The GCN4 gene encodes a positive effector of amino acid biosynthetic genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetic analysis has suggested that GCN4 is regulated by a hierarchy of interacting positive and negative effectors in response to amino acid starvation. Results presented here for a GCN4-lacZ gene fusion support this regulatory model and suggest that the regulators of GCN4 exert their effects primarily at the level of translation of GCN4 mRNA. Both the GCN2 and GCN3 products appear to stimulate translation of GCN4 mRNA in response to amino acid starvation, because a recessive mutation in either gene blocked derepression of GCN4-lacZ fusion enzyme levels but did not reduce the fusion transcript level relative to that in wild-type cells grown in the same conditions. The GCD1 product appears to inhibit translation of GCN4 mRNA because under certain growth conditions, the gcd1-101 mutation led to derepression of the GCN4-lacZ fusion enzyme level in the absence of any increase in the fusion transcript level. In addition, the gcd1-101 mutation suppressed the low translational efficiency of GCN4-lacZ mRNA observed in gcn2- and gcn3- cells. A deletion of four small open reading frames in the 5' leader of GCN4-lacZ mRNA mimicked the effect of a gcd1 mutation and derepressed translation of the fusion transcript in the absence of either starvation conditions or the GCN2 and GCN3 products. By contrast, in a gcd1- strain, the deletion resulted in little additional increase in the translational efficiency of the fusion transcript. These results suggest that GCD1 mediates the translational repression normally exerted by the GCN4 leader sequences and that GCN2 and GCN3 antagonize these negative elements in response to amino acid starvation. The effects of the trans-acting mutations on the translation of GCN4-lacZ mRNA remained intact even when transcription of the fusion gene was placed under the control of the S. cerevisiae GAL1 transcriptional control element.


This article is an attempt to draw a plan for developing curricula for teaching theQur 'anic Language at the International Islamic Universil)i Malaysia (IIUM). The article is in four sections. The first offers an overview of Language Engineering, the language profile in Malaysia, the Qur 'anic Language teaching situation at IIUM; and the conditions for competent Corpus Planning. The second discusses the significance of the Qur 'anic Language, and the Islamic semantic affinity between the Qur 'anic Language and Bahasa Melayu. The third focuses on the implications of the Qur 'anic language Corpus Planning for language teachers, materials writers and curriculum designers. The fourth briefly introduces our theory of interpretive reading, goes on to apply it to an active reading of stiratu likhlas, and considers the implications of this type of reading for the Qur 'anic Language syllabus design.


This paper connects two fundamental ideas from theoretical computer science hard-core set construction, a type of hardness amplification from computational complexity, and boosting, a technique from computational learning theory. Using this connection we give fruitful applications of complexity-theoretic techniques to learning theory and vice versa. We show that the hard-core set construction of R. Impagliazzo (1995), which establishes the existence of distributions under which boolean functions are highly inapproximable, may be viewed as a boosting algorithm. Using alternate boosting methods we give an improved bound for hard-core set construction which matches known lower bounds from boosting and thus is optimal within this class of techniques. We then show how to apply techniques from R. Impagliazzo to give a new version of Jackson's celebrated Harmonic Sieve algorithm for learning DNF formulae under the uniform distribution using membership queries. Our new version has a significant asymptotic improvement in running time. Critical to our arguments is a careful analysis of the distributions which are employed in both boosting and hard-core set constructions.


Global cottonseed production can potentially provide the protein requirements for half a billion people per year; however, it is woefully underutilized because of the presence of toxic gossypol within seed glands. Therefore, elimination of gossypol from cottonseed has been a long-standing goal of geneticists. Attempts were made to meet this objective by developing so-called "glandless cotton" in the 1950s by conventional breeding techniques; however, the glandless varieties were commercially unviable because of the increased susceptibility of the plant to insect pests due to the systemic absence of glands that contain gossypol and other protective terpenoids. Thus, the promise of cottonseed in contributing to the food requirements of the burgeoning world population remained unfulfilled. We have successfully used RNAi to disrupt gossypol biosynthesis in cottonseed tissue by interfering with the expression of the δ-cadinene synthase gene during seed development. We demonstrate that it is possible to significantly reduce cottonseed-gossypol levels in a stable and heritable manner. Results from enzyme activity and molecular analyses on developing transgenic embryos were consistent with the observed phenotype in the mature seeds. Most relevant, the levels of gossypol and related terpenoids in the foliage and floral parts were not diminished, and thus their potential function in plant defense against insects and diseases remained untouched. These results illustrate that a targeted genetic modification, applied to an underutilized agricultural byproduct, provides a mechanism to open up a new source of nutrition for hundreds of millions of people.


As sensor networks gain traction and begin to scale, we will be increasingly faced with challenges associated with managing large-scale time-series data. In this paper, we present a cloud-to-edge partitioned architecture called Respawn that is capable of serving large amounts of time-series data from a continuously updating datastore with access latencies low enough to support interactive real-time visualization. Respawn targets sensing systems where resource-constrained edge node devices may only have limited or intermittent network connections linking them to a cloud-backend. The cloud-backend provides aggregate storage and transparent dispatching of data queries to edge node devices. Data is downsampled as it enters the system creating a multi-resolution representation capable of lowlatency range-base queries. Lower-resolution aggregate data is automatically migrated from edge nodes to the cloud-backend both for improved consistency and caching. In order to further mask latency from users, edge nodes automatically identify and migrate blocks of data that contain statistically interesting features. We show through simulation and micro-benchmarking that Respawn is able to run on ARM-based edge node devices connected to a cloud-backend with the ability to serve thousands of clients and terabytes of data with sub-second latencies.


Background Patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) have a poor prognosis, primarily due to distant dissemination. Additionally, IBC patients have an increased rate of HER2 overexpression when compared to patients with non-inflammatory breast cancer. The forms the rationale for HER2 directed tumor vaccine therapy in these patients. The purpose of this study was to examine overall survival in IBC patients receiving HER2 directed tumor vaccine therapy when compared with matched control patients from the SEER Registry. Methods Patients with diagnosis of Stage III or IV HER2 positive IBC having completed standard initial therapy and without evidence of disease received HER2 vaccinations after being enrolled on 5 prospective clinical trials. Overall survival data were pooled and analyzed. A control group of matched IBC patients were identified by querying the SEER database from 1997-2011. The control group was identified as any individual in the database with a code for IBC. A secondary analysis comparing survival in HER2 positive IBC vs HER2 negative IBC patients was performed by querying the SEER database from 2010 onwards, the time point when the HER2 status was coded in the database. Propensity score adjustment were made to the control group to account for any imbalances between groups in measured covariates such as stage, race, age, sex, and era of enrollment and the time interval from diagnosis to enrollment on vaccine trial (median ∼2 years). Results A total of 37 IBC patients received HER2 directed vaccine therapy and 676 patients were identified for the SEER control group; Stage at enrollment: stage IIIB: 30 patients in the vaccine group and 639 patients in the control group; stage IIIC: 1 patient in the vaccine group and 15 patients in the control group; stage IV 6 patients in the vaccine group and 22 in the control group. The median survival of the overall population was 112 months for the vaccine group and 47 months for the control group (p=0.04). After using propensity scores to adjust the control for imbalances in measured covariates, the median survival for the overall population was 112 months for the vaccine group and 37 months for the control group (p=0.03). There was no difference in survival between HER2 positive and HER2 negative IBC patients in the control group (p=0.6). Conclusion These results demonstrate promising overall survival in HER2 positive IBC patients receiving HER2 directed vaccine therapy after initial therapy. Propensity matching was performed to adjust for imbalances in measured covariates and resulted in a modest decrease in survival of the control group after adjustment, suggesting that the vaccine trial group had relatively unfavorable pre-treatment characteristics. Despite these unfavorable characteristics, patients receiving vaccine had a median survival of 112 months. These results must be further confirmed in a prospective randomized trial. Citation Format: Rengan R, Baker K, Salazar L, Childs J, Higgins D, Redman M, Reichow J, Disis ML. Overall survival in inflammatory breast cancer patients receiving Her-2 Neu directed tumor vaccine therapy: Matched comparison with SEER registry patients. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-11-05.


Leaf area index and canopy gap fraction (GF) provide important information to forest managers regarding the ecological functioning and productivity of forest resources. Traditional measurements such as those obtained from hemispherical photography (HP) measure solar irradiation, penetrating the forest canopy, but do not provide information regarding the three-dimensional canopy structure. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is an active sensor technology able to describe structural forest attributes by measuring interceptions of emitted laser pulses with the canopy and is able to record the spatial distribution of the foliage in three dimensions. However, due to the beam area of the laser, interceptions are detected more frequently than using conventional HP, and GF is typically underestimated. This study investigates the effects of laser beam area on the retrieval of GF by using morphological image processing to describe estimation bias as a function of canopy perimeters. The results show that, using canopy perimeter, improvements in correlation between HP and TLS can be achieved with an increase in the coefficient of determination R 2 up to 28% (from an original R 2 of 0.66 to an adjusted R 2 of 0.85).


Rutherford backscattering of energetic particles can be used to determine the thickness of a coating of a low-Z material over a heavier substrate. Simulations indicate that 5 MeV alpha particles from an (241)Am source can be used to measure the thickness of a Li coating on Mo tiles between 0.5 and 15 μm thick. Using a 0.1 mCi source, a thickness measurement can be accomplished in 2 h of counting. This technique could be used to measure any thin, low-Z material coating (up to 1 mg/cm(2) thick) on a high-Z substrate, such as Be on W, B on Mo, or Li on Mo. By inserting a source and detector on a moveable probe, this technique could be used to provide an in situ measurement of the thickness of Li coating on NSTX-U Mo tiles. A test stand with an alpha source and an annular solid-state detector was used to investigate the measurable range of low-Z material thicknesses on Mo tiles.


