The theoretical analysis of investment under uncertainty has been revolutionized over the last decade by the importation of ideas from finance. If investment is irreversible, there is a return to waiting. So although circumstances may suggest that it is profitable to invest, there may also be an incentive to postpone the decision until better opportunities arise. Identifying and valuing the option to invest has become the standard way to solve the firm's irreversible-investment problem. Empirical studies of investment that incorporate the insights of the real-options approach are now beginning to appear. These show that investment can have a nonlinear relationship to q and may show insensitivity for some threshold level to the shadow value of investment (Barnett and Sakellaris 1998). Abel and Eberly (1997) and Böhm and Funke (1999) have also shown how the real-options approach to investment can be combined with the traditional q approach. In this case the relationship between q and the rate of investment is discontinuous. Over a range of inaction there will be no investment, although q is in excess of one.This paper builds a theoretical model that explains the determinants of this investment discontinuity. In contrast to much of the literature, we use a mean-reverting stochastic process, of which the geometric Brownian motion process is a special case. Under the assumption of a production function with constant returns to scale and a specific functional form for the investment adjustment function, it is possible to derive a tractable analytical form for the shadow value of the investment project. We then analyze the comparative properties of the value of q under different assumptions about the stochastic process governing output. The advantage of using a mean-reverting process is that it better captures the undoubted persistence in the shocks that face firms, especially at the macroeconomic level.We then consider what the implications would be for the aggregate relationship between investment, q, and the business cycle. We first carry out Monte Carlo simulations of a discrete version of the theoretical model. We find that for many parameter values, aggregating suppresses any nonlinearities in the micro adjustment processes. Moreover, where we do detect nonlinearity at the aggregate level, it varies with the type of stochastic process. It is greatest when this is a random walk—corresponding to the Brownian motion in continuous time—and least when the stochastic process follows an i.i.d. process. Mean reversion lies in between. We turn finally to an empirical examination using aggregate data and explore how sensitive investment is to q in different regimes. To do this, we apply a generalization of the Granger-Lee method (Arden et al. 2000) that uses a linear spline function to approximate different regions for investment.


Preventing tobacco addiction and achieving cessation in established users are the cornerstones of efforts to reduce tobacco use and disease. It has been increasingly recognised that reducing tobacco toxin exposure has theoretical potential to reduce disease in continuing tobacco users. This has been controversial because such approaches also carry the potential to undermine prevention and cessation. As complicated as harm reduction issues are for adults, they are still more complicated for youth. Harm reduction is not a singular approach, but rather a concept that encompasses an extremely diverse array of potential approaches. These carry equally diverse potential risks and benefits. The regulatory framework (for example, whether or not the Food and Drug Administration regulates the approach) is also predicted to be a major factor in determining the consequences of harm reduction approaches. This paper examines the various issues and potential approaches concerning the application of harm reduction to youth. We conclude that although some carry great risk, others may actually support broader tobacco control efforts to prevent tobacco use and foster cessation in youth and adults.


The methods commonly used for degradation analysis deduce the lifetime distribution of a product from the distribution of the random parameters in the degradation path model for the product. This approach requires a functional form of the joint distribution of the random parameters, which poses certain practical difficulties. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach which makes inference directly on the lifetime distribution itself. In the proposed approach, degradation data are first used to derive predictive intervals of individual lifetimes. Then an imputation algorithm is invoked to obtain the estimate of the lifetime distribution. The approach has the following advantages: 1) the adequacy of the assumption on the lifetime distribution can be easily examined, 2) the estimated lifetime distribution has a closed form, and 3) the procedure can be more easily implemented. A simulation study is reported to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach. The approach is applied to two real degradation data sets, and compared with Lu-Meeker's two stage method in the applications.


Balanced carrier diffusion in perovskites The efficient operation of solar cells based on inorganic-organic perovskites requires balanced transport of positive and negative charge carriers over long distances. Dong et al. used a top-seeded solution growth method to obtain millimeter-scale single crystals of the organolead trihalide perovskite CH3NH3PbI3. Under low light illumination, the electron and hole diffusion lengths exceeded 3 mm, and under full sunlight illumination, they exceeded 175 µm. Science, this issue p. 967 Large perovskite crystals can exhibit long and balanced carrier diffusion lengths. Long, balanced electron and hole diffusion lengths greater than 100 nanometers in the polycrystalline organolead trihalide compound CH3NH3PbI3 are critical for highly efficient perovskite solar cells. We found that the diffusion lengths in CH3NH3PbI3 single crystals grown by a solution-growth method can exceed 175 micrometers under 1 sun (100 mW cm−2) illumination and exceed 3 millimeters under weak light for both electrons and holes. The internal quantum efficiencies approach 100% in 3-millimeter-thick single-crystal perovskite solar cells under weak light. These long diffusion lengths result from greater carrier mobility, longer lifetime, and much smaller trap densities in the single crystals than in polycrystalline thin films. The long carrier diffusion lengths enabled the use of CH3NH3PbI3 in radiation sensing and energy harvesting through the gammavoltaic effect, with an efficiency of 3.9% measured with an intense cesium-137 source.


A bioinspired adaptive model, developed by means of a spiking neural network made of thousands of artificial neurons, has been leveraged to control a humanoid NAO robot in real time. The learning properties of the system have been challenged in a classic cerebellum-driven paradigm, a perturbed upper limb reaching protocol. The neurophysiological principles used to develop the model succeeded in driving an adaptive motor control protocol with baseline, acquisition, and extinction phases. The spiking neural network model showed learning behaviours similar to the ones experimentally measured with human subjects in the same task in the acquisition phase, while resorted to other strategies in the extinction phase. The model processed in real-time external inputs, encoded as spikes, and the generated spiking activity of its output neurons was decoded, in order to provide the proper correction on the motor actuators. Three bidirectional long-term plasticity rules have been embedded for different connections and with different time scales. The plasticities shaped the firing activity of the output layer neurons of the network. In the perturbed upper limb reaching protocol, the neurorobot successfully learned how to compensate for the external perturbation generating an appropriate correction. Therefore, the spiking cerebellar model was able to reproduce in the robotic platform how biological systems deal with external sources of error, in both ideal and real (noisy) environments.


Smoking behaviour normally begins with initiation during adolescence and progress through different stages. Yet, few prospective longitudinal researches have been conducted to examine the influence of various factors on progression to a higher smoking stage. The aim of this study was to describe the factors associated with adverse transition of smoking stages among adolescents. A school-based study among a cohort of 2552 secondary students aged 12 to 13 years old was conducted. Data collection was conducted twice, 12 months apart. Students answered a self-administered questionnaire. In this study, adverse transition was defined as transition from one smoking stage to a more adverse stage during follow up. The procedures in the complex samples add-on module were used in the analyses after adding appropriate student and school weights that were adjusted for non-response. The predictors of the four adverse transitions were tested using multinomial logistic regression analysis. The results at Time 1 indicated that there were never smokers, 474 susceptible never smokers, 168 experimenters and 83 ex-smoker in this study. At Time 2, 77.2% of the never smokers remained stable never, while 22.8% had Adverse Transition I. Adverse Transition II was 27.8 % among the susceptible never smokers. Among the experimenters, 43.5% had adverse Transition III and 36.0% of the ex-smokers had adverse Transition IV. The analysis of this study demonstrates that adverse transition of smoking stages was associated with various socio-demographic, school, peer, parental and personal factors. Among these variables, five factors were associated with all four adverse transitions groups.This study demonstrates the presence of different groups of adverse transition among adolescents and the various factors that can influence these transitions. Ethnicity, school adjustment, having a best friend who smokes, self-efficacy and perceived ease of accessibility to purchase cigarettes were associated with all four adverse transitions groups. Development of interventions against adverse transition among adolescents should be
iv
multi-faceted and consideration should be given to using different strategies based on the various influencing factors to target the different smoking stages.


The goals of this study are to evaluate the impact of a distressed environment on self-esteem in Jamaican adolescent girls and to assess the impact of behavioural patterns on self-esteem. Participants were African-Jamaicans ages 13-17 years from a Place of Safety (experimental group) and local high schools (control group). All participants completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) while the experimental group also completed the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Participants in the experimental group were classified as either internalizers (depressed, anxious and somatizing), externalizers (exhibiting aggressive, disruptive behaviours), both (externalizers and internalizers) or other (reporting no or very few symptoms). It was hypothesized that the participants residing in the Place of Safety would report lower levels of self-esteem in comparison to the control group. Secondly, the 'both' group would report lower levels of self-esteem than any other group. Results indicated no differences in self-esteem scores; however, statistical significance was found between 'externalizers' and 'both' groups (p = 0.006). This study challenges the assumptions of self-esteem and its relationship to behavioural and emotional problems.


The microstructure and dielectric properties of BaTiO3-based ceramics and films were investigated. In BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3 ceramics domains with herribone, lamellar and "water-mark" characters are observed and 90◦-domain has not been observed in large grain size sample. It is shown that the average grain size and the remanent polarization of doped BZT ceramics decrease with the increasing of Al content. The dielectric constant and tunability of the BaZr0.2Ti0.8O3 films using inorganic zirconate are 113 and 10.2%, respectively. It is found that nanowires of BaTiO3 annealed for 2.5 min are very clear-cut, orderly and almost uninterrupted.


