whole body exposed to 7 Gy gamma radiations, delivered as a shot dose. Aloe vera (leaf juice filtrate) was supplemented daily to rats (0.25 ml/kg body weight/day), by gavage, 5 days before irradiation and 10 days after irradiation. Experimental investigations performed 3, 7 and 10 days after exposure to radiation showed that Aloe vera treatment has significantly minimized the radiation-induced increase in the amount of malondialdehyde in liver, lungs, and kidney tissues of irradiated rats. Significant amelioration in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities was observed from the 3 rd up to the 10 th days for lungs, on the 7 th and 10 th days for kidneys and at 10 days for liver. Data obtained showed that for the different tissues, improvement in the decrease of reduced glutathione (GSH) contents was obvious on the 10 th day after irradiation. Treatment with Aloe vera was also effective in minimizing the radiation-induced increase in plasma glucose levels throughout the experimental period, while it has not ameliorated the increase in plasma insulin levels. It could be concluded that the synergistic relationship between the elements found in the leaf of Aloe vera could be a useful adjunct for maintaining the integrity of the antioxidant status.


Objectives: We aimed to evaluate use of pre-treatment hCG ratio in conservative treatment of tubal EPs. Methods: Ongoing prospective observational study of women who presented to EPU between Nov 2006 and Dec 2009 with a TVS diagnosis of tubal EP. EPs are managed in accordance to a protocol based on full evaluation of clinical, sonographic and biochemical (hCG) data. Surgery (laparoscopic salpingectomy) is done only if: clinical presentation suggests rupture or impending rupture, noncompliance or failure of conservative treatment (MTX or expectant). Pre-treatment hCG ratio (hCG at 48 hrs/hCG at presentation) is determined: if at 48 h, the hCG ratio > 1.0 women are treated with MTX in a single-dose IM protocol; if at 48 h, the hCG ratio < 1.0 (failing EP) women are offered expectant management with weekly hCG. Success was defined as an uneventful decline of hCG to non-pregnancy levels with the primary intervention. Results: 2048 pregnant women underwent TVS. During the study period 106/2048 (5.2%) EP were managed according to the unit's protocol. Median age (years) was 30 (Range 17–44), median gestational age (days) at diagnosis was 47 (Range 11–86), and median hCG level (IU/L) at presentation was 837 (Range 12–41440). 45 (42.5%) were treated surgically from the onset. 23 (21.7%) women had an hCG > 1.0 and therefore were selected for MTX whilst 38 (35.8%) women had an hCG ratio < 1.0 and therefore were selected for expectant management. Two women had laparoscopy as a failure of MTX and expectant management respectively. Success rates of MTX and expectant management were 87% and 95%, respectively. Conclusions: Determination of pre-treatment hCG ratio in women with an EP who are clinically stable can optimise non-surgical interventions.


Using thermal infrared remote sensing for calculation of land surface temperature recently has been applied increasingly in the environmental sciences. This paper presents a method of determination of land surface temperature using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) for calculating emissivity. In this study, an attempt has been made to replace the use of an in-situ emissivity as a standard coefficient for the whole study area in traditional methods. The emissivity per pixel retrieved directly from satellite data has been estimated for retrieval of land surface temperature at the better accuracy level. The results show that the satellite derived land surface temperature values are in acceptable agreement with the values which were calculated from in-situ emissivity. It is also found that a strong correlation between emissivity and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) over different landcover classes is taken. References ARSC, 2002. Arizona Remote Sensing Center: Landsat 5 Atmospheric and Radiometric Correction. Information on website adapted from Skirvin, S (2000). Cited at: http://arsc.arid.arizona.edu/resources/image_process ing/landsat/ls5-atmo.html. Last accessed: July, 2011. Chavez, P. S., Jr, 1996. Image-based atmospheric corrections - Revisited and Improved. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 62 (9), pp. 1025-1036. Cổng thong tin điện tử thanh phố Hải Phonghttp://haiphong.gov.vn/. Last accessed: July, 2013. France, G.B. & Cracknell, A.P., 1994. Retrieval of land and sea surface temperature using NOAA-11 AVHRR data in North-Eastern Brazil, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 15, 1695-1712. French, A.N., Norman, J.M., Anderson. M.C., 2003. A simple and fast atmospheric correction for spaceborne remote sensing of surface temperature. Remote Sensing of Environment 87 (2003), 326-333. Javed Mallick, Yogesh Kant & B.D. Bharath, 2008. Estimation of land surface temperature over Delhi using Landsat-7 ETM+. J. Ind. Geophys. Union. Vol. 12, No.3, pp.131-140. Matthew, M. W. et al., 2003. Atmospheric correction of spectral imagery: evaluation of the FLAASH algorithm with AVIRIS data, Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral and Ultraspectral Imagery. IX, SPIE, Orlando, FL, USA, 474-482. Ou, S. C., Chen, Y., Liou, K. N., Cosh, M. & Brutsaert, W., 2002. Satellite remote sensing of land surface temperatures: Application of the atmospheric correction method and split-window technique to data of ARM-SGP site. International Journal of Remote Sensing, Vol. 23 (24), pp. 5177- 5192. Pham Van Cu, Hiroshi Watanabe, 2004. Use of Thermal Infrared Channels of ASTER to Evaluate the Land Surface Temperature Changes of an Urban Area in Hanoi, Vietnam. Proceedings of the International Symposium GIS-IDEAS 2004, 85-90, Hanoi, Vietnam, 16-18 September. Pu, R., Gong, P., Michishita, R., Sasagawa, T., 2006. Assessment of multiresolution and multi-sensor data for urban surface temperature retrieval. Remote Sensing of Environment, 104 (2006), pp. 211-225. Richter, R., 2003. Status of Model ATCOR4 on Atmospheric/Topographic Correction for Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery. 3rd EARSeL Workshop on Imaging Spectroscopy, Herrsching, 13-16 May 2003. Salisbury, J.W. & D'Aria, D.M., 1994. Emissivity of Terrestrial Materials in the 2 to 5micro meter Atmospheric Window, Remote Sensing Environment, 47 (3), 345-361. Tran Thi Van, 2005. Investigating Feature of Urban Surface Temperature with Distribution of Land Cover Types in HoChiMinh ity using Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing. Proceedings of the 26th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2005), Hanoi, Vietnam, 7-11 November. 192. Trần Thị Vân, Hoang Thai Lan, Le Văn Trung, 2009. Phương phap viễn tham nhiệt trong nghien cứu phân bố nhiệt độ bề mặt đo thị. Tc. Cac KH về TĐ, T.31, 2, 168-177. Valor, E. & Caselles, V., 1996. Mapping land surface emissivity from NDVI. Application to European, African and South American areas. Remote Sensing of Environment, 57, 167-184.


