In Mexico the use of fire as a silvicultural tool and its effects on the ecosystem are seldom published. This can be explained because, among other things, liiile it is known on the effects of fire on the particular Mexican forest ecosystems. Therefore, this project was carried out with the purposes of evaluating the effects of fire on a forest soil under controlled conditions. The experimeiital part of this work was carried out in a pine forest stand at Tapalpa Saw in Jalisco State, Mexico, dominated by Pinus michoacana and i? oocarpa, with some broadleaves also occurring. The study investigated both backing and head fire. The bums were camed out on 25 and 26 March, 1991, before the rainy season. Before burning and within the three weeks following burning several soil samples were taken in order to evaluate the effect of fire on soil. The effect of fire evaluated as the most important results and conclusions, that are: 1) in the study area it was feasible to safely carry out both backing and head fire burning under controlled conditions, 2) there was a significant decrease iii the concentration of phosphorus in the soil, 3) there were diiierences in the concentrations of potassium, nitrate and ammonium, although non significant; calcium concentration was not affected either, and 4) there were no changes in the concentration of magnesium and manganese in the soil. In general, it is concluded that it is still necessary to carry out more studies before prescribed fire can be iised with confidence in Mexican forest conditions.


Postmodernism and the Contemporary Novel: A Reader is the first book to collect together the most important contributions to the theory of the postmodern novel over the last forty years and to guide readers through the complex questions and wide-ranging debates: what are its characteristics? Which novels and authors belong to the category? Does it even deserve to be a category on its own? From which traditions does it emerge? How does it relate to previous forms of the novel and to other aspects of postmodern culture? While discussion of the contemporary novel has been dominated by the question of postmodernism, developments in contemporary fiction are also central to the wider debate about postmodernism. Fiction is referred to frequently in the work of postmodernist thinkers not explicitly concerned with literature, like Baudrillard, Lyotard, and Haraway. The selections in this book will also enable readers to place the theory of postmodern fiction in a broader intellectual and cultural context. * Analyses postmodern fiction from both thematic and formal perspectives, giving in-depth coverage to key features and issues such as metafiction, the relation to modernism, history, and politics * Features work by some of the most important theorists and critics of the last few decades, such as Ihab Hassan, Jean Baudrillard, Linda Hutcheon, and Brian McHale * Provides a sense of historical, social and cultural context to the debate about postmodernism in fiction * Gives ample coverage to some of the most compelling issues raised in relation to postmodern fiction in recent years, such as science and new technologies, the cyborg, 'race' and gender


The possibility for primary or secondary amines to activate enolizable aldehydes or ketones towards a variety of reactions opened the way for their α-functionalization in a catalytic and enantioselective fashion. In the same line, the β-functionalization of enones and enals is possible through the catalytic formation of an α,β-unsaturated iminium ion. More recently, the combination of these two activation manifolds along with the principle of vinylogy has opened the possibility for the remote functionalization of unsaturated aldehydes and ketones, allowing the γ- and δ-functionalization through dienamine catalysis and vinylogous iminium ion activation respectively. Much more recently, it has also been shown that even a more remote e-functionalization is also possible by the formation of trienamine intermediates1 which, if conformationally locked, also allow the selective installation of e-stereocenters with high level of stereochemical control. The implementation of a reaction through dienamine or trienamine intermediates entails that the conjugation level of the starting material has to increase from a simple aldehyde or ketone to an α,β-unsaturated or α,β,γ,δ-polyunsaturated aldehyde or ketone respectively and this involves a progressive depletion of its reactivity towards condensation with the aminocatalyst.
In this work, unconjugated 2,5-dienals are proposed to constitute more reactive substrates than the corresponding fully conjugated α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated aldehydes towards organocatalytic activation through trienamine intermediates. This has been demonstrated in the Diels-Alder reaction with nitroalkenes,2 which proceeds with clean β,e-selectivity to afford the final products in high yields and stereoselectivities, while the related polyconjugated 2,4-dienals were found to be completely unreactive.


calls the attention to the interrelation among depression, quality of life and mortality. The second part of our paper to be published later will survey the specifi c diagnostic and therapeutic features of depression in chronic kidney disease patients.


Thyroid abnormalities have been reported in persons with HIV infection, although data have been inconsistent with respect to its frequency and association with specific medications. The purpose of this study was to explore thyroid system response to thyroid releasing hormone stimulation in persons with and without HIV infection and determine the extent to which their response was associated with depression. As part of a larger study of neuroendocrine response persons with HIV-1 infection, control and HIV-1 infected individuals were evaluated. Participants' response to TRH stimulation was evaluated via TSH, total T3, and T4 levels at baseline and 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes after TRH stimulation. Participants with HIV infection had a more robust response to TRH stimulation as measured by higher levels of TSH, lower levels of T4 and modestly higher levels of T3. Depressed persons had a reduced TSH response to stimulation and lower levels of both T4 and T3, although the effect of depression on T4 was not statistically significant. These results suggest that TSH response to TRH-stimulation may be exaggerated in individuals with HIV infection but reduced in those with depression. They also suggest that the effects of depression and HIV infection may interact, and may provide a partial explanation for observed thyroid abnormalities in HIV-infected individuals. Results thus provide a partial explanation for findings on thyroid and depression in those affected by HIV infection.


Many business-oriented services will be gradually offered in the Cloud. Java Message Service (JMS) is a critical messaging technology in Java-based business applications, particularly to those that are based on the Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) open standard. Maintaining high performance in the horizontally scaled, and elastic, cloud environment is critical to the success of the business applications. In this paper, we present practical considerations in optimizing JMS performance for the cloud deployment, where some of the findings may also serve to improve the design of JMS container so it adapts well to cloud computing. Our work also includes performance evaluation on the proposed strategies.


We derive new perturbation bounds for eigenvalues of Hermitian matrices with block
 structures. The structures we consider range from a standard 2-by-2 block form to block
 tridiagonal and tridigaonal forms. The main idea is the observation that an eigenvalue is
 insensitive to componentwise perturbations if the corresponding eigenvector components are
 small. We show that the same idea can be used to explain two well-known phenomena, one
 concerning extremal eigenvalues of Wilkinson's matrices and another concerning the
 efficiency of aggressive early deflation applied to the symmetric tridiagonal QR algorithm.


The field of epilepsy research has undergone a dramatic transformation in the past decade. However, substantial gaps exist in our understanding of epilepsy, from its causes and prevention to its clinical impact and treatment. In March 2000, prominent epilepsy research scientists, health care providers, and leaders of epilepsy organizations came together for a seminal conference to discuss what it would take to reach a cure for epilepsy, defined as the prevention of epilepsy in people at risk, and by effective and safe therapy (''no seizures, no side effects'') for those with the disorder. Cosponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the American Epilepsy Society, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, the Epilepsy Foundation, and the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, this White House–initiated conference highlighted advances in neuroscience, imaging, genetics, and clinical research related to mechanisms of epileptogenesis, and emphasized the vital need for further research that would lead to new treatments and cures. Participants were eager to identify a way to evaluate progress resulting from this historic event, and a session was added to the conference to ''benchmark'' the outcomes. The NINDS subsequently worked with more than a dozen Epilepsy Research Stewards—established leaders in the field of epilepsy research—to define a series of goals for the field that could serve as a research agenda. The NINDS and the Stewards developed a series of Epilepsy Research Benchmarks based on the three major topic areas of the 2000 Conference: (1) interrupting and monitoring epileptogenesis; (2) genetic strategies; and (3) developing new therapies. The first of these Benchmarks entailed goals that would hasten progress toward understanding the fundamental causes of epilepsy at the anatomic, physiologic, and genetic ⁄ molecular levels; and defining markers of epileptogenicity. This Benchmark also encouraged the validation and use of improved animal models for therapeutics testing. The second Benchmark focused on prevention through the use of epileptogenicity markers to identify tissue targets for preventive therapies, and the completion of large clinical trials of neuroprotective or antiepileptogenic compounds in high-risk individuals. The third Benchmark highlighted the development of improved therapies. Markers of epileptogenicity were again emphasized, in this case for the efficacy testing of therapeutics. Other factors were recognized as important for improved personalization of therapies, including an individual's developmental stage, hormonal status, and genetic profile. Multiple treatment strategies were encouraged, including the continued refinement of biosensors and seizure suppression systems, new approaches for epilepsy surgery, and novel therapies such as cell transplants or vaccines. This Benchmark also called for the achievement of a complete cure for a form of genetic epilepsy through appropriate translation through preclinical research studies. A complete list of the original Epilepsy Research Benchmarks is available at: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/research/epilepsyweb/epilepsybenchmarks.htm. Over the subsequent 5 years, the research community made substantial progress on these Benchmarks, including but not limited to advances such as: • Improvements in neurotransmitter imaging through the development of magnetized nanoparticles. • The development of a collaborative project to understand changes in gene expression associated with epileptogenesis in different animal models. • The establishment of a database that enables researchers to search nonproprietary structural and biologic data on anticonvulsant drugs. • The initiation of clinical trials designed to prevent the development of epilepsy after brain injury. • An improved understanding of both age and hormonal influences on the underlying cellular mechanisms of epilepsy. • New discoveries related to epilepsy pharmacogenetics ⁄ pharmacogenomics. • Progress in seizure detection and brain stimulation to control epilepsy, as well as other surgical approaches to treatment. • The development of the Epilepsy Phenome ⁄ Genome Project to facilitate the discovery of genes responsible for more common forms of epilepsy. These and other advances associated with the original Benchmarks—as well as roadblocks to progress in some Benchmark areas—are detailed in a series of reports available at: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/research/ epilepsyweb/epilepsybenchmarks.htm. As these reports illustrate, research goals are never static, and the evolving needs of the research community, along with the increasing recognition that the comorbidities of epilepsy present a significant challenge to the goal of ''no seizures, no side effects,'' strongly indicated that a reassessment of the Benchmarks was warranted. In March 2007, this reassessment took place, with more than 400 researchers, physicians, patients, family members, and epilepsy organization leaders convening on the National Institutes of Health campus to participate in the ''Curing Epilepsy 2007: Translating Discoveries into Therapies'' Conference. Organized by the NINDS in collaboration with epilepsy research and voluntary GRAY MATTERS


: Auditory arousal was assessed in eleven preterm infants for two different signal spectra. The responsibility of these infants was compared to that previously determined for full term infants to the same signals. It was found that preterm infants respond more frequently than full term infants to both wide band and narrow band noises. Moreover, like the full term infants, the preterm infants respond to wide band signals more readily than to narrow band signals.


