A new Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility (SPES) is presently under construction at the Legnaro National Laboratories of INFN. The SPES facility is based on the ISOL method using an UCx Direct Target able to sustain a power of 10 kW. The primary proton beam is provided by a high current Cyclotron accelerator with energy of 35-70 MeV and a beam current of 0.2-0.5 mA. Neutron-rich radioactive ions are produced by proton induced fission on an Uranium target at an expected fission rate of the order of 1013 fissions per second. After ionization and selection the exotic isotopes are re-accelerated by the ALPI superconducting LINAC at energies of 10A MeV for masses in the region A=130 amu. The expected secondary beam rates are of the order of 107 – 109 pps. Aim of the SPES facility is to deliver high intensity radioactive ion beams of neutron rich nuclei for nuclear physics research as well as to be an interdisciplinary research centre for radio-isotopes production for medicine and for neutron beams.


The use of a topical skin protectant (TSP) as a means of protecting troops from percutaneous chemical warfare agent (CWA) exposure has been proposed since these weapons were first used during World War I. The TSP is applied to vulnerable skin surfaces prior to entry into a chemical combat area. In 1990, the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense transferred two non-reactive TSPs into advanced development. Following US Food and Drug Administration approval, the final product is expected to be available to soldiers in 1999. A continuing research effort is designed to develop a second-generation TSP that will increase effectiveness and also decontaminate CWAs into non-toxic products. We identified a list of 29 reactive moieties as potential additives to the TSP formulation. All candidate formulations are evaluated in a decision tree network, consisting of a series of 11 efficacy testing models. A prototype formulation (ICD 2701) containing the reactive ingredient S-330 has dramatically improved the protection against saturated sulfur mustard vapor. In addition, we have discovered a compound (ICD 2837) that significantly increases the skin's natural resistance to CWA penetration. Our goal is to transfer a significantly improved TSP formulation into advanced development by 1999.


Approximately half of patients presenting to the hospital with an acutely occluded coronary artery that is causing ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) have significant stenosis of other coronary arteries.1 Observational studies have shown that patients with STEMI along with multivessel disease (MVD) fare worse than those with single vessel disease.

Timely revascularisation of the culprit coronary artery is considered crucial for the treatment of STEMI. However, the management of other diseased, non-culprit coronary vascular territories has been an area of considerable debate. Recently published randomised clinical trials (RCTs) suggesting a beneficial effect from complete revascularisation have led to changes in guidelines, now supporting intervention of non-culprit vessels (class IIa or IIb recommendation).2 3

The goal of this Cochrane systematic review was to compare efficacy and safety of the culprit-only versus complete revascularisation strategies in patients with STEMI and MVD. Importantly, we also analysed comprehensively the quality of the evidence using the Cochrane standards.

We searched for RCTs comparing complete revascularisation versus culprit-only percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in adult patients (≥18 years old) with STEMI and MVD in the Cochrane Central Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, WHO ICTRP Portal and ClinicalTrials.gov since their inception up to January 2017.4

We extracted data on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, revascularisation and adverse events that included stroke, acute kidney injury and bleeding. The data were extracted on short-term (within the first 30 days after the index procedure) and long-term (1 year or greater after the index procedure) outcomes.

Data were analysed as risk ratio (RR) with 95% CI, and we conducted analyses according to the statistical guidelines contained in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.5 Furthermore, for trial sequential analysis (TSA),6 the required information size was calculated based on a 20% relative risk reduction (RRR) in the intervention group, a type …


The United States Supreme Court recently issued an opinion regarding the patentability of claims directed to diagnostic methods in Mayo Collab. Service v. Prometheus Lab., Inc. In this opinion, the Supreme Court held that correlations between metabolite levels in the human body and either therapeutic efficacy or adverse effects are unpatentable laws of nature. It further found that a patent claim to a method including such a correlation is unpatentable if the remainder of the claim contains only conventional and well-known steps. The Prometheus decision creates uncertainty regarding the scope of patentable subject matter, particularly in the fields of diagnostic and personalized medicine, that will remain until future cases apply this new doctrine.


Currently, in the Republic of Moldova about 94.4% of livestock is in small scale farms (small holdings), which makes it difficult to collect, store and use produced organic wastes. As a result, huge quantities of unused manure are thrown to the edge of roads, ridges, rivers, which leads to soil and water pollution. At the same time, soils involved in agricultural production are affected by various degradation processes, most of which are related to the lack of organic material and nutrients. The goal of the research was to reveal the possibility of manure use at local scale and to determine suitable sites for utilization of manure as organic fertilizer on example of Grinauti village, Riscani district in order. The selection was made by use of GIS technologies, namely through construction of GIS based decision model using Boolean logic. For decisional model construction were used eight decisional criteria relevant to study goal: soil bonitet; soil mobile phosphorus content; slope; proximity to access ways; proximity to springs and wells; proximity to localities and sheepfolds; proximity to aquatic objects; land use. In the result it was obtained a map of favorable places for use of manure. According to obtained decisional model 77.9% of arable areas are suitable for manure application.


The paper concerns the modelling of artificial hyperthermia. The 3D domain including healthy tissue and tumor region is considered. Heat transfer processes proceeding in this domain are described by the Pennes model and next by the porous one. The external heating of tissue is taken into account by the introduction of internal source function to the equation considered. Both models are supplemented by the same geometrical, physical, boundary and initial conditions. At the stage of numerical simulation the explicit scheme of finite difference method is used. The examples of computations show the similarities and differences of solutions and allow to formulate the conclusions connected with the applications of the results obtained in the hyperthermia therapy.


Although the conditions and power relations of employment are known to be crucial health determinants for workers and their families, the nature of these relations and their effects on health have yet to be fully researched. Several types of employment—precarious employment in developed countries; informal sectors, child labor, slavery, and bonded labor in developing countries—expose workers to risky working conditions. Hazardous work and occupation-related diseases kill approximately 1,500 workers, globally, every day. Growing scientific evidence suggests that particular employment conditions, such as job insecurity and precarious employment, create adverse health effects; yet the limited number of studies and the poor quality of their methods prevent our understanding, globally, the complexity of employer-employee power relations, working conditions, levels of social protections, and the reality of employment-related health inequalities. This article introduces a special section on employment-related health inequalities, derived from the EMCONET approach, which focuses on (1) describing major methods and sources of information; (2) presenting theoretical models at the micro and macro levels; (3) presenting a typology of labor markets and welfare states worldwide; (4) describing the main findings in employment policies, including four key points for implementing strategies; and (5) suggesting new research developments, a policy agenda, and recommendations. This introduction includes a glossary of terms in the emerging area of employment conditions and health inequalities.


Two methods for bacterial membrane transport, filtration and flow dialysis, were used to study cellular association of Pseudomonas putida with naphthalene. It is not technically possible to determine the exact celiular or vesicular location of the naphthalene, and because it is hydrophobic, it could be at the membrane(s) rather than inside the cells. As an index of naphthalene having crossed the inner membrane we used the intracellular formation of its first catabolite. An energized membrane or ATP was not essential for association or movement into the cell. Evidence for a nonspecific association and a movement into cells by simple diffusion are the lack of saturation of association, an absence of inhibition of association by protein inhibitors and structural analogs, and the passage of naphthalene through cell membranes in the presence of iodoacetamide. Specific naphthalene metabolism gene expression was not required for association.


Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are considered vital for companies' performance in today's competitive market environment. In general, past research indicates that information technology increases organizational performance. However, it is still not well documented whether a marketing orientation to the implementation of CRM systems offers further benefits to the companies adopting such systems. The present study examines the implementation of CRM systems in the Greek hotel market. A significant body of the literature suggests that the hotel industry can substantially gain from the adoption of information systems. Yet, little is known about the extent to which CRM systems are used in the hotel industry; and most importantly whether hotels adopt a marketing approach to their implementation. In particular, the present study examines: a. the extent to which CRM systems are adopted by hotels, b. managers' orientation towards a customer-centric philosophy and their attitudes and policies towards customers' satisfaction and complaints, and c. the implementation of brand loyalty strategies. The present paper analyses and presents the findings of an exploratory study, conducted in the area of Thessaloniki, Greece. Our main findings indicate that although hotel managers overall embrace a CRM philosophy, only a relative small percentage of them have installed a type of CRM software. When such a system exists, the majority of the hotels keep customer-related data. In the absence of a CRM system, only a minority of the hotels recorded customer-related data in a non-electronic form. It is encouraging, however, that half of the hotels employ moderate to very intensive brand loyalty strategies


Abstract We assessed the performance of students with a self-reported conflict between their religious belief and the theory of evolution in two sections of a large introductory biology course (N = 373 students). Student performance was measured through pretest and posttest evolution essays and multiple-choice (MC) questions (evolution-related and non-evolution-related questions) on the final exam and posttest. The two class sections differed only in exam format: MC with or without constructed-response (CR) questions. Although students with a reported conflict scored significantly lower on the final exam in the MC-only section, they scored equally well in the MC+CR section, and all students in the MC+CR section performed significantly better overall. As a result, (1) a religious conflict with evolution can be negatively associated with student achievement in introductory biology, but (2) assessment with constructed response was associated with a closed performance gap between students with and without a conflict. We suggest that differences in exam format and focus on student acceptance of evolution (either evidence-based or opinion), rather than reported conflict, may contribute to the inconsistencies in student learning of evolution across research studies, and that CR questions may help students overcome other obstacles to learning evolution.