The use of pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements has been commonplace in variety of commercial contexts, such as brokerage agreements, insurance contracts and credit card contracts for many years. Health care had historically been one of the fields that had not embraced pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements. The reluctance to use pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements appears to be changing in at least one sector of the health care field. An examination of admission contracts used by North Carolina nursing homes and telephone survey of North Carolina nursing homes revealed that 43 percent of nursing homes now incorporate pre-dispute binding arbitration provisions into their admission contracts. All of the major nursing home chains operating in North Carolina use pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements in at least some of their facilities, while smaller operators use them sporadically.The terms of these agreements vary considerably. The large chains tend to incorporate some of the provisions in the model arbitration agreement drafted by the American Health Care Association (AHCA), the nursing home industry trade organization. AHCA's model language includes a 30-day rescission period and language that acceptance of the arbitration provision is not a precondition to admission. Some of the large chain facilities also include a provision that the arbitration will be conducted at the facility if the parties can't agree on another location. Some of the smaller operators include provisions that limit damages and discovery, prohibit punitive damages, and expressly condition entry to the facility on signing the pre-dispute arbitration agreement. The implications of the rising use of pre-dispute binding arbitration clauses may be significant. There are many counties in North Carolina where 50-100 percent of all of the nursing home operators use these agreements. With so many operators selecting pre-dispute binding arbitration, this may have the effect of forcing some vulnerable elders out of the public court system with all of its safeguards, and into private arbitration without those protections.Although some of these agreements contain language stating that the agreement is voluntary or may rescinded, this language, by itself, provides no guaranteed protection that facilities are enforcing the contracts as written. This study found incidents where nursing homes were requiring new residents to sign pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements as a condition of admission, even though the language in those facilities' agreements stated that signing the agreement was voluntary. This study also found evidence of a significant amount of confusion among staff of nursing homes using these agreements about whether their facilities were using them at all and what arbitration agreements really meant.This paper also includes an analysis of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion and concludes that Justice Thomas's concurrence is so contrary to the putative majority opinion that Concepcion may be viewed as a plurality decision without any binding precedential effect concerning the law of unconscionability outside the Discover Bank/class action context.


It is generally recognized that smoking has been one of the most public health disorders around the world. Nowadays, more and more studies have proved that smoking during pregnancy is responsible for both maternal and fetal health disorders along with several general health effects. It may lead to various kinds of pregnancy illness and cause risk to the fetus during perinatal stage. After birth, this behavior can also have harmful influences on neonates, and even on children. However, smoking during pregnancy has several adverse effects, the molecular mechanism of it remains unclear. Recently, some studies have proved that it is associated with aberrant epigenetic modifications. All of these remind us that more attention should be paid to maternal cigarette smoking, and more studies should be carried out to confirm the effects and investigate the molecular mechanisms. In this chapter, a brief review is given on the perinatal effects and long-term influences of maternal and passive smoking. We also briefly clarify the epigenetic mecha nisms underlying the adverse effects of passive smoking during pregnancy.


Private foundations became a vehicle for the corporate control of large listed firms in Sweden during the post-war era, but in the 1990s, they were replaced by wealthy individuals who either directly own controlling blocks or who own them through holding companies. We study potential explanations for this change and propose two taxation-related candidates: shifts in the relative effective taxation across owner types and the dismantling of the inheritance taxation that prevented the generational transfer of the ownership of large controlling blocks. Our analysis exploits newly computed marginal effective capital income tax rates across capital owners, accounting for all relevant factors, including rules governing tax exemptions. We show that the 1990–91 tax reform, abolition of the wealth tax for controlling owners in 1997, 2003 tax exemption of dividends and capital gains on listed stock for holding companies with a voting or equity share of at least 10 percent, and abolition of the inheritance and gift taxes in 2004 reversed the rules of the game. Recently, control has largely been wielded through direct ownership, and the role of foundations is rapidly declining. These findings point to the importance of tax incentives for the use of foundations as the control vehicles of listed firms.


Abstract. Recovery from hyperglycaemia was observed in three different mouse hybrids that were made diabetic with streptozotocin, and then transplanted with pancreas from isogeneic donors whose pancreatic ducts were ligated over 8 weeks earlier. Recovery did not occur in recipients of allografts indicating that islets in ligated pancreas cannot be successfully transplanted across a major histocompatibility barrier. However, in lethally irradiated mice injected with allogeneic bone marrow (allogeneic radiation chimeras), subsequent transplantation of ligated pancreas from either isogeneic donors or allogeneic donor's of the same strain as the bone marrow donor decreased blood glucose of diabetic recipients. Thus, irradiation and allogeneic bone marrow therapy allow subsequent allogeneic transplantation of functional islet tissue in diabetic mice. Observations on diabetic mice transplanted isogeneically with ligated pancreas suggest that recovery from hyperglycaemia was more consistent when grafts were placed subcutaneously rather than intraperitoneally and when hosts received ligated pancreas from three donors rather than one. Thus, the site and amount of tissue transplanted are important considerations in the transplantation of ligated pancreas. Persistence of endocrine β‐cells in ligated pancreas was required for recovery in grafted mice since diabetic hosts failed to recover when grafted with ligated pancreas obtained from alloxan or streptozotocin‐treated, diabetic donors.