Numerous applications, such as meso-scale heat exchangers, Lab-on-Chip devices (LOC), different systems within pharmaceutical and food industry, monodispersed emulsion and several other microfluidic systems, include two-phase flow through a meso-scale T-junction. When two-phase gas-liquid flow passes through an asymmetric meso-scale T-junction, a mal-distribution occurs. The phenomenon has proven itself to be unavoidable in most cases. In some applications this phenomenon can put the operational system at risk, while in other applications it is actually preferred. The phenomenon is still far from thoroughly understood. Thus the objective of this thesis is to further investigate this mal-distribution phenomenon. Split ratio for plug flow at a meso-scale T-junction has been investigated. A model for prediction of the split ratio has been proposed. Physical ingredients for determination of the split ratio have been focused upon. Much of the conducted work is based on findings in the MSc thesis by Hong et al. (2011) who proved the importance of the bubble length when predicting the split ratio. Split ratio, bubble length and pressure has been measured through experimentation. The T-junction used in the conducted experiments has a main channel, referred to simply as the "main". It is connected in a straight line with one outlet referred to as the "run". The second outlet is connected perpendicularly to the main and the run, and is referred to as the "branch". All channels have a square shaped cross section with a hydraulic diameter of . Water and air was used as working fluids. For all conducted experiments the flow field took on a plug flow pattern. The branch channel has been observed to be rich in gas for all cases, except when the flow rate in the run is high. The flux in the main also has to be low to reduce the viscous drag forces between the two phases and the inertial forces of the plug. For increasingly high total flow rate in the run, a turning point has been located. When the flow rate exceeds this point the run becomes rich in gas. In both extreme cases (high flow rate in the run and in the branch) separation occurs for sufficiently short bubbles. The occurrence of separation is also highly dependent on the total flux in the main. To retain separation the surface tension has to overcome the viscous drag forces acting on the interface between the two phases. In the centre regime, where bubbles always break up and a plug flow pattern occurs in both outlets, the split ratio shows a strict relation to the bubble length. This strict relation between the split ratio and the bubble length were also concluded upon in the MSc thesis by Hong et al. (2011). In the defined centre regime changes in superficial velocities showed to have a negligible effect on the split ratio in comparison to variation in the bubble length. Long bubbles yields a split ratio located closest to perfect distribution. Decreasing the bubble length yields an increase in the void fraction (gas) in the branch. A model for prediction of the split ratio has been proposed. It is primarily valid within the centre regime, and is based on the time and area averaged Bernoulli equation. The model takes the bubble length into account, and predicts the split ratio on the main assumption that an increased amount of energy is lost to friction and separation as the fraction of water in the branch is increased. This while keeping the total fluxes in each of the outlets constant. An anticipated trend has been located through evaluating the model against experimental data. Therefore the model has been concluded upon to be physically sound.


ABSTRACT The Eocene sequence along the central part of the SE margin of the Tertiary Ebro Basin (Igualada area) consists of alternating marine and non-marine deposits up to 2000 m thick. Non-marine conditions persisted through the Cuisian--early Bartonian (early-middle Eocene) and resulted in the deposition of the Pontils Group (up to 900 m thick). During the late Bartonian--early Priabonian (late Eocene), marine environments prevailed in this area, leading to the deposition of the Santa Maria Group. Paleoenvironmental interpretations of the Pontils Group were obtained from sedimentology data of an earlier study. The nonmarine environments recorded in this group are: alluvial fans, flood plains, mudflats, playa-lakes, and shallow freshwater lakes. X-ray diffraction, TEM, SEM, EDX, and chemical analyses of mudstones and marls from the Pontils Group indicate that the diverse environments also can be distinguished from one another on the basis of the clay-mineral content. Illite is present in all samples of the Pontils Group. Palygorskite, with minor amounts of illite and sometimes chlorite, is the dominant clay mineral in flood plain and mud flat sediments. Palygorskite is also predominant in sabkha, playa-lake and carbonate-lagoonal sediments. This clay mineral is absent in sediments from fresh, organic-rich lakes. Kaolinite is relatively abundant in mudstones from the organic-rich lakes. Smectite is relatively abundant in the sediments from subaqueous environments but is almost always absent from the sediments which were subjected to subaerial exposure and water-table oscillations such as flood plain and mudflat deposits. According to these clay-mineral distribution trends, the organic-rich lacustrine, lagoonal, and marine sediments preserve the detrital clay-minerals. The original detrital assemblages were mostly formed by illite, associated with chlorite, kaolinite and subordinate smectite. In the environments which underwent repeated flooding and desiccation, chlorite and smectite were eventually eliminated and palygorskite was formed. Microscopic observation suggests that palygorskite was formed in mudflats and flood-plains mainly by the transformation of smectite and/or illite in a Mg-rich environment. In the sabkha facies, the abundance of palygorskite, frequently associated with smectite, dolomite, and chert, suggests palygorskite neoformation in a Si- and Mg-rich environment.


In a Living Donor List Exchange program, the donor makes his kidney available for allocation to patients on the postmortal waiting-list and receives in exchange a postmortal kidney, usually an O-kidney, to be given to the recipient he favours. The program can be a solution for a candidate donor who is unable to donate directly or to participate in a paired kidney exchange because of blood group incompatibility or a positive cross-match. Each donation within an LDLE program makes an additional organ available for transplantation. But because most of the pairs making use of the program will be A/O incompatible, it will also tend to increase the waiting time for patients with blood group O, who already have the longest waiting time. It has therefore been objected that the program is materially unjust, because it further disadvantages the least advantaged. This objection appeals to John Rawls' difference principle. However, the context for which Rawls proposed that difference principle, is significantly different from the present one. Applying the principle here amounts to a lop-sided trade-off between considerations of need and considerations of overall utility. Considerations of formal justice, however, may lead to a stronger objection to LDLE programs. Such a program means that one O-patient on the waiting list is exempted from the application of the general criteria used in constructing the list because he has a special bargaining advantage. This objection is spelled out and weighed against the obvious attraction of LDLE in a situation of (extreme) organ scarcity.


Recent theoretical models argue that a bank's organizational structure reflects its lending technology. A hierarchically organized bank will employ mainly hard information, whereas a decentralized bank will rely more on soft information. We investigate theoretically and empirically how bank organization shapes banking competition. Our theoretical model illustrates how a lending bank's geographical reach and loan pricing strategy is determined not only by its own organizational structure but also by organizational choices made by its rivals. We take our model to the data by estimating the impact of the lending and rival banks' organization on the geographical reach and loan pricing of a singular, large bank in Belgium. We employ detailed contract information from more than 15,000 bank loans granted to small firms, comprising the entire loan portfolio of this large bank, and information on the organizational structure of all rival banks located in the vicinity of the borrower. We find that the organizational structures of both the rival banks and the lending bank matter for branch reach and loan pricing. The geographical footprint of the lending bank is smaller when rival banks are large and hierarchically organized. Such rival banks may rely more on hard information. Geographical reach increases when rival banks have inferior communication technology, have a wider span of organization, and are further removed from a decision unit with lending authority. Rival banks' size and the number of layers to a decision unit also soften spatial pricing. We conclude that the organizational structure and technology of rival banks in the vicinity influence local banking competition.


The Ornithocephalus clade comprises small epiphytes distributed in 12 genera and c. 120 species. Their flowers have complex structures, the homologies of which are difficult to interpret. Through ontogenetic studies, we identified the origins of the tabula infrastigmatica, floral appendages located in the gynostemium and the labellar callus. Using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), we analysed flowers at various developmental stages from representatives of three genera: Ornithocephalus (two species), Phymatidium (two species) and Zygostates (three species). The tabula infrastigmatica of Phymatidium results from the fusion of the lateral carpels and staminodes, with different degrees of synorganization across species and can be considered a plesiomorphic characteristic within the clade. Contradicting hypotheses of a staminodial origin, the auricles present in this genus derive from the gynostemium. In Zygostates, the lateral appendices derive from staminodes and can show different development degrees, whereas in Ornithocephaus that character has been lost. We corroborate the view that the labellum is a single organ derived from the median petal and the labellar callus is derived from it.


Video-based pedestrian reidentification is an emerging task in video surveillance and is closely related to several real-world applications. Its goal is to match pedestrians across multiple nonoverlapping network cameras. Despite the recent effort, the performance of pedestrian reidentification needs further improvement. Hence, we propose a novel two-stream multirate recurrent neural network for video-based pedestrian reidentification with two inherent advantages: First, capturing the static spatial and temporal information; Second,Author: Figure II is not cited in the text. Please cite it at the appropriate place. dealing with motion speed variance. Given video sequences of pedestrians, we start with extracting spatial and motion features using two different deep neural networks. Then, we explore the feature correlation which results in a regularized fusion network integrating the two aforementioned networks. Considering that pedestrians, sometimes even the same pedestrian, move in different speeds across different camera views, we extend our approach by feeding the two networks into a multirate recurrent network to exploit the temporal correlations. Extensive experiments have been conducted on two real-world video-based pedestrian reidentification benchmarks: iLIDS-VID and PRID 2011 datasets. The experimental results confirm the efficacy of the proposed method. Our code will be released upon acceptance.