Streptococcus pneumoniae (S.p.) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) are two major pathogens commonly found to coexist in respiratory secretions in patients with acute respiratory infection. Though there is increasing evidence of a synergistic interplay between these two pathobionts, the exact mechanisms remain obscure. The aim of our study was to decipher how coinfection with RSV alter pneumococcal growth dynamics and host immune response and how this impact on the colonisation and invasive properties of S.p. Using in vivo mouse model, we made the key observation that upon coinfection with RSV, the density of pneumococcal colonisation in the nasopharynx and dissemination to the lower respiratory tract were significantly higher in mice previously colonised with S.p. These mice also presented more severe weight loss and delayed recovery compared to mono-infected animals as well as significantly heightened pro-inflammatory cytokine profiles. Measurement of in vitro transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) showed that, upon RSV coinfection, S.p. transmigrate through the epithelial barrier without altering epithelial integrity suggesting a transcellular mechanism rather than paracellular migration. Moreover, RSV-pneumococcal coinfection of human primary nasal epithelial cell demonstrated major changes in host protein expression involved in the catalytic activity, ubiquitination, cytoskeletal organisation, and endocytosis. Simultaneously, significant upregulation observed in bacterial proteins involved in the ribosomal activity, streptococcus-induced tissue inflammation, DNA supercoiling, and bacterial viability during oxidative stress, affecting both the survival and the virulence of S.p. Our results explain the complex interactions between pneumococci, RSV and host and help towards further understanding the significance of viral-bacterial co-infection in clinical settings.


Abstract Estrogens have traditionally been considered female hormones. Nevertheless, the presence of estrogen in males has been known for over 90 years. Initial studies suggested that estrogen was deleterious to male reproduction because exogenous treatments induced developmental abnormalities. However, demonstrations of estrogen synthesis in the testis and high concentrations of 17β-estradiol in rete testis fluid suggested that the female hormone might have a function in normal male reproduction. Identification of estrogen receptors and development of biological radioisotope methods to assess estradiol binding revealed that the male reproductive tract expresses estrogen receptor extensively from the neonatal period to adulthood. This indicated a role for estrogens in normal development, especially in efferent ductules, whose epithelium is the first in the male reproductive tract to express estrogen receptor during development and a site of exceedingly high expression. In the 1990s, a paradigm shift occurred in our understanding of estrogen function in the male, ushered in by knockout mousemodels where estrogen production or expression of its receptors was not present. These knockout animals revealed that estrogen's main receptor (estrogen receptor 1 [ESR1]) is essential for male fertility and development of efferent ductules, epididymis, and prostate, and that loss of only the membrane fraction of ESR1 was sufficient to induce extensive male reproductive abnormalities and infertility. This review provides perspectives on the major discoveries and developments that led to our current knowledge of estrogen's importance in the male reproductive tract and shaped our evolving concept of estrogen's physiological role in the male. Summary Sentence Estrogenic activity, which was first thought to be harmful to males, has now been shown to be produced locally in significant quantities and to be essential for male reproductive tract development and fertility.


The ultimate goal of an academic institution is to produce competent graduates who can contribute to the development of the society. The competence of graduates is manifested in their employability particularly to their field of expertise. Thus, this employability mapping has been conceptualized to track business graduates of the University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC) in the different industries in Davao City; document their characteristics in two perspectives – from the graduates themselves and from the employers. The survey included 101 UIC graduates who were traced through snowball sampling. Data were from the key informant interviews with a Human Resource Officer from a private company, another were confirmed with from a government agency. Findings showed that 78% of the respondents have been employed within six months after graduation and the top four industries of employment include Banking, Academe, Retail and Government. The top four skills of respondents considered as relevant in their first job are public speaking, computer literacy, communication skills and customer relations. Based on the gathered data, they have attributed their employability to the UIC education in these aspects –effective curriculum and training, prestige of the university, values and discipline. The characteristics evident to UIC graduates are competence, dependability, trustworthiness, God-centeredness, dedication, and sociability. Keywords:  Education, business graduates, employability, tracer study, quality education, UIC, Davao City, Philippines.


CD8 + T lymphocytes with the cytotoxic activity and capability to release various cytokines are the major players in immune responses against viral infection and cancer. To identify the proteins specific to resting or activated human CD8 + T cells, human CD8 + T cells were activated with anti-CD3+anti-CD28 mAb in the presence of IL-2. The solubilized proteins from resting and activated human CD8 + T cells were separated by high-resolution two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and their proteomes were analyzed. Proteomic analysis of resting and activated T cells resulted in identification of 35 proteins with the altered expression. Mass spectrometry coupled with Profound and SWISS-PROT database analysis revealed that these identified proteins are to be functionally associated with cell proliferation, metabolic pathways, antigen presentation, and intracellular signal transduction pathways. We also identified six unknown proteins predicted from genomic DNA sequences specific to resting or activated CD8 + T cells. Protein network studies and functional characterization of these novel proteins may provide new insight into the signaling transduction pathway of CD8 + T cell activation.


The mean-squared error (MSE) behavior for Fourier linear combiner (FLC)-based filters is analyzed, using the independence assumption. The advantage of this analysis is its simplicity compared with previous results. The MSE transient behavior for this kind of filters is also presented for the first time. Moreover, a time-varying sequence for the least mean square (LMS) algorithm step-size is proposed to provide fast convergence with small misadjustment error. It is shown that for this sequence, the MSE behaves better as the input signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases, but increases with the number of harmonics. Lastly, we make a brief analysis on the nonstationary behavior of these filters, and again we find simple expressions for the MSE behavior.


We retrospectively reviewed 101 consecutive patients with 114 femoral tumours treated by massive bone allograft at our institution between 1986 and 2005. There were 49 females and 52 males with a mean age of 20 years (4 to 74). At a median follow-up of 9.3 years (2 to 19.8), 36 reconstructions (31.5%) had failed. The allograft itself failed in 27 reconstructions (24%). Mechanical complications such as delayed union, fracture and failure of fixation were studied. The most adverse factor on the outcome was the use of intramedullary nails, followed by post-operative chemotherapy, resection length > 17 cm and age > 18 years at the time of intervention. The simultaneous use of a vascularised fibular graft to protect the allograft from mechanical complications improved the outcome, but the use of intramedullary cementing was not as successful. In order to improve the strength of the reconstruction and to advance the biology of host-graft integration, we suggest avoiding the use of intramedullary nails and titanium plates, but instead using stainless steel plates, as these gave better results. The use of a supplementary vascularised fibular graft should be strongly considered in adult patients with resection > 17 cm and in those who require post-operative chemotherapy.


Abstract
Purpose
We examine the effect of an offender's occupational status on criminal sentencing recommendations using a vignette experiment that crosses the offender's occupational status (white-collar vs blue- or pink-collar) and the crime label, with one label (overcharging) associated with white-collar offenders and the other (robbery) associated with lower-status offenders. We expect negative and potent post-crime impressions of the offender and the crime to increase perceptions of criminality and, in turn, the recommended sentence. We term these negative and potent impressions "criminality scores." Drawing on affect control theory (ACT) impression formation equations, we generate criminality scores for the offenders and the crimes in each condition and, using those scores as a guide, predict that white-collar offenders and offenders described as "robbing" will receive a higher recommended sentence. We also expect eight perceptual factors central to theories of judicial sentencing mediate these relationships.

Methodology
We test these hypotheses with a vignette experiment, administered to female university students, that varies a male offender's occupation and the word used to describe his crime.

Findings
Consistent with our ACT-derived predictions, white-collar offenders and offenders described as robbing received a higher recommended sentence. But, contrary to predictions, only one perceptual factor, crime seriousness, mediated these effects, and the mediation was partial.

Research Implications
Our findings suggest the perpetrator's post-crime appearance of negativity and power offer a valuable supplement to theories of judicial sentencing.

Originality
This study is the first to test the hypothesis that sentencing disparities may be due to the way the perpetrators' sociodemographic attributes shape their post-crime appearance of negativity and power.


Objective: This paper aims to provide an overview of the added societal value of generic medicines beyond their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. In addition, an observational case study will document the impact of generic entry on access to pharmacotherapy in The Netherlands and an illustrative exercise was carried out to highlight the budget impact of generic entry. Methods: A narrative literature review was carried out to explore the impact of generic medicines on access to pharmacotherapy, innovation and medication adherence. Data from the Medicines and Medical Devices Information Project database in The Netherlands were used for the case study in which the impact of generic medicine entrance on the budget and the number of users was calculated as an illustrative exercise. Results: Generic medicines have an additional societal value beyond their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. Generic medicines increase access to pharmacotherapy, provide a stimulus for innovation by both originator companies and generic companies and, under the right circumstances, have a positive impact on medication adherence. Conclusion: Generic medicines offer more to society than just their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. As such, governments must not focus only on the prices of generic medicines as this will threaten their long-term sustainability. Governments must therefore act appropriately and implement a coherent set of policies to increase the use of generic medicines.