The immunogenic response of mice vaccinated intranasally or subcutaneously with increasing doses of a purified, concentrated intact A(2)/Taiwan influenza vaccine or its Tween-ether derived vaccines was compared. Immunogenicity was measured by serum neutralization and hemagglutination-inhibition antibodies, lung lesions scores, and protection against respiratory challenge with live airborne influenza virus. Intact (untreated) vaccine, Tween-ether-treated (ET) vaccine, and the isolated hemagglutinins (HA) provided protection and stimulated homologous antibody response at the 35- and 70-chicken cell agglutination (CCA) unit level. At a lower dosage level, the vaccines administered by the subcutaneous route appeared to confer better protection. The ET vaccine was superior to intact virus or HA vaccines when administered subcutaneously. The minimum amount of the HA and intact vaccine given subcutaneously that protected mice against respiratory challenge was 7 CCA units (3.5 units injected twice) compared to 0.7 CCA units (0.35 units injected twice) for the ET vaccine. No heterologous antibody to the A/PR/8/34 or B/Mass/3/66 was noted. Low-level serum-neutralizing antibody was found against the A(2)/Japan/170 strain but, despite high levels of homologous A(2)/Taiwan/64 antibody, no cross-reactivity was found with the recent A(2)/Hong Kong/68 variant.


Breast‐conserving surgery plus radiation (BCT) yields equivalent or better survival than mastectomy for early‐stage breast cancer (ESBC) women. However, nationwide mastectomy trends increased in recent decades, attracting studies on underlying causes. Prior research identified that long distance to the radiation treatment facility (RTF) was associated with mastectomy. Still, it is unclear whether such association applies to young and old ESBC women comparably. We sought to delineate such impacts by age.


Abstract This study summarizes and compares estimates of radiation absorbed dose to the thyroid gland for typical patients who underwent diagnostic radiology examinations in the years from 1930 to 2010. The authors estimated the thyroid dose for common examinations, including radiography, mammography, dental radiography, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine, and computed tomography (CT). For the most part, a clear downward trend in thyroid dose over time for each procedure was observed. Historically, the highest thyroid doses came from the nuclear medicine thyroid scans in the 1960s (630 mGy), full-mouth series dental radiography (390 mGy) in the early years of the use of x rays in dentistry (1930s), and the barium swallow (esophagram) fluoroscopic exam also in the 1930s (140 mGy). Thyroid uptake nuclear medicine examinations and pancreatic scans also gave relatively high doses to the thyroid (64 mGy and 21 mGy, respectively, in the 1960s). In the 21st century, the highest thyroid doses still result from nuclear medicine thyroid scans (130 mGy), but high thyroid doses are also associated with chest/abdomen/pelvis CT scans (18 and 19 mGy for males and females, respectively). Thyroid doses from CT scans did not exhibit the same downward trend as observed for other examinations. The largest thyroid doses from conventional radiography came from cervical spine and skull examinations. Thyroid doses from mammography (which began in the 1960s) were generally a fraction of 1 mGy. The highest average doses to the thyroid from mammography were about 0.42 mGy, with modestly larger doses associated with imaging of breasts with large compressed thicknesses. Thyroid doses from dental radiographic procedures have decreased markedly throughout the decades, from an average of 390 mGy for a full-mouth series in the 1930s to an average of 0.31 mGy today. Upper GI series fluoroscopy examinations resulted in up to two orders of magnitude lower thyroid doses than the barium swallow. There are considerable uncertainties associated with the presented doses, particularly for characterizing exposures of individual identified patients. Nonetheless, the tabulations provide the only comprehensive report on the estimation of typical radiation doses to the thyroid gland from medical diagnostic procedures over eight decades (1930–2010). These data can serve as a resource for epidemiologic studies that evaluate the late health effects of radiation exposure associated with diagnostic radiologic examinations.


The structure of melt-spun and crystallized Mg-10%Ni and Mg-10%Ni-5%La alloys is studied using HRTEM, coupled with ED and EELS techniques, for specimens subjected to hydrogenation and dehydrogenation. The presence of nano-sized (5-10nm) Mg2Ni grains dispersed in the matrix of Mg nano-grains is observed before hydrogenation. This structure is almost preserved after hydrogenation and dehydrogenation at 300°C. In the hydrogenated specimen, nanoboundaries lying between MgH2 and Mg2NiH4 nano-grains are observed. They appear to provide main routes for the hydrogen transport in these nanostructured materials.


Eleven-year-old Naomi, known as Chirp, loves living on Cape Cod and being close to its attendant bird population. When her mother's symptoms turn out to be multiple sclerosis, however, the news casts a pall over the family, and Chirp feels left behind as her older sister moves into teenagerhood and her psychiatrist father focuses his attention on his wife, a former dancer deeply depressed at her impairment. As her mother's depression leads to hospitalization and further distress for the family, Chirp grows closer to her classmate and neighbor Joey, who has his own family problems; when new tragedy strikes her family, it's to Joey that Chirp turns. Ehrlich vividly evokes the details of her 1972 setting with copious details about music and other media, while Chirp's travails will ring true to readers of any era. Chirp's family—the loving but mansplaining doctor dad, the mother whose exuberance hides fragility, the sister in teenage rebellion—is satisfyingly drawn, and Joey, with strong hints about his abusive family and subtler ones about his OCD, is portrayed with effective spareness. There are some echoes here of Ruth White's Memories of Summer (BCCB 9/00), and readers who appreciated that period tale of a family holding itself together in the face of adversity will sympathize with Chirp's desperation. DS


This paper describes a novel process, "silicon carbide micro-reaction-sintering," to reaction-sinter three-dimensional silicon carbide microstructures using micromachined silicon molds. This process consists of micromachining of silicon molds, filling the molds with material powders -silicon carbide, graphite and phenol resin), bonding of the molds with adhesive, reaction-sintering by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and release of a reaction-sintered workpiece from the mold by wet etching. Using this process, we have successfully fabricated silicon carbide microrotors with a diameter of 5 and 10 mm for a microma- chined gas turbine. The shape of the silicon molds could be well transferred to the reaction-sintered samples within 3% shrinkage of the size. We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis to evaluate the reaction-sintered samples. They revealed the generation of -silicon carbide by the reaction between silicon and graphite in reaction-sintering process. They also revealed the presence of residual free silicon in the reaction-sintered samples due to low concentration of graphite in the material powders. We measured mechanical properties such as bending strength and Vickers hardness. The reaction-sintered samples had approximately 70% bending strength and 70-80% Vickers hardness compared with those of a commercially-available reaction-sintered silicon carbide. (509)


The alloying behavior of RE element of Er in Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloys with addition of Er were investigated in this paper. During solidification ,most of element Er segregated at grain boundaries in the form of primary Al8Cu4Er phase and part of Er dissolved in the α-Al matrix. After rolling, Al8Cu4Er phase could be fragmentated into dispersed particle which leaded to an increase of the grain boundary strengthening . TEM observation and tensile strength test showed that small addition of Er retarded the precipitation of Ω phase and prolonged the time corresponding to the peak aging,with a remarkable increase of ductility.


The German banking market is notorious for its low degree of market penetration by foreign financial institutions, suggesting that markets serviced by domestic and foreign banks are segmented. This paper employs a number of tests to determine whether activities of domestic and foreign banks are related. Using data for the years 1986-1999, we fail to find evidence for similarities in the activities of domestic and foreign banks. This holds across the two types of domestic banks (large and savings banks) and across four different activities (loans and deposits of banks and non-banks) considered.


By introducing an over-segmentation algorithm into the conditional model (CM), we propose a new region-based CM model (R-CM), and investigate its performance on semantic segmentation of images. In order to incorporate structure information of objects, we segment an image into regions by using an over-segmentation algorithm. Based on the results of CM model, we first consider assigning all pixels in one region with the same label, and then other feature potentials are included to counteract the influence of false over-segmentation. We compare our results to related work on the Olive & Torralba database and show that aside from improved accuracy of the whole database, our model obtains a perceptual improvement, with boundary of different objects correctly labeled.