The article draws on the insights of political ecology to illuminate the politics shaping the enforcement of environmental regulation in the mining sector of Ghana. We argue that the Ghanaian state uses strong-arm measures against artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operators, particularly, the subaltern classes engaged in the industry for survival. Periodically, the state deploys the military and the police to clamp down on ASM for destroying the environment, but treats with kid gloves foreign companies engaged in large-scale mining (LSM), wreaking similar disastrous ecological effects on mining communities. The state believes that LSM by foreign companies is a source of foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign mining companies should be incentivized to come and stay in the country. Presented in broad-brush strokes as illegal ( galamsey ), the Ghanaian state sees ASM as an environmental menace to be fought with all the coercive apparatuses that it can command. Disputing this claim, the article argues that mining-FDI is essentially ecological imperialism, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem of mining communities whose livelihood strategies are in conflict with the accumulation and political interests of foreign mining companies and the Ghanaian political class respectively. The article demonstrates that concerns over the harmful impacts of mining on the ecology of Ghana are neither class-neutral nor free of politics. They are rather highly imbricated in power structures and relations, in which the interest of the ruling class is supreme in the enforcement of environmental regulations in Ghana. The paradox of the biases of the Ghanaian state against ASM, particularly ASM operated by its own citizens for survival, and in favor of foreign mining companies engaged in LSM for profits, is explained with the insights of ecological imperialism. Keywords: Large-scale mining, artisanal and small-scale mining, Operation Vanguard, Ghanaian state biases, ecological imperialism


Hybrid structures of a zigzag edge BN nanoribbon/single-walled carbon nanotube, namely, (i) ZBNNR-B-SWCNT in which only the B-edge of a zigzag edge BN nanoribbon (ZBNNR) is passivated with a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT); (ii) ZBNNR-N-SWCNTs in which only the N-edge of ZBNNR is terminated with a SWCNT; (iii) hydrogenated ZBNNR-B-SWCNT; and (iv) hydrogenated ZBNNR-N-SWCNT, have been studied via standard spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) calculations as well as ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The DFT calculations and ab initio MD simulations results clearly show that all the examined hybrid structures are stable at room temperature. The formation energy, as well as the local DOS and Mulliken charge analysis, reveals that the hybrid structure of ZBNNR-B-SWCNT is more stable than that of ZBNNR-N-SWCNT, since the covalent bond of B–C is stronger than that of N–C owing to the electronegativity difference of the N and C atoms (1.49) being larger than that of the C and B atoms (0.51). Surprisingly, the ZBNNR-B-SWCNTs belong to intrinsic ferromagnetic metals, whereas the ZBNNR-N-SWCNTs belong to intrinsic spin-gapless semiconductors (SGS). Furthermore, in contrast to hydrogenated ZBNNRs, which are nonmagnetic semiconductors, hydrogenated ZBNNR-N-SWCNTs turn into intrinsic spin-semiconductors (hydrogenation induces a SGS–spin-semiconductor transition), whereas hydrogenated ZBNNR-B-SWCNTs remain in the ferromagnetic metallic state, because H-passivation removes the dangling bond states of N-edge or B-edge, but the magnetic properties of the "-SWCNT" edge remain unchanged.


Whelks Thais clavigera were collected from field populations containing different con- centrations of metallothioneins (MTs) or were pre-exposed to aqueous or dietary Cd in the laboratory to result in differential body MT concentrations. Cd, Hg and Zn uptake from the dissolved phase, assimilation efficiency from the dietary phase, and body burden were subsequently quantified. MT concentrations in whelks collected from 11 sites in the coastal waters of Hong Kong were significantly correlated with Cd body concentrations, but were not correlated with Cu and Zn body concentra- tions. There was a clear relationship between the dissolved Cd exposure and the resultant MT levels in the animals, but no such relationship was found following dietary exposure to Cd. The assimilation of Cd and Hg increased in whelks originating from impacted field populations with higher MT levels and following inducement of MTs by pre-exposure to dissolved or dietary Cd. Zn assimilation was comparable in the field populations with different MT levels, but decreased in groups with higher MTs following pre-exposure to Cd, presumably due to the saturation of MTs by Cd binding, and thus less MT binding sites were available for Zn. MTs may thus play an important role in metal assimila- tion. In contrast to dietary assimilation, metal uptake from the dissolved phase in whelks was unaf- fected by MT body concentrations. Dissolved uptake appears to be largely a physico-chemical pro- cess and is little affected by the intracellular physiological changes made by the animals. Given the ubiquity of MTs in marine animals and the importance of dietary sources in metal accumulation, the influence of MT should be considered in interpreting body metal concentrations, and the use of MTs as biomarkers of metal contamination should be treated with caution.


SIR,-Discussion is going on at present as to whether or not nurses are to be allowed to prescribe the oral contraceptive pill. But what is really at issue is whether or not it is acceptable that doctors should be expected to cover a relatively unqualified person, a nurse, in history-taking, in medical and gynaecological examinations, and in the issuing by her on her own initiative of prescriptions for a scheduled drug-an unheardof precedent. There would be no question here of the nurse taking responsibility. This would rest, as always, on the covering doctor. If this procedure is to be called "delegation" what has to be considered is whether or not the skills and experience of a doctor can be delegated at all in this way. If not, then such delegation would be deception, for it would give the appearance of doctor care when in fact this was being carried out by a nurse. In such circumstances the covering doctor might well be vulnerable to action against him for negligence. The silence of the defence societies, who must be concerned, and the B.M.A. is curious. It is an issue which should be debated by the whole profession. It would be foolish for doctors to allow themselves to be robbed of their professional rights, and thus have their earning power eroded, by acceding to a situation in which they will be placed in a position of accepting stili more responsibility without any real control over the actions of the medically unqualified persons they would have to cover. The profession would be wise to retain the control of all prescribing in its own responsible hands and refuse to accept a dangerous precedent wiith perhaps far-reaching consequences for all doctors.-I am, etc.,


BACKGROUND: All operative procedures to improve paralytic ectropion leave problems and disadvantages concerning stability, tear dropping and cosmetic aspect. Our proposed surgical procedure tries to consider all consequences of a 7th nerve palsy concerning the eye: loss of static tonus with atony of the lower and upper lid followed by ectropion of the lower lid, enlargement of palpebral fissure and rising of the upper lid margin as well as loss of dynamic functions with incomplete lid closure, diminished associated movements of the lower and upper eye lid in upward and downward look. METHODS: 1. Symmetric tightening of lower and upper lid by fixation of the temporal tarsal ends at the origin of the lateral canthal tendon with combined shortening of the temporal angle. 2. Suspension of the lower lid by the upper lid achieved by connecting the free temporal tarsal ends and the medical canthal tendons 1-2 mm medial of the lacrimal puncta. PATIENTS AND RESULTS: Thus the following objectives are improved: 1. The lower lid follows the upper lid in upward look. 2. By the gravity of the lower lid the up-rise of the upper lid margin is repaired. 3. For the same reason the upper lid follows the eye movement in downward look. 4. Lid closure is improved. By our method functional and cosmetic results were satisfying in all 34 patients. Tear dripping of varying amount is to be mentioned most often as persisting problem. CONCLUSION: Our procedure disclosed a high stability. In a follow-up of 1 to 5 years no additional repair was necessary.