The H.264/AVC coding standard processes variable block size motion-compensated prediction with multiple reference frames to achieve a pronounced improvement in compression efficiency. Accordingly, the computation of motion estimation increases in proportion to the product of the number of reference frame and the number of intermode. The mathematical analysis in this paper illustrates that the motion-compensated prediction errors are mainly determined by the detailed textures in the source image. The image block being rich in textures contains numerous high-frequency signals, which make variable block size and multiple reference frame techniques essential. On the basis of rate-distortion theory, in this paper, the spatial homogeneity of an image block is made as a relative concept with respect to the current quantization step. For the homogenous block, its futile reference frames and intermodes can be eliminated efficiently. It is further revealed that the sum of absolute differences value of an image block is mainly determined by the sum of its edge gradient amplitude and the current quantization step. Consequently, the image content-based early termination algorithm is proposed, and it outperforms the original method adopted by JVT reference software. Moreover, the dynamic search range algorithm based on the edge gradient amplitude of source image block is analyzed. One eminent advantage of the proposed edge-based algorithms is their efficiency to the macroblock-pipelining architecture, and another desirable feature is their orthogonality to fast block-matching algorithms. Experimental results show that when these algorithms are integrated with hybrid unsymmetrical-cross multi-hexagongrid search, an averaged 31.4-60.0% motion estimation time can be saved, whereas the averaging BDPSNR loss is 0.0497 dB for all tested sequences.


The use of minimally invasive techniques for the treatment of articular and periarticular fractures is becoming more popular, especially when formal open reduction and internal fixation is contraindicated because of associated soft-tissue compromise and swelling. Cannulated screws are frequently effective in these situations and can be inserted by way of limited open or percutaneous techniques in many cases. Accurate fracture reduction can be attained through insertion of cannulated screws over a guide pin, resulting in provisional stability of the fracture. In most instances, such methods of fracture reduction are adjunctive and require the addition of external fixation, limited internal fixation, and cast bracing or orthotic considerations. Applications of cannulated screw fixation in specific trauma injuries are discussed as are indications, contraindications, advantages, and disadvantages of such methods.


Abstract. The summertime Sahara heat low (SHL) is a key component of the West African monsoon (WAM) system. Considerable uncertainty remains over the relative roles of water vapour and dust aerosols in controlling the radiation budget over the Sahara and therefore our ability to explain variability and trends in the SHL, and in turn, the WAM. Here, new observations from Fennec supersite-1 in the central Sahara during June 2011 and June 2012, together with satellite retrievals from GERB, are used to quantify how total column water vapour (TCWV) and dust aerosols (from aerosol optical depth, AOD) control day-to-day variations in energy balance in both observations and ECWMF reanalyses (ERA-I). The data show that the earth-atmosphere system is radiatively heated in June 2011 and 2012. Although the empirical analysis of observational data cannot completely disentangle the roles of water vapour, clouds and dust, the analysis demonstrates that TCWV provides a far stronger control on TOA net radiation, and so the net heating of the earth-atmosphere system, than AOD does. In contrast, variations in dust provide a much stronger control on surface heating, but the decreased surface heating associated with dust is largely compensated by increased atmospheric heating, and so dust control on net TOA radiation is weak. Dust and TCWV are both important for direct atmospheric heating. ERA-I, which assimilated radiosondes from the Fennec campaign, captures the control of TOA net flux by TCWV, with a positive correlation (r = 0.6) between observed and modelled TOA net radiation, despite the use of a monthly dust climatology in ERA-I that cannot capture the daily variations in dustiness. Variations in surface net radiation, and so the vertical profile of radiative heating, are not captured in ERA-I, since it does not capture variations in dust. Results show that ventilation of the SHL by cool moist air leads to a radiative warming, stabilising the SHL with respect to such perturbations. It is known that models struggle to capture the advective moistening of the SHL, especially that associated with mesoscale convective systems. Our results show that the typical model errors in Saharan water vapour will lead to substantial errors in the modelled TOA energy balance (tens of W m−2), which will lead to errors in both the SHL and the WAM.


Frederick Douglass was born enslaved in February 1818, but from this most humble of beginnings, he rose to become a world-famous orator, newspaper editor, and champion of the rights of women and African Americans. He not only survived slavery to live in freedom but also became an outspoken critic of the institution and an active participant in the U.S. political system. Douglass advised presidents of the United States and formally represented his country in the diplomatic corps. He was the most prominent African American activist of the nineteenth century, and he left a treasure trove of documentary evidence detailing his life in slavery and achievements in freedom. This volume gathers and interprets valuable selections from a variety of Douglass's writings, including speeches, editorials, correspondence, and autobiographies.


ABSTRACT A wide range of rates of downstream fining in gravel-bed rivers has been reported. As a consequence, explanations of the phenomenon range from those that consider only abrasion to others that consider only selective sediment transport. This apparent confusion results in part from inconsistent definitions of downstream fining. Analysis of results from a small gravel-bed stream is used to show how the method of sediment sampling and the percentile used to characterize fining rates can affect the results. When fining is adequately defined, a theoretical relationship between fining rate and drainage- basin area is derived from established alluvial-fan relations. This relationship is remarkably consistent with a range of studies by numerous authors using often different methods. Such results suggest that fining is achieved through the mechanism of selective transport but that the overall control on fining patterns is the volume of sediment supplied from within the drainage basin. As such, the rate of size decline in sedimentary deposits such as river terraces has the potential to be used to infer past changes in climate, tectonics, and/or relative base level. Models of this are presented, and these are shown to be broadly consistent with observations made in an ancient sandstone body. Full use of changing rates of fining as paleo-environmental indicators requires further work on the rate of adjustment of fining profiles with respect to the rates of change in the forcing environmental conditions.


The behavioural approach to decision making under uncertainty combines insights from psychology and sociology into economic decision making. It steps away from the normative homo economicus and introduces a positive approach to human decision making under uncertainty. We provide an overview of the main themes in the behavioural real estate literature from the perspective of different market participants. It can be concluded that there seems to be general agreement that behavioural studies can help explain the inefficiency of real estate markets, but a large component of behavioural decision making in the property markets seems to be undiscovered.


This thesis examines the cross-cultural differences in the characteristics of and relationships between maternal reminiscing styles, child autobiographical memory and child socioemotional functioning. The findings of this thesis showed that different aspects of child autobiographical memory may be associated with different aspects of child socioemotional functioning. In addition, it identifies the pan-cultural influence of maternal emotional reminiscing on child memory elaboration and child prosocial behaviours.


This comment is submitted to China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) by the Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) at George Mason University School of Law in response to the NDRC's Draft Anti-Monopoly Guideline on Intellectual Property Abuse. This is the third comment submitted by the GAI to the NDRC on its Draft AML-IP Guidelines. All three of China's AML agencies are drafting separate guidelines to submit to the State Council of the PRC for consideration. The final guidelines will reportedly apply to all three AML agencies. Overall, we suggested that the NDRC adopt a more compliance-based approach that sets forth basic principles that would allow parties to self-advise. The current Draft Guideline instead sets forth a list of factors that the NDRC will consider when analyzing specific conduct. The Draft Guidelines do not explain the significance of each of the factors or how they will be weighed in the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) agencies' overall decision-making process. This approach allows the AML agencies broad discretion in enforcement decision-making without providing the guidance stakeholders need to protect incentives to innovate and transfer technology that could be subject to AML jurisdiction. Lastly, we recommend that the NDRC include throughout the Guidelines examples similar to those found in the U.S. antitrust agencies' 1995 Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property to illustrate how the AML agencies will apply the basic principles. We also provide specific line-edit proposed edits on four provisions: general analysis, charging "unfairly high" royalties, discriminatory treatment, and injunctive relief.


OBJECTIVE
We investigated a chickenpox outbreak that started in an Oregon elementary school in October 2001, after public schools began phasing in a varicella vaccination requirement for enrollment. We sought to determine the rate of varicella vaccination and effectiveness and risk factors for breakthrough disease.

METHODS
A chickenpox case was defined as an acute maculopapulovesicular rash without other explanation occurring from October 30, 2001 through January 27, 2002 in a student without a prior history of chickenpox. We reviewed varicella vaccination records and history of prior chickenpox, and we calculated vaccine effectiveness. We evaluated the effects of age, gender, age at vaccination, and time since vaccination on risk of breakthrough disease (ie, chickenpox occurring >42 days after vaccination).

RESULTS
Of 422 students, 218 (52%) had no prior chickenpox. Of these, 211 (97%) had been vaccinated before the outbreak. Twenty-one cases occurred in 9 of 16 classrooms. In these 9 classrooms, 18 of 152 (12%) vaccinated students developed chickenpox, compared with 3 of 7 (43%) unvaccinated students. Vaccine effectiveness was 72% (95% confidence interval: 3%-87%). Students vaccinated >5 years before the outbreak were 6.7 times (95% confidence interval: 2.2-22.9) as likely to develop breakthrough disease as those vaccinated </=5 years before the outbreak (15 of 65 [23%] vs 3 of 87 [3%]).

CONCLUSIONS
A chickenpox outbreak occurred in a school in which 97% of students without a prior history of chickenpox were vaccinated. Students vaccinated >5 years before the outbreak were at risk for breakthrough disease. Booster vaccination may deserve additional consideration.


Abstract Purpose Workplace bullying (harassment, abuse, or discrimination), practiced persistently against an individual, can generate a hostile workplace environment, consequently leading to exhaustion, with poor psychological outcomes, and the onset of symptoms such as loss of confidence, fatigue, depressive thoughts, desertion, and suicidal thoughts. There are no publications regarding this issue in Colombia. Our objective is to describe the residents' perception of gender and workplace discrimination and verbal/sexual harassment during their urological training. Methods Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study with anonymous surveys. We evaluated the demographic characteristics and the residents' perception of harassment, the type of harassment, how it affected their performance during residency, and from whom it was perceived. Results We were able to obtain answers from 82/115 residents (71.3%), most of them men (45 [56%]). In total, 66% (54) reported workplace harassment; and 35.4% (29) felt gender discrimination, most of them women (17; 58.6%). Verbal abuse was reported by 64.6% (53), and it affected the work of 92.5%. The parception of workplace harassment was similar among both men and women (32 [69.5%] men and 21 [61.1%] women). A total of 7(19%) women reported sexual abuse. Regarding the source of the abuse, 39 (65.8%) was by professors, 26 (45%), by other residents, and 17 (35.4%), by patients. Conclusion The perception of harassment during urology residency in Colombia is real, and it affects the work of residents. This abuse is greater on the part of men, and is mainly perpetrated by professors. We consider our work the starting point to continue researching a topic of national and international importance.


