Abstract Feldspar dissolution is an important process affecting the reservoir quality of Brent Group sandstones in the northern North Sea and shows a strong relationship to reservoir temperature and pore water chemistry. In low temperature, brackish, shallow to moderately buried reservoirs (2400–3700 m, reservoir temperature less than 100–120°C) feldspar is generally a major detrital component whose abundance is affected by local variations in facies, extent of early meteoric leaching, and kaolinitization. In deeply buried Brent reservoirs (3700–4700 m) where present burial temperatures exceed 130–140°C detrital K-feldspar is absent and sandstones are characterized by major illitization of early formed kaolinite, precipitation of fibrous illite, extensive quartz cementation, and variable albitization. K-feldspar dissolution apparently supplied elements necessary for illitization, which, according to K-Ar evidence, occurred during early Tertiary burial, associated with initial stages of hydrocarbon accumulation and brine migration. Illite K-Ar ages are unaffected by feldspar contamination in deep reservoirs and the narrow range of measured ages for widely ranging illite size-separates indicates that the major dissolution/illitization reaction was a geologically rapid process. In contrast, illite K-Ar ages from shallow and intermediate-depth reservoirs range from Palaeocene to Early Miocene and often have considerable size dependency due to small amounts of feldspar contamination in coarser fractions. Variable contamination and its effect on measured K-Ar ages often precludes establishing the history of illitization and a well-defined relationship to hydrocarbon accumulation in intermediate-depth reservoirs. Although some feldspar is dissolved during early burial history by low temperature circulation of meteoric water, only deeply buried Brent reservoirs are characterized by the complete diagenetic removal of feldspar; however, the secondary porosity generated by late dissolution is of little benefit to reservoir quality because accompanying cementation results in major loss of permeability.


An understanding of potential stream water quality conditions under future climate is critical for the sustainability of ecosystems and the protection of human health. Changes in wetland water balance under projected climate could alter wetland extent or cause wetland loss (e.g., via increased evapotranspiration and lower growing season flows leading to reduced riparian wetland inundation) or altered land use patterns. This study assessed the potential climateinduced changes to in-stream sediment and nutrient loads in the snowmelt-dominated Sprague River, Oregon, western US. Additionally, potential water quality impacts of combined changes in wetland water balance and wetland area under future climatic conditions were evaluated. The study utilized the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) forced with statistical downscaling of general circulation model (GCM) data from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) using the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) method. Our findings suggest that, in the Sprague River, (1) mid-21st century nutrient and sediment loads could increase significantly during the high-flow season under warmer, wetter climate projections or could change only nominally in a warmer and somewhat drier future; (2) although water quality conditions under some future climate scenarios and no wetland loss may be similar to the past, the combined impact of climate change and wetland losses on nutrient loads could be large; (3) increases in stream total phosphorus (TP) concentration with wetland loss under future climate scenarios would be greatest at high-magnitude, low-probability flows; and (4) loss of riparian wetlands in both headwaters and lowlands could increase outlet TP loads to a similar degree, but this could be due to distinctly different mechanisms in different parts of the watershed.


This document presents information on the design of slabs on grade, primarily industrial floors and the slabs adjacent to them. The report addresses the planning, design, and detailing of the slabs. Background information on design theories is followed by discussion of the soil support system, loadings, and types of slabs. Design methods are given for plain concrete, reinforced concrete, shrinkage-compensating concrete, and posttensioned concrete s l a b s , followed by information on shrinkage and curling problems. Design examples appear in an appendix.


U-Pb zircon ages from the exposed Sask craton are 2450-3100 Ma, from the Peter Lake Domain 2575-2640 Ma, and from rocks of the Trans-Hudson orogen 1840-1880 Ma. U-Pb monazite and zircon ages of post-orogenic pegmatites and aplites are 1770-1800 Ma. Common Pb and Sm-Nd isotopic compositions of post-orogenic intrusions, as probes of crust beneath the orogen, were compared to Sask craton rocks and ca. 1850 Ma orogenic rocks to infer the origin and subsurface distribution of the Sask craton within the internides of the Trans-Hudson orogen. Results show that post-orogenic intrusions within most of the Glennie Domain and Hanson Lake block were derived, at least in part, from Archean source materials, demonstrating that the Sask craton lies beneath Paleoproterozoic orogenic rocks present at the surface. In contrast, common Pb and Sm-Nd isotopic compositions from pegmatites and aplites of the La Ronge Domain are essentially identical with those of the Paleoproterozoic orogenic rocks into which they are intruded, indicating derivation by partial melting of similar rocks. Thus, if the Sask craton extended to the west beneath the La Ronge Domain, it was beneath the zone of melting that produced the post-orogenic intrusions, making it unlikely that the Sask craton is a detached part of the Hearne craton. Many samples from the Sask craton have elevated Pb-208/Pb-204 ratios, unlike Superior craton or Hearne craton rocks, suggesting that the Sask craton was derived from an exotic source, such as the Wyoming craton, which shares similar elevated Pb-208/Pb-204 ratios.


Dr ANIL BHARANI (Department of Medicine, M G M Medical College, Indore, India 452001) writes: Gemfibrozil is a safe lipid lowering agent with minimal untoward effects.' Sexual dysfunction induced by this drug is a rare but disturbing side effect. A 48 year old man sought consultation for lipidaemia in July 1989. He had been taking metoprolol 200 mg/ day and a diuretic combination (benzthiazide 25 mg and triamterene 50 mg) for the past three years for essential hypertension. His clinical examination and laboratory findings were unremarkable, except for raised total cholesterol (7-75 mmol/l) and serum triglyceride (2-1 mmolIl) concentrations. He did not smoke or drink alcohol. He reported normal sexual activity with his wife. He was prescribed gemfibrozil 600mg twice daily as well as his usual antihypertensive drugs and low cholesterol diet. Within two to three weeks he developed diminished libido and difficulty in sexual intercourse. Gemfibrozil was withdrawn as this was the only new drug that could have caused impotence. His sexual performance gradually recovered over four weeks, although he continued taking metoprolol and the diuretic. With the patient's consent gemfibrozil was restarted in October 1989, and within two to three weeks his symptoms returned. Gemfibrozil was withdrawn again, and his sexual function gradually recovered over six weeks. Although there are two reports on reversible impotence attributed to gemfibrozil,2" the Committee on Safety of Medicines has had six more such reports. Since gemfibrozil is an important drug for the primary prevention of coronary heart disease which is likely to be used in men aged 40-55 years the side effect assumes greater importance.


The dissection of the mode and tempo of phenotypic evolution is integral to our understanding of global biodiversity. Our ability to infer patterns of phenotypes across phylogenetic clades is essential to how we infer the macroevolutionary processes governing those patterns. Many methods are already available for fitting models of phenotypic evolution to data. However, there is currently no non-parametric comprehensive framework for characterising and comparing patterns of phenotypic evolution. Here we build on a recently introduced approach for using the phylogenetic spectral density profile to compare and characterize patterns of phylogenetic diversification, in order to provide a framework for non-parametric analysis of phylogenetic trait data. We show how to construct the spectral density profile of trait data on a phylogenetic tree from the normalized graph Laplacian. We demonstrate on simulated data the utility of the spectral density profile to successfully cluster phylogenetic trait data into meaningful groups and to characterise the phenotypic patterning within those groups. We furthermore demonstrate how the spectral density profile is a powerful tool for visualising phenotypic space across traits and for assessing whether distinct trait evolution models are distinguishable on a given empirical phylogeny. We illustrate the approach in two empirical datasets: a comprehensive dataset of traits involved in song, plumage and resource-use in tanagers, and a high-dimensional dataset of endocranial landmarks in New World monkeys. Considering the proliferation of morphometric and molecular data collected across the tree of life, we expect this approach will benefit big data analyses requiring a comprehensive and intuitive framework.


Abstract In this article, the possibilities of use of geothermal energy in relation to the geothermal gradient and aquifer yield are described. Calculations represent information on potential geothermal water reserves that are not affected by cold return water inflow from the reinjection well after a certain period of production time. The calculations apply for continuous production of geothermal water from the aquifer without significant pumping breaks.


Based on the review of current status and development of casting CNC manufacturing technology, this paper analyzes the characteristics and studies the mechanism of casting CNC cutting, along with the processing technique. A new casting CNC forming equipment is developed and successfully applied to the product development in automobile industry, mechanical industry and so on, which is regarded as a typical application case. Research indicates that patternless casting CNC manufacturing is a technical renovation compared to the traditional casting manufacturing, with traits of green, digital, flexibility, precision, rapidity. It's applicable to the rapid manufacturing of metal casting either in single piece or small lot, and the pattern is unneeded. This new technology brings a promising application future in the automobile and mechanical equipment industries.


Abstract Abstract Ergasilus (von Nordmann, 1832) (Ergasilidae) is a species-rich group of parasitic copepods with a wide distribution in freshwater, marine and brackish environments. Up to now, 9 species of Ergasilus are known from cichlid fishes in Africa. In this study, 5 species, including 3 new, were collected from the gills of 12 cichlid species (11 genera: Bathybates, Ctenochromis, Eretmodus, Gnathochromis, Lamprologus, Neolamprologus, Ophthalmotilapia, Perissodus, Simochromis, Spathodus and Tanganicodus) of the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi, namely E. macrodactylus (Sars, 1909), E. megacheir (Sars, 1909), E. caparti n. sp., E. parasarsi n. sp. and E. parvus n. sp. All species found were identified and described on the basis of adult female specimens using an integrative taxonomy approach mixing morphological characterization and molecular analyses of 2 ribosomal DNA markers (partial 18S and 28S rDNA sequences). An identification key for Ergasilus species from Lake Tanganyika is included. This study provides the first molecular data for Ergasilus species in Africa. The phylogenetic analyses suggest that the Ergasilus species parasitizing Lake Tanganyikan cichlids form a well-supported clade within the Ergasilidae. However, their phylogenetic relationships with other congeners still remain unclear due to a lack of molecular data for this diverse genus.