The aim of this study was to compare the effects of the selective 5-HT1-like receptor agonist, GR43175, with several ergot derivatives in several different pharmacological preparations. In the rat isolated uterus, ergotamine, dihydroergotamine, ergometrine and methylergometrine (all at concentrations of 1 μM) caused marked uterotonic activity whilst GR43175 (10 and 30 μM) was inactive. Similarly, in the pithed rat the ergot derivatives caused marked increases in diastolic blood pressure (in doses up to 1000 μg/kg intravenously), whilst GR43175 (in doses up to 1000 μg/kg intravenously) was inactive. In anaesthetized dogs, both ergotamine (0.3–1000 μg/kg intravenously) and GR43175 (1–1000 μg/kg intravenously) caused dose-dependent vasoconstriction in the carotid artery bed. However, the effects of ergotamine, unlike those of GR43175, were accompanied by increases in diastolic blood pressure and coronary vasoconstriction. These studies provide further evidence for the remarkably selective vasoconstrictor action of GR43175.


The heart has long been thought of as a static organ incapable of repair. Recent findings have challenged this view of the heart, and have demonstrated that mature cardiomyocytes are capable of re-entering the cell-cycle. However, there is still paucity in understanding endogenous mechanisms preventing cardiomyocyte self-renewal. Our approach is to apply developmental mechanisms of cardiomyocyte cell-cycle control to the damaged heart by altering the Hippo signaling pathway. During development Hippo signaling regulates intrinsic organ size. The core mammalian Hippo pathway includes the Ste20-like serine/threonine kinases Mst1 and Mst2, homologous to the Drosophila Hippo kinase. A subsequent kinase cascade leads to the phosphorylation of the transcription factor Yap. Phosphorylated Yap is sequestered in the cytoplasm, thus preventing transcriptional activity. We previously demonstrated Hippo signaling controls cardiomyocyte proliferation during development to restrain heart size. Additionally, using both the Apex resection (AR) and LAD-ligation (MI) models of cardiac damage, in a Hippo signaling deletion mouse, we demonstrated cardiac regeneration. Indicated by preserved cardiac function and reduced fibrotic scar formation. Additionally, these hearts display cardiomyocyte proliferation as marked by EDU incorporation, pHH3, AurkB, and Ki67 staining. We are taking a new approach to determine the effect of Hippo signaling deletion on the failing heart, by inducing Hippo deletion after fibrotic scar formation has already occurred. To Thus far our results indicate functional recovery of the failing heart only after inducible deletion of Hippo signaling. Consistent with our previous data, preliminary results indicate adult cardiomyocytes after Hippo deletion re-enter the cell cycle. By altering Hippo signaling during heart failure and subsequently inducing cardiomyocyte proliferation we have established recovery of cardiac function. These results will greatly advance strategies to induce cardiac repair.


Background Limited ankle dorsiflexion may cause difficulty with walking, running and increase lateral ankle sprain (LAS) recurrence risk in Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members. Manual ankle mobilizations are commonly applied by physiotherapists to CAF members with LAS to restore ankle dorsiflexion however, research into their effectiveness as an adjunct treatment is limited. Objectives To investigate the effectiveness of adding manual ankle mobilizations to a comprehensive rehabilitation program to improve ankle dorsiflexion in CAF members with acute LAS. Design Pragmatic randomised pilot study. Setting CAF health services centre. Participants Twenty CAF members with LAS <7 days old without contraindications to manual ankle mobilizations entered and nineteen completed the study. Interventions All participants completed a standardised comprehensive rehabilitation program. Ten were randomised to an experimental group who also received 6 sessions of manual ankle mobilizations, while the other ten also received 6 sessions of sham mobilizations. Main outcome measurements At baseline, 2, and 12 weeks a physiotherapist blinded to group allocation administered the Bent Knee Dorsi Flexion Test and recorded the scores of the; Visual Analogue Scale, Lower Extremity Functional Scale, Foot and Ankle Disability Index, the number of days until return to work and number of recurrences. Results There were no significant differences in mean ankle mobility between the experimental (95.2 ± 47.5 mm) and sham groups (94.7 ± 36.9 mm) at 2 weeks (p > 0.05). There was a significant interaction between ankle dorsiflexion and time (p < 0.001) but not between groups (p = 0.460). However, the mean differences within both groups between baseline and 2 weeks exceeded the minimal clinically important differences reported for ankle dorsiflexion, pain and function. Conclusions These results suggest that for the first 2 weeks following acute LAS CAF physiotherapists should emphasise participation in a comprehensive rehabilitation program and then evaluate the need for manual ankle mobilizations.


Regular exercise represents an effective strategy to prevent and treat type 2 Diabetes.The present study examined
the effects of aerobic exercise on glycemic control and serum lipid profile in men with type 2 diabetes.20 men with
type 2 diabetes (age:45.05 ± 3.8) were randomly divided into aerobic exercise group (n=10) and control
group(n=10). Exercise Group participated in aerobic training program at 50 -70 % HRR for 8 weeks and 3 sessions
per week. Fasting blood sugar (FBS),Fructosamine, HbA1C, Triglyceride (TG), cholesterol (TC), high density
lipoproteins (HDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and very low density lipoprotein(VLDL) were measured before
and after 8 weeks. Paired and independent t tests were used for data analysis ( P<0.05).At the end of period,
significant decreases have been found in FBS (p=0.017),HbA1c(p=0.045),Fructosamine(p=0.012) and LDL
(p=0.048) levels and a significant increase has been observed in HDL(p=0.012) of exercise group, while there were
no significant changes for the investigated factors in control group (P>0.05).Also there was a significant difference
in FBS (p=0.03) and HDL levels (p=0.04) between 2 groups.Aerobic trainings effectively improve lipid profile and
lead to better glycemic control in men with type 2 diabetes