This paper analyses European approaches to migration. It does so with a focus on the struggles and claims advanced by migrants themselves and other subjects as an angle from which to discern the clash between a narrow, operational, understanding of what is just in the field of migration and different ways to instead understand justice as a political and dynamic principle. The paper discusses the conceptions of justice employed in the Globus project – justice as non-domination, as impartiality and as mutual recognition – and argues for an expanded conception of justice as mutual recognition as a way to bring the discussion beyond both the Westphalian and cosmopolitan perspectives. It then discusses different forms of contestation of European migration policies, by examining different ways in which they are contested both in practice and in principle by different actors, including migrants and movements of solidarity. Lastly, the paper discusses the emerging approaches to migration within the EU through the concept of logistification, arguing that this leads to a form of 'ethical minimalism' that limits the reach of global justice as a political concept. The paper ends by arguing for the need to develop discussions about the global leading towards wider conceptions of justice where migration is considered in all its dimensions as a powerful transformative force, and not simply as an object of governance, and migrants themselves are considered as political subjects which constantly keep the quest for justice open beyond any reductionist approach.


Issues relating to salary or wages, would be detrimental to employees and companies. One reason is the person who did fraud. Adequate internal control is believed to prevent the occurrence of fraud in the company. Two points examined in this study, whether in PT Yamatex Spinning Mills has had adequate internal controls and the relationship between internal control that has been owned by the risk of fraud, especially on the payroll and personnel cycle. The results showed that PT Yamatex Spinning Mills have internal control. This adequate internal control reduces the risk of fraud. Weaknesses that still exist in the company's internal control is the lack of job rotation policy periodically. Authorization policy in the company that is an offset for these weaknesses. The author suggested that the company established a rotation policy positions on a regular basis to prevent someone from being a position for too long and have the opportunity to conduct fraud.Keywords : Internal control, payroll and personnel,fraud


The present study concentrates on solving the along wind oscillation problem of a tall square building from first principles and across wind oscillation problem of the same from empirical relations obtained by experiments. The criterion for human comfort at the worst condition at the top floor of the building is being considered and a limiting value of height of a building for a given cross section is predicted. Numerical integrations are carried out as and when required. The results show severeness of across wind oscillations in comparison to along wind oscillation. The comfort criterion is combined with across wind oscillation results to determine the maximum allowable height of a building for a given square cross-section. Keywords—Tall Building, Along-wind Response, Across-wind Response, Human Comfort.


The learning control develops controllers that learn to improve their performance at executing a given task. based on experience performing this specific task. In a previous work. the authors presented an iterative precision of linear decentralized learning control based on p-integrated learning method for the vertical dynamic multiple systems. This paper develops an indirect decentralized learning control based on adaptive control method. The original motivation of the learning control field was learning in robots doing repetitive tasks such as an assembly line works. This paper starts with decentralized discrete time systems, and progresses to the robot application, modeling the robot as a time varying linear system in the neighborhood of the nominal trajectory, and using the usual robot controllers that are decentralized, treating each link as if it is independent of any coupling with other links. Some techniques will show up in the numerical simulation for vertical dynamic robot. The methods of learning system are shown for the iterative precision of each link.


The MIRI Si:As IBC detector arrays extend the heritage technology from the Spitzer IRAC arrays to a 1024 × 1024 pixel format. We provide a short discussion of the principles of operation, design, and performance of the individual MIRI detectors, in support of a description of their operation in arrays provided in an accompanying paper. We then describe modeling of their response. We find that electron diffusion is an important component of their performance, although it was omitted in previous models. Our new model will let us optimize the bias voltage while avoiding avalanche gain. It also predicts the fraction of the IR-active layer that is depleted (and thus contributes to the quantum efficiency) as signal is accumulated on the array amplifier. Another set of models accurately predicts the nonlinearity of the detector-amplifier unit and has guided determination of the corrections for nonlinearity. Finally, we discuss how diffraction at the interpixel gaps and total internal reflection can produce the extended cross-like artifacts around images with these arrays at short wavelengths, ∼5 μm. The modeling of the behavior of these devices is helping optimize how we operate them and also providing inputs to the development of the data pipeline.


This thesis focuses on the effects of a Wellesley student's First Year Mentor's major and First Year advisor's department on the student's choice of major. The Rubin Causal framework was used to draw causal inferences instead of just correlation. Doing so, it is possible to attribute any effect to the type of First Year Mentor or First Year advisor assigned to the student. In the mentoring component, the data was analyzed using Fisher's Test and the Separate Regressions Method. Each method gave some statistically significant results; however they were not practically significant due to their small effect sizes. Our approach to the mentoring component of this thesis illustrates a novel application of rerandomization techniques to a natural experiment. In the advising component, the data was analyzed using subclassification because the assignment of advisors is not randomized. After subclassification, the data was analyzed using a weighted t-test. The results were not statistically significant. Thus, First Mentors and First Year Advisors do not appear to have an effect on a Wellesley student's choice of major.


In this article, we propose a testing technique for multivariate heteroscedasticity, which is expressed as a test of linear restrictions in a multivariate regression model. Four test statistics with known asymptotical null distributions are suggested, namely the Wald, Lagrange multiplier (LM), likelihood ratio (LR) and the multivariate Rao F-test. The critical values for the statistics are determined by their asymptotic null distributions, but bootstrapped critical values are also used. The size, power and robustness of the tests are examined in a Monte Carlo experiment. Our main finding is that all the tests limit their nominal sizes asymptotically, but some of them have superior small sample properties. These are the F, LM and bootstrapped versions of Wald and LR tests.


Human brain microvascularisation, whose general patterns are well known, still raises unanswered questions, such as the ones concerning regional arterial angioarchitectonic variations. Following other papers already published about the Temporal Plan and the Prefrontal Cortex, this article presents new elements on the arterial microcirculation's morphology of the Temporal Lobe in its whole and in the different areas that constitute it. The microangiography is the first choice method for such research, allowing to observe and describe in detail multiple aspects that have not been pointed out before.


This paper studies the competition between firms for influencers in a network. Firms spend effort to convince influencers to recommend their products. The analysis identifies the offensive and defensive roles of spendgin on influencers. The value of an influencer only depends on the in-degree distribution of the influence network. Influencers who exclusively cover a high number of consumers are more valuable to firms than those who mostly cover consumers also covered by other influencers. Firm profits are highest when there are many consumers with a very low or with very high in-degree. Consumers with an intermediate level of in-degree contribute negatively to profits and high in-degree consumers increase profits when market competition is not intense. Prices are generally lower when consumers are covered by many influencers, however, firms are not always worse off with lower prices. The nature of consumer response to recommendations makes an important difference. When first impressions dominate, firm profits for dense networks are higher, but when recommendations have a cumulative influence profits are reduced as the network becomes dense.


Complex traits can be triggered by environmental factors in genetically predisposed individuals. The lysyl oxidase-like 1 gene (LOXL1) variants associated with exfoliation syndrome (XFS) are detected in >90% of cases that have been genotyped from sites around the world. Remarkably, roughly 80% of people without XFS also possess these same variants in all populations that have been tested. Nonetheless, the prevalence of XFS varies from ≤0.4% to >20%. These data suggest that other genetic variants, epigenetic modifications, or environmental factors also contribute to XFS. Furthermore, it is possible that environmental factors modify the association between LOXL1 and XFS. Interactions between LOXL1 variants and environmental factors could explain the varying prevalence of XFS seen throughout the world. At the very least, the discovery of the association between LOXL1 variants and XFS has opened the door to the discovery of environmental risk factors for this condition. Candidate gene-environment interactions in XFS will be discussed.


When they touched their hearts, they touched their deepest faith. If they could deceive others with their tongues, they could never deceive themselves in their hearts.... Only there could self examination be effective. Only there could God's will be known. Norman Pettit, The Heart Prepared Sometime before her marriage to Aaron Ashbridge in 1746, Elizabeth Ashbridge wrote the first-person account of her religious conversion to Quakerism. The narrative follows the general pattern of colonial New England conversion narratives, the particular conventions of the Quaker conversion account, and is inscribed by patriarchal ideologies; yet Ashbridge works within these circumscriptions to structure a conversion rhetoric that defines herself as the empowered speaking subject. Several decades later, after her divorce from Asa Bailey in 1793, Abigail Abbott Bailey wrote an autobiography that is a narrative of established faith but also placed within the pattern of conversion. The trials she suffers at the hands of her husband form an extended test of faith that is written, like that of Ashbridge, wholly within contemporary cultural convention and circumscription. While Ashbridge centers the "Self," of which she remains constantly aware, in the midst of seeking and being tested by God, Bailey enters into an earnest "I-Thou" discourse with God, through which she structures her own sense of self. Ultimately, my concerns lie in the projects these women undertake, Ashbridge on her way to conversion and Bailey after her conversion, to articulate their subjectivity and to understand the workings of their lives in the rhetoric of conversion and faith, and I see the essence of these projects as prefiguring today's feminist theology. (1) I argue that Ashbridge and Bailey rely on conventional religious rhetorical structures to define God as their key external referent and to define their hearts as the internalization of that referent. As these women embrace and claim patriarchal rhetorical strategies, they also claim an empowerment made evident by their resistance to adversity, subvert the circumscription of expected female behavior, and appropriate and integrate power into the feminine voice. My reading of Some Account of the Fore Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge (1774) and the Memoirs of Mrs. Abigail Bailey (1815) begins with both women's reliance on the rhetoric of the "heart prepared," a rhetoric that Norman Pettit finds essential to the Calvinist conversion narrative. Specifically, I argue that Ashbridge and Bailey both position their hearts as logogic sites in a rhetoric of self-definition in relation to their husbands and in relation to God. (2) In their struggles with their husbands and their faith, the heart becomes, for Ashbridge and Bailey, the logical site for the confluence of sensual and spiritual meaning in the instance of Logos, the Word made Flesh. As Calvinist women in covenantal marriage, and with the heart culturally designated as the site of all sentiment, these women were meant to dedicate their hearts to their husbands. At the same time, the heart was also seen as the seat of faith--in keeping with its etymological bases since all ancient forms of the word "faith" define it as the resting of one's heart--and they were meant to rest it on God. I suggest that these women write the heart, instead of the mind or the soul, as logogic site, because their conflicts were rooted in both man-woman relationships and God-human relationships. In terms of the heart as a secular site, Ashbridge's and Bailey's inheritance goes back to the Bible's positioning of the heart as the seat of all emotions, as it does in the Song of Songs, and to early Renaissance and American colonial literature that sets the heart as the particular site of romantic love, as does the poetry of Edmund Spenser or Anne Bradstreet. In terms of the heart as the site of faith and religious understanding, the meaning that Ashbridge and Bailey inherited from early Puritanism is best articulated by Pettit: "[B]eyond the voice, behind the conscience, the heart told them the truth about themselves and their relation to God" (1). …


Most ophthalmic zoster occurs in healthy people and ocular complications occur in 50%. The mainstay of ocular therapy is topical steroid, but careful follow-up and withdrawal are essential. The place of systemic steroid therapy and acyclovir in immunocompetent patients with zoster is uncertain.