Abstract In 1828, Charles Lyell (1797–1875), Charlotte Murchison (1788–1869) and her husband Roderick Impey Murchison (1792–1871) embarked on a long journey around Europe. The party left Paris in May 1828, travelled through the Massif Central and continued southwards. The geological programme was dedicated to stratigraphical and geomorphological observations, but sightseeing was not neglected. Published papers by Lyell and Roderick Murchison report their scientific results, but it is the unpublished journals, notebooks and letters, which illuminated their research programmes, task management and daily routine. There was an effective division of labour, which increased the scientific productivity of the trio. Lyell and Roderick Murchison decided about routes and research topics and travelled long distances on foot taking stratigraphical sections and keeping track of correlations of structures, whereas it was Charlotte Murchison's task to do much of the time-consuming fossil-hunting, sketching of landscapes and geological structures and—speaking French fluently—to visit local experts, whose expertise might add to the success of the journey. Also, the different initial expectations and working styles of Charles Lyell and Roderick Murchison become evident.


Time-dependent origin-destination (OD) flows are crucial inputs to dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) models. However, they are often unobserved, and must be estimated from indirect traffic measurements collected from the study network. Approaches to estimate OD flows from link counts traditionally rely on assignment matrices that map the OD flow variables onto the counts. However, this method (a) approximates the complex relationship between OD flows and counts with a linear function, (b) is restricted to the use of only counts, and cannot exploit richer data such as speeds, densities or travel times, and (c) cannot estimate route choice and supply parameters that critically impact the OD estimates. We present a dynamic OD estimation method that is accurate, flexible in the use of general traffic data, simultaneously estimates all parameters that impact OD estimation, and can be applied to any traffic assignment model.


cerning the patient's objective condition.' Minor degrees of wasting can be revealed by measuring and comparing the girth of the affected limb with the opposite limb.2 The standard method of marking a line at a convenient distance from the anterior superior iliac spine and from the tibial tuberosity and of comparing the girth with the opposite side can be replaced by the following simpler method. An x-ray envelope or another large rectangular paper or cardboard is moved along the margin of the couch or table to the desired (and recorded) level (Fig.) and the


Lysate-platelet rich fibrin (Lysate-PRF) is a scaffold that contains growth factor. Aim: To analyze the ability of two types of Lysate-PRF in inducing the proliferation of fibroblast cells. Material & Methods: Microplate with 24 wells each filled 200 μl suspension DMEM + 10% FBS and 10 × 104 fibroblasts. Then FBS is replaced with a concentration of 1%, for serum starvation process. Each 3 wells were exposed with 50%, 25%, 12.5% Lysate-PRF and 50%, 25%, 12.5% Lysate A-PRF respectively. Three other wells are exposed to 10% FBS. Microplate was incubated for 24 hour at 37°C with 5% CO2. The growth of fibroblast was calculated by automatic cell counter. Results: The highest mean value of the Lysate-PRF group was at 12.5% (312.833) while the Lysate A-PRF group at 25% (303.500). If all the groups compared did not show any significant differences. Conclusions: Lysate-PRF and Lysate A-PRF have the same ability as 10% FBS in inducing fibroblast cell proliferation or the same as physiological condition.


The application of traditional forecasting methods to discrete count data yields forecasts that are non-coherent. That is, such methods produce non-integer point and interval predictions which violate the restrictions on the sample space of the integer variable. This paper presents a Bayesian methodology for producing coherent forecasts of low count time series. The forecasts are based on estimates of the p-step ahead predictive mass functions for a family of distributions nested in the integer-valued first-order autoregressive (INAR(1)) class. The predictive mass functions are constructed from convolutions of the unobserved components of the model, with uncertainty associated with both parameter values and model specification fully incorporated. The methodology is used to analyse two sets of Canadian wage loss claims data.


A procedure for simulating a static VAr system aimed at achieving optimal load compensation is presented. The paper details a new approach for reproducing the performance of digitally-controlled SVCs. The simulation is made using the EMTP (ElectroMagnetic Transients Program); the language MODELS is used for modelling the microprocessor-based control. The aim of the paper is to prove that the control strategy used in this paper is adequate for optimal load compensation and the EMTP is a suitable tool for simulating digitally-controlled systems. Test results illustrate how the control strategy can improve the power factor and balance line currents. >


Published reports disagree on the best features for detecting and distinguishing between Flavobacterium meningosepticum (biovar IIa) and Flavobacterium species CDC group IIb (biovar IIb; Flavobacterium indologenes). This report discloses that at least some of these disagreements may reflect the methods used. To detect production of indole, a modified Kovács reagent (not Ehrlich) and a buffered tryptophan medium were optimal, but not all strains of these two biovars produced indole. To distinguish the two biovars, hydrolysis of corn starch was preferable to that of soluble potato starch. Both biovars may hydrolyze DNA; the differentiation achieved varied with the methods used. Both biovars presented pigmented growth; only IIb, however, was obviously pigmented on a 2-day blood agar plate. Acidification of D-arabinose definitively distinguished these two biovars; several additional features were useful but not definitive.


This thesis seeks to understand the role of New Zealand's national identity in the Japan-New Zealand relationship to examine how identities and values have shaped New Zealand's policies and diplomatic interaction with Japan. Four key identities are identified which contribute to New Zealand's national self-image as a whole and illustrate the malleability of identity; the historically cultural British identity, the "search for independence" moral identity, the construction of an Asia Pacific state identity and the perception of New Zealand as a 'good international citizen' with liberally democratic values. To explore the role these identities and New Zealand's perceptions of Japan have had on shaping bilateral relations, this thesis analyses multiple issues and policy decisions from 1945 till 2014 using the theoretical framework of Constructivism. It draws from a range of secondary literature, government documents, news sources, official speeches and various organisation's publications from throughout this time frame. The research seeks to give a better understanding of how New Zealand's national identity has evolved over time in response to domestic affairs and examine how it has contributed to shaping New Zealand's relationship with Japan. It uncovers that the Japan-New Zealand relationship has developed significantly in the last seventy years and the role of identity can offer explanations regarding the ways in which New Zealand's understanding of itself has helped shape its bilateral relationship with Japan.


1 ) Summary While Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is a frequent cause of infections and intoxications and causes severe losses for the dairy industry, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) are commonly considered benign commensals. Correct identification of S. aureus and differentiation from CNS is crucial for diagnostic purposes. SAID and chromID MRSA agar plates (bioMerieux, FR) are selective chromogenic agar plates that were reported to allow for highly specific and sensitive identification of S. aureus and MRSA (methi- cillin-resistant S. aureus). However, when using these media in our laboratory, we noticed incongruent identification results, prompting us to question the specificity of SAID and chromID MRSA agar. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the performance of SAID and chromID MRSA agar by identifying organisms that may lead to false-positive results. To this end, we used the isolates that had yielded inconsistent identification results (n = 3), as well as 15 CNS strains representing S. chromogenes, S. cohnii, S. xylosus, S. sciuri, S. haemolyticus, S. epidermidis, S. simulans, S. warneri, S. equorum, S. hyicus, S. succinus, S. fleurettii, and S. lentus. Species identification was performed using matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The phenotype of all isolates on SAID agar and of cefoxitin-resistant S. fleurettii, S. sci- uri, S. succinus, and S. lentus isolates on chromID MRSA agar was evaluated. For SAID, we detected false-positive results for S. fleurettii, S. sciuri, S. succinus, S. lentus, S. vi- tulinus, Arthrobacter nicotianae, and Micrococcus luteus. For chromID MRSA, cefoxi- tin-resistant S. fleurettii, S. sciuri, S. succinus, and S. lentus led to false-positive results. In the light of our findings, screening for MRSA using chromID MRSA agar only may lead to false-positive results, potentially leading to severe therapeutic mistakes. We therefore strongly advise combination of the chromID MRSA agar with additional tests.


In 1974, Canada's Liberal minority government acted to protect the Canadian Football League (CFL) from competition by introducing Bill C-22, which promised harsh penalties for anyone operating a football franchise connected to a foreign-based league or team. This legislation was the culmination of a series of measures by which the government had protected the CFL in the early 1960s and 1970s. A number of factors combined to prompt government involvement. From its earliest days, Canadian football was a nationalist concern. The desire to create a distinctly Canadian pastime led early organizers to differentiate it from English rugby and American football by developing and defending distinctive rules for the game. Football associations developed as domestic rather than cross-border organizations, fostering a congruence of the national territory and the Canadian version of the game. The organizational structure of Canadian football reinforced the east-west axis of transcontinental transportation and communications infrastructure fostered by the state since Confederation. Team and regional rivalries became a staple of print and radio news and commentary, integrating football into the national discourse. Following the Second World War, the identification of Canadian football with the Canadian nation intensified as televised games provided fans with more shared experiences of the only Canadian sports league. Fuelled by concerns about growing American cultural influence, nationalism was on the rise in Canada. This, accompanied by the building of the welfare state resulted in more government intervention than countenanced previously. The government introduced policies designed to protect Canadian culture, and, by extension, national identity. When unity became a concern, it was felt that the CFL, and the Grey Cup game in particular, could be used to help unite east and west, French and English. The federal government intervened to support the CFL on three occasions: first in 1962 when the CBC was forced to broadcast the Grey Cup game; secondly in 1972 when the CFL was considering American expansion; and finally in 1974 when the CFL was threatened by American competition. This football protectionist moment represents a high-water mark of nationalist state intervention in the postwar period.