The earliest geomagnetic field is important to constrain the early Sun-Earth space environment as well as the thermal evo-lution of the Earth's interior. The Pilbara craton in Western Australia contains one of the least metamorphosed Archean and Proterozoic rocks, and they may preserve paleomagnetic records. However, it has been debated whether the magnetic signal in those rocks are primary or secondary (Schmidt, 2014 Gondwana Research). Here we report the results of paleomagnetic field tests on Paleoarchean rocks from the Pilbara craton, in particular of conglomerate test on chert clasts. The deposition age of the conglomerate is estimated to be ca. 3.47 Ga on the basis of the stratigraphy. The main clast type is moderately rounded gray chert. Stepwise alternating field and thermal demagnetization were performed on chert clasts. The direction of low coercivity, low unblocking temperature component was close to the present geomagnetic field direction. Preliminary results ( N =7) did not reject the hypothesis that the high coercivity component is from uniform distribution, i.e., the conglomerate test was positive. However, 3 clasts exhibit remanence direction relatively close to that of the matrix. This argues that the data number is not yet enough to conclude the age of the magnetization.


Biometric devices play an integral role in consumer's daily life, providing a seamless environment. However, it is essential to measure the usability of biometrics, owing to the elements of biometrics satisfying both usability and security. This study redefines the elements of biometrics pertaining to usability determined in previous studies and adds elements of psychological relevance, such as privacy concerns. To organize the interrelated usability structure systemically, this paper applies the DEcision MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to derive the usability structure. Thereupon, the established structure is applied in the clustered weighted Analytical Network Processes (ANP) to generate the proposed usability evaluation model. By these methods, the pertinent relationships between the factors are clarified and the weight of each element is determined. In the empirical study, 106 students measured usability of the fingerprint recognition system, iris recognition system, and facial recognition system employing our usability evaluation model. The results of this model generate the quantitative score of usability for biometric systems and suggest strategies to increase the score. The proposed usability evaluation model can comprehensively assist usability practitioners to evaluate biometric systems.


The inclusion assistant (IA) is a fairly new position in the education system and is the outcome of current ideological and legislative steps to include students with special needs into the general educational system. The IA's function is to personally accompany students with severe disabilities - autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental disorders - in the general class. The IA helps the student cope with the classwork and social environment, relieving the teacher of the inclusive classroom of the extra duties. Unfortunately, studies carried out in the United States, Europe, and Israel have indicated that IAs lack adequate training: they are not required to undergo any pre-service training and are frequently not offered any in-service training or guidance. This paper reviews the roles and characteristics of this challenging position and offers a model of an easy-to-implement, in-service, professional development program with minimal time demands that can serve to increase the IA's skills.


There is a huge number of definitions of Islamic Economics available in the literature. The vast majority take existing definitions from the western literature and modify them to incorporate an Islamic angle. This leads to the widespread belief that Islamic Economics is a variant or a branch of conventional economics. We argue that something can be called "Islamic" only if it is based on the Quran and Sunnah. In this paper we propose a new definition based purely and directly on Islamic ideas and sources. We show that this definition differs radically from any available in the West, as well as the vast majority of definitions proposed by Islamic Economists. It creates entirely new ways of looking at and organizing the subject matter of Economics. This paper discusses ten dimensions of contrast, where our new definition suggests that the methodology of Islamic Economics is directly opposed to western methodology. Zaman (2012, Crisis In Islamic Economics) describes the current crisis in Islamic Economics, widely acknowledged by leaders in the field. Conventional views are that Islamic Economics must be a compromise between Islamic ideals embodied in homo islamicus, and realistic views embodied in homo economicus. However, there is substantial disagreement on the nature and extent of the compromise required. Consensus on defining "Islamic Economics" appears to be a pre-requisite for progress. I believe that a definition which can be justified purely and directly from Islamic sources will be able to command consensus that compromises cannot. Furthermore, this definition opens the way to radically new approaches, which can fulfill the promise initially held out by Islamic Economics. This (now largely forgotten) promise was that Islamic Economics will provide justice, and eliminate oppression and inequities associated with capitalist, communist and socialist economic systems.


In Brief Nearly three billion people across the globe cook every day using open, three-stone fires, or rudimentary stoves that burn biomass such as wood, agricultural waste, animal dung, and charcoal. Cooking with these traditional cookstoves is inefficient and grossly polluting, harming health and the environment, and contributing to global warming. In many places worldwide, women must walk for hours to collect firewood, risking their safety and sacrificing energy and time that could be used to earn a living. While often overlooked as a major contributor to the global burden of disease, cooking over open fires indoors is the largest environmental health risk in developing countries, and exposes women (and the young children near them) to amounts of smoke equivalent to burning 1,000 cigarettes inside the home. In Darfur, Sudan, where about 2.7 million people have been displaced from their homes by conflict, the situation is particularly dire. Each day, Darfuri women face the difficult choice between risking sexual assault during treks to collect firewood or selling a portion of their family's meager food rations for cash to purchase wood. The Berkeley-Darfur Stove, developed by scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and volunteers from UC Berkeley and Engineers Without Borders, is a metal stove that reduces the need for firewood by more than half, owing to its improved combustion and heat transfer efficiencies. LBNL has partnered with a nonprofit organization, Potential Energy, and a number of aid organizations to disseminate more than 22,000 BerkeleyDarfur Stoves to Darfuri women. Several hundred thousand more are needed. Key Concepts


The objective of this paper is to discuss the cost-effective technologies developed at HP Labs India to make paper documents tamper-proof. We started with a real customer problem: to ensure that printed government land records should be tamperproof. We first looked at existing techniques to see if they could address the problem but subsequently had to come up with our own technology. To address the problem, there was a need to identify good pilot customers to promote adoption of technology. Another challenge was around the customer's lack of awareness in terms of the impact of fraudulent documents on their business, and the difficulty of selling solutions versus selling products. Technology invention plays a small part in the final success of any customer driven innovation, and so other factors should not be ignored. There were several other specific conclusions related to the innovator, the customerfacing staff and the customers. The key contributions of this work was starting with a real customer problem and dealing with end-to-end issues related to adoption of technology to make paper documents tamper-proof.