Summary form only given. The past few years have seen the emergence of application domains that need to process data elements arriving as a continuous stream. Recently, several architectures to process database queries over these data streams have been proposed in the literature. Although these architectures may be suitable for general purpose query processing in a centralized-setting, they have serious limitations when it comes to supporting data mining queries in a distributed-setting. Data mining is an interactive process and it is crucial that we provide the user with interactive response times. In addition, many data mining applications, such as network intrusion detection, need to process data streams arriving at distributed end-points. Centralized processing of data streams for network intrusion detection would be overwhelming. These are fundamental issues for data mining over data streams and have been addressed. Our schemes give controlled interactive response times when processing data streams in a distributed-setting.


It has recently been shown in Re-Identification (Re-ID) work that full-body images of people reveal their somatotype, even after change in apparel. A significant advantage of this biometric trait is that it can easily be captured, even at a distance, as a full-body image of a person, taken by a standard 2D camera. In this work, full-body image-based somatotype is investigated as a novel soft biometric feature for person recognition at a distance and on-the-move. The two common scenarios of (i) identification and (ii) verification are both studied and evaluated. To this end, two different deep networks have been recruited, one for the identification and one for the verification scenario. Experiments have been conducted on popular, publicly available datasets and the results indicate that somatotype can indeed be a valuable biometric trait for identity recognition at a distance and on-the-move (and hence also suitable for non-collaborative individuals) due to the ease of obtaining the required images. This soft biometric trait can be especially useful under a wider biometric fusion scheme.


Psychiatric nurses face many challenges in providing effective care for patients with schizophrenia who have poor insight. The understanding of metacognitive functions in schizophrenia may form a richer idea of why some patients deny illness and decline treatment, and may allow for further consideration of effective psychiatric care.  This study aimed to assess the metacognitive abilities within personal narratives among inpatients with schizophrenia and to investigate its relationship with clinical insight and drug compliance. The study followed a cross- sectional descriptive correlational research design. It was conducted on 65 male inpatients with schizophrenia, at El-Maamoura Hospital for Psychiatric Medicine in Alexandria, Egypt. Indiana Psychiatric Illness Interview was used to elicit a narrative of self and illness, the narratives of the study subjects were rated using the metacognitive assessment scale concurrently with the assessment of clinical insight and drug compliance. The results revealed a statistical significant positive correlation between metacognitive abilities, clinical insight and drug compliance. It was concluded that poor insight and drug non-compliance might be significantly improved when considering the metacognitive measures.  Recommendations encompassed that metacognitive assessment should be integrated in psychiatric care of inpatients with schizophrenia. A form of integrative psychotherapeutic intervention that could promote insight and drug compliance through stimulating metacognitive abilities should be developed in patients with schizophrenia. Replication of the study is also required on more diverse and larger groups of patients. Keywords: Metacognitive abilities, Narratives, Schizophrenia, Clinical Insight, Drug compliance. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-1-13


Sediment organic matter (SOM) differs in composition and function in different size fractions in relation to material and energy flows. The hydrodynamic effects on a lake's autochthonous (terrestrial plants) and allochthonous (microalgae, aquatic plants, and bacteria) inputs and transformation, and the components of SOM are still far from clear. To elucidate the SOM composition as driven by the hydrodynamic conditions associated with sedimentary grain size, we performed an ecosystem‐level investigation in the shallow lake Izunuma, Japan, measuring source‐specific fatty acids and the current velocity. High organic matter concentrations occurred in the finer fractions. Bacteria were dominant in the <32 μm fraction, microalgae were mainly present in the <32 and 63–125 μm fractions, aquatic plants appeared to be evenly distributed in all size fractions, and terrestrial plants mainly comprised the >125 μm fraction. Although the linear correlation between current velocity and sedimentary total organic carbon (TOC) was not statistically significant, the relationship between current velocity frequency and sedimentary TOC was significant. The highest Pearson coefficient occurred at a current velocity of 6 cm/s in sand. The relationship between allochthonous inputs and current velocity frequency was similar to that of TOC. Autochthonous organics had the greatest coefficient with two peaks at 4.5 and 8 cm/s. The threshold for sand resuspension varied with organic sources, while this phenomenon was absent in cohesive mud. Hydrodynamic forces affected the grain size of sediments and drove the gradient distribution of the SOM sources, which should be considered when managing freshwater lakes in light of future climate change.


Initiation and propagation of micro cracks in the Fe-25Cr-35Ni based superalloy were observed and investigated through in situ tensile test in SEM using a single-edge notched specimen. The results show that the micro crack sources may easily occur with one of those, the second phase particles and matrix interface, and the stress concentration region. The micro-cracks which propagated at first for those that are perpendicular to the tensile load would be growing up and connected mutual with the increase of external stress until forming the main crack. While the length of the mail crack enlarged enough in the specimen, it become instable for the main cracks and the fracture occurred rapidly.


Abstract. The ability of soil microorganisms and organic manure to convert insoluble phosphorus (P) to an accessible form offers a biological rescue system for improving P utilization efficiency in soil–plant systems. Our objective was to examine the P mineralization potential of two soluble P fertilizers (SPF), i.e., single superphosphate (SSP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP), and of insoluble rock phosphate (RP) with and without phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) and poultry manure (PM) and their subsequent effect on the growth, yield and P utilization efficiency (PUE) of chilli (Capsicum annuum L.). An incubation study was carried out on a loam (slightly alkaline) soil with 12 treatments: T0 – control; T1 – RP; T2 – SSP; T3 – DAP; T4 – PM; T5 – 1/2 RP+1/2 SSP; T6 – 1/2 RP+1/2 DAP; T7 – 1/2 RP+1/2 PM; T8 – RP+PSB; T9 – 1/2 RP+1/2 SSP+PSB; T10 – 1/2 RP+1/2 DAP+PSB; and T11 – 1/2 RP+1/2 PM+PSB. Phosphorus mineralization was measured by analyzing extractable P from the amended soil incubated under controlled conditions at 25 °C for periods of 0, 5, 15, 25, 35 and 60 days. A complementary greenhouse experiment was conducted in pots with chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) as a test crop. Growth, yield, P uptake and PUE of the chilli was determined during the study. Results indicated that P mineralization in soil amended with RP was 6.0–11.5 mg kg−1, while both soluble P fertilizers resulted in 68–73 mg P kg−1 at day 0, which decreased by 79–82 % at the end of incubation. The integrated use of PSB and PM with RP in T11 stimulated P mineralization by releasing a maximum of 25 mg P kg−1 that was maintained at high levels without any loss. Use of PSB decreased soil pH. In the greenhouse experiment, RP alone or RP+PSB did not have a significant impact on plant growth. However, the combined use of RP, PM and PSB in T11 resulted in similar growth, yield and P uptake of chilli as DAP. The PUE of applied P varied from 4 to 29 % and was higher in the treatments that included PSB. We conclude that the use of PSB and PM with insoluble RP or with soluble P fertilizers could be a promising approach to enhance P availability from both low-grade RP and SPF for crop production in intensive cropping systems.


This study aims to criticize village fund reporting by using qualitative approach. The data used in this study is secondary data in the form of literature related to village fund as well as related research journals. Descriptive analysis method as an analyst tool. The results of the analysis showed that the reporting of village funds in accordance with the regulation of the minister of home affairs number 113 of 2014 concerning the reporting of village funds but not in accordance with the prevailing government accounting standards, other findings indicate a late reporting process, the existence of interfensions in the use and reporting of village funds, obstacles to infrastructure and human resources are lacking. The existence of village funds is very beneficial for the village government in development. Reporting must be consistent with higher regulations, the need for specific reporting for village funds, as well as increased community supervision and participation roles.


Objectives: Scot15® is a low-K+ preservation solution including polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a colloid for protection of vascular endothelium during cold ischemia. PEG was previously demonstrated to have "immunocamouflage" properties. The aim of this study was to assess whether these properties would be beneficial in a pig lung transplant model. Material: Domestic pig donor lungs were flushed either with Scot15®[S;n=6] or Perfadex®[P;n=6] and stored on ice for 22 hours. The left lung was transplanted in a recipient animal observed during 6 hours after reperfusion. Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and partial arterial oxygen tension (PaO 2 ) were measured hourly. Lung biopsies were taken for HRMAS detection of the respective colloid in the lungs. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was taken to assess neutrophilic alveolar recruitment. At the end of reperfusion, wet to dry weight ratio (W/D) was measured as a marker of lung edema. Results: HRMAS showed presence of PEG in the lungs in [S] before and during the reperfusion. Dextran was not detected in [P]. After 6 hours of reperfusion, PaO 2 was significantly better in [S](310±51mmHg versus 198±71mmHg in [P];p=0.03). PVR remained lower in [S] but the difference did not reach significance. Differential cell count of BAL showed lower neutrophilic cell count in [S](89±67neutrophils in [S] versus 139±53neutrophils in [P];p=0.001). There was no difference in W/D weight ratio (p=0.9). Conclusion: After 22 hours of cold ischemia, oxygenation capacity was superior with less inflammatory reaction in lung grafts preserved with Scot15®. Further experiments to study the "immunocamouflage" properties of PEG based solutions in lungs are warranted.