Acrylamide/N,N′ methylene bisacrylamide gels were prepared at different voltages electrochemically. The dependence of the swelling properties on the preparation voltage was investigated. A set of gel samples was swollen as prepared and another set was swollen after being dried to constant weight. Swelling versus time curves were all in stretched exponential form, rather than pure exponential form, indicating that the gels are of heterogeneous nature. Maximum swelling increased with the preparation voltage in both gel types. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1398–1401, 2006


In this paper, a finite element model is coupled to an homogenisation theory in order to predict the energy harvesting capabilities of a porous piezoelectric energy harvester. The harvester consists of a porous piezoelectric patch bonded to the root of a cantilever beam. The material properties of the porous piezoelectric material are estimated by the Mori–Tanaka homogenisation method, which is an analytical method that provides the material properties as a function of the porosity of the piezoelectric composite. These material properties are then used in a finite element model of the harvester that predicts the deformation and voltage output for a given base excitation of the cantilever beam, onto which the piezoelectric element is bonded. Experiments are performed to validate the numerical model, based on the fabrication and testing of several demonstrators composed of porous piezoelectric patches with different percentages of porosity bonded to an aluminium cantilever beam. The electrical load is simulated using a resistor and the voltage across the resistor is measured to estimate the energy generated. The beam is excited in a range of frequencies close to the first and second modes using base excitation. The effects of the porosity and the assumptions made for homogenisation are discussed.


The effect of flunixin meglumine on renal function was studied in 6 healthy horses by use of nonimaging nuclear medicine techniques. Effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) and effective renal blood flow (ERBF) were determined by plasma clearance of 131I-orthoiodohippuric acid before and after administration of flunixin meglumine. Mean ERPF and ERBF was 6.03 ml/min/kg and 10.7 ml/min/kg, respectively, before treatment and was 5.7 ml/min/kg and 9.7 ml/min/kg, respectively, after treatment. Although ERPF and ERBF decreased after flunixin meglumine administration, the difference was not statistically significant.


Milk is a multinutrient fluid and it is the primary source of nutrition for human. It consists of 80% of proteins. The protein in the milk is classified into casein and whey protein. Milk protein consists of 80% of casein and 20% whey protein. The function of casein is to provide energy to human body. The name of casein is related to the family of phosphoproteins. These proteins are commonly found in the mammalian milk. This study deals with the precipitation of casein from the various milk samples such as cow milk, goat milk, buffalo milk and also the samples that availed from the market. The technique of precipitation of casein is used to predict the protein content in the milk samples.


The notion of confidence distribution (CD), an entirely frequentist concept, is in essence a Neymanian interpretation of Fisher's Fiducial distri- bution. It contains information related to every kind of frequentist inference. In this article, a CD is viewed as a distribution estimator of a parameter. This leads naturally to consideration of the information contained in CD, com- parison of CDs and optimal CDs, and connection of the CD concept to the (profile) likelihood function. A formal development of a multiparameter CD is also presented.


RATIONALE
Rhinovirus C (RV-C) can cause asymptomatic infection and respiratory illnesses ranging from the common cold to severe wheezing.

OBJECTIVES
To identify how age and other individual-level factors are associated with susceptibility to RV-C illnesses.

METHODS
Longitudinal data from the Childhood Origins of ASThma (COAST) birth cohort study were analyzed to determine relationships between age and RV-C infections. Neutralizing antibodies specific for rhinovirus A (RV-A) and RV-C (3 types each) were determined using a novel polymerase chain reaction-based assay. We pooled data from 14 study cohorts in the United States, Finland, and Australia and used mixed-effects logistic regression to identify factors related to the proportion of RV-C versus RV-A detection.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
In COAST, RV-A and RV-C infections were similarly common in infancy, while RV-C was detected much less often than RV-A during both respiratory illnesses and scheduled surveillance visits (p<0.001, chi-square) in older children. The prevalence of neutralizing antibodies to RV-A or RV-C types was low (5%-27%) at age 2 years, but by age 16, RV-C seropositivity was more prevalent (78% vs. 18% for RV-A, p<0.0001). In the pooled analysis, the RV-C to RV-A detection ratio during illnesses was significantly related to age (p<0.0001), CDHR3 genotype (p<0.05), and wheezing illnesses (p<0.05). Furthermore, certain RV types (e.g., C2, C11, A78, A12) were consistently more virulent and prevalent over time.

DISCUSSION
Knowledge of prevalent RV types, antibody responses, and populations at risk based on age and genetics may guide the development of vaccines or other novel therapies against this important respiratory pathogen.


In power utilities, grid operators monitor power-quality phenomena such as voltage sag at several substations to obtain an overview of the general network state and evolution of power quality. Collections of these huge online data from disturbance recorders involved long and tedious downloading process, usage of Internet protocols consumed bandwidth and causes traffic congestion and collisions with other users of the wide area network. This paper describes an integrated application of power quality monitoring system for a modeled substation over the IEC 61850 standard developed in Java programming language. The application used wavelet compression technique for transmission of voltage sag waveform over IEC 61850 standard and then Internet to a control centre. Analysis done shows that the correct selection of mother wavelet can achieve over 90% data compression ability while preserving all significant power quality features required for power quality waveform analysis required by utilities.


Phrase-final intonation was analysed in a subcorpus of Swedish computer-directed question utterances with the objective of investigating the extent to which final rises occur in spontaneous questions, and also to see if such rises might have pragmatic functions over and beyond the signalling of interrogative mode. Final rises occurred in 22 percent of the utterances. Final rises occurred mostly in conjunction with final focal accent. Children exhibited the largest percentage of final rises (32%), with women second (27%) and men lowest (17%). These results are discussed in terms of Swedish question intonation and the pragmatic social function of rises in a biological account of intonation.


The electrochemical treatment of water with using the electric current is a promising modern approach in the water disinfection technique, resulting in obtaining the electrochemically activated water solutions (catholyte/anolyte) carrying new physical-chemical properties stipulated by changing of the electrochemical characteristics of water as ORP, E h , pH. The process of electrochemical water treatment includes several electrochemical processes associated with the transfer in a constant electric field the electrons, ions and other charged particles (electrolysis, electrophoresis, electroflotation, electrocoagulation), the main of which is the electrolysis of water. This article deals with the review of the basic physical-chemical processes underlying the electrolysis of water and preparation of electrochemically activated NaCl solutions (catholyte/anolyte) and studying their physical-chemical properties. In order to provide additional data about the distribution of H 2 O molecules according to the energies of hydrogen bonds in the electrochemically activated water solutions, the non-equilibrium energy spectrum (NES) and differential non-equilibrium energy spectrum (DNES) of the anolyte and the catholyte were measured as a result of which were established the basis for evaluation of the mathematical model explaining the behavior of the anolyte and the catholyte regarding the distribution of H 2 O molecules to the energies of hydrogen bonds. The local maximum for catholyte in the NES-spectrum was at -0.1285 eV, for anolyte – at -0.1227 eV and for the control sample of deionized water – at -0,1245 eV. The calculations of ∆E H...O for catholyte with using the DNES method compiles (-0.004±0.0011 eV) and for anolyte (+1.8±0.0011 eV). The average energy of hydrogen bonds between Н 2 О molecules was measured by the DNES method to be compiled at -0.1067±0.0011 eV. Keywords: electrochemical treatment of water, anolyte, catholyte, electrolysis, NES, DNES.


Major cardiovascular events cause about 80% of the total mortality in diabetic patients. It has been shown that diabetic patients have hyperactive platelets. It may be expected that aspirin, through its antiplatelet action, could change the risk for vascular events in people with diabetes. However, some data suggest that aspirin may be less effective than expected in preventing cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes. In this paper, we review the aspirin use in diabetics with respect to cardiovascular endpoints.


An exploratory research investigation into the creation of 'privately owned publicly accessible spaces' (POPS) in Toronto, Ontario and a critical review of the process used to secure these spaces and the subsequent agreements made. This paper seeks to answer if land use planners are able to better mediate the use of POPS as a means of providing open space to communities in high-density areas. This report includes the timeline illustrating the development of Toronto's POPS program followed by a discussion on Toronto's increase growth and development and the suitability of POPS as a contributing strategy for diminishing new park and open space assets and a high level breakdown of the legal mechanisms currently in place to help facilitate new POP spaces. Interviews with individuals from both the public and private sectors were conducted, which produced a generalized model outlining how POPS in Toronto are secured.


Hypoxia underlies a number of biologic processes in which cellular migration and invasion occur. Because earlier studies have shown that the receptor for urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPAR) may facilitate such events, we studied the effect of hypoxia on the expression of uPAR by first trimester human trophoblasts (HTR-8/SVneo) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Compared with control cells cultured under standard conditions (20% O2), HTR-8/SVneo cells and HUVEC cultured in 1% O2 expressed more uPAR, as determined by flow cytometric and [125I]-prourokinase ligand binding analyses. Increased uPAR expression paralleled increases in uPAR mRNA. The involvement of a heme protein in the hypoxia-induced expression of uPAR was suggested by the observations that culture of cells with cobalt chloride, or sodium 4, 5-dihydroxybenzene-1,3-disulfonate (Tiron), an iron-chelating agent, also stimulated uPAR expression, and that the hypoxia-induced uPAR expression was inhibited by adding carbon monoxide to the hypoxic atmosphere. Culture of HTR-8/SVneo cells with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) did not increase uPAR mRNA levels, suggesting that the hypoxia-mediated effect on uPAR expression by these cells did not occur through a VEGF-dependent mechanism. The functional importance of these findings is suggested by the fact that HTR-8/SVneo cells cultured under hypoxia displayed higher levels of cell surface plasminogen activator activity and greater invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane. These results suggest that hypoxia may promote cellular invasion by stimulating the expression of uPAR through a heme protein-dependent pathway.