The aim of this study was a comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of hepatoprotectors (Metadoksin and Silybin) in the complex treatment of patients with alcoholic liver disease. The article presents data on the use of Metadoksin and Silybin in the treatment of alcohol steatohepatitis and liver cirrhosis alcoholic etiology of the total number of comparison groups 66 patients formed on the basis of 642 patients treated with alcoholic liver disease. Was studied dynamics of blood biochemical parameters during therapy, as well as the severity of clinical syndrome (pain, dyspeptic, asthenic) before and after treatment. Higher Metadoksin efficacy in comparison with Silybin explained by antidepressiv effect of the drug. The effect of restoration of damaged toxic effect of alcohol liver tissue as a result of Metadoksin impact was proved in the experimental part of the study, an experiment on rats.


Transcranial doppler measurements of blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery were made during treatment of raised intracranial pressure (ICP) in 22 patients with severe brain injury. Twenty patients also had continuous measurement of arterial and jugular bulb venous oxygen saturation (SJO2). The transcranial Doppler parameters studied included both mean flow velocity and pulsatility index (PI). Successful treatment was defined as a reduction of ICP to less than 20 mm Hg with improvement or preservation of cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) above 60 mm Hg. Successful therapy was associated with a significant rise in SJO2 and reduction of cerebral arteriovenous oxygen content difference (AVDO2) and PI only when the pretreatment CPP was less than 60 mm Hg. An increase in CPP beyond 70 mm Hg did not further improve cerebral oxygen delivery and PI, suggesting that autoregulation became a factor above this CPP threshold. Treatment failure during administration of hypnotic drugs resulted in a reduction in arterial pressure, CPP, SJO2, and mean velocity and in an increase in PI and AVDO2, despite a decrease in ICP. CPP is the most important parameter to monitor during ICP therapy. It should be maintained above 70 mm Hg in patients with severe brain injury.


When an unsteady wake from an upstream body impinges on a downstream body, the resultant interaction noise can be significant. The use of distributed blowing through the surface of a cylinder to reduce this source of noise was investigated experimentally. Two configurations were tested, one with a cylinder upstream of an H-beam (denoted the OH configuration) and the other with an H-beam upstream of the cylinder (denoted the HO configuration). The mean velocities and velocity fluctuations were determined in the flowfield using particle image velocimetry. The application of blowing to theOHconfiguration reduced the streamwise Reynolds stress (u0u0). This resulted in a noise reduction of 9.2 dB at a Strouhal number (St) of 0.2. There was a broadband noise reduction of 3 dB averaged over a Strouhal number range 0:05 < St < 5. The effect of blowing on the HO configuration was to inhibit the strong crossflow Reynolds stress (w0w0) between the H-beam and the cylinder. This resulted in a noise reduction of 15 dB at a Strouhal number of 0.8. There was a broadband noise reduction of 4.6 dB averaged over the frequency range 0:05 < St < 6:3. The effect of blowing produced additional high-frequency noise. This additional noise was minimized with blowing applied through a sintered plate with a very small pore diameter.


Particle transport through Marangoni convection inside a sessile droplet can be controlled by the ultraviolet (UV) light distribution on the surface. The photosensitive solution changes the surface tension gradient on the droplet surface and can induce clockwise and counterclockwise circulations depending on the incident light distribution. In this paper, the stream function in the sessile drop has been evaluated in toroidal coordinates by solving the biharmonic equation. Multiple primary clockwise and counterclockwise circulations are observed in the droplet under various concentric UV light profiles. The downward dividing streamlines are expected to deposit the particles on the substrate, thus matching the number of deposited rings on the substrate with the number of UV light rings. Moffatt eddies appear near the contact line or centerline of the droplet depending on the UV light profile and its distance from the contact line.


Background: The potential use of plasma galectin-3 level as a of myocardial changes in the development of hypertrophy in males with essential hypertension (EH), carriers of polymorphic variants of II type 1 receptor gene, was studied. The level of brain peptide (BNP), as well as the parameters of central and systemic, and structural and functional parameters of the heart in carriers of polymorphic variants of II type 1 receptor gene, were studied as reference.
Methods: The study included 79 individuals with no signs of cardiovascular disease, and 62 males with stage II EH, aged 40-60, who were residents of Ukraine. All patients were treated at the Military Medical Clinical Center of Central Region of Air Forces of Ukraine and Vinnytsia Regional Specialized Clinical Hospital of Radiation Protection of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, from December 2013 to June 2015. The patients were studied during their treatment at the in-patient department. Anesthetic, clinical and laboratory findings, and measures were entered into a special chart. Biochemical analyses were done upon admission of the patients to the hospital. Immunologic, and instrumental methods of examination were used as well. Statistical analyses of the results obtained were done on a personal computer using standard statistical package STATISTICA 10. Microsoft Excel was used for primary preparations of tables and intermediate calculations.
Results: In patients with EH and myocardial hypertrophy, the C allele of angiotensin II type 1 receptor gene was found to be dominating. They had higher levels of both galectin-3 and BNP. The threshold levels of galectin-3 and BNP for screening diagnosis of EH with myocardial hypertrophy in males (who were residents of the Podillya region of Ukraine) were evaluated.


Mobilizing climate finance for developing countries is crucial for achieving a fair and effective global climate regime. To date, developed countries retain wide discretion over their national contributions. We explore how different degrees of international coordination may influence the fairness of the global financing effort, and we present quantitative scenarios, for both the metrics used to distribute the collective effort among countries contributing funding, and the number of contributing countries. We find that an intermediate degree of coordination—combining nationally determined financing pledges with a robust international review mechanism—may reduce distortions in relative efforts as well as shortfalls in overall funding, while reflecting reasonable differences over what constitutes a fair share. A broader group of contributors may do little to improve adequacy or equity unless it can converge on credible measures of responsibility and capacity. Our analysis highlights the importance of building common understandings about effort sharing.


This paper presents a methodology to bridge the gap between business process modeling and workflow specification. While the first is concerned with intuitive descriptions that are mainly used for communication, the second is concerned with configuring a process-aware information system, thus requiring a more rigorous language less suitable for communication. Unlike existing approaches the gap is not bridged by providing formal semantics for an informal language. Instead it is assumed that the desired behavior is just a subset of the full behavior obtained using a liberal interpretation of the informal business process modeling language. Using a new correctness criterion (relaxed soundness), it is verified whether a selection of suitable behavior is possible. The methodology consists of five steps and is illustrated using event-driven process chains as a business process modeling language and Petri nets as the workflow specification language.


Solitary splenic metastasis is extremely rare, with only 27 reported cases in the literature. An 81‐year‐old woman was referred to our hospital for treatment of pulmonary and splenic lesions. Chest computed tomography showed a small lung nodule in the right upper lobe, abdominal computed tomography showed an 8 cm splenic mass with abnormal accumulation, and positron emission tomography revealed a maximum standardized uptake value of 7.9. She had elevated serum cancer antigen 19‐9 (1847 U/mL) and carcinoembryonic antigen concentrations (17.9 ng/mL). She underwent laparoscopic splenectomy. Pathological examination revealed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. We performed partial lung resection and diagnosed the small lung lesion as lung adenocarcinoma. Both lesions were positive for thyroid transcription factor 1. Thus, primary lung adenocarcinoma and solitary splenic metastasis were diagnosed. The patient was still alive without recurrence four years postoperatively. Herein, we report a rare case of lung adenocarcinoma with solitary splenic metastasis and review the literature.


Cataloguing the distribution of genes within natural bacterial populations is essential for understanding evolutionary processes and the genetic basis of adaptation. Here we present a pangenomics toolbox, PIRATE (Pangenome Iterative Refinement And Threshold Evaluation), which identifies and classifies orthologous gene families in bacterial pangenomes over a wide range of sequence similarity thresholds. PIRATE builds upon recent scalable software developments to allow for the rapid interrogation of thousands of isolates. PIRATE clusters genes (or other annotated features) over a wide range of amino-acid or nucleotide identity thresholds and uses the clustering information to rapidly classify paralogous gene families into either putative fission/fusion events or gene duplications. Furthermore, PIRATE orders the pangenome using a directed graph, provides a measure of allelic variation and estimates sequence divergence for each gene family. We demonstrate that PIRATE scales linearly with both number of samples and computation resources, allowing for analysis of large genomic datasets, and compares favorably to other popular tools. PIRATE provides a robust framework for analysing bacterial pangenomes, from largely clonal to panmictic species. Availability PIRATE is implemented in Perl and is freely available under an GNU GPL 3 open source license from https://github.com/SionBayliss/PIRATE. Supplementary Information Supplementary data is available online.