Pollution with Cr (VI) and Ni (II) waste water is frequently encountered together in practice, and the ferrite process carves out a new way for the treatment of wastewater contaminated by heavy metals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the treatment of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) wastewater by the ferrite process.In this paper, the ferrite process of Cr (VI) and Ni (II) synthetic solution by hydrothermal reaction and its technological parameters was sdudied. The most optimum reaction conditions were explored: pH=9.0, temperature=70°C, stirring time=40min, stirring speed=120 rpm. Leaching toxicity of heavy metals from Ni–Cr ferrite prepared in the experiment was much lower than the regulated limit of Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), indicating that Ni–Cr ferrite had a better chemical stability. Therefore, the ferrite process is a feasible method with respect to the removal of chromium and nickel ions from wastewater.


Based on the theory of fatigue life prediction and by using the local stress-strain method and the material S-N curve of Q235 deduced by empirical formula; the fatigue was analyzed for the key parts of large-scale liner vibration screener by means of the general finite element analysis software, ANSYS. Thereby, the working conditions of force bearing, reliability and fatigue life-span of the key parts can be judged. The study will provide a theoretical basis for the design , manufacture, and installation of the large-scale liner vibration screener.


Background: Several studies indicated that medical community might exhibit a relatively high level of certain mental health problems, particularly depression. Knowledge about the predictors of such problems among physicians constitutes a basis for adequate prevention and management.

Aims & Objectives: Determination of prevalence of depression among physicians working in hospital ER in Makkah Al-Mokarramah city and evaluation of factors associated with depression among them.

Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study included a sample of 100 physicians, (68%) males and (32%) females. The tool of the study was self-administered questionnaire, which consist of two main parts, each part had separate instructions. First part was consisted of personal data, Second part included 21 questions of Beck Depression Inventory Scale.

Results: Main result showed that the prevalence of depression among ER Physicians was 47%. The mild form represented 51 %, moderate form was 40.4 % and severe form was 8.5%. Important factors significantly affecting the prevalence of depression among ER physicians were smoking, absence of recreational activity and previous history of depression. Factors insignificantly associated with depression were age, gender, nationality, marital status, number of children, income, job, medical qualification, duration of work in ER, fixed work to ER, number of patient seen per shift, number of physicians per shift, relative loss in past 6 month, not having exercise activity and presence of medical illnesses.

Conclusion: Depression is a common problem among ER physicians. The main recommendations to high authority are to give more care to recreational activity for physicians, healthy lifestyle particularly smoking cessation through a planned programme, frequent assessment of stressor facing ER physicians which may predispose to depression. Finally; screening, diagnosis and treatment of depression among ER physicians seems of help to them. Furthermore, enough support to ER physicians suffering from depression through arrangement of follow up visit to prevent relapse.


Introduction HIV/AIDS has emerged as the single most formidable challenge to public health, human rights and development in the new millennium .School children of today are exposed to the risk of being victims of HIV/AIDS which was quite unknown to their predecessors a few decades ago. In Nepal, Adolescent comprises more than 22% of population. Objectives: To assess the better health education methods by intervene different health education technique to enhancing the knowledge of HIV/AIDS among adolescents. Methods the study was conducted on three secondary school of in Hansapur Village Development Committees, Arghakhanchi district. The sampling design used for the study was stratified random sampling. A sample size of 300 adolescent students was taken. The data was analyzed using the SPSS Version 16. The data has been analyzed using mean and percentages, and paired t test was used to test the improvement in knowledge. Results For aetiology, Mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS Video, Participatory lecture was highly significant (p<0.001). For sign and symptoms Book and lecture health education technique is not significant (p<0.001), but video health education technique was highly significant (p<0.001) compare to others. As in myth and misconception video and Participatory lecture health education technique was highly significant (p<0.001) compare to others and in Preventive measures, video health education technique was highly significant (p<0.001).Conclusion HIV/AIDS education played an important role in increasing knowledge of the respondents about HIV/AIDS. Video and the participatory lecture are the most effective health education techniques for effective delivery of HIV/AIDS.


Calcium molybdate forms powellite, it is produced as a result of oxidizing roasting of off-grade molybdenum sulphide concentrates and other molybdenum materials with calcium additives (calcium oxides and hydro xides, calcium chlorides) in air at the temperatures of 550–600 oC. Use of Na2CO3 solutions enables an efficient recovery of Мо from CaMoO4 and a quantitative removal of impurities. To determine the optimum conditions for this process, one would need data on CaMoO4 leaching within a broad range of Na2CO3 concentrations and at high temperature and one would need to analyze the composition of the solid phase and the kinetic parameters of the process, i.e. rate and rate-controlling step. The authors look at the CaMoO4 leaching kinetics in 1.0–2.5 mol/l Na2CO3 solutions at 60–90 oC. It was found that the process rate is dictated by the stirring intensity and tends to increase with a rising temperature and the reagent concentration rising in the range of 1.0–1.5 mol/l. A higher concentration of Na2CO3 has no effect on the reaction rate. An apparent reaction order was determined in the Na2CO3 concentration range of 1.0–1.5 mol/l. An equation is proposed for calculating the CaMoO4 dissolution rate for the Na2CO3 solution and the temperature of 80 oC. It was established that a kinetic mode of leaching takes place in the soda concentration range of 1.0–1.5 mol/l amid intensive stirring. It is demonstrated that, within the studied Na2CO3 concentration range, calcite СаСО3 is formed after vaterite, a less stable phase of calcite, with crystallization of double sodium-calcium carbonates Na2Са(CO3)2·nH2O (n = 0, 2, 5) occurring at the same time. With the concentration of soda being >1.5 mol/l, the process is controlled by internal diffusion. In this region, the leaching rate is independent of the Na2CO3 concentration. Formation of double carbonates is associated with an additional consumption of soda. Therefore, when using this system one should consider how CaMoO4 typically dissolves in Na2CO3 solutions. The presence of these compounds in the soda solution after molybdenum leaching may impact the recovery of Мо from the solution using the known techniques. It may also hinder the recirculation of sodium carbonates going for the second leaching cycle.


Abstract The thickness of a lens depends upon the direction of the measuring vector. The thickness as commonly used from the sagittal height formula does not give the path length for movement of gas, water, or heat through a lens. Furthermore, the amount of gas, water, or heat moving through a lens depends upon an areal average thickness, not central thickness. A formula is derived for an approximate areal averaged sagittal height thickness. This average thickness has the advantage of being easily calculated from a sagittal height table. The equation for the areal average thickness along a radius of curvature is also derived. Sample calculations are made to show how this average thickness is a function of lens dimension. It is recommended that an areal average thickness be used when oxygen transmissibility of a lens is calculated from oxygen permeability of the lens material.


A group of agents needs to divide a divisible common resource (such as a monetary budget) among several uses or projects. We assume that agents have approval preferences over projects, and their utility is the fraction of the budget spent on approved projects. If we maximize utilitarian social welfare, the entire budget will be spent on a single popular project, even if a substantial fraction of the agents disapprove it. This violates the individual fair share axiom (IFS) which requires that for each agent, at least 1/n of the budget is spent on approved projects. We study the price of imposing such fairness axioms on utilitarian social welfare. We show that no division rule satisfying IFS can guarantee to achieve more than an O(1/√m) fraction of maximum utilitarian welfare, in the worst case. However, imposing stronger group fairness conditions (such as the core) does not come with an increased price, since both the conditional utilitarian rule and the Nash rule match this bound and guarantee an Ώ(1/√m) fraction. The same guarantee is attained by the rule under which the spending on a project is proportional to its approval score. We also study a family of rules interpolating between the utilitarian and the Nash rule, quantifying a trade-off between welfare and group fairness. An experimental analysis by sampling using several probabilistic models shows that the conditional utilitarian rule achieves very high welfare on average.


Background:
 Patients with Code Stroke alert in the hospital may have different risk factors, demographics and differential diagnoses than patients who are admitted with Code Stroke Alert to the ED. Hospitals and health care systems use considerable resources to provide 24/7 acute stroke care access to in-hospital Code Stroke alerts. Most of the utility analyses are based on data from out-of-hospital stroke. We analyzed the frequency of IV tPA use and the likelihood of home discharge in patients with Code Stroke alert in the hospital versus out-of-hospital.

 Methods:
 All adult patients with Code Stroke alerts in the UCSD SPOTRIAS Database from 2004 to 2011, excluding patients transferred from acute care facilities; grouped into 1: out-of-hospital Code Stroke alerts (EMS or ED) and 2: in-hospital (all inpatient units) and analyzed by baseline demographics; time to treatment decision; frequency of IV tPA use; diagnosis (Acute Ischemic Stroke, SAH, ICH, TIA, mimic, unknown); discharge disposition (home versus other), 90 day modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and adjusted for multiple co-variables.

 Results:
 We identified 2,699 Code Stroke alerts; 2,498 in group 1 and 201 in group 2. Patients in group 2 were younger (63.6±15.5 vs 66.8±16.8 years of age, p=0.005), more likely to have diabetes (27.9 vs 21.3%, p=0.03), had higher baseline NIHSS (11.6±11.6 vs 9.0±10.0, 0.007) and likelihood to have a pre-stroke mRS >1 (35.8 vs 27.4%, p=0.01); had fewer acute ischemic strokes (38.8 vs 46.6%), but more stroke mimics (39.8 vs 29.5%), p=0.01,had shorter time from stroke onset to treatment decision (202.2±282.3 vs 275.2±423.1 min, p<0.0001) and were less likely to receive IV tPA (10.0 vs 16.0%, p=0.03). The time from onset to IV tPA treatment in Group 2 was 162.9±69.8 min; vs 150.1±106.0, p=0.07. Multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusting for age, history of diabetes and admission NIHSS show that the rates of being discharge home (OR=0.83, 95%CI = 0.59, 1.17, p=0.29) and having a 90-day mRS of 0-1 (OR-1.35, 95% CI = 0.64, 2.86), p=0.44) are similar in the two groups.