Hewan Archdale Dewar is likely to be remembered chiefly as a pioneer of fibrinolysis. His interest began in 1961 with the publication of a pilot study of fibrinolytic treatment of coronary thrombosis and ended with a report on the effect of exercise and heart rate on fibrinolytic activity in 1993 (some 12 years after his retirement from the NHS). His work features prominently in a witness seminar published by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, where key references may be found.1 The original pilot study in 1961 was followed two years later by an account, with four collaborators, of 75 cases. The negative result of this was applauded as an example of how such a trial should be conducted, but Dewar knew that it had serious flaws. The material used was thought to consist largely of streptokinase but in fact was mostly composed of plasmin, which was so rapidly neutralised in the bloodstream as to be useless for dissolving coronary thrombi. It was also given too late after onset.

During these 32 years, members of his staff and several junior colleagues working in department contributed widely under his guidance. In 1968 Dewar started to take an interest in the possible fibrinolytic properties of garlic and promoted attempts to develop chemical derivatives of garlic that were free of the odour but retained the fibrinolytic potential. He was disappointed to find that they were inseparable. In 1968 he collaborated with M Verstraete of Leuven in a multicentre trial, comparing heparin and streptokinase in recent myocardial infarction. Like many other trials mounted at that time, the result was negative partly because there were too few cases, but mostly because they were not treated early enough. Nevertheless Dewar was confident that fibrinolysis had a future in the treatment of acute …


Purpose: Large numbers of people worldwide live with disabilities. This has negatively impacted on them, physically, psychologically, mentally, economically and socially (Mont, 2007; Anderson, Mhurchu, Brown & Crater, 2002). In contexts where rehabilitation services are lacking or inadequate, persons with disabilities (PWDs) life styles might be negatively affected. Considering the myriad of challenges encountered in rehabilitation services at Bishop Lavis Rehabilitation Centre (BLRC) in Cape Town, South Africa , the current study sought to know the persons with physical disabilities' and service providers' experiences regarding the rehabilitation services. Methods and participants: A qualitative study design was used for data collection. Eleven participants among patients were conveniently selected for the focus group discussion and three key informants among the service providers participated in the in-depth interviews. In both the FGD and the in-depth interviews, the researcher used an interview guide to explore the experiences of persons with physical disabilities and service providers regarding: service providers' knowledge and skills training, interaction between patients and service providers, information obtained by patients, accessibility of rehabilitation services, patient participation and involvement in the rehabilitation and structure of rehabilitation services. Ethical Issues: Permission to conduct the study was sought and granted from the Senate Research Grant and Study Leave Committee at the University of the Western Cape, the Western Cape department of Health as well as the facility manager of Bishop Lavis Rehabilitation Centre. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants prior to the focus group discussion and interviews. Analysis: The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim and the data was thematically analysed using pre-determined themes. Results: The results indicated that patients experienced problems of accessing transport to and from the rehabilitation facility. The taxis and buses were either inaccessible or unavailable for persons with physical disabilities. Poor referral systems, shortage of staff, lack of skills training were among the main challenges that arose in the interviews with the service providers. Due to the workload that service providers encountered, they sometimes lacked time to interact and communicate with patients. Participants in both focus group discussion and in-depth interviews reported positive responses regarding patient participation and involvement in the rehabilitation sessions and interaction between patients and service providers. Though some patients expressed their views that the dissemination of information related to group sessions was inadequate, most of the participants in both groups stated that, patients were adequately informed on their conditions and treatment. Conclusion: The study concludes by highlighting the need to improve rehabilitation services in terms of increasing the capacity of service providers, equipment, training of service providers and providing transport services for persons with disabilities. Hence, the training and equipping rehabilitation service providers will be strengthening the rehabilitation programs where combating non-communicable diseases can be facilitated. I thank the Government of Rwanda for granting me a scholarship to further my studies. Implications: There is a need for those planning the rehabilitation services and policy makers to recognise the challenges encountered by those receiving rehabilitation services as well as those providing these services as discussed in this study. Hence, this will help in developing appropriate, accessible and cost effective rehabilitation services that meet the needs of persons with disabilities. Keywords: Experiences, persons with physical disabilities and services providers.


The world that we live in where the social and organizational life rapid social and cultural transformations are experienced, and the intensities of change and competition are intensely perceived has a dynamism. In this dynamism, every human being is a part of an organization. In these organizations, there is a culture which is defined in various ways by various thinkers and it is a rather complex concept. However, all definitions have reached the conclusion that the culture is a common entity shared with a community. In the 1980s, the concept of organizational culture has emerged. While many formal definitions exist, organizational culture is basically a term used to describe the environment where people work and the influence it has on how they think, act, and experience work. Therefore, organizational culture is stated as a system of values, behaviors, habits, norms, beliefs and that direct the behaviors of individuals in an organization. As each individual has a unique personality, every organization has its own personality that distinguishes it from other organizations. Hence, organizational culture consists of several abstract and complementary factors. Literature has shown that there are many factors affecting the success of organizational culture. The prioritization of these factors for the organizations and the effective use of the available resources are gaining importance at this stage. At this stage, different approaches are taken in the literature to prioritize and sort the criteria. MCDM approach which is one of the most prominent approaches was used in this study. The proposed approach was tested based on the opinions of the decision makers and the results were shared.


Known internationally for his articles in the "New York Times" and other publications, Andy Grundberg has been one of the most respected and widely read voices in photography and the visual arts for nearly thirty years. His interpretations and critical opinions have helped shape the broad understanding of photographys complex roles in art and the media. Over the course of the fifty essays and articles in this authoritative collection, Grundberg questions the nature of photography and how we perceive it, reevaluates some of the great photographers of our time, and brings into focus the major debates in photography at the end of the twentieth century. Although some essays were originally written more than thirty years ago, the issues and concerns addressed by Grundberg are still relevant today. Aperture is pleased to reissue Crisis of the Real, a classic publication of important writings. This is an essential work for anyone seeking clarity and insight into photographys place in todays world.


A quality assurance system has been designed to verify the location and strength of seeds loaded in a brachytherapy eye plaque. This system consists of (1) a pinhole camera in conjunction with a Lumisys ACR-2000i computed radiography (CR) unit to image the location and measure the relative strength of the seeds with autoradiography, and (2) a source strength jig with a survey meter to estimate the total activity of the seeds in the plaque. Five holders of different sizes were made for fixation of the COMS (Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study) plaques (12, 14, 16, 18, and 20mm) in the camera. The plaque-to-pinhole distance (dpp) has been optimized to be 30mm to give approximately uniform intensity on the CR image for uniformly loaded COMS plaques. The pinhole-to-detector distance (dpd) can be kept at either 30mm for 1:1 scale, or at larger distances for higher magnification. For a 1:1 scaling and pinhole diameter of 0.345mm, useful images are obtained with time-activity product (mCi sec) ranging from 5to250mCisec. Within this range, the pinhole system is able to differentiate seed activities of >10%. The resulting pinhole autoradiograph is able to (1) confirm the correct number of seeds loaded in the plaque, (2) verify the proper sitting of the seeds in the silastic carrier and the plaque, (3) verify the relative activity distribution of the seeds loaded in the plaque, and (4) potentially evaluate the integrity of the seed. The source strength measurement system is able to measure the total strength of seeds in the plaque ranging from 10to80mCi with an uncertainty of 5%.


Tarsal coalition is a congenital defect that results when adjacent tarsals fail to separate properly during embryonic development. Anatomically, coalitions present as non-osseous bridges of cartilage or fibrocartilage – and occasionally as osseous bridges – between two neighboring bones. In skeletons, non-osseous tarsal coalitions are recognizable as matching lesions between two bones at predictable locations. These coalitions are of interest because they are known to be heritable and are therefore useful for tracing genetic relatives in archaeological cemeteries, because they can be misinterpreted in skeletons as trauma or joint disease, and because they can result in associated pathology. However, despite a considerable literature on tarsal coalition, estimates of coalition frequencies disagree considerably, perhaps due to biases inherent in clinical sampling. In order to gain a better estimate of tarsal coalition frequencies in human populations, data were gathered on 342 European-Americans from the Terry Collection (Smithsonian Institution), 536 South Africans from the Dart Collection (University of Witwatersrand, South Africa), and 756 medieval Danish skeletons (Anthropological Database, Odense University). The Danish skeletons are archaeological, with sample sizes by coalition type ranging from 366–507 individuals. Examples of eight different types of intertarsal coalition were identified among the 1634 skeletons examined. Overall frequency estimates for tarsal coalition ranged from 2.1%–3.5%. South Africans exhibited significantly higher frequencies in the midfoot, with naviculocuneiform I coalition (1.0%) the most common type. Conversely, no coalitions of the midfoot were found among the Euro-Americans or medieval Danes. Instead, these groups exhibited calcaneonavicular coalition as the most common type in the hindfoot (2.0% and 2.1% respectively), while calcaneonavicular coalition was among the least common in the South Africans (0.2%). Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