Eu3+-Doped Ba3In(PO4)3 was synthesized through a high-temperature solid-phase method. According to the structure refinement based on X-ray diffraction and density functional theory, the crystal and energy band structures of Ba3In(1−x)(PO4)3:xEu3+ were studied and analyzed in detail. The effect of Eu3+ doping concentrations on emission was studied at an excitation wavelength of 393 nm. For the material Ba3In(1−x)(PO4)3:xEu3+(x = 0.01–0.30), the optimal doping level is confirmed to be 0.18. Due to the thermal quenching differences of Eu3+ at the 5D0 and 5D1 energy levels, and based on the temperature-variable fluorescence intensity ratio between emission peaks, the optical temperature measurement performance of this material in the temperature range from 298.15 K to 623.15 K was characterized, and the maximum absolute and relative sensor sensitivities (Sa and Sr) were determined to be 0.1002 K−1 and 4.058%, respectively. With temperature as the only variable, the color of the phosphor changes from red to yellow light with rising temperature. Besides, Sa and Sr values of this phosphor are comparable to other sensing materials. The results indicate that Eu3+-doped Ba3In(PO4)3 phosphors have great potential to be applied in optical temperature sensing.


Article presents African collection donated by Alexander Werner (1920–2011), polish painter, sculptor and graphic, to Nicolaus Copernicus University in 2004. Werner lived in London since the end of II World War, when he created the rest of his life. All inheritance of the artist is University Museum in Torun. The introduction outlines the memoir of the artist. The second part of the text is characteristic batch of African objects. The collection includes: sculpture of ivory from Kingdom of Benin (Fig. 1); wood and small figure Ibeji, "image of twins", form the Yoruba people of Nigeria from the Ivory Coast; (fig. 2); two dolls Akua'ba – wooden ritual fertility dolls from Ghana of Ashanti people (Fig. 3–4); the Antelope headdress Mask "Chi-wara" of thr Bamana people of Mali (Fig. 5); miniature "Passport Mask" whitch is a small portrait human face of Baule People (Fig. 6); paintedgourds Turkana Tribe of Norden Kenya, headrest Kambatta people of Ethiopia (Fig. 7) as well as five of pottery from North Africa.


Plants are associated with a variation of diverse microorganisms, which occur as either endophytes or epiphytes. Endophytes are found within the plant while epiphytes are attached to the plant surface. Endophytic bacteria use various mechanisms such as chemotaxis and quorum sensing to colonize plants. The study of microbial communities has been revolutionized by the application of post genomic studies such as metagenomics, metaproteomics and metatranscriptomics, which have allowed scientists to analyse endophytes directly from the plant internal environment in-situ. This review aims to address the potential of bacterial endophytes and the application of post genomic techniques such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics to better understand and identify novel genes which could contribute to understanding the important roles that microbial communities play in plant growth and in the improvement of crop yield.


Mechanical peeling is becoming an important manufacturing process in areas such as transfer printing and two-dimensional (2D) materials fabrication. Existing research has demonstrated the potential of successful peeling in small-scale by hand or with a robotic system. However, to scale up the manufacturing process, a roll-to-roll continuous system is needed. It is generally understood that the peeling front characteristics, including peeling angles, speed, and tension, are critical to the quality of the peeling process. In a roll-to-roll setting, controlling these characteristics becomes challenging since there are fewer degrees of freedom in the control design, and the complex relationship among the process parameters. In this study, a system model of a roll-to-roll peeling process is developed and a feedback controller to maintain the desired system performance is proposed. The control method is demonstrated with both numerical simulation and experimental results. It is shown that with the proposed control scheme, desired peeling front geometry can be achieved.


Isolation of side population (SP) cells has been recognized as a useful technique for the isolation and identification of hematopoietic stem cells or cancer stem cells (CSCs). Thus the yield and purity of isolated SP cells would have a profound influence on the research outcomes in these two important areas. Hoechst 33342 exclusion assay technique has been used for the identification of SP cells. However, diverse Hoechst staining protocols giving different SP yields even from the same tissue type or same cell line have been reported in different laboratories. In this study we systematically investigated the underlying factors influencing the SP yield using Hoechst dye staining and a robust platform of flow cytometric analysis of the human ovarian cancer cell line SK-OV-3. Our study revealed that SP yield was not only affected by the Hoechst 33342 concentration, staining cell density, staining cell viability, staining duration, staining medium, flow cytometric setting and SP gating strategy, but was also affected by the cell passage number in SK-OV-3. This is the first systematic study on the factors affecting SP yield in adherent cells that mimic many solid tumour tissues. Our results provide important technical guidelines to help ensure reproducible and comparable results in SP and CSCs study.


Title: Comparison of the apical leakage of root canals filled with MTA with those filled with gutta percha and lateral condensation technique. Background and Aim: Sealing the root canal system is of great importance in endodontic treatment especially in infected teeth. Several materials have been introduced for this purpose. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sealing ability of MTA as an orthograde root filling material and compare it with laterally condensed gutta-percha with sealer. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six extracted human maxillary central and canine teeth were used in this experimental study. After preparation and surface disinfection with 1% NaOCl solution, the crowns of the teeth were cut at cemento-enamel junction.Roots were randomly divided into four groups: two experimental groups of 15 roots each (gutta-percha with AH26 sealer and MTA) and two control groups of 3 roots each (positive and negative). After root canal preparation and filling, the sealing ability of each technique was assessed by immersion in 1% methylene blue dye for 72 hours. Then the teeth were cleared and the extent of dye penetration was measured with a stereomicroscope. Data were analyzed by T-test with P<0.05 as the level of significance. Results: The results showed that the mean microleakage was 1.1mm (SD=2.1) in the gutta percha group and 3.4mm (SD= 2.1) in the MTA group.This difference was statistically significant (P=0.013). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, canal obturation with gutta-percha and AH26 sealer may provide a better apical seal compared with MTA. However, further studies on microbial leakage are needed for more precise evaluation of the sealing ability of MTA.


This thesis describes a novel method for perfective maintenance of software which has been developed from specifications using formal transformations. The list of applied transformations provides a suitable derivation history to use when changes are made to the software. The method uses transformations which have been implemented in a tool called the Maintainer's Assistant for the purposes of restructuring code. The method uses these transformations for refinement. Comparisons are made between sequential transformations, refinement calculi and standard proof based refinement techniques for providing a suitable derivation history to use when changes are made in the requirements of a system. Two case studies are presented upon which these comparisons are based and on which the method is tested. Criteria such as saleability, speed, ease, design improvements and software quality is used to argue that transformations are a more favourable basis of refinement. Metrics are used to evaluate the complexity of the code developed using the method. Conclusions of how to develop different types of specifications into code and on how best to apply various changes are presented. An approach which is recommended is to use transformations for splitting the specification so that original refinement paths can still be used. Using transformations for refining a specification and recording this path produces software of a better structure and of higher maintainability. Having such a path improves the speed and ease of future alterations to the system. This is more cost effective than redeveloping the software from a new specification.


Future superconducting magnets for fusion applications require improvements in materials and components to significantly enhance the feasibility and attractiveness of fusion reactors as an energy source. These improvements will derive from research and development carried out at government laboratories, universities, and in industry. Research and development carried out under the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences SBIR's and STTR's can provide a significant contribution to this effort by encouraging small businesses to focus on areas of high critical current density superconductors with low to moderate ac losses, superconductors with both high and low stabilizer fraction, superconducting cables with high copper strand fractions, insulation systems that are radiation-resistant with low gas evolution and suitable for vacuum-pressure impregnation (VPI) of coils, and novel quench detectors and other types of advanced magnet system monitoring instrumentation.


The colonial internae of two decapod parasites Peltogasterella gracilis and Sacculina polygenea (Crustacea: Cirripedia: Rhizocephala) were studied in vitro by histological, and histochemical methods. We found stem cells, characterized by basophilic cytoplasm, a large nucleus and nucleolus, and a high alkaline phosphatase activity. The cytochemical manifestation of alkaline phosphatase activity in totipotent stem cells of the colonial rhizocephala is the first evidence of commonality in the functional characteristics of embryonic stem cells in vertebrate and invertebrate animals of such different taxa as the mammals and Crustacea.


BACKGROUND
Shigella species are invasive human pathogens that cause acute rectocolitis by triggering a dysregulated inflammatory reaction in the colonic and rectal mucosa. Because mice are naturally resistant to shigellosis, there is no mouse model that mimics human disease. We explore the susceptibility of intestinal flora-depleted mice to shigellosis after intragastric infection with Shigella strains.

METHODS
Mice given 5 g/L streptomycin as a beverage were infected intragastrically with 1 x 108 cfu of either invasive or noninvasive Shigella strains.

RESULTS
We found that invasive Shigella strains persist up to 30 days in feces, whereas the persistence of noninvasive Shigella strains was reduced. Colonization primarily involves the colon and the cecum and, to a lesser extent, the ileum. The hallmark of inflammation in the intestinal tissue is a dramatic expansion of the lymphoid follicles, in which a high apoptotic index is recorded.

CONCLUSIONS
We provide a murine model in which shigellae are able to reach their natural tissue target: the colon. Moreover, the absence of polymorphonuclear leukocyte recruitment and of epithelial cell lesions reveal some aspects of shigellosis that are usually hidden by the prevalence of this cell population. This novel model may contribute to the identification of new targets for vaccines and therapies.


Application of J-Q related constraint concept is presented to describe the nature of the crack-tip loading in a reactor vessel under pressurized thermal shock (PTS) conditions. The fracture response of a reactor vessel subjected to three postulated PTS transients that incorporate effects of loading, unloading and reloading through repressurization of the crack tip has been examined. Analysis results indicate that minimal loss of constraint relative to conditions of K-dominant small-scale yielding (SSY) is observed during the monotonic-loading phase of the transients. The extent of constraint loss upon reloading is sensitive to the time of repressurization, with the most significant loss of constraint observed for late repressurization among the three transients investigated. The nature of the constraint loss corresponds to a spatially varying hydrostatic field relative to K-dominant SSY conditions. Inclusion of the constraint effect is expected to provide significant reduction in the calculated conditional probability of vessel failure in a probabilistic fracture mechanics analysis.