Owing to the favorable geographic location, complexity of thegeological composition, versatile and specific natural characteristics, agrarian,demographic, ethnic and other characteristics Macedonia has always been aninteresting area for description and study.

Natural and scientific studies of Macedonia carried out in the XIX centuryare different regarding the subject, content and methodology.

The most common literary form used was description or descriptiveanalysis of the issues. Travel writings over the past, although small in numberare of importance.

If we leave out fragmentary description on the natural-geographiccharacteristics in travel and other reports, it can be said that individual studiesdid not exist in the XIX century. A longer work published at the time was"Geographie physique de la Macedoine" published by Carlovitz (Paris, 1881).

The period from the beginning of the XX century to the Balkan Wars(1912) marked the beginning of the study of the entire character of the areaof Macedonia. The most important study as a regional-geographic nature thatwill be used by many generations of research workers during the whole periodof the XX century is the long Monograph of Cvijic entitled The Element ofGeography and Geology for Macedonia and Old Serbia (Belgrade, 1906 -1911).


This paper addresses an issue that so far has received relatively little attention in methodological discussions about Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), namely the challenges researchers face when using qualitative data in QCA analyses. Building on a literature review of 22 empirical studies using qualitative data for QCA, we discuss the challenges and ways to address these: (1) Which qualitative data to use? (2) How to determine the thresholds for in- and exclusion of a set? (3) How to establish the degree to which a case is 'in' or 'out' of a set? (4) How to differentiate between those concepts that are truly absent and those that are not mentioned? (5) Which sensitivity tests to conduct for assessing the robustness of the findings based on qualitative data? (6) How to present the calibration process transparently (and concisely)? By discussing these challenges using especially current practices in QCA-studies that are mostly informed by qualitative data, we aim to contribute to the best practices in QCA research.


A series of coronenetetraimide (CorTIm)-centered cruciform pentamers containing multiporphyrin units, in which four porphyrin units are covalently linked to a CorTIm core through benzyl linkages, were designed and synthesized to investigate their structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical properties as well as photoinduced electron- and energy-transfer dynamics. These systems afforded the first synthetic case of coroneneimide derivatives covalently linked with dye molecules. The steady-state absorption and electrochemical results indicate that a CorTIm and four porphyrin units were successfully characterized by the corresponding reference monomers. In contrast, the steady-state fluorescence measurements demonstrated that strong fluorescence quenching relative to the corresponding monomer units was observed in these pentamers. Nanosecond laser flash photolysis measurements revealed the occurrence of intermolecular electron transfer from triplet excited state of zinc porphyrins to CorTIm. Femtosecond laser-induced transient absorption measurements for excitation of the CorTIm unit clearly demonstrate the sequential photoinduced energy and electron transfer between CorTIm and porphyrins, that is, occurrence of the initial energy transfer from CorTIm (energy donor) to porphyrins (energy acceptor) and subsequent electron transfer from porphyrins (electron donor) to CorTIm (electron acceptor) in these pentamers, whereas only the electron-transfer process from porphyrins to CorTIm was observed when we mainly excite porphyrin units. Finally, construction of high-order supramolecular patterning of these pentamers was performed by utilizing self-assembly and physical dewetting during the evaporation of solvent.


abstract:Although often linked in literary history to Beat writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, who upturned literary conventions in the 1950s by transforming the art of personal revelation into an aesthetic form, William Burroughs shared little interest in the desire of his friends to expose their deepest secrets to their literary audiences. He argued instead that their poetics of revelation actually played into the hands of the rising national security state in the United States. In the midst of an escalating Cold War, the U.S. government, according to Burroughs, had successfully linked national security to the state's infiltration into the private lives of its citizens and had begun demanding, under the threat of punishment, institutionalization, or contempt charges, for personal confessions of the most intimate details. In response, Burroughs waged what he saw as a guerrilla war against the modern state's demand for transparency, seeking tools of liberation to escape the trappings of autobiography and memory that kept people trapped within their own pasts and easily monitored by state forces.


On January 30, 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) stated that a new coronavirus disease outbreak [COronaVIrus Disease - 19 (COVID-19)] was an international public health emergency. Many news, often fake ones, about the derived pandemic rapidly spread along the media, thus leading many dermatological patients to identify as "risk category" and sometimes discontinue treatments by themselves. The Dermatology Units in Grosseto and Pordenone simultaneously carried out a data collection by remote-conducted visits, evaluating the incidence of COVID-19 in psoriatic patients. Only 1 patient (close contact of a case) as part of the psoriasis analyzed group was tested and turned out to be positive for SARS-CoV-2, developing no symptoms during the observation period. The collected information may suggest that psoriasis, biotechnologically treated or not, cannot promote or aggravate the clinical trend of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, hence stopping systemic therapy in negative or clinically free SARS-CoV-2 patients is not recommended in general.


This research aims at investigating if and how categorial organization of knowledge about everyday life places influences memory a specific environment. In the first part of the research we examined how subjects form environmentS categories (such as buildings or rooms), while in the second part the relation between category membership of places and memory for them was investigated. Data were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively.. Results are discussed -on the basis of previsions derived from the distinction between place aspects conforming or not conforming to the prototypical image.


Extreme response style (ERS) and acquiescence response style (ARS) are among the most encountered problems in attitudinal research. The authors investigate whether the response bias caused by these response styles varies with following three aspects of question format: full versus end labeling, numbering answer categories, and bipolar versus agreement response scales. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 5,351 respondents from the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences household panel, of which a subsample was assigned to one of five conditions. The authors apply a latent class factor model that allows for diagnosing and correcting for ERS and ARS simultaneously. The results show clearly that both response styles are present in the data set, but ARS is less pronounced than ERS. With regard to format effects, the authors find that end labeling evokes more ERS than full labeling and that bipolar scales evoke more ERS than agreement style scales. With full labeling, ERS opposes opting for middle response categories, whereas end labeling distinguishes ERS from all other response categories. ARS did not significantly differ depending on test conditions.


BACKGROUND AND AIM
In patients with ventilatory pump disorder cardiac decompensation can occur after introduction of nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation therapy (nasal IPPV). Therefore we carried out hemodynamic measurements in eight patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Before starting non-invasive ventilation and 1 hour later we measured pulmonary artery pressures, central venous pressures, pulmonary capillary wedge pressures and cardiac output. Blood gas analysis of arterial and mixed venous blood were carried out. We calculated oxygen delivery and oxygen extraction rate.

RESULTS
After 1 hour of ventilation cardiac output was reduced from 5.9 l/min to 4.1 l/min, oxygen delivery was reduced from 1002 ml/min to 771 ml/min. These results were significant. Three patients were measured hourly during a prolonged period of ventilation. After 4 to 6 hours cardiac output almost reached again the level before ventilation.

CONCLUSION
Similar to invasive ventilation or nCPAP-therapy non-invasive ventilation (nIPPV) causes a significant reduction of cardiac output 1 hour after starting ventilation. An adaptation of cardiac output could be reached after a couple of hours.


Previous literatures prove that marketing mix, store loyalty and attitudes towards private brands are pivotal characteristics on customer preferences towards private brands. The purpose of this paper is to give in deep knowledge on characteristics of customer preference towards private brands. Thus, the motivation of this paper is due to recent phenomenon of why the customers are tend to buy the private brand, even though it has been proven in low quality, has become main reason for this research. Therefore, this paper sought to the needs to understand the characteristics that influence customer preferences towards private brand. In addition, a literature reviews on the conceptual factors that significance to the customer preference towards of private brands. As a conclusion, this conceptual paper can contribute to give information to the private brand stores.


: The critical incident concept on which an internal medical audit is based has been proposed to comparatively assess different protocols of anesthesiological support. The purpose of this study was to develop a procedure and to implement it at an anesthesiological unit. The study included and analyzed 361 anesthesiological supports. The list of critical incidents (CIs) contained 53 items and was divided into 8 main groups. CIs were recorded in 42.1% of anesthesias: a total of 304 CIs were noted and the frequency of CIs (the number of recorded CIs per anesthesia was 0.84). The bulk of CIs was associated with the cardiovascular system and varying allergic reactions. The study also yielded data on the distribution of CIs in relation to the type of anesthesiological support, the type of a surgical intervention and the physical status of a patient (according to the ASA classification). This study has only opened a little way to internal audit and showed the importance of its routine use to assess different procedures for anesthesiological support.