Guidelines strongly recommend long-term anticoagulation with warfarin for patients with newly recognized AF who have high embolic risk by virtue of a CHADS2 (Congestive Heart Failure, Hypertension, Age >65, Diabetes, History of Stroke) score ≥ 2. The goal of this study was to determine patterns of emergency department-initiated anticoagulation among eligible patients discharged from Canadian centers with an episode of recent-onset atrial fibrillation and flutter (RAFF) and determine if decision-making is driven by the CHADS2 score or other factors. This was accomplished by examining health records using uniform case identification and data abstraction as well as centralized quality control; it was conducted in 8 Canadian university emergency departments over a 12-month period. Eligible patients for this analysis demonstrated RAFF requiring emergency management, were not already taking warfarin and were not admitted to hospital. Univariate analyses were conducted using T-test or Chi-square to select factors associated with anticoagulation initiation at a significance level of p < 0.15 and multiple logistic regression was employed to evaluate independent predictors after adjustment for confounders. Among 633 eligible patients, only 21 out of 120 patients (18%) with a CHADS2 score ≥ 2 received anticoagulation and among 70 patients who were given anticoagulation only 21 (30%) had a CHADS2 score ≥ 2. Independent predictors of anticoagulation included age by 10-year strata: (OR = 1.7; 95% CI 1.3 - 2.1), heparin use in the anticoagulation (OR = 9.6; 95% CI 4.9 - 18.9), a new prescription for metoprolol (OR = 9.6; 95% CI 4.9 - 18.9) and being referred to cardiology for follow-up (OR = 5.6; 95% CI 2.6 - 12.0). CHADS2 ≥ 2 doubled the likelihood of being prescribed anticoagulation (OR= 2.0; 95% CI 1.5 - 3.5) but was not an independent predictor. It was thus determined that patients discharged from the emergency department in this study were not prescribed anticoagulation in keeping with current recommendations. This practice gap merits further investigation and may benefit from educational efforts or enhanced support for anticoagulation use from the emergency department.


Privacy is increasingly viewed as a key concern in multi-agent based algorithms for Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problems (DCSP) such as the Meeting Scheduling (MS) problem. Many algorithms aim for a global objective function and as a result, incur performance penalties in computational complexity and personal privacy. This paper describes a mobile agent-based scheduling scheme called Efficient and Privacy-aware Meeting Scheduling (EPMS), which results in a tradeoff among complexity, privacy, and global utility. It also introduces a privacy loss model for collaborative computation, multiple criteria for evaluating privacy in the MS problem, and a privacy measurement metric called the Min privacy metric. We have utilized a common computational space in EPMS for reducing the complexity and the privacy loss in the MS problem. The analytical results show that EPMS has a polynomial time computational complexity. In addition, simulation results show that the obtained global utility for scheduling multiple meetings with EPMS is close to the optimal level and the resulting privacy loss is less than for those in existing algorithms.


The most common manifestation of ocular tuberculosis in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis is choroiditis. Retinal periphlebitis is rarely caused by direct invasion of the retina by tubercle bacilli. A 27-year-old woman with complaints of decreased vision one month ago demonstrated with presume ocular tuberculosis.


Antipsychotic drugs are the neuroleptics currently used in the treatment of schizophrenia (SCZ) and psychotic disorders. SCZ has a heritability estimated at 70% - 90%; and pharmacogenomics accounts for 60% - 90% variability in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of psychotropic drugs. Personalized therapeutics based on individual genomic profiles in SCZ entails the characterization of 5 types of gene clusters and their related metabolomic profiles: 1) genes associated with disease pathogenesis; 2) genes associated with the mechanism of action of drugs; 3) genes associated with drug metabolism (phase I and II reactions); 4) genes associated with drug transporters; and 5) pleiotropic genes involved in multifaceted cascades and metabolic reactions. Genetic studies in SCZ have revealed the presence of chromosome anomalies, copy number variants, multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms of susceptibility distributed across the human genome, aberrant single-nucleotide polymorphisms in microRNA genes, mitochondrial DNA mutations, and epigenetic phenomena. Pharmacogenetic studies of psychotropic drug response have focused on determining the relationship between variation in specific candidate genes and the positive and adverse effects of drug treatment. Approximately 18% of neuroleptics are major substrates of CYP1A2 enzymes, 40% of CYP2D6, and 23% of CYP3A4. About 10% - 20% of Western populations are defective in genes of the CYP superfamily. Only 26% of Southern Europeans are pure extensive metabolizers for the trigenic cluster integrated by the CYP2D6 + CYP2C19 + CYP2C9 genes. Efficacy and safety issues in the pharmacological treatment of SCZ are directly linked to genetic clusters involved in the pharmacogenomics of antipsychotic drugs and also to environmental factors. Consequently, the incorporation of pharmacogenomic procedures both to drugs under development and drugs on the market would help to optimize therapeutics in SCZ and other central nervous system disorders.


The increase of tuberculosis incidence in last decade stimulated elaboration of both new antituberculous drugs and also searches ofoptimiting delivery systems for existing drugs. It is determined by their side effects and low bioavailability of effective first line drug rifampicin. Various nanosystems for transport of antituberculous drugs are considered on the basis of various polymers, liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, nanoemulsios, nanosuspensions, dendrimers, cyclodextrines. Influence of drug incorporation into nanoparticles, most often for rifampicin, on pharmacokinetics and efficiency in tuberculosis models is discussed. The most of works are devoted to polymer nanoparticles for oral administration where increased circulation time and efficiency were shown. The best results were observed after drug inclusion into solid lipid nanoparticles. The liposomes formulations were investigated mostly for inhalation and injection administrations. Positive results were also observed. Authors underline the viability of incorporation of antituberculous drugs into phospholipid nanoparticles that may increase intestinal absorption and bioavailability. It is confirmed by authors' own data that showed increase of rifampicin efficiency after their incorporation into such nanoparticles.


The packing of DNA inside bacteriophages arguably yields the simplest example of genome organization in living organisms. As an assay of packing geometry, the DNA knot spectrum produced upon release of viral DNA from the P4 phage capsid has been analyzed, and compared to results of simulation of knots in confined volumes. We present new results from extensive stochastic sampling of confined self-avoiding and semiflexible circular chains with volume exclusion. The physical parameters of the chains (contour length, cross section, and bending rigidity) have been set to match those of P4 bacteriophage DNA. By using advanced sampling techniques, involving multiple Markov chain pressure-driven confinement combined with a thermodynamic reweighting technique, we establish the knot spectrum of the circular chains for increasing confinement up to the highest densities for which available algorithms can exactly classify the knots. Compactified configurations have an enclosing hull diameter approximately 2.5 times larger than the P4 caliper size. The results are discussed in relation to the recent experiments on DNA knotting inside the capsid of a P4 tailless mutant. Our investigation indicates that confinement favors chiral knots over achiral ones, as found in the experiments. However, no significant bias of torus over twist knots is found, contrary to the P4 results. The result poses a crucial question for future studies of DNA packaging in P4: is the discrepancy due to the insufficient confinement of the equilibrium simulation or does it indicate that out-of-equilibrium mechanisms (such as rotation by packaging motors) affect the genome organization, hence its knot spectrum in P4?


Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are an integral part of an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. In fact, a typical IoT service deployment considers an integrated network of switches and sensors (as well as actuators). In order to manage this heterogeneous network infrastructure, the use of software defined networking (SDN) technologies is anticipated. However, existing SDN-enabling technologies consider only isolated networks and there has been no concrete solution that treats the whole network in a unified way. In this paper, a network operating system is proposed as a way to address the above issue. Starting from the open network operating system, which currently supports only OpenFlow networks, the proposed solution leverages SDN-WISE to integrate WSNs and achieves unified system representation and treatment. The proposed system has been prototyped and is publicly available in open source. Experiments have been executed demonstrating that, by exploiting the proposed solution, it is also possible to improve efficiency of the overall network.


Background/context Traditionally, medical training has predominantly involved a 'learning by doing' approach, but over the last 20 years, the use of simulation as a form of undergraduate and postgraduate education has significantly increased. Techniques are increasing in sophistication, and some studies have shown simulation to be more effective for trainees to become competent in their clinical skills than the traditional approach. The future aim of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is to create a national simulation programme focusing on the RCPCH curriculum. It would therefore be beneficial for medical students to also have access to simulation training. With this in mind, Dr Pawley and Dr Fidler instigated simulation training at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital (RACH) from 2012 for junior doctors and 2013 for 5th year medical students. This is the first service evaluation of both medical students and trainees to determine if they feel simulation training is beneficial and relevant, and how they feel it could be improved. Knowledge of providers' attitudes to simulation was also looked at. Methodology 5 different questionnaires were created, containing quantitative and qualitative questions. They were distributed via paper feedback forms at the weekly simulation sessions and via Survey Monkey (an online data collection tool). Results/outcomes Confidence levels increased in all groups after having attended the simulation sessions and all groups thought that simulation was an 'effective' way of learning (using a 5 point likert scale). The majority of participants would prefer to provide feedback via paper feedback questionnaires as opposed to Survey Monkey. Conclusions and recommendations The simulation sessions run at the RACH are well received and found to be beneficial and relevant by participants. Using the feedback provided, it would be helpful to amend the sessions so that they map the curriculum more effectively. References Grant DJ, Marriage SC. Training using medical simulation. Archives of Disease in Childhood 2012;97(3):255–9 Kory PD, Eisen LA, Adachi M, et al. Initial airway management skills of senior residents simulation training compared with traditional training. Chest Journal 2007;132(6):1927–31 Aggarwal R, Ward J, Balasundaram I, et al. Proving the effectiveness of virtual reality simulation for training in laparoscopic surgery. Annals of surgery 2007;246(5):771–9 Schendel S, Montgomery K, Sorokin A, Lionetti G. A surgical simulator for planning and performing repair of cleft lips. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery 2005;33(4):223–8


The relationship between the NAO index and ENSO and the mean surface air temperature over Egypt has been investigated. The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data of the monthly mean surface air temperature over Egypt for the period (1948-2005) have been used in this study. The corresponding monthly mean values of NAO index, SOI, and El-Nino3 have been also used. Monte Carlo methodology as a linear correlation analysis has been used to obtain the correlation co- efficient between the mean surface air temperature over Egypt and NAO, SOI, and El-Nino3 through the period (1948- 2005). The results show that surface air temperature in Egypt is significantly correlated with the climatic index NAO and ENSO only for a south western part of Egypt. There is a significant negative correlation (-0.6) between surface air tem- perature over south west part of Egypt in winter season and NAO index. The relationship between EL-Nino3 and surface air temperature has contradicted the relationship with SOI. Whereas, a significant positive correlation (+0.6) between sur- face air temperature over south west part of Egypt and EL-Nino3 in autumn season. Surface air temperature correlated with SOI by a significant negative correlation (-0.5) during the same season over south west of Egypt. It is concluded that the surface air temperature is significantly correlated with NAO index and ENSO over the south west part of Egypt.


Purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims.), Passifloraceae family. In order to conduct a research for the utilization of purple passion fruit peel as an eye remedy, antioxidant test, phenolic and flavonoid content to ethanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction of passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims.) peel should be examined. The peel of the fruits is macerated with 96% ethanol, then fractionated using ethyl acetate. Ethanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction were tested for their antioxidant activity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. To determine the phenolic content and flavonoid content were calculated as Gallic Acid Equivalent (GAE) with Folin Ciocalteu and Flavonoid as Quercetin Equivalent (QE) with AlCl3 by using colorimetric method. The results showed that both ethanolic axtract and ethyl acetate fraction were had antioxidant activity and medium phenolic content and flavonoid content.


Tanzania's average annual growth rate of GDP of 6.4% between 2005 and 2017 has had limited impact on jobs and poverty reduction. The current government's mantra, 'Tanzania ya Viwanda', is meant to tackle these two problems. The objectives of thepaper are fourfold: first, to gain clear understanding of the Tanzanian context and why it is imperative to industrialize; second, to examine to what extent Tanzania has structurally transformed, and how that has been responsible for poverty and growthwithout jobs; third, to examine how industrial development could enhance agricultural production; and fourth, to assess the opportunities and challenges that exist in Tanzania's industrialization drive and draw some policy implications. The paper uses labour market, macro and trade data from secondary sources, and employs the exploratory analytical approach. It concludes that the imperative to industrialize in Tanzania cannot be overemphasized due to the following gains: structural transformation, job creation, higher agricultural productivity, and poverty reduction. The industrialization drive must focus on Tanzania's comparative advantage and ensure that some of the challenges identified—i.e., poor infrastructure, weak business environment and regional integration hurdles—are well known, addressed, and given the priority they deserve.
JEL Codes: I30, J60, O55


With today's heterogeneous access to the Internet, users will move between wired and wireless environments and between infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode of wireless communication. When a mobile node moves from an infrastructure connection and connects multihop to an Internet gateway, the performance will degrade and it may not be able to send all of its traffic via a single gateway. This highlights the need of load-balancing between Internet gateways, especially since the behavior of users today involves a multitude of parallel activities generating multiple flows. This paper proposes a solution that enables distribution of individual traffic flows via different Internet gateways instead of using one single gateway. The proposal includes extensions to mobile IP in order to handle flow mobility bindings. The performance of the solution is verified by simulation studies.


The discovery of sugarcane smut in one Queensland cane region, in June 2006, triggered a clear-cut biosecurity response aimed at containment and eradication. Farm financial analyses helped to set the incentives offered to canegrowers to gain their cooperation in the eradication effort financed by the Queensland and Australian governments. Eradication was abandoned when the smut became endemic in November 2006, and the disease management that took its place was now entirely Queensland's responsibility. A number of conflicting stakeholder objectives had to be reconciled by the Queensland government in determining the type and extent of industry assistance. An independent inquiry was called to consider the scientific, production, economic and social aspects of the problem. Economic modelling of farmer decisions, farm economics analyses and regional adaptation scenarios were carried out. The results indicated that government largesse would not actually contribute to industry's adjusting to the endemic disease. Instead, a smaller but targeted contribution to plant breeding was offered. The industry cooperated with the process and accepted the outcomes.


The background to this thesis is Australia's Oceans Policy, which aims to develop an integrated and ecosystem-based approach to planning and management. An important part of this approach is the identification of natural regions in regional marine planning, for example by establishing marine protected areas for biodiversity conservation. These natural regions will need to be identified on a range of scales for different planning and management actions. The scale of the investigation reported in this thesis is applicable to spatial management at 1 km to 10 km scale and monitoring impacts at the 10s of m to 1 km biotope scale. Seabed biotopes represent a combination of seabed physical attributes and related organisms. To map seabed biotopes in deep water, remote sensing using a combination of acoustic, optical and physical sensors is investigated. The hypothesis tested in this thesis is that acoustic bathymetry and backscatter data from a Simrad EM1002 multi-beam sonar (MBS) can be used to infer (act as a surrogate of) seabed biotopes. To establish a link between the acoustic data and seabed biotopes the acoustic metrics are compared to the physical attributes of the seabed in terms of its substrate and geomorphology at the 10s m to 1 km scale using optical and physical sensors. At this scale the relationship between the dominant faunal functional groups and both the physical attributes of the seabed and the acoustic data is also tested. These tests use data collected from 14 regions and 2 biomes to the south of Australia during a voyage in 2000. Based on 62 reference sites of acoustic, video and physical samples, a significant relationship between ecological seabed terrain types and acoustic backscatter and bathymetry was observed. These ecological terrain types of soft-smooth, soft-rough, hard-smooth and hardrough were chosen as they were the most relevant to the biota in their ability to attach on or burrow into the seabed. A seabed scattering model supported this empirical relationship and the overall shape of backscatter to incidence angle relationship for soft and hard seabed types. The correlation between acoustic data (backscatter mean and standard deviation) and the visual and physical samples was most consistent between soft-smooth and hard-rough terrain types for a large range of incidence angles (16 to 70). Using phenomenological backscatter features segmented into 10 common incidence angle bins from -70 to 70 the length resolution of the data decreased to 0.55 times depth. The decreased resolution was offset by improved near normal incidence (0 to 30) seabed type discrimination with cross validation error reducing from 32% to 4%. A significant relationship was also established between the acoustic data and the dominant functional groups of fauna. Faunal functional groups were based on the ecological function, feeding mode and substrate preference, with 8 out of the 10 groups predicted with 70% correctness by the four acoustically derived ecological terrain types. Restricting the terrain classification to simple soft and hard using the acoustic backscatter data improved the prediction of three faunal functional groups to greater than 80%. Combining the acoustic bathymetry and backscatter data an example region, Everard Canyon, was interpreted at a range of spatial scales and the ability to predict the preferred habitat of a stalked crinoid demonstrated. Seabed terrain of soft and hard was predicted from the acoustic backscatter data referenced to a common seabed incidence angle of 40. This method of analysis was selected due to its combined properties of high spatial resolution, consistent between terrain discrimination at the widest range of incidence angles and consistent data quality checking at varying ranges. Based in part on the research reported in this thesis a mid-depth Simrad EM300 multibeam sonar was purchased for use in Australian waters. A sampling strategy is outlined to map all offshore waters with priority within the 100 m to 1500 m depths.


A method for target detection that achieves clutter rejection by the use of multiple observations of the same target scene is developed. Multiple scene observations can be obtained by processing separate frequency bands of the same target scene or by recursively processing sequential observations in time. Optimal detection algorithms are developed, based on the assumption that the image intensity can be modeled as a variable mean spatial Gaussian process. Several fast detection algorithms are derived which make use of the fact that the covariance matrices of many optical and infrared (IR) images can be accurately approximated by diagonal matrices. These algorithms provide efficient solutions to the problem of processing multiple correlated scenes or multiple sequential imaging. Computer simulations based on actual optical and IR image data were used for checking the theoretical results. The new detection algorithms achieved performance improvement in detection signal-to-noise ratio of up to 10 dB over conventional target correlation methods.


In his editorial in the September issue,1 Roger Jones asks:

'Why do we not look to and learn from more successful health systems in which a mix of private and public provision — including insurance schemes, means testing, payments for hospital and doctor visits, and co-payments for drug treatments — lead to better patient health outcomes and greater patient satisfaction?… this, of course, is the heart of the matter: through no fault of its own, the NHS has become unaffordable …'

There is no 'of course' about it. If this is indeed the 'heart of the matter', then it deserves some evidence to support all these assertions. I don't know, nor do I think Roger knows, any country anywhere where public service medical care has had media approval over the last decade of transitional promotion for marketed care. Falsehoods about NHS cancer outcomes comparable to backward and broken services in Bulgaria and Romania have been exposed as statistical nonsense by experts in this Journal.2 They depend not on better care abroad, but grossly inferior data collection in, for example, Germany, and almost none at all in the eastern Balkan republics.

Lobbying against free public services, funded from income tax, has everywhere been very well funded and very effective. It has told governments serving transnational corporate business, rather than their own electorates, just what they want to hear. Opposition to it has not even a small fraction of that funding, nor support from the leaders of any of our political parties in serious contention. Mass opposition will eventually develop, as it always does when people are seriously hurt, but for the time being most simply cannot believe that so many people who claim to be saving the NHS are actually selling it off to the strongest commercial bidder.

What we can afford is surely a matter of opinion and choice. In 1948, Nye Bevan had to push his proposals for a free national health service, funded from income tax, past not only professional opposition, but a sceptical majority of his cabinet colleagues — mainly because the UK was then virtually bankrupt. He succeeded because the government was swept in with mass support, which would not take no for an answer. There was political will. Nobody today can deny that we are richer now than we were then. Yes, I know the NHS costs more today. Of course, because it can do more. But everything else costs more too. For example, if Spitfires had cost in 1940 what Eurofighters do today, the entire RAF would possess a few dozen at most. If we can afford Trident missiles, for which even Tony Blair now sees no rational purpose (other than to assert power we no longer possess), we can afford the NHS as a public service, a gift economy, and almost our only hope for some more truly civilised and sustainable society in the future.3

Roger says '… western societies now have to find alternative ways to pay for health care.' What better way is there, than income tax? In 1762 Adam Smith, founder of economics, wrote:

'The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. '4

Those who have much depend on the state to protect them from those who have little. Differences in personal wealth are now greater than at any time over the past century. I look at the bankers, the corporate executives, the playboys, and playgirls of our increasingly decadent society, and ask why they can't afford the rising costs of a rising civilisation. Doctors must occasionally help patients to see what is in their own vital interests. This is one of those occasions.