A new regime of runaway discharges has been found in TCABR (Tokamak Chauffage Alfvén Brésilien). This regime is obtained by initiating the discharge with low filling pressure and, after the initial current rise, maintaining a large filling rate. The line density reaches a maximum value around 2×1019 m-3, during the current ramp-up phase, and then drops by a factor of around four in the quasi-stationary phase of the discharge, when a new regime is achieved. The most distinctive features of this regime, as compared to `conventional' runaway discharges reported in the literature, are (i) maintenance of the runaway discharge, with the plasma current almost entirely provided by the runaway beam, in a cold background plasma and with strong neutral gas injection; (ii) enhancement of the relaxation instability with strong spikes in the Hα emission and loop voltage correlated with sawtooth relaxation of the line density; and (iii) plasma detachment from the limiter. A simple phenomenological model, based upon straightforward particle and energy balance calculations, is proposed to explain the experimental observations. According to this model, the plasma is rather cold and the short pulses of gas ionization and the related density spikes are due to sudden plasma heating caused by the relaxation instability. Furthermore, it seems that the runaway generation for the conditions of the experiments can be explained only if the secondary generation process is invoked.


Abstract Urban, peri-urban, post-industrial and post-agricultural landscapes are transforming throughout the world due to changes in human use. Spontaneous growth of vegetation (regrowth) that may be part of this transformation is sometimes viewed negatively because of perceived threats to human agency and well-being. In many cases, however, societies experiencing regrowth appear to ignore it. This is problematic as scientists are increasingly finding ecological values in regrowth landscapes. Fostering positive biodiversity outcomes in these areas requires knowledge of how the regrowth is perceived by stakeholders. This paper draws upon 53 semi-structured interviews and document reviews exploring perceptions, views and management of abundant and extensive regrowth by stakeholders in a post-agricultural landscape in central Victoria, Australia. Through discourse analysis, the research highlights the social ambivalence to regrowth and illuminates the underlying causes of that ambivalence. We indicate how this understanding can be used to foster social recognition and acceptance of regrowth and its role in landscape restoration.


With some theory about continuous and impulsive dynamical system, an impulsive model based on a special predator-prey system is considered. We assume that the impulsive effects occur when the density of the prey reaches a given value. For such a state-dependent impulsive system, the existence, uniqueness and orbital asymptotic stability of an order-1 periodic solution are discussed. Further, the existence of an order-2 periodic solution is also obtained, and persistence of the system is investigated.


Of 55 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, 16 had abnormal postoperative angiograms by accepted literature criteria. Five of the 16 were symptomatic. The other 11 were neurologically stable or improved from their preoperative condition. None of the 16 patients underwent reoperation. Of those 11 who had abnormal postoperative angiograms but a good clinical result, four had a second postoperative angiogram some months later that demonstrated marked improvement in the appearance of the endarterectomy site. Patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy should not be subjected to routine postoperative angiography without clinical indications nor should they undergo reoperation on the basis of angiographic findings alone without consideration of their clinical status.


In central Alberta, the Cooking Lake limestone or foundation unit for reef growth is divisible into four widespread lithologic units, in ascending order: basal dolomitic unit, lower calcarenite, middle argillaceous unit, and upper calcarenite. Carbonate buildup in the Cooking Lake in reef areas is marked generally by coalescence of the lower and upper calcarenites at the expense of the middle argillaceous unit, and by thickening of the upper calcarenite at the expense of the overlying Duvernay (brown to black shales and limestones). Limestones ranging from calcarenites to calcilutites and exhibiting negligible to complete dolomitization are present in the Cooking Lake and Leduc formations. The calcarenites comprise bioclastic and pseudo-oolitic (precipitated) types, and likewise the calcilutites include both bioclastic material and precipitates. Shallow- and agitated-water calcarenites and local patch reefs commenced to form in latest Beaverhill Lake time along a restricted north-south axis passing through the North Woodbend and South Acheson fields in the Leduc area. Reef sedimentation, initially confined to a narrow 2-3-mile belt along the western part of the shoal, onlapped eastward from a few to 10 miles by late Cooking Lake time. The ancient shoal is now marked by completely dolomitized limestones which extend End_Page 1------------------------------ farthest eastward in the area directly southwest of Edmonton ("Whitemud lobe"). On this relatively broad foundation, complete reef buildup was largely localized in the western part of the foundation. The final reef configuration, conforming closely to the productive Acheson, Leduc, Glen Park, and Wizard Lake fields, is marked by intervening channels or saddles. Formation of the northeast and southeast reef extensions at the Leduc field is believed to have been controlled in part by ocean currents in later Leduc time. In the Stettler area, late Cooking Lake sedimentation produced shallow-water limestones, now dolomitized, along three main trends termed Fenn-Big Valley, Stettler-Erskine, and Gadsby shoals. The Gadsby shoal was characterized by widespread biostromal carbonate deposition in the northern part of the Southern Alberta shelf. The south-southwest-trending Fenn-Big Valley shoal, apparently extending several miles southwest of Big Valley field, marked the site of earliest reefoid deposition (latest Cooking Lake time), followed somewhat later (early Duvernay time) by incipient reef foundation development in the Stettler and Erskine field areas. Later, mainly vertical carbonate buildup occurred along the central parts of the Fenn-Big Valley and Stettler-Erskine shoals. However, lateral growth nd onlap occurred west of the Fenn field and between the Stettler and Fenn-Big Valley fields, and caused the final Leduc configuration to extend south continuously from the Stettler to the Big Valley field, as well as west of these fields. Although a common carbonate foundation underlay the Stettler and Erskine fields, localization into separate reefs occurred. In the Redwater area, a prominent shoal exhibited deposition of relatively uniform limestone types and organic content throughout, except at the eastern margin. In the lower and upper Cooking Lake relatively narrow algal-stromatoporoid biofacies belts are developed at 6 to 10 and 4 to 5 miles, respectively, east of, and subparallel with, the Redwater oil field. Essential coalescence of the lower and upper calcarenites and carbonate buildup in the Cooking Lake at the expense of the overlying Duvernay characterizes the biostromal limestone foundation as far as its eastern margin at the algal concentration. It is interpreted that the biostromal margins in the Cooking Lake east of Redwater represent incipient reef margins or fronts, which migrated westward between Cooking Lake and late Le uc time. In the uppermost Leduc reef algal structures are concentrated in a narrow easternmost belt parallel with the reef front in the eastern part of the Redwater field. Stromatoporoids and associated organisms formed part of the "organic lattice" in a belt adjoining at the west. In turn, a non-stromatoporoidal biofacies, including precipitated and poorly fossiliferous limestones, was deposited west of the organic lattice. Calcarenite and biofacies patterns indicate that the organic lattice at Redwater represented an actively growing reef front subjected to ocean currents and possibly prevailing winds from the northeast. West of the organic lattice some relatively quiet, locally restricted lagoon-type sedimentation occurred. The upper deposits in the central part of the Redwater reef mass are believed to have been subject to solution-compaction effects, resulting in a slightly thinner Leduc section as compared with the margins. The highest level of occurrence of significant stromatoporoids, a biostratigraphic boundary, rises in the Leduc limestone section at least 500 feet from the interior to marginal parts of the Redwater reef mass. Lithofacies and biofacies studies of the Cooking Lake foundation may be applied in delineation of favorable areas for reef exploration. Patterns on facies maps showing early shoals or incipient algal-stromatoporoid belts may be used in determining possible reef extensions as well as outlining reef prospects in wildcat areas.


Air pollution is a ubiquitous hazard in most parts of the world. Decades of epidemiological research have provided evidence on the long-term health effect of exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and ozone, and household air pollution from domestic solid fuel use for cooking. The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) estimated that ambient and household air pollution together accounted for about 4.6 million premature deaths and 147 million disability adjusted life years in 2017, representing the top environmental risk factor and the fifth leading risk factor for poor health globally. This chapter first describes the key concepts and methodology related to disease burden estimation in epidemiology, with a specific focus on the scope of the GBD; then, the existing evidence on the specific health effects of different air pollutants are examined, followed by a note on the limitations of the evidence and future research needs.


This paper describes a formal system and uses it to express the puzzle of the three wise men and the puzzle of Mr. S and Mr. P. Four innovations in the axiomatization of knowledge were required: the ability to express joint knowledge of several people, the ability to express the initial non-knowledge, the ability to describe knowing what rather than merely knowing that, and the ability to express the change which occurs when someone learns something. Our axioms are written in first order logic and use Kripke-style possible worlds directly rather than modal operators or imitations thereof. We intend to use functions imitating modal operators and taking ``propositions'' and ``individual concepts'' as operands, but we haven't yet solved the problem of how to treat learning in such a formalism.


Africa is projected to add one billion urban residents by 2050. Yet developing sustainable solutions to tackle the host of challenges posed by rapid urban population growth is stymied by a lack municipality-level population data across the continent. To fill this gap, we intersect volunteered urban settlement data from OpenStreetMap with five synthetic gridded population datasets to estimate the how Africa's urban population is distributed among over 4750 individual urban settlements across Africa. We assess how urban settlement distributions changed from 2000 to 2015 within and between countries and across moisture zones. To this end, we construct urban settlement Lorenz curves to calculate change in Gini coefficients and test the degree to which Africa's urban settlements distributions fit power law distributions exhibited by Zipf's law. Our results reveal that 77%–85% of urban settlements in Africa have fewer than 100 000 people and that at least 50% of Africa's urban population live in urban settlements with fewer than 1 million residents. Across almost all African countries, the distribution of urban population shifted towards larger cities between 2000 and 2015. However, in arid regions, our results indicate that small- and medium-sized urban settlements are absorbing a greater share of urban population growth compared to large urban settlements. While our urban population estimates vary across gridded population datasets and differ from United Nations estimates, this is the first paper to measure urban population across Africa using a consistent methodology to identify urban settlement populations. Unlike UN urban population data for Africa, our results can readily be incorporated with geolocated environmental, public health, and economic data to support efforts to monitor United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to urban sustainability, poverty reduction, and food security across Africa's ever-growing urban settlements.


