Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were selectively isolated from tungtap, a traditionally fermented fish food product. Five such bacteria with bacteriocinogenic potential were characterized by polyphasic taxonomic approach. The phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed their relatedness to Lactobacillus pobuzihii (≥99.4% similarity), while biochemical and physiological characteristics revealed significant differences among the isolates. Bacteriocinogenic activity assay against selected bacterial strains: Salmonella typhi MTCC 733, Bacillus cereus MTCC 430, Klebsiella pneumoniae MTCC 109, Escherichia coli MTCC 118 and Bacillus licheniformis MTCC 429 were performed with crude extracts using ethyl acetate as solvent, as well as by solvent and cell free supernatants. The growth inhibition zones were measured after incubation and compared with antibiotics like ampicillin, gentamicin, vancomycin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline. The culture extract of L. pobuzihii showed significant bacteriocinogenic activity against the tested strains.


1. The cardiac measurements obtained by teleoroentgenography were similar to those of previous reports in comparison. 2. In the cardiac measurements it was noted that the longitudinal diameter (L) to stature, the transverse (Tr) and the longitudinal diameter to weight and the transverse rather than the longitudinal diameter to chest girth were increased proportionally. 3. The fluorograms (6×6cm. in size) represented a close correlation with the teleorentgenograms, although an acurate convertion rate was difficult to determine because of variable conditions. 4. It was supposed that the cardiac measurements by means of fluorograms (6×6 cm. in size) could be applied in clinical use with considerations of age, sex, stature, weight and girth of the chest of patients on those the fluorographic cardiac measurements showed similar alteration to teleoroentgenographic ones. The cardiac measurements by means of fluorograms revealed that the rightsided half of the transverse diameter (Mr) was ranging 0.6 to 0.7 cm., 1.3 to 1.4 cm. in the leftsided half of the transverse diameter (Ml), 1:2 in the ratio of Mr and Ml, 1.9 to 2.1 cm. in the transverse diameter (Tr), 2.2 to 2.5 cm. in the longitudinal diameter (L) and 1.0: 1.1 in the ratio of Tr and L. The hight of the left ventricular chord (Bh) was ranging between 0.6 and 0.17 cm.


Guidance and migration of cells in the nervous system is imperative for proper development, maturation, and regeneration. In the peripheral nervous system (PNS), it is challenging for axons to bridge critical-sized injury defects to achieve repair and the central nervous system (CNS) has a very limited ability to regenerate after injury because of its innate injury response. The photoreactivity of the coumarin polyester used in this study enables efficient micropatterning using a custom digital micromirror device (DMD) and has been previously shown to be biodegradable, making these thin films ideal for cell guidance substrates with potential for future in vivo applications. With DMD, we fabricated coumarin polyester thin films into 10×20 μm and 15×50 μm micropatterns with depths ranging from 15 to 20 nm to enhance nervous system cell alignment. Adult primary neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes were isolated from rat brain tissue and seeded onto the polymer surfaces. After 24 h, cell type and neurite alignment were analyzed using phase contrast and fluorescence imaging. There was a significant difference (p<0.0001) in cell process distribution for both emergence angle (from the body of the cell) and orientation angle (at the tip of the growth cone) confirming alignment on patterned surfaces compared to control substrates (unpatterned polymer and glass surfaces). The expected frequency distribution for parallel alignment (≤15°) is 14% and the two micropatterned groups ranged from 42 to 49% alignment for emergence and orientation angle measurements, where the control groups range from 12 to 22% for parallel alignment. Despite depths being 15 to 20 nm, cell processes could sense these topographical changes and preferred to align to certain features of the micropatterns like the plateau/channel interface. As a result this initial study in utilizing these new DMD micropatterned coumarin polyester thin films has proven beneficial as an axon guidance platform for future nervous system regenerative strategies.


Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance (ODMR) and Level Anti-Crossing (LAC) experiments are employed to characterize the properties of two photoluminescence bands at 0.93 eV and 0.875 eV observable in electron irradiated GaN. Only one almost isotropic ODMR line and no LAC feature appear when monitoring the 0.93 eV emission, whereas two ODMR and two LAC signals can be found connected to the 0.875 eV band from spectral dependence studies. One possible explanation for the recombination leading to the 0.875 eV emission is a transition between excited states and ground state of a deep donor, where the ODMR signals arise from microwave induced transitions within the manifold of excited states. Within this manifold avoided crossings of the magnetic sublevels give rise to the observed LAC signals.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the rehabilitation nursing services what nurses recognize to be important and what they do in practice of the industrial workers. Method: The subjects were 150 nurses who were working at the industrial hospital. The questionnaire was made up with 43 items about the perception on importance and performance of rehabilitation services. Result: The highest services in the perception on importance and performance subscale were physical and therapeutic services. The highest difference between perception on importance and performance was the social and occupational services. The perception on importance of rehabilitation services had positive correlation with performance. The group take care of general patients had a higher level of perception on importance than the other group, and level of performance had significant difference with age and position. Conclusion: We need to develop the strategy for promoting the performance of services that recognize it will be important services, but not to do. Further study on system for promoting the nurse practitioner who responsible for rehabilitation nursing.


The results of Dr E Hiscock and Ms G Reece (17 September, p 724) speak volumes for effective preventive medicine. But zeal drives them to repeat the canard of cervicologists, unsupported by their data, that recall should be at least triennial and that screening should start much earlier. Their data show the following numbers: list size 9900, women aged 16-65 3300, smears taken in 3 years 1913, abnormal smears 156, smears showing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 91, and cases of invasive cancer one. The number of expected deaths from cervical cancer was one woman in three years extrapolated from national rates. A total of 1913 smears from 3301 women represents a five yearly rate of screening for each woman. Ninety of the 91 smears showing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia did not progress to invasive cancer during the study and the one woman with invasive cancer had not been screened for eight years. All this is strong evidence that organised five yearly screening of women aged 16-65 is effective. The call for "at least triennial" testing in yet younger women takes no account of the doubling in costs, time, staff, patient anxiety, unnecessary treatments incurred, or the vanishing benefit. Yet more screening would be misplaced (because inner city general practitioners have more pressing problems) and irrational (because triennial screening would make no difference to those nine out of 10 women dying of cervical cancer who had never been screened or to those young women quoted whose cervical intraepithelial neoplasia progressed rapidly over a matter of months). We should continue properly organised five yearly screening and promote primary preventive measures.


Background: Cardiac patients hold beliefs about their illness that can be misconceived and negatively affect adjustment. This study tested the efficacy of an intervention aimed at dispelling cardiac misconceptions in myocardial infarction (MI) patients. Methods: 86 first-MI patients were randomized to control or intervention group. The intervention consisted of 1 in-hospital session followed by 4 phone calls after discharge. Patients were assessed at baseline and 4 months later. The main outcomes were cardiac misconceptions, illness perceptions, perceived health-related quality of life, anxiety, depression and health behaviours. Findings: At the 4-month follow-up, patients in the control group had significantly higher misconceptions, more negative illness perceptions, and higher levels of depression than patients in the intervention group. Also, a significantly higher proportion of participants reported doing exercise in the intervention group than in the control group. Discussion: A cardiac misconception intervention can be effective in altering MI patients' erroneous beliefs and negative illness perceptions, with beneficial effects over depression levels and exercise behaviours.


Patients with severe COPD often exhale along the same flow-volume curve during quite breathing as during forced expiratory vital capacity manoeuvre, and this has been taken as indicating expiratory flow limitation at rest (EFLT). Therefore, EFLT, namely, attainment of maximal expiratory flow during tidal expiration, occurs when an increase in transpulmonary pressure causes no increase in expiratory flow. EFLT leads to small airway injury and promotes dynamic pulmonary hyperinflation with concurrent dyspnoea and exercise limitation. In fact, EFLT occurs commonly in COPD patients (mainly in GOLD III and IV stage) in whom the latter symptoms are common. The existing up-to-date physiological methods for assessing expiratory flow limitation (EFLT) are reviewed in the present work. Among the currently available techniques, the negative expiratory pressure (NEP) has been validated in a wide variety of settings and disorders. Consequently, it should be regarded as a simple, non invasive, most practical, and accurate new technique.


The Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (ARAIM) requires a minimum performance level of the satellite constellation that is used for aircraft navigation. The distribution of the satellite Signal-In-Space (SIS) range error needs to be sufficiently characterized considering the correlation in error terms. The nominal range error for 14 BDS-2 and 11 BDS-3 satellites and the correlation of orbit and clock errors are analyzed based on one-year data of broadcast and precise ephemerides. Results show significant differences in the nominal range error performance among three different types of satellites of GEO, IGSO and MEO and different manufacturers. The service history is broken down into monthly dataset to analyze the variation of single satellite performance and BDS-2 is compared with BDS-3 from multiple aspects. The URE is characterized and one-sigma value is 9.4m, 5.8m and 4.9m for GEO, IGSO and MEO, respectively. Based on the correlation analysis, orbit error components show significant disparity in the harmonic period between satellite types. Like orbit error components, the large difference also exists in clock error regarding convergence time. Independent sampling interval is estimated with the time interval ranging from 44 to 67, 14 to 15 and 11 to 12 hours for GEO, IGSO and MEO, respectively.


RF MEMS has been investigated extensively over the past decade. Interest in this technology was initially motivated by recognition of its potential to enable superior electronically scanned antennas (ESAs) due to the practically ideal performance of MEM-based switches utilized to implement low loss phase shifters, one of the key elements of ESAs. However, while the virtues of RF MEMS to enhance ESA performance, and many other conventional microwave systems are clear, convergence to manufacturable products has been slow. This paper provides an overview of RF MEMS applications, technology and achievements, and projections on the trends for future developments.


Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF) engage in tumor progression by promoting the ability of cancer cells to undergo epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), and also by enhancing stem cells traits and metastatic dissemination. Here we show that the reciprocal interplay between CAFs and prostate cancer cells goes beyond the engagement of EMT to includemutual metabolic reprogramming. Gene expression analysis of CAFs cultured ex vivo or human prostate fibroblasts obtained from benign prostate hyperplasia revealed that CAFs undergo Warburg metabolism and mitochondrial oxidative stress. This metabolic reprogramming toward a Warburg phenotype occurred as a result of contact with prostate cancer cells. Intercellular contact activated the stromal fibroblasts, triggering increased expression of glucose transporter GLUT1, lactate production, and extrusion of lactate by de novo expressed monocarboxylate transporter-4 (MCT4). Conversely, prostate cancer cells, upon contact with CAFs, were reprogrammed toward aerobicmetabolism, with a decrease inGLUT1 expression and an increase in lactate upload via the lactate transporterMCT1.Metabolic reprogramming of both stromal and cancer cells was under strict control of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1), which drove redoxand SIRT3-dependent stabilization of HIF1 in normoxic conditions. Prostate cancer cells gradually became independent of glucose consumption, while developing a dependence on lactate upload to drive anabolic pathways and thereby cell growth. In agreement, pharmacologic inhibition ofMCT1-mediated lactate upload dramatically affected prostate cancer cell survival and tumor outgrowth. Hence, cancer cells allocate Warburg metabolism to their corrupted CAFs, exploiting their byproducts to grow in a low glucose environment, symbiotically adaptingwith stromal cells to glucose availability. Cancer Res; 72(19); 5130–40. 2012 AACR.


A likelihood ratio test for testing the equality of the ranks of two non-negative definite covariance matrices arising in the area of signal processing is derived. The asymptotic distribution of the test statistic follows a Chi-square distribution from the general theory of likelihood ratio test.


Abstract. Before obtaining information and identifying ground target from images, image matching is necessary. However, problems of strong pixel noise interference and nonlinear gray scale differences in synthetic aperture radar image still exist. Feature matching becomes a kind possible solution. To learn the research progress of SAR and optical image matching, as well as finding solutions for above matching problems, a summary for feature matching with SAR and optical image is indispensable. By listing three typical methods below, we can discuss and compare how researchers improve and innovate methods for feature matching from different angles in matching process. First method is feature matching method proposed by CHEN Min et. It uses phase congruency method to detect point features. Feature descriptors are based on gaussian-gamma-shaped edge strength maps instead of original images. This method combines both edge features and point features to reach a match target. The second one is SAR-SIFT algorithm of F. Dellinger et. This kind of method is based on improvement of sift algorithm. It proposes a SAR-Harris method and also a calculation method for features descriptors named gradient by ratio. Thirdly, it is feature matching method proposed by Yu Qiuze et. By using edge features of image and improvement of hausdorff distance for similarity measure, it applies genetic algorithm to accelerate matching search process to complete matching tasks. Those methods are implemented by using python programs, and are compared by some indexes. Experimental data used multiple sets of terrasar and optical image pairs of different resolutions. To some extent, the results demonstrate that all three kinds of feature methods can improve the matching effect between SAR and optical images. It can be easier to reach match purposes of SAR and optical images by using image edge features, while such methods are too dependent on the edge features.


ATM germ-line mutations have been identified in a proportion of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) but their role in the development of this tumour remains unknown. In the course of this study it was established that ATM pathogenic mutations were increased among patients with chromosome 11q deletion/loss of one ATM allele when compared to healthy control individuals but not in those who did not acquire this deletion in their leukemic clone. The results indicate that ATM germ-line heterozygosity does not play a role in CLL but may influence disease progression through complete ATM loss and clonal expansion.

The analysis of the clinical outcome among CLL patients from phase III LRF UK CLL4 trial identified a distinctive subgroup with a particularly poor prognosis. Those patients had bi-allelic inactivation of ATM gene and showed significantly reduced progression-free survival (PFS) compared to those with ATM wild-type or mono-allelic ATM defects. Furthermore, they had equally poor PFS as those with mono- and bi-allelic TP53 abnormalities. The clinical implication of this finding might include re-consideration of the treatment strategies for this particular subgroup of patients.

The improved understanding of the biological background of progressive and resistant CLL tumours, such as those with TP53 or ATM defects, results in a development of further targeted treatment strategies. The assessment of their efficacy and toxicity could be facilitated by CLL xenograft models. The optimization strategies overcoming the limitations of existing xenograft model were investigated during the course of this study. The results showed that partial depletion of patient CD3+, CD4+ or CD25+ cells prior to injection into NOG mice can prolong the engraftment of CLL cells within xenogenic microenvironment hence, providing expanded period of time for testing new therapeutic agents.


The technical problems existing in deep well drilling are becoming more and more predominant during the exploration and development of oil-gas field. The poor formation drillability, low drilling rate and complicated pressure system cause the underground accidents frequent, extend well construction cycle, and make the cost of the project much higher. Therefore, it is urgent to develop new technologies to improve the efficiency of the exploration and development in deep unconventional oil-gas reservoir. The particle jet technology is a new energy-saving way which has a broad application prospect. It can take the way of sucking in particles in annulus space to cycle use the particles, and promote the drilling rate. The feasibility of particle jet as a drilling medium is verified by the theoretical and experimental study, which provides the basis for the design of particle jet tool.


Since the foundation of the Dutch welfare state in the nineteenth century, the distinction between government and market has been object of discussion. In the first welfare arrangements, the role of the government was subsidiary to that of private initiatives. The churches looked after the poor and the employers and employees developed funds to cover employment related risks. The main idea was that state regulation should not stand in the way of these private initiatives. During the twentieth century the government increased its role in the provision of welfare. The public welfare state reached its peak at the end of the twentieth century. Currently, the Dutch welfare state is confronted with a process of privatisation. We witness the development of a regulatory welfare state.Discussions regarding the optimal mix between public and private elements in the welfare state have played an important role in the design of the Dutch welfare state up until today. Although nowadays the government is the most important provider of social security benefits, private elements are introduced by the privatisation of, for example, the reintegration market and employment related risks. The idea behind this process of privatisation is that it makes private actors more aware of the costs involved with illness and inactivity, which induces them to take preventive measures. In other words, the introduction of private elements in the welfare state is believed to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the system. The shift in balance from government to market does, however, raise questions with regard to the extent to which other public interests are secured. For example, to what extent is the solidarity between employees with a high and low risk of getting ill guaranteed?The consequences of the development of the regulatory welfare state for the securing of public interests are the object of this research. We investigated the development of the Dutch welfare sector into a regulatory welfare state and the public interests that justified the intervention of the government. The question we want to answer is whether or not the regulatory welfare state is capable of securing these public interests.One of the results of our research is that the development of the welfare state is based on conflicting public interests. The public interest that dominates the debate, changes over the years. In the early years of the welfare state, the realisation of income protection was an important public interest. Nowadays the effectiveness and efficiency of public expenses, combined with a high value that is attached to labour participation, dominate government regulation.The development of the regulatory welfare state can be regarded as a response to this shift in public interests. Although in theory, the introduction of private elements in a formerly public welfare system does not have to impair the securing of a wide range of public interests, we show that that the regulatory welfare state is not fully capable of correcting the perverse effects of the private market.


Efficient feature extraction techniques are available in the literature in speaker identification (SI) system ; yet, their combined influences on each other as a fusion feature have not been fully investigated. Much research has been conducted in terms of enhancing only one of either the feature extraction or classification techniques. Past research has not succeeded to focus in enough detail on determining more appropriate methods of evaluating parameters. In order to enhance the features extraction of any individual's speech, we will concatenate two feature extraction techniques, along with the respective averages; Linear predictive, Mel-frequency, and the respective normalization Averages Cepstral Coefficients (LMACC) that would reflect positively on system performance. Optimized Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network based on Bacteria Foraging Optimization Algorithm is used as a classifier to improve system performance. Cochlear implant-likespectrally reduced speech proposed in the literature will be used alongside accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity to evaluate the system.


Objective: People living with HIV (PLWH) commonly report sleep disturbances which are associated with long-term health consequences, including disease progression. PLWH also experience internalised stigma as a result of their HIV status, which can be associated with increased loneliness and depression. Little attention focuses on the impact of these factors on sleep. Therefore, we examined whether internalised HIV-stigma was indirectly related to poorer sleep quality through higher levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms. Design: 181 PLWH from across the United States completed an online survey. Main Study Measures: Internalised HIV-stigma was assessed using the HIV-Stigma Scale, loneliness was assessed using the UCLA-Loneliness Scale-Short Form, depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Index, and Sleep Quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results: Internalised HIV-stigma was indirectly associated with poorer global sleep quality and daytime sleep dysfunction through both loneliness and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: PLWH who experience HIV-related stigma may experience greater feelings of loneliness, which are related to increased depressive symptoms and poorer sleep quality. Interventions focused on improving sleep in PLWH should focus on multiple factors that influence sleep, including psychosocial factors such as stigma, social isolation and depressive symptoms.


This paper discusses the causal explanation capability of QRIOM, a tool aimed at supporting learning of organic chemistry reactions. The development of the tool is based on the hybrid use of Qualitative Reasoning (QR) technique and Qualitative Process Theory (QPT) ontology. Our simulation combines symbolic, qualitative description of relations with quantity analysis to generate causal graphs. The pedagogy embedded in the simulator is to both simulate and explain organic reactions. Qualitative reasoning through a causal chain will be presented to explain the overall changes made on the substrate; from initial substrate until the production of final outputs. Several uses of the QPT modeling constructs in supporting behavioral and causal explanation during run-time will also be demonstrated. Explaining organic reactions through causal graph trace can help improve the reasoning ability of learners in that their conceptual understanding of the subject is nurtured.