A new timing control scheme, named as pair-synchronisation, is proposed for synchronous reverse link in CDMA systems. This scheme employs the received signal(s) to generate the timing reference instead of using a common reference from system timing of the receiver side. Analysis and numerical results show that this scheme can further improve the reverse link capacity by achieving better orthogonality while reducing the forward link overhead for closed loop timing control.


CCL20, like human β-defensin (hBD)-2, is a potent chemoattractant for CCR6-positive immature dendritic cells and T cells in addition to recently found antimicrobial activities. We previously demonstrated that IL-17 is the most potent cytokine to induce an apical secretion and expression of hBD-2 by human airway epithelial cells, and the induction is JAK/NF-κB-dependent. Similar to hBD-2, IL-17 also induced CCL20 expression, but the nature of the induction has not been elucidated. Compared with a panel of cytokines (IL-1α, 1β, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, IFN-γ, GM-CSF, and TNF-α), IL-17 was as potent as IL-1α, 1β, and TNF-α, with a time- and dose-dependent phenomenon in stimulating CCL20 expression in both well-differentiated primary human and mouse airway epithelial cell culture systems. The stimulation was largely dependent on the treatment of polarized epithelial cultures from the basolateral side with IL-17, achieving an estimated 4- to 10-fold stimulation at both message and protein levels. More than 90% of induced CCL20 secretion was toward the basolateral compartment (23.02 ± 1.11 ng/chamber/day/basolateral vs 1.82 ± 0.82 ng/chamber/day/apical). Actinomycin D experiments revealed that enhanced expression did not occur at mRNA stability. Inhibitor studies showed that enhanced expression was insensitive to inhibitors of JAK/STAT, p38, JNK, and PI3K signaling pathways, but sensitive to inhibitors of MEK1/2 and NF-κB activation, suggesting a MEK/NF-κB-based mechanism. These results suggest that IL-17 can coordinately up-regulate both hBD-2 and CCL20 expressions in airways through differentially JAK-dependent and -independent activations of NF-κB-based transcriptional mechanisms, respectively.


Tyrosinase (EC 220.127.116.11) is a key enzyme in post-harvest browning of fruit and melanin formation in human skin. Tyrosinase inhibitors are important in agricultural and cosmetic chemistry. In the present study, the inhibitory kinetics of enterolactone on themonophenolase and diphenolase activities of mushroom tyrosinasewere investigated using the kinetic method of substrate reaction. The results showed that enterolactone inhibited themonophenolase and diphenolase activities of mushroom tyrosinase, with IC50 values of 0.42 and 0.124 mM, respectively. The inhibition kinetics showed that enterolactone displayed non-competitive mechanism. The inhibition constants were determined to be 0.8315 and 0.6956mM, respectively. Furthermore, enterolactone exerted a potent inhibitory effect on intracellular melanin formation in B16/F10 murine melanoma cells and did not cause cytotoxicity. These results provide a comprehensive understanding of the inhibitory mechanisms underlying enterolactoneactivity and its inhibition of melanin formation, suggesting the potential benefits of using this compound.


We develop a complete theory of symmetry and topology in non-Hermitian physics. We demonstrate that non-Hermiticity ramifies the celebrated Altland-Zirnbauer symmetry classification for insulators and superconductors. In particular, charge conjugation is defined in terms of transposition rather than complex conjugation due to the lack of Hermiticity, and hence chiral symmetry becomes distinct from sublattice symmetry. It is also shown that non-Hermiticity enables a Hermitian-conjugate counterpart of the Altland-Zirnbauer symmetry. Taking into account sublattice symmetry or pseudo-Hermiticity as an additional symmetry, the total number of symmetry classes is 38 instead of 10, which describe intrinsic non-Hermitian topological phases as well as non-Hermitian random matrices. Furthermore, due to the complex nature of energy spectra, non-Hermitian systems feature two different types of complex-energy gaps, point-like and line-like vacant regions. On the basis of these concepts and K-theory, we complete classification of non-Hermitian topological phases in arbitrary dimensions and symmetry classes. Remarkably, non-Hermitian topology depends on the type of complex-energy gaps and multiple topological structures appear for each symmetry class and each spatial dimension, which are also illustrated in detail with concrete examples. Moreover, the bulk-boundary correspondence in non-Hermitian systems is elucidated within our framework, and symmetries preventing the non-Hermitian skin effect are identified. Our classification not only categorizes recently observed lasing and transport topological phenomena, but also predicts a new type of symmetry-protected topological lasers with lasing helical edge states and dissipative topological superconductors with nonorthogonal Majorana edge states. Furthermore, our theory provides topological classification of Hermitian and non-Hermitian free bosons.


Design educators have long used studio-based learning environments to create communities of learners to support authentic learning in design. Online social media platforms have enabled the creation of distributed studio networks (DSNs) that link studio-based learning environments into expanded communities of practice and potential networked improvement communities. As learning scientists, we do not adequately understand how to infrastructure learning and resource sharing across distributed studios. In this ethnography of the infrastructure of Design for America, a DSN, we analyzed data from interviews, online communication, and field observations as the organization grew its network of university design studios. We found that Design for America managers faced challenges of providing support and resources to address wide variation in needs across studios. Lacking an existing comprehensive network collaboration platform, managers created a proto-infrastructure to distribute support across studios. By studying their iterative adoption of communication and collaboration tools and organizational routines, we define a unique set of design principles to infrastructure DSNs: (a) surfacing local progress and problems, (b) affective crowding, (c) solution mapping, and (d) help routing. Assembling constellations of tools and designing platforms based on these principles could support learning in and the improvement of DSNs across domains.


The results of a study on the measurement of fibre cross section and its variability in flax and sisal fibres are presented. Cross section values obtained from fibre "diameter" measurements were more than double the values obtained from actual observation of cross sections of the same individual fibres. The overall conclusion is that fibre "diameter" measurement is not an attractive method for accurate estimation of cross sectional area of these natural fibres. This conclusion is significant for researchers engaged in micromechanical investigation of natural fibre composites since differences in fibre cross section translate directly into differences of the same magnitude in the values obtained for the fibre modulus and strength. The error in fibre cross section introduced by the "diameter" method scales with the average fibre "diameter" which may also result in erroneous observations of fibre modulus and strength scaling inversely with natural fibre "diameter". The difference in average cross section observed from fibre to fibre was significantly greater than the variation along the length of each individual fibre. The minimum to maximum cross section variability of individual flax fibres was found to be approximately twice that observed for sisal fibres.


Diazoxide is a potent and safe antipressor agent for parenteral administration in hypertensive emergencies. Its rapidity of effect provides distinct advantages. Drug resistance does not develop in responsive patients and adverse effects are mild and infrequent. The minor changes in blood urea concentration, despite a marked reduction in blood pressure, enhance the usefulness of diazoxide in azotemic hypertensive patients.


Background— A better knowledge of patient x-ray dose and the associated radiation risk in pediatric interventional cardiology is warranted in view of the extensive use of x-rays and the higher radiosensitivity of children. In the present study, &ggr;-H2AX foci were used as a biomarker for radiation-induced effects. Patient-specific dose was assessed and radiation risks were estimated according to the linear-no-threshold model, commonly used in radiation protection, and the &ggr;-H2AX foci data. Methods and Results— In 49 pediatric patients (median age, 0.75 years) with congenital heart disease who underwent cardiac catheterization procedures, blood samples were taken before and shortly after the procedure. &ggr;-H2AX foci were determined in peripheral blood T lymphocytes. In each patient, a net increase in &ggr;-H2AX foci, representing DNA double-strand breaks induced by interventional x-rays, was observed. In addition, a patient-specific Monte Carlo simulation of the procedure was performed, resulting in individual blood, organ, and tissue doses. Plotting of &ggr;-H2AX foci versus blood dose indicated a low-dose hypersensitivity. Median effective doses calculated according to the International Commission on Radiological Protection 60 and 103 publications are 5.6 and 6.4 mSv, respectively. The lifetime-attributable risk of cancer mortality was calculated from the linear-no-threshold model and the &ggr;-H2AX foci data. This resulted in lifetime-attributable risk values of 1 per thousand and 4 per thousand, respectively, for the patient population under study. Conclusions— &ggr;-H2AX foci as a biomarker for DNA damage indicate that radiation risk estimates according to the linear-no-threshold hypothesis are possibly underestimates. Great care should be taken to minimize and optimize patient radiation exposure.


Secret and reliable communication presents a challenge involving a double dilemma for a user and an adversary. One challenge for the adversary is to decide between jamming and eavesdropping. While jamming can be quite effective in preventing reliable communication of the user, it can also be quite harmful for the adversary since he/she can be detected. On the other hand, eavesdropping is quite safe for the adversary; however, it sometimes may not be so efficient compared to jamming, if the adversary cannot respond to the information gleaned from eavesdropping in a timely manner. The user can either transmit, thus becoming vulnerable to malicious activity, or be in a silent mode in turn delaying his/her transmission. However, by combining these modes properly the user can assist an intruder detection system in detecting the adversary, since transmission can provoke the adversary into a jamming attack, and a strategically allocated silent mode while the jammer continues jamming can increase the probability of detecting the adversary. In this paper, to get insight into this problem, two simple stochastic games are proposed. Explicit solutions are found that lead to the characterization of some interesting properties. In particular, it is shown that under certain conditions, incorporating in the transmission protocol a time slot dealing just with the detection of malicious threats can improve the secrecy and reliability of the communication without extra transmission delay.