 Conclusion:
 In-hospital are less likely to lead to IV tPA treatment than out-of-hospital Code Stroke alerts. Patient outcome based on discharge disposition and 90-day mRS is not significantly different from out-of-hospital Code Stroke.


The article offers an exposition of the range of topics discussed at the events of the Centre for Fundamental Sociology at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in 2017-2018. These topics were generally connected with the basic theme of the return of the sacred to the world of late modernity which seemed to be completely secularized long ago. Special emphasis is given to the role the state plays in this process of the political rehabilitation of the transcendent. The statement of the problem starts with the analysis of significant structural changes within the global discursive landscape, including the demise of the leading role of triumphalist globalization narratives which, until recently, dominated the sphere of values and symbolic meanings. Then it raises the question of the return of the state as an operator of worldly, secular salvation, which, through its institutions, ensures the inclusion of the social world into the transcendent one, thereby defining the circle of those to be rescued. A short historical-philosophical excursus then demonstrates the rooted-ness of the problem of borders of communities in solidarity united by certain transcendent values in the tradition of social science since the times of antiquity. The next section, appealing to the Aristotelian understanding of the political, proposes a participatory model of the mutual recognition for the members of a certain "We"-group structurally separated from other historically-contingent communities of fate. By conceptual means, the article offers an analysis of the attempts to overcome the inevitably discrete character of social ontology undertaken by universalist discourse through the return to cosmopolitan utopias such as projects of global citizenship, post-national inclusive politics, etc. Finally, the text proposes a reconstruction of the alternative line of argumentation usually associated with the names of Aristotle and Rousseau, but explicitly developed by Carl Schmitt. In this line of reasoning, homogeneity is postulated as a condition of the possibility for any community of solidarity. The article offers preliminary conclusions on the relevance of this topic to the theory of social order.


The purpose of our research is to generate the ultrahigh pressure by using high explosive and to transform a phase of a material. The extremely high impulsive pressure generator that has been developed by us uses the head-on collision between metal jets. Because the velocity of the metal jet is very high, the ultrahigh pressure will generate. If a powdered material is mixed to metal jets, it is expected that the material is transformed to a high pressure phase by this ultrahigh pressure. A graphite powder was used to synthesize a diamond. The existence of the diamond was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). In this paper, the mechanism of the generation of the ultrahigh pressure is explained and the results of the observation of the powder by using scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) are reported.


Approximating distributions from their samples is a canonical statistical-learning problem. One of its most powerful and successful modalities approximates every distribution to an $\ell_1$ distance essentially at most a constant times larger than its closest $t$-piece degree-$d$ polynomial, where $t\ge1$ and $d\ge0$. Letting $c_{t,d}$ denote the smallest such factor, clearly $c_{1,0}=1$, and it can be shown that $c_{t,d}\ge 2$ for all other $t$ and $d$. Yet current computationally efficient algorithms show only $c_{t,1}\le 2.25$ and the bound rises quickly to $c_{t,d}\le 3$ for $d\ge 9$. We derive a near-linear-time and essentially sample-optimal estimator that establishes $c_{t,d}=2$ for all $(t,d)\ne(1,0)$. Additionally, for many practical distributions, the lowest approximation distance is achieved by polynomials with vastly varying number of pieces. We provide a method that estimates this number near-optimally, hence helps approach the best possible approximation. Experiments combining the two techniques confirm improved performance over existing methodologies.


Root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita is an economically important pest of crops. Pasteuria penetrans, is a nematode hyperparasitic bacterium capable of suppressing the reproduction of RKN and thereby useful for its management. Secreted fatty acid and retinol-binding proteins are unique in nematodes and are engaged in nutrient acquisition, development and reproduction; they are also a component of the nematode cuticle and thought to be involved in the interface between hosts and parasites. Attachment of endospores to the cuticle of second stage juveniles of RKN is the primary step of infection and several factors have been identified to facilitate attachment. In this study, the full length of Mi-far-1 (573 bp) was cloned from M. incognita and characterized. Analysis revealed that the Mi-far-1 was rich in α-helix structure, contained a predicted consensus casein kinase II phosphorylation site and a glycosylation site. Quantitative PCR showed the highest expression in the fourth stage juveniles and in situ hybridization revealed the presence of Mi-far-1 mRNA in the hypodermis below the cuticle. Single copy insertion pattern of Mi-far-1 in M. incognita genome was detected by Southern blotting. Knockdown of Mi-far-1 showed significantly increased attachment of P. penetrans' endospores on juvenile cuticle surface and also affected host finding, root infection and nematode fecundity.


Over the past few years, new digital media have gained significant popularity and have become one of the new platforms most widely used at an unprecedented form not only as a powerful tool for community building and identity formation but also as a valuable means for political change and the collective action. In this respect, this paper shed light on the contribution of these platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in the Arab uprisings, which collectively referred to as "the Arab Spring" -- especially in the January 25 revolution. Besides, We are also interested in investigating the effect of these new platforms in building and sustaining democracy by studying certain mechanisms important such as flows of information, freedom of expression, and media independence, which can be used as a catalyst for advancing democratization in the Egyptian post-uprising, along with discussion the challenges of democratization process.


A design process can be represented as a network of design activities. A number of design projects may be undertaken simultaneously. This paper deals with the problem of scheduling design activities of multiple design projects competing for the limited available resources. The problem of determining a schedule subject to precedence and resource constraints is difficult to solve. It becomes even more complex when unforeseen changes are considered, for example, in the level of resources. Therefore, the scheduling problem is decomposed into a series of multidimensional (multiresource) knapsack problems. Due to high computational complexity of the multidimensional knapsack problem, two solution procedures are proposed.


Extreme precipitation is one of the most devastating forms of atmospheric phenomenon, causing severe damage worldwide, and is likely to intensify in strength and occurrence in a warming climate. This contribution gives an overview of the potential and challenges associated with using weather radar data to investigate extreme precipitation. We illustrate this by presenting radar data sets for Germany, the U.S. and the UK that resolve small-scale heavy rainfall events of just a few km2 with return periods of 5 years or more. Current challenges such as relatively short radar records and radar-based QPE uncertainty are discussed. An example from a precipitation climatology derived from the German weather radar network with spatial resolution of 1 km reveals the necessity of radars for observing short-term (1–6 h) extreme precipitation. Only 17.3% of hourly heavy precipitation events that occurred in Germany from 2001 to 2018 were captured by the rain gauge station network, while 81.8% of daily events were observed. This is underlined by a similar study using data from the UK radar network for 2014. Only 36.6% (52%) of heavy hourly (daily) rain events detected by the radar network were also captured by precipitation gauging stations. Implications for the monitoring of hydrologic extremes are demonstrated over the U.S. with a continental-scale radar-based reanalysis. Hydrologic extremes are documented over ∼1000 times more locations than stream gauges, including in the majority of ungauged basins. This underlines the importance of high-resolution weather radar observations for resolving small-scale rainfall events, and the necessity of radar-based climatological data sets for understanding the small-scale and high-temporal resolution characteristics of extreme precipitation.


This paper studies the main well-know technological types of kaolins clays from the Republic of Cuba and compares it with one from Brazil. A simple description from the Cuban geology and from the involved kaolins deposits is showed. The basic characterization of each kind of kaolin, includes, chemical analyzes, grain size distribution, scanning electronic microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence for chemicals. For special assays it had conformed, by a simple axis hand press up to 5 t, test bodies, which had been burnt to the temperatures of 950, 1250 and 1450°C. These results include refractory and contraction results.


Cooperation and competition are two typical interactional relationships in natural and engineering networked systems. Some interesting collective behaviors can emerge through local interactions within the networked systems. This paper focuses on the coexistence of competition and cooperation (i.e., coopetition) at the network level and, simultaneously, the collective dynamics on such coopetition networks. The coopetition network is represented by a directed signed graph. The interaction relationship between the agents on the coopetition network is described by a multi-agent system. We investigate two bipartite consensus strategies for the agents such that all the agents converge to a final state characterized by identical modulus but opposite sign. Under a weak connectivity assumption that the signed network has a spanning tree, some sufficient conditions are derived for bipartite consensus of multi-agent systems with the help of a structural balance theory. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the bipartite consensus formation.


This thesis is an examination of developmental trade-offs occurring in the pupal stage of caddis flies, using both an experimental and correlational approach. Resources available at metamorphosis were manipulated by forcing caddis fly larvae, Odontocerum albicorne, to divert more silk, and hence protein, into their larval cases. The resultant adult forms had shorter wings and lighter thoraces (somatic investment) than control individuals, but abdomen mass (reproductive investment) was not affected. The results of this experiment could be due to mechanistic constraints of the developmental pathways during pupation, because resources from the breakdown of certain structures may be 'earmarked' for incorporation into specific adult structures. Equally, the observed response could represent a strategic preservation of reproductive reserves. O. albicorne is a short lived species which mates soon after adult emergence and so sacrificing somatic investment may have less drastic affects on fitness.