BACKGROUND: Good vision has always been important for mankind; ancient activities like hunting and fishing require the same eye quality as driving a car or flying an airplane. A significant loss of vision occurs resulting in a poor quality of life. If there is difference of more than 2D in the total refractive power of both eyes considered as anisometropia. Anisometropia results in aniseikonia which causes disturbance in the fusion of slightly two different images seen by each eye. As fusion is disturbed, stereopsis (depth perception) is also disturbed. To asses functional vision contrast sensitivity function can be a helpful tool especially when careful evaluation is essential other than specified by visual acuity. OBJECTIVE: To compare stereopsis and contrast sensitivity in myopic and hyperopic anisometropia and evaluate any difference in contrast sensitivity and stereopsis in different degrees of myopic and hyperopic anisometropic correction. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on 31 patients having different degree of myopic and hyperopic anisometropia and its influence on contrast sensitivity and stereopsis. Distance (6m) and near (33 cm) visual acuity was measured by using Snellen distance and near visual acuity chart and contrast sensitivity was measured by using Pelli Robson contrast sensitivity chart. Stereopsis was measured by Lang1, Lang2 and Frisby. Results were obtained by asking the patient to fill a structured Performa. RESULT: Contrast sensitivity was affected more in hyperopic anisometropic patients than in myopic anisometropia patients. Mild and moderate myopic patients showed normal contrast sensitivity while severe myopes have reduced contrast sensitivity. Hyperopes have reduced contrast sensitivity as compared to myopes. Moreover, binocular contrast was better than monocular contrast. By comparing pre and post examination results of anisometropic patients showed that there was significant improvement in stereopsis (depth perception) at Lang1 test, Lang2 test and at Frisby test in anisometropes. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that myopic and hyperopic anisometropes show reduced contrast as compared with emmetropes. Mild and moderate anisometropes have significant contrast with and without optical correction. Severe anisometropes have insignificant contrast sensitivity visual function without optical correction which can be improved by wearing optical correction. Binocular contrast was better than monocular contrast sensitivity. Stereopsis in isoametropes was better than anisometropes. Stereopsis decreased as degree of anisometropia increased.


The utility of optical tomography as a static imaging modality is limited by its intrinsically low spatial resolution and quantitative accuracy. When applied to dynamic measurements, however, optical imaging methods have the potential to assess tissue function as revealed by temporal variations in tissue optical properties. These variations are a consequence of vascular hemodynamic processes, which are known to exhibit considerably spatiotemporal heterogeneity. In this report we provide evidence, from simulation, that complex dynamic behavior in optical coefficients occurring in localized regions in highly scattering media can be accurately characterized by the method of dynamic optical tomography, even in the limiting case of spatiotemporally coincident behavior.


This systematic review summarizes the outcome reporting standards in Dupuytren's disease treatment research. A search of Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, and CINAHL was conducted. Randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case series published between 1997 and 2017, investigating treatment of Dupuytren's disease with fasciectomy, fasciotomy, or collagenase, were eligible for inclusion. Range of motion was the most commonly reported outcome, appearing in 77% of included studies. Outcomes, such as range of motion, recurrence, and clinical success, were frequently defined, however many different definitions were used. We identified 37 unique measurement methods for range of motion, 28 for recurrence, and 25 for clinical success. Most outcomes were assessed at multiple time points, and only a few studies reported results according to established clinical significance thresholds. Development of a core outcome set will help standardize outcome reporting, and ensure future research in this field is relevant, interpretable, and amenable to systematic review and/or meta-analysis.


The angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is one powerful experimental technique to study the electronic structure of materials. As many electron materials show unusual many-body correlations, the technique to detect directly these many-body correlations will play important roles in the study of their many-body physics. In this article, we propose a technique to detect directly the two-particle correlations, a coincidence ARPES (cARPES) where two incident photons excite two respective photoelectrons which are detected in coincidence. While the one-photon-absorption and one-photoelectron-emission ARPES provides the single-particle spectrum function, the proposed cARPES with two-photon absorption and two-photoelectron emission is relevant to a two-particle Bethe-Salpeter wave function. Examples of the coincidence detection probability of the cARPES for a free Fermi gas and a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconducting state are studied in detail. We also propose another two experimental techniques, a coincidence angle-resolved photoemission and inverse-photoemission spectroscopy (cARP/IPES) and a coincidence angle-resolved inverse-photoemission spectroscopy (cARIPES). As all of these proposed coincidence techniques can provide the two-particle frequency Bethe-Salpeter wave functions, they can show the momentum and energy dependent two-particle dynamical physics of the material electrons in the particle-particle or particle-hole channel. Thus, they can be introduced to study the Cooper-pair physics in the superconductor, the itinerant magnetism in the metallic ferromagnet/antiferromagnet, and the particle-hole pair physics in the metallic nematic state. Moreover, as the two-particle Bethe-Salpeter wave functions also involve the inner-pair dynamical physics, these proposed coincidence techniques can be used to study the inner-pair time-retarded physics.


Background: One way to treat infertility, surrogacy is used. Surrogacy Infertility is one of the controversial methods used to identify the level of public awareness of the needs of people who are somehow related to infertility. Therefore, since medical science than in other disciplines, are involved in issues related to this approach, the present study aims to investigate the views of various medical disciplines regarding surrogacy treatment was performed. Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive study of the different groups of medical specialists, general practitioners, midwives, nurses and faculty formed. Sampling methods sampling was conducted on 175 samples determined. The questionnaire consists of 3 sections. Part of the second section 14 of the Personal Information (and relatives in the infertility awareness infertility treatment methods and ways of knowing and awareness of surrogacy legal issues and legal and financial Surrogacy law and cultural issues), and the third section 15 in relation to the characteristics important to choose the surrogate mother Results: The number of participants in this study, 175 persons with a mean age of 57/7 ± 43/31 years 131 patients (74.9%) of participants in the study, information on surrogacy as a treatment for infertility were aware that 32 (18.3%) this information through friends or relatives, and 48 (27.4%) in the media, and 51 (29.1%) through reading books and 44 patients (25.1%) than other ways of surrogacy information found. In this study, 95 patients (54.3%), financial incentives, and 10 patients (5.7%), motivated by charity, and 58 (33.1%) and charity with a financial incentive to replace the mother knew the reason why wife, mother, mother appropriate component replacement and 57.7% Age characteristics important to choose a surrogate mother expressed. Conclusion: Medical staff had a positive view of surrogacy treatment but have not notice of moral principles, jurisprudential and legal effect of this treatment.


User 0 0 2015-05-15T12:51:00Z 2015-05-15T12:51:00Z 1 191 1051 15 3 1239 14.0 96 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE International experiences through structured study abroad programs are proposed as a powerful way to impact pre-service teachers' intercultural understandings and competence. In recent years attention has been placed on the nature of such study abroad programs, seeking to illuminate design elements that might enhance intercultural learning prior to, during, and after such programs. Though acknowledged as a vital component to such experiences, the literature lacks exploration of the nature of program design once students' return to their home university, termed the "re-entry" phase.  This article presents findings from a case study of a pre-service teacher during the semester following a study abroad program, illuminating programmatic elements of the re-entry semester that provided the student with the support needed to leverage intercultural learning begun during the international experience once she returned to their home university. The findings provide insight into the importance of providing purposefully designed re-entry programs that support students' continued intercultural learning, particularly in helping students learn to look at themselves, U.S. schools, and domestic diversity through a critical cultural lens.


Paper degradation is an unavoidable series of processes and the most important factors causing paper degradation in long-term archival storage are temperature, relative humidity, pollutants and the paper properties, mainly acidity. To study these effects, experiments were performed to determine degradation rates on sacrificial historic papers, with a reference to Nationaal Archief (The Netherlands). Handling and display lifetimes were defined and calculated for each paper type and shown to differ significantly according to paper type and purpose of use. The lifetimes were significantly affected by concentrations of NO2 resembling actual concentrations in archival repositories, whereas the effect of AcOH was limited. A new approach to defining pollutant doses was introduced, which also takes into account degradation resulting from T and RH. At realistic pollutant concentrations, T and RH, and paper properties contribute significantly to the overall degradation process during long-term storage, and should therefore be included in a comparative assessment of preservation options. A new concept of pollutant thresholds was also introduced. Using this concept, the determined thresholds are in the concentration range found in an archival repository or above for NO2, but depend significantly on paper type for AcOH. A method for estimating paper lifetime was proposed. As both handling and display lifetimes of the most sensitive parts of a typical collection were predicted to be less than 500 years, preservation measures to achieve that target were investigated using the method of lifetime prediction. Air filtration would prolong the lifetime of the most sensitive acidic paper by approximately 150 years. The same effect could, however, be achieved by other preservation measures, such as decreasing the temperature by 4 °C. Outcomes of the research presented here could inform the decision-making process in planning long-term preservation measures by providing a quantitative comparison of different options and the required research evidence.


Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are versatile enzyme cofactors that are essential to all living organisms due to their diverse electron transfer and catalytic capabilities. In this collection of studies, we investigated the function of Fe-S clusters in several physiological settings that are relevant to human health and disease. We identified cellular conditions in which the biosynthesis of heme, the iron-containing cofactor present in hemoglobin and other enzymes, may be directly influenced by cellular Fe-S cluster assembly processes. This interdependence of the heme biosynthesis and Fe-S cluster assembly pathways relied on the provision of Fe-S clusters to the terminal heme biosynthetic enzyme, ferrochelatase. We also studied the tissue specificity and pathophysiology of a rare inherited human disease known as ISCU Myopathy, caused by deficiency of Fe-S clusters due to low expression of the Fe-S scaffold protein, ISCU. We found that tissue-specific splicing and oxidative stress lead to pathological depletion of ISCU protein in patient skeletal muscle, while other patient tissues are spared, perhaps in part because they express higher levels of ISCU protein. We performed global gene expression analysis on ISCU Myopathy patient skeletal muscle biopsies, and found evidence for a coordinated pattern of changes in biochemical pathways and muscle tissue architecture due to chronic Fe-S cluster deficiency. These changes included an increase in the proportion of oxidative muscle fibers iv relative to glycolytic fibers and enhanced capillary perfusion, providing a possible basis for the muscle hypertrophy observed in these patients. We also found evidence for activation of a starvation response and ketogenesis in patient muscles, which probably reflected a coordinated response to cellular energy starvation and over-accumulation of acetyl-coenzyme A. Finally, we found that ISCU Myopathy patient muscles synthesize and secrete elevated levels of the starvation response hormone FGF-21, leading to measurable increases in FGF-21 levels in patient blood samples. Our findings suggest that FGF-21 may serve an important future role in diagnosing mitochondrial myopathies, and in assessing potential therapeutic treatments. Together these studies illuminate the role occupied by Fe-S clusters in the interface between inorganic chemistry and human health, and demonstrate novel roles and future possibilities for these ancient cofactors.