The application of small perturbation frequency techniques to solar cells provides a great deal of information in terms of capacitive and resistive processes that are related to the photophysical mechanisms that lie at the basis of the photovoltaic operation. These methods can be exhaustively exploited to determine bulk and contact effects in the solar cells, and henceforth improve and optimize materials and interfaces. For photovoltaic devices, the main effects of interest in impedance spectroscopy are the capacitive charge storage and the resistive processes of transport and recombination. The combination of these parameters provides important information about properties such as conductivity, diffusion length and carrier lifetime. In this chapter, we provide an extensive review of the present status of knowledge about these aspects of solar cell operation for organic solar cells and hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells. We describe an exhaustive characterization of capacitive processes, including dielectric relaxation processes, and examine the interpretation of transport and recombination based on a variety of experimental techniques.


Based on work conducted by Laurentian University's School of Nursing and Centre for Continuing Education in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, working in conjunction with community partners, this article looks at the findings of an analysis of nurses' writing activity in a university-level web-based module for evidence of critical thinking using Johns' Model of Structured Reflection (1995). Also considered are student-teacher interactions and discipline-specific writing. The findings suggest that high levels of critical thinking by nurse learners and growth in thinking and writing competence over time can occur in an online setting. Further highlighted are the role of the instructor, assignment design, and support in fostering such development.


Whom should an interest group lobby in a legislature? I develop a model of informational lobbying in which a legislature must decide on the allocation of district-specific goods and projects. An interest group chooses to search and provide information on districts' valuations of the goods. The setting is one of distributive politics with an allocation of goods and projects that is endogeneous to the information provided by the interest group. I characterize the information search strategy of the interest group. I determine who gains and who loses from lobbying, identifying circumstances in which legislators would unanimously prefer to ban informational lobbying. I also identify two empirical and institutional implications. First, I establish a relationship between informational lobbying and legislative majority requirement. Second, I provide an informational rationale for friendly lobbying (that is, the interest group lobbying legislative allies).


In this paper we analyze the impact of the EU multi-level co-financing system on regional policy-making and priority setting taking the case of the agri-environmental program of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. The implications of several co-financing scenarios are analyzed and compared to respective lump-sum transfers using an interactive linear programming approach. The results reveal that regional choices on agri-environmental measures are strongly influenced by the co-financing system leading to distortions. The extent of these distortions depends on the specific regional preferences and restrictions to be considered in the policy-making process.


Background/aim HIV infection increase the risk of serious disease resulting from common vaccine-preventable infections. Vaccinations are particularly important for HIV infected adults. We aimed to investigate the immunity rates against measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A, B, and tetanus in newly diagnosed HIV patients. Materials and methods Patients who admitted to outpatient clinics of three centers with newly diagnosed HIV infection, between 1 January 2015 and 31 June 2017 were included. Measles, mumps, rubella, varicella zoster virus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and tetanus antibody levels were measured by commercial diagnostic kits. Demographical and laboratory data of the patients were recorded. Results Five hundred and twenty-three patients were enrolled in the study. Of the patients 87% were male (n = 455) and the mean age was 38 ± 13 years. Serology was available for measles 74.2% (388/523), mumps 73.8% (386/523), rubella 77.8% (407/523), hepatitis A 88.5% (463/523), hepatitis B 97.7% (511/523), tetanus 8.6% (45/523), and VZV 79.9% (418/523). Seropositivity was 82% for measles, 75.6% for mumps, 92.1% for rubella. Of the patients whom all three of the components of the MMR vaccine was tested, 37.7% (127/337) were susceptible at least one and needed the vaccine. Mean age was lower in patients who are nonimmune to measles and mumps (p = 0.008). Younger patients were also nonimmune for hepatitis A, while older patients were nonimmune for hepatitis B. Conclusion In our study we found that rates of nonimmunity can increase up to one third of the patients even though there is a national vaccination program. Nonimmune individuals should be detected and vaccinated in line with recent guidelines and response should be monitored because of the possibility of impaired immunity and possible suboptimal response. National campaigns can be launched for adult immunization and physicians should be aware of the importance of adult immunization.


Although trends in the racial segregation of schools are well documented, less is known about trends in income segregation. We use multiple data sources to document trends in income segregation between schools and school districts. Between-district income segregation of families with children enrolled in public school increased by over 15% from 1990 to 2010. Within large districts, between-school segregation of students who are eligible and ineligible for free lunch increased by over 40% from 1991 to 2012. Consistent with research on neighborhood segregation, we find that rising income inequality contributed to the rise in income segregation between schools and districts during this period. The rise in income segregation between both schools and districts may have implications for inequality in students' access to resources that bear on academic achievement.


This paper presents the impact of the radial and axial rotor offset on the measurement error of a capacitive angular-position sensor with a modified topology. A large radial offset, when fringing fields cannot be neglected is observed. The sensitivity of rotor offset on the measurement error is decreased by a calibration. Simulations are used to confirm the influence of fringing fields and to show the effects of calibration methods on the measurement error. The measurements showed asymmetrical measurement error versus the rotor offset, caused by the modified front-end topology. Both simulations and measurements showed decreased sensitivity of the rotor offset on the measurement error when calibration was used.


This paper presents the formulation and hardware results of a mixed-integer linear programming approach to online connectivity-constrained trajectory planning of autonomous helicopters through cluttered environments. A lead vehicle must execute a certain mission whereby wireless line of sight communication to its ground station is lost. Relay helicopters are therefore introduced that must position themselves in such a way that indirect line of sight connectivity between the leader and the ground station is always maintained. The corresponding coordinated multi-vehicle trajectory optimization is tackled using both centralized and distributed receding horizon planning strategies. Binary variables are used to capture connectivity, obstacle- and collision avoidance constraints, extending earlier formulations to model nonconvex obstacles more efficiently. Simulation, hardware in the loop, and flight test results are presented for a centralized two-helicopter mission. Simulation results for a distributed scenario are given as well


Robrish, Stanley A. (University of California, Davis) and Allen G. Marr. Location of enzymes in Azotobacter agilis. J. Bacteriol. 83: 158-168. 1962.-If the cells of Azotobacter agilis are disrupted by osmotic shock, respiratory enzymes and the compounds characteristic of cell wall and cytoplasmic membrane are recovered almost completely in large particles. The large particles obtained by osmotic shock were found by electron microscopy to consist of cell wall, cell membrane, and an internal membrane appearing as either vesicles or tubules in section. These envelopes are free of all the soluble cytoplasmic material and are essentially free of ribosomes. Small particles obtained by osmotic shock are ribosomes; small particles obtained by sonic oscillation consist of both ribosomes and amorphous material, presumably fragments of the envelope.