When it comes to crossover recombination during meiosis, once is usually enough. Most worm chromosomes form one and only one crossover between homologues during meiosis I, and other eukaryotes spread out their crossovers so that only a few form. Now, Kenneth Hillers and Anne Villeneuve (Stanford University, Stanford, CA) find that the worm's once-only rule applies even to fusion chromosomes that contain nearly half of the genome.

Figure

Fusing worm chromosomes shrinks the genetic map.

The fusions—between either two or three worm chromosomes—resulted in a shrinkage of the genetic map, so that the giant chromosomes showed an average of one crossover each. This suggests that crossover formation is not sequence specific, and that the mechanism that inhibits formation of more than one crossover can spread over entire enlarged chromosomes.

The spreading capability is tempered in heterozygotes. In these cases, with one giant chromosome lined up with its two unfused partners in a trivalent, about half of the meioses had one crossover per trivalent, and half had two crossovers (one crossover for each of the two original [unfused] chromosomes). Spreading fails completely when the middle of three chromosomes can no longer line up with a triple fusion giant chromosome.

In both double and triple fusion homozygotes, as with wild type, there were very few instances in which no crossovers formed. Hillers suggests that the mechanism that ensures this result—at least one crossover—may lead inevitably to only one crossover. For example, Nancy Kleckner (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA) has proposed that chromatin condensation occurring during pairing of chromosomes may exert tension along the lengths of chromosomes, with this tension promoting crossovers. A single recombination event would then release that tension and greatly reduce the likelihood of further recombination. The current results, say Hillers, are consistent with this idea, because they imply a role for the chromosomal axis in transmitting the crossover signal. ▪

Reference:

Hillers, K.J., and A.M. Villeneuve. 2003. Curr. Biol. 13:1641–1647. [PubMed]


The author explores how the corporate transformation of hospitals, HMOs, and the insurance and pharmaceutical industries has resulted in reduction in services, dangerous cost cutting, poor regulation, and corrupt research. He sheds light on the political lobbying and media manipulation that keeps the present system in place. Exposing the shortcomings of reform proposals that do little to alter the status quo, he makes a case for a workable single-payer system. This is an essential read for today's practitioners, policy makers, healthcare analysts and providers, and all those concerned with the precarious state of America's under- and uninsured.


In late May and early June of 2007, the Supreme Court decided two cases construing and applying Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2): Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Erickson v. Pardus. Bell Atlantic involved the adequacy of a complaint filed under §1 of the Sherman Act (conspiracy in restraint of trade). The Court ruled that the complaint failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted due to the absence of factual allegations supportive of the charged conspiracy. The dissent accused the majority of adopting a heightened pleading standard; the majority denied that this was the case. Confusion over the import of the Bell Atlantic holding quickly surfaced in lower court opinions and in the blogosphere. In the words of the Second Circuit, "Considerable uncertainty concerning the standard for assessing the adequacy of pleadings has recently been created by the Supreme Court's decision in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly." In Erickson, the Court rejected the judicial imposition of a heightened pleading requirement in a pro se prisoner case. At least at a surface level, Bell Atlantic and Erickson appear to be in some tension with one another, each pulling in opposite directions on what might be perceived as the pleading continuum between notice/simplified and heightened pleading standards. On the other hand, one could read Erickson as an assurance that Bell Atlantic did not alter the pleading playing field and that it represents nothing more than a specialized application of the standard pleading model applied in a particular context. Part of the difficulty in assessing these new opinions arises from the fact that problems of pleading under Rule 8(a)(2) are all too often lumped together under a single rubric such as "notice pleading" or as involving a bright line distinction between a liberal standard of "fair notice" and stricter standard of "heightened pleading," when, in reality, there are a range of pleading issues that do not fit comfortably within such narrow compartments or comparisons. In addition, the jurisprudence of pleading under Rule 8(a)(2) has been complicated by overgeneralizations of what is permitted or not permitted under the rule. Assertions that the rule does not require the pleading of facts, or its converse that the rule does not countenance the pleading of conclusions, are both oft stated and both demonstrably false, at least in terms of the underlying principles of Rule 8(a)(2). Unfortunately, those pleading principles are as often ignored as they are honored. As a partial remedy to the increasingly opaque waters of pleading practice, this article proposes a pleading template premised on three distinct but somewhat overlapping perspectives on pleading: Transactional Sufficiency, Procedural Sufficiency and Substantive Sufficiency. The purpose is to provide a systematic method through which to examine and differentiate among three types of pleading issues and to avoid treating all pleading issues as if they can be resolved under a single standard. The article uses this framework as method through which to examine and critique the Bell Atlantic and Erickson opinions.


ABSTRACT The changing family roles and evidence that most infants form attachment relationships with both of their parents have sparked a debate about parenting arrangements when the parents of infants and toddlers separate. Misunderstanding of attachment theory and the available empirical evidence has obscured rather than clarified evidence-based decision-making. In this report, I closely examine the five studies most frequently referenced in this context and show what they do and do not tell us about the ways in which children's adjustment can be promoted when their parents separate. Consistent with attachment theory, the evidence suggests that children benefit when parenting plans allow them to maintain meaningful and positive relationships with both of their parents.


Television has been a household fixture in Philippine homes for over 50 years. While the medium's contributions to education and information delivery are undeniable, concern regarding its negative effects on audiences, particularly on children, has been recurring theme of media research. This study on the connection between children's exposure to animated programs and resulting play behaviors considers family as a complementary influence. It focuses on a particular sub-group which has been quite understudied, i.e. Filipino pre-school children. Results reveal that television viewing influences play behaviors, and that parental interventions are crucial in honing the children's ability to distinguish between bad and good, especially when play behaviors are concerned. Recommendations for parental and school interventions conclude the article.


Bioresorbable electronic technologies form the basis for classes of biomedical devices that undergo complete physical and chemical dissolution after a predefined operational period, thereby eliminating the costs and risks associated with secondary surgical extraction. A continuing area of opportunity is in the development of strategies for power supply for these systems, where previous studies demonstrate some utility for biodegradable batteries, radio frequency harvesters, solar cells, and others. This paper introduces a type of bioresorbable system for wireless power transfer, in which a rotating magnet serves as the transmitter and a bioresorbable antenna as the remote receiver, with capabilities for operation at low frequencies (<200 Hz). Systematic experimental and numerical studies demonstrate several unique advantages of this system, most significantly the elimination of impedance matching and electromagnetic radiation exposure presented with the types of radio frequency energy harvesters explored previously. These results add to the portfolio of power supply options in bioresorbable electronic implants.


Report on 38 Baker cysts found in 300 knee arthrographies performed for clinically suspected meniscus lesions. In order not to miss these cysts, fluoroscopy and/or X-ray documentation immediately following the instillation of contrast material and air into the knee joint is mandatory, because these contrast agents tend to disappear fairly rapidly, leaving the lesion poorly visible towards the end of the examination. Furthermore, the clinical significance and the therapeutic aspects of Baker cysts are discussed.


In the present study, we compared the frequency and intensity of threatening events in the dreams of traumatized and nontraumatized Palestinian children. The aim of the study was to test some of the predictions and hypotheses derived from the Threat Simulation Theory proposing an evolutionary function for dreaming. Most, but not all, of our hypotheses were supported by the findings. We discuss the results in the light of the Threat Simulation Theory, and we also consider whether alternative theories of dream function are able to account for them


Chickpea is an important pulse crop with a wide range of potential nutritional benefits because of its chemical composition. The purpose of the current work was to provide the chemical composition of "kabuli"-type chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) developed in Argentina for nutritional purpose. Protein, oil and ash contents, fatty acid, tocopherol and mineral element compositions were studied. Among the studied genotypes, protein content ranged from 18.46 to 24.46 g/100g, oil content ranged from 5.68 to 9.01 g/100g and ash from 3.55 to 4.46 g/100g. Linoleic, oleic and palmitic acids were the most abundant fatty acids. The average oleic-to-linoleic ratio was 0.62 and average iodine value was 117.82. Tocopherols, well-established natural antioxidants, were found in chickpea seeds in relatively similar amounts across all genotypes. Mineral element analysis showed that chickpea was rich in macronutrients such as K, P, Mg and Ca. The nutritional composition of chickpea genotypes developed and grown in Argentina provides useful information for breeding programs, food marketing and consumers and establishes chickpea as component of a balanced human diet.


There are no national standards for pain assessment and treatment for people with Learning Disabilities or those who have limited communication skills. Residential homes are usually privately run with non NHS employees and there is a lack of training on pain and its management, with many staff unaware of basic treatment options. Following an audit within a range of Learning Disability Care Homes in a district in one county in the United Kingdom (UK) looking at pain assessment and management, a small feasibility study was carried out to ascertain which of three pain measurement tools were found to be most useful. DISDAT was identified as the tool of choice. A training package entitled "I Hurt Help Me" was developed for managers and carers working with people with a learning disability. The training consisted of how to assess pain using the DISDAT tool and pain management. The training sessions involved 203 carers in 54 residential homes, providing care for more than 287 residents. The evaluation of these sessions is presented here and demonstrates that carers' pain assessment and management skills improved facilitating more individualised intervention. The standard of recording has improved and Health Action Plans (HAPs) are now becoming commonplace with detailed descriptors of individual residents - allowing a baseline to work from, enabling faster and more effective care for people with Learning Disabilities and the resultant reduction in challenging behaviour. The importance of training non-registered staff is highlighted and the need for further development in this area.