Most efficient polymer solar cells are usually fabricated from toxic organic solvents, such as chloroform, chlorobenzene, or dichlorobenzene (ODCB). Here, we demonstrate a power conversion efficiency of 4.5% in solar cells with a new blue polymer poly[2,3-bis-(3-octyloxyphenyl)quinoxaline-5,8-diyl-alt-thiophene-2,5-diyl] (TQ1) mixed with PC71BM and processed from mixed solvents of toluene and ODCB in a ratio of 9:1. Decreasing the content of ODCB makes device processing more compatible with the environment for large scale production, with 10% reduction of photocurrent compared to devices from pure ODCB under optimized conditions. In addition, less variation of photocurrent is obtained in solar cells processed from mixed solvents than from pure ODCB due to varying nanostructure in the blends, which is also critical for production.


Critical care involves caring for complex and acute needs of patients with life-threatening conditions. Despite skilful interventions, there are times when the care needed by patients and their families is primarily palliative. In this article, the author focuses on examples of ways nurses can make the palliative care they provide exemplary. Based on findings of a research study of outstanding palliative care nurses, the researcher describes the possible effect providing excellent palliative care may have on both the patient and the caregiver. Critical care nurses are often called to stand in the shadow of grief that accompanies death. Yet in doing so, these caregivers can be molded into more caring and compassionate people, and more exemplary nurses. Nurses in critical care are challenged daily to meet the multiple needs of patients and their families. Though state of the art technology, medications and advanced skills may save many lives, there are times when the care that is required is palliative. It is in these instances that a nurse 's strength and courage may be tested. By taking up this challenge, and sharing the final journey with patients, a nurse may learn many lessons. In part, caregivers may come to see that sometimes death is neither an enemy, nor a failure. Rather, sometimes death can lead to a more joyous embracing of life. Sometimes death is the only way that suffering can be erased. This article includes a description of key ways critical care nurses may address the needs of patients who are palliative. Specifically, the themes of helping people live on, individualizing care, defending human dignity, sensitive listening, sharing hope, and keeping the promise to never abandon are described. These themes all fall under the overarching theme of simple gestures, which is also described in this report.


In the detection process of the ball detector, surface can not unfold effectively, which brings about that the camera can not capture the image which we want, resulting in a high rate of defect and at a low efficiency in the test with the ball detector. In order to solve this problem, the optimized design on the mechanical control parts of the expansion organization was carried out, besides, kinematics analysis model the expansion organization and a motor control timing schedule were created by ADAMS, enabling expansion process consistent with the mathematical modeling. To a certain extent the optimization results improve overall performance of the system, which plays a guiding role in the improvement of the system.


Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an immunoregulatory cytokine whose biological effects are mediated through interaction with specific receptors on the surface of target cells. Due to its presumed role in generating a normal immune response, IL-2 is being evaluated for the treatment of a variety of tumors, in addition to infectious diseases. Main drawback of human IL-2 is that the molecule is relatively unstable. Therefore, with the objective of increasing the stability of the molecule, site directed mutagenesis of human IL-2 gene was carried out. Early studies indicated that mutations at three Cysteine residues (58, 105, 125) which are in the active sites of human IL-2 resulted in the reduced stability as well as the biological activity of the molecule. Therefore, mutations were carried out at the positions of amino acid other than the receptor binding sites at 111Valine to Arginine, 117Lysine to Glutamine and 133 Threonine to Asparagine of the human sequence by comparing it with the bovine sequence which has higher stability than the human counterpart, using SWISS PDB tool. To understand the biological activity of the mutated IL-2, energy minimization studies were carried out using SWISS-PDB. Docking studies were performed to check the reliability of the results using HEX DOCK, ARGUS LAB and PATCH DOCK between the IL-2 receptor and its mutated Ligand. These docking results also confirmed that the reliability of these mutated IL-2 gene. Stability, half life and ADME characteristics of these mutants can be studied in a detailed manner in the in


This guide offers information to support new modes of disseminating research via Open Access and new methods of measuring research impact.


We present results from the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectral mapping observations of 15 local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs). In this paper, we investigate the spatial variations of the mid-IR emission which includes fine structure lines, molecular hydrogen lines, polycyclic aromatic features (PAHs), continuum emission, and the 9.7 μm silicate feature. We also compare the nuclear and integrated spectra. We find that the star formation takes place in extended regions (several kpc) as probed by the PAH emission, as well as the [Ne ii]12.81 μm and [Ne iii]15.56 μm emissions. The behavior of the integrated PAH emission and 9.7 μm silicate feature is similar to that of local starburst galaxies. We also find that the minima of the [Ne iii]15.56 μm/[Ne ii]12.81 μm ratio tends to be located at the nuclei and its value is lower than that of H ii regions in our LIRGs and nearby galaxies. It is likely that increased densities in the nuclei of LIRGs are responsible for the smaller nuclear [Ne iii]15.56 μm/[Ne ii]12.81 μm ratios. This includes the possibility that some of the most massive stars in the nuclei are still embedded in ultracompact H ii regions. In a large fraction of our sample, the 11.3 μm PAH emission appears more extended than the dust 5.5 μm continuum emission. We find a dependency of the 11.3 μm PAH/7.7 μm PAH and [Ne ii]12.81 μm/11.3 μm PAH ratios with the age of the stellar populations. Smaller and larger ratios, respectively, indicate recent star formation. The estimated warm (300 K <T< 1000 K) molecular hydrogen masses are of the order of 108 M☉, which are similar to those found in ULIRGs, local starbursts, and Seyfert galaxies. Finally we find that the [Ne ii]12.81 μm velocity fields for most of the LIRGs in our sample are compatible with a rotating disk at ∼kpc scales, and they are in a good agreement with Hα velocity fields.


Abstract This article describes year one of an ongoing project initiated to encourage collaboration among university and public school educators to improve instruction in reading and auditory processing. The Reading and Auditory Processing Project (RAP) focuses on helping general educators, special educators, and speech-language pathologists work together to integrate their separate knowledge bases to benefit all students. Positive outcomes and continuing challenges are discussed. ********** General education teachers, special education teachers, and speech-language pathologists bring different perspectives to teaching. An important responsibility of K-5 general educators is to plan, implement, and evaluate instruction that will help students grow as readers, writers, and users of language. Reading instruction is a daily activity for these teachers. The goal for students in the elementary grades is to become independent and strategic users of printed language so they will experience success in school and in life. Special educators in public schools modify instruction to address the individual needs of students with disabilities as outlined by their individual education plans (IEPs). Reading instruction may or may not be a daily activity for special education teachers, depending on the individual needs of their students. Speech-language pathologists provide therapy for students who have been identified with hearing or speech problems. They focus on receptive and expressive language to help students articulate clearly and use language to communicate accurately. The focus is on oral language. All three educators work with some of the same students on auditory skills; however, they teach the skills in isolated settings, from three different perspectives. There is often little communication among the educators about how their goals for learners could be integrated to reinforce the skills they are teaching. For example, the reading teacher works with student A on phonemic awareness. Then the speech-language pathologist works with the same child on articulation. When student A goes to the resource room, the special educator works on listening and following directions. Phonemic awareness, articulation, listening, and following directions are interrelated auditory skills; development in one skill area enhances development in the other areas (Bradham, 2001; Smith, Simmons, & Kameenui, 1995). In the sample case just described, the teachers may be providing effective instruction, but at the same time, may be confusing the child. The child may not see any connection to what is learned in the reading classroom, the speech classroom, and the special education resource classroom. The child doesn't see the connection because, in many cases, the teachers have not realized fully the kinds of connections that are possible. Also, the educators may be using different language to describe similar auditory skills. Through professional development and collaborative teaching, these educators may be able to integrate their separate knowledge bases to serve the language and literacy needs of their struggling learners. As noted by Ham, Bradshaw, and Ogletree (1999) collaborative service delivery models are replacing 'pull-out' approaches for special education and speech-language pathology. Some of the challenges for educators trying such new approaches include making sure special education and speech-language pathology interventions are tied closely to the general education curriculum. The relationship between reading, language, and central auditory processing is well documented (Bradham, 2001; Chermak & Musiek, 1997; Hull, 2001; Schow & Nerbonne, 2001). Reading is described as a secondary, linguistic function based on auditory-verbal language development (Collins & Cheek, 1999; Flexer, 1999). The National Reading Panel reported that the ability to manipulate the sounds in language is a strong predictor of later reading success (NICHD, 2000). …


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the prescription of antiviral and antibiotic agents in children with upper airway infection (UAI) during Influenza H1N1 epidemic.

METHODS
A cross-section study (01/04/2009 to 31/03/2010) was performed. We analyzed the antiviral and antibiotic agents' prescription and its relation with the presence of the triad of symptom of suspicion (migraine, fever and cough) and the cost for attention (medicines and screening test).