Soil exposed to elevated methane concentrations can develop a high capacity for methane oxidation. Methane oxidation at high and low methane concentrations is performed by different types of methanotrops and therefore oxidation rates found at low temperatures at the atmospheric methane content cannot be extrapolated to soils exposed to high methane concentrations. Four sandy soils with different organic matter content (1-9% w/w) from two landfills in Denmark were investigated in batch experiments in the laboratory to determine the response of methane oxidation at low temperatures and different soil moisture regimes. At 2°C the methane oxidation rates were 0.005 to 0.17 μmol g -1 h -1 , and calculations showed that it was possible to oxidize all the produced methane at older landfills, even during the winter. Therefore, methane oxidation in top covers of landfills is an alternative to gas recovery at smaller and older landfills in northern Europe. Equations have been developed that describe the dependency of temperature and soil moisture content for each soil. The oxidation rates depended significantly on the soils (and thereby organic matter content), temperature, and soil moisture content. Soil moisture was the most important factor. However, high Q 10 values indicate that temperature also was important. The four soils tested had optimum soil moisture content between 11 and 32%. At increasing organic matter content, both the optimal soil moisture content and the maximum oxidation rate increased.


: During past twenty years (1973-1992), the cancer mortality was increasing significantly in China. For cancer prevention and control nationwide, the primary prevention is important. Pity is that it usually takes longer time to decrease cancer mortality and liable to benefit younger generation. In practice, the secondary prevention, which put emphasis on the massive screening, early detection and early treatment, would decrease the cancer mortality as well as cancer incidences in relatively short time. Therefore, it would contribute much to the local social and economic development and improve the health insurance. In the high risk areas of cancers, such as cervical, esophageal, gastric, liver and nasopharyngeal cancers, the secondary prevention could be carried out as more effective strategy for cancer prevention in China.


Cervical teratomas are rare tumors, presenting as a mass in the neck at birth. Affected infants usually have respiratory compromise and dysphagia, secondary to tracheal and esophageal compression. Treatment consists of airway control, followed by surgical excision, which may be complicated by marked displacement of normal tissues. We present a case in which displacement of neck contents by mass effect resulted in a carotid artery course as close as 2mm from the skin surface. Radiographic and ultrasonographic documentation is included.


In this research, we evaluate four widely used face detection tools, which are Face++, IBM Bluemix Visual Recognition, AWS Rekognition, and Microsoft Azure Face API, using multiple datasets to determine their accuracy in inferring user attributes, including gender, race, and age. Results show that the tools are generally proficient at determining gender, with accuracy rates greater than 90%, except for IBM Bluemix. Concerning race, only one of the four tools provides this capability, Face++, with an accuracy rate of greater than 90%, although the evaluation was performed on a high-quality dataset. Inferring age appears to be a challenging problem, as all four tools performed poorly. The findings of our quantitative evaluation are helpful for future computational social science research using these tools, as their accuracy needs to be taken into account when applied to classifying individuals on social media and other contexts. Triangulation and manual verification are suggested for researchers employing these tools.


Stabilizing piles are commonly used to improve slope stability. The load that a pile should sustain and the associated slip surface under a prescribed factor of safety are two critical design parameters in practice. Based on the kinematically admissible failure mechanism, a limit analysis approach is introduced, which considers two potential slip surfaces that individually lie in the upslope and downslope of the piles. The explicit formulas for the upslope thrust force and downslope resistance on a pile are derived, which enables the calculation of the maximum load on a pile and the corresponding critical slip surfaces using a computer program. The maximum load and critical slip surfaces under a design factor of safety are mainly affected by soil properties and five other parameters: location of the pile row, dip angle of the slope face, action point and dip angle of the force, and improvement coefficient of the slope stability. The relevant quantitative calculation can be performed using the proposed method. Moreover, the possible failure with the upslope soil surpassing the pile top under a specified design factor of safety is significantly illustrated in the paper, which is helpful in the rational determination of the location of the pile row.


Candida species are the leading cause of invasive fungal infections, and over the past decade there has been an increased isolation of drug resistant Candida species. This study aimed to identify the species distribution of Candida isolates and to determine their unique antifungal susceptibility and resistance patterns. During a cross-sectional study, 209 Candida isolates (recovered from 206 clinical samples) were collected and their species distribution was determined using ChromAgar Candida. The Vitek-2 system (Biomerieux, South Africa) was used to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to azoles (fluconazole, voriconazole), echinocandins (caspofungin, micafungin), polyenes (amphotericin B) and flucytosine. Four species of Candida were isolated, of which C. albicans was the most frequent, isolated in 45.4% (95/209) of the isolates, followed by C. glabrata: 31.1% (65/209). The MICs of the different antifungal drugs varied amongst the species of Candida. From the 130 isolates tested for MICs, 90.77% (112/130) were susceptible to all antifungal drugs and 6.9% (9/130) of the isolates were multi-drug resistant. C. dubliniensis (n=2) isolates were susceptible to all the above mentioned antifungal drugs. There was no significant difference in species distribution amongst clinical specimens and between patients' genders (P>0.05). An increase in MIC values for fluconazole and flucytosine towards the resistance range was observed. To our knowledge, this is the first report on surveillance of Candida species distribution and antifungal susceptibility at a public tertiary teaching hospital in Eastern Cape, South Africa.


The project looks at developing a new homogenous combustion process (HCCI) for passenger cars diesel engine. The innovative combination of several engine and injection technologies will be investigated and implemented on single-cylinder engine concepts up to final economic and technical assessment of the in-vehicle on the road potential. The main technical objectives are to meet EURO 4 emissions limits without fuel sensitive after treatment for NOx and/or particulates while maintaining low well to wheel CO2 emissions advantage of the best state of the art diesel engines.


This book provides a critical examination of intelligence-led policing strategies, including an investigation of innovative strategies such as Problem Oriented Policing (POP), problem-solving, and community policing, and in-depth analyses of the Kent Policing Model, which became the template for ILP models across the world, and the UK's National Intelligence Model (NIM). Intelligence-led policing (ILP) approaches have proved particularly attractive to senior police officers and policymakers because they promise to deliver more efficient and effective solutions to the problems of crime than traditional policing practices. However, this book shows that these approaches have delivered far less than their supporters would have us to believe. In part, this has been because of what James terms as 'police orthodoxy'. However, this cannot wholly explain the relative failure of ILP in Britain and elsewhere in the developed world. Drawing on a range of material including extensive interviews with key NIM figures including ACPO members, senior police managers, intelligence workers, police detectives and staff, James questions to what extent British policing can truly be said to be intelligence-led, and whether there is a popular mandate for an alternative to traditional Peelian practice, where police aim simply to deliver intelligent rather than intelligence-led policing. The book provides important insights into the debate on intelligence-led policing and the mechanics and politics of policy development. As such it will be of great value within the policing sphere and more broadly for public policy studies.


High performance computing is approaching a potentially significant change in architectural design. With pressures on the cost and sheer amount of power, additional architectural features are emerging which require a re-think to the programming models deployed over the last two decades.

Today's emerging high performance computing (HPC) systems are maximising performance per unit of power consumed resulting in the constituent parts of the system to be made up of a range of different specialised building blocks, each with their own purpose. This heterogeneity is not just limited to the hardware components but also in the mechanisms that exploit the hardware components. These multiple levels of parallelism, instruction sets and memory hierarchies, result in truly heterogeneous computing in all aspects of the global system.

These emerging architectural solutions will require the software to exploit tremendous amounts of on-node parallelism and indeed programming models to address this are emerging. In theory, the application developer can design new software using these models to exploit emerging low power architectures. However, in practice, real industrial scale applications last the lifetimes of many architectural generations and therefore require a migration path to these next generation supercomputing platforms.

Identifying that migration path is non-trivial: With applications spanning many decades, consisting of many millions of lines of code and multiple scientific algorithms, any changes to the programming model will be extensive and invasive and may turn out to be the incorrect model for the application in question.

This makes exploration of these emerging architectures and programming models using the applications themselves problematic. Additionally, the source code of many industrial applications is not available either due to commercial or security sensitivity constraints.

This thesis highlights this problem by assessing current and emerging hard- ware with an industrial strength code, and demonstrating those issues described. In turn it looks at the methodology of using proxy applications in place of real industry applications, to assess their suitability on the next generation of low power HPC offerings. It shows there are significant benefits to be realised in using proxy applications, in that fundamental issues inhibiting exploration of a particular architecture are easier to identify and hence address.

Evaluations of the maturity and performance portability are explored for a number of alternative programming methodologies, on a number of architectures and highlighting the broader adoption of these proxy applications, both within the authors own organisation, and across the industry as a whole.


In order to gain new insight into failure mechanisms in poly-L-lactide (PLLA) and PLLA + hydroxyapatite nanocomposites, transmission electron microscopy has been used to investigate room temperature microdeformation in electron transparent thin films of these materials subjected to various heat treatments and deformed in tension using the "copper grid" technique. In amorphous PLLA the dominant microdeformation mechanism was crazing. Localized fibrillar deformation zones (DZs) were also observed in semicrystalline films, tending to propagate in regions where the lamellar trajectories were at high angles to the tensile axis. Thus, in spherulitic films, in which the lamellae formed well-defined stacks with approximately straight trajectories at the scale of the spherulite radii, individual DZs were observed to propagate over relatively large distances, as in the amorphous films. On the other hand, films cold crystallized by heating from the glassy state showed more homogeneous lamellar textures. These were associated with a relatively high density of low aspect ratio DZs. Addition of well dispersed nanosized hydroxyapatite (nHA) to the amorphous PLLA films was also found to result in an increase in the craze density, attributed to stress concentrations associated with void formation at the PLLA-particle interfaces during deformation. However, interpretation was less straightforward in cold crystallized PLLA + nHA thin films, owing to a correlation between the lamellar texture and the nHA particles. In this case, both void formation and favorable lamellar orientations may have contributed to initiation of the DZs in the vicinity of the particles. The results are argued to be broadly consistent with previous observations of the behavior of bulk PLLA and PLLA + nHA films with a range of microstructures, in which there was evidence for an improvement in ductility in the presence of the nHA, again attributed to voiding at the PLLA-particle interfaces.