A previous paper described some numerical experiments performed using the ParaView/Catalyst in-situ visualization infrastructure deployed in the Los Alamos RAGE radiation-hydrodynamics code to produce images from a running large scale 3D ICF simulation. One challenge of the in-situ approach apparent in these experiments was the difficulty of choosing parameters likes isosurface values for the visualizations to be produced from the running simulation without the benefit of prior knowledge of the simulation results and the resultant cost of recomputing in-situ generated images when parameters are chosen suboptimally. A proposed method of addressing this difficulty is to simply render multiple images at runtime with a range of possible parameter values to produce a large database of images and to provide the user with a tool for managing the resulting database of imagery. Recently, ParaView/Catalyst has been extended to include such a capability via the so-called Cinema framework. Here I describe some initial experiments with the first delivery of Cinema and make some recommendations for future extensions of Cinema's capabilities.


Presently there are no reliable statistics available on complication rates associated with surgery in gynaecological cancer in the UK, apart from data from small studies involving individual centres and clinical trials. This thesis describes the United Kingdom Gynaecological Oncology Surgical Outcomes and Complications study (UKGOSOC) that was set up to prospectively capture data from ten UK gynaecological cancer centres on surgical procedures and complications in a uniform manner using agreed definitions so that data could be analysed and compared. A web-based database was set up to capture surgery and complications contemporaneously from the hospitals, and, consented women were sent a follow-up letter eight weeks postoperatively. Intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded using a pre-determined list. Postoperative complications were graded (I-V) in increasing severity using the Clavien-Dindo system. Grade I complications were excluded from analysis. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were performed to determine the predictors for intraoperative and postoperative complications. The Lasso method of penalised regression was used to create a risk-prediction model for comparing outcomes between the centres. Data on 2948 eligible major surgical procedures were analysed and 1462 follow-up letters were received. The overall intraoperative complication rate was 4.7% (95% CI 4.0-5.6). The hospital-reported postoperative complication rate was 14.4% (95% CI 13.2-15.7) which increased to 25.9% (95% CI 23.7-28.2) when both hospital and patient- reported postoperative complications were included. The predictors for intraoperative and postoperative complications were different apart from diabetes which was common to both. Risk-adjustment had a modest effect on the complication rates for individual centres but allowed for a fairer comparison. There was no concordance between the ranking order of the centres for intraoperative and postoperative complication rates. The overall intraoperative (≈5%) and postoperative (≈26%) complication rates and funnel graphs derived from this study could be used to benchmark performance of gynaecological oncology centres and even individual surgeons if a larger dataset becomes available nationally.


Objective: Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder is a newly proposed childhood disorder included in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition to describe children ⩽18 years of age with chronic irritability/temper outbursts. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, severe mood dysregulation and chronic irritability in an Australian study of young people at increased familial risk of developing bipolar disorder ('HR' group) and controls ('CON' group). Methods: A total of 242 12- to 30-year-old HR or CON subjects were administered the severe mood dysregulation module. Of these, 42 were aged ⩽18 years at the time of assessment, with 29 subjects in the HR group and 13 in the CON group. Results: No subjects ⩽18 years – in either group – fulfilled current or lifetime criteria for disruptive mood dysregulation disorder or severe mood dysregulation, the precursor to disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Similarly, no subjects in either group endorsed the severe mood dysregulation/disruptive mood dysregulation disorder criteria for irritable mood or marked excessive reactivity. One HR participant endorsed three severe mood dysregulation criteria (distractibility, physical restlessness and intrusiveness), while none of the comparison subjects endorsed any criteria. Exploratory studies of the broader 12- to 30-year-old sample similarly found no subjects with severe mood dysregulation/disruptive mood dysregulation disorder in either the HR or CON group and no increased rates of chronic irritability, although significantly more HR subjects reported at least one severe mood dysregulation/disruptive mood dysregulation disorder criterion (likelihood ratio = 6.17; p = 0.013); most of the reported criteria were severe mood dysregulation 'chronic hyper-arousal' symptoms. Conclusion: This study comprises one of the few non-US reports on the prevalence of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and severe mood dysregulation and is the first non-US study of the prevalence of these conditions in a high-risk bipolar disorder sample. The failure to replicate the finding of higher rates of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder and chronic irritability in high-risk offspring suggests that these are not robust precursors of bipolar disorder.


The sovereign debt default and the linkages from banking and currency crisis have been rarely explored in the crisis literature. This study attempts to dive into this unexplored area by applying panel data binary choice model on a sample with 20 emerging countries having monthly observations for the years between 1985 and 2007. The non-linear linkages from currency and banking crises to sovereign defaults are explored by using the interactions of these crises with international illiquidity, appreciated real exchange rates and real international monetary policy rates. It is discovered that currency, banking and debt crises tend to occur simultaneously. Prior occurrence of a currency crisis increases the sovereign default probability through appreciated real exchange rates, and in countries with high short-term indebtedness the occurrence of banking crisis raises the probability of a debt crisis.


A particular aspect of the nonstationary nature of intermittent rainfall is investigated. It manifests itself in the fact that the average rain rate varies with the distance to the surrounding dry areas. The authors call this fundamental link between the rainfall intensity and the rainfall occurrence process the ''dry drift.'' Using high-resolution radar rain-rate maps and disdrometer data, they show how the dry drift affects the structure and the variability of intermittent rainfall fields. They provide a rigorous geostatistical framework to describe it and propose an extension of the concept to more general quantities like the (rain)drop size distribution.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate whether outcomes from diabetes self-management education for patients with suboptimal control were sustained.

STUDY DESIGN
A randomized controlled trial of 623 adults with type 2 diabetes and glycated hemoglobin (A1C) > 7% assigned to receive conventional individual education (IE), group education (GE) using US Diabetes Conversation Maps, or usual care (UC) with no education.

METHODS
A1C tests, Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID), Diabetes Self-Efficacy (DES), Recommended Food Score (RFS), physical activity, and medication use were quantified at baseline and 1 year of follow-up through electronic health records and quarterly mailed surveys. Short-term (mean 6.8 months) and long-term (12.8 months) outcomes were evaluated using linear mixed models. In addition, follow-up trajectories were plotted in a random effects generalized additive model with smooth splines.

RESULTS
Compared with UC, IE resulted in long-term improved DES and PAID scores (DES, +.11, P = .03 and PAID, -2.94, P = .04), but not significantly improved long-term RFS or physical activity change. The A1C trajectory declined more steeply in IE than GE and UC for the first 150 days post randomization. However, by 250 days, there was no treatment group A1C difference. The model fit likelihood ratio test for A1C intervention trends was significant for 3 distinct non-linear trajectories (P = .02).

CONCLUSIONS
Conventional IE (but not GE) resulted in significant and sustained improvements in self-efficacy and reduced diabetes distress compared with UC, but short-term improvements in A1C, nutrition, and physical activity were not sustained. Patients may need ongoing reinforcement to achieve lasting behavioral change and glucose control.


Black TiO2−x is an attractive material due to its adjustable band structure, useful in different applications, and has been heavily investigated and developed. The current reduction of TiO2 involves a process from surface to center: thus, the issue of either insufficient or excessive reduction seems inevitable. To the best of our knowledge, it is rarely reported that a homogeneous defect distribution can be facilely achieved inside black TiO2−x. In this study, a bulk-reduced rutile TiO2−x was obtained via a circuitous two-step approach, with an intermediate Magneli phase (TinO2n−1). With the decomposition of a solid atmosphere creator (e.g. KClO4 grains) at a high temperature, the missing oxygen ions in Ti4O7 could be replenished quantitatively. The TEM and SAED results reveal that the oxidation process is not just a surface reaction, but it involves reverse displacement or structural rearrangement inside the crystal. In particular, the periodic variation of crystallographic sheer planes was the direct evidence of the above bulk reaction, i.e. unified long period for Ti4O7 and varied long period for critical ratio sample. The as-prepared samples showed different band gaps and colors, based on their oxygen content. KClO4, with a critical mixing ratio of around 17.5 mol%, could almost oxidize Ti4O7 to black rutile TiO2−x. Furthermore, the sample formed at the critical ratio showed a considerable photo-thermal response speed of 1.7 °C s−1 and an equilibrium temperature of up to 70 °C under irradiation with light above 400 nm, which can be an evidence for the enhancement of non-intrinsic absorption. In short, this study provides a new route for the controllable preparation of black TiO2−x, and a possibility for further development of other solid atmosphere creators.


To study mechanisms underlying resistance to cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cis-DDP) we have induced resistance to this agent in BE human colon carcinoma cells. A 5-fold increase in the IC50 of resistant compared to sensitive cells was noted as analyzed by the inhibition of cellular growth. Up to a 4-fold reduction in interstrand cross-link formation by cis-DDP in resistant compared to sensitive cells was present as measured by alkaline elution. No significant differences were detectable either in the extent of DNA platination as analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy or in the induction of cis-DDP DNA adducts as evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay employing antiserum that detects intrastrand cross-links formed by cis-DDP. Further, no differences in the kinetics of excision of DNA interstrand cross-links, cis-DDP DNA adducts, or total platinum in DNA were present. Levels of glutathione, however, were increased about threefold in resistant compared to sensitive cells. Loss of resistance was associated with increased interstrand cross-link formation and declines in glutathione levels. Our results are consistent with a critical role of glutathione in preventing platinum monoadduct rearrangements resulting in lower levels of interstrand cross-links and resistance to cis-DDP in resistant BE cells.