In this paper, we present a quite simple recursive method for the construction of classical tensor product Hermite spline interpolant of a function defined on a rectangular domain. We show that this function can be written under a recursive form and a sum of particular splines that have interesting properties. As application of this method, we give an algorithm which allows to compress Hermite data. In order to illustrate our results, some numerical examples are presented.


Summary and Conclusions
Data have been compiled from approximately 37,000 stool examinations upon military and allied personnel passing through the Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland. The figures indicate a general downward trend in the incidence of most intestinal fauna since World War II, the greatest apparent reduction of protozoans occurring during period prior to 1951. Although a point of conjecture, it seems possible that the marked reduction in protozoans, including E. histolytica, may be due to the extensive use of antibiotics in recent years. For most years hookworm is recorded more frequently than Ascaris. Enterobius occurs very infrequently considering the fact that children were included each year. During the 11 year period Diphyllobothrium latum, Taenia solium, Clonorchis sinensis, Schistosoma japonicum and S. mansoni are represented by single cases of infection.


Asymmetric olefin isomerization of β,γ- to α,β-unsaturated butenolides catalyzed by novel cinchona alkaloid derivatives was investigated in-depth using density functional theory (M05-2x and B2PLYP-D). Three possible mechanistic scenarios, differing in the binding modes of the substrate to the catalyst, have been evaluated. Computations revealed that both the protonated quinuclidine and the 6'-OH of catalysts may act as the proton donor in the stereocontrolling step. Variation of the catalytic activity and enantioselectivity by tuning the electronic effect of catalyst was well reproduced computationally. It suggested that, for certain acid-base bifunctional chiral catalysts, the acid-base active sites of catalysts may interconvert and give new catalyst varieties of higher activity and selectivity. In addition, the noncovalent interactions in the stereocontrolling transition-state structures were identified, and their strength was quantitatively estimated. The weak nonconventional C-H···O hydrogen-bonding interactions were found to be crucial to inducing the enantioselectivity of the cinchona alkaloid derivatives catalyzed asymmetric olefin isomerization. The computational results provided further theoretical evidence that the rate-limiting step of this bioinspired organocatalytic olefin isomerization is inconsistent with that of the enzyme catalyzed olefin isomerization.


Poaceae, one familia of plants with about 500 genera and 3,000 species, has the ability to spread rapidly by seed that is lightweight and easy carried by the wind,and is a pioneer plant. Reclamation is an effort to utilize, repair and improve less productive soil fertility through the application of technology.This research aimed to describe the species and the abundance of familia Poaceae found in the coal mine reclamation area of PT Adaro Indonesia Tabalong. This research was descriptive with observation technique. The method used was the 1 m x 1 m quadrant.The sampling technique performed on reclamation area of 9.7 ha by creating 100 sample points were divided into four observation stations, at each observation stations was created 25 sample points, with a distance of between sample points is 50 m. The sample is calculated based on the clump. Abundance calculated based on important value (NP) and diversity index (H') of the formula Shannon-Winner. Seventeen species of familia Poaceae were found.The highest abundance wasEleusine indica (L.) Gaertn. (NP = 46.87) and the lowest wasSaccharum spontaneum L. (NP = 2,20). Diversity of species familia Poaceae in the area (H') was 2,47.


The aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility of Lactobacillus bacteria to selected coccidiostats. Seventy-five Lactobacillus isolates obtained from chickens were classified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and 16S rDNA restriction analysis into seven species, among which L. salivarius (33%) and L. johnsonii (24%) were dominant. Susceptibility of lactobacilli to coccidiostats was determined by broth microdilution method. The ranges of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were 0.5–≥128 µg/ml for monensin, 0.125–8 µg/ml for salinomycin, ≤0.03–2 µg/ml for lasalocid A, and 4–16 µg/ml for robenidine. Coccidiostats in low concentrations inhibited in vitro growth of most lactobacilli and therefore there is a high probability that administration of this drugs to chickens would reduce the number of lactobacilli in the gut.


Abstract We describe a new species of the genus Abronia from the La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve in western Chiapas, México. The new species is known only from the vicinity of the type locality in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas. It is readily distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: lack of protuberant or spine-like supra-auricular scales, lack of protuberant or casque-like posterolateral head scales, 30–35 transverse dorsal scale rows, lateralmost row of ventral scales enlarged relative to adjacent medial row, dorsum brown with 8–10 transverse dark crossbands, and dark lateral bar on the neck extending from the shoulder to near the auricular opening. We tentatively assign the new species to the subgenus Lissabronia pending the availability of a robust, comprehensive molecular phylogeny for the genus. We discuss regional Abronia biogeography and comment on the conservation implications of our discovery for the imperiled highland forests of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, a globally important center of endemism.


Since the inception of the social sciences, scholars have been convinced of the theoretical and empirical usefulness of the value concept. Canonical sociologists, such as Durkheim or Weber, already noted the crucial role values play in the organization of social life (Schwartz 2006). Human values have been described as pivotal components of the individual's personality, acting as guiding principles for both attitudes and behaviour (Inglehart 1977, 1990; Mayton, Ball-Rokeach & Loges 1994; Rokeach 1973). Past research demonstrated that values are good predictors for numerous other variables, such as attitudes toward out-groups (Davidov et al. 2008; Sagiv & Schwartz 1995), political tolerance (Golebiowska 1995), voting behaviour (Barnea & Schwartz 1998; Rokeach 1973) or life styles (Rokeach 1973).

Despite its paramount importance, the value concept has not always received the scientific attention it might deserve. It is remarkable that certain aspects of value theory have been tested only very rarely. In this sense, Hitlin and Piliavin (2004) speak of values as a dormant concept that needs to be revived. These authors give several reasons for the relative neglect of values in social science. Besides the incoherence in the way values have been conceptualized in the past, value research has also suffered from the absence of an agreed-upon scale to measure values.