To examine whether resource allocation pathways during development of the adult form are flexible in caddis flies, the same resource depletion experiment was performed on the caddis fly species, Glyphotaelius pellucidus. Adult life span is much longer in this species, which is an adaptation to loss of larval habitat for many months of the year. Here, somatic investment would be predicted to be of much greater importance in the life history, and so if the response to the nutrient deficiencies was strategic, somatic reserves would be expected to be preserved at the expense of reproductive potential. The pattern of resource allocation in the resultant adults was in line with predicted life history requirements, as abdomen mass was sacrificed so as to maintain thoracic mass.


I study the relationship between two old bond topics: The Government bond dealer and new-seasoned bond spreads. I establish empirical support for the Gaines (1962) 'amplification hypothesis' that changes in net positions have a causal effect on the spreads offered by primary dealers: net Treasury positioning is weakly exogenous for the AAA-10Y, BAA-AAA and 10Y spline errors. I also find support for the 'textbook' Scott (1965) hypothesis: that dealers adjust total net positions by changing spreads. I reconcile the two contradictory views by highlighting the distinction between total net positions which includes all fixed income securities and net positioning in longer duration Treasuries. An offshoot of the investigation is clarification into the role Treasury supply has on credit spreads.


Abstract Many feminists have questioned the extent to which the law can ever effectively deter violence against women given the ways in which the law and criminal justice systems often act to reinforce deeply sexist assumptions about women, their sexual and social identities and their relation to the social (male) world. While acknowledging law's ineffectiveness in fundamentally reordering social relations, a number of scholars and policy makers believe that it is an institution that can be used to make substantive gains for women. The agreement by states on the establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC), combined with a Statute that augments international legal prohibitions on violence against women, has given traction to optimistic views on international criminal law's capacity to proactively address female specific harms. Moreover, there is confidence that transformative international legal norms will, in turn, enable and support domestic law's capacity to advance accountability for violence against women. In that context, this article considers the potential for proactive and gender-centered complementarity under the ICC system. Based on a systematic review of a wide range of domestic legislation enacted by States Parties following signature and ratification of the ICC Statute, the analysis considers the significance and ramifications of domestic legal changes for the operation of the ICC complementarity system. Detailed consideration is given to ways in which the ICC complementarity regime might be operationalized to ensure a gendered understanding of the "unwilling and unable" standard contained in Article 17 of the ICC Statute. I further address the extent to which optimism around domestic legal enforcement is warranted, and what pitfalls may follow from a reliance on international criminal law to spearhead normative developments addressing gender violence.


Abstract This article describes a long-term study evaluating the use of the humanoid robot Kaspar in a specialist nursery for children with autism. The robot was used as a tool in the hands of teachers or volunteers, in the absence of the research team on-site. On average each child spent 16.53 months in the study. Staff and volunteers at the nursery were trained in using Kaspar and were using it in their day-to-day activities in the nursery. Our study combines an "in the wild" approach with a rigorous approach of collecting and including users' feedback during an iterative evaluation and design cycle of the robot. This article focuses on the design of the study and the results from several interviews with the robot's users. We also show results from the children's developmental assessments by the teachers prior to and after the study. Results suggest a marked beneficial effect for the children from interacting with Kaspar. We highlight the challenges of transferring experimental technologies like Kaspar from a research setting into everyday practice in general and making it part of the day-to-day running of a nursery school in particular. Feedback from users led subsequently to many changes being made to Kaspar's hardware and software. This type of invaluable feedback can only be gained in such long-term field studies.


Cyclodialysis cleft results from separation of longitudinal ciliary muscle fibres from the scleral spur. The separation increases the uveoscleral outflow, leading to severe hypotony. Complexity in managing such condition relies on the extent of the injury and its collateral damage. We reported an alternative method of surgical repair for large cyclodialysis. The procedure was less invasive utilizing a scleral sparing technique. A 66-year-old gentleman presented with severe blunt trauma injury to the globe secondary to shuttlecock injury while playing badminton. He presented with a vision of hand motion. There was hyphaema (filling up half of the anterior chamber), complete posterior dislocation of the crystalline lens, and minimal vitreous haemorrhage. Posterior globe rupture was excluded with further imaging of the orbit. Despite significant amount of hyphaema, intraocular pressure (IOP) remained low several days post injury. Further investigations revealed the presence of almost 270° of cyclodialysis. Surgical repair was indicated. In order to avoid an extensive cut on the sclera, the treating surgeon decided to explore a less invasive method utilizing a small gauge vitrectomy trocar. The main instruments used were the trocar, a straight prolene needle, and a bent 25-G needle. The direction of trocar insertion plays a pivotal role in bringing the detached ciliary body back to its original position. The simplified technique did not require the creation of a scleral flap or direct visualization of the ciliary body. The technique was fast and less invasive, with early improvement of IOP post intervention.


The majority of cancer patients experience some form of body composition change during the disease trajectory. For example, breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and prostate cancer patients undergoing androgen deprivation therapy gain fat and lose skeletal muscle, which are associated with increased risk of cancer recurrence and clinical comorbidities. In contrast, advanced cancer patients, such as lung and colorectal cancer patients, experience symptoms of cancer cachexia (accelerated loss of skeletal muscle with or without adipose tissue loss), which are associated with decreased treatment response and poorer survival rates in advanced cancers. The heterogeneity of body composition features and their diverse implications across different cancer populations supports the need for accurate quantification of muscle and adipose tissue. Use of appropriate body composition modalities will facilitate an understanding of the complex relationship between body composition characteristics and clinical outcomes. This will ultimately support the development and evaluation of future therapeutic interventions that aim to counter muscle loss and fat gain in cancer populations. Despite the various metabolic complications that may confound the accurate body composition measurement in cancer patients (i.e., dehydration may confound lean tissue measurement), there are no guidelines for selecting the most appropriate modalities to make these measurements. In this review we outline specific considerations for choosing the most optimal approaches of lean and adipose tissue measurements among different cancer populations. Anthropometric measures, bioelectrical impedance analysis, air displacement plethysmography, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging will be discussed.


This paper brings a comparative aspect to the analysis of direct involvement as the foundation for partnership. It considers how various forms of direct involvement can represent components of a broader partnership paradigm of people management, or a limited shallow partnership concession to facilitate the diffusion of top-down human resource management policies. Through the use of survey evidence, we explore the settings in which involvement is more likely to be encountered. Contrary to predictions in much of the literature as to their universal applicability, we found that they tended to be concentrated in specific locales, organisational types and sectors, as part and parcel of wider cooperative production paradigms; in practical terms, if involvement is a prerequisite for meaningful partnership, then the latter is more likely to be encountered in more coordinated varieties of capitalism. This does not suggest, however, that 'shallow' or instrumentalist partnerships do not occur, or that in infertile ground genuine partnerships are not possible. On one hand, national variations encountered were broadly on the lines of the literature on comparative capitalism. On the other hand, there was much diversity within national settings; we identify the contexts in which such engagement is more or less likely and consider the implications.


Depression, as a primary or secondary illness, is a potentially devastating disorder that can significantly affect one's quality of life and, in its worst form, lead to suicide. Stress is an inherent aspect in the practice of dentistry and, allowed to grow unchecked, can lead to mental anguish and depression. However, effective coping strategies can neutralize the effect of stress and make the delivery of dental care an enjoyable experience. The majority of dentists have developed effective means of coping with professional stresses in a fashion that is consistent with other professionals and white-collar workers. Although dentists may become depressed, they do not seem to be drinking, divorcing, or committing suicide in numbers greater than the nonprofessional population. If dentists can learn to deal with their unique stresses, through either undergraduate or continuing dental education, then depression among practitioners could be noticeably reduced.


BACKGROUND
Acupuncture has been used to treat patients with post-stroke neurological dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our observational study was to observe the long-term efficacy of acupuncture and investigate whether the acupuncture treatment could short the recovery time of patients with post-stroke dysphagia.

METHODS
Medical records were reviewed to select patients who met the inclusion criteria for post-stroke dysphagia. Exposure factor was defined as received acupuncture during inpatient. Clinical data were obtained at the 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome was the time to improve the score of Food Intake Level Scale (FILS, 0-10) by 3 grades. Cox regression models were used to assess the relationship between acupuncture and recovery of dysphagia.

RESULTS
In acupuncture group, the median time to achieve clinical improvement of dysphagia was 97 days (95% CI, 93-124) compared with 119 days (95% CI, 108-145) in control group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (HR = 1.48; 95% CI 1.14-1.92; P = 0.003). At 6 months, 78 patients (60.5%) in acupuncture group reached excellent function and 61 patients (47.3%) in control group (RR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.02-1.62; P = 0.045). 106 patients (82.2%) in acupuncture group achieved favorable function and 91 patients (70.5%) in control group (RR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.02-1.35; P = 0.039). The outcome of adjusted multivariable Cox regression models showed that there was a difference in the recovery time of dysphagia between groups, HR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.34-2.39. The rates of adverse events were similar in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Acupuncture can promote the recovery of post-stroke dysphagia, and has a better long-term efficacy. Besides, it can reduce the degree of disability and improve the quality of life.


The article deals with the issue of skin reparation under the conditions of surgical-wound healing. The authors carried out a comprehensive experimental study comprising the morphological-and-biochemical investigations of peculiarities of the morphological healing pattern and of the elastic-and-deformative scars' features in experimental animals. Dermal scars with the vertical and skew profiles, made by steel and crystal blades, were comparatively analyzed. The advantages related with healing of the skew crystal incision, consisting in a lower volume of the scar tissue, smooth epithelization, and in high elastic scar characteristics, were detected. The crystal scalpels and skew incision profile were made use of within practical blepharoplasty surgery performed in 500 patients with high cosmetic results.


In this paper a method is introduced that supports reuse and maintenance of design information. The method allows sharing design information in different levels of details tailored for the stakeholders according to their needs. In addition, it is possible to share the information in multiple formats to suite different purposes. The results are demonstrated in an industrial partner which is a supplier of tooling for manufacturing industry.


Various types of genome-wide data, such as sequence and gene expression data, have been generated and are available from public databases. These genome-wide data present major computational challenges as the number of variables far exceeds the number of observations. Many computational tools have been developed for the analyses of these high dimensional data, and these methods have led to improved understanding of molecular biology. In particular, signature discovery (also known as variable selection or feature selection), a machine learning technique in which subsets of variables are selected to build robust models, are useful in mining these high-dimensional functional genomic data. In this paper, we will review the applications of signature discovery methods in mining these high dimensional data. Specifically, we will focus on two applications, namely, the identification of signature genes predictive of disease phenotypes and the inference of regulatory networks. Signature genes predictive of disease phenotypes can be potentially used in the diagnosis and prognosis of diseases. Regulatory networks that capture the gene-to-gene influences can be used to provide the context of therapeutic intervention.


Past research has shown that routines can be a vehicle for both stability and change in organizations. It is unclear however how this relationship alters and solidifies over time. In this paper, the changing behaviours of three newly formed teams within a domiciliary care organization are tracked over a period of two years. It was seen that self-reinforcing processes shaped the emergence and persistence of action patterns within these groups. The first process achieved coordination benefits which drove the emergence of routines, as 'action patterns' were first negotiated and then assigned to members of the care team. The second self-reinforcing process involved sets of expectations which deepened interpersonal relationships between the care worker and client. The impact of both these processes, altered the ostensive-performative duality, as routines emerged and persisted over time. This study therefore highlights the changing dynamics of stability and change within routines, and the key role played by social relations in this process.


This paper deals with the problems in setting up stereo-vision systems for contactless measurement of dimensional parameters in industrial environments. Two implicit calibration algorithms for the reconstruction of three-dimensional (3-D) real-world coordinates of objects from pairs of two-dimensional image coordinates have been implemented and compared. The former is based on a direct linear transformation, while the latter on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The results of the comparison made on artificial and real objects are finally reported in terms of statistical analysis of the reconstruction error


Standard errors for maximum likelihood estimates of factor loadings are expressed in terms of the inverse of an augmented information matrix. This formulation arises naturally by viewing the problem as one in constrained maximum likelihood estimation. The constraints correspond to the form of rotation used. Results are given for canonical rotation and analytic rotations in the orthomax family.


This article describes the design and evaluation of IC-HIP, a multimedia course on integrated circuit manufacturing (Schank & Rowe, 1992). Subjects browsed the course via standard hypermedia links or linear paths. Learning effects were assessed based on navigation method (hyperlinks vs. path), prior knowledge (low vs. high), and other factors (e.g., subjects' stated interests in semiconductors, and kinds and number of course nodes viewed). Effects of navigation method, prior knowledge, and pre-instruction interest on nodes viewed (by media type and topic area), were also assessed. Results suggest that subjects who browsed via hypermedia links tended to more often bridge topic areas rather than explore them in depth, but there were little or no learning differences by knowledge or navigation group, and neither prior interest nor nodes viewed (by number, topic area, or media type) were correlated with learning. These results and future work are discussed.


In the last years several plant-derived natural compounds have been screened for their anti-HIV activity in order to find lead compounds with novel structures or mechanisms of action. Among these, several triterpenoids have been found to exhibit an antiretroviral activity with different mechanisms of action. In this study the effect of two limonoids, limonin and nomilin, on the growth of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) in culture of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and on monocytes/macrophages (M/M) is described. Limonin and nomilin were found to inhibit the HIV-1 replication in all cellular systems used. A dose-dependent inhibition of viral replication was observed in PBMC isolated from healthy donors and infected with HIV-1 strain after incubation with limonin and nomilin (EC (50) values: 60.0 microM and 52.2 microM, respectively). The two terpenoids inhibited at all concentrations studied the production of HIV-p24 antigen even when the PBMC employed were chronically infected (EC (50) values of 61.0 microM for limonin and 76.2 microM for nomilin). Moreover, these compounds inhibited the HIV-1 replication even in infected M/M. In this cellular system the inhibitory effect was significant at the concentrations of 20 microM, 40 microM and 80 microM starting from day 14 and reached the maximum effect after 18 days of incubation. As regards the mechanism of action, limonin and nomilin inhibit in vitro HIV-1 protease activity. In general, the results obtained point out a similar anti-HIV activity of limonin and nomilin indicating that this activity is not drastically influenced by the structural difference between the two compounds.


BACKGROUND
The Thrombosis Prevention Trial was a primary prevention factorial trial that reported a reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) with warfarin and/or aspirin. This article examines compliance (duration of treatment) with warfarin treatment and whether warfarin has a retained effect.

METHODS
Risk of CHD while complying with warfarin treatment was compared with risk of CHD in all participants randomized to placebo. Simultaneously, risk of CHD in ex-warfarin users was compared with controls receiving placebo to determine the possibility of a retained effect. A second analysis, preserving the advantage of randomization, estimated the potential increase in the time to a CHD event in patients randomized to active treatment compared with patients randomized to placebo, if all patients in both active and placebo groups had fully complied with the trial treatment.

RESULTS
Risk of all CHD while complying with warfarin treatment was associated with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60-0.94), which was lower than the HR obtained by intention-to-treat analysis (0.79; 95% CI, 0.65-0.96). Regarding fatal cases of CHD, the HR was 0.49 (95% CI, 0.32-0.75) while compliant with warfarin treatment, which is also lower than the HR obtained by intention-to-treat analysis (0.61, 95% CI, 0.43-0.85). Ex-warfarin users had a retained risk reduction of 23% for all CHD (0.77; 95% CI, 0.58-1.02) and of 34% for fatal events (0.66; 95% CI, 0.41-1.04). Expected survival time to a CHD event if patients randomized to warfarin had fully complied with treatment was 1.39 times greater (95% CI, 1.12-1.69) than if patients randomized to placebo had fully complied with placebo, whereas for fatal CHD the relative increase in survival time was 2.04 times greater for the former (95% CI, 1.43-2.86).

CONCLUSIONS
Full compliance with warfarin treatment may lower by 50% the risk of fatal CHD. There is also evidence of a retained effect. These results strengthen previous evidence of the potential benefits of low-intensity oral anticoagulation with warfarin.


We present 187 high-resolution spectra for 62 different M1 dwarfs from observations obtained with the FIbre-fed Echelle Spectrograph (FIES) on the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) and from observations with the Fibre-fed Extended Range Echelle Spectrograph (FEROS) from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) data base. We also compiled other measurements available in the literature. We observed two stars, Gl 745A and Gl 745B, with no Ca II line core emission and Hα line equivalent widths (EWs) of only 0.171 and 0.188 A, respectively. We also observed another very low activity M1 dwarf, Gl 63, with an Hα line EW of only 0.199 A. These are the lowest activity M dwarfs ever observed and are of particular interest for the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer modelling of M1 dwarfs. Thanks to the high signal-to-noise ratio of most of our spectra, we were able to measure the Ca II H&K full width at half-maximum (FWHM) for most of our stars. We find good correlations between the FWHM values and the mean Ca II line EW for dM1 stars. Then the FWHM seems to saturate for dM1e stars. Our previous models of M1 dwarfs can reproduce the FWHM for dM1e stars and the most active dM1 stars, but fail to reproduce the observations of lower activity M1 dwarfs. We believe this is due to an effect of metallicity. We also investigate the dependence of the Hα line FWHM as a function of its EW. We find that the models globally agree with the observations including subwarfs, but tend to produce too narrow profiles for dM1e stars. We re-investigate the correlation between the Ca II line mean EW and the absolute magnitude. With our new data that notably include several M1 subdwarfs, we find a slightly different and better correlation with a slope of −0.779 instead of −0.909. We also re-investigate the variations of the Hα line EW as a function of radius and find that the EW increases continuously with increasing radius. This confirms our previous finding that the level of magnetic activity in M1 dwarfs increases with the radius. For the first time, we investigate the Wilson–Bappu correlation for a given spectral type. We find a rather linear correlation for stars of absolute magnitude greater than 9.6, but below this value the FWHM seems to saturate. In fact, we show that these Wilson–Bappu type correlations are activity–FWHM correlations and are due to the diminishing column mass of the transition region with decreasing activity level.


The effects of dietary Yamabushitake mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) on lipid metabolism were examined. C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet containing hot-water extract (HW-E) and an ethanol extract (EtOH-E) of Yamabushitake mushroom. Administration of HW-E or EtOH-E with a high-fat diet for 28 d resulted in a significant decrease in body weight gain, fat weight, and serum and hepatic triacylglycerol levels. Our in vitro experiments indicated that EtOH-E acts as an agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα). Quantitative analyses of hepatic mRNA levels revealed that EtOH-E administration resulted in up-regulation of mRNA for a number of PPARα-regulating genes in spite of the fact that the gene expression of PPARα did not change. These results suggest that EtOH-E improves lipid metabolism in mice fed a high-fat diet, and that these effects were mediated by modulation of lipid metabolic gene expression, at least in part via activation of PPARα.