Drawing on insights from gender studies, postcolonial theory, and debates around nation and identity this thesis offers a new reading of selected medieval and sixteenth-century Scottish histories and literature and focuses on the intersection of gender and Scottish identity. Historical and theoretical scholarship has shown that power and identity formation are complicit in the construction of both gender and nation, yet are usually discussed as separate entities. Moreover, theorists of nation argue the concept of 'nation' is a modern construct that has no history prior to the late eighteenth century. Therefore, by ignoring the rigid periodisation given to the study of the nation and identity I demonstrate a Scottish identity existed between c. 1286 and c. 1586, one that was underpinned by gender ideologies. Scottish historians have recently acknowledged the paucity of writings on medieval and early modern Scottish national identity and culture from a gendered perspective. Using gender as a tool of historical analysis uncovers the multiple dimensions that make people and institutions what they are, giving them meaning. People and institutions are informed and guided by relationships of power and a gendered analysis provides a framework where one can examine and understand the cultural and social relationships people had with the religious and political institutions that governed them. This thesis examines foundation myths, kingship, heroes and heroines, and personifications of the land to illuminate the complexities of gender existing in the primary texts. All the chapters question the singularity of a hegemonic masculinity which was perceived as the norm and excluded women, the feminine and 'other' men. By challenging traditional power relationships this thesis demonstrates that images and languages of gender helped construct and inform medieval and sixteenth-century Scottish identities. This research will provide a fresh and innovative look at gender and nation, going beyond archival facts and demonstrating that the historical literature exposes changing cultural and ideological definitions of masculinities and femininities.


In the United States, all children 6 months through 18 years of age are recommended to be vaccinated against influenza annually. However, the existing pediatric immunization infrastructure does not have the capacity to vaccinate a high proportion of children each year. School-located influenza vaccination (SLIV) programs provide an opportunity to immunize large numbers of school-age children. We reviewed the medical literature in order to document the current U.S. experience to benefit future SLIV programs. Published reports or abstracts for 36 SLIV programs were identified, some of which spanned multiple years. The programs immunized between 70–128,228 students. While most programs vaccinated 40–50% of students, coverage ranged from 7–73%. Higher percentages of elementary students were vaccinated compared with middle and high school students. While many programs offered only intranasal vaccine, several programs have successfully used both the intranasal and injectable vaccines. Faculty and staff were immunized in some programs and uptake in this group varied considerably. Students were vaccinated quickly during school hours. Costs, where reported, ranged from approximately $20–$27 per dose delivered, including both vaccine and administration costs. The greatest need for future U.S. SLIV program implementation is the development of a financially sustainable model that can be replicated annually on a national scale.


Tailored time variations can enable efficient control over signal flows, giving rise to exotic wave phenomena. In this work, we demonstrate how abrupt temporal switching of the coupling between two cavities can tailor the energy flow between them beyond the limitations of static scenarios, enabling unitary energy transfer. The proposed scheme is robust with respect to a wide range of non-idealities, with implications for classical and quantum phenomena, from computing to nanophotonic systems.


Although Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is useful for generating samples from the posterior distribution, it often suffers from intractability when dealing with large-scale datasets. To address this issue, we propose Hierarchical Initialized Alternating Back-propagation (HiABP) for efficient Bayesian inference. Especially, we endow Alternating Backpropagation (ABP) method with a well-designed initializer and hierarchical structure, composing the pipeline of Initializing, Improving, and Learning back-propagation. It saves much time for the generative model to initialize the latent variable by constraining a sampler to be close to the true posterior distribution. The initialized latent variable is then improved significantly by an MCMC sampler. Thus the proposed method has the strengths of both methods, i.e., the effectiveness of MCMC and the efficiency of variational inference. Experimental results validate our framework can outperform other popular deep generative models in modeling natural images and learning from incomplete data. We further demonstrate the unsupervised disentanglement of hierarchical latent representation with controllable image synthesis.


A questionnaire survey of 713 pupils of Secondary Schools in Bo town, Southern Sierra Leone, on tobacco and cannabis smoking was carried out in January and February 1994. There were 56.8% males and 43.2% females with a mean age of 17.6 +/- 1.5 years. Lifetime use of both substances was 9% while current use was 4.2%. Current use of cigarettes was 3.2% and of cannabis 2.2%. Forty percent of current users smoked both cigarettes and cannabis. The mean age of onset of smoking was 15.1 +/- 3.1 years. Males smoked significantly more than females (p < 0.001). The prevalence of smoking increased with age and from junior to senior forms. There was also a higher prevalence among muslim students. Smoking within the family was a significant determinant of smoking in School children (p < 0.01). Current smokers were less aware of the health hazards of smoking but the majority of previous smokers stopped the habit because they thought it was bad for their health. In spite of these relatively rates, it is recommended that appropriate health education programme on tobacco and cannabis smoking be incorporated into school curricula. Further studies are indicated in more urbanized areas and in colleges.


The purpose of this work is to propose a general instructional design model to teach students in faculty of education, especially in department of educational technology how to design and develop online virtual labs in a common way. We have made analyses of previous instructional design models and related studies in regard to the virtual labs to specify diverse features of the proposed model. It was found that the online virtual labs have no conventional instructional design model, especially for designing and developing stages and also no common shape and components. Based on these results, we have reached to a new suggestion model which guides the students in refinement of the future learning environment using recent technology. In this paper, we also present a list of criteria for designing and developing the online virtual labs.as a modern principles for directing designing process of online virtual labs environments to become instructional products. We have made a derivation of these criteria from previous studies related to the virtual labs, e-Learning technologies and some miscellaneous technological resources in educational technology. These criteria would provide the students with educational and technological guidelines to produce the online virtual labs with high quality and efficiency.


An important problem of cyber-security is malware analysis. Besides good precision and recognition rate, ideally, a malware detection scheme needs to be able to generalize well for novel malware families (a.k.a zero-day attacks). It is important that the system does not require excessive computation particularly for deployment on the mobile devices. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme to detect malware which we call Malytics. It is not dependent on any particular tool or operating system. It extracts static features of any given binary file to distinguish malware from benign. Malytics consists of three stages: feature extraction, similarity measurement, and classification. The three phases are implemented by a neural network with two hidden layers and an output layer. We show feature extraction, which is performed by tf-simhashing, is equivalent to the first layer of a particular neural network. We evaluate Malytics performance on both Android and Windows platforms. Malytics outperforms a wide range of learning-based techniques and also individual state-of-the-art models on both platforms. We also show Malytics is resilient and robust in addressing zero-day malware samples. The F1-score of Malytics is 97.21% and 99.45% on Android dex file and Windows PE files, respectively, in the applied datasets. The speed and efficiency of Malytics are also evaluated.


Increased subepithelial deposition of extracellular matrix proteins is a key feature in bronchial asthma. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is a proteolytic enzyme that degrades the extracellular matrix. Tenascin is an extracellular matrix glycoprotein that is abundant in thickened asthmatic subbasement membrane. The expression of MMP-9 and tenascin reflects disease activity in asthma and airway remodeling. The molecular mechanisms regulating the expression of these proteins remain unknown. Both MMP-9 and tenascin promoters contain an Ets binding site, suggesting control by Ets-1. Thus, we hypothesized that Ets-1 expression is increased in asthma and that it contributed to enhanced MMP-9 and tenascin expression. To test this hypothesis, we determined the expression of Ets-1 in bronchial biopsies obtained from asthmatic subjects and determined the expression of Ets-1, MMP-9, and tenascin by bronchial fibroblasts activated ex vivo. We observed that nuclear extracts from TNF-α-activated fibroblasts showed increased Ets-binding activity. In addition, TNF-α-activated fibroblasts had increased expression of Ets-1 mRNA and protein, which preceded an increase in MMP-9 and tenascin mRNA. Furthermore, treatment of fibroblasts with Ets-1 antisense oligonucleotides down-regulated TNF-α-induced Ets-1, MMP-9, and, to a lesser extent, tenascin protein expression or activity. Taken together, these data demonstrate that TNF-α increases MMP-9 and tenascin expression in bronchial fibroblasts via the transcription factor Ets-1, and suggest a role for Ets-1 in airway remodeling in asthma.


Assessing the impacts of climate change on mountain ecosystems is challenging as it takes several decades to observe an ecological response. Using a transplantation experiment in the Swiss Jura Mountains we study the adaptability of beech and spruce to simulated climate change. In situ ecophysiological measures, e.g. photosynthetic rate at a constant CO2 partial pressure, were undertaken to assess the performance of saplings. Moreover, leaf phenology and growth rate monitoring were performed during the growing season. The main findings include a clear altitudinal effect on growth and photosynthetic capacity of both species and an advanced leaf flushing at lower altitudes.