In this contribution, we focus on one of these aspects of value theory that has remained relatively underexposed, namely the relation between individual social location and human values. Does one's position in the social structure—indicated by socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, education and income—affect the values that one prioritizes? We pay special attention to the cross-cultural robustness of the relation between social location and values: Can similar patterns be detected in various European countries? Or do cross-national differences in the relation between structure and values depend on elements of the national context?

We depart from Schwartz' (1992, 1994, 2006) theory of human values, and make use of the value scale included in the European Social Survey (ESS). We believe that this study adds up to existing research in various ways. First, an exceptionally wide range of European countries is taken into account, including various Eastern European countries. Second, we take up the issue of the cross-cultural equivalence of the measurements. Prior to substantive analysis, we test to what extent different cultural interpretations of values affect the validity of cross-national comparisons. Third, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that explicitly addresses the question whether national context affects the relation between social location and values.


Though a common symptom, epistaxis should never be overlooked as the implications may be consequential. Nasal leech infestation represents an unusual etiology of recurrent epistaxis. The leeches release enzymes to anaesthetize the attachment site to facilitate the feeding process. Given the inconspicuous area of infestation and the absence of pain, there is often a delayed treatment. A detailed history taking and physical examination remain paramount in the assessment of recurrent epistaxis.


Recently, Transformers were shown to enhance the performance of multi-view stereo by enabling long-range feature interaction. In this work, we propose Window-based Transformers (WT) for local feature matching and global feature aggregation in multi-view stereo. We introduce a Window-based Epipolar Transformer (WET) which reduces matching redundancy by using epipolar constraints. Since point-to-line matching is sensitive to erroneous camera pose and calibration, we match windows near the epipolar lines. A second Shifted WT is employed for aggregating global information within cost volume. We present a novel Cost Transformer (CT) to replace 3D convolutions for cost volume regularization. In order to better constrain the estimated depth maps from multiple views, we further design a novel geometric consistency loss (Geo Loss) which punishes unreliable areas where multi-view consistency is not satisfied. Our WT multi-view stereo method (WT-MVSNet) achieves state-of-the-art performance across multiple datasets and ranks $1^{st}$ on Tanks and Temples benchmark.


Combined blockade of TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33 may be needed to treat some forms of progressive inflammation and fibrosis. Teaming up against inflammation and fibrosis The cult of the individual extends to new therapies—new targets are identified and validated (or not) on a one-on-one basis. However, no protein is an island, and failure with a monotherapy does not invalidate a target. Now, Vannella et al. demonstrate that this is indeed the case for some types of progessive type 2 inflammation and fibrosis. Using a variety of models including helminth infection and allergic lung inflammation, the authors show that individual disruption of the type 2 inflammatory molecules thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TLSP), interleukin-25 (IL-25), and IL-33 had no effect on the progression of type 2–dependent inflammation or fibrosis. However, targeting all three simultaneously blocked disease development and progression. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), interleukin-25 (IL-25), and IL-33 are important initiators of type 2–associated mucosal inflammation and immunity. However, their role in the maintenance of progressive type 2 inflammation and fibrosis is much less clear. Using chronic models of helminth infection and allergic lung inflammation, we show that collective disruption of TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33 signaling suppresses chronic and progressive type 2 cytokine–driven inflammation and fibrosis. In a schistosome lung granuloma model or during chronic Schistosoma mansoni infection in the liver, individual ablation of TSLP, IL-25, or IL-33/ST2 had no impact on the development of IL-4/IL-13–dependent inflammation or fibrosis. However, significant reductions in granuloma-associated eosinophils, hepatic fibrosis, and IL-13–producing type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) were observed when signaling of all three mediators was simultaneously disrupted. Combined blockade through monoclonal antibody (mAb) treatment also reduced IL-5 and IL-13 expression during primary and secondary granuloma formation in the lungs. In a model of chronic house dust mite–induced allergic lung inflammation, combined mAb treatment did not decrease established inflammation or fibrosis. TSLP/IL-33 double-knockout mice treated with anti–IL-25 mAb during priming, however, displayed decreased inflammation, mucus production, and lung remodeling in the chronic phase. Together, these studies reveal partially redundant roles for TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33 in the maintenance of type 2 pathology and suggest that in some settings, early combined targeting of these mediators is necessary to ameliorate progressive type 2–driven disease.


ED1TOR,-In 1990 I visited Sydney Melanoma Clinic as a surgeon interested in the treatment of malignant melanoma. What struck me most about my visit to Australia was the high level of public awareness about melanoma and the way that the message about skin care in the sun was communicated to the public. On my return to Britain I tried to persuade local councils to offer an information service. It is now a statutory requirement that beach users are informed about the bacteriological quality of sea water, and I wanted to establish information posts to tell the public about the dangers of overexposure to the sun. My requests were almost universally dismissed. At least one resort pointed out that it would not do anything that might scare tourists away. By 1992 it became obvious that if anything was to be done I would have to to it myself. Consequently, for a week in August last year the staff of the plastic surgery unit in Plymouth-in cooperation with the local health promotion team, Clinique Education, and Torbay council-undertook a pilot project. The aim was to show that an information stand was needed, and to assess the public's reaction to the provision of medical expertise on a beach. Members of the team approached over 17000 beach users as they passed or neared the stand we had set up. Only 248 were uninterested in or hostile to the approach; well over 80% welcomed us. In addition, two previously unsuspected melanomas and 15 non-melanoma skin lesions were found and treated rapidly. The pilot project thus proved successful. Local interest in Torbay means that a similar project will take place this year. We continue to press for further commitment from local councils in this area, where many people spend a lot of time in the sun. We believe that a coordinated programme is needed and have sent our findings to the Department of Health, but we have had no response.


The Pade approximation is often used to approximate a pure time delay by a rational transfer function. In this paper, we show via examples that PID controllers that stabilize such an approximation may actually be destabilizing for the true system. Recent results, giving the entire set of stabilizing PID controllers for finite dimensional linear time invariant systems as well as for systems with time delay, are used to make a comparative study, through examples, of the stabilizing sets for the true plant and its Pade approximants.