Interview with Colin McLeod, born in Auckland in 1921. Talks about his family background including his immigrant grandparents and his engineer father. Comments on growing up in Karori in the late 1920s and 1930s, riding in trams, attending Wellington College, and socialising through Presbyterian Bible class. Recalls sailing to Lyttleton on an interisland ferry when he heard that war had been declared (he was a student at the Canterbury Engineering School). Refers to working in the Public Works Department after graduation designing coastal defence works, but being released to the army after the Battle of the Coral Sea. Comments on the presence of American servicemen in Wellington, and on news reports about battles in North Africa.
Refers to undertaking officer training at Trentham in 1943, return to the Feilding camp for several months after he was commissioned, but being decommissioned before being sent overseas in January 1944 in the eleventh reinforcements. Talks about joining the New Zealand Division and being shipped to Bari in Italy in April 1944 where he joined the 5th Field Park Company at Caserta south of Cassino. Mentions assignment to the 6th Field Company, being made a sergeant in a section of men who had already seen action. Talks about moving to Mignano and Venafro and then further north to Montaquila, in areas where Germans still controlled the hilltops. Discusses the advance north after the Germans withdrew and his platoon being with a cavalry division when they liberated the town of Avezzano. Refers to a rest period for the New Zealand Division in the Sora area where they held swimming sports in an industrial water tank. Discusses moving north to Rome, Siena and Florence, advancing during the day. Describes the types of jobs the Engineers did and the fact that they were not often in forward defence localities. Discusses their work with lines of communication, checking around demolitions, and repairing roads, culverts and bridges. Comments on the role of bulldozers, Bailey bridges and Kiwi ingenuity. Talks about awareness of mines and types of anti-personnel mines. Discusses close encounters with Germans at night when out on jobs. Refers to the informality of the New Zealand Engineers compared with their British counterparts. Comments on how the sappers made themselves comfortable and could carry all their personal gear in their transport instead of having to leave things behind as the infantry did. Mentions they were sometimes issued rations by the units they were working with as well as by their sapper company. Describes a day in the life of a sapper in north Italy, personal hygiene, food, and the Benghazi burners the sappers made to cook their food and heat water. Comments on their contact with local Italians, picking up some conversational Italian and having their laundry done by local women. Explains how the sappers got information on the broader picture of the war.
Mentions assignment to Company Headquarters under Fred Hanson, promotion to Second Lieutenant again and working as a liaison officer checking and reporting on tasks such as bridge sites. Comments on the challenges of getting the armour across the flat Po valley, which had many streams and channels, using a minimal amount of bridging material. Refers to the development of low-level bridges. Discusses the assault on the Senio which began with a massive bombing attack, the advance to Trieste, and tensions with Tito's partisans. Recalls they all slept rather than celebrated when VE Day arrived because of exhaustion. Talks about a trip with Fred Hanson in his car through Austria and to Munich, other trips with friends in Italy, and a leave trip to England. Mentions he was assigned to the 5th Engineer Company to go to Japan, and sailing in March 1946. Talks about passing through the ruins of Hiroshima, being a maintenance engineer in western Japan, and being impressed by Japanese technology. Refers to arriving home in September 1946 and getting married. Comments on readjusting to civilian life and returning to the Public Works Department.
Interviewer(s) - Liz Catherall
Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-016711 - OHC-016719
Quantity: 9 C60 cassette(s). 1 transcript(s) (edited transcript). 9 Electronic document(s) (edited transcript). 1 interview(s) over 4 days. 8.26 Hours and minutes Duration.
Physical Description: Word processing documents - Microsoft word
Finding Aids: Abstract Available - transcript(s) available edited transcripts, OHA-5981 OHDL-000264.
Printout (A4) of a scanned image of a black and white photograph of Colin McLeod in uniform; 2 recent colour photographs of Colin McLeod
Search dates: 1921 - 1939 - 2003 - 1946


Background The question of whether a score for a specific antiretroviral (e.g. lopinavir/r in this analysis) that improves prediction of viral load response given by existing expert-based interpretation systems (IS) could be derived from analyzing the correlation between genotypic data and virological response using statistical methods remains largely unanswered. Methods and Findings We used the data of the patients from the UK Collaborative HIV Cohort (UK CHIC) Study for whom genotypic data were stored in the UK HIV Drug Resistance Database (UK HDRD) to construct a training/validation dataset of treatment change episodes (TCE). We used the average square error (ASE) on a 10-fold cross-validation and on a test dataset (the EuroSIDA TCE database) to compare the performance of a newly derived lopinavir/r score with that of the 3 most widely used expert-based interpretation rules (ANRS, HIVDB and Rega). Our analysis identified mutations V82A, I54V, K20I and I62V, which were associated with reduced viral response and mutations I15V and V91S which determined lopinavir/r hypersensitivity. All models performed equally well (ASE on test ranging between 1.1 and 1.3, p = 0.34). Conclusions We fully explored the potential of linear regression to construct a simple predictive model for lopinavir/r-based TCE. Although, the performance of our proposed score was similar to that of already existing IS, previously unrecognized lopinavir/r-associated mutations were identified. The analysis illustrates an approach of validation of expert-based IS that could be used in the future for other antiretrovirals and in other settings outside HIV research.


Very fine particles which cannot be fluidized by means of a flowing gas alone because of entrainment may be effectively individualized and retained in the bed through a combination of gas at low rate flow and mechanical vibrations of selected frequency and amplitude. A mixture of very fine particles may be fluidized and successfully separated and/or concentrated by means of electrostatic fields. Results are presented of a factorial experiment in which the conditions of temperature, humidity, and voltage were investigated for the separation of a (50-50 by weight) synthetic mixture of iron and glass powder of particle size ranging from 15-45¿m. A new and highly efficient particle collection mechanism is introduced, and mathematical models of the process are presented as part of the optimization work.


Contrast enhancement is an important preprocessing step for the analysis of microscopy images. The main aim of contrast enhancement techniques is to increase the visibility of the cell structures and organelles by modifying the spatial characteristics of the image. In this paper, phase information-based contrast enhancement framework is proposed to overcome the limitations of existing image enhancement techniques. Inspired by the groundbreaking design of the phase contrast microscopy (PCM), the proposed image enhancement framework transforms the changes in image phase into the variations of magnitude to enhance the structural details of the image and to improve visibility. In addition, the concept of selective variation (SV) technique is introduced and enhancement parameters are optimized using SV. The experimental studies that were carried out on microscopy images show that the proposed scheme outperforms the baseline enhancement frameworks. The contrast enhanced images produced by the proposed method have comparable cellular texture structure as PCM images.


San Francisco - Researchers have successfully induced hypospadias in mice, an accomplishment that observers say provides more compelling evidence in support of the endocrine disruptor hypothesis as an explanation for the increase in hypospadias observed over the past 30 years.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Undernutrition is very common in elderly patients with a hip fracture. Malnutrition is associated with increased risk of complications after surgery. Few data exist about the presence of nutritional risk in these patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of undernutrition and the nutritional risk in elderly patients with a hip fracture admitted to a hospital.

PATIENTS AND METHOD
A cross sectional study assessing the nutritional status of 80 patients with hip fracture (mean age 80 years) was carried out. Functional capacity, anthropometric measurements, biochemical markers and dietary intake were evaluated. The Mini Nutritional Assessment test has been used to detect nutritional risk.

RESULTS
8.8% of patients were undernourished. 43.7% at risk of malnutrition and 47.5% well-nourished according to MNA test. If only BMI was considered the prevalence of malnutrition was 5%. Energy and micronutrient intake was low and could contribute to the development of complications after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows a high prevalence of nutritional risk in elderly patients with a hip fracture. The inclusion of MNA in the preoperative evaluation could contribute to a better nutritional intervention during their stay in the hospital and to provide specific dietary advices to avoid malnutrition after surgery.


The first-semester mathematics course, Engineering Mathematics 1, for first-year aerospace and mechanical engineering students revises fundamental topics, most of which are on the A-level syllabus. While students with A-level grade B or C tend to achieve marks over a wide range in this course, it has been particularly noticeable that students with alternative entry qualifications (such as National Diplomas) struggle greatly. This is of concern given the high level of mathematical content in other first-year modules. The University's Learning Development Service (LDS) offers academic support on various topics including maths, writing and study skills. Students can avail of one-toone appointments (including via Skype) or workshops but it is usually left to students to take the initiative in contacting the Service. In 2011/12, a weekly, one-hour session of maths support was arranged, with input from the LDS, for students without A-level maths who were enrolled on Engineering Mathematics 1 to assist their progress. Two groups containing four aerospace and four mechanical students were organised. The students worked through practice questions and had opportunity to discuss mathematical problems from other modules. Student attendance averaged 56% but varied greatly – three students each attended only one of the ten sessions, three came to at least nine sessions. Module results also showed much variation and no correlation with attendance at the support classes is apparent. Provision of maths support should continue, probably more time should be allocated, an informal atmosphere with much one-to-one help is necessary and students with common backgrounds should be grouped together.


In different countries of Europe, Asia and America the plants containing diterpenoid alkaloids have been used on the folk medicine from ancient time. Aconitum and Delphinium plants (Ranunculaceae family) and their extracts are used in the Eastern medicine at present as antirheumatic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and other remedies. More 50 species of Aconitum (300 worlwide) and 100 species of Delphinium (450 worldwide) are growing on the territory of Former Soviet Union countries, including Russia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
We investigated analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of individual diterpenoid alkaloids isolated from Aconitum and Delphinium species widespread in the Central Asia and revealed 25 promising substances. Analgesic activity was investigated in the conventional tests for displaying analgesics with central mechanisms of analgesia (hot plate) and peripheral mechanisms (acetic writhing). Anti-inflammatory activity was studied in rat formalin test.
By comparison of analgesic activity of investigated alkaloids and underly mechanisms of their pharmacological action we divided them on the following types: activators of potential-gated Na+-channels of neurons cause shifting of the threshold of Na+-current towards membrane hyperpolarization and destroy neuronal conductivity; blockers of potential-gated Na+-channels cause inhibition of the fast intake Na+-current without changing of its activation threshold; blockers of N-cholinoreceptors.


The purpose of this article is to describe and illustrate an approach that facilitates a study of power and governing processes in teachers' and students' interactive actions and dealings. This approach is inspired by Foucault's work on power and the research field emanating from the concept of governmentality. The approach is illustrated through an analysis of texts of teacher and student interactions derived from video-recorded physical education lessons conducted in Swedish nine-year compulsory schools. This analysis is used to demonstrate how governing processes appear in Physical Education practices, and the socialisation content of this governance. Here the term socialisation content refers to the direction of governance, which constitutes a discursive resource for the constitution of particular forms of subjectivity.


In the field of antimicrobial therapy, few areas have created more debate and controversy than the subject of antibiotic prophylaxis for infective endocarditis. Firstly, there still exists considerable controversy about the efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics for prevention of bacterial endocarditis. Secondly, dental surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, cardiologists and endoscopists have differing opinions regarding indications for pre-procedural prophylactic antibiotics against infective endocarditis. The British have a different set of recommendations from the Americans although the basic tenets on which these recommendations are founded are similar. This article summarises the updated recommendations issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) as well as those from the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. A short discussion of the use of prophylactic antibiotics prior to endoscopy and surgery for patients with non-valvular prosthetic devices has been included in this paper. Practitioners should also be reminded that these recommendations are issued as guidelines and clinical judgement must be exercised when dealing with individual patients.


A review of splenic injuries at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center from July 1978 to June 1980 revealed this form of injury in 29 patients. Treatment without surgery was successful in 21 patients. Seven patients required operation. One patient died shortly after admission of severe associated injuries. All patients admitted with blunt abdominal trauma were initially treated conservatively. If the clinical state improved, after transfusions if necessary, or remained stable and there were no objective signs of further blood loss, conservative therapy was continued. Liver-spleen scans were obtained on an urgent basis to confirm the diagnosis of splenic injury in patients who did not undergo surgery. No complications of treatment without surgery were recognized. The satisfactory outcome in these patients suggests that there is a place for treatment without surgery in some children with splenic injury.


Fingerprint image enhancement is an essential preprocessing step in fingerprint recognition application. There are many authors proposed the different fingerprint enhancement methods. Most present well-known methods are base on Gabor filters. However, the present proposed Gabor filters almost can not be efficient in some cases such as: the local orientation changes rapidly and the fingerprint image is heavily noisy. This paper proposes a novel filter design technique based on the orientation consistency to improve the Gabor filter with the aim that achieves higher efficiency in clarifying the high curvature ridges of the noisy fingerprint images. It is called Adaptive Orientation Consistency-based Gabor filter (AOC-BGF). Actually, this is the technique which tunes adaptively the Gabor filter window size based on analyzing the orientation consistency. The orientation consistency describes how well the orientations over a neighborhood are consistent with the dominant orientation. The performance of the minutiae detection process on the database FVC2004 DB4 shows the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.


We consider the application of a perfectly matched layer (PML) technique to approximate solutions to the elastic wave scattering problem in the frequency domain. The PML is viewed as a complex coordinate shift in spherical coordinates (cf. [6, 2]), which leads to a variable complex coefficient equation for the displacement vector posed on an infinite domain (the complement of the scatterer). The rapid decay of the PML solution suggests truncation to a bounded domain with a convenient outer boundary condition and subsequent finite element approximation (for the truncated problem). We prove existence and uniqueness of the solutions to the infinite domain and truncated domain PML equations (provided that the truncated domain is sufficiently large). We also show exponential convergence of the solution of the truncated PML problem to the solution of the original scattering problem in the region of interest. We then analyze a Galerkin numerical approximation to the truncated PML problem and prove that it is well posed provided that the PML damping parameter and mesh size are small enough. Finally, computational results illustrating the efficiency of the finite element PML approximation are presented.


Background: It has been estimated that a substantial portion of chronic and noncommunicable diseases can be caused or exacerbated by exposure to environmental chemicals. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that early life exposure to environmental chemicals at relatively low concentrations could have lasting effects on individual and population health. Although the potential adverse effects of environmental chemicals are known to the scientific community, regulatory agencies, and the public, little is known about the mechanistic basis by which these chemicals can induce long-term or transgenerational effects. To address this question, epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as the potential link between genetic and environmental factors of health and disease. Objectives: We present an overview of epigenetic regulation and a summary of reported evidence of environmental toxicants as epigenetic disruptors. We also discuss the advantages and challenges of using epigenetic biomarkers as an indicator of toxicant exposure, using measures that can be taken to improve risk assessment, and our perspectives on the future role of epigenetics in toxicology. Discussion: Until recently, efforts to apply epigenomic data in toxicology and risk assessment were restricted by an incomplete understanding of epigenomic variability across tissue types and populations. This is poised to change with the development of new tools and concerted efforts by researchers across disciplines that have led to a better understanding of epigenetic mechanisms and comprehensive maps of epigenomic variation. With the foundations now in place, we foresee that unprecedented advancements will take place in the field in the coming years. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6104


OBJECTIVE
To report the clinical and echocardiographic findings of bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombosis and the value of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in its diagnosis and monitoring of thrombolysis.

METHODS
One hundred and eleven patients with mitral bioprostheses underwent TEE, and 4 out of 7 suspected of having a thrombus on these prostheses were included in the study (mean age = 60.2+/-10.2 years; 2 men). The diagnosis was confirmed with serial TEE and clinical evolution. The morphologic features of the prosthetic leaflets, as well as the presence and characteristics of attached echogenic masses were investigated. The mean gradient through the prosthesis and the valvular area were obtained.

RESULTS
The diagnosis of bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombosis was established 48.7+/-55.2 months after surgery. Two patients had ischemic stroke in the early postoperative period. The mean overall gradient was high (11.4+/-3 mmHg) and the valvular area reduced (1.24+/-0.3 cm2). On TEE, echogenic masses on the left ventricular face of the mitral bioprosthesis suggestive of thrombus were evidenced in all patients. On serial TEE (136+/-233 days), in 2 patients the thrombus had disappeared and in 2 others it was smaller after treatment, the mean gradient dropped to 6.2+/-3 mmHg (P = 0.004; 95% CI), and the valvular area increased to 2.07+/-0.4 (P = NS).

CONCLUSION
TEE proved to be useful for detecting bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombosis and was effective in monitoring the treatment in all patients.


A wide variety of materials are currently under consideration for use in biomedical implants. Within the scope of certain implants is the need to withstand extensive wear created by repeated use and pressure on high stress joints. Substantial research is directed toward metal-onmetal technology and cobalt chrome molybdenum (CoCrMo) is a prime candidate given its longevity [1]. Wear-resistant surface coatings for the standard CoCrMo biomedical alloy may be a simple and effective way to extend implant lifetime. In this study, we show that an initial plasma nitriding step for CoCrMo alloy is beneficial for attaining adhesion of a nanostructured diamond coating subsequently grown by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The initial plasma nitriding step is quickly and easily performed in the CVD reactor and results in the formation of chromium nitride phases (CrN, Cr2N) as well as a phase transformation of cobalt from hexagonal to face centered cubic. We suggest that the success in terms of achieving adhesion of the diamond coating to the CoCrMo alloy involves chromium nitride phases acting as a diffusion barrier to carbon, thus preventing direct reaction of carbon with cobalt and the extensive graphitization that would follow.


Summary
Local adaptation is a fundamental assumption in delineating seed zones and developing seed transfer guidelines to safeguard climatic adaptation of tree and plant species during forest regeneration and ecological restoration. It is also broadly assumed for forest tree species that show genetic differentiation among geographic populations, especially for those with widespread natural distributions that occur in distinct environments.
However, due to a scarcity of suitable data, the inference of local adaptation has rarely been validated for forest tree species through reciprocal transplant experiments (RTEs). In this study, we illustrate a novel approach to restructure tree provenance test data to conform to RTEs and use recently proposed statistical models to detect local adaptation, using white spruce Picea glauca (Moench) Voss as an example. Our research demonstrates how similar studies can be conducted to validate local adaptation in other forest species and populations, for which RTEs are lacking, but where large, high-quality provenance test data sets are available.
Contrary to common belief, our results show that local adaptation is absent in survival and height for white spruce populations from Ontario, Canada, although they have evolved in considerably different climatic habitats, and exhibit substantial and clinal genetic differentiation and significant genotype-by-environment interactions in these two adaptive traits.
Synthesis and applications. Our results show that the common assumption of local adaptation in forest tree species may not necessarily be correct within significant portions of their natural range. In forest genetic studies, population differentiation in adaptive traits has often been attributed to local adaptation without rigorous validation. Our results caution against such interpretation of experimental results. In the absence of local adaptation as shown by reciprocal transplant experiments, assisted migration may be considered as an option for enhancing forest adaptation to climate change.


The study was undertaken to find out the export potentialities of selected vegetables and import substitution of selected spices in Bangladesh. Seven hundred twenty vegetables and 320 spices growers, 25 suppliers, and 25 exporters were randomly selected for the study.Net margin analysis was done on both variable and total cost basis. Domestic resource cost (DRC) analysis was also done for estimating comparative advantage of the selected vegetables and spices. The study revealed that net returns were positive for all vegetables and spices producers. However, the highest net return was estimated for brinjal producers (Tk. 273799/ha) followed by bittergourd producers (Tk152145/ha). In the case of spices, the highest net return was received by ginger producers (Tk. 231399/ha) followed by onion producers (Tk. 122308/ha).Comparatively lower net returns were found for okra (Tk51830/ha) and garlic producers (Tk 99352/ha). Vegetables exporters received the highest net margin (Tk32852/ ton) from UK market which was higher than the Middle East market (Tk22869/ton).The highest benefit cost ratio (BCR) was calculated for brinjal (1.9) followed by ash gourd (1.8). For spices, BCR were 2.1and 1.8 for ginger and garlic respectively. Bangladesh had comparative advantage for producing all selected vegetables as the estimates of domestic resource cost (DRC) were less than one. The value of DRC for all selected spices were less than unity implied that the production of these spices would be highly efficient for import substitution. Therefore, the study have been undertaken to find out this issues. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 42(2): 321-341, June 2017


This study evaluated the acute effect of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on a high-intensity intermittent exercise performance and physiological indicators in amateur soccer players. Thirteen players (21.5 ± 2 yrs) attended three trials separated by 3–5 days in a counterbalanced randomized cross-over design: IPC (4 × 5-min occlusion 220 mmHg/reperfusion 0 mmHg) in each thigh; SHAM (similar to the IPC protocol but "occlusion" at 20 mmHg) and control (seated during the same time of IPC). After 6-min of each trial (IPC, SHAM or control), the players performed the YoYo Intermittent Endurance Test level 2 (YoYoIE2). The distance covered in the YoYoIE2 (IPC 867 ± 205 m; SHAM 873 ± 212 m; control 921 ± 206 m) was not different among trials (p = 0.10), furthermore, lactate concentration and rate of perceived exertion did not differ (P > 0.05) among protocols. There were also no significant differences in either mean heart rate (HR) or peak HR (p > 0.05) for both IPC and SHAM compared to control. Therefore, we conclude that acute IPC does not influence high-intensity intermittent exercise performance in amateur soccer players and that rate of perceived exertion, heart rate and lactate do not differ between the intervention IPC, SHAM and control.


The article is based on the results of the research devoted to the activities of self-employed citizens. The purpose of the study was to analyze the nature of self-employment as a socio-economic phenomenon, the extent of its prevalence, the measures taken by the state to legalize the self-employed and create favorable conditions for their activities, as well as generate proposals for their correction. The informational and empirical base of the study was constituted by reference materials, scientific publications and the results of opinion polls, including those conducted by the authors. The analysis shows that selfemployment is a special type of entrepreneurial activity, but it is difficult to regulate due to its predominantly "shadow" nature. The scale of self-employment is significant both abroad and in Russia. According to a sociological survey, the share of the self-employed in the total number of employed Russian population is 22%, while 64% of the self-employed work without registering their activities, without paying any taxes or insurance contributions. In recent years, the state has taken various measures to legalize the activities of the self-employed, which at the moment are mostly experimental in nature. As a rule, they are related to taxation, simplification of their registration with tax authorities and further communication with them. The state regulation of the activities of this group of citizens is hindered by the absence in Russian legislation of a uniform definition of "self-employment" for the entire legislative system, as well as generally accepted criteria for classifying citizens as self-employed. The results of a sociological survey show that state initiatives at the moment do not find tangible support from the self-employed citizens themselves, which is largely due to their distrust of state authorities, as well as the lack of real incentives for moving to a legal fi eld, in particular, providing social guarantees. The article provides suggestions for improving the mechanism of legalizing the activities of self-employed, taking into account the opinions and assessments of citizens themselves, working on the basis of self-employment.


Software developers can gain insight into software-hardware interactions by decomposing processor performance into individual cycles-per-instruction components that differentiate cycles consumed in active computation from those spent handling various miss events. Constructing accurate CPI components for out-of-order superscalar processors is complicated, however, because computation and miss event handling overlap. The authors' counter architecture, using an analytical superscalar performance model, handles overlap effects more accurately than existing methods


Background and aims : Colorectal cancers are one of the most common
types of cancer. Gastric intestinal metaplasia is considered a
precancerous lesion that can progress into gastric cancer. Even though
there are previous publications stating that Helicobacter pylori and
intestinal metaplasia are related to colorectal adenomas, there are also
studies stating the opposite. This study aims to determine the
relationship between gastric intestinal metaplasia and colorectal
neoplasia. Methods: A total of 214 patients between the ages of 19 and
92 who underwent combined gastroscopy and colonoscopy between August
2016 and April 2020 were included in this retrospective study. Medical
records including demographic data, gastroscopy and colonoscopy findings
and histopathology results of the patients were reviewed and analyzed.
The association of intestinal metaplasia and Helicobacter pylori
infection with colorectal neoplasia was evaluated in these patients.
Results: The mean age of the patients included in the study was
49.07±15.80, and 125 (58.4%) of the patients were male. A statistically
significant correlation was found between intestinal metaplasia and
colon neoplasm prevalence (p= 0.03). However, such a correlation was not
seen between Helicobacter pylori and colon neoplasia. Conclusion: A
positive correlation was found between gastric intestinal metaplasia,
which is a precancerous lesion, and colon neoplasia. Even though this
correlation indicates higher prevalence rates of colon neoplasia in
patients with gastric intestinal metaplasia, how to evaluate these
patients in terms of colon neoplasia remains a controversial issue.


Wireless networks are increasingly penetrating new range of applications, from industry controllers, to houshold appliances. The wireless standard, IEEE 802.15.4/ZigBee, combines simple operation with low power consumption. This type of network is increasingly utilized as a mechanism to monitor, survey, sense and track. This thesis presents a multi-domain device registration and authentication model built on key pre-distribution mechanisms in order to enable nodes from different operational managements to interact. Little research has been done in the area of inter-domain communication in sensor networks. Even so, this may be an important feature to sensor networks which can open up for new services. Two novel suggestions for a multi-domain model are presented; hierarchical inter-domain random pool (HIDRP), and interactive inter-domain random pool (IIDRP). The HIDRP scheme relies on a single global key-pool containing all keys which will be used by sub-domains, thereby acting as the equivalent of a root CA. The IIDRP scheme on the other hand, is based on the assumption of domains containing keys derived separatly without correlation. Devices from foreign domains will accordingly have no common key-material to which key-establishment can successfully be acomplished. Sharing common keying material happens by the exchange of keys between the coordinator nodes in each domain. The nodes will then be able to derive a shared secret key to enable authentication. Since there are no protocols for inter-domain communication in the ZigBee protocol, the first step will be to provide architectural changes that will enable this function. Furthermore, a procedure to share network keys or link-keys for devices in different domains will have to be designed. In the HIDRP scheme, the numerical analysis was performed to evaluate the key connectivity in relation to the size of keys involved in the distribution. The analysis showed that as the global key pool size increased, the link connectivity decreased. Furthermore, no correlation was shown between key connectivity and the size of the local key pool. Only the size of the global key pool and the key ring affected the link connectivity. In the IIDRP scheme, numerical simulation was performed in order to measure the round-trip-time (RTT) for link-key aquisition in a foreign domain. The results showd that as the number of hops increased between the node and the sink, so did the RTT.


Background Sensitive molecular diagnostics and correct test interpretation are crucial for accurate COVID-19 diagnosis and thereby essential for good clinical practice. Furthermore, they are a key factor in outbreak control where active case finding in combination with isolation and contact tracing are crucial. Aim With the objective to inform the public health and laboratory responses to the pandemic, we reviewed current published knowledge on the kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 infection as assessed by RNA molecular detection in a wide range of clinical samples. Methods We performed an extensive search on studies published between 1 December 2019 and 15 May 2020, reporting on molecular detection and/or isolation of SARS-CoV-2 in any human laboratory specimen. Results We compiled a dataset of 264 studies including 32,515 COVID-19 cases, and additionally aggregated data points (n = 2,777) from sampling of 217 adults with known infection timeline. We summarised data on SARS-CoV-2 detection in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract, blood, oral fluid, tears, cerebrospinal fluid, peritoneal fluid, semen, vaginal fluid; where provided, we also summarised specific observations on SARS-CoV-2 detection in pregnancy, infancy, children, adolescents and immunocompromised individuals. Conclusion Optimal SARS-CoV-2 molecular testing relies on choosing the most appropriate sample type, collected with adequate sampling technique, and with the infection timeline in mind. We outlined knowledge gaps and directions for future well-documented systematic studies.


This paper presents a screw theory based approach for the type synthesis of compliant mechanisms with flexures. We provide a systematic formulation of the constraint-based approach which has been mainly developed by precision engineering experts in designing precision machines. The two fundamental concepts in the constraint-based approach, constraint and freedom, can be represented mathematically by a wrench and a twist in screw theory. For example, an ideal wire flexure applies a translational constraint which can be described a wrench of pure force. As a result, the design rules of the constraint-based approach can be systematically formulated in the format of screws and screw systems. Two major problems in compliant mechanism design, constraint pattern analysis and constraint pattern design are discussed with examples in details. This innovative method paves the way for introducing computational techniques into the constraint-based approach for the synthesis and analysis of compliant mechanisms.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The authors report one case of isolated avulsion fracture of the tibial attachment of the posterior cruciate ligament. They recommend the use of 3D CT Scan to appreciate the size, the displacement of the bone fragment or the occurrence of comminuted fracture.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
A 12 years old girl was admitted for knee pain and swelling secondary to horse's hoof blow on the anterior aspect of the proximal tibia. Hemarthrosis, contusion of the anterior surface of the proximal tibia were present. Because of pain and swelling, the knee could not be examined with accuracy. Roentgenographic examination showed isolated avulsion fracture of the tibial attachment of the posterior cruciate ligament. 3D CT Scan confirmed the lesion. Bony fragment was displaced and was not comminuted. Approach through the popliteal fossa was used and bony fragment was screwed back into its bed.

RESULTS
Postoperatively, a long leg plaster of Paris was applied for 6 weeks. The patient was followed for 1.5 year. She returned to her previous occupation. There was no residual laxity. X ray confirmed fracture union.

DISCUSSION
Results of primary repair of interstitial posterior cruciate ligament tears were inconsistent. On the contrary, good functional results were obtained with surgically treated avulsion fracture of the posterior cruciate ligament. Displaced bony fragment will be fixed properly to its bed. 3D CT Scan appreciate the size, the displacement or the occurrence of comminuted fracture. Those informations help to define surgical procedure: screw, wire-suture or staple.


As the regional REN for Eastern and Southern Africa, the primary purpose of the UbuntuNet Alliance is to provide its member NRENs with regional and global interconnectivity with other NRENs and with the Internet generally. However, fulfilment of the task can be greatly facilitated and its cost significantly reduced if the member NRENs, each within its own country, provide network capacities and services to the Alliance. Although this insight is present in the "patchwork backbone"concept that can be found in early strategy documents of the Alliance, its first practical realisation is the connection of the Zambian NREN, ZAMREN, to the UbuntuNet network not in London, but in South Africa. The paper tells how ZAMREN connects to UbuntuNet and uses this as an example to explore and illustrate three of four ways in which NRENs can extend the reach and enhance the effectiveness of the UbuntuNet Network. These three have NRENs providing capacities of different sorts within their local infrastructures for use as part of the UbuntuNet network. The fourth has NRENs arranging UbuntuNet's peering interconnections with local commodity networks in their countries. The UbuntuNet Alliance is willing to contract formally with NRENs for the provision of such services at specified service levels and to pay for such services at negotiated rates that compensate the NREN for any additional costs incurred or that are based on the cost%recovering service charges that the NREN's own member institutions pay.


Introduction: Obesity has reached pandemic levels in the highly Hispanic populated South Texas-Mexico Rio Grande Valley (RGV) which also has the highest levels of physical inactivity in the country. Mexican-American women are less active than non-Hispanic white women, moreover many breast cancer survivors who were not previously active will stay inactive; and those who were active often do not return to their previous level of activity. Indeed, up to 80% of breast cancer survivors do not meet the current physical activity guidelines, and for Hispanic women this number is likely higher. Furthermore, breast cancer is still the leading cause of death among cancers within Hispanic women. The benefits of being physically active and leaner for breast cancer survivors include reduced risk for recurrence as well as benefits of weight management, improved physical and emotional well-being, reduced risk for chronic diseases, and second primary cancers. Thus promoting exercise behaviors for Hispanic breast cancer survivors is an important endeavor. Identifying the variables associated with increased exercise adoption is needed to address the negative consequences of an inactive lifestyle on survivorship and stem the alarmingly increasing obesity tide. Here we employed a Social Cognitive Theory-based model to investigate variables affecting beliefs in overcoming barriers to exercise specific to Mexican-American breast cancer survivors living in the South Texas-Mexico RGV community. Methods: We employed a Social Cognitive Theory-based survey on 38 post-treatment breast cancer survivors who had agreed to participate in a 16-week exercise intervention. After assessment of physical fitness, participants completed a psycho-social questionnaire that included questions of a bi-level acculturation scale (BASH) and SCT-based variables of barriers to exercise self-efficacy (BSE), modeling of exercise (MOD), social support for exercise from friends (SSFR) and family (SSFA) and self-identification as an exerciser (SIE). We conducted a predictive model of BSE as the dependent variable and MOD, SSFR, SSFA and SIE as predictor variables. For any significant predictor variables, we then conducted a mediation analyses on the interaction of BASH on effect to BSE. Results: Baseline data confirmed that our population was obese (average BMI = 30.7; average body fat = 39.3%) coupled with very poor physical fitness (average cardiorespiratory [VO2] = 18.8 mlO2/kg/min). From a range of scores of 1= "not all confident" to 5 = "extremely confident", participants reported a low level of BSE (M = 2.61). Participants reported a moderate amount of modeling (M = 3.19, possible range 0-8). For a possible range of 0 = "none" to 5 = "very often", participants reported some SSFR (M=2.02) and slightly more from SSFA (M=2.43). SIE (M= 3.78) with a possible range of 0 = "do not see myself as an exerciser" to 6 = "very much see myself as an exerciser" was the only predictor of BSE (β = 0.50, p = .002) which was not mediated by acculturation level (% mediation Conclusions: As expected, our Mexican-American participants were mostly obese and with poor fitness. Surprisingly only one variable was predictive of BSE for our participants which was a single item instrument that asked the participant how much they saw themselves as an exerciser. Not discounting previous studies that have found modeling of exercise behaviors and social support from significant others as conducive to promoting exercise confidence; our study suggests the importance of self-perception as an exerciser. Our study also suggests the importance of promoting this perception in our Hispanic breast cancer population which may be characterized by obesity and poor physical fitness. Citation Format: Rose A. Trevino-Whitaker, Sonio D. Garcia, Laura Trevino, Ruth Morris, Gabriela A. Villanueva, Amelie G. Ramirez, Daniel C. Hughes. Promoting exercise in Hispanic cancer survivors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Seventh AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 9-12, 2014; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2015;24(10 Suppl):Abstract nr B30.


Inadequate hand washing by food workers is an important contributing factor to foodborne disease outbreaks in retail food establishments (RFEs). We conducted a survey of RFEs to investigate the effect of hand washing training, availability of hand washing facilities, and the ability of the person in charge (PIC) to describe hand washing according to the Minnesota Food Code (food code) on workers' ability to demonstrate food code-compliant hand washing. Only 52% of the PICs could describe the hand washing procedure outlined in the food code, and only 48% of workers could demonstrate code-compliant hand washing. The most common problems observed were failure to wash for 20 s and failure to use a fingernail brush. There was a strong positive association between the PIC being a certified food manager and being able to describe the food code hand washing procedure (odds ratio [OR], 5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2 to 13.7), and there was an even stronger association between the PIC being able to describe hand washing and workers being able to demonstrate code-compliant hand washing (OR, 15; 95% CI, 6 to 37). Significant associations were detected among correct hand washing demonstration, physical infrastructure for hand washing, and the hand washing training methods used by the establishment. However, the principal determinant of successful hand washing demonstration was the PIC's ability to describe proper hand washing procedure. These results suggest that improving hand washing practices among food workers will require interventions that address PIC knowledge of hand washing requirement and procedure and the development and implementation of effective hand washing training methods.


BACKGROUND
Radiotherapy to the prostate bed is used to eradicate residual microscopic disease following radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Recommendations are based on historical series.

OBJECTIVES
To determine outcomes and toxicity of contemporary salvage radiation therapy (SRT) to the prostate bed.

METHODS
We reviewed a prospective ethics committee-approved database of 229 patients referred for SRT. Median pre-radiation prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was 0.5 ng/ml and median follow-up was 50.4 months (range 13.7-128). Treatment was planned and delivered using modern three-dimensional radiation techniques. Mean bioequivalent dose was 71 Gy (range 64-83 Gy). Progression was defined as two consecutive increases in PSA level > 0.2 ng/ml, metastases on follow-up imaging, commencement of anti-androgen treatment for any reason, or death from prostate cancer. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and multivariate analysis was performed using STATA.

RESULTS
Five year progression-free survival was 68% (95%CI 59.8-74.8%), and stratified by PSA was 87%, 70% and 47% for PSA < 0.3, 0.3-0.7, and > 0.7 ng/ml (P < 0.001). Metastasis-free survival was 92.5%, prostate cancer-specific survival 96.4%, and overall survival 94.9%. Low pre-radiation PSA value was the most important predictor of progression-free survival (HR 2.76, P < 0.001). Daily image guidance was associated with reduced risk of gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity (P < 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS
Contemporary SRT is associated with favorable outcomes. Early initiation of SRT at PSA < 0.3 ng/ml improves progression-free survival. Daily image guidance with online correction is associated with a decreased incidence of late toxicity.


As the world moves from traditional manufacturing to knowledge-based, high-technology industry, Asian countries are gearing up to acquire new skills and competencies essential for the future industry. While the way forward is to develop new models of skilling and education, there is also a need to improve cooperation between the higher education institutions (HEI) and the industry. The publication presents information about how HEIs from five APO member countries are developing relevant knowledge and skills. It also identifies policy approaches to make higher education more relevant for the digital world.


Evolutionary transitions across abiotic gradients can occur among habitats at multiple spatial scales, and among taxa and biotas through a range of ecological and evolutionary time frames. Two diverse groups of electric fishes, Neotropical Gymnotiformes and Afrotropical Mormyroidea, offer interesting examples of potentially convergent evolution in aspects of morphological, physiological, and life history traits. We examined biogeographical, morphological, and functional patterns across these two groups to assess the degree of convergence in association with abiotic environmental variables. While there are superficial similarities across the groups and continents, we found substantially more differences in terms of habitat occupancy, electric signal diversity, and morphological disparity. These differences likely correlate to differences in biogeographical histories across the Neotropics and Afrotropics, biotic factors associated with aquatic life and electric signals, and sampling issues plaguing both groups. Additional research and sampling are required to make further inferences about how electric fishes transition throughout diverse freshwater habitats across both microevolutionary and macroevolutionary scales. We find little evidence that abiotic gradients in the freshwater habitat medium have driven convergent evolution of functional traits in these two continental radiations of electric fishes.


A single cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG) site within coagulation factor II (thrombin) receptor-like 3 (F2RL3) was recently found to be hypomethylated in peripheral blood genomic DNA from smokers compared with former and non-smokers. We performed two epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) nested in a prospective healthy cohort using the Illumina 450K Methylation Beadchip. The two populations consisted of matched pairs of healthy individuals (n = 374), of which half went on to develop breast or colon cancer. The association was analysed between methylation and smoking status, as well as cancer risk. In addition to the same locus in F2RL3, we report several loci that are hypomethylated in smokers compared with former and non-smokers, including an intragenic region of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor gene (AHRR; cg05575921, P = 2.31 × 10(-15); effect size = 14-17%), an intergenic CpG island on 2q37.1 (cg21566642, P = 3.73 × 10(-13); effect size = 12%) and a further intergenic region at 6p21.33 (cg06126421, P = 4.96 × 10(-11), effect size = 7-8%). Bisulphite pyrosequencing validated six loci in a further independent population of healthy individuals (n = 180). Methylation levels in AHRR were also significantly decreased (P < 0.001) and expression increased (P = 0.0047) in the lung tissue of current smokers compared with non-smokers. This was further validated in a mouse model of smoke exposure. We observed an association with breast cancer risk for the 2q37.1 locus (P = 0.003, adjusted for the smoking status), but not for the other loci associated with smoking. These data show that smoking has a direct effect on the epigenome in lung tissue, which is also detectable in peripheral blood DNA and may contribute to cancer risk.


The multidisciplinary harmonized "Occupational Medicine" system established in the Sverdlovsk Region makes it possible, firstly, to analyze and assess occupational risks at both the regional and municipal levels; secondly, at each of the above level, to take specific managerial decisions including the packages of organizational, informational, preventive, and other measures to minimize risks on the cost-benefit basis.


The prevalence of enterobiasis was investigated among 2,195 children in kindergarten and grade one of 12 Macao Catholic schools by a single modified Scotch tape swab. The overall infection rate was 31.5%; it ranged from 15.2% to 63.3% among schools and was higher in grade one. The prevalence was independent of sex but increased with age to a peak at 7 years; it was higher among children of lower social class and those born in Mainland China. The infection was more prevalent in the poor and congested parts of the city. The educational level of parents was a critical factor in the eradication of enterobiasis. The prevalence rate was not associated with the employment status of mother, family size, and sibling size.


The performance limits of the current Internet make the integration of IP with ATM a hotly debated issue in the networking arena, leading to various competing approaches and products. Legitimate technical and market issues are, however, often intertwined with biased views and hype, with vendors competing in the standards arena as well as on the markets. Together with the speed of technical evolution, this causes confusion for purchasers of networking equipment who, usually preferring a single vendor for their networks, run the risk of remaining locked into solutions that will not scale with the evolving needs and that will not fully inter-operate with other networks, even using the IP protocol. It is important to note that the term 'Internet' refers indeed to a specific network. In the following, we will refer more generally to the TCP/IP family of protocols, in order to encompass all types of IP networks such as intranets, extranets and the Internet. We will cover both IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6). Unless Ipv6 is explicitly stated, IPv4 should be assumed. IP and ATM integration refers here to the support of IP over (or within) ATM. From our point of view, integration is a particular case of coexistence. Another particular case is IP and ATM interworking, which means the interoperation between applications or between complete protocol stacks, based on one side on the IP technology, and on the other side on the ATM technology. For instance, interworking between IETF IP based videoconferencing and ATM based videoconferencing. In this paper, we are not dealing with any interworking scenario. Interworking scenarios do not happen very often and are very difficult to realize. In fact, additional non-trivial aspects like interworking at the user plane, mapping of addresses, and several other issues strictly dependent upon the involved technologies, have to be considered in this case. The scope of this paper will thus be restricted to IP and ATM integration, and three levels of integration have been identified: * Level 1: use of IP over an intermediate layer over ATM (e.g. IP over LAN Emulation over ATM), * Level 2: use of IP directly over ATM (e.g. Classical IP, MARS, NHRP and MPOA), * Level 3: IP merged with ATM (e.g. MPLS). In the integration scenarios considered in this paper, the applications always use a common layer to communicate and, in the specific cases under investigation, this common layer is the IP layer. Therefore we use the term 'applications' to refer to IP applications. The present paper is derived from a so-called 'Guideline', NIG-3, produced by participants of the ACTS 'Chain' NIG: Global Network Interoperability (particularly projects CONVAIR, DIANA, EXPERT, IthACI, MULTICUBE and PETERPAN). ACTS (Advanced Communications Technologies and Services) represents the major telecommunications RD focus of the European Union's 4th research framework Programme. ACTS uses 'Chains' of related projects as a primary vehicle for concertation, both within ACTS itself, and from ACTS towards groups investigating issues of major importance addressed by the communications sector at large. The Network Inter-operability (NI) Chain Group considers all issues of inter-operability between different types of networks. The current paper focuses on technology, and gives neither commercial, nor time-dependent information. It does not necessarily represent the views of the whole ACTS community or of any single organization participating in the Programme.


: A research project is described that has developed a model for 11 Biomedical Engineering developments in German hospitals. Funded by the Federal Minister for Research and Technology and contractually evaluated within a cost-effectiveness study, data have been collected and analyzed. Based on this study, some observations on the further quantitative and qualitative department of Biomedical Engineering in German hospitals have been made.


Human trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, and is associated with complex perturbations in protein expression during development. Brain region-specific alterations in neuronal density and composition originate prenatally in trisomy 21 individuals, and are presumed to underlie the intellectual disability and early onset neurodegeneration that characterizes Down syndrome. However, the mechanisms by which chromosome 21 aneuploidy drives alterations in the central nervous system are not well understood, particularly in brain regions that are uniquely human and thus inaccessible to established animal models. Cerebral organoids are pluripotent stem cell derived models of prenatal brain development that have been used to deepen our understanding of the atypical processes associated with human neurobiological disorders, and thus provide a promising avenue to explore the molecular basis for neurodevelopmental alterations in trisomy 21. Here, we employ high-resolution label-free mass spectrometry to map proteomic changes over the course of trisomy 21 cerebral organoid development, and evaluate the proteomic alterations in response to treatment with harmine, a small molecule inhibitor of the chromosome 21 encoded protein kinase DYRK1A. Our results reveal trisomy 21 specific dysregulation of networks associated with neurogenesis, axon guidance and extracellular matrix remodeling. We find significant overlap of these networks show significant overlap with previously identified dysregulated gene expression modules identified in trisomy 21 fetal brain tissue. We show that harmine leads to partial normalization of key regulators of cortical development, including WNT7A and the transcription factors TBR1, BCL11A, and POU3F2, pointing to a causative role for DYRK1A over-expression in neurodevelopmental effects of human trisomy 21.


Information security, also known as InfoSec, which is the application of protecting information from invalid access, use, declaration, confusion, changes, examination, or demolition. It is a general term that can be used anyhow the form the data may take (e.g. electronic, physical) Information security process is set of techniques to managing the processes and tools necessary to stop, notice, document and counter threats to digital and non-digital information.[28] Storage Privacy make resources available to authorized users only and unavailable to others. [14] Easily available to authorized people, institution and agencies. To compromise the system difficult for a potential hacker. The network must be well founded and solid under a wide variety of surroundings conditions and volumes of usage. Without knowledge of internal working we give input and get output that system or device is known as BLACK-BOX. Implementation of black-box is "Fussy". The designated portion of document is changed by sanitizer after agreement by signer. The sanitizer is valid if designated portion is only changed.[7] Sanitizable signature is used to sanitize(Modify) the portion of data which we do not want to share or we want to protect from others. The modification of sensitive information is performed by the sanitizer and this was not known by the signer or verifier. Today's generation is become a digital. Every person using the mobile phones for any important Document Transformation also use the mobile or computer even for money transaction we use online banking for these all we strongly need storage privacy. We get better privacy by SSS (Sanitizable signature) and black-box. In sanitizable Signature Authorized person can modify the authorized portion of Signature.


Abstract Background. There are few recent studies of incident hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients in the United States. Methods. We studied HIV Outpatient Study (HOPS) participants seen in 9 HIV-specialty clinics who had ≥1 clinical encounter during 2000–2013 and ≥2 HCV-related tests, the first of which was a negative HCV antibody test (Ab). Hepatitis C virus incident cases were identified by first positive HCV Ab, viral load, or genotype. We assessed rates of incident HCV overall, by calendar intervals, and by demographic and HIV risk strata, and we explored risk factors for incident HCV using Cox proportional hazards models. Results. The 1941 eligible patients (median age 40 years, 23% female, 61% men who had sex with men [MSM], and 3% persons who injected drugs [PWID]) experienced 102 (5.3%) incident HCV infections for an overall incidence of 1.07 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87–1.30) per 100 person-years (py). Hepatitis C virus incidence decreased from 1.83 in 2000–2003 to 0.88 in 2011–2013 (P = .024), with decreases observed (P < .05) among PWID and heterosexuals, but not among MSM. Overall, MSM comprised 59% of incident cases, and PWID were at most risk for incident HCV infection (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] for PWID = 4.62 and 95% CI = 2.11–10.13; for MSM, aHR = 1.48 and 95% CI = 0.86–2.55 compared with heterosexuals). Conclusions. Among HIV-infected patients in care during 2000–2013, incidence of HCV infection exceeded 1 case per 100 py. Our findings support recommendations for annual HCV screenings for HIV-infected persons, including persons with only MSM risk, to enable HCV diagnosis and treatment for coinfected individuals.


The magnesium handling of freshwater teleost fish is discussed, with an emphasis on the role of branchial, intestinal and renal transport. In response to the eminent threat of constant diffusive losses of minerals such as magnesium, freshwater fish have developed efficient mechanisms for magnesium homeostasis. Magnesium losses are overcome by the uptake of magnesium from the food, making the intestine an important route for magnesium uptake. Some evidence suggests that intestinal magnesium uptake in fish is a regulated, cellular process. The ambient water is an additional magnesium source for fish, implicating the gills as a secondary route for magnesium uptake. Certainly, in some species, direct uptake from the water, probably via branchial routes, ameliorates the effects of a low-magnesium diet. The hard tissues, representing over 50 % of the total body magnesium pool, form a reservoir from which magnesium can be recruited to perform its functions in the cellular metabolism of soft tissues such as muscle. In fish, as in terrestrial vertebrates, the balance of a variety of elements becomes disturbed when the magnesium homeostasis of the soft tissues is disrupted. However, fish appear to be less sensitive than terrestrial vertebrates to these perturbations. Magnesium is reabsorbed in the kidneys to minimise losses. For renal cells, part of a cellular pathway has been elucidated that would allow absorptive magnesium transport (a magnesium conductive pathway in renal brush-border membranes). In some euryhaline teleosts, the kidneys appear to switch instantaneously to rapid magnesium secretion upon magnesium loading, a response common to marine fish that are threatened by diffusive magnesium entry. This enigmatic mechanism underlies the capacity of some euryhaline species to acclimate rapidly to sea water. Despite the progress made over the last decade, much of the cellular and molecular basis of magnesium transport in the gills, intestine and kidneys remains obscure. The application of fluorescent, radioactive and molecular probes, some of which have only recently become available, may yield rapid progress in the field of magnesium research.


This paper examines the response of the upper atmosphere to equatorial Kelvin waves with a period of ∼3 days, also known as ultrafast Kelvin waves (UFKWs). The whole atmosphere model Ground‐to‐topside model of Atmosphere and Ionosphere for Aeronomy (GAIA) is used to simulate the UFKW events in the late summer of 2010 and 2011 as well as in the boreal winter of 2012/2013. When the lower layers of the model below 30‐km altitude are constrained with meteorological data, GAIA is able to reproduce salient features of the UFKW in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere as observed by the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder. The model also reproduces ionospheric response, as validated through comparisons with total electron content data from the Gravity field and steady‐state Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite as well as with earlier observations. Model results suggest that the UFKW produces eastward‐propagating ∼3‐day variations with zonal wavenumber 1 in the equatorial zonal electric field and F region plasma density. Model results also suggest that for a ground observer, identifying ionospheric signatures of the UFKW is a challenge because of ∼3‐day variations due to other sources. This issue can be overcome by combining ground‐based measurements from different longitudes. As a demonstration, we analyze ground‐based magnetometer data from equatorial stations during the 2011 event. It is shown that wavelet spectra of the magnetic data at different longitudes are only in partial agreement, with or without a ∼3‐day peak, but a spectrum analysis based on multipoint observations reveals the presence of the UFKW.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibilities and problems for establishment of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Arab countries. The paper explores the nature and concept of CSR, particularly the Arab initiatives. As well as studying the activation of the corporate social responsibility role in the economic and social development of Arab countries.


The 1980 general strike in Poland and the establishment of the independent Solidarity movement, which sought to create a state based on civic freedom, were symptoms of a crisis of the communist system. On December 13, 1981, General Wojciech Jaruzelski on behalf of the ruling Communist Party imposed martial law, effectively quashing Solidarity. Jaruzelski won the battle, but Solidarity continued its revolution in secret and Poland remained politically destabilized. Elections held in June 1989 ended with the defeat of the Communists and the establishment in September of a coalition government in which half of the parliamentary seats went to Solidarity, whose representative was also appointed prime minister. The revolution inaugurated in 1980 by the dockworkers of Gdansk had come to fruition. Revolution and Counterrevolution in Poland, 1980-1989: Solidarity, Martial Law, and the End of Communism in Europe recounts and analyzes the events of this formative decade in Polish history, with particular emphasis on the martial law period. Drawing on extensive archival research, Andrzej Paczkowski examines the origin and form of the Solidarity revolution, the course of the Communist counterrevolution, and the final victory won by Solidarity along with its international repercussions. Andrzej Paczkowski is professor of political studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. Christina Manetti, PhD, is a translator and independent researcher of Polish history.


Secrecy constitutes a vital part of hunters and anglers social life in northern Norway. This article explores how we can understand secrecy and how this is challenged by tourism. Hunters' and anglers' secrets are, despite a protectionist trait, part of a practice where knowledge is contested, shared, and even stolen. Secrecy as a norm is therefore constructed with reference to both protected and shared secrets. This article suggests that we must look at the secrets shared in order to understand secrecy as a norm. However, tourism represents a different premise for sharing secrets. An increasing demand for guide services that includes knowledge about locations and techniques that give harvests and catch raises questions about how local practices are affected by tourism. The data presented in this article is anchored in a social anthropological research tradition with qualitative data collected mainly through participant observation and interviews.


Recently developed combination chemotherapy programs have now produced durable complete remissions in a significant percentage of patients with advanced urothelial tract malignancies. For advanced disease, efforts must still be directed at developing new agents but must also focus on understanding drug resistance. Some tumors appear to be resistant de novo; others respond for a period of time before a resistant population emerges. Clearly multiple factors come into play. In some cases, pharmacologic factors such as bioavailability metabolism, or toxicities predominate. In other cases, specific genes expressing surface proteins such as the p-glycoprotein identified in resistant ovarian tumors have been implicated. In the 1980s, it is no longer adequate to define tumors simply by pathologic inspection. As demonstrated by Russell and co-workers xenografts of phenotypically similar transitional cell tumors in nude mice demonstrated marked heterogeneity with respect to flow cytometric DNA analysis and immunocytochemistry. With the recent adoption of flow cytometric techniques, both from bladder washings and paraffin sections, insight into the biologic behavior of individual tumors may soon be possible. Blood group antigen expression and monoclonal antibodies to tumor-associated antigens may also help in this regard. For primary tumors, attention is now being focused on protocols aimed at bladder preservation. In some cases, radiation therapy alone can produce long-term survival, despite muscle infiltrating disease. Complete remissions have also been described with chemotherapy alone. The interaction of chemotherapy and radiation therapy has only recently begun to be investigated. In these trials, complete local control must still be the primary goal. Standard criteria for staging and response evaluation, including pathologic documentation of remission status, are crucial. To demonstrate a beneficial effect of therapy, long-term randomized trials will be required. The goal of individualized therapies may soon be possible, which will ideally translate into increased clinical benefit for patients with urothelial tract tumors.


We study a newly emerging product return policy in the retail e-commerce industry. Alongside the conventional free return option, consumers (who face valuation uncertainty pre-purchase) are offered an additional return alternative called opt-out of free return (FO). If the free return option is chosen by consumers, they can return the purchased item over a predetermined grace period for a full refund. However, if consumers forego free return and self-select FO, the firm offers them a price markdown. If the consumers pick this option, they can still return the product during the grace period, but they will have to pay a fixed penalty and a variable penalty proportional to the product's purchase price. With consumers increasingly relying on online shopping, returns have become a considerable issue for e-retailers. This research is primarily motivated by practice where a major e-retailer (Jet.com, the new e-commerce operation of Walmart) has recently initiated implementing the FO policy for some categories of their products. We aim to derive managerial insights on when offering FO would be beneficial to firms, and if they offer it, how the firm can set the optimal markdown level. We formulate the problem as a stochastic optimization problem and analyze and characterize the structure of the optimal policy. We characterize the conditions that lead to the offering of the FO option alongside the free return option. (i) We find that the uncertainty level in the consumers' valuation distribution has a subtle impact on the profitability of providing the FO option alongside the free returns. While conventional wisdom suggests that offering the FO option is more likely to be beneficial as customers' uncertainty about the product's valuation pre-purchase increases, we show that the opposite could be true. Specifically, we show that if the product's expected valuation is large, higher uncertainty in the valuation distribution makes it more likely that offering FO alongside FR is advantageous to the firm. However, with low expected valuation, the lower the uncertainty in consumers' valuation distribution is, the more likely that the FO option is advantageous. (ii) We also examine how the profitability of the FO option is affected when the product's valuation (stochastically) decreases. We find that the salvage value of returns plays a crucial role in how the firm can benefit from offering the FO option as product's valuation decreases. Specifically, offering FO along with FR is more likely to be beneficial as consumers' valuation decreases if the salvage value of a returned product is sufficiently small. Our analysis reveals that offering FO alongside free returns can indeed have a significant positive impact on a retailer's profitability across various settings, demonstrating that the FO policy can be effectively used as a practical remedy in retail to partially recoup the revenue losses associated with returns.


Background: Burn injuries are one of the most traumatizing and damaging wounds. Causing considerable mortality,
 prolonged hospitalization, disfigurement, disability, often with resulting social stigma, rejection, psychiatric issues in
 long run. We aimed to assess the knowledge of general population on first aid and surgical intervention in different
 degrees of burns and psychiatric aspect on patients; so, the results of this study could help to manage burn injuries.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted in shopping malls of Hail KSA. Data
 was collected from the audience who attended Health Awareness Campaign on Burns between 15th of December 2019
 and 15th of January 2020. Data was fed and analysed by using SPSS version 23.
Results: Forty-seven percent of the
 respondents have received information on burns. Half of respondents had history of either oneself being affected
 by burn incident or any one of their close relatives. Out of 273 burn cases, 65 had complications later. Almost 29%
 developed psychiatric issues after that incidence but just 8% consulted Psychiatrist. Only 2% were familiar with the
 surgical aspect for healing of second-degree burn. Conclusion: Knowledge of respondents on the burn's issues is
 very scanty as revealed in our results. 15%-24% of respondents did not know what to do in 1-3 degree of burns that
 is very alarming. Just 16% knew that there is any role of plastic surgery in 3rd degree burns. Twenty-nine percent had
 suffered from psychiatric problems after burn incident but just 8% consulted any Psychiatric and those were ones who
 had total monthly income ≥ 10,000 Saudi Riyals (p ≤ 0.05). These results emphasize the importance of implementing
 Health Awareness Campaigns in community and in institutions that could minimize burn incidents and psychiatric
 issues in general population.


In this study, an integral equation technique is presented in order to reconstruct the complex permittivity variation of a material loaded in a rectangular cross section waveguide. The problem is first reduced to the solution of a two-coupled integral equations in terms of S-parameters of the system, which contains the Green's function of the empty waveguide. The resulting inverse scattering problem for the unknown complex permittivity of the loading is solved by contrast source inversion (CSI) technique. The validity and reliability of the proposed method has been demonstrated with numerical applications.


Vapor-liquid equilibrium data may be readily evaluated and extended when they are calculated as activity coefficients. The equations proposed by Van Laar, Margulas, Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC, which express the activity coefficients of the components of a mixture as functions of the liquid composition and empirical constants, are capable of fitting most of the available vapor liquid equilibrium data. Equations of state play an important role in chemical engineering design and they have assumed an expanding role in the study of the phase equilibria of fluids and fluid mixtures.


In the modern gift literature an anti-utilitarian and a utilitarian view on the giftcan be distinguished. From the anti-utilitarian perspective, the freedom of the gift is seen as one of its main characteristics, while the idea that gifts are caught in a cycle of reciprocity is downplayed. In the utilitarian approach, assumptions about rational actors weighing their preferences according to some utility are predominant. In the first approach, reciprocity is seen as undermining 'genuine' gifts. The utilitarian approach does take reciprocity into account but fails to analyse why the principle of reciprocity is so effective. This article attempts to provide such an explanation. By illuminating both the variety of the forms of the gift and the universality of the underlying principle, it is argued that gifts reflect a multi-purpose symbolic 'utility' that transcends both utilitarianism and anti-utilitarianism.


In December 1654 a large naval force departed from Portsmouth and sailed across the Atlantic. Its goal was to expand the English Commonwealth in the Caribbean at the expense of Spanish colonies. The Gloucester, a third-rate frigate recently constructed as part of Oliver Cromwell's ambitious shipbuilding programme, was one of the largest and most heavily armed warships of the expedition. Combining analysis of courts martial accounts, inventories, journals, letters, sailing instructions, and wills, this article argues for the Gloucester's importance as a case study and microcosm for understanding the economic, political, religious, and social problems that the navy and wider Protectorate faced. It revises traditional historiography about the topic that has underestimated the significance of the naval context to the Western Design. Crucial to this new history is that the extreme hardships and religious divisions created tensions that targeted the leadership of Admiral William Goodsonn. Of particular importance in this narrative is Benjamin Blake, captain of the Gloucester, who clashed with Goodsonn over key policies. By focusing on the Gloucester and exploring its crew's experiences, this article shows that the English navy was a restricted and internally conflicted force when operating at the peripheries of the state network.


Scleroderma is a systemic condition with various manifestations in different
organs. Among these organs, the lungs are affected very frequently, and the involvement is progressive
and significant. Various medications have been suggested and tested in patients with scleroderma and
lung involvement, but their efficacy and safety profile differ and enforce a difficult final decisionmaking.
Since cyclophosphamide is an example of this kind, this study sought to examine the therapeutic
effect of this drug in patients with scleroderma and lung disease.
Materials & Methods: A total of 20 patients with scleroderma and lung parenchymal disease received
intravenous cyclophosphamide (750 mg/m2) along with gradually tapering prednisolone (20-7.5
mg/day) and azathioprine (2mg/kg) after discontinuation of the former for six consecutive months. The
Transition Dyspnea Index (TDI), Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Total Lung Capacity (TLC), 17 revised
Rodnan Score were examined three and six months after starting the treatment.
Results: Six months after treatment, significant changes in FVC (p = 0.55), TLC (p = 0.39), FEV1
(p=0.27), 17 revised Rodnan Score (p=0.98) was not observed. The TDI also did not show significant
changes during the six months of treatment (p = 0.79). Based on the type of antibody was not seen
significant difference in the amount of TDI.
Conclusion: Administration of intravenous cyclophosphamide in the treatment of scleroderma in
patients with pulmonary involvement of our study did not have considerable effects on pulmonary
function and clinical manifestations that were similar to other studies in this field.


Using in vitro and in vivo techniques, terpenes were evaluated as enhancers to improve the skin permeation of therapeutically active agents derived from tea, including tea catechins and theophylline. The in vitro permeation was determined by Franz cells. The skin deposition and subcutaneous amounts of drugs sampled by microdialysis were evaluated in vivo. Terpenes varied in their activities of enhancing drug permeation. The oxygen-containing terpenes were effective enhancers of drug permeation, whereas the hydrocarbon terpenes were much less efficient. Oxygen-containing terpenes with a bicyclic structure had reduced enhancing activity. Terpenes enhanced tea catechin permeation to a much greater degree than they did theophylline. The isomers of (+)-catechin and (-)-epicatechin showed different permeation behaviors when incorporated with terpenes. In the in vivo status, terpenes promoted the skin uptake but not the subsequent subcutaneous concentration of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Both increased skin/vehicle partitioning and lipid bilayer disruption of the stratum corneum (SC) contributed the enhancing mechanisms of terpenes for topically applied tea catechins and theophylline based on the experimental results from the partition coefficient and transepidermal water loss (TEWL). alpha-Terpineol was found to be the best enhancer for catechins and theophylline. The high enhancement by alpha-terpineol was due to macroscopic perturbation of the SC and the biological reaction in viable skin as evaluated by TEWL and colorimetry.


The Microsoft .NET Framework is a new computing architecture designed to support a variety of distributed applications and web-based services. .NET software components are typically distributed in an object-oriented intermediate language, Microsoft IL, executed by the Microsoft Common Language Runtime. To allow convenient multi-language working, IL supports a wide variety of high-level language constructs, including class-based objects, inheritance, garbage collection, and a security mechanism based on type safe execution.This paper precisely describes the type system for a substantial fragment of IL that includes several novel features: certain objects may be allocated either on the heap or on the stack; those on the stack may be boxed onto the heap, and those on the heap may be unboxed onto the stack; methods may receive arguments and return results via typed pointers, which can reference both the stack and the heap, including the interiors of objects on the heap. We present a formal semantics for the fragment. Our typing rules determine well-typed IL instruction sequences that can be assembled and executed. Of particular interest are rules to ensure no pointer into the stack outlives its target. Our main theorem asserts type safety, that well-typed programs in our IL fragment do not lead to untrapped execution errors.Our main theorem does not directly apply to the product. Still, the formal system of this paper is an abstraction of informal and executable specifications we wrote for the full product during its development. Our informal specification became the basis of the product team's working specification of type-checking. The process of writing this specification, deploying the executable specification as a test oracle, and applying theorem proving techniques, helped us identify several security critical bugs during development.


It is widely agreed that the content of a logical concept such as AND is constituted by the inferences it enters into. I argue that it is impossible to draw a principled distinction between logical and non-logical concepts, and hence that the content of non-logical concepts can also be constituted by certain of their inferential relations. The traditional problem with such a view has been that, given Quine's arguments against the analytic-synthetic distinction, there does not seem to be any way to distinguish between those inferences that are content constitutive and those that are not. I propose that such a distinction can be drawn by appealing to a notion of 'psychosemantic analyticity'. This approach is immune to Quine's arguments, since psychosemantic analyticity is a psychological property, and it is thus an empirical question which inferences have this property.


Effects of biochar addition on litter decomposition rates, nutrient leaching and soil moisture were tested in two boreal agricultural soils; a sandy till and a medium fine sand. Three litter bags were buried in soil basins, which were stored in the dark for 31 and 19 weeks in the sandy till experiment and medium fine sand experiment, respectively. Once per each temperature period, the soil was saturated in order to collect excess water for nutrient analyses. Biochar increased the decomposition rate of N-rich litter but did not affect the decomposition of N-poor litter. PO4 3--P and NO2 --N were released from the biochar to the leached water and thus leaching of PO4 3--P, NO2 --N and total P was increased in the soil with the finer texture. However, biochar retained water after heavy irrigation and leaching of PO4 3--P and total P was not increased on the coarser soil. Although pure biochar adsorbed NH4 +-N from nutrient solutions, NH4 +-N leaching from both soil types was generally not affected by biochar. Leaching of nitrate NO3 --N and total N was decreased on both soils due to retention by the biochar.


This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the Islamic State's use of images taken by drones, drawing on a dataset of ISIS propaganda images from October 2016 to December 2018. Analysing the three principal uses of drone imagery by ISIS—images of drone strikes, images of other attacks and observation—we argue that ISIS's use of drones distinguishes itself from other state and non-state uses of drones primarily by its communicative and symbolic value. While ISIS' use of drone strikes takes place in a tactical rather than strategic setting, its employment of drones to film VBIED attacks allows them to achieve a strategic effect. After outlining ISIS' use of drones for combat air support and to film ground (particularly VBIED) attacks, we argue, drawing on political geography, that ISIS employs drones in propaganda to stake and reinforce a claim to sovereign control of territory, performed through the flying of aircraft. The use of drone imagery, we argue, taps into long-standing visual and discursive strategies which associate vertical hierarchy and flying with mastery and control, allowing ISIS to display attributes of aerial sovereignty. This article, through an analysis of ISIS drone propaganda, provides a rare insight into non-state actors' perception of drones and the communicative value of drone images, in addition to suggesting further avenues for the incorporation of political–geographical studies of verticality into the study of political violence and rhetoric.


The NOURISHING database is a repository of more than 1000 verified nutrition and diet‐related governmental policy actions currently in effect globally. The database is a unique and rich data source on governmental policy actions with a potential for developing tools that capture the overall policy efforts in a country, identify policy gaps, and enable cross‐national comparisons. Policy actions from a sample of five European countries have been benchmarked against aspirational standards using the NOURISHING benchmarking tool. This paper presents the results of the pilot testing from the benchmarking process for the construction of the NOURISHING policy index. The development of the index was guided by existing tools for developing composite indicators. The findings from the pilot test indicate that the NOURISHING policy index can identify both policy gaps and cross‐national policy differences. These results demonstrate that the policy index merits testing on a larger sample to identify potential refinements.


The new Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC) restricts multivariate forecasts. I estimate and test it entirely within a panel of professional forecasts, thus using the time-series, cross-forecaster, and cross-horizon dimensions of the panel. Estimation uses 13,193 observations on quarterly US inflation forecasts since 1981. The main finding is a significantly larger weight on expected future inflation than on past inflation, a finding which also is estimated with much more precision than in the standard approach. Inflation dynamics also are stable over time, with no decline in inflation inertia from the 1980s to the 2000s. But, as in historical data, identifying the output gap is difficult.


An investigation of the central and peripheral actions of the neuropeptide proctolin in the abdominal superficial flexor muscle (SFM) system of the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus has been undertaken. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and a sensitive bioassay have been used to establish the presence of the peptide in various tissues of Nephrops, including the SFM system. Proctolin-like bioactivity (PLB) in partially purified tissue extracts co-eluted with synthetic proctolin using these techniques. Quantification of bioassay responses to proctolin revealed that higher concentrations of the peptide are present in the lateral bundle of the SFM compared with the medial bundle of the muscle. An analysis of the central effects of proctolin on the spontaneous activities of individual SFM motor neurones and on coupling relationships between different motor neurone pairs has been carried out using an isolated abdominal nerve cord preparation. Proctolin can simultaneously enhance and suppress the firing of individual members of the motor neurone pool; the peptide is effective in upregulating the firing of some motor neurones (f1, f4 and f6) and downregulating the firing of others (f2 and f5). These studies have also shown that proctolin can modulate the connectivity between specific superficial flexor motor neurone pairs by evoking or disrupting premotor connections. Thus, proctolin can reconfigure the postural circuitry by specifically modulating the postural flexor motor output pattern. An analysis of the peripheral actions of proctolin on the two slow fibre phenotypes comprising the SFM has been carried out using both in vitro neuromuscular preparations and isolated single fibres. Proctolin alone has no effect on muscle tension, resting membrane potential or EJP amplitude. However, potentiation of SFM tension is produced by proctolin provided that the muscle is partially depolarised prior to exposure of the peptide. Furthermore, the two slow fibre phenotypes of Nephrops SFM exhibit a differential responsiveness to proctolin, lateral fibres being more responsive to proctolin than medial fibres. These results, suggest that the effect of proctolin is mediated via proctolin-sensitive calcium channels and the differential responsiveness of medial and lateral fibres may reflect differences in the distribution and/or proctolin sensitivity of these channels. Surveys of the pattern of innervation across the SFM have been carried out in an attempt to further investigate the observed correlation between different fibre phenotypes and their pattern of innervation at the level of individual motor neurones. The existence of a 'gross' correlation between fibre phenotypes and pattern of innervation has been confirmed. However, results indicate that the polysynaptic pattern of activity displayed by medial fibres as opposed to the synaptic silence usually observed for lateral fibres is due to the expression of their differential presynaptic properties. Medial fibres show properties of high output synapses and exhibit weak facilitation whereas lateral fibres show properties of low output synapses and facilitate strongly. Further characterisation of the SFM with regard to fibre heterogeneity by investigating a number of neuromuscular parameters including pattern of innervation, facilitation properties, decay constant and EJP amplitude has suggested that the SFM system is more complex than was previously appreciated. A preliminary investigation of the distribution and function of proctolin in the SFM system of the crayfish Pacifastaciis leniusculus has been carried out. Histochemical analysis of the crayfish SFM reveals that it is composed of the same two slow fibre subtypes as Nephrops but that in crayfish these fibre subtypes are distributed in a random fashion throughout the SFM. An examination of the concentration of proctolin in the SFM of crayfish reveals that a similar distribution of the peptide exists to that found in the SFM of Nephrops\ the lateral bundle contains higher concentrations of proctolin than the medial bundle. Given the differences in distribution of the two fibre subtypes within each SFM, these results suggest that proctolinergic innervation of the SFM in both Nephrops and crayfish is position dependent and not correlated with fibre type. Furthermore, fibre type does not appear to be correlated with resting membrane potential or innervation in crayfish SFM. This study has also confirmed that proctolin acts postsynaptically to potentiate neurally induced tension in crayfish SFM.


Superstitious beliefs have been present for thousands of years and vary around the world. Superstitions regarding health are common among some parts of the Nepalese population. These beliefs can range from harmless to dangerous, with potentially serious health implications. Many superstitions are related to dentistry. The rising Nepalese population in the UK means that practitioners may be faced with patients holding similar beliefs. Knowledge of the beliefs of this population can help practitioners overcome potential barriers to care.


The essay is based on a change in the Arctic, where the ice melts increasingly, leading to an signif-icantly interest from many states since the changed environment enables new routes and opportu-nities to extract oil, gas, fishing, etc.There are currently political conflicts around this area that could turn to an armed battle in the fu-ture. Fighting in these areas is challenging for the armed forces because they will face long dis-tance offshore. Since the air force has got a more important role offshore and can operate over larger areas, the purpose of this essay is to find success factors in the use of the air force that can be attached to a conflict in the Arctic region.The battle of the Falkland Islands was an armed conflict that has many similarities with the Arctic region because of the environment. By making a theory consuming study, in which the air force theories "the opponent as a system" by John Warden and "air superiority" by Giulio Gouhet will be used, the empirical material on the Falklands War will be analyzed and a number of success factors will prove.The study proves the importance of using air power in this type of battle and to directly use these to strike at selected targets of the opponent at an early stage which can lead to major benefits. Since aviation's impact in such conflicts is increasing, it shows the importance of achieving air superiority.


Pomegranate is rapidly increasing in production in Greece. During August of 2008 in the region of Larisa (central Greece), preharvest fruit rot was observed on pomegranate (cv. Kapmaditika) that caused losses estimated at 10%. Symptoms first appeared as small spots on the fruits that later increased in size and developed into expanded, dark brown lesions. Internally, tissues were soft and brown with gray mycelia and conidiophores observed. Affected fruits decayed completely during 2 months of storage (5 to 6°C), causing yield losses of up to 20%. To isolate the casual agent, conidia and conidiophores were scraped aseptically from the internal tissues, suspended in sterile water, and streaked onto the surface of potato dextrose agar (PDA). Single hyphal tips were transferred to PDA, and the isolated fungus was identified as Botrytis cinerea Pers.:Fr. on the basis of morphological characteristics (2). B. cinerea was consistently isolated from symptomatic tissues. Colonies of B. cinerea on PDA were at first colorless and became gray to brown with the development of lemon-shaped conidia (average 7.5 × 9 μm). Sclerotia were black and varied in size (1.4 to 4.5 × 1.5 to 2.7 mm) and shape (2). Pathogenicity of the isolated fungus was tested by wound inoculating five mature pomegranate fruits (cv. Kampaditika) after surface sterilization with 5% sodium hypochlorite. Plugs of the fungus (5 mm in diameter) obtained from the colony margins were transferred onto a 3- × 3-mm wound on the surface of sterilized fruit. Sterile PDA plugs were used to inoculate five control pomegranate fruits. Fruit were incubated at 22°C and 80% relative humidity in the dark. Extensive decay, similar to that observed on diseased fruits in the field, was observed on inoculated fruits 7 days after inoculation, whereas control fruits showed no decay. The pathogen was reisolated from internal rotten tissues of inoculated fruit, but not from the noninoculated control fruits. Fruit rot of pomegranate caused by B. cinerea has been reported previously in the United States (1) and China (3). However, to our knowledge, this is the first report of B. cinerea causing gray mold of pomegranate in Greece. References: (1) A. M. French. California Plant Disease Host Index. Calif. Dept. Food Agric., Sacramento, 1989. (2) W. B. Hewitt. Compendium of Grape Diseases. American Phytopathological Society, 1994. (3) Z. Zhang. Flora Fungorum Sinicorum 26:277, 2006.


Efforts to quantify landscape heterogeneity have resulted in the production of a large number of indices based on the number and proportions of different types of landscape (usually vegetation) patches. In this paper we question whether these indices provide useful tools with which to examine functional aspects of landscape heterogeneity. In particular, we consider faunal use of the landscape, focussing on the case of birds in vegetation remnants in the Western Australian wheatbelt. We argue that attempting to describe landscape heterogeneity by a single heterogeneity index is inappropriate, because the qualitative differences between patch types and their spatial relationships frequently cannot both be described by a single value. Also, scales of study have to match the scale of the processes in which we are interested, or the scale at which particular organisms perceive their environment. Generalized indices of landscape heterogeneity may therefore have little predictive capacity for detailed process or habitat studies.