This paper starts from the assumption that the conceptual structure underlying terms in a spe-cialized domain constitutes an essential aspect in terminology and in the elaboration of termi-nological resources, in a way that the precise representation of that conceptual structure can be of great use for specialized translators. Based on this premise we have constructed a multi-lingual (Spanish-English-German) terminological dictionary based on ontologies, which are a type of formal and explicit representation of the conceptual structure of a domain (in our case, package travel). Thus, we show how the dictionary has been built, by describing the corpus-based preparatory phase, its implementation in the Web Ontology Language (OWL) using an ontology editor, TopBraid Composer Free Edition, and the creation of an interface to consult the dictionary in an easy and intuitive way; this application is called OntoDiccionario. We will discuss the results, by describing some of its most relevant features, by indicating short-comings, and by comparing the resulting dictionary to other general and specialized dictiona-ries, through the search for some terms from the domain in question.


ABSTRACT In this study, we explored the influence of kindergarten children's perspectives of school on their literacy and self-regulation outcomes. Children's early perspectives were captured in a three-question, finger-puppet interview. Responses to the interview questions were coded thematically as being academic and/or social in nature, and were analysed using latent-class analysis. Once children's responses were characterized into classes, further analyses were conducted to understand the application of these perspectives to direct assessments of early reading and writing and self-regulation abilities. Children with less clear perspectives, who mixed academic and social responses, had the lowest performance on all academic measures. Findings add to the existing literature while offering an innovative analytic strategy for examining relationships between children's perspectives and kindergarten outcomes.


We report on the operational parameters that are required to fabricate buried, microstructured waveguides in a z-cut lithium niobate crystal by the method of direct femtosecond laser inscription using a highrepetition-rate, chirped-pulse oscillator system. Refractive index contrasts as high as −0.0127 have been achieved for individual modification tracks. The results pave the way for developing microstructured WGs with low-loss operation across a wide spectral range, extending into the mid-infrared region up to the end of the transparency range of the host material.


We consider feasibility problems defined by a set of constraints that exhibit gradient Hölder continuity plus additional constraints defined by the affordability of obtaining approximate minimizers of quadratic models onto the associated feasible set. Each iteration of the method introduced in this paper involves the approximate minimization of a two-norm regularized quadratic subject to the affordable constraints. We obtain complexity results regarding the number of iterations and evaluations that are necessary to obtain an approximate KKT point for the problem of minimizing the sum of squares of the first type of constraints subject to the second type of constraints. Such results are a consequence of recent developments on the minimization of functions with Hölder-continuity assumptions. In addition, we show that much stronger results may be obtained when a meaningful non-degeneracy assumption is satisfied. Examples indicate that the estimations so far obtained are reliable.


The use of technical barriers to trade (TBT) is widespread and has increasing impact on international trade. In contrast to most other trade measures, TBT have both trade promotion and trade restriction effects. Due to their theoretical complexity and data scarcity, TBT have been considered as one of the most difficult non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to quantify. In this paper, we construct a TBT database from 1998–2006 to examine the influence of TBT imposed by China on the country's imports. When using the frequency index, we find that TBT are trade restrictive: a one unit increase in TBT will decrease import value by about 0.8%. However, when the coverage ratio is used, we find that the negative effects of TBT are not statistically significant based on the entire period. However, if the focus is shifted to data from 1998–2001, we find that TBT have trade promotion effects. A one unit increase in TBT will increase import value by about 0.2%. Finally, China's TBT (measured by both frequency index and coverage ratio) are trade restricting for agriculture goods but trade promoting for manufacturing goods.


Physiological reactions of viridans streptococci were examined by the API-20STREP system and a selection of conventional tests. Cluster analysis of these results produced a classification similar to a taxonomic scheme based on that of Colman and Williams. The organisms could be divided into the six recognised species--Streptococcus mutans, S. bovis, S. mitior, S. sanguis, S. salivarius and S. milleri. Analysis confirmed that S. mitior and S. sanguis can be distinguished in the API-20STREP test by hydrolysis of arginine but not by dextran production. Although S. mutans, S. mitior and S. sanguis can be divided into two further subgroups, the taxonomic significance of this is unclear. With this means of classification, most organisms could be identified easily by a small number of tests. API-20STREP is convenient for performing physiological tests on viridans streptococci, but the information provided by the manufacturers in regard to identification and nomenclature is in need of revision.


We report a case of a 13-year-old boy with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries after conventional repair who underwent an implantation of ventricular assist device (VAD ) due to right (systemic) ventricular failure after tricuspid valve replacement. The anatomical right ventricle (systemic ventricle) was completely unloaded and the function improved over time under LVAD. He had an explantation of the VAD due to bacteremia 43 days after implantation, and his clinical condition improved significantly. 2006 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.


Can people enjoy thinking if they set their mind to it? Previous work suggests that many people do not enjoy the deliberate attempt to have pleasurable thoughts. We suggest that deliberately thinking for pleasure requires mental resources that people are either unwilling or unable to devote to the task. If so, then people should enjoy pleasant thoughts that occur unintentionally more than pleasant thoughts that occur intentionally. This hypothesis was confirmed in an experience sampling study (Study 1) in which participants were contacted 4 times a day for 7 days and asked to rate what they had been thinking about. In Studies 2–5 we experimentally manipulated how easy it was for people to engage in pleasurable thought when given the goal of doing so. All participants listed topics they would enjoy thinking about; then some were given a simple "thinking aid" that was designed to make this experience easier. Participants who received the aid found the experience easier and enjoyed it more. The findings suggest that thinking for pleasure is cognitively demanding, but that a simple thinking aid makes it easier and more enjoyable.


Internet addiction is a relatively new phenomenon which can have similar impacts as substance dependence on one's cognitive and behavioral functioning. This type of addiction is a growing problem, and is constantly being researched to try to address what causes this addiction, who is affected by it, and how it can be treated. By understanding these issues, it will be easier to put an end to internet addiction and the negative consequences that may result from it. It has been found that internet addiction can have serious impacts on one's mental health and may cause conditions such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. This paper will discuss some of the recent literature regarding internet addiction, and the research that has been previously conducted on it. The discussion of the previous research will include the results and conclusions which have been made in regards to the impacts which internet addiction can have on one's mental health.


The question of how the loss of regulatory mechanisms for a metabolic enzyme would affect the fitness of the corresponding organism has been addressed. For this, the fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FbPase) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been taken as a model. Yeast strains in which different controls on FbPase (catabolite repression and inactivation; inhibition by fructose-2,6-bisphosphate and AMP) have been removed have been constructed. These strains express during growth on glucose either the native yeast FbPase, the Escherichia coli FbPase which is insensitive to inhibition by fructose-2,6-bisphosphate, or a mutated E. coli FbPase with low sensitivity to AMP. Expression of the heterologous FbPases increases the fermentation rate of the yeast and its generation time, while it decreases its growth yield. In the strain containing high levels of an unregulated bacterial FbPase, cycling between fructose-6-phosphate and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate reaches 14%. It is shown that the regulatory mechanisms of FbPase provide a slight but definite competitive advantage during growth in mixed cultures.


In this paper, we consider the problem of adapting the model of a diagnosis-helping module, which interacts with human experts. The approach consists of enforcing strong semantics in the model, so that this interaction may be as intuitive as possible. When learning the model, the problem consists in respecting these semantics while learning with few data. We addressed this problem through a semisupervised gradient descent algorithm applied to partially observable Markov models with fuzzy observations. This method optimizes several criteria at once, guiding the search to a compromise between the expert's directives and objective evaluations. This method has been successfully applied to a tele-medicine application where the system monitors dialyzed patients and alerts nephrologists.


In any one organization, in Business, Service, Industry or State, Human Resource Management (HRM) is perceived as a set of activities that creates value to both the organization itself in terms of bottom line results and to employees, in terms of well – being and employment/contract terms. Organizations, to a more or lesser extent, have adopted Digital technologies and as a result HR activities are affected, in terms of speed, accuracy, quality, cost innovation, flexibility. The aims of this theoretical study are to highlight HRM in the era of digitalization, emphasize the roles of HR managers in contemporary organizations and discuss the impact of technological changes on HR practices. In order to achieve our aims, we adopt a conceptual approach. Our results summarize the contemporary HRM definitions, discuss the impact of digital technologies in certain HR areas and emphasize the new digital role of human resource manager (d-HRM).

JEL Classification: O15, M10


: From 1989 to 1999 75 proximal resections of the stomach were performed. There were two variants of operation. In the first variant, invaginative valve from submucous-mucous membrane of the esophagus and the stomach was formed in the zone of gastroesophageal anastomosis. In the second variant, for prevention of anastomotic sutures eruption late after surgery and prophylaxis of valve expanding, duplication of muscular membrane on esophagus was formed. 58 patients were operated by the first variant, 17--by second variant. Postoperative lethality was 2.7% (1 patient died after operation of the first variant, 1 patient--after the second variant). In early postoperative period the complications were revealed in 8 (10.7%) patients. There was no insufficiency of anastomotic sutures. Mean hospital stay after operation was 14.7 +/- 3.5 bed days. Reflux-esophagitis of severe degree in remote period after operation was seen in 1 (1.3%) patient, catarral--in 4 (5.3%), all the patients were operated by the first variant.


Multinational enterprises (MNEs) play a dominant role in the international business (IB) literature. Traditionally, by far the majority of IB studies deal with issues at the micro level of the individual MNE, or at the meso level of a sample of individual MNEs. This paper focuses on a macro-level issue: the impact of MNE behavior through foreign direct investment (FDI) on international trade, and vice versa. In so doing, this study responds to a recent plea for more macro-level studies in IB into the effect of MNE behavior on the macroeconomic performance of countries as a whole, particularly developing and emerging economies. In this way, IB research would inform the heated debate about the pros and cons of globalization, where antiglobalization rhetoric emphasizes the negative consequences of the increased dominance of MNEs for the world at large and the Third World in particular. In the current study, we focus on the largest developing or emerging economy of all: China. Applying sophisticated econometric techniques, we unravel the causality and direction of FDI ? trade linkages for the Chinese economy in the 1980 ? 2003 period.


This study focuses on the design of a dynamic Petri recurrent-fuzzy-neural-network (DPRFNN) control for the path tracking of a nonholonomic mobile robot. In the DPRFNN, the concept of a Petri net (PN) and the recurrent frame of internal feedback loops are incorporated into a traditional fuzzy neural network (FNN) to alleviate the computation burden of parameter learning and to enhance the dynamic mapping of network ability. Moreover, the supervised gradient descent method is used to develop the online training algorithm for the DPRFNN control. In order to guarantee the convergence of path tracking errors, analytical methods based on a discrete-type Lyapunov function are proposed to determine varied learning rates for DPRFNN. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed DPRFNN control scheme under different moving paths is verified by numerical simulations, and its superiority is indicated in comparison with FNN, recurrent FNN (RFNN) and Petri FNN (PFNN) control systems.


Results of examination and treatment of 143 patients with duodenal ulcer disease associated with cardia insufficiency were analyzed. The cardia valve function was investigated with the help of elaborated diagnostic complex. According to the data obtained, 3 grades of cardia insufficiency were suggested. Individualized surgical tactics based on the functional state of gastroesophageal junction was applied for the treatment of patients. The cardia dysfunction were not revealed 3 years after the operation, the treatment result was good or fair in 95.8% of patients.


Abstract
The author outlines the significance of herd health programs and the manner in which they are explained, and developed with clients.

Reproductive problems account for a major part of the herd health program, but also included are nutrition, preventive vaccination programs, calf management, mastitis surveillance, feet and leg problems, worming, dehorning, castration, record keeping and identification.

The differential diagnoses of reproductive problems are discussed in detail and specific treatments are outlined. The prognosis of various conditions in relationship to treatment is emphasized.


In the previous one-dimensional dislocation model, a single sinusoidal term was taken to represent the potential energy of the deposit as a function of its position on the substrate. In this model a more general representation of the potential, containing a second harmonic term as well, is used, and it is shown that the solution in this case is also expressible in terms of elliptic integrals. The displacements corresponding to a sequence of dislocations (or a single one) are calculated. The work done in generating a single dislocation by a force on a free end is derived and the stability conditions for such a chain determined. It turns out that the properties of single dislocations, especially as concerns their application to misfitting monolayers and oriented overgrowth, remain almost uninfluenced, unless the amplitude of the second harmonic term is so large as to produce a new minimum and provided the overall amplitude of the potential energy is taken to be constant. When the amplitude of the second harmonic term is large, so that the potential curve has a second minimum, a complete dislocation splits up into two halves which are the one-dimensional analogues of Shockley's 'half-dislocations' in close-packed lattices. The equilibrium separation of the two halves, as well as the stability conditions for the existence of a single half, are determined.


Individual females from 19 populations of Heterodera glycines from China, Japan, and the United States were analyzed for esterase allozyme polymorphism. Eight esterase electrophoretic phenotypes were resolved. Four putative loci, est-1, est-2, est-3, and est-4, were identified, having one, one, two, and one allele, respectively. The four loci expressed six genotypes in the four Chinese populations. Loci est-2, est-3, and est-4 were identified in five Japanese populations and expressed five genotypes, whereas only loci est-2 and est-3 were identified in 10 populations from the United States and expressed four genotypes. Putative alleles at each locus were defined as characters for data analysis. Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (PAUP) was utilized to determine relationships among the 19 populations. More loci and alleles in populations from China and phylogenetic similarities among populations from Japan and the United States are consistent with a founder effect resulting from dissemination of progenitor H. glycines from China to Japan and subsequent introductions of founder populations from Japan to the United States.


LaPO4-ZrO2 composites were prepared by slip casting and pressureless-sintered in air. The effects of LaPO4 addition on microstructure and thermal shock resistance were addressed. The thermal shock resistance of the composites was evaluated by air quenching and a subsequent three-point bending test to determine the strength degradation. Comparisons were made with results from parallel experiments conducted using a ZrO2 ceramic without LaPO4 additions. The reference ZrO2 ceramic showed the expected substantial strength losses when thermally quenched from 470oC above room temperature. By contrast, the LaPO4-ZrO2 ceramics, while displaying reduced strength relative to the reference ZrO2 ceramics, exhibited minimal strength degradation under severe thermal shock conditions.


The monograph is devoted to the development of theoretical and methodological foundations and substantiation of the conceptual basis for ensuring the stability of the functioning and organizational development of large-scale economic and production systems based on institutional regulation of the interaction of participants in such systems. The nonlinear paradigm of ensuring the sustainability of organizational development based on modeling the dynamics of development and using the concept of the life cycle is justified. The parameters of architectural support for the interaction of participants in large-scale economic and production systems in the implementation of organizational development projects are justified. The structure and components of the organizational development mechanism of the enterprise of a participant in a large-scale economic and production system are determined. Institutional support of the sustainability management contours of the organizational development of the economic-derivative system is proposed. The regularities of the implementation of organizational transformations of the enterprise management structure and the parameters of the organization of change planning in the process of industrial enterprise development are determined.

Recommended for researchers, practitioners, graduate students and students of higher educational institutions of an economic profile.


This presentation showcases the innovative use of linked government administrative data in Australia to evaluate a range of diverse social interventions aimed at supporting vulnerable groups to achieve economic independence. The interventions were developed and funded as part of the Australian Priority Investment Approach to Welfare, an approach supported by actuarial analyses of administrative data designed to deliver targeted support for groups at-risk of long-term welfare dependence. In 2018, the Australian Government, commissioned an impact evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the approach in achieving its intended outcomes. The evaluation is based on analyses of linked administrative data to assess the extent to which the new interventions enabled pathways out of welfare dependence. Our presentation will outline the strengths and weaknesses of using government administrative data to evaluate the outcomes. Strengths include easy comparison across diverse programs designed to achieve the same goals; reduced respondent reporting burdens; robust quasi-experimental techniques such as a matching design based on exact matching on a few key characteristics and/or propensity score matching on a broad range of pre-program characteristics; and evidence-based investment practice decisions. Weaknesses include the adoption of an observational rather than experimental design and the lack of information on some social characteristics such as orientations to work, attitudes and social values. The presentation not only assesses the compilation of administrative data used for the first time to evaluate multi-program projects, it will also describe how these data feed into visual interactive dashboards used to monitor the outcomes of the interventions.


The paper expresses the authors' views on the growing interest in primate social cognition, particularly among descriptive primate ethologists. Its characteristics are the hope to extract cognitive interpretations from field anecdotes, the free use of intentional language, and the untested and so far untestable idea that primate intelligence was selected in social contexts. We believe that 1) To understand how the animal itself represents the structure of its group or its habitat is perhaps the most ethological ethology there is and well worth pursuing. The study of social cognition, in particular, has long been neglected. 2) However, it requires of ethologists that they learn from established cognitive science and integrate its categories with their own. This is an interdisciplinary enterprise. 3) A traditional inductive study begins with anecdotes, which then are translated into hypotheses, which in turn are subjected to empirical tests including experiments. Sociobiology began to publish hypotheses without tests; the social cognition move now goes on to publish anecdotes without hypotheses, with a strong penchant for anthropomorphic interpretations in terms of social manipulation. This is little more than applying human prejudice. Phylogenetic and cognitive insights will come from testing alternative levels of organization in an animal's social knowledge about the same behavioral interaction. The experiment is the largely unavoidable method. Examples are given. 4) The speculation of the social origin of primate intelligence is tentatively interpreted in two possible directions. A version based on ROZIN's (1976) view that generalized mammal intelligence evolved from context-specific "Adaptive Specializations" seems the more accessible to ethological thinking and method.


Most characterised protein-small molecule interactions that display a change in heat
capacity (\bigtriangleupCp) occur with a negative \bigtriangleupCp value. This is often attributed to solvent
reorganisation from reduction in solvent accessible apolar surface area accompanying
complex formation. Positive \bigtriangleupCp values have not been widely reported and could typically
be attributed to an increased solvent accessible apolar surface area, desolvation of polar
surface area or structural transitions in the biomolecular complex.
Heat shock protein-90 (Hsp90) is one of the abundant and important molecular
ATP-dependent chaperones. The N-terminal domain of Hsp90 contains ATP/ADP binding
site, where Hsp90-ADP interactions proceed with a large positive \bigtriangleupCp of
2.35 ± 0.46 kJ·mol-1·K-1. Interestingly geldanamycin, an Hsp90 inhibitor which binds to the
same N-Hsp90-ADP/ATP binding site, interacts with a negative \bigtriangleupCp of
-0.39 ± 0.04 kJ·mol-1·K-1. The semi-empirical correlation of the solvent accessible surface
area change does not match well with the observed \bigtriangleupCp. This prompted us to investigate
various factors affecting the thermodynamics of protein-small molecule binding including
varying buffers, differing salt concentration, altering pH, substitution of different metal
cations and performing interactions in heavy water. Molecular dynamics simulation and
NMR studies have allowed us to disregard structural changes of N-Hsp90-ADP molecule
from giving rise to positive \bigtriangleupCp.
From a combination of these calorimetric, simulation and structural studies we have
gathered a considerable body of evidence suggesting that the change in accessible surface
area, ionic interactions and resultant desolvation of water molecules from the surface of a
Mg2+ ion can contribute substantially to a positive \bigtriangleupCp. We conclude that this unique
result appears to come from extensive disruption of the tightly bound water molecules
present around Mg2+-ADP after binding to Hsp90, which then gives rise to a positive \bigtriangleupCp.
In addition to these findings, the thermodynamics of 18 structurally related CDK2
inhibitors were investigated using ITC. CDK2 is a member of cyclin dependent kinases
implicated in eukaryotic cell cycle progression and control. This investigation showed that
even conservative changes in small molecule structure can reveal large variation in
thermodynamic signature, while simple concepts such as van der Waals interactions, steric
hindrance, and hydrophobicity are insufficient to explain it.


Nursing home residents often have impaired faculties, which limit their evacuation responses in light of accidents. Specifically, fire accidents can pose significant risks to both residents and property. In this study, we designed a water film cooling system to enhance the heat and smoke resistance of a fire retardant curtain without a fire resistance rating. The experimental results on a full-scale door/wall refractory furnace and smoke-barrier system showed that the proposed curtain had 1.5-h heat resistance properties, while the smoke control performance could meet the ISO 5925-1 requirement. Finally, we used Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) 6.0 to simulate an existing nursing home with this type of fireproof curtain setup for horizontal evacuation waiting space. The results show that our proposed water film cooling system can effectively inhibit the diffusion of smoke during the initial stage of a fire, creating a safe evacuation waiting zone for disadvantaged evacuees.


In factories of the future, advanced automation systems (e.g., cobots, exoskeletons, cyber physical systems) will reduce the physical effort of workers and compensate their limitations as well as ensure more flexibility, agility, and competitiveness. However, the activities of the operator 4.0 will entail an increased share of complex cognitive tasks. Therefore, monitoring the mental load will be increasingly important to ensure work environments that promote healthy life and wellbeing for all at all ages. For this aim, this paper proposes a framework to analyze heart rate, galvanic skin response and electrooculogram signals in order to extract features able to detect an excessive stress or cognitive load. Two wearable devices are used: Empatica E4 wristband and J!NS MEME electrooculography glasses. The proposed framework has been experimented through a laboratory test focused on LEGO brick-based simulations of manufacturing activities.


Resolution of clenbuterol hydrochloride enantiomers and propranolol hydrochloride enantiomers was achieved by thin-layer chromatography using methyl-β-cyclodextrin impregnated silica gel GF254 plates. The effects of stereoselective auxiliary (acetonitrile/different alcohols) were studied. Resolution of clenbuterol hydrochloride enantiomers could be realized by alcohols such as ethanol, n-butanol, 2-butanol or tert-butanol together with acetonitrile, and propranolol hydrochloride enantiomers could only be resoluted by ethanol or n-butanol together with acetonitrile. The optical conditions of simultaneous resolution were obtained as follows: 15.00g silica gel GF254 plates impregnated with 1.00g methyl-β-cyclodextrin, acetonitrile/n-butanol (V/V = 90:10) mixed solvent as spreading solvent, being resolved under ambient temperature. Under these conditions, RF value of resolution of clenbuterol hydrochloride enantiomers is 3.47, RF value of resolution of propranolol hydrochloride enantiomers is 3.35. The two couples of enantiomers were all achieved base line separation.


Information System IRP (Integrated Resource Planning) is an application that aims to facilitate the process of activities at PT. DIRGANTARA INDONESIA (Persero), the system is implemented to improve the performance of the company. And in this case required IRP education to employees, so the employee knows that information systems running, to test the effects of software quality materials IRP Ticket to user satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to determine which information systems work, To know the employee response to the Integrated Information System for Resource Planning (IRP) Material Ticket, To know the effect of software quality materials Ticket IRP system to the level of user satisfaction in Directorat Inventory Aerostructure division, to find out how user satisfaction of information systems users IRP Material TicketThe method used in this study is qualitative and quantitative, to know that walking IRP Material Ticket using UML (Unified Modeling Language). Data collection techniques using literature study, observation, interviews, questionnaires, and, analyzing data using Analysis of Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Regression Testing, Determination coefficient, and z test, data processing using SPSS 14.0 for Windows.The results showed that the quality of materials Ticket IRP software has no effect on user satisfaction, it means showing that the higher the quality of the user software will not necessarily satisfied.


A case of primary cryptococcosis of the lungs was caused by an isolate of Cryptococcus neoformans that assumes a giant form in tissue but which has a normal appearance on artificial culture. Electron microscopy revealed gross enlargement of the capsule and plasma membranes in the tissue form.


Short Cut Bedugul is a short road construction project on the Singaraja-Denpasar route. The short cut development includes the implementation of an occupational health and safety management system (SMK3). The 5-6 point short cut project includes the grade of a large project and places great importance on work safety. Field conditions with high rainfall make the area prone to landslides that can endanger workers, as well as environmental temperatures that reach 20oC which can affect work productivity. The objectives of this study are: To analyze the implementation of occupational safety and health (K3) on the Short Cut project point 5-6 Bedugul. To find out the amount of costs incurred in implementing K3 on the Short Cut point 5-6 Bedugul project. To analyze the percentage of safety and health costs (K3) to the short cut project value point 5-6 Bedugul. The type of research used in this research is descriptive research. and a quantitative descriptive of the construction of the Singaraja City Boundary Road - Mengwi (Short Cut Bedugul point 5–6) the use of K3 such as the use of safety helmets, light vests, masks, gloves, and safety belts is in accordance with the law and is very disciplined and obedient to existing regulations. set. The percentage of K3 costs to the project value refers to the CIRCULAR OF THE MINISTER NO. 66 / SE / M / 2015 Regarding the Cost of Implementing an Occupational Safety and Health Management System (SMK3) Construction in the Public Works Sector is 0.7%.


This study focuses on a topic for which news source diversity should be inherent: the reporting of civil rights legislation. A content analysis was conducted of all articles on the Civil Rights Act of 1990 published during 1990 in the Washington Post and the Atlanta Constitution. A total of 74 stories were coded for variables including source, affiliation, and description of the act The findings of the study are congruent with earlier research— journalists tend to rely on official sources and bureaucratic definitions of news. Civil rights groups were attributed less frequently than were official sources, and White House sources were the most commonly cited sources. News stories on the Civil Rights Act of 1990 tended to be linked to bureaucratic events, with most stories pegged on White House and Senate activity. Although the administration was successful in framing the act as a "quota bill,"; other descriptions made their way into the media, and editorials supported the legislation.


The global promotion of transparency for the extractive sectoroil, gas and mininghas become increasingly accepted as an appropriate solution to weaknesses in governance in resource-rich developing nations. Proponents argue that if extractive firms disclose publicly their payments to governments, citizens will be able to hold governments accountable. This will improve the management of natural resources, reduce corruption, and mitigate conflict. These beliefs are embodied in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), initially a unilateral effort launched by Tony Blair that has evolved into a global program. Why has transparency become the solution of choice for managing natural resource wealth, and how has the EITI evolved? This article argues that intersecting transnational networks with complementary global norms facilitated construction of transparency as a solution for management of resource revenues. This in turn promoted the gradual expansion of the institutional architecture, membership, and scope of the EITI despite significant political barriers.


Aims Automatic daily transmission of data from implantable cardioverter–defibrillators (ICDs) enables the remote monitoring of device status and leads function. We report on a 2-year experience with remote monitoring in 40 recipients of high-voltage ICD leads, prone to fracture and under advisory since October 2007. Methods and results The ICDs were remotely monitored as well as systematically interrogated in the ambulatory department every 3 months. The patients were also seen in case of abnormal lead impedance, or other manifestations consistent with lead dysfunction. Over a mean follow-up of 22 ± 4 months after ICD implantation, four lead dysfunctions were suspected because of remotely transmitted oversensing of noise artifacts, abrupt rise in pacing impedance, or both. A lead fracture needing lead replacement was confirmed in three patients (7.5%), two of them before any inappropriate therapy and one after the delivery of three inappropriate shocks. No lead failure was observed in the remaining 36 patients, either at the time of ambulatory visits or during remote monitoring. Conclusion Remote monitoring allowed the early and reliable detection of ICD leads failure without requiring any patient intervention.


Many assumptions appear that traditional textiles benefits are not matched with modern business production costs. This study aimed at finding the production factors of traditional textiles of Ethnic Batak of Indonesia such as capital, labor and raw materials. Those factors have contributed to the production value of the Weaving Textiles Business. This study focused on the traditional textiles of South Tapanuli in Indonesia which is so called "Ulos". With the business factors analysis, the Correlational Research Design was conducted in the oldest manufacture of textiles Ulos, Paulina Manufacture. Data analysis showed the most dominant factor influencing the production value of the Ulos Paulina Textile in Padang Sidimpuan was a raw material because the partial test showed that the value of raw material contributes more with a t-count of 3.262 compared to the capital variable 2,242 and labor 2,048 . It conclude that the capital, labor and raw materials partially have great significant and positively affect partially on the value of production in the Ulos Paulina Textile Factory.


Structural characterization of membrane proteins is hampered by their instability in detergent solutions. We modified here a G protein‐coupled receptor, the BLT1 receptor of leukotriene B4, to stabilize it in vitro. For this, we introduced a metal‐binding site connecting the third and sixth transmembrane domains of the receptor. This modification was intended to restrain the activation‐associated relative movement of these helices that results in a less stable packing in the isolated receptor. The modified receptor binds its agonist with low‐affinity and can no longer trigger G protein activation, indicating that it is stabilized in its ground state conformation. Of importance, the modified BLT1 receptor displays an increased temperature‐, detergent‐, and time‐dependent stability compared with the wild‐type receptor. These data indicate that stabilizing the ground state of this GPCR by limiting the activation‐associated movements of the transmembrane helices is a way to increase its stability in detergent solutions; this could represent a forward step on the way of its crystallization.


Leaf area is one of the main characteristics used to evaluate plant growth. This work aimed to determine a mathematical equation to estimate the leaf area of Synedrellopsis grisebachii, an important weed in Brazil, using the linear measures of the leaf blade. Length (L), width (W) and real leaf area (LA)of two hundred leaves were measured. LA and L×W data were submitted to linear regression analysis, adjusting a mathematical equation to estimate the leaf area of the species. The correlation between the real and estimated leaf area values was significant. Thus, the leaf area of S. grisebachii may be estimated through the equation LA = 0.730829(L×W).


Background: The obnoxious bitter taste of orally taken is one of the biggest problems in the treatment of The population cannot tolerate the bitter taste of drugs and out which ultimately to therapeutic value, and mental stress it is the challenging task for the formulation to formulate a palatable formulation particularly to overcome address the issue. of (AZ) nanohybrid stable and Results: The results confirmed the adsorption of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the surface of AZ. The fabricated optimized formulation was subjected for taste masking by panel testing and accelerated stability studies. The results showed a remarkable improvement in bitter taste masking, inhibiting throat bite without affecting the dissolution rate. The product showed an excellent stability both in dry and reconstituted suspension. The optimized formulation of AZN and was found stable when subjected to physical and chemical stability studies, this is because of short and single step process which interns limits the exposure of the product to various environmental factors that could potentially affect the stability of the product. The dissolution rate of the optimized formulation of AZN was compared with its marketed counterpart, showing the same dissolution rate compared to its marketed formulation. Conclusion: The current study concludes that, by fabricating AZtitanium nanohybrids using physisorption can effectively mask the bitter taste of the drug. The palatability and stability of azithromycin formulation was potentially enhanced without affecting its dis solution rate.


The Polop Alto valley, in eastern Spain, is characteristic of many Mediterranean landscapes. It has been sporadically reoccupied over the course of at least 80 kyr. Its landforms have undergone various geomorphic processes resulting from late Quaternary environmental fluctuations. During the Holocene, the valley has been modified by millennia of extensive land clearance, cultivation, and terracing. As a result, the evidence for human activity and landuse is a cumulative, but discontiguous palimpsest of the most durable behavioral residues—primarily stone and ceramic artifacts—whose distributions have been affected by diverse natural and cultural formation processes. Human occupation of the Polop Alto spans the evolution of morphologically modern humans and the replacement of foraging economies by farming, arguably the two most significant biobehavioral transitions for human life today. To better understand the changes in human landuse that accompanied these important transitions, we have employed an integrated suite of techniques aimed at unmixing the diverse formation processes that have affected Polop Alto landscapes and material culture. These include patch‐based survey methods, photogrammetry, GIS‐based spatial analysis, and using artifact morphology and distribution to assess artifact taphonomy. This has permitted us to develop a diachronic settlement model for the 80 kyr of human occupation in the Polop Alto. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly called Multiple Personality, is a mental disorder of difficult diagnosis, diversified symptomatology and strong comorbidity. The purpose of this case study was to contribute to the divulgation of this disorder and to report the richness in the use of Pfister's Color Pyramid Test in cases of this nature. The sample was composed by a multiple patient who presented ten active personalities in her psychic life. The data were analyzed according to the test's interpretation principles, considering the position of the small squares, the execution process, the color syndromes, the formal aspect, the sequence formula, the chromatic and matrix variations, the colors by pairs, the execution period, the psychic time of reaction, the analysis of the pyramids in terms of the personality plans and the positional values. Significant dissociative and symptomatological indicators, characterized by amnesia, traumas and spontaneous emersions among personalities were verified


Sparse coding is an unsupervised learning algorithm that learns a succinct high-level representation of the inputs given only unlabeled data; it represents each input as a sparse linear combination of a set of basis functions. Originally applied to modeling the human visual cortex, sparse coding has also been shown to be useful for self-taught learning, in which the goal is to solve a supervised classification task given access to additional unlabeled data drawn from different classes than that in the supervised learning problem. Shift-invariant sparse coding (SISC) is an extension of sparse coding which reconstructs a (usually time-series) input using all of the basis functions in all possible shifts. In this paper, we present an efficient algorithm for learning SISC bases. Our method is based on iteratively solving two large convex optimization problems: The first, which computes the linear coefficients, is an L1-regularized linear least squares problem with potentially hundreds of thousands of variables. Existing methods typically use a heuristic to select a small subset of the variables to optimize, but we present a way to efficiently compute the exact solution. The second, which solves for bases, is a constrained linear least squares problem. By optimizing over complex-valued variables in the Fourier domain, we reduce the coupling between the different variables, allowing the problem to be solved efficiently. We show that SISC's learned high-level representations of speech and music provide useful features for classification tasks within those domains. When applied to classification, under certain conditions the learned features outperform state of the art spectral and cepstral features.


The Popular party in the eighteenth century Church of Scotland has received little attention from historians and there has never been a comprehensive analysis of its nature and ideology. This dissertation is an attempt to remedy that defect. It commences by surveying the nineteenth and twentieth century literature which has dealt with the ecclesiastical history of eighteenth century Scotland and identifies the deficiencies in this as they affect the Popular party. It is suggested that an analysis of the theological writings of members is a prerequisite for understanding the nature of the party. Prior to providing this, however, the results of an attempt to identify members of the party are analysed. It is suggested that the most workable method of identification is one based on preparedness to dissent from pro-patronage measures and decisions at the General Assembly. This provides a means of identification of the most committed members of the party. Its geographical spread is then delineated, as are the theological, ecclesiastical and secular interests of its members, and the effects of party dominance on them. The dissertation then analyses Popular theology in the areas of the premises of theology, the nature of sin and salvation, and the practical implications of theology. The picture which emerges is one of considerable theological complexity which calls in question the assumption of doctrinal unity within the party. Popular thought on secular issues is then analysed in the areas of the nature of society, government, poverty and wealth, and culture. The interplay of liberal and conservative political impetuses is examined and the theological bases of the party's secular thought elicited. The patronage dispute is analysed and an interpretation is offered, based on both the published works of the party and proceedings at the General Assembly, which argues that the fundamental religious or spiritual motivation of Popular opposition to the patronage system has not been appreciated, and that therefore the evolution of the Popular response to patronage as revealed at the General Assembly has been misconstrued. The Popular party in the Church of Scotland between 1740 and 1800 emerges as a doctrinally complex party, including within its membership the full range of doctrinal opinion from Moderatism to traditional orthodoxy. The most influential section within the party, however, was an evangelical grouping which combined doctrinal orthodoxy with an Enlightened learning. It is suggested, finally, that preoccupation with the patronage dispute had led historians to misunderstand the Church of Scotland in the latter half of the eighteenth century and to underestimate the complexity and significance of the evolving theological alignment which was the key development in the period


BACKGROUND
Preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT) improves outcomes in patients with locally advanced but resectable adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. ACOSOG Z4051 evaluated CRT with docetaxel, cisplatin, and panitumumab (DCP) in this patient group with a primary end point of a pathologic complete response (pCR) ≥35%.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
From 15 January 2009 to 22 July 2011, 70 patients with locally advanced but resectable distal esophageal adenocarcinoma were enrolled. Patients received docetaxel (40 mg/m(2)), cisplatin (40 mg/m(2)), and panitumumab (6 mg/kg) on weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 with RT (5040 cGy, 180 cGy/day × 28 days) beginning week 5. Resection was planned after completing CRT. PCR was defined as no viable residual tumor cells. Secondary objectives included near-pCR (≤10% viable cancer cells), toxicity, and overall and disease-free survival. Adverse events were graded using the CTCAE Version 3.0.

RESULTS
Five of 70 patients were ineligible. Of 65 eligible patients (59 M; median age 61), 11 did not undergo surgery, leaving 54 assessable. PCR rate was 33.3% and near-pCR was 20.4%. Secenty-three percent of patients completed DCP (n = 70) and 92% completed RT. 48.5% had toxicity ≥grade 4. Lymphopenia (43%) was most common. Operative mortality was 3.7%. Adult respiratory distress syndrome was encountered in two patients (3.7%). At median follow-up of 26.3 months, median overall survival was 19.4 months and 3-year overall survival was 38.6% (95% confidence interval 24.5% to 60.8%).

CONCLUSIONS
Neoadjuvant CRT with DCP is active (pCR + near-pCR = 53.7%) but toxicity is significant. Further evaluation of this regimen in an unselected population is not recommended.

CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER
NCT00757172.