Background: Chokeberries (Aronia spp.) are known to exhibit both direct and indirect antioxidant properties and have been associated with beneficial effects on human health, including cardiovascular risk factors (inflammation, serum lipids, sugars, blood pressure), oxidative stress, and semen quality. This prospective, double-blinded, randomized, crossover clinical trial was conducted to elucidate the effects of Aronia supplementation on these health targets in mildly hypercholesterolemic men. Methods: The standardized Aronia supplementation comprised three wild Aronia spp. (A. arbutifolia, A prunifolia and A. melanocarpa) and the Aronia hybrid × Sorbaronia mitschurinii (standardized to 150 mg anthocyanins daily). Participants (n = 109) were healthy men with respect to all outcome targets except for the total cholesterol level (5.0–7.0 mM). Participants were randomized to supplementation with either Aronia or placebo for 90 days, followed by a wash-out period and lastly the complementary supplementation. Effects on the health parameters were compared among both the whole group of men and in subgroups according to age, body mass index (BMI), lifestyle, dietary habits, and serum glutathione levels at baseline. The study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov.: NCT03405753. Results: Glutathione levels were significantly improved after 90 days intake of Aronia supplementation compared to placebo in the subgroup of men with a low level of glutathione at baseline (p = 0.038) and a high coffee intake (p = 0.045). A significant decrease in levels of sperm DNA fragmentation and an increase in the percentage of motile sperm were observed in men aged >40 and in men with BMI > 25. Further, these parameters were significantly improved in the dietary subgroup defined by a high level of coffee intake. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels decreased significantly in men <40 years after Aronia supplementation. No statistically significant effects were observed regarding blood pressure, markers of blood sugar regulation, hemoglobin A1c, superoxide dismutase, catalase, isoprostane levels, high sensitivity C reactive protein, or other semen parameters. Conclusions: This study demonstrated a significant increase in glutathione levels and improvement of cytoprotective targets following Aronia supplementation in specific subgroups of men >40 years of age and BMI > 25 but did not demonstrate a significant effect in the overall analysis. The observed concurrent increase in glutathione levels and improvement of cytoprotective targets following Aronia supplementation in subgroups of men, suggests that the endogenous phase II antioxidant glutathione is involved in the modulation of the observed cytoprotective effects. This study is a good foundation for further investigation of these cytoprotective effects in groups with oxidative stress in a dose–response study.


The tide of mass protests that swept through the Middle East in early 2011 highlighted the distinct role of modern information-communication technologies (ICT) and digital social media tools and networks. The impact of these technologies was felt globally, affecting both developed and developing nations, if not in the same way. While the "Arab Spring" may point to a phenomenon of new mass forms of sociopolitical protest facilitated by social media networks, particularly in regard to their organizational and communication aspects, it should also produce some major reservations about the applicability of any "direct lessons" to other regional and sociopolitical contexts.


Abstract The monoclonal antibodies against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are active in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC; mCRC). This activity has been shown initially in irinotecan-and chemotherapy-refractory mCRC. The correlation of rash after EGFR inhibitors and activity has led to the concept of the dose until rash study. Clinical trials evaluating this concept are ongoing. However, many unresolved challenges remain regarding this question. New challenges include the development of the most optimal schedule of the EGFR inhibitors and the evaluation of their role in less advanced stages and in the preoperative treatment of liver metastases of CRC.


LContiatued fron page 531.] CASE AI. 'Margaret T., aged 30, had double convergent strabismins of oldclalte. The internial rectus of each eye was divided subcoinjunictivally on the 25th of June. Resldt. The position of the eyes and the power of converg,enice are normal. CASES VIi and viii. Bartholomew C., aged 21, has been affected with convergent squint for twenty years, and has been refused admission into the police force until the deformity is remiioved. The squint alternates; vision is niormal. Subconjunctival operation on riglht eye June 25th. On the 29th, the eyes preserved a normal position in whatever direction they turned. On the 1st of July, the eye operated upon squinted in consequence of contraction of the material that had been exuded to repair the divided parts, and a squint was also estaldlis'hed in the fellow or-an. Occlusion of the latter, and exercise of the right, having failed to restore the eye operated uiponi to its proper position, it was ligatured to the temple, and the object sought was gained. On the 10th of July, the squint in the left was cured by subconjunctival myotomy. Resutlt. At the present time the eyes possess a normal power of conivergence, and are in all respects natural, with the exception of the redness that ordinarily follows an operation. Thlie man has been placed on the strength of the police force. CASE IX. Ed^ward E., aged 18, from Harley, near Stafford, has double divergent strabismiuis. The right eye is the worst: just beneath, aind a little to the outer side of the centre of the pupil, is a thlin opacity of the cornea. Mlr. Solomon, having first ascertaiined that vision is improved wthen this eye is brought to the centre, divided, on the 8th of July, botlh of the external rectus muscles subleonjunctivally. Result. The deformity, wbhichl lad existed six years, was completely removed, aridI the mistiness of vision lessened. CASE X. Edward B., aged 40, is unable to converge the right eye uipon aIn object placed near to the top of hiis nose. This sendi-paralytic condition of the adductor muscle is referrible to a cerebral attack of some thlree years date. The insertion of the right ablductor was divided on July 11th, great care being taken to dlistturb as little as possible tlle neiglhbouring parts. For threc or fouir days afterwards, a slight inward squint was observable, whlen it subsided, andthe ability to converge the eye in a nornmal degree wvas regained. CASE XI. Hann111ah T., aged 18, has had douible convergent strabisi-muls for six years. Tthc right eye has been turned deeply inwards; its vision is imperfect; the outline of large objects is imaiperfect, and the reading of capital letters (one-eig,hth of an inch) impossible. July lOt!'. Subconjunctival myotonmy of both eyes was perfolmeed. The right globe was attached by a ligature to the tempile. Result. The eyes, in position, appearance, and mnovements, are niatural; defining power of the right is improved. CASE xsr. Eliza G., aged 1 7, has double convergent squlint. The left, -which is the wolrst, lhas been affected seven years, and is referred by the patient to the occtrrence of styes at the perio(d namred. The vision is normal. Jully 12thi. Botlh eyes wvere operated tipon subconjunctivally, vwitlh the same success as in the preceding case, by whom, in fact, slhe wvas brouglht to the Infirmary. CAISE XTII. Charles J., age(I 13, strumous and unhealthy, squints inwi-ards, with the right eye excessively, with the left in a slialgt degree. Jily 14th. Subconjunctival myotomy of right eye was performecld; and the organ was afterwards ligatured to the temple for f'orty-ei glht hours. Julv l1tlh. Tlhe eye was in normal position; the convergence of the left had become very decided. -Patients operated upon, 7; males, 4; females, 3. Eyes oiperalted upoii, 12; for external squint, 3; for internal, 9. DIPHTHERITIS, OR DIPHTHERIA. By J. 'MILNER BARRY, M.D., Physician to the Tunbridge Wells Infirmary and Dispensary. BRIETONNEAU* was, perhaps, not very happy in making choice of diphtherite as a new name for angina membranacea; but as it is connvenient to designate a disease, or definite assemblage of morbid phenomena, by a single word, and as diphtherite, or diphtheritis, has been adopted into the medical vocabulary, we may be content to accept and employ the term, whilst demurriDg as to its etymological appropriateness. As this insidious disease affects the blood primarily, and manifests itself outwardly on the tonsils before it extends to other parts of the throat, I should feel inclined to denominate it tonsillitis zyJmnotica, if required to give it a new nosological epithet. The absence of eruption and the non-occurrence of cuticular desquamation would help now-a-days to distirnguish diphtherite from scarlatina occurring in any latent or masqued form; but if wve refer to the histories of the terrible epidemics of sore throat which prevailed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, we shall be disposed to conclude that scarlet fever, scarlatina sine exantthemate, and diphtherite, were blen(led together and described as affections of the throat under various deilominations, such as " angina pestitlentialis",+ "pestilens faucium adfectus",+ "angina alba",§ " angina piterorunt epidemzica",J) "garrotillo"¶" " ulcerous sore throat",+t" malignant sore throat", " putrid sore throat", etc. As the disease has prevailed extensively througlhout the kingdom, and seems likely to establish for itself a place in our nosologies, it would be desirable to aaree as to the name by which it should be designated. Diphtheria seems to me to have been very needlessly proposed as a substitute for diphtWhr'ite, apparently owing to erroneous views as to its etymology: the termination ite, or itis, being objected to, because it is usually employed to indicate the occurrence of inflammation in an organ, and as diphthera means "leather", diphtheritis might be supposed to signify " inflammation of leather"-doubtless a most irrelevant name for the disease. But Bretonnenu appears to have taken the word diphtheritis bodily from his lexicon, as the best word he could find to denote a disease cha. racterised by a whity-brown membranouis exudation. Diphth.eritis, according to the lexicographers, is the feminine of diphtherias, which, being interpreted, means " clad in a leather frock". Now diphtheritis being " a word of exceeding good command", why should it be superseded by diphtheiia?


Objective: Osteocalcin a small peptide secreted by osteoblasts, has been recently described as a hormone involved in the regulation of energy metabolism. Also, experimental data suggest regulation of adipocytes by bone. The present study aims to Relationship between bone formation marker (BGLA- protein) with Adipokines and insulin resistance in overweight men after aerobic exercise. Method: Twenty two male volunteers with a mean age31.50±2.23years, body mass index(BMI) 28.67±0.96 kg.m2, were randomly selected to control(n=11) and aerobic training(n=11) groups. Subjects in the aerobic training group participated in the 8-week exercise training program, three sessions per week (60 minutes at 70 to 85 percent of heart rate reserve(HRR). Weight, body fat % and BMI were analyzed, fasting blood samples were collected before and after the 8-week exercise program to determine the serum Osteocalcin, leptin, adiponectin, insulin and HOMA-IR. Result: T-test showed that Body fat, BMI, weight, insulin, glucose, HOMA-IR and leptin were significantly reduced following the aerobic exercise(P


In my research, I am working to understand the sources and implications of uncertainty in marine habitat mapping. Marine habitat mapping is an established activity. However, perhaps because modern tools are so easy to apply, relatively little attention appears to be given to the original measurements themselves. Without an understanding of the inherent uncertainty in the foundation measurements, any conclusions drawn from mapped habitats or changes in these may be overstated or simply incorrect. Additionally, maps are often treated as static phenomena, with minimal consideration of temporal and spatial processes. The creation of recommended protocols for marine researchers to follow when they are working on habitat and process mapping is much needed as the application of hydrographic measurements continues to proliferate. My research works to ensure that this very useful data is considered in the context of its suitability to the application, as well as investigating ways to improve methods that generate high-quality, repeatable scientific outcomes.


The Frontline programme is a social work qualifying route, in England, featuring a different approach to curriculum design and delivery. Students are based in groups of 4, learning through practicing social work in a statutory child and family social work setting, alongside a Consultant Social Worker (in the role of practice educator). They are also supported by an Academic Tutor who works in partnership with the Consultant Social Worker to facilitate learning. A weekly "unit meeting" is a foundational aspect of the programme, providing opportunities for in-depth discussion, teaching, and reflection on practice with families.

The authors worked together over the first 2 cohorts of the programme and undertook action research to explore the learning opportunities that arise when academic staff and practitioners work side by side to support student learning in this model. Three broad themes were identified which were considered to be significant in helping students to learn which are explored in the paper:

Learning through engaging in joint dialogue about practice in a unit meeting
The influence of relationships on learning in social work
The importance of a connected model of learning which has practice with children and families at its heart


Author(s): Rolens, Clare | Abstract: In "Dangerous Crossings : Class Passing, Identity Intersectionality, and Consumer Culture in U.S. Crime Fiction and Film, 1940-1960," I argue that a close analysis of class masquerade illuminates the intersectional nature of identity and the criminalization of socially mobile individuals in American literature and popular culture. The midcentury American crime narrative is structured by the stubborn prevalence of a figure I call the class passer, that is, a character who performs a false class identity in order to be socially mobile and to conceal their class origins. This "dangerous crossing" of class lines is a catalyst that also destabilizes any notion of gender, race, and sexuality as fixed categories. My focus serves as a critical lens for crime fiction's engagement with consumer capitalism, as well as for the study of class, and more broadly of identity itself as a fluid, yet rigid, concept in midcentury discourse. Chapter One, "The Femme Fatale on the Home Front in Raymond Chandler's Farewell, My Lovely (1940) and Vera Caspary's Laura (1942)," pairs Chandler and Caspary's noir novels to illustrate the crucial role of class in the femme fatale's danger to capitalist patriarchy. In Chapter Two, "For Richer, For Poorer: Class-Passing Mothers and Domestic Noir in Vera Caspary's Bedelia (1945), Cornell Woolrich's I Married a Dead Man (1948), and No Man of Her Own (1950), " I compare Caspary and Woolrich's stories of pregnant women who are criminal class passers, as well as the latter novel's 1950 film adaptation. In Chapter Three, "The Homme Fatal Strikes Again: Male Class Passers in Dorothy Hughes's In a Lonely Place (1947) and Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)," I argue that female authors revise conventions of the crime genre to frame the encroachment of consumer culture and postmodern notions of identity as threats gendered as masculine rather than feminine. Chapter Four, "Economically Queer: Class and Gender Passing as Anti-Racist Resistance in Chester Himes's All Shot Up (1960)," uses queer of color critique to examine how passing in Himes's series of Harlem crime novels expose fixed identities and white supremacy as confidence games. Ultimately, my project demonstrates the importance of popular genre in the broader study of U.S. literature and culture, specifically in terms of class, intersectionality, and postmodern identities


Background: The clinical expression of AD likely occurs when the accumulation of degeneration in specific brain regions leads to the descent below a critical threshold of "brain reserve" beyond which normal cognitive function cannot be maintained. The association between head circumference (HC), a measure of brain reserve, and the incidence of probable AD was examined in a large nondemented cohort that has been followed since 1992 and its modification by APOE ε4 genotype. Methods: Fifty-nine incident cases of probable AD were identified from 1,869 initially nondemented individuals seen at the baseline examination (1992 to 1994) and followed for a mean of 3.8 years. Variables measured at baseline included age, education, gender, HC, height, weight, and score on the National Adult Reading Test–Revised. APOE was genotyped at the time of the first biennial examination (1994 to 1996) and was available for 1,111 individuals in the cohort. Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for probable AD for HC and other covariates. Results: Incident cases were significantly older, less educated, shorter, and lighter, had lower estimated verbal IQ scores, and were more likely to have at least one APOE ε4 allele than unaffected individuals. The HR associated with the lowest tertile of HC (<21.4 inches) adjusted for education, gender, and APOE ε4 was 2.3 (95% CI 0.7 to 6.9, p = 0.16). The HR for one or two APOE ε4 alleles was significant (HR = 4.8, 95% CI 1.8 to 12.9, p = 0.002). The combination of low HC and APOE ε4 strongly predicted earlier onset of AD with HR = 14.1 (95% CI 3.0 to 65, p = 0.0007). Conclusions: Smaller HC, in the presence of the APOE ε4 allele, hastens the age at onset of AD. These results support the brain reserve hypothesis and its importance in precipitating the clinical expression of AD among genetically predisposed individuals.


Relationship between dispositional optimism/pessimism and stress coping strategies. Recent studies confirm that dispositional pessimism is related with a worse state of physical health, in comparison with dispositional optimism. The efficacy of stress coping strategies has been considered as a mediating mechanism in this relationship. The aim of the present study is to analyze in a sample of university students (n = 200) the association between dispositional optimism/pessimism and different categories of self-reported somatic symptoms , and evaluate the possible mediation of the stress coping strategies in this relationship. The results indicate that: 1) pessimism is positively related with the report of physical symptoms, whereas optimism is negatively associated to somatic complaints; and 2) this relationship can be mainly explained by the differential utilization of the coping strategy denominated self-criticism (characteristic of pessimism).


Impacts of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) on hydroclimatic variables have been previously studied in various viewpoints. This study adds a new perspective by focusing on the influences of winter NAO and AO extreme phases on hydrological drought using a standardized streamflow index (SSFI) over Turkey and northern Iran. Moreover, the physical mechanisms associated with the extreme phases of NAO over different atmospheric conditions were investigated. The results concerning short‐term droughts across Turkey revealed that wet conditions dominate particularly in the winter and following spring during the negative NAO and AO extreme phases while the NAO and AO impacts in Iran are only significant during simultaneous winter. Furthermore, the outputs of SSFI for the positive extreme phases of NAO and AO considerably differed in Turkey and Iran so that multiple drought events were detected in Turkey for all timescales as generally opposed to Iran. Western and eastern Turkey suffered from drought in various magnitudes during the positive extreme phases of NAO while fewer droughts were observed in Iran around the Caspian Sea during the negative NAO and AO extreme phases. Results of correlation analysis depicts that negative cycles are controlling wetness (drought) in Turkey (Iran) while there is a weak correlation between positive NAO cycles and SSFIs in the study area. In addition, our study showed that negative NAO and AO extreme phases could affect the hydrological drought stronger but in a shorter period compared with a longer period regarding the positive NAO and AO phases.


ultrasound scans in high-risk pregnancy and to investigate its value of the nasal bone hypoplasia in second-trimester ultrasound screening of chromosomal aneuploidy. Methods: The prospective study to measure the length of nasal bone was conducted from June 2003 to March 2005. The study population included 191 singleton pregnancies undergoing the genetic amniocentesis at 15–21 weeks' gestation. Nasal bone hypoplasia was defined as nasal bone less than 5th percentile for the gestational age using the chart by Sonek et al. Results: The nasal bone length showed to a linear correlation with advanced gestation (R2 = 0.183, p < 0.01)). Thirteen had an aneuploidy (3 trisomy21, 5 trisomy18, 3 inversions, 1 translocation and 1 duplication). The nasal bone was either absent or hypoplastic in 5/13 (38.5%) fetuses. But no statistical difference was found between chromosomally normal and abnormal fetuses in the incidences of the nasal bone hypoplasia (p = 0.066). Conclusion: The nasal bone hypoplasia had some limitation for the mid-trimester ultrasound-screening marker of fetal aneuploidy in high-risk pregnancy. Larger studies are needed to determine the role of nasal bone hypoplasia either as an isolated marker or in combination with other sonographic marker in chromosomal aneuploidy.


The Al/AlN bonded corundum based multiphase material was prepared by raw materials of fused alumina and metallic aluminum powder by in situ reaction at 1100°C for 3h in N2 . The XRD analysis showed that the mineral phases of prepared material are corundum, metallic aluminum and AlN respectively. The SEM investigation revealed that both tetragonal whiskers and hexagon powders of AlN were formed. The results of hydration tests indicated that the rate of weight gain and pulverization of the material were negligible and the ratio of residual crushing strength was kept at a high level. The XRD patterns of samples after hydration tests identified that the AlN phase still remained although a small amount of AlOOH and Al(OH)3 was formed due to the hydration of AlN. It is believed that the limited hydration of AlN should be contributed to the dissolution of O element to AlN. The hydration mechanism of AlN was discussed.