Example-based methods are effective for parameter estimation problems when the underlying system is simple or the dimensionality of the input is low. For complex and high-dimensional problems such as pose estimation, the number of required examples and the computational complexity rapidly become prohibitively high. We introduce a new algorithm that learns a set of hashing functions that efficiently index examples relevant to a particular estimation task. Our algorithm extends locality-sensitive hashing, a recently developed method to find approximate neighbors in time sublinear in the number of examples. This method depends critically on the choice of hash functions that are optimally relevant to a particular estimation problem. Experiments demonstrate that the resulting algorithm, which we call parameter-sensitive hashing, can rapidly and accurately estimate the articulated pose of human figures from a large database of example images.


Abstract. This study proposes a framework to estimate the uncertainty of hydrodynamic models on floodplains. The traditional floodplain resistance formula of Pasche (1984) (based on Lindner, 1982) used for river modelling as well as the approaches of Baptist et al. (2007), Järvelä (2004), and Battiato and Rubol (2014) have been considered for carrying out an uncertainty analysis (UA). The analysis was performed by means of three different methods: traditional Monte Carlo (MC), First-Order Second-Moment (FOSM) and Metamodelling. Using a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model, a 10 km reach of the River Rhine was simulated. The model was calibrated with water level measurements under steady flow conditions and then the analysis was carried out based on flow velocity results. The compared floodplain friction formulae produced qualitatively similar results, in which uncertainties in flow velocity were most significant on the floodplains. Among the tested resistance formulae the approach from Järvelä presented on average the smallest prediction intervals i.e. the most accurate results. It is important to keep in mind that UA results are not only dependent on the defined input parameters deviations, but also on the number of parameters considered in the analysis. In that sense, the approach from Battiato and Rubol is still attractive for it reduces the current analysis to a single parameter, the canopy permeability. The three UA methods compared gave similar results, which means that FOSM is the less expensive one. Nevertheless it should be used with caution as it is a first-order method (linear approximation). In studies involving dominant non-linear processes, one is advised to carry out further comparisons.


Shigella flexneri 2a 2457T produces lipopolysaccharide (LPS) with two O-antigen (OAg) chain lengths: a short (S-OAg) controlled by WzzB and a very long (VL-OAg) determined by Wzz(pHS-2). This study demonstrates that the synthesis and length distribution of the S. flexneri OAg are under growth-phase-dependent regulation. Quantitative electrophoretic analysis showed that the VL-OAg increased during growth while the S-OAg distribution remained constant. Increased production of VL-OAg correlated with the growth-phase-regulated expression of the transcription elongation factor RfaH, and was severely impaired in a DeltarfaH mutant, which synthesized only low-molecular-mass OAg molecules and a small amount of S-OAg. Real-time RT-PCR revealed a drastic reduction of wzy polymerase gene expression in the DeltarfaH mutant. Complementation of this mutant with the wzy gene cloned into a high-copy-number plasmid restored the bimodal OAg distribution, suggesting that cellular levels of Wzy influence not only OAg polymerization but also chain-length distribution. Accordingly, overexpression of wzy in the wild-type strain resulted in production of a large amount of high-molecular-mass OAg molecules. An increased dosage of either wzzB or wzz(pHS-2) also altered OAg chain-length distribution. Transcription of wzzB and wzz(pHS-2) genes was regulated during bacterial growth but in an RfaH-independent manner. Overall, these findings indicate that expression of the wzy, wzzB and wzz(pHS-2) genes is finely regulated to determine an appropriate balance between the proteins responsible for polymerization and chain-length distribution of S. flexneri OAg.


High-resolution MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight) mass spectrometry has recently shown promise as a screening tool for detecting discriminatory peptide/protein patterns. The major computational obstacle in finding such patterns is the large number of mass/charge peaks (features, biomarkers, data points) in a spectrum. To tackle this problem, we have developed methods for data preprocessing and biomarker selection. The preprocessing consists of binning, baseline correction, and normalization. An algorithm, Extended Markov Blanket (EMB), is developed for biomarker detection, which combines redundant feature removal and discriminant feature selection. The biomarker selection couples with support vector machine (SVM) to achieve sample prediction from high-resolution proteomic profiles.
Disease progresses in several stages. Therefore, there exist biomarkers corresponding to each stage. To deal with such a multi-class problem, we propose a classification and a feature selection method. The proposed classification method consists of two schemes: error-correcting output coding (ECOC) and pairwise coupling (PWC). In prediction for a test sample, aggregated results of both schemes are considered. In PWC scheme, important features for each pair of classes are found by using extended Markov blanket (EMB) feature selection.
To identify the molecular formulae of the biomarkers, we develop a de novo peptide sequencing method. De novo peptide sequencing that determines the amino acid sequence of a peptide via tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) has been increasingly used nowadays in proteomics for protein identification. Current de novo methods generally employ a graph theory, which usually produces a large number of candidate sequences and causes heavy computational cost while trying to determine a sequence with less ambiguity. We present a novel de novo sequencing algorithm that greatly reduces the number of candidate sequences. By utilizing certain properties of b- and y-ion series in MS/MS spectrum, we propose a reliable two-way parallel searching algorithm to filter out the peptide candidates that are further pruned by an intensity evidence based screening criterion.
LDA is a traditional statistical scheme for feature reduction which has been widely used in a diversity of application areas. In a case where the dimensionality exceeds the sample size, however, the classical LDA faces a problem known as singularity. Since the dimensionality of the mass spectrometry data is considerably huge, the singularity problem necessarily happens. Another drawback of the classical LDA is its linear property with which LDA fails for nonlinear problems. To solve the problem, nonlinear based LDA methods have been proposed. However, they suffer from high cost in running. We propose a new fast kernel discriminant analysis (FKDA).


As a vital component in the strive towards improved energy efficiency in the operation of TMP refining processes, this work highlights the importance of well-designed procedures when collecting and analysing pulp properties with respect to process conditions. Process data and pulp from a CD82 chip refiner have been used to show that tensile index has strong covariance with fibre residence time calculated by the extended entropy model. A combination of theoretical and practical analysis methods has shown that, in order to assure representative, reliable results, pulp sampling procedures should comprise composite pulp samples collected during a sampling period of about three minutes. In addition, at least four subsequently collected composite pulp samples should be included in the analysis to effectively dampen effects from fast process variations as well as from slow process drift. An in-depth study on tensile index measurements clarifies that 40-60 strips should be used in the case we studied regardless if machine made paper or handsheets are considered.


The zona-free method of SCNT designed for bovine and pig cloning (Booth et al. 2001; Vajta et al. 2001; Oback et al. 2003) was successfully used for horse (Galli et al. 2003). Although simple and efficient in farm animals, its application in the mouse met several problems (Ribas et al. 2005, 2006). The aim of our work was to produce cloned mice using HM1 embryonic stem (ES)cells adapting a zona-free method. Seven- to 24-week-old superovulated B6D2F1 female mice were used as oocytes donors. Cumulus cells were removed by 0.3% hyaluronidase and the zona pellucida by 0.5% pronase in KSOM-HEPES (KSOM-H) 1 h later (Ribas et al. 2006) or immediately after hyaluronidase treatment at 37°C. The HM1 ES cells were cultured in KnockOut DMEM supplemented with leukemia inhibitory factor and 15% fetal bovine serum with or without 2i (Ying et al. 2008) and were synchronized at M phase by 3 ng mL–1 nocodazole for 3 h before fusion. Only spherical cells were selected for NT. Metaphase II chromosome spindle complexes were removed by micromanipulation in KSOM-H medium with 5 μg mL–1 cytochalasin B. Lectin-treated enucleated oocytes were attached to the donor cells in KSOM-H with nocodazole and fused by 2 pulses of 1.3 kV cm–1 DC for 30 μs in 0.3 M mannitol medium. Following 10- to 15-min incubation in KSOM-H, the fusion was assessed and repeated if the constructs were nonfused. Cloned embryos were activated in 1 mM SrCl2 in Ca2+-free KSOM medium for 2 to 2.5 or 5 to 6 h and cultured in 20-μL KSOM droplets using the well-of-the-well (WOW) method (Vajta et al. 2000) under mineral oil at 37°C and 5% CO2. Day 4 compacted morulae and blastocysts were surgically transferred into the uterus of Day-2.5 pseudopregnant recipients that were sacrificed on Day 19.5 to examine fetal development. The donor mice age was important for oocyte survival: ~16% of oocytes of 7- to 10-week-old mice lysed before or during fusion in 33% of experiments (n experiments = 15), whereas oocytes of older mice were not sensitive to enzymatic treatment and electric impulses even after 3 fusion rounds (n = 19). The time of pronase treatment did not affect oocyte survival, whereas extending the time between hyaluronidase treatment and enucleation revealed self-activation in ~25% of oocytes. The fusion efficiency of ES cells was significantly lower compared with serum-starved fibroblasts (61%, n = 623 v. 100%, n = 80). The duration of SrCl2 treatment did not affect embryo development (cleavage: 82% v. 84%; Day 4 blastocysts: 49% v. 52%). ES cell culture with 2i increased Day 4 blastocyst development (60.7% v. 50.4%; P = 0.07), and their ability to implant (52.6% v. 38.2%; P = 0.06). Moreover, only NT embryos derived from 2i-ES cells developed to term (8.2%, n = 5; P = 0.08), and produced live fetuses (4.9%, n = 3). In light of these results, the fusion of ES cells remains the critical step in the mouse zona-free protocol. Partially supported by grant Superpig from Regione Lombardia.


Tertiary weathered sediments located immediately to the west of the harbor at Newhaven, Sussex, UK, were investigated by examination of major and trace elements by scanning electron microscope (SEM), microprobe, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), and the mineralogy was studied by optical petrography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), selective leaching, and thermodynamic modeling. Studied outcrops experienced acid leaching by sulfuric acid percolating downward through Tertiary sediments overlying Cretaceous chalk. The progressive neutralization of the percolating acid fluids resulted in "sequentially" layered neoformation of minerals: jarosite, iron oxides, aluminous minerals (sulfates, oxyhydroxides), gypsum, and Fe-Mn oxides. Substantial agreement was found between field observations and mineral assemblages obtained by modeling with the program CHILLER. These results suggest that the initial assumptions on the weathering process and mechanisms are correct. The relevance and implications of this study in the modeling of future denudation and weathering processes of radioactive waste-disposal sites (both deeply buried sites for high-leveI waste and surface sites for low-level waste) are discussed. Neoformed phases, such as jarosite, aluminous minerals, and silico-aluminous gels may play a significant role in the efficient trapping of mobilized pollutant radionuclides.


The national statutes on international commercial arbitration, the leges arbitri, do, as a rule, not contain provisions on costs. In the final award, an arbitrator has to determine the costs of the arbitration (the fees of the arbitral tribunals, of expert witnesses mandated by the arbitral tribunal etc.), which cost incurred by the parties during the arbitration are recoverable and which party has to bear what share of the costs. A decision on these issues forms part of the ordinary course of an arbitration. Further cost-related issues may arise due to the peculiarities of the case, such as a refusal of one of the parties to contribute to the financing of the arbitration. Resorting to agreements may provide a satisfactory means for certain decisions on costs in arbitration proceedings; this is by making use of the contractual nature of these agreements; by asking whether these agreements can be interpreted in a way that gives an answer to the issue at stake or as in the case of security for costs whether the contract may be amended to grant a motion for security for costs. It is submitted that the reasoning so achieved is at least as convincing and consistent as other approaches solicited by doctrine. Therefore, it is further submitted that this approach should be considered when an issue arises that is not addressed in the lex arbitri or the institutional arbitration rules .


The saturated riparian buffer (SRB) is a new and cost-effective conservation practice that diverts agricultural tile drainage toward subsurface discharge within riparian buffers to achieve nitrate (NO3-N) removal. Conservation planners want to understand the potential role of the SRB practice for reducing NO3-N loads from tile-drained agricultural watersheds. The Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) includes a tool for identifying riparian zones where the SRB practice can be installed with minimal risks of unintended consequences (i.e., crop inundation and streambank failure). Watershed assessment of the potential role for SRBs, however, must identify where SRB-suited sites can actually receive drainage from tile-drained fields. This study compared the extent of SRB-suited riparian sites among 32 Iowa watersheds, and estimated the proportion of each watershed that was tile drained and located above SRB-suited riparian zones. Results showed the extent of sites suited for SRBs did not significantly differ among three Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs) in Iowa, from which the selected watersheds were randomly chosen. Most watersheds had suitable sites along 30% to 70% of streambank lengths, where tile drainage from 15% to 40% of the watershed areas could be diverted, based on estimated extents of tile drainage above suitable sites. Therefore, the SRB has an important potential role for water quality improvement in many tile-drained watersheds in Iowa. However, the SRB practice is not readily designed for treating drainage from headwater catchments, which frequently comprised more than 30% of watershed areas in headwater streams of north central Iowa (MLRA 103), where tile drainage is extensive.


Fundamental understanding of the mass transport of petrochemical and biomass derived molecules in microporous and mesoporous solid catalysts is important for developing the next generation of heterogeneous catalysts for traditional hydrocarbon processing including biomass pyrolysis and upgrading. Hierarchical zeolites with both micropores and mesopores exhibit enhanced mass transport and unique catalytic performance in reactions involving large molecules. However, quantitative description of mass transport in such materials remains elusive, owing to the complicated structure of hierarchical pores and difficulty in the synthesis of the materials with controllable structures. In this work, zero length column chromatography (ZLC) was used to study temperature-dependent diffusion of cyclohexane in silicalite-1, self-pillared pentasil (SPP) zeolite, and three-dimensionally ordered mesoporous imprinted (3DOm-i) silicalite-1. The samples were synthesized with controllable characteristic diffusion lengths from micrometer scale (ca. 20 μm) to nanometer scale (ca. 2 nm), allowing systematic study of the effect of mesoporosity on the mass transport behavior of hierarchical zeolites. The results show that the introduction of mesoporosity can indeed significantly facilitate the mass transport of cyclohexane in hierarchical silicalite-1 by reducing diffusional time constants, indicating rapid overall adsorption and desorption. However, when the length scale of the material approaches several nanometers, the contribution from the surface resistance, or "surface barrier", to overall mass transfer becomes dominant.


The development of fluid inclusion geothermometry is described from its nineteenth century beginnings down to the present time. A method for the preparation of samples for fluid inclusion work and the experimental technique using the Leitz 1350 heating stage are described. The problems involved in obtaining representative geothermometric data are outlined. When a sample consists of well-formed crystals it is relatively easy to determine the thermal history of the sample but not so with massive material. A preliminary investigation was undertaken to assess the variation of data obtained from different sections cut from the one sample and on arbitrary grounds a minimum number of sections and of temperature measurements is suggested so that approximately representative data may be obtained. An investigation of the relationship between filling temperatures of fluid inclusions and the thickness of the enclosing section is described. It was found that on reducing the thickness of a section, the filling temperatures of inclusions decreased. Statistical tests showed the decrease in filling temperatures to be significant and it is suggested that the rate of heating adopted by the writer is too fast to allow equilibrium between the inclusion and the heating stage to be achieved and that the observed filling temperatures are somewhat higher than the actual filling temperatures. A preliminary investigation into the problems of leakage in fluid inclusions is described. Experiments showed that moderate overheating above the filling temperature of an inclusion did not cause leakage but that heating to 100°C. above the filling temperature usually induced leakage. A theory that over-heating may cause fluid to migrate into inter-atomic spaces and that, on cooling, this fluid may move back into the inclusion cavity was not proved. All the recent published works on British geothermometry are reviewed and the published data are compiled as an appendix.


Objective To better characterize the genetic factors, implicated in oxidative pathway, determining susceptibility to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), we assessed for the first time the potential role of NOS2A, HIF1A and NFKB1 polymorphisms on the risk of developing IBD in Moroccan population. Methods The distribution of (TAAA)n_rs12720460 and (CCTTT)n_rs3833912 NOS2A microsatellite repeats, HIF-1A_rs11549467 and NFKB1–94ins/delATTG_rs28362491 was analyzed in 507 subjects grouped in 199 IBD and 308 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed with polymerase chain reaction-fluorescent method and the TaqMan® allelic discrimination technology. Results The allele and genotype frequencies of HIF1A_rs11549467, NFKB1_rs28362491 and NOS2A_(TAAA)n did not differ significantly between patients and controls. Analysis of NOS2A_(CCTTT)n markers evidenced differences between patients and healthy controls. A preferential presence of the (CCTTT)8 (P=0.02; OR=1.71, 95%CI=1.07–2.74), (CCTTT)14 (P=0.02; OR=1.71, 95%CI=1.06–2.76) alleles in IBD, (CCTTT)8 (P=0.008; OR=1.95, 95%CI=1.17–3.23) in CD and (CCTTT)7 (P=0.009; OR = 7.61, 95%CI=1.25-46.08), (CCTTT)11 (P=0.05 ; OR= 0.51, 95%CI=0.25-1.01), (CCTTT)14 (P=0.02 ; OR= 2.05, 95%CI=1.07-3.94), (CCTTT)15 (P=0.01 ; OR= 2.25, 95%CI=1.16-4.35) repeats in UC patients indicated its possible association with higher disease risk which need to be confirmed in a larger sample size. Conclusion Our results suggest that the NOS2A_(CCTTT)n gene variations may influence IBD susceptibility in the Moroccan population.


These studies examined the role of sentence and visual context in the access to verb-complement information, using a new eye tracker and change blindness paradigm. Participants' eye movements were monitored as they viewed pictures of objects (Experiment 1) or dynamic scenes (Experiment 2), and listened to related sentences. In Experiment 1, two sets of sentences were contrasted, a highly constraining causative construction in which there was a close conceptual relation between the verb and its direct object (e.g., "The woman burned the candle ") and a neutral construction with a transitive perception verb (e.g., "The woman admired the candle "). Starting at three different points within the presentation of the verb (onset, middle, offset) and noun (onset, offset, offset+200 ms), participants' task was to look and indicate whether the target objects mentioned in the sentences (e.g., " candle ") were present in the visual displays. Results indicate that semantic information extracted at the verb can be used to constrain the domain of reference in the scene and in some cases predict the referent of the grammatical complement of the verb, depending on tasks demands, conceptual consolidation, of the scene, and the presence of competitor objects. In Experiment 2, two different classes of verbs were contrasted, denominal and non-denominal verbs, which either implicitly (e.g., "The woman will iron the shirt ") or explicitly (e.g., "The woman will chop the vegetables with the knife ") named the instrument nouns. These movies were edited, unbeknownst to the participants, so that the real referents of the verb's grammatical object (e.g., " shirt/vegetables ") or instrument (e.g., " iron/knife ") gradually dissolved. Participants' task was to provide a detailed description of each scene, and later perform a recognition task. Although results indicate that information extracted from the sentence helped identify, describe and remember scene details, visual context seems to take precedence over linguistic input properties in guiding eye movements. In conclusion, the processor appears to incrementally integrate all available knowledge, linguistic and non-linguistic, with the aim to rapidly interpret the linguistic description of what we see in the world and how we may interact with it.