RESULTS
838 children were attendance for UAI, 40.3% with the suspicion triad. In 733 patients, the screening test were done with 155 positive results (120 had the triad). All patient with a positive result received oseltamivir. During the first five months of the epidemic, the medical prescriptions were: antibiotics 60-85%, 0-7% anti-viral and 20-30% symptomatic drugs. At the 6th at 8th months (peak of outbreak) antibiotics 35-70%, antivirals 20-25% and 10-30% symptomatic drugs. At final months (9th to 11th) antimicrobials 65-80%, antivirals 20-30% and symptomatic 0-10%. The cost for URI attention increased a 27%.

CONCLUSIONS
Medical prescription changed during the epidemic, with an increased in the antivirals, especially for patients with high suspicion for influenza and positive screening test.


Southern forests, which rely on intensive management practices, are some of the most
productive forests in the United States. Intensive forest management utilizes forest operations, such
as site preparation, fertilization, thinning, and harvesting, to increase site productivity and reduce
rotation time. These forest operations are essential to meet the ever-increasing demands for timber
products. Forest operations are tools used by forest managers in an attempt to manage the nation's
forestlands for multiple uses while maintaining or improving resource quality. Forest operations, a
man-induced modification to ecosystems, have the potential for impacts on ecological processes and
future conditions. Forest operations can influence nonpoint source pollution (NPS) by upsetting
natural processes that maintain water quality. In recent years, NPS has been identified as the
nation's largest source of water quality problems. Forest management activities have been identified
as activities influencing NPS pollution in the South. Results of studies in the 13 southern states
investigating the effect of forest operations on water quality are highly variable based on this review.
However, the results taken collectively indicate that forest operations have little impact on the quality
of water draining from forests in the south. Based on this review, BMPs show the potential to protect
water quality following forest operations; however accurate assessments of the overall effectiveness
of BMPs are not possible because the benefits of BMPs on different scales are relatively unknown.


General multi-conductor transmission lines are investigated using modal analysis. This is performed by finding the solution to the telegrapher's equations for general impedance and admittance per unit length matrices Z and Y, respectively, and obtaining the transmission matrix in terms of Z and Y. Hence, the modal circuit is sought, resulting in a cascade of two n-port ideal transformers and n uncoupled transmission lines. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions are established and a construction method is given if the conditions are satisfied. It is shown that the modal circuit will always exist for general homogeneous constant parameters and for the nonhomogeneous case under the quasi-TEM assumption the existence depends on the geometry. The modal circuit is extended for frequency dependent parameters and a set of sufficient conditions are given.


The question of whether unwanted imputations of gayness are defamatory continues to be controversial. This article considers whether a person can bring a defamation claim if they have been described as being gay or lesbian. In particular, this article addresses whether such an imputation is defamatory, including whether such an imputation tends to lower the reputation of a person in the estimation of "right-thinking" members of society, and the unique issues that this imputation presents for possible defences. In addition to assessing the present position, this article considers whether imputations of gayness ought to be defamatory, particularly in the context of today's legal environment. It is argued that an imputation of gayness should not be treated as being defamatory in the light of the reforms of gay and lesbian rights, including the anti-discrimination and equality protections that are now commonplace in Anglo-Commonwealth societies.


The genus Princaxelia, Pardaliscidae, is a rarely recorded, infrequently collected and hitherto observed benthic amphipod, typically found at hadal depths (>6000 m) in the Pacific Ocean trenches. Little is known about the behaviour or physiology of this genus. Using a baited camera lander, observations of Princaxelia jamiesoni were made in the Japan Trench (7703 m) and Izu–Ogasawara Trench (9316 m) and of Princaxelia aff. abyssalis in the Kermadec Trench (7966 m) and Tonga Trench (8798 m). These amphipods rapidly intercepted the bait and preyed upon smaller lysianassoid amphipods. Mean absolute swimming speeds for P. jamiesoni and P. aff. abyssalis were 4.16 cm.s−1 ± 1.8 SD and 4.02 cm.s−1 ± 0.87 SD respectively. These amphipods have the capacity for long range swimming, high manoeuvrability in close range, and efficient predatory behaviour. Burst swimming speeds for P. aff. abyssalis were 9 and 10 cm.s−1 with accelerations up to 22–25 cm.s−2.


Despite Brazil's electoral laws, which would appear to encourage incumbency, legislative turnover in Brazil consistently exceeds 50% with each election. In this article, I explain this phenomenon as a function of two factors: the nature of political ambition and the dynamics of electoral competition. Political ambition accounts for about half of the turnover because a sizeable portion of incumbent legislators decides to run for nonlegislative office. Electoral competition accounts for the other half. Since many potentially strong candidates for reelection decide to run for another office the group of incumbents running for reelection is relatively weak. In addition, a wide-open nomination process ensures that incumbents running for reelection face a pool of extremely strong challengers. Finally, Brazil's at-large, open-list proportional representation electoral system undermines incumbents' attempts to protect their status. Given these factors, many incumbents lose. I provide evidence for the impact of ambition and competition on legislative turnover in Brazil, place Brazil in comparative perspective, and suggest avenues for further research.


Thirty children, 17 boys and 13 girls, with 31 arterial traumatisms, were studied. The follow-up period ranged from 4 to 166 months. The purpose of this study was to analyze the long term results. The etiology in 19 cases was accidental (61.3%) and iatrogenic in 12 (38.7%). Upper limbs were affected in 15 cases, lower limbs in 13. The arterial traumatism affected the supra-aortic truncus in 2 patients and the renal artery in one other. Arteriographies were carried out in 7 cases (22.6%). Twenty-three patients (74.2%) underwent surgical procedures. The rest of the patients were managed conservatively. No amputations were needed. Three patients died by no vascular causes. The long-term results were good in terms of permeability and absence of major sequels. We conclude that IAT (Infantile Arterial Traumatisms) are potentially graves; therefore an early diagnosis and a specialized care of patients, without rigid protocols of management, are needed. The uncertain prognosis of IAT obligate to a clinical follow-up.


Abstract. Among the different types of marine pollution, oil spill is a major threat to the sea ecosystems. Remote sensing is used in oil spill response. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an active microwave sensor that operates under all weather conditions and provides information about the surface roughness and covers large areas at a high spatial resolution. SAR is widely used to identify and track pollutants in the sea, which may be due to a secondary effect of a large natural disaster or by a man-made one . The detection of oil spill in SAR imagery relies on the decrease of the backscattering from the sea surface, due to the increased viscosity, resulting in a dark formation that contrasts with the brightness of the surrounding area. Most of the use of SAR images for oil spill detection is done by visual interpretation. Trained interpreters scan the image, and mark areas of low backscatter and where shape is a-symmetrical. It is very difficult to apply this method for a wide area. In contrast to visual interpretation, automatic detection algorithms were suggested and are mainly based on scanning dark formations, extracting features, and applying big data analysis. We propose a new algorithm that applies a nonlinear spatial filter that detects dark formations and is not susceptible to noises, such as internal or speckle. The advantages of this algorithm are both in run time and the results retrieved. The algorithm was tested in genesimulations as well as on COSMO-SkyMed images, detecting the Deep Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (occurred on 20/4/2010). The simulation results show that even in a noisy environment, oil spill is detected. Applying the algorithm to the Deep Horizon oil spill, the algorithm classified the oil spill better than focusing on dark formation algorithm. Furthermore, the results were validated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data.


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Grateful acknowledgments are due to Professor Charles Schuchert, of Yale University, who, while lecturing at the University of Arizona in 1924–1925, made a donation that enabled the writer and his students to start their research in stratigraphic paleontology in that State; to Dr. David White and Dr. J. C. Merriam, through whose kind interest the writer was provided with means to extend his work to the Grand Canyon area and later to visit the museums at Washington, New York, and Albany ; to Dr. G. M. Butler, who secured for the writer the opportunity of working through a number of summer seasons in connection with the program of the Arizona Bureau of Mines, and also to the staff of that Bureau; to Miss Clara Mae LeVene for her kind assistance in preparing the manuscript; and to the writer's former students, H. Bruhn, R. R. Reid, W. L. Thomas, . . .


This paper studies the intellectual property strategy of firms that participate in the formal standards process. Specifically, we examine litigation rates in a sample of patents disclosed to thirteen voluntary Standard Setting Organizations (SSOs). We find that SSO patents have a relatively high litigation rate, and that SSO patents assigned to small firms are litigated more often than those of large publicly-traded firms. We also estimate a series of difference-in-differences models and find that small-firm litigation rates increase following a patent's disclosure to an SSO while those of large firms remain unchanged or decline. We interpret this result as evidence of a "platform paradox" -- while small entrepreneurial firms rely on open standards to lower the fixed cost of innovation, these firms are also more likely to pursue an aggressive IP strategy that may undermine the openness of a new standard.


In this paper, a vacuum system is employed to compare the emission stabilities of the same ZnO cathode in a sealed field emission (FE) device and under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. It is observed that the emission current is more stable under the UHV level than in the device. When all conditions except the ambient gases are kept unchanged, the emission current degradation is mainly caused by the residual gases in the sealed device. The quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) equipped on the vacuum system is used to investigate the residual gas components. Based on the obtained QMS data, the following conclusions can be drawn: the residual gases in ZnO-FE devices are H2, CH4, CO, Ar, and CO2. These residual gases can change the work function at the surface through adsorption or ion bombardment, thereby degrading the emission current of the cathode.