VOL. 9, NO. 1, JANUARY 1998 Copyright © 1998 American Psychological Society 1 Abstract— If strategy shifts speed up performance, learning curves should show discontinuities where such shifts occur. Relatively smooth curves appear consistently in the literature, however. To explore this incongruity, we examined learning when multiple strategies were used. We plotted power law learning curves for aggregated data from four mental arithmetic experiments and then plotted similar curves separately for each participant and strategy. We then evaluated the fits achieved by each group of curves. In all four experiments, plotting separately by strategy produced significantly better fits to individual participants' data than did plotting a single power function. We conclude that improvement of solution time is better explained by practice on a strategy than by practice on a task, and that careful assessment of trial-by-trial changes in strategy can improve understanding of the effects of practice on learning. 0


Background. The clinical relevance of chromosomally integrated human herpesvirus-6 (CIHHV-6) after transplantation is not known. This study was aimed to determine the potential role of CIHHV-6 on the occurrence of other infections, allograft rejection, and outcomes after liver transplantation. Methods. A real-time quantitative human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) polymerase chain reaction assay was performed on whole blood samples of 548 liver transplant recipients. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of the patients with CIHHV-6 (defined as HHV-6 levels >1×106 genomes/mL) were compared with those of patients with low-level or no HHV-6 DNAemia. Results. Seven had CIHHV-6, 35 had low-level HHV-6 DNAemia, and 506 had no HHV-6 DNAemia before liver transplantation. Bacterial infection was significantly more common in the CIHHV-6 group compared with the group without HHV-6 (71.4% vs. 31.4%; P=0.04). A higher rate of allograft rejection was observed in the CIHHV-6 group compared with the group with low-level HHV-6 DNAemia (71.4% vs. 37.1%; P=0.12) and those without HHV-6 DNAemia (71.4% vs. 42.9%; P=0.25), although these differences did not reach statistical significance. Other opportunistic infections and outcomes were not significantly different between the CIHHV-6 group and the non–CIHHV-6 groups. Conclusion. Patients with CIHHV-6 may be at increased risk of indirect HHV6 effects after transplantation. This clinically relevant observation warrants confirmation using a larger cohort of transplant recipients.


The effect of three storage temperatures (0, -9 and -18 degrees C) of the kiwi-fruit pulp reduced pressure concentrate, by a period of 3 months, in the physical (soluble solids, water activity, consistency and color), chemistry (pH, acidity, ascorbic acid, chlorophyll and pheophytin) and sensorial (appearance, aroma, acidity, sweetness, color and flavor) characteristics were studied. The greater deterioration was produced in the stored pulp to 0 degree C, while to -9 degrees C there is no significative differences, on the other hand, the kiwi-fruit pulp stored to -18 degrees C maintained large part of the original characteristics. It was observed that while the temperature and storage time increased, vitamin C and chlorophyll contents decreased, varying significantly consistency, color and appearance of product. The rest of the analyzed variables did not present significative differences during storage.


Here, we investigated the effects of different concentrations of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) on the regulation of aggrecan (ACAN), collagen type II (COL2A1), and SRY-box 9 (Sox9) gene expression in human nucleus pulposus cells in vitro. Second-generation human nucleus pulposus cells were grown in culture media containing 4 different concentrations of TGF-β1 (0.1, 1.0, 10, and 100 μg/L). The control group was not treated with TGF-β1. Then, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the gene expression of ACAN, COL2A1, and Sox9. There were no significant differences in expression between the control group and the group treated with 0.1 μg/L TGF-β1. However, significant increases in the expression of ACAN, COL2A1, and Sox9 were observed as the concentration of TGF-β1 increased, and expression was highest following treatment with 10 μg/L TGF-β1. Thus, TGF-β1 induced the expression of ACAN, COL2A1, and Sox9 in nucleus pulposus cells, suggesting that TGF-β1 may play an important role in the prevention and treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.


How should democratic societies and the cities that propel them respond to increased social diversity? As the aftermath of 9/11 reminds us, human diversity is often cast in national and even global terms, but inevitably it is lived - some would say endured - locally. Surprisingly few studies compare cities on their capacity to manage social diversity or offer historical views of the bases for co-existence among groups. Most studies of this crucial theme that do offer comparative reach are limited to nation-states in the modern global order, group effects on urban inequality, or ethnic politics in contemporary cities. This paper analyzes three large, history-making and famously diverse cities that relied on quite distinct recipes (composite arrangements) to accommodate diversity: ancient Rome, medieval Cordoba, and contemporary Los Angeles. Comparisons across such huge spans of time and major culture shifts yield lessons obscured in current debates over race relations, multiculturalism, or the need for tolerance. Three of the most important lessons relate to the power of massive, integrative societal projects; the co-existence throughout history of separatism or cultural mosaic patterns alongside active cross-cultural exchange and fusion; and the need to bound pluralistic ideals within a strong, locally viable public order. In earlier periods of history, autocracy provided such order for cities and the civilizations they helped to define.


The purposes of this study were to examine four sources of variability within the Test of Spoken English (TSE®) assessment system, to quantify ranges of variability for each source, to determine the extent to which these sources affect examinee performance, and to highlight aspects of the assessment system that might suggest a need for change. Data obtained from the February and April 1997 TSE scoring sessions were analyzed using Facets (Linacre, 1999a).

The analysis showed that, for each of the two TSE administrations, the test usefully separated examinees into eight statistically distinct proficiency levels. The examinee proficiency measures were found to be trustworthy in terms of their precision and stability. It is important to note, though, that the standard error of measurement varies across the score distribution, particularly in the tails of the distribution.

The items on the TSE appear to work together; ratings on one item correspond well to ratings on the other items. Yet, none of the items seem to function in a redundant fashion. Ratings on individual items within the test can be meaningfully combined; there is little evidence of psychometric multidimensionality in the two data sets. Consequently, it is appropriate to generate a single summary measure to capture the essence of examinee performance across the 12 items. However, the items differ little in terms of difficulty, thus limiting the instrument's ability to discriminate among levels of proficiency.

The TSE rating scale functions as a five-point scale, and the scale categories are clearly distinguishable. The scale maintains a similar though not identical category structure across all 12 items. Raters differ somewhat in the levels of severity they exercise when they rate examinee performances. The vast majority used the scale in a consistent fashion, though. If examinees' scores were adjusted for differences in rater severity, the scores of two-thirds of the examinees in these administrations would have differed from their raw score averages by 0.5 to 3.6 raw score points. Such differences can have important consequences for examinees whose scores lie in critical decision-making regions of the score distribution.


582 strain of corynebacteria and 235 cultures of bacilli isolated from the skin surface of mammary glands of 120 nursing women were studied for their antagonistic action on staphylococci. It is established that bacilli, especially Bacillus subtilis, B. firmus and B. alvei exert more pronounced inhibitory effect on staphylococci. Representatives of the family Corynebacteriaceae possess a weak antagonistic action both on coagulase-positive and on coagulase-negative species. The ability of coryneform bacteria to retain the colonization resistance is supposed to be due to other factors. Antagonistic properties of B. subtilis are shown expedient to be used for elimination of hospital strains of Staphylococcus aureus from the skin of mammary glands.


It is well known that people attempting to perform hypothesis testing show a positive test bias, preferring to request evidence that is consistent (rather than inconsistent) with their current hypothesis. Rather than viewing this as an irrational bias, information theoretic accounts of hypothesis testing have argued that selecting tests likely to produce positive evidence is adaptive when most hypotheses are small (i.e., true of few entities in the world) and respond positively to very few queries. These accounts make the prediction that as hypotheses get larger, the relative utility of positive evidence will decrease; when hypotheses are large enough, negative evidence will become more useful than positive evidence. We test if people are sensitive to this change in utility with an experiment inspired by the game "Battleship," in which people attempt to discover the correct arrangement of ships by asking for positive or negative evidence. As predicted, as hypotheses become larger people request less positive evidence, and when hypotheses are large requests for negative evidence are more likely than requests for positive evidence. Implications for the nature of the positive test bias are discussed.


Abstract There are limited data on the association between Fe overload and leucocyte telomere length (LTL), known as a useful biomarker of the replicative ageing of cells. The aim of the study was to evaluate associations between Fe-status biomarkers and LTL. A cross-sectional study included 1174 men and women aged 50–79 years who provided blood samples for assays of Fe-status biomarkers including ferritin, transferrin saturation (TSAT), total Fe-binding capacity (TIBC) and relative LTL. They were free of hepatitis, potential infection or Fe deficiency. In multiple linear regression analysis adjusted for potential confounding variables, log-transformed LTL was positively associated with TIBC (adjusted coefficient estimate for its highest quartile: 0·17 (se 0·03), P<0·001) and inversely associated with TSAT (adjusted coefficient estimate for its third and fourth quartiles: −0·09 (se 0·03), P<0·01). These associations were consistent after additional adjustment for serum concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase. In particular, participants with not only abnormally high concentrations (>45 %) but also with high-normal concentrations (35–45 %) of TSAT had shorter LTL compared with those with low-normal concentrations (<30 %) (P<0·05). We also observed that less-active or obese persons with high TSAT concentrations had shorter LTL than others. Our findings that cellular ageing is influenced not only by Fe overload but also by high-normal concentrations of TSAT support the hypothesis regarding the detrimental effects of labile Fe, which has a potent pro-oxidant activity in the body.


Abstract This study provides the first photo-documentation of some of the sanguivorous terrestrial leeches of Madagascar, including the characterization of the male and female reproductive systems that were previously considered to be "monotonous" in land leeches. Three species of Malagabdella are redescribed and one new haemadipsoid species, Malagabdella niarchosorum, n.sp., is described. M. niarchosorum, n.sp. is the second species described from Madagascar that possesses four complete annuli between the gonopores. The only other Malagasy leech with these same characteristics, Malagabdella dussumieri (Blanchard, 1917), has an unknown type locality, and the examination of the type specimen reveals characteristics suggesting that this leech was not from Madagascar. A revised and restricted provisional key for the Malagabdellinae is provided.