The main aim of this paper was to investigate how diversity management was discursively constructed in the words of 10 human resource (HR) managers of Small and Medium Enterprises located in Apulia, South of Italy. Following a discursive approach to organizations and a critical and rhetorical methodological perspective, the study has taken into account how HR managers defined diversity, how their diversity discourses reflected existing managerial practices and underlying power relations, and how they reaffirmed or challenged those managerial practices and power relations. Specifically, diatextual analysis has been used to read the discursive data, as to catch the strict link between discourse, identity and context of talk. Results showed that most of the SMEs involved in the study were quite unfamiliar with diversity management and showed a rather theoretical approach to the topic. The discursive data collected highlighted an evident gap between the positive construction of workforce heterogeneity and the passive attitude showed in terms of HR management practices.


Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is the most common cause of acute paralysis in the United States. Campylobacter jejuni is a common trigger for GBS, igniting autoimmunity as a result of molecular mimicry between C. jejuni lipooligosaccharide (LOS) and host gangliosides. Evidence also suggests an active role for cell-mediated and innate immunity in pathogenesis of GBS. Infection alone is not enough for GBS to develop, infection with the same strain might yield different outcomes in different patients. C. jejuni strains with low to absent molecular mimicry to self-antigens can cause full-blown GBS with positive autoantibodies. A role for T helper 17 and IL-17 in acute phase of GBS is also identified. Currently, no biological treatment is validated for severe, ventilation-dependent patients with GBS, who might not benefit from either IVIG or plasma exchange therapy. Use of biologic agents in treatment-resistant GBS, especially anti-IL-17 agents, such as secukinumab, ixekizumab, and brodalumab, is to be hoped. This review covers up-to-date knowledge on autoimmune mechanisms responsible in different subtypes of GBS: acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and acute motor axonal neuropathy; as well as the experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN), a commonly used animal model of GBS.


Animal production efficiency, and product volume and quality can be greatly increased by reducing disease losses. Genetic variation, a prerequisite for successful selection, has been found in animals and poultry exposed to a variety of viral, bacterial and parasitic infections. Breeding for disease resistance can play a significant role alone or in combination with other control measures including disease eradication, vaccination and medication. Feasibility of simultaneously improving resistance to specific diseases and production traits has been demonstrated. However, selection for specific resistance to all diseases of animals and poultry is impossible. Development of general disease resistance through indirect selection primarily on immune response traits may be the best long-term strategy but its applicability is presently limited by insufficient understanding of resistance mechanisms. Another hindrance may be negative genetic correlations among various immune response functions: phagocytosis, cell mediated and humoral immunity. To better assess the feasibility of increasing general disease resistance by indirect selection we must obtain estimates of heritability for immune response, disease resistance, and economic production traits, as well as genetic correlations among these traits. The present level of disease resistance in farm animals resulted from natural selection and from correlated responses to selection for production traits while the influence of artificial selection for resistance was minimal. Future research should be directed towards developing and applying breeding techniques that will increase resistance to diseases without compromising production efficiency and product quality. This will require cooperation of immunogeneticists, veterinarians and animal and poultry breeders. Significant progress in the improvement of resistance to diseases may result from the application of new techniques of molecular genetics and cell manipulation.


Dictyostelium discoideum is a cellular slime mould. The extraordinary capacity of this group for multicellular organization has been studied by many workers. The development of a suitable chromosome staining procedure (Wilson, 1953 ; Wilson & Ross, 1955 ; Ross, 1960; Sussman, R.R. 1961) has focused interest on its cytogenetics. Examination of mitotic figures revealed the existence of haploid and diploid amoebae (Wilson & ROSS, 1957; ROSS, 1960) and the ploidal composition of a culture was found to be stable and clonally inherited (Ross, 1960; Sussman & Sussman, 1962). Three general types of strains have been encountered so far: (i) stable haploid, containing a negligible proportion of diploid derivatives ; (ii) stable diploid, containing a negligible proportion of haploid derivatives ; (iii) metastable strains containing appreciable proportions of both. The ploidal compositions of these strains are maintained during serial subcultures and clonal re-isolations. Properties of the three types of strains, including size distributions of spores and myxamoebae and certain morphogenetic capacities, were described by Sussman & Sussman (1962). They also specified some conditions under which each of the types could be isolated from the others. The present paper is concerned with a more detailed examination of the conditions of cultivation which permit the haploidization of stable diploid and metastable strains.


The Jones matrix calculus is applied to an electro-optic crystal with uniaxial symmetry when the light beam is incident nearly normally on the crystal face. The approach allows one to treat refracted waves and rays that diverge in the crystal and are modulated by an external low-frequency field. The effect of partial interference of overlapping refracted beams is allowed for and calculated for the case of uniform intensity of the beam over its cross section. The method is employed to analyze optical systems containing an imprecisely cut and aligned electro-optic crystal plate.


We provide evidence from a field experiment — a correspondence study — on age discrimination in hiring for retail sales jobs. We collect experimental data in all 50 states and then relate measured age discrimination — the difference in callback rates between old and young applicants — to variation across states in antidiscrimination laws offering protections to older workers that are stronger than the federal age and disability discrimination laws. We do a similar analysis for nonexperimental data on differences across states in hiring rates of older versus younger workers. The experimental evidence points consistently to evidence of hiring discrimination against older men and, more so, against older women. However, the evidence on the relationship between hiring discrimination against older workers and state variation in age and disability discrimination laws is not so clear; at a minimum, there is not a compelling case that stronger state protections reduce hiring discrimination against older workers. In contrast, the non-experimental evidence suggests that stronger disability discrimination protections increase the relative hiring of older workers.


Many studies have illustrated how digital media can facilitate political criticisms and protests, but recent scholarship has noted the ability of authoritarian states to control the Internet and undermine its oppositional character. This study focuses on the "hybrid regime" of Hong Kong, where the progovernment forces have tried to counteract the formation of an online counterpublic sphere by setting up numerous online outposts since the mid-2010s. It examines how exposure to progovernment online media content is related to political attitudes. In addition to a direct relationship, drawing on inoculation theory, this article contends that progovernment online media may also consolidate support for the government by neutralizing the influence of online alternative media. Survey data analysis shows that exposure to progovernment online media content indeed related to more conservative views, and the connection between online alternative media use and prodemocracy attitudes was weaker among older citizens regularly exposed to progovernment online media.


ABSTRACT The contribution that housing associations have made to public health in recent years is recognised within research and policy literature. This paper examines a partnership pilot intervention implemented by one housing association and one community healthcare service provider that aimed to improve the health and well-being of people with complex needs living in social housing stock in one area in England. The pilot delivered co-commissioned personalised support using a holistic model of care. This paper describes the pilot intervention and associated findings drawn from a mixed methods evaluation. The findings illustrate positive service user reports, including improved health and well-being, increased independence and reduced social isolation. The intervention was also associated with reduced use of community health-care services; with an estimated potential local net saving of £20,818 during the year of the pilot. In conclusion, this small-scale pilot intervention supported clients with complex health needs whilst reducing demands on community health-care services. Despite more research being needed in this area, particularly from larger and longer-term studies, this paper contributes to the evidence base by illustrating an effective health and housing practice-based partnership approach.


To compare the sensitivity of High-Fidelity (Hi-Fi) and standard PCR in detecting plant pathogens in symptomatic host plant tissue, four DNA extraction methods were tested in conjunction with a standard and two Hi-Fi PCR protocols. The DNA extraction methods were: 1) Extract-N-Amp Plant Kit (Sigma-Aldrich); 2) DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen), 3) CTAB buffer, and 4) lithium chloride Shorty buffer. Symptomatic tissues (i.e. leaf, petiole and root tissue) from selected diagnostic samples were submitted to each extraction method. DNA samples were then used for each PCR protocol applying species-specific primers: 1) Standard PCR; 2) Hi-Fi PCR using LongAmp enzyme; and 3) Hi-Fi PCR Taq+Accuzyme. DNA quantification using spectrophotometry indicated Extract-N-Amp and Shorty methods yielded the highest DNA amounts with lower purity. Both Hi-Fi PCR protocols were more sensitive than standard PCR. The Accuzyme protocol detected targeted plant pathogens in all samples using the DNeasy and Extractn- Amp methods, whereas the standard protocol detected the pathogen only in leaf samples by using the DNeasy kit. This study demonstrates that Hi-Fi PCR provides a highly sensitive tool for molecular diagnostics in planta, and that the DNA extraction method influences PCR sensitivity.


Evolutionary Genomics
Identifying genetic factors that contribute to trait variation among species is difficult. Weiss et al. developed a method for unbiased genome-scale mapping of trait differences and used it to work out how a range of yeast species evolved. When crossed, these yeast species produce sterile offspring, preventing the use of traditional genetic-mapping techniques. However, by reciprocal hemizygosity analysis via sequencing (RH-seq), alleles that contributed to differences in thermotolerance were spotted that diverged between two species. Surprisingly, these turned out to map to essential housekeeping genes. Thus, without taking a candidate locus approach, RH-seq allowed identification of genes responsible for traits that differ between species.