Abstract Introduction:   The thyroid gland is one of the largest endocrine gland constitute of two lobes connected by an isthmus. Thyroid nodules are a frequent clinical problem and its incidence is rising. The solitary nodules are the palpable nodule in otherwise normal gland whereas dominant nodules are the palpable nodule in an enlarged gland. There is a variable frequency of malignancy in solitary cold nodule. Our study is aimed to find its frequency in local population. Objective:   To determine the frequency of Maligna-ncy in solitary cold nodule thyroid. Material and Methods:   This is the descriptive case series study conducted at East Surgical Ward, Mayo Hospital Lahore in 1 year duration from 01-01-2014 to 31-12-2014. 140 patients age more than 12 years of either sex with confirmed solitary cold nodule thyroid of any size on physical examination, ultrasound and thyroid scan through non-probability purposive sampling technique were included in the study. A biopsy of the cold nodule was sent to hospital laboratory to determine the frequency of malignancy. All demographic and clinical findings were recorded on a predesigned proforma. All collected data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS 20. Quantitative variables like age and size of nodule was presented in the form of mean ± SD and qualitative variables like gender and malignancy was presented in the form of frequency and percentages. Post-stratification chi-square test was applied, P-value ? 0.05 as significant. Results:   The mean age of the patients was noted as 40.10 ± 11.62 years. There were 47.14% male patients while 52.86% female. Malignancy was found in 23 (16.43%) patients whereas absent in 117 (83.57%) patients. Conclusion:   It is concluded that the malignancy is more frequent in solitary cold nodule thyroid in our local population and in timely intervention and proper screening is recommended. Keywords:   Malignancy, Cold Nodule Thyroid, Thy-roid Scan, Biopsy.


Fixation and incorporation of a tendon graft within the bone tunnel is a major concern when performing ligament reconstruction. Periosteum consists of multipotent stem cells, and has the potential to form osteogenic and chondrogenic tissues. The hypothesis that periosteum could enhance tendon-bone healing within the bone tunnel was studied in a rabbit model. Histological and biomechanical analyses were performed 4, 8, and 12 weeks after surgery. Serialhistological analysis of the tendon-bone interface showed that an interface fibrous layer formed by periosteum between the tendon and the bone. This layer became progressively intergrated within the tendon and bone surfaces during the healing process. At 4 weeks, the new cancellous bone lined the bone tunnel, which became interdigitated with interfacial fibrous tissue. At 8 weeks, there was progressive mineralization and maturation of the new bone growing into the interfacial fibrous layer. At 12 weeks, progressive collagen fiber-bone anchorage, maturation and organization developed and fibrocartilage formed between the tendon and bone. Biomechanical testing revealed higher maximal pull-out strength in the periostem-enveloped group at all time points, with a statistically significant difference at 8 and 12 weeks. The periosteum-treated limb had a higher interface strength-to-length ratio and significant increase between two groups at 8 weeks and 12 weeks. The histolofical and biomechanical studies demonstrated a superior process and stronger healing strength when periosteum was sutured on the tendon that transplanted within a bone tunnel. We applied this idea on the ACL reconstruction with hamstring tendon graft to enhance tendon-bone healing.


A series of tetradentate cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes (Pt 1, Pt 2, and Pt 3) based on 2-phenylbenzimidazole-containing ligands have been prepared. Their photophysical properties were investigated by absorption and emission spectroscopy as well as density functional theory calculations. Due to the robustness of their coordination frameworks, these Pt(II) complexes exhibited excellent thermal stabilities with decomposition temperatures above 400 °C. The 2-phenylbenzimidazole motif was functionalized with a twisted aryl group, which discouraged intimate intermolecular interactions, thus leading to constant CIE coordinates at different doping ratios. The effect of replacing a coordinating pyridine group by thiazole and oxazole on photophysical properties, electrochemical behaviors, and electroluminescence performance was studied. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses of Pt 1 revealed a weak intra-molecular interaction, particularly a negligible Pt⋯Pt interaction, in the solid state, which was consistent with its electroluminescence properties at a high doping level. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on these Pt(II) complexes were fabricated with a typical multiple layered device configuration. Among the three Pt(II) complexes, the pyridine-based Pt 1 compound showed the highest electroluminescence performance with maximum CE, PE, and EQE of 78.5 cd A−1, 66.4 lm W−1, and 22.3%, respectively.


This paper proposes a novel multi-phase double-winding vernier permanent magnet (DW-VPM) wind power generator applied for hybrid ac/dc microgrid. The key is to employ two sets of windings, namely, ac windings and dc windings in the machine, which serve to produce ac power and dc power for microgrid, respectively. The permanent magnets (PMs) are surface mounted on the rotor, and the stator is designed with open slots. The stator teeth can act as flux modulator for the permeance difference between the stator teeth and the air. Therefore, the field excited by PMs can be effectively modulated. Besides the original harmonic used to induce sinusoidal back electromotive force (EMF) in the ac windings and generate ac power, another low-order harmonic can be generated, which is used to induce square wave EMF in the dc windings and generate dc power through diode-bridge rectifier. Since multi-phase windings can get the square wave EMF more easier, the dc windings are designed with six phases. By using time-stepping finite-element method, the electromagnetic performances of the proposed DW-VPM wind generator are comprehensively investigated and verified.


One of the biggest challenges in the field of organic electronics is the creation of flexible, stretchable, and biofavorable materials. Here the simple and repeatable method for reversible writing/erasing of arbitrary conductive pattern in conductive polymer thin film is proposed. The copolymer azo-modified poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) was synthesized to achieve reversible photo-induced local electrical switching in the insulator–semimetal range. The photoisomerization of the polymer was induced by grafting nitrobenzenediazonium tosylate to the PSS main chains. While the as-deposited PEDOT:PSS thin films showed good conductivity, the modification procedure generated polymer redistribution, resulting in an island-like PEDOT distribution and the loss of conductivity. Further local illumination (430 nm) led to the azo-isomerization redistribution of the polymer chains and the creation of a conductive pattern in the insulating polymer film. The created pattern could then be erased by illumination at a second wavelength (470 nm), which was attributed to induction of reverse azo-isomerization. In this way, the reversible writing/erasing of arbitrary conductive patterns in thin polymer films was realized.


Nuclei of early-type dwarf galaxies (dEs) are usually younger than the galaxy main body, and this discrepancy in age has been a puzzle. To explore the origin of young nuclei in dEs, we study a sample of dEs having compact star-forming blobs that are visually similar to dEs' nuclei but by far bluer. We find that (1) the compact star-forming blobs have a typical stellar mass of one percent of the host galaxy stellar mass; (2) some of the blobs are positioned slightly off from the center of the galaxies; (3) the Hα equivalent width measured from the publicly available Sloan Digital Sky Survey fiber spectroscopy shows their formation ages being an order of few megayear; (4) their emission line metallicities, 12 + log(O/H), are as high as the solar value, while the underlying galaxies have the typical stellar populations of dEs, i.e., log(Z/Z ) ∼ −0.8. Based on the results, we argue that the central star-forming blobs can provide a caught-in-the-act view of nuclei formation in dEs, and discuss possible formation mechanisms of young nuclei in old dEs. We particularly propose that these off-centered compact star-forming regions may act as seeds of nuclei as proposed in the "wet migration" scenario of Guillard et al.


Between 2006 and 2009 Worcestershire Archaeology completed a series of investigations in advance of quarrying at Clifton Quarry, Worcestershire revealing one of the most important sequences of prehistoric to early medieval activity discovered to date from the Central Severn Valley. Well-preserved palaeoenvironmental deposits were recovered from features and associated abandoned channels of the River Severn. Analysis of this evidence is underpinned by a comprehensive programme of scientific dating, providing a record of changing patterns of landuse and activity from the Late Mesolithic onwards. Significant discoveries included a series of Grooved Ware pits and an extensive area of Early to Middle Iron Age activity. One of the Grooved pits was of particular importance as it contained an exceptionally rich material assemblage comprising two whole and four fragmentary polished axes, numerous flint tools and debitage, significant quantities of Durrington Walls and Clacton Style pottery, and abundant charred barley grains and crab apple fragments. The Early to Middle Iron Age activity was notable since unusually for a lowland site it was dominated by in excess of 100 four-post granary structures and 130 pits. The full extent of the activity was not established but it appears unenclosed and it is suggested that this represents the specialised storage zone of a much larger settlement. Phases of activity on the floodplain and terraces adjacent to the river also included a Bronze Age burnt mound with associated pits and a trough, a scatter of Romano-British features and an early medieval timber-lined structure associated with flax retting.


Superficial skin bleeding can usually be stopped by applying short-time compression, unless the patient suffers from coagulation disorders or uses anticoagulant. Because of the anticoagulant component of leech saliva, a leech bite may cause long-time bleeding, which cannot be stopped via compression. In this study, the case of a patient who applied leech therapy on her neck for the treatment of migraine has been presented.


Mobilty and restraint equipment to date has been designed for relatively small-volume spacecraft. In these vehicles the crew is always within the touch distance of installed equipment and work areas. In anticipation of larger and more spacious spacecraft, a NASA mobility and restraint concept was designed and prototype articles were fabricated. These articles are known as shufflers and they use permanent magnets for a normal holding force. The concept utilizes a shuffling technique where both feet maintain constant contact with the surface. The shuffler's major application will be in transporting bulky equipment and assisting in equipment monitoring and adjustments. A force analysis was performed for each proposed use of the shuffler to establish required magnetic attractive forces for stability. A magnetic analysis was then performed to establish the design parameters of the magnetic circuit necessary to achieve the required forces.