Nucleocytoplasmic exchange is essential for eukaryotic cells. It proceeds through nuclear pore complexes and is largely mediated by Importin β-like nuclear transport receptors (Impβ-like NTRs). According to the direction of the transport, Impβ-like NTRs are classified as importins or exportins. Exportin 4 (Xpo4) is a bidirectional receptor that can function both as importin and exportin. Xpo4 mediates export of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) and Smad3 as well as import of transcription factors such as Sox2 and SRY. So far, it has been unclear how Xpo4 facilitates transport of structurally diverse cargoes to opposing compartments.
In order to understand the mechanisms of Xpo4-dependent bidirectional transport, in my PhD work, I aimed at crystallizing the cargo-bound and unbound complexes of Xpo4. Here I present the crystal structure of the RanGTP•Xpo4•eIF5A export complex. The structure shows that Xpo4 recognizes not just a linear peptide, but the two folded domains of eIF5A at the same time. eIF5A contains hypusine, a unique amino acid with two positive charges, that is essential for cell viability and for eIF5A function in translation. The hypusine docks into a deep, acidic pocket of Xpo4. The interactions at the acidic pocket are essential for export complex formation and eIF5A export by Xpo4. Therefore, hypusine is a critical element of eIF5A's complex export signature. The structure also reveals that Ran promotes eIF5A binding through conformational changes in Xpo4, including the stabilization of a conserved acidic loop. Similar acidic loops in unidirectional importins have critical function in cargo assembly and disassembly processes. Therefore, this detail also gives mechanistic hints about how Xpo4 can act as a bidirectional transport receptor.
In a parallel project, I aspired to identify novel transport substrates for exportin 7 (Xpo7). To address this, I employed an Xpo7 affinity chromatography to enrich Xpo7 interaction partners from a cytoplasmic extract. This revealed not only further Xpo7 export substrates but also several potential import cargoes. The results suggest that in addition to its characterized role in nuclear export, Xpo7 could function as a nuclear import receptor. Therefore, similar to Xpo4, Xpo7 can be another bidirectional nuclear transport receptor.


Abstract. We develop a method to estimate the reconnected magnetic flux and the location of the reconnection site using properties of magnetic field and plasma velocity disturbances in the regions surrounding the reconnection plasma flow. Our analysis is based on a 3-D non-steady reconnection model with a finite-sized X-line length. In this framework, we obtain a system of equations capturing the relationships between the disturbances of the magnetic field and plasma flow from one side and the reconnection characteristics from another side. These equations allow us to determine the reconnection characteristics from one-point remote observations of the reconnection fast flow, propagated in the magnetotail current sheet. We apply the model to magnetic field and plasma observations at (−43, −11.2, −6.9) RE GSM obtained by the THEMIS/ARTEMIS spacecraft, located in the tail lobe during a substorm event. We found that the reconnection region was located at ~ (−27, 3.5, 0) RE GSM. The X-line appeared to be close to the local time of the substorm current wedge identified from ground-based observations. We estimated the total magnetic flux, which was reconnected in the event as ~5 MWb. That corresponds to a small fraction of the total amount of magnetic flux transferred during a substorm.


This article describes my ongoing experiments with "learning communities" and "spiral curricula" in my Civil Procedure I classes, as influenced by my eight years as a sole practitioner in Western Kentucky. Despite endorsement from many education theorists and classroom teachers and potential effectiveness in combating student disaffection, neither has made more than the shallowest dent in legal education. "Classroom community" implies a less stratified and more culturally respectful education experience that is more rewarding, more honorable and more likely to be urban law school graduates' professional future. Spiral curriculum design facilitates analytical depth that leads to a sense of the law's rhythms critical to high performance as a generalist.My Spring 2009 Civil Procedure I class created my first "community in the classroom," and its dynamics are repeatable. Students spun a web of intergenerational, multiplex relationships that are the essence of a "community of memory" and institutionalized the "patterns of commitment" that shaped the experiences of those who came later. These have led to enthusiasm about personal jurisdiction – "love" if you are "Michael" – that is disproportionate to that topic's entertainment value. Woven throughout this article are vignettes and voices that demonstrate students' engagement and emerging sense of justice.Part II explains my spiraling syllabus design that facilitates analytical depth and appreciation for the very real people their blossoming legal philosophies may govern. Part III describes the course's assessment package – call it "Justice Brennan Meets The Lord of the Rings in 2009 – that tests analysis while reinforcing students' sense of membership in a community with a past, present and future. The article concludes that the structure and content of the course facilitated unusually intense student engagement, enriched students' academic experience, and opened a conceptual door to an alternate professional future."


This article provides a study into the social network where influential personalities collaborate positively among themselves to learn an underlying truth over time, but may have misled their followers to believe a false information. Most existing work that study leader-follower relationships in a social network model the social network as a graph network, and apply non-Bayesian learning to train the weakly connected agents to learn the truth. Although this approach is popular, it has the limitation of assuming that the truth - otherwise called the true state - is time-invariant. This is not practical in social network, where streams of information are released and updated every second, making the true state arbitrarily time-varying. Thus, this article improves on existing work by introducing online reinforcement learning into the graph theoretic framework. Specifically, multi-armed bandit technique is applied. A multi-armed bandit algorithm is proposed and used to train the weakly connected agents to converge to the most stable state over time. The speed of convergence for these weakly connected agents trained with the proposed algorithm is slower by 66% on average, when compared to the speed of convergence for strongly connected agents trained with the state-of-the-art algorithm. This is because weakly connected agents are difficult to train. However, the speed of convergence of these weakly connected agents can be improved by approximately 50% on average, by fine-tuning the learning rate of the proposed algorithm. The sublinearity of the regret bound for the proposed algorithm is compared to the sublinearity of the regret bound for the state-of-the-art algorithm for strongly connected networks.


The IFCC Committee on Clinical Applications of Cardiac Biomarkers (C-CB) has directives and initiatives focused on providing evidence-based educational resources to aid and improve understanding around key analytical and clinical aspects of cardiac biomarkers used in clinical practice and the research setting. As a task force, we have previously published position statements and recommendations focused on use and analytical aspects of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays. The current educational document is the first from the C-CB highlighting important biochemical, analytical, and clinical aspects as they relate to the natriuretic peptides (NPs), including B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro- B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), with a focus on heart failure.


The Southern Ocean Observing System
was established by SCAR and SCOR in
2011 and has been steadily developing
its work. In this paper, we summarise
the outcomes of strategic planning over
2015 and a recent meeting of the SSC
and workshop aimed at implementing
the strategic plan. SOOS is developing
regional and capability working groups
to implement its strategy. The regional
working groups will be important to
CCAMLR in providing data relevant to
conservation and fisheries in different
parts of the CCAMLR area. The capability
working groups aim to develop long term
capabilities of SOOS. Those of interest
to CCAMLR include Working Groups on
Ecosystems, Acoustics and Monitoring of
pack ice seals. The development of the
SOOS Data Management System and
Portal will also be important to CCAMLR.
These are described more fully in the paper.
In conclusion, we discuss the value of
developing a partnership between SOOS
and CCAMLR to help develop a positive
relationship between the CCAMLR and
international scientific communities and to
progress the international coordination and
assessments of climate change impacts on
Southern Ocean ecosystems, the focus of a
conference in 2018.


The scenario is all too familiar. A patient has a surgical procedure. Anesthesia is uneventful and the procedure goes well. Nothing untoward is observed in the recovery room. Later that evening the patient complains of numbness, weakness, or pain, and a neurological deficit is found. A neurologist is called, examines the patient, and it is concluded that a nerve lesion has occurred, because of stretch, ischemia, compression, or laceration. A subsequent electromyogram and nerve conduction study confirm the clinical impression, but offer little in the way of explanation. Over the subsequent months, the patient makes a slow recovery but there has been a prolonged period of pain and disability. Liability issues loom. This scenario could reflect a number of different nerve lesions. This review illustrates the different modes of pathogenesis that may occur and the variable nature of the neurological deficits. We grouped these lesions according to the clinical setting in which they occur.


As the incidence of cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) has increased in the last decades in both breastfed and formula fed infants, possible pitfalls in its diagnosis and management are also increasing. This is especially evident in non-IgE milk allergy due to the considerable delay between the appearance of clinical symptoms after ingestion of the allergen, and the non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms that characterize it. The misdiagnosis could often be combined with inappropriate use of either partially hydrolyzed or amino acid-based infant formula for the management of symptoms. The aim of the paper is to present two cases to illustrate common pitfalls in diagnosis and management of CMPA with divergent gastrointestinal syndrome manifestations: food protein-induced allergic proctocolitis and food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome, in an effort to increase awareness of these conditions and to guide clinicians in day-to-day practice when facing suspected cases of CMPA. Int J Clin Pediatr. 2020;9(3):98-102 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/ijcp375


Games can be powerful learning devices because of their interactive and multimedia capabilities, and their abilities to keep students motivated, active, deeply immersed and engaged for sustained periods of time. Yet the extent to which this translates into more effective knowledge and skill acquisition is not clear from the research reported so far. Several researchers have stressed that support tools should be added to game environments to ensure that learning takes place. In this paper we will elaborate on this issue and will report data from experiments with a simulation game called KM Quest. In these experiments the effectiveness of several (learning) support tools was investigated. The data give indications that particular types of support (like advice) limit learning while others (feedback, just-intime information) might enhance learning. Based on these data at the end of this paper it will be discussed whether (intelligent) support within educational games is necessary.


ABSTRACT Computer-based assessments can provide students with feedback to guide their learning as well as inform teachers who extract information to prepare their teaching. Five secondary school teachers were monitored during one school year to answer the following research questions: (1) What kind of student data do teachers use for their teaching practice? (2) How do teachers use student data for their instructional practice? and (3) How are these classroom instructions evaluated by students? To use data for their teaching practice, teachers preferred data with detailed information about each student, task and response. In class, teachers focused on providing low-performing students with feedback, either by themselves or by a high-performing peer student. Subsequently, low-performing students evaluated this formative assessment practice more positively than high-performing students as they valued the chance to practise and the additional feedback and instruction they received in class. Implications for teacher support are discussed.