Nat. Genet. 50 , 1501 (2018).


Using the Tibet-III air shower array, we search for TeV γ-rays from 27 potential Galactic sources in the early list of bright sources obtained by the Fermi Large Area Telescope at energies above 100 MeV. Among them, we observe seven sources instead of the expected 0.61 sources at a significance of 2σ or more excess. The chance probability from Poisson statistics would be estimated to be 3.8 × 10−6. If the excess distribution observed by the Tibet-III array has a density gradient toward the Galactic plane, the expected number of sources may be enhanced in chance association. Then, the chance probability rises slightly, to 1.2 × 10−5, based on a simple Monte Carlo simulation. These low chance probabilities clearly show that the Fermi bright Galactic sources have statistically significant correlations with TeV γ-ray excesses. We also find that all seven sources are associated with pulsars, and six of them are coincident with sources detected by the Milagro experiment at a significance of 3σ or more at the representative energy of 35 TeV. The significance maps observed by the Tibet-III air shower array around the Fermi sources, which are coincident with the Milagro ⩾3σ sources, are consistent with the Milagro observations. This is the first result of the northern sky survey of the Fermi bright Galactic sources in the TeV region.


Temporary blood flow stoppage occurs in a greater percentage of the capillaries when blood flow to organs is reduced. Previous studies on the small intestine have suggested that acute blood stasis (≤10 min) results in expression of negative charge, not present when blood flow is brisk, on the luminal surface of mucosal capillaries. Negative surface charge would tend to reduce transcapillary passage of albumin from blood to interstitium, since albumin is also negatively charged. Here we test the hypothesis that acute blood stasis reduces the interstitial uptake of albumin from mucosal capillary networks in rat small intestine in situ. Animals were subjected to two treatments, which included intestinal blood flow and acute stasis. After each treatment, fluorescent albumins were perfused into the intestinal circulation, and then interstitial fluorescence was recorded using fluorescence microscopy. Images were later quantified by computer analysis. After brisk blood flow, but not after acute blood stasis, fluorescence rapidly appeared in the interstitium and resulted in higher interstitial fluorescence intensity values. These results may have relevance to the mechanisms by which albumin flux in the small intestine is synchronized with digestion and fasting, which are associated with high and low intestinal blood flow, respectively.


Hail has been identified as the largest contributor to insured losses from thunderstorms globally, with losses costing the insurance industry billions of dollars each year. Yet, of all precipitation types, hail is probably subject to the largest uncertainties. Some might go so far as to argue that observing and forecasting hail is as difficult, if not more difficult, than is forecasting tornadoes. The reasons why hail is challenging are many and varied and reflected by the fact that hailstones display a wide variety of shapes, sizes and internal structures. There is also an important clue in this diversity—nature is telling us that hail can grow by following a wide variety of trajectories within thunderstorms, each having a unique set of conditions. It is because of this complexity that modeling hail growth and forecasting size is so challenging. Consequently, it is understandable that predicting the occurrence and size of hail seems an impossible task.
 Through persistence, ingenuity and technology, scientists have made progress in understanding the key ingredients and processes at play. Technological advances mean that we can now, with some confidence, identify those storms that very likely contain hail and even estimate the maximum expected hail size on the ground hours in advance. Even so, there is still much we need to learn about the many intriguing aspects of hail growth.


In the opening chapters of A Daoist Theory of Chinese Thought, Chad Hansen prefaces his interpretation of how the Chinese language lends uniqueness to its philosophical tradition with a sharp contrast to Indo-European languages and thought. Hansen attempts to show how the Sanskrit language bestows on Indian Buddhism very similar epistemological, metaphysical, and mentalist dilemmas found in Western thought, whereas classical Chinese thought, owing to the structure of its language and attendant theories of language, is instructively free of these dilemmas. A correct appreciation of these differences both in languages and consequent theories of language, Hansen argues, will prevent us from making the mistake of taking Daoist thought to be a form of one-many, anti-rational, ineffable mysticism such as we find in the Buddhist tradition. This essay will attempt to show that the Indian Mahāyāna schools of thought that eventually became the most influential in China actually entertained theories of linguistic understanding that, in their various forms of conventionalism and constructivism, would more likely have struck classical Chinese philosophers as quite congenial, despite the vast differences in the languages of the two civilizations


A one-and-a-half-year-old, male neutered Pyrenean mountain dog was presented with bleeding after orchiectomy at a private veterinary practice. Drops of blood were emerging from the surgical site. Clinical evaluation evidenced slightly pale mucous membranes and a mildly elevated heart rate. Preoperative blood testing revealed a mild hyperlactataemia. Due to the haemorrhage, anaesthesia was induced for surgical ligation of the vessel. During dissection of the testicular vessels, repeated episodes of sudden sustained ventricular tachycardia (heart rate >190 beats per minute, lasting about one minute) and hypotension were observed. Despite repeated intravenous lidocaine boluses (8 mg/kg total) and a constant rate infusion (80 μg/kg/minute), the ventricular tachycardia did not cease. After an intravenous magnesium infusion, a sinus rhythm returned within 20 minutes of administration. In view of ventricular tachycardia resistant to conventional therapies, magnesium administration might be a safe adjuvant pharmacological option, as described in the case herein.


The recent studies aimed to evaluate the effect of obliteration of dead space with suture fixation of the skin flaps in patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy with volume of seroma as the indicators. Factors that were evaluated including T status, N status, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, axillary dissection techniques and obesity. The result showed that the higher value of T, N, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the use of scissors and obesity will increase the volume of seroma.


We present a two-step lagrange interpolation method for the efficient solution of large-scale electromagnetics problems with the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA). Local interpolations are required during aggregation and disaggregation stages of MLFMA in order to match the different sampling rates for the radiated and incoming fields in consecutive levels. The conventional one-step method is decomposed into two one-dimensional interpolations, applied successively. As it provides a significant acceleration in processing time, the proposed two-step method is especially useful for problems involving large-scale objects discretized with millions of unknowns.


In this article, the authors offer their perspective about online learning. In general, we know that online learning develops through interaction and that it's a collaborative process where students actively engage in writing and reading messages among themselves and with the instructor. However, it's also well known that in any online community, not all users are equally active, and there are indeed people who never take an active part-the so-called lurkers. This article focuses on the lurkers; the authors ran extensive experiments to demonstrate whether there's a relationship between the writing and reading behavior of online students and whether active participation influences learning efficiency. An interesting related result that emerged from the study is that the effort of the instructor in terms of reading and writing posts is higher than that of the learners themselves.


This paper proposes adequate methods to improve the interference mitigation capability of a recently investigated switched-based interference reduction scheme in short-range open-access and over-loaded femtocells. It is assumed that the available orthogonal channels for the femtocell network are distributed among operating access points in close vicinity, where each of which knows its allocated channels a priori. For the case when the feedback links are capacity-limited and the available channels can be universally shared and simultaneously used, the paper presents enhanced schemes to identify a channel to serve the desired scheduled user by maintaining the interference power level within a tolerable range. They attempt to either complement the switched-based scheme by minimum interference channel selection or adopt different interference thresholds on available channels, while aiming to reduce the channels examination load. The performance of the proposed schemes is quantified and then compared with those of the single-threshold switched-based scheme via numerical and simulation results.


All studies confirm IBS is one of the most common problems in medical practice, and the most common in gastroenterologic practice, underdiagnosed in many cases, misdiagnosed in others. In our country there are no studies published to describe the prevalence of symptoms of IBS. Our objective was to evaluate the prevalence of Manning s Criteria, in an apparently healthy population, of high socioeconomical level, from Lima. We carried-out a cross-sectional study of prevalence in 300 subjects from 5 districts of higher socioeconomical level of Lima. We found 78 persons with lower bowel symptoms (26%). The most frequent symptom-criterion in this population was mucus in stools, meanwhile the least frequent was the increase in frequency. We do not find differences between frequency of symptoms with depression associated, sex, age, nor districts. Our frequency of symptoms is not in accord with traditionally described in this syndrome.


In the past ten years, engineering classrooms have seen an exponential growth in the use of technology, more than during any other previous decade. Unprecedented advancements, such as the advent of innovative gadgets and fundamental instructional alterations in engineering classrooms, have introduced changes in both teaching and learning. Student learning in introductory, fundamental engineering mechanics (IFEM) courses, such as statics of engineering, mechanics of materials, dynamics, and mechanics of fluids, as in any other class, is influenced by the experiences students go through in the classroom. Thus, bold new methodologies that connect science to life using student-centered approaches and scaffolding pedagogies need to be emphasized more in the learning process. This study is aimed to gain insight into the role of student-centered teaching, particularly the implementation of scaffolding pedagogies into IFEM courses. This study also attempts to contribute to the current national conversation in engineering education of the need to change its landscape—from passive learning to active learning. Demographic characteristics in this study included a total of 3,592 students, of whom 3,160 (88.0%) are males and 432 (12.0%) are females, over a period of six years, from 2007 to 2013. The students' majors included aerospace engineering, agricultural engineering, civil engineering, construction engineering, industrial engineering, materials engineering, and mechanical engineering.
Results of the study, as tested using a general linear univariate model analysis, indicated that overwhelmingly the type of class in statics of engineering is a significant predictor of student "downstream" performance in tests measuring their knowledge of mechanics of materials. There is a statistically significant difference in students' performance in mechanics of materials depending on whether they were taught passively using the teacher-centered pedagogy or taught actively using the student-centered pedagogy in statics of engineering. Mechanics of materials is commonly the next immediate course, or a downstream course, following statics of engineering.


ABSTRACT Differently substituted hetaryl thioketones react with less reactive diazoketones under microwave (MW) irradiation in toluene solution. After only 2 min, the reactions were complete and, depending on the type of the used diazoketone, α,β-unsaturated ketones, acyl substituted thiiranes or 1,3-oxathioles were obtained as final products. In the case of azibenzil and di(thiophen-2-yl) thioketone, a new type of 1,5-dipolar electrocyclization of the intermediate thiocarbonyl ylide involving a thiophene ring led to a fused sulfur heterocycle. In contrast to hetaryl thioketones, the ferrocenyl analogues decompose under MW irradiation. Alternatively, they react with diazopropanone and 2-diazo-1-phenylethanone in boiling THF in the presence of LiClO4 to give α,β-unsaturated ketones as sole products. In these cases, the reactions require long reaction times. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Background: Histological characteristics of endometrial biopsy material as assessed by light microscopy remain the diagnostic standard for the clinical diagnosis of endometrial pathology. Management of abnormal uterine bleeding is not complete without tissue diagnosis. The aim of the study was to find out the histopathological pattern of the endometrium in abnormal uterine bleeding. Materials and Methods: Endometrial biopsy specimens received from Jan 2007 to Nov 2010 were studied retrospectively in the Department of Histopathology, Helping Hands Community Hospital, Kathmandu. The specimens were routinely processed and the hematoxyllin and eosin stained slides were studied. Results: A total of 300 specimens were analyzed. In the group of patients less than 40 years of age, 73 (50%) were normal, 34(23%) had abnormal physiologic changes and 13 (9%) had pregnancy related complications and benign changes. In the age group between 40 – 55 years, abnormal physiological changes, benign conditions and normal physiological changes were 45 (32%), 41 (29%) and 37 (26%) respectively. In the age group > 55 years, there were 3(21%) malignant and 3(21%) benign conditions. There were 5(36%) unsatisfactory samples in this age group. Conclusion: It is important to know the histological pattern of the endometrium in abnormal uterine bleeding in different age groups since it will help in the management of the cases. In this study endometrial hyperplasias were seen in 55 cases (18.8%). The importance of studying the histological pattern of endometrium in abnormal uterine bleeding in different age group is to help in correctly managing the cases. Keywords: Endometrium; Simple hyperplasia; Complex hyperplasia; Endometritis; Endometrial Carcinoma. DOI: 10.3126/jpn.v1i1.4443 Journal of Pathology of Nepal (2011) Vol.1, 13-16


In this study, four nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Nitro-PAHs), 1-nitropyrene (1-NP),2-nitrofluorene (2-NF), 9-nitroanthracene(9-NA) and 3-nitrofluoranthene (3-NFl) were quantified in particulate matter collected at six different functional area sites in Dongguan, China, between December 2010 and April 2011. The results showed that concentration levels of nitro-PAHs at the heavy traffic site (DaLing Shan) were higher than those at other sites. Nitro-PAHs were lower in winter than those in spring. Other atmospheric constituents, such as O3, NOx, NO2 were also recorded (not at all sampling sites) in order to investigate their correlations with nitro-PAHs concentrations. The results showed that 2-NF and 3-NFl were mostly presented positive correlation with NOx and NO2, but negative correlation with O3. There was no significant correlation between 1-NP, 9-NA and the O3, NOx and NO2.


Intracerebral inoculation of resistant mice (C57BL/10SNJ) with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) results in acute encephalitis followed by subsequent clearance of virus from the central nervous system (CNS). In contrast, infection of susceptible mice (SJL/J) results in virus persistence and chronic immune-mediated demyelination. Both resistance and susceptibility to TMEV-induced disease appear to be immune mediated, since immunosuppression results in enhanced encephalitis in resistant mice but diminished demyelination in susceptible mice. The purpose of these experiments was to determine whether anti-TMEV cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are generated during acute and chronic TMEV infection. Nonspecific lectin-dependent cellular cytotoxicity was used initially to detect the cytolytic potential of lymphocytes infiltrating the CNS irrespective of antigen specificity. Using TMEV-infected targets, H-2-restricted TMEV-specific CTLs of the CD8+ phenotype were demonstrated in lymphocytes from the CNS of susceptible and resistant mice, arguing against the hypothesis that the ability to generate CD8+ CTLs mediates resistance. In chronically infected SJL/J mice, TMEV-specific CTL activity was detected in the CNS as late as 226 days postinfection. These experiments demonstrate that virus-specific CTLs are present in the CNS during both acute and chronic TMEV infection. Anti-TMEV CTLs in the CNS of chronically infected SJL/J mice may play a role in demyelination through their ability to lyse TMEV-infected glial cells.


BACKGROUND
Patients want electronic access to providers. Providers fear being overwhelmed by unreimbursed messages.

OBJECTIVE
Measure the effects of patient-physician web messaging on primary care practices.

DESIGN/SETTING
Retrospective analysis of 6 case and 9 control internal medicine (IM) and family practice (FP) physicians' message volume, and a survey of 5,971 patients' web messaging with 267 providers and staff in 16 community primary care clinics in the Sacramento, CA region.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Case telephone volume was 18.2% lower (P=.002) and fell 6.50 times faster than control. Case total telephone plus web message volume was 13.7% lower (P=.025) and fell 5.84 times faster than control. Surveys were responded to by 40.3% (1,743/4,320) of patients and 61.4% (164/267) of providers and staff. Patients were overwhelmingly satisfied and providers and staff were generally satisfied; both found the system easy to use. Patient satisfaction correlated strongly with provider response time (Gamma=0.557), and provider/staff satisfaction with computer skills (Gamma=0.626) (Goodman-Kruskal Gamma [Gamma] measure of ordinal association).

CONCLUSIONS
Secure web messaging improves on e-mail with encryption, access controls, message templates, customized message and prescription routing, knowledge content, and reimbursement. Further study is needed to determine whether reducing telephone traffic through the use of web messaging decreases provider interruptions and increases clinical efficiency during the workday. Satisfaction with web messaging may increase patient retention.


In this paper, the authors critically examine some of the findings from a current research conducted in central India on 'Developmental NGOs' communication with their stakeholders'. These findings relate to NGOs' collecting developmental information on their target communities before, during and after a development initiative and passing this data on to their funding agencies. It brings into focus (a) the information demands from the funding sources, and (b) Developmental NGOs' communication with their target communities with respect to collecting this information. This raises questions in information ethics like, What are the ethics regarding the use of information on communities and other groups? How aware are the communities of their information being used potentially for purposes unrelated to current developmental projects under which the data was collected in the first place? Findings show that while all of the (NGO) respondents to this research collect very detailed information on communities while acknowledging that it is vital for successful implementation of their development programmes, they have no recognition of the value of their information gathering activity or of the contents' value to other institutional entities apart from their funding sources. Then there are questions around ownership and control—Who owns this information and who is accountable for its use and proper disposal? It is evidenced that a significant amount of resources go into detailed reporting so what justifies the financial and other resources employed in collecting and processing all that information—a funder imposed activity— which often distracts from pursuing the objectives of the intended social change through a developmental initiative? The paper discusses the implications of this information gathering activity and of the content being passed into other domains for further processing and use. The discussion also models Developmental NGOs' institutional growth which generally passes as 'capacities building' but ties in with the information generation activity; for instance, building better documentation capabilities apparently translating into transparency and credibility of the NGO, yet also leading to funding sources receiving concise workable information for use not limited to developmental initiatives. Among other controversial aspects around information ethics, it brings into question whether development is pursued as an end in itself or a means to achieve some other objective(s) which have their roots in the neo-liberal ideology, and reside elsewhere in the chain of powerful stakeholders in development.


We describe herein a detailed study of the inclusion processes of several positively charged organometallic sandwich complexes inside the aromatic cavity of the self-folding octaamide cavitand 1. In all cases, the binding process produces aggregates with a simple 1:1 stoichiometry. The resulting inclusion complexes are not only thermodynamically stable, but also kinetically stable on the (1)H NMR spectroscopy timescale. The binding constants for the inclusion complexes were determined by different titration techniques. We have also investigated the kinetics of the binding process and the motion of the metallocenes included in the aromatic cavity of the host. Using DFT-based calculations, we have evaluated the energies of a diverse range of potential binding geometries for the complexes. We then computed the proton chemical shifts of the included guest in each one of the binding geometries. The agreement between the averaged computed values and the experimentally determined chemical shifts clearly supports the proposed binding geometries that we assigned to the inclusion complexes formed in solution. The combination of experimental and theoretical results has allowed us to elucidate the origins of the distinct features detected in the complexation process of the different guests, as well as their different motions inside the host.


The nature and cause of the so-called 2.8 kyr BP event have been a subject of much debate. Peat sequences have provided much of the evidence for this event, but the process link between climate and peatland response is not well understood. Multiproxy, high-resolution analysis of a core from Bargerveen in the eastern Netherlands based on pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, testate amoebae and geochemistry identified an abrupt shift from relatively dry to extremely wet conditions. Radiocarbon-based wiggle-match dating (WMD) and biostratigraphy based on the pollen record show that this shift in local hydrology occurred around 2800 cal. yr BP. We interpret an erosional hiatus lasting up to 950 years immediately prior to this, as the effect of a bog burst after excessive rainfall. This phenomenon was not limited to our sampling location but occurred over a large part of the former Bargerveen. Peat at the hiatus contains microfossils that reflect temporary eutrophication as a consequence of local fires and secondary decomposition because of increased drainage after the erosion event. Our data show how detailed multiproxy analyses can elucidate the past response of peatlands to changing climate and suggest that the climatic change in northwest Europe at this time caused major non-linear disruption to these ecosystems.