The folding of disulfide containing proteins from denatured protein to native protein involves numerous thiol-disulfide interchange reactions. Many of these reactions include a redox buffer, which is a mixture of a thiol (RSH) and the corresponding disulfide (RSSR). The relationship between the structure of RSH and its efficacy in folding proteins in vitro has been investigated only to a limited extent. Reported herein are the effects of aliphatic and especially aromatic thiols on reactions that occur during protein folding. Aromatic thiols may be particularly efficacious as their thiol pK(a) values and reactivities match those of the in vivo catalyst, protein disulfide isomerase (PDI). This investigation correlates the thiol pK(a) values of aromatic thiols with their reactivities toward small molecule disulfides and the protein insulin. The thiol pK(a) values of nine para-substituted aromatic thiols were measured; a Hammett plot constructed using sigma(p-) values yielded rho = -1.6 +/- 0.1. The reactivities of aromatic and aliphatic thiols with 2-pyridyldithioethanol (2-PDE), a small molecule disulfide, were determined. A plot of reactivity versus pK(a) of the aromatic thiols had a slope (beta) of 0.9. The ability of these thiols to reduce (unfold) the protein insulin correlates strongly with their ability to reduce 2-PDE. Since the reduction of protein disulfides occurs during protein folding to remove mismatched disulfides, aromatic thiols with high pK(a) values are expected to increase the rate not only of protein unfolding but protein folding as well.


The thymic medulla provides a microenvironment where medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) contribute to the establishment of self‐tolerance by the deletion of self‐reactive T cells and the generation of regulatory T cells. The progression of thymocyte development critically regulates the optimum formation of the thymic medulla, as discussed in this article. Of note, it was recently identified that RANKL produced by positively selected thymocytes plays a major role in the thymocyte‐mediated medulla formation. Indeed, transgenic expression of soluble RANKL increased the number of mTECs and enlarged the thymic medulla in mice. The effects of RANKL on the thymic medulla may be useful for the engineering of self‐tolerance in T cells.


Background Youth mentoring is used with vulnerable young people to help improve their health, well-being and educational attainment. While there is growing interest in mentoring programmes among policy makers and practitioners the evidence base is weak with no randomised control trial (RCT) yet undertaken in the UK. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a definitive RCT of the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the Breakthrough Mentoring programme targeted at secondary school students who are at risk of exclusion from school. Methods Thirty-one young people were approached and twenty-one were recruited to the feasibility study. Participants were aged 12–16 years (mean age = 14.10 years) and randomised to either receive weekly 2-hour mentoring sessions for one academic year (n = 11, intervention) or care as usual (n = 10, control). Participants were asked to complete self-reported questionnaires on a range of measures including the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, which were analysed descriptively. Qualitative interviews were conducted with participants and with parents, schools staff, mentors and commissioners as part of the process evaluation. Interviews were facilitated using a topic guide, were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. Results Follow-up at 6 and 12 months was 100% and 86% for 18 months. Participants were happy to complete the self-report questionnaires, showed a good understanding of randomisation and were accepting of this study design. Control group participants reported wanting a mentor and some were mildly upset at not achieving this. Intervention group participants indicated that having an adult mentor, unconnected with the school that they could talk to about their problems helped them to give voice to and deal with difficult feelings. Some mentees reported negative experiences of the way that the mentoring relationship ended. The process evaluation showed that the study design and intervention were acceptable to parents, mentors, schools and commissioners. A need for further evidence on the effectiveness of mentoring was highlighted by commissioners, and parents and schools staff expressed a wish to be informed of progress made by mentees during mentoring sessions. Conclusion It is feasible and acceptable to recruit, randomise and retain students at risk of exclusion from school to an RCT for 6, 12 and 18 month follow-up. Further research is required to characterise youth mentoring in schools in the UK and to investigate how to best measure its effectiveness before a definitive trial can be considered.


In Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications, malicious actors may spread false information to undermine the safety and efficiency of the vehicular traffic stream. Thus, vehicles must determine how to respond to the contents of messages which maybe false even though they are authenticated in the sense that receivers can verify contents were not tampered with and originated from a verifiable transmitter. Existing solutions to find appropriate actions are inadequate since they separately address trust and decision, require the honest majority (more honest ones than malicious), and do not incorporate driver preferences in the decision-making process. In this work, we propose a novel trust-aware decision-making framework without requiring an honest majority. It securely determines the likelihood of reported road events despite the presence of false data, and consequently provides the optimal decision for the vehicles. The basic idea of our framework is to leverage the implied effect of the road event to verify the consistency between each vehicle's reported data and actual behavior, and determine the data trustworthiness and event belief by integrating the Bayes' rule and Dempster Shafer Theory. The resulting belief serves as inputs to a utility maximization framework focusing on both safety and efficiency. This framework considers the two basic necessities of the Intelligent Transportation System and also incorporates drivers' preferences to decide the optimal action. Simulation results show the robustness of our framework under the multiple-vehicle attack, and different balances between safety and efficiency can be achieved via selecting appropriate human preference factors based on the driver's risk-taking willingness.


Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy characterized by hypertension, edema, and proteinuria. Based on these signs, it is suggested that endothelial dysfunction plays a role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. The aims of this study were to know whether endothelial dysfunction occur in preeclampsia by measuring the level of sVCAM-1, von Willebrand factor, and fibrin monomer. The relationship between markers of endothelial dysfunction and blood pressure would also be sought. In this cross-sectional study, 30 women at the 24–42 weeks of pregnancy with preeklampsia, were enrolled and control group comprised of fullterm pregnant women. The level of sVCAM-1 was determined by ELISA method using reagents from R&D system, while vWF level was measured by enzyme linked fluorescent assay (ELFA) using reagent from VIDAS bioMerieux, and fibrin monomer was detected by ethanol gelation test. The mean of sVCAM-1 level in the preeklampsia group and in the control group were 576.4 ng/mL, and 375.7 ng/mL, respectively while the standard deviation were 58.3 ng/mL, and 43 ng/mL, respectively. The mean of vWF level in the preeklampsia group and in the control group were 305.3% and 162.4%, respectively while the standard deviation were 107.4% and 33%, respectively. Moderate correlation were found between sVCAM-1 as well as vWF level with both systolic and diastolic pressure. Fibrin monomer was found in 28 out of 30 subjects of preeclampsia group, but only 1 out of 31 subjects in the control group. The results of this study indicated that endothelial dysfunction occurred in preeclampsia.


It has been claimed – though not proved – that victims will be benefited by participation in international criminal tribunals. This article interrogates this claim in the context of victim participation at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), commonly referred to as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Based on interviews with Cambodian victims and Tribunal affiliates, it examines why and how the Tribunal permits victims to intervene as les parties civile, pulling together the normative and legal basis for this mode of victim participation. This article does not purport to generalize with confidence about Cambodian victims in general, let alone all victims of mass atrocity. Instead, it simply seeks to move beyond vague speculations that victim participation in international trials is always therapeutic, and suggest a new indigenized victimology that the Tribunal should explore as the long-awaited trials of the Khmer Rouge unfold.


One does not have to experience driving in peak-hour traffic in New Delhi for very long to realize that not all drivers obey traffic laws or rules of tort law. Indeed, in that city at least, those who do appear to be the exception rather than the rule. A road sign that reads "Wearing a helmet could save your life. Law or not", suggests that motorcycle riders require some additional reason for action beyond the law. This raises important questions. Why is the fact that a law is a law not enough to dictate certain behavior for its subjects? How does a legal rule influence an agent's behavior? In other words, when an agent decides whether or not to engage in behavior that may or would impose criminal or tortious liability, to what extent does that law influence the decision? Through the imposition of liability, law demands certain behavior; it creates an obligation. But the obligation of a law is not sufficient to accurately predict an agent's response to it. Laws are often broken. As well as breaking traffic rules, some people murder, or negligently put others at risk, or do not pay taxes. What then explains responses to legal rules? This article endeavors to delineate an explanatory theory of behavior in response to legal rules, as distinct from a normative or predictive theory. The theory modifies the standard rational choice account by treating two distinct causes of internal harm as affecting an agent's well-being.


We examined mechanism design and kinematic simulation of a new six degrees of freedom (DOF) robotic arm with rotational joints and a linkage motion mechanism. In the design, a parallel linkage mechanism, accompanied by an additional set of bevel gears, was used to create the desired motion for all six links along with transfer of all actuators to the robot's base to reduce the mass of most of the arms. These changes resulted in reduction of the torque required for joints 1, 2, and 3. Using this parallel mechanism ensures dependence to motion links and creates a special case for the control of the robot and more rigidity against unwanted movement. Initially, we examined mechanism design methods for a parallel linkage mechanism and considered methods for application in an operational robot. In the next step, we determined the kinematic relationships that were established between the robot's actuators and joints spaces due to the use of this mechanism. Then, we developed an example of the robot's function in a performance simulation. The simulation results indicated that the mechanism and controller performance were acceptable.


Commercial off-bottom aquaculture of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica is challenged by repeated summer mortality events that appear to affect triploid oysters disproportionally. Many farmers believe common farming practices, especially when performed during hot summer months, may increase triploid mortality. The goal of this study was to investigate how diploid and triploid oysters react to common stressors imposed by farmers: tumbling during size grading and desiccation to prevent biofouling. Triploid and diploid oysters were deployed in floating cages at 3 farm sites along the US Gulf of Mexico coast. In May and July, oysters in 7 cages were subjected to 1 of 6 stress treatments: 1 of 3 levels of desiccation (18, 24, or 48 h) mixed with 1 of 2 levels of tumbling (tumbled or not tumbled), along with a never handled, submersed control. The mortality and growth rate of oysters were assessed in June, August, and September. Growth rates of both ploidies were affected by compounding stressors; that is, treatments with both tumbling and the longest desiccation period exhibited slower growth. Triploid oysters exhibited a greater increase in mortality in response to farm stress than diploid oysters, and mortality increased in all oysters subjected to extreme stress treatments when compared to the control. Based on this study, farmers should limit the desiccation time of oysters (particularly triploids) in the summer months to avoid any mortality or reduced growth resulting from compounding stressor effects.


Despite the vast research by both international and Greek academics underlining the reconciliatory policies and reforms that the Greek political leadership implemented between the years 1974 and 1989, little is stated on a grassroots level by the ex-combatants of the Greek Civil war about these policies with regards to their reconciliatory effects, as well as the need for their implementation twenty years after the end of the conflict (1949). The overall objective of this research is to evaluate if the series of the policies implemented by the Greek government had actually a reconciliatory effect on the active participants of the Civil war, as well as an impact on the Greek society as a whole. The late introduction of these policies will be also taken into consideration. This research is based upon analytical and conceptual considerations drawn by the current literature related to the concept of reconciliation. Particularly, it is focusing on two specific topics; the one of top-down reconciliation approaches, such as policies and reforms implemented by governments and the other of reconciliation time. The findings of the research will be compared to the considerations drawn by the literature in relation to the aforementioned topics. This study is qualitative, based on semi-structured interviews complemented with secondary sources, in which an abductive logic of inference is followed. Greece is taken as a case in order to highlight the results contributing to the context of a larger debate, that of topdown late coming reconciliation measures. The analysis of this study gives a deeper insight regarding the importance of top-down approaches as such and the actual time of their implementation. Taking into consideration the Greek case and based on the perception of a sample of twenty-two individuals the results show that the top-down initiatives implemented in Greece, due to their misuse by the political leadership, did not enhance reconciliation significantly. In addition, regarding the time of reconciliation, the interviewees supported that reconciliation efforts in Greece should not have come with a twenty-five years delay. Instead, they should have commenced as soon as possible after the end of the Civil war. These fieldwork results will contribute to future research on similar topics.


Introduction. Tibialis posterior muscle is one of the most important muscles supporting the longitudinal arch of foot. Aim of the work. The goal of this study was to investigate the anatomical variances of distal insertion of tibialis posterior and remain its anatomy. Material and methods. The study was performed on 17 male cadavers. During the autopsy course of tibialis posterior tendon, configuration of tibialis posterior tendon fibers and a place of insertion of tibialis posterior tendon were analyzed. Results. Authors described normal structure of tibialis posterior tendon as well as some founded variations. Conclusions. The performed study showed that anatomical variations of tibialis posterior tendon are not rare and so, knowledge of them may have clinical importance.


As Coyote tossed his eyes the next time, the ravens swooped, swift as arrows from a strong bow. One of them snatched one eye and the other raven caught the other eye. "Quoh! Quoh! Quoh'," they laughed, and flew away to the Sun-dance camp. (Quintasket, 1933) The knowledge mobilization project involving Aboriginal students described in this article is an extension of a multi-phase, longitudinal, interdisciplinary research project aimed at understanding the processes through which adolescents develop critical media health literacy (CMHL) (Wharf Higgins & Begoray, 2012; Wharf Higgins, Begoray, Beer, Harrison, & Collins, 2012). The primary purpose of this project was to create a culturally relevant CMHL health education graphic novel. An additional purpose was to develop pedagogical approaches to be used to stimulate discussion around media-perpetuated health messages with Aboriginal adolescents: Like Coyote, they too have had their eyes snatched. In brief, we collaborated with Aboriginal students to create culturally sensitive material representative of their identities as media-affected adolescents in the 21 st century. In turn, the dialogic process utilized during our project appeared to be a viable pedagogical approach when working with CMHL and Aboriginal adolescents, a supposition that will be the subject of our further research in the fall of 2013. Throughout the project, the authors, all of whom are non-Indigenous, were guided in their use of Indigenous ways of knowing by the Aboriginal education community. Keywords: Aboriginal adolescent health; health education; critical media health literacy; graphic novels as health education tools Author Note: The authors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Canadian Institues of Health Research (CIHR 293119) in the funding of this project.


In a prospective study of morbid obesity at the University of Florida, 225 consecutive patients with medical complication of obesity underwent intestinal bypass during a ten-year period from 1967 to 1977. The average age was 35 years, with the average weight being 322 lb (145 kg). Oral cholecystograms were obtained preoperatively in all patients, and repeated at one and five years postoperatively. If a patient developed symptoms, ultrasonography or a cholecystogram was performed at that time. The cumulative preoperative prevalence of cholelithiasis was 30.7 percent. The 156 patients with an intact gallbladder made up the study group. These patients have been followed for an average of 36 months, and 16 have subsequently demonstrated cholelithiasis. The post intestinal bypass incidence of cholelithiasis from surgery to the time of their last oral cholecystogram was 7.2 percent per year. Analysis of variance demonstrated no significant differences between patients, with and without cholelithiasis, with respect to serum triglycerides, cholesterol, or percent weight loss. The incidence of cholelithiasis in the morbidly obese increases further with the metabolic derangements induced by jejunoileal bypass. The increased incidence of cholelithiasis after intestinal bypass, along with the other serious metabolic sequelae that follow this procedure, suggests that the continued long-term followup of these patients is mandatory.


Museum Batara Guru is one of tourist attractions in the city of Palopo. the palace environment is rarely open  to the public , lack of information, not optimal communication, and lack of promotion about the history of Palopo city led to the lack of tourist visits to this place. In this research,  Augmented Reality (AR)  as a computer-based tour guide is developed.AR development is done by modeling the object with 3D model with Unity device and marker recognition using Vuforia device. These AR applications also tested include marker and distance testing. Based on this test results obtained where the image object (heirloom) as a marker can work well. Testing based on shooting marker at a distance of 0.5 to 2 meters. Likewise with the angle of the slope, the marker can be recognized quickly if there is no change in angle when shooting, the greater the angle of the slope the more difficult to recognize the marker.


Although studies have shown that financial incentives are effective in promoting healthy behaviors, existing interventions have focused on adults in the workforce (e.g. Kullgren et al. 2013). Given that the school environment can be an effective instrument for behavior change, there is a need to examine incentive-based health programs in late-adolescent age groups. Largescale observational studies with about 9,000 freshmen at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) show that every year of college was associated with a 3% BMI increase, especially among minority populations. Reversing or slowing this dynamic has proven difficult because students entering university are newly independent, not experienced in making their own lifedecisions, and encounter many distractions (Nazmi et. al. 2012). On the other hand, university students are uniquely social and social networks have been shown to be effective in leading to behavioral change. Indeed, emerging evidence on peer networks suggests that health behaviors and outcomes are shared, transferred, and influenced through social ties (Christakis and Fowler, 2007; Cohen-Cohen-Cole and Fletcher, 2008). However, few interventions have been designed to capitalize on the behavioral pathways of social networks. The primary purpose of our intervention study is to determine whether financial incentives, mediated by social network effects, are effective in achieving improved diet quality outcomes as measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI). We will conduct a 3.5-month parallel-design, randomized controlled trial with a racially and ethnically diverse sample of participants who consume food in campus cafeterias. Our findings will provide a unique contribution by testing the efficiency of interventions in structural transmission networks. Given the ubiquitous and increasing existence of social networks, our applications are readily transferrable at relatively low cost to other largescale student populations in elementary, middle, and high schools.


Phosphatidic acid (PA) is a critical mediator of mitogenic activation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling, a master regulator of mammalian cell growth and proliferation. The mechanism by which PA activates mTORC1 signaling has remained unknown. Here, we report that PA selectively stimulates mTORC1 but not mTORC2 kinase activity in cells and in vitro. Furthermore, we show that PA competes with the mTORC1 inhibitor, FK506 binding protein 38 (FKBP38), for mTOR binding at a site encompassing the rapamycin-FKBP12 binding domain. This leads to PA antagonizing FKBP38 inhibition of mTORC1 kinase activity in vitro and rescuing mTORC1 signaling from FKBP38 in cells. Phospholipase D 1, a PA-generating enzyme that is an established upstream regulator of mTORC1, is found to negatively affect mTOR-FKBP38 interaction, confirming the role of endogenous PA in this regulation. Interestingly, removal of FKBP38 alone is insufficient to activate mTORC1 kinase and signaling, which require PA even when the FKBP38 level is drastically reduced by RNAi. In conclusion, we propose a dual mechanism for PA activation of mTORC1: PA displaces FKBP38 from mTOR and allosterically stimulates the catalytic activity of mTORC1.


Since the success of his New Zealand athletes Snell, Halberg and Magee at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Arthur Lydiard's name has been synonymous with the best training methods used by the world's top middle and long-distance runners. Instructing runners in Finland, Mexico, Venezuela, Denmark, Japan, the USA and New Zealand, Lydiard has continued to refine his methods, and this manual contains information on exercise physiology, diet, injury prevention and cure, discussion of Lydiard's methods and revised training schedules.


Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has witnessed a rapid development and made a significant impact on human relationship, particularly in developing new means of communication. This new means of technology provides a system for its users to communicate with each other regardless of time, place and distance. This development has also affected the way Muslim practices Islam, such as the aqd of marriage which is now being conducted through the internet via video conferencing. However, there is no special provision in the Islamic Family Law in any states in Malaysia. Since Islam is a complete yet simple religion that has always encouraged Muslims to perform good deeds and prevent them from any hardship in life, Muslims are permitted to do things that can bring benefit (maslahat) to them. Hence, this paper discusses how an online marriage can be an alternative to the Muslim communities in general, and Malaysia in particular.


Abstract Flowering and fruiting are processes subject to complex control by environmental and endogenous signals. Endogenous signals comprise, besides classical phytohormones, also signaling peptides and miniproteins. Tomato cystine‐knot miniproteins (TCMPs), which belong to a Solanaceous‐specific group of Cys‐rich protein family, have been recently involved in fruit development. TCMP‐1 and TCMP‐2 display a highly modulated expression pattern during flower and fruit development. A previous study reported that a change in the ratio of the two TCMPs affects the timing of fruit production. In this work, to investigate TCMP‐2 mode of action, we searched for its interacting partners. One of the interactors identified by a yeast two hybrid screen, was the B‐box domain‐containing protein 16 (SlBBX16), whose closest homolog is the Arabidopsis microProtein 1b implicated in flowering time control. We demonstrated the possibility for the two proteins to interact in vivo in tobacco epidermal cells. Arabidopsis plants ectopically overexpressing the TCMP‐2 exhibited an increased level of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) mRNA and anticipated flowering. Similarly, in previously generated transgenic tomato plants with increased TCMP‐2 expression in flower buds, we observed an augmented expression of SINGLE‐FLOWER TRUSS gene, the tomato ortholog of FT, whereas the expression of the antiflorigen SELF‐PRUNING was unchanged. Consistently, these transgenic plants showed alterations in the flowering pattern, with an accelerated termination of the sympodial units. Overall, our study reveals a novel function for TCMP‐2 as regulatory factor that might integrate, thanks to its capacity to interact with SlBBX16, into the signaling pathways that control flowering, and converge toward florigen regulation.


Negative events have been used in analyses of various natural language phenomena such as negative perception reports and negative causation, but their conceptual and logical foundations remain ill-understood. We propose that linguistic negation denotes a function Neg, which sends any set of events P to a set Neg(P) that contains all events which preclude every event in P from being actual. An axiom ensures that any event in Neg(P) is actual if and only if no event in P is. This allows us to construe the events in Neg(P) as negative, "anti-P", events. We present a syntax-semantics interface that uses continuations to resolve scope mismatches between subject and verb phrase negation, and a fragment of English that accounts for the interaction of negation, the perception verb see, finite and nonfinite perception reports, and quantified subjects, as well as negative causation.


Treatment results in 110 patients with stenotic bleeding pyloroduodenal ulcers (SBPU) were analyzed. Correlation dependence of hemorrhage severity and recurrence frequency from the degree of pyloroduodenal stenosis was revealed. Recurrence of ulcer gastroduodenal bleeding - is the main factor that determines lethality at SPBU. The total lethality against a background of SPBU recurrence was 16%, whereas in the absence of recurrence it was 10%. Treatment tactics in patients with SPBU was worked out. The best results were received after urgent operations which had been carried out after short-term preoperative preparation, aimed to blood replacement and correction of water-electrolytic and protein-energy disturbances at pyloroduodenal stenosis.


Background and objectives Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) give rise to all blood cell lineages, which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). We reasoned that the fundamental immune aberrations in SLE –genetic or epigenetic- may be more facile to be traced back to the HSC population. Materials and methods HSCs were isolated from either healthy C57/BL6 or NZBxNZW/F1 lupus prone mice bone marrow (n = 15 ± 5). The selection markers used are Lin-Sca-1+c-Kit+ for LSK compartment, including both long and short term HSCs. Flow cytometry cell sorting of the aforementioned populations was utilised for enumeration, RNA extraction and cell cultures. Finally, paired-end RNA-sequencing analysis was performed with HiSeq 2000 platform. Results We identified significantly increased frequencies (˜3% pre-diseased vs ˜5% diseased, p < 0.05) as well as absolute numbers (80–100×103 pre-diseased vs 100–150 ×103 diseased, p < 0.05) of HSCs in the BM of lupus NZBxNZW/F1 mice with established disease as compared to young pre-diseased NZBxNZW/F1 or control C57/BL6 mice. Bone marrow populations such as hematopoietic stem progenitors cells (HSPCs), lymphoid and myeloid lineages differed in homogeneity depending upon either age or disease, suggesting alterations in HSC potential under inflammatory conditions. Accordingly, serum from F1 young mice promoted healthy HSCs to proliferation and skewed their differentiation towards to myeloid lineage. Transcriptome analysis by RNA-seq of HSCs from lupus mice revealed 294 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (FC > 1.5, q < 0.05) in diseased lupus mice compared to pre-diseased. DEGs show enrichment in transcription factors involved in hematopoiesis (Arid3a, Runx2), regulation of immune responses during inflammation and autoimmune diseases (Irf4, Maf) and HSC function and homeostasis (Cxcl2, Vegfa, Fbxw7). Conclusions These data provide initial insights in the fundamental changes and the molecular identity of HSCs in lupus within the inflammatory milieu of the disease, regulated by a complex transcriptional network.


Handling heavy multicast-based inter-neuron communication is the most challenging issue in parallel implementation of neural networks. To address this problem, a reconfigurable Network-on-Chip (NoC) architecture for neural networks is presented in this paper. The NoC consists of a number of node clusters with a fix topology connected by a reconfigurable inter-cluster communication fabric that efficiently handles multicast communication. The evaluation results show that the proposed architecture can better manage the multicast-based traffic of neural networks than the mesh-based topologies proposed in prior work. It offers up to 60% and 22% lower average message latency compared to a baseline and a state-of-the-art NoC for neural networks, respectively, which directly translates to faster neural processing.


The number of tourists in Indonesia are increasing rapidly. Tourism programs from Indonesian government plays an important role in numerous parts of tourism. One of Indonesian government tourism program is by implementing smart tourism. Smart tourism program is potentially increasing experience of the tourist, as the impact, the tourist will return to the destination. The purpose of this research is to finding the model from the correlation between smart tourism experience, perceived value, memorable tourism experience, and revisit intention. The observed data was composed in 7 smart tourism destinations in Indonesia, particularly Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Malang, Bali, and Makassar. The methodology employed is by examining 400 tourists who visited the destinations. Furthermore, the research employs 52 question items. The data were analyzed by using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results showed that smart tourism experience positively influences perceived value and memorable tourism experience; perceived value has a positive effect on memorable tourism experience; memorable tourism experience has a positive effect on revisit intention. This study contributes to the academia, local government, and tourism industry stakeholders to more completely recognize what tourists need during the travel. This paper may be the first study in finding the model from the correlation between smart tourism, perceived value, memorable tourism experience, and revisit intention. Keywords—smart tourism; perceived value; memorable tourism experience; revisit intention


Determining the location and recurrence of seismic slip at subduction zones is essential for constraining the hazard posed by great earthquakes. Although modern geodetic observations have revealed interseismically locked regions of the plate interface, it is unclear to what degree this reflects the potential for future rupture given the broad spectrum of possible slip behaviour and short instrumental record. Developing paleoearthquake records over multiple seismic cycles is therefore a powerful method of understanding spatiotemporal patterns in seismic slip behaviour at subduction margins. Conditionally stable parts of the plate interface adjacent to locked patches are identified as particularly important places to constrain long-term behaviour due to their potential to host multiple styles of interface slip.This thesis explores temporal variation in slip behaviour at subduction zones by investigating the paleoseismic record on the weakly coupled central Hikurangi margin in New Zealand. Previously, interpretation of paleoearthquake evidence in this region has been hindered by poorly constrained chronology, sparse distribution of study sites and incomplete consideration of source faults. Generating new paleoearthquake records was therefore necessary to constrain the timing and extent of large earthquakes, and to decipher whether they could represent rupture of the plate interface. Where precisely-dated tephra isochrons are available, they can provide a useful tool for accurate chronostratigraphic correlation between paleoseismic sites and improved temporal constraints within age-depth models of Holocene paleoearthquake chronologies. The age of the Waimihia tephra isochron was refined to 3574–3478 cal yr BP using integrated age modelling of 42 radiocarbon dates from proximal, distal onshore, and distal offshore locations. Using the refined isochron age alongside 68 radiocarbon dates, a new 5000-year record of four precisely-dated paleoearthquakes was generated at the Pakuratahi Valley near Napier, as a key locality for examining onshore coseismic deformation on the central Hikurangi margin. The evidence of both coseismic subsidence and uplift could have been caused by earthquakes on upper plate faults and/or the plate interface. To better distinguish between these sources and expand the paleoseismic record in space and time, a 7000- year record of seismoturbidites was developed from a suite of submarine sediment cores spanning the central margin. Integrating the onshore and offshore datasets permitted better characterization of evidence for widespread synchronous deformation across the central margin. The new interpretation of paleoseismic correlations suggests rupture of upper plate faults could generate some of the observed patterns of surface deformation, but that seismic slip on the subduction interface is likely for most earthquakes.Temporal agreement between the central Hikurangi paleoearthquakes and subduction earthquakes recorded on the southern, locked section of the margin provides strong evidence that multi-section ruptures, spanning a distance of >300 km, may have occurred. Examining the pattern of coseismic deformation on the central margin alongside current understanding of geophysical properties highlights the weakly coupled region of the interface between slow slip zones as an important location for propagating rupture along-strike from the locked patch. Conditional stability of this region is implied as a mechanism for supporting coseismic slip on the currently creeping part of the central Hikurangi margin. These observations add to the growing literature that suggests weakly coupled parts of the plate interface adjacent to locked patches can host multiple modes of interface slip and should therefore be considered a region of significant seismic hazard, due to their ability to support great (>Mw 8) multi-section subduction earthquakes.


Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka Gedimino pr. 51, LT-01504 Vilnius, Lietuva El. pastas: email@example.com Straipsnyje nagrinėjami Lietuvos nacionalinės Martyno Mažvydo bibliotekos Retų knygų ir rankrascių skyriaus paleotipai: jų leidimo vieta, spaustuvininkai, tematika bei proveniencijos, dėmesį telkiant į retesnius, Lietuvos knygos kultūrai svarbesnius leidinius. Is siame skyriuje saugomų daugiau kaip 800 paleotipų analizuojama tik dalis jų, nes daugiau negu 200 knygų teturi kortelinį bibliografinį aprasą ir issamiai juos istirti siuo metu neįmanoma. Dalies sių paleotipų analizė papildo jau esamus tyrimus, praplecia senosios knygos kultūros vaizdą. Reiksminiai žodžiai: knygotyra, paleotipai, retos knygos, spaustuvininkai, proveniencijos. THE COLLECTION OF POST-INCUNABULA IN THE MARTYNAS MAŽVYDAS NATIONAL LIBRARY OF LITHUANIA Viktorija VAITKEVICIŪTĖ Abstract Post-incunabula or the books printed in the first half of the 16th century (from January 1, 1501 to January 1, 1551), along with incunabula, are considered to be the oldest and most valuable publications in the world. Due to their likeness to incunabula and publishing specifics, post-incunabula are considered to be historical treasures and monuments of culture. The Rare Book and Manuscript Department of the National Library of Lithuania has in its holdings more than 800 post-incunabula, not including the ones kept at the Department of the National Archival Fund of Published Documents. The exact number is still unknown, since not all the books have been included into the electronic catalogue: more than 200 of them have only a card catalogue description and are awaiting a more detailed study. This article analyses specific features of part of the post-incunabula collection in the NLL Rare Book and Manuscript Department: their place of publication, publishers, thematics and provenances. Principal attention is accorded to the books that are rarer, more interesting and more important for Lithuania's culture and book culture in general. The most of the post-incunabula kept in the Rare Book and Manuscript Department were published in Germany, many in Switzerland, France and Italy. There also is a small number of post-incunabula published in Poland (Cracow). Of the publications produced by Cracow's printers, the article discusses those by Jan Haller (ca. 1467–1525), Hieronim Wietor (ca. 1480–1546) and Florian Ungler (d. 1536). It is necessary to mention Aldines – the publications by one of the most famous European printers, Aldo Manuzio (Lat. Aldus Manutius; ca. 1450–1515) and by his descendants. The article also touches upon the work of such acclaimed French publishers as Henri Estienne (lat. Henricus Stephanus, ca. 1460–1520), founder of the famous dinasty of printers, and the Lyonese printer Sebastien Gryphius (ca. 1493–1556). The Rare Book and Manuscript Department also keeps quite a few post-incunabula published by Johannes Froben of Basel (1460–1537). As to the content aspect, the collection of post-incunabula in the department is versatile. For the most part, it is made up by religious literature: sermons, bibles, theological treatises, Church Fathers' writings. There are many works by and commentaries on classical authors, of whom Cicero, at the time of the Renaissance viewed as the greatest authority on rhetoric, is the most famous one. The post-incunabula collection illuminates the emergence of the Reformations and the related spread of new ideas in the first half of the XVIth century. The Rare Book and Manuscript Department boasts a number of works by the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther (1483–1546) and by the most acclaimed humanist of the times, Desiderius Erasmus (1469–1536). The provenances in the post-incunabula (manuscript inscriptions, stamps, bookplates) provide much interesting information. Most often found are ownership marks of the establishments that since the olden times had been preserving books: various monasteries, churches and priest seminaries,. The notable representative of the post-incunabulum culture is the Bernardine Order. According to the electronic catalogue, the Rare Book and Manuscript Department has in its holdings 21 post-incunabula formerly kept by the library of the Tytuvėnai Bernardine Monastery. Most provenance inscriptions are from Kaunas Priest Seminary, the library of the Samogitian Priest Seminary, the library of the Vilnius Seminary and Kražiai College. Of the XIXth century personal libraries, particularly noteworthy are the collections of Jonas Krizostomas Gintila (1788–1857), XIXth-century bibliophile, hebraist and administrator of the Samogitian Diocese, and of Friedrich August Gotthold (1778–1858), educator and music theorist. A separate, rather abundant group of provenance inscriptions consists of the books that formerly belonged to Konigsberg University. An in-depth study of all the post-incunabula kept in the NLL would significantly add to the existing research and broaden the understanding of old book culture.


This study measured epidermal and dermal temperatures under different cryogen spray cooling (CSC) conditions to determine the optimum cooling conditions for skin rejuvenation. For this purpose, CSC conditions were applied before a laser transmission for varying spurt times of 50, 150, and 200 ms with delay times of 150 and 200 ms. A long-pulsed 1,064 nm Nd:YAG laser irradiated the skin surface of a pig with a condition of fluence of 26 J/cm2 and a spot diameter of 8 mm. The pulse duration was set to 30 ms during all experiments. This study found that all employed CSC conditions significantly decreased internal-external skin temperatures. Moreover, skin temperatures were influenced more by variations in spurt time of CSC compared with the delay times. Based on these experimental results, two spurt times were selected as the optimum CSC conditions for skin rejuvenation: 50 ms with delay time of 150 and 200 ms and 150 ms with a delay time of 150 and 200 ms.


Mass spectrometry-based tissue profiling and imaging are technologies that allow identification and visualization of protein signals directly on thin sections cut from fresh frozen tissue specimens. These technologies were utilized to evaluate protein expression profiles in the normal mouse prostate during development (1–5 weeks of age), at sexual maturation (6 weeks of age), and in adult prostate (at 10, 15, or 40 weeks of age). The evolution of protein expression during normal prostate development and maturation were subsequently compared with 15-week prostate tumors derived from genetically engineered mice carrying the Large T antigen gene under regulation of the prostate-specific probasin promoter (LPB-Tag mouse model for prostate cancer). This approach identified proteins differentially expressed at specific time points during prostate development. Furthermore expression of some of these proteins, for example probasin and spermine-binding protein, were associated with prostate maturation, and prostate tumor formation resulted in their loss of expression. Cyclophilin A, a protein found in other cancers, was differentially α-acetylated on the N terminus, and both isoforms appeared during normal prostate and prostate tumor development. Imaging mass spectrometry localized the protein signals to specific prostatic lobes or regions. Thus, tissue profiling and imaging can be utilized to analyze the ontogeny of protein expression during prostate morphogenesis and tumorigenesis and identify proteins that could potentially serve as biomarkers for prostate cancer.


Acrylamide, a potential carcinogen and neurotoxin, could be formed during the heat processing of carbohydrate-rich foods under high temperatures. Maillard reaction between reducing sugars and amino acids is the main pathway to form acrylamide. All of the types of reducing sugars and amino acids as well as the addition of vitamins may influence the formation of acrylamide. To explore the influence of reducing sugars, amino acids and the addition of vitamins on acrylamide formation, different chemical model systems were designed and studied in this work. The results showed that the largest amount of acrylamide was produced in the asparagine/glucose model system. L-glycine, L-glutamic acid and L-cysteine caused different levels of reduction in the amounts of acrylamide produced in the asparagine/glucose model systems. Vitamin C and Vitamin B1 strongly reduced the formation of acrylamide by more than 60% at the appropriate adding dosage of approximately 1%, whereas Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B5 only reduced the formation of acrylamide by 20-30% at the adding dosage of approximately 1%. However, Vitamin B2 promoted the formation of acrylamide at adding dosages greater than 1%.


It is with deep sadness that we record the death of Professor Ichiro Sunagawa, who died from pneumonia on 20 December 2012. He was born in Hamamatsu although his family 'clan' had long lived in the village which gave rise to the family name – Sunagawa-machi (now renamed Kashiwa-cho, situated in the city of Tachikawa, west of Tokyo). Professor Sunagawa was educated at Tohoku Imperial University, gaining a BSc in mineralogy and then joined the Japanese Geological Survey in 1948 as a researcher. In 1957 he was awarded a PhD by Hokkaido University for his thesis 'Morphological variations in pyrite'. Still …


Facile creation of multiple drops at appropriate volumes on surfaces without the use of sophisticated instrumentation facilitates downstream evaporative preconcentration of liquid samples for analytical purposes. In this work, a superhydrophobic (SH) substrate comprising wells with a perforated mesh base was developed for simultaneous drop creation in a quick and convenient manner. In contrast to the method of pouring liquid directly over the SH wells, consistent liquid filling was readily achieved by a simple immersion approach. This method works well even for challenging situations where well diameters are smaller than 3.4 mm. Despite the poor liquid-retention properties of SH surfaces, inverting the wells did not result in liquid detachment under gravitational force, indicating strong pinning effects afforded by the well architecture. The perforated base of the well allowed the liquid to be completely removed from the well by compressed air. High-speed camera image processing was used to study the evolution of drop contact angle and displacement with time. It was found that the liquid body was able to undergo strong oscillations. Optical spectroscopy was used to confirm the ability of evaporative preconcentration of silver nanoparticles.


Study Design Systematic Review. Objectives To determine if individuals with chronic ankle instability (CAI) exhibit maladaptive kinematic and kinetic patterns during dynamic movement tasks. Background Research suggests that high rates of recurrent lateral ankle sprain and the development of CAI may be attributable to maladaptive movement patterns that develop following the initial injury. A systematic analysis of these maladaptive movement strategies during dynamic and functional tasks may assist in the development and design of specific rehabilitation programmes. Methods and Measures We searched Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science from origin to December 2016 using the combination of key words including: chronic ankle instability, lower limb, biomechanics and movement or landing. Kinetic and kinematic variables were identified from dynamic movement tasks and grouped into categories including: change of direction, dynamic stability, locomotive and landing tasks. Results Sixty-six articles were included in this review. Despite some contradicting reports, there is clear evidence that measurable differences in kinematic and kinetic variables exist during change of direction, dynamic stability, locomotive and landing tasks in those with CAI. Conclusion Individuals with CAI exhibit aberrant movement profiles when completing dynamic movement tasks; some which may increase their risk of re-injury. As most research focuses on locomotive and landing tasks, future research should include tasks that are more representative of athletic function. Understanding the implications of CAI at this end of the sensorimotor spectrum may help develop a more robust understanding of CAI and improved rehabilitation programmes.


Hydroxyapatite (HA) has been widely used as bone grafts due to its chemical and structural similarities to the mineral phase of hard tissues. Applying the combination of osteogenic proteins with HA materials can accelerate bone regeneration in defective areas. The aim of the study was investigating the treatment of HA particles with different amino acids such as serine (Ser), asparagine (Asn), aspartic acid (Asp) and arginine (Arg) to enhance the adsorption ability of HA carrier for delivering therapeutic proteins in body. Results: The crystallinity of HA reduced when amino acids were added during HA preparation. Depending on the types of amino acid, the specific surface area of the amino acid-functionalized HA particles varied from 105 to 149 m2/g. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme were used as model proteins for adsorption study. The protein adsorption onto the surface of amino acid-functionalized HA depended on the polarities of HA particles, whereby positively charged Arg-HA had higher affinity towards BSA (0.269 mg/m2) compared to lysozyme (0.133 mg/m2). Alternatively, the binding affinity of lysozyme (0.2 mg/m2) onto the negatively charged Asp-HA was higher compared to BSA (0.129 mg/m2). The amino acids functionalized-HA particles that had higher proteins adsorption demonstrated a lower protein release rate.


Summary The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of twelve plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR; Bacillus mycoides FD07, B. sphaericus RC12, B. pumilus RC19, B. cereus RC18, Variovorax paradoxus RC21, Paenibacillus polymyxa RC35, Pseudomonas putida RC06, B. megaterium RC07, B. megaterium M-3, B. licheniformis RC08, B. subtilis RC11, and B. subtilis OSU-142) used as biofertilisers, on various enzyme activities [glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD); 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD); glutathione reductase (GR); and glutathione S-transferase (GST)] and on seedling growth in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.). Enhanced plant growth could result from rhizobacterial production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The highest IAA-producing rhizobacteria (RC35 and RC06) produced the highest root and shoot weights. PGPR improved N and P nutrition in spinach, and therefore stimulated plant growth and key enzyme activities. The responses to inoculation, compared to uninoculated control plants, were: –1.9% to +36.4% for shoot fresh weights (FWs), –5.5% to +30.1% for root FWs, –3.5% to +29.8% for shoot dry weights (DWs), –3.8% to +38.5% for root DWs, and –5.9% to +30.1% for leaf areas. Plant growth responses were variable and dependent on the inoculant strain used, as well as on the enzyme activity and growth parameter being evaluated. Close correlations between plant shoot growth, PGPR inoculation, and G6PD (r = 0.28*), 6PGD (r = 0.55**), GR (r = 0.73**), and GST (r = 0. 64**) enzyme activities in spinach have been demonstrated.


Abstract An efficient protocol for assessing both the chemical and physical stability of cocrystalline forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is proposed. In this protocol, the cocrystalline material is used to prepare two standard formulations, mimicking wet granulations, to make low-dose tablets. After designed stress testing at a range of temperatures and RH conditions, degradant formation is modeled from the data using ASAPprime ® to determine if the tablets have a minimum of a one-year shelf-life (25 °C/60% RH open). When the cocrystals provide a kinetic solubility enhancement over the un-complexed API, a physical assessment of the cocrystal stability is carried out using the same tablets at selected stress conditions. For this assessment, kinetic solubility (where the amount of buffer used to dissolve the tablet is adjusted to completely dissolve the cocrystalline form but leave most of the un-complexed form out of solution) changes are used to indicate whether there is a significant risk for physical instability on long-term storage. This process was exemplified using model cocrystals of APIs.


Background Hepatic lipid metabolism regulates biliary composition and influences the formation of cholesterol gallstones. The genes Hmgcr and Cyp7a1, which encode key liver enzymes, are regulated by circadian rhythm-related transcription factors. We aimed to investigate the effect of circadian rhythm disruption on hepatic cholesterol and bile acid metabolism and the incidence of cholesterol stone formation. Methods Adult male C57BL/6J mice were fed either a lithogenic diet (LD) only during the sleep phase (time-restricted lithogenic diet feeding, TRF) or an LD ad libitum (non-time-restricted lithogenic diet feeding, nTRF) for 4 weeks. Food consumption, body mass gain, and the incidence of gallstones were assessed. Circulating metabolic parameters, lipid accumulation in the liver, the circadian expression of hepatic clock and metabolic genes, and the gut microbiota were analyzed. Results TRF caused a dysregulation of the circadian rhythm in the mice, characterized by significant differences in the circadian expression patterns of clock-related genes. In TRF mice, the circadian rhythms in the expression of genes involved in bile acid and cholesterol metabolism were disrupted, as was the circadian rhythm of the gut microbiota. These changes were associated with high biliary cholesterol content, which promoted gallstone formation in the TRF mice. Conclusion Disordered circadian rhythm is associated with abnormal hepatic bile acid and cholesterol metabolism in mice, which promotes gallstone formation.


The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) will become one of the world-leading telescopes for pulsar timing array (PTA) research. The primary goals for PTAs are to detect (and subsequently study) ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves, to develop a pulsar-based time standard and to improve solar system planetary ephemerides. FAST will have the sensitivity to observe known pulsars with significantly improved signal-to-noise ratios and will discover a large number of currently unknown pulsars. We describe how FAST will contribute to PTA research and show that jitter- and timing-noise will be the limiting noise processes for FAST data sets. Jitter noise will limit the timing precision achievable over data spans of a few years while timing noise will limit the precision achievable over many years.


Abstract Introduction: The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after cesarean section is up to 0.6%, and the widespread use of cesarean section draws attention to this group. The dosage and duration of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) prophylaxis after delivery is estimated by anamnestic risk-scales; however, the predictive potency for an individual patient's risk can be low. Laboratory hemostasis assays are expected to solve this problem. The aim of this study was to estimate the potency of tests to reflect the coagulation state of patients receiving LMWH in the early postpartum period. Materials and methods: We conducted an observational study on 97 women undergoing cesarean section. Standard coagulation tests (Fg, APTT, prothrombin, D-dimer), an anti-Xa assay, rotation thromboelastometry and thrombodynamics/thrombodynamics-4D were performed. Coagulation assay parameters were compared in groups formed in the presence or absence of LMWH to estimate the laboratory assays' sensitivity to anticoagulation. Results: Coagulation assays revealed hypercoagulation after delivery and a tendency toward normalization of coagulation during early postpartum. The thromboprophylaxis results revealed a higher percentage of coagulation parameters within the normal range in the LMWH group. Conclusion: This research is potentially beneficial for the application of thrombodynamics and thrombodynamics-4D in monitoring coagulation among patients with high VTE risk who receive thromboprophylaxis with heparin.


Abstract The old project of modernizing madrasas has acquired a new zeal in South Asia after September 2011, whereby madrasa reform programmes became an acknowledged soft tactic of the war on terror. With 9000 Aliya (reformed) madrasas, the Bangladesh madrasa modernization programme has been identified as a potentially useful model for the neighbouring states of Pakistan and India who have made slower progress in implementing similar programmes. In this paper I argue that, although the Aliya madrasa system in Bangladesh has succeeded in integrating secular subjects in the madrasa curriculum, in reality this modernization project has failed in its underlying ambition to generate a 'modern discourse' on Islam—a discourse that is compatible with the demands of western modernity. The right to speak for Islam is still primarily exercised by the 'ulama and graduates of the Qoumi (unreformed) madrasas. Aliya madrasas today compete with the secular schools not with Qoumi madrasas. The growth of the Aliya madrasa system in Bangladesh, instead of bearing testimony to the popular appeal of the modernization agenda, demonstrates the preference of Muslim parents for increased Islamic content in the school curriculum


If tidal energy extraction is to be maximised then emphasis needs to be placed on the design of the rotor geometry to optimise performance. The work documented in this paper describes the process used in the design and validation of a new blade based on the Wortmann FX63-137 aerofoil. BEMT was used as an initial tool to redesign the blade due to speed in which calculations can be completed. CFD models were produced after to incorporate the hydrodynamics and provide a 3D solution. The performance coefficients for CP and CT were calculated by each of the two computational methods for comparison with the experimental testing. The experimental testing was conducted at the INSEAN tow tank to provide validation for the computational models. The CFD model was found to closely predict the performance coefficients of the turbine at low TSR at and peak power. The BEMT model over predicted both the CP and the CT when compared to the experimental work, however was found to be good as an initial method for redesigning the blade.


Neil Young and the Poetics of Energy. By William Echard. (Musical Meaning and Interpretation.) (Profiles in Popular Music.) BIoomington: Indiana University Press, 2005. [vii, 260 p. ISBN 0-253-34581-2. $50.] Index, bibliography. William Echard's first monograph develops material from his dissertation. His is one of several recent works containing the word "poetics" in the title (for example, Albin Zak, The Poetics of Rock [Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001]; and Adam Krims, Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001]). These works tend to use the word in the sense of poeisis. or creation, but often with elements of double meaning, so that "the core of the concept is aesthetic, signaling an interest in the interface between compositional choices . . . and broader value systems" (p. 6). Echard, aligning himself with Krims in particular, states that an interest in poetics signals three things: 1) analytic specificity about sonic detail is necessary; 2) such analysis must be informed by the social history of the music, and 3) "formal analysis can be a means to look for mechanisms which enable and constrain the affective energies and aesthetic priorities invested in the music" (p. 6). Echard describes his interpretive agenda as primarily semiotic despite the lack of semiotic terminology. One hindrance to appreciating or understanding Neil Young and his music is his enormous output spanning approximately forty years, with his solo works (including those recorded with Crazy Horse) comprising nearly forty albums, in addition to collaborations with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. A primary concern of the book is Young's changeable identity which paradoxically becomes one of the primary indicators of his identity: "His changeability, since it has been a constant and since it is of a kind frequently valorized in the rock culture of the 1960s and 1970s, does much to stabilize his identity" (p. 1). This kind of paradoxical construction abounds in the book. For example, Echard discusses at length how Young's ambivalence toward being a rock icon is "a kind of authenticity [that] reinforces the same ideologies it questions" (p. 83). Another central concern is "to fine tune existing methods of describing the energetic and affective dimensions of musical meaning, again because notions of emotional commitment and intensity are key themes in Neil Young reception" (p. 2). Because Young has expressed a desire not to be pinned down by interpreters, this is "less a book about Neil Young than one which tries to respond to him" (p. 2, emphasis in the original). As such, one should not approach this as a "life and works" source. Echard seeks to strike a balance between fandom and academe, permitting each state to influence the other, agreeing with Richard Middleton that the "scholarfan is in a unique position to bridge discourses" (p. 3). Echard warns that this stance results in a book, at times, lacking in academic rigor. In fact, the far greater risk is that readers lacking a substantial background in cultural studies may bog down in the extremely technical theorizing comprising much of the book. Echard synthesizes four main sources: 1) academic literature; 2) major monographs on Neil Young; 3) the Internet "Rust" list (which derives its name from Young's recurring references to rust, beginning with his album Rust Never Sleeps [1979]), and 4) Echard's own analyses of Young's work. For this last category, the albums are not treated as objects of study, but rather as "discursive spheres to be evoked and juxtaposed to build up a multifaceted picture of Neil Young's work" (p. 4). Echard explains the "poetics of energy" as arising from metaphorical conceptualizations of energy and space, Young's "expressive intensity," theories of musical meaning and gesture, and the many metaphors in Young reception suggesting energy as a central concept, including restlessness, chaos, and contrast between aggressive and introspective moods. …


Interest in tests of short-term maximal exercise capacity has increased during recent years. The purpose of this investigation was therefore to study how heart rates and ratings of perceived exertion increase during a work test when the subjects only have to exercise at each work load for 0.5 min and to study predictability of maximal performances. A differential test is obtained by using a series of submaximal ratings to estimate the exercise intensity that can be maintained for only 30 s. The validity of the estimated intensity was checked by having the subject exercise at that load. The test time obtained was then used to correct the estimated exercise intensity according to the general function describing the relation between exercise intensity and exercise time for maximal performances. In the validation the test performances were compared to results from (a) common submaximal ergometer test, and (b) a special test measuring dynamic muscular strength.


This paper investigates a class of mobile wireless sensor networks that are not connected most of the times. The characteristics of these networks is inherited from both delay tolerate networks (DTN) and wireless sensor networks. First, delay-tolerant wireless sensor networks (DTWSN) are introduced. Then, three main problems in the design space of these networks are discussed: Routing, data gathering, and neighbor discovery. An approach is proposed for deployment of DTWSNs based on the traditional opportunistic broadcast in delay tolerant networks with on-off periods. The delay and the throughput of the routing scheme were investigated in the DTN literature. However, the energy consumption was not studied thoroughly, which is focused here. Neighbor discovery in a sparse network could be a major source of energy consumption. Therefore, energy per contact measure is evaluated analytically based on the distribution of physical link duration. The results for 2D constant velocity model and random waypoint model are reported and the average PLD is suggested as an appropriate choice of beacon interval.


We encountered two-cases of pulmonary disease caused by M. chelonae subsp. abscessus, [Case 1] A 72-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of fever. He had been observed for one year after being given a diagnosis of pulmonary disease caused by Myocobacterium avium complex. Sputum examination revealed acid-fast bacilli (Gaffky 9). He recovered after administration of clarithromycin (CAM) and other drugs. [Case 2] A 61-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of coughing and sputum production. He had been observed for 4 years after being given a diagnosis of pulmonary M. fortuitum disease. Sputum examination revealed acid-fast bacilli (Gaffky 7). His symptoms deteriorated even though he received anti-tuberculosis agents and CAM. After measurement of minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), he was given amikacin (AMK). In both cases, the bacilli found in sputum obtained on admission were identified as M. chelonae subsp. abscessus by DNA hybridization. They were completely resistant to all anti-tuberculosis agents. However, the disk method show that they were sensitive to AMK, imipenem and CAM. The MIC value of those strains to CAM was 0.78 microgram/ml in case I and more than 100 micrograms/ml in case 2. The results obtained by MIC measurement were consistent with the clinical outcome. AMK, cefoxitin (CFX), and CAM had been used to treat M. chelouae subsp. abscessus in Europe, but the MIC value differed from strain to strain within a species. Thus the present data suggest that measurement of the MIC value of CAM would be necessary to predict its therapeutic effect.


Protein-protein associations are vital to cellular functions. Here we describe a helpful new method to demonstrate protein-protein associations inside cells based on the capacity of orthoreovirus protein μNS to form large cytoplasmic inclusions, easily visualized by light microscopy, and to recruit other proteins to these structures in a specific manner. We introduce this technology by the identification of a sixth orthoreovirus protein, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase λ3, that was recruited to the structures through an association with μNS. We then established the broader utility of this technology by using a truncated, fluorescently tagged form of μNS as a fusion platform to present the mammalian tumor suppressor p53, which strongly recruited its known interactor simian virus 40 large T antigen to the μNS-derived structures. In both examples, we further localized a region of the recruited protein that is key to its recruitment. Using either endogenous p53 or a second fluorescently tagged fusion of p53 with the rotavirus NSP5 protein, we demonstrated p53 oligomerization as well as p53 association with another of its cellular interaction partners, the CREB-binding proteins, within the inclusions. Furthermore using the p53-fused fluorescent μNS platform in conjunction with three-color microscopy, we identified a ternary complex comprising p53, simian virus 40 large T antigen, and retinoblastoma protein. The new method is technically simple, uses commonly available resources, and is adaptable to high throughput formats.


In this study, young cladodes corresponding to two (thorn-less and thorn-containing) varieties of cactus pear ( Opuntia ficus-indica ) from four different areas of Tigray region, Ethiopia, were investigated for their phenolic contents and antioxidant activities. Quantitative estimation of total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities in the cladodes was carried out using spectrophotometric methods. A 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay was used for the determination of the antioxidant activities, while Folin-Ciocalteau reagent, aluminum chloride and protein (albumin) precipitation methods were used for the determination of total polyphenol, flavonoid and tannin contents, respectively. The cladodes were found to be rich in polyphenols, with values in the range 18.0-71.4 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g of dry weight (DW). The predominant part of the polyphenols is represented by tannins, 9.00-41.2 mg GAE/g of DW, followed by flavonoids, 6.40-25.0 mg catchin equivalent (CE)/g of DW. The cladodes showed strong antioxidant activities, 59.3-85.8% inhibition compared to ascorbic acid. Application of paired t-test on the overall mean total polyphenol contents of samples collected from the different areas revealed the presence of significant variation between the thorn-less (31.6 GAE/g of DW) and thorn-containing (47.7 GAE/g of DW) varieties. One-way ANOVA also revealed that there are significant variations among samples from the same variety but collected from different areas. KEY WORDS : Opuntia ficus-indica , Flavonoids, Tannins, Polyphenols, Antioxidant activities, Ethiopia Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2016 , 30(3), 347-356. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v30i3.3


ABSTRACT The orally administered neuraminidase (NA) inhibitor RWJ-270201 was tested in parallel with zanamivir and oseltamivir against a panel of avian influenza viruses for inhibition of NA activity and replication in tissue culture. The agents were then tested for protection of mice against lethal H5N1 and H9N2 virus infection. In vitro, RWJ-270201 was highly effective against all nine NA subtypes. NA inhibition by RWJ-270201 (50% inhibitory concentration, 0.9 to 4.3 nM) was superior to that by zanamivir and oseltamivir carboxylate. RWJ-270201 inhibited the replication of avian influenza viruses of both Eurasian and American lineages in MDCK cells (50% effective concentration, 0.5 to 11.8 μM). Mice given 10 mg of RWJ-270201 per kg of body weight per day were completely protected against lethal challenge with influenza A/Hong Kong/156/97 (H5N1) and A/quail/Hong Kong/G1/97 (H9N2) viruses. Both RWJ-270201 and oseltamivir significantly reduced virus titers in mouse lungs at daily dosages of 1.0 and 10 mg/kg and prevented the spread of virus to the brain. When treatment began 48 h after exposure to H5N1 virus, 10 mg of RWJ-270201/kg/day protected 50% of mice from death. These results suggest that RWJ-270201 is at least as effective as either zanamivir or oseltamivir against avian influenza viruses and may be of potential clinical use for treatment of emerging influenza viruses that may be transmitted from birds to humans.


Contemporary conflict studies frequently cite increased "legitimacy" as a key mechanism linking rebel actor to a variety of outcomes, including civilian targeting, recruitment practices, and war end. This article advances a conceptualization of legitimacy as a dynamic process of triangulation among rebels, their potential local constituents, and the international community. Rebels derive or lose legitimacy from the local population, but also from external audiences, which have played in increasing role in supporting peace processes. We explore conceptually a myriad of ways that rebels work to create and maintain legitimacy in the context of ongoing conflict, identifying the target audiences of these tactics. These are illustrated with a set of cases of rebel actor in Indonesia.


This paper reports a study that examined hotel reservation services on travel websites. Using a systematic search, 90 travel websites were selected with an equal number of North American-based, European-based, and Asia Pacfic-based websites. These regions represent the areas of the world with the most Internet users. Based on the developed framework of information quality, the contents of the selected travel websites were evaluated. Be empirical results indicated that the travel websites achieved different levels of quality in online information, and that North American-based websites performed significantly better in some attributes. This article is available in Hospitality Review: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/hospitalityreview/vol24/iss1/4 A Study of Online Hotel Reservations on Asia PacMc-based, European-based, and North American-based Travel Websites By Rob Law and Andrew Cheung Bispaper reports a study that examined hotel resen~ation seruices on trauel websites. Using a systematic search, 90 travel websites were selected with an equal number of North American-based, European-based, and Asia Paczfic-based websites. These regions rrepresent the areas of the world with the most Internet users. Based on the deueloped frameaork of information quality, the contents of the selected travel websites were evaluated. B e empirical results indicated that the trauel websites achieved dzrerent levels of quality in online information, and that North American-based websitesperjormed significantly better in some attri6t~tes. Introduction The recent development of Internet technology has attracted many people to turn to this virtual environment to search for information and make online bookings. eTforecast (2005) predicted that there will be 1,466 million Internet users in the world in 2007, up from the 44.6 million in 1995. Nielsen//Rating claimed that there was a 4% increase in the number of Intemet users from 2001 to 2002. The growth in Internet applications is not merely in number of users but also in business revenues. It has been found that the growth in retail e-commerce in the first quarter of 2005 was 24% on a year-over-year basis. The d~rect relationship between vendors and customers on the Internet directly reflects the situation in the travel and tourism industry. Various statistical data have shown that there is a large demand for using the Intemet for travel and tourism. HarrisInteractive (2002) found that travel is one of the largest e-commerce applications in 2001. In the same way, Valhouli (2003) stated that online travel and tourism is the fastest growing and leading business in e-commerce, comprising about half of all online sales. In addition, after airfares, hotel room reservations are the second-largest source of online reservations in the travel and tourism industry, with an estimated transaction volume of US$17.5 billion in 2005, up from US$6.3 billion in 2002. Similarly, Greenspan (2003) stated that the share of hotel room sales from traditional travel agencies will drop from 21% in 2001 to 18Oh in 2005. Starkov and Price (2005) further predicted that over 50% of all hotel bookings will be performed online in 2009. When reservations are made, most travelers prefer third-party travel websites to hotel sites. Likewise, TravelCLICK (2004) showed that travel agency websites are the most frequently used online channel for hotel bookings. In spite of the increasing popularity of online bookings for hotel rooms, there have been few published articles on the contents of hotel reservations on travel agency websites. The most closely related study, to the knowledge of the authors, was the one conducted in 2001 to compare the contents of 60 travel websites in Asia and North America. However, 2G% of the selected websites in that study did not function properly. To reflect the fast-changing nature of the online travel industry and to achieve a broader geographical representation, this study aims to examine the hotel reservation services on selected travel websites based in North America, the Asia-Pacific region, and Europe. According to the Internet World Stats (20051, 90% of Internet users in the world are from these three regions. Therefore, the findings of this study are expected to help both consumers and practitioners better understand the hotel booking services that are available on travel websites in different regions. Having introduced in the previous paragraphs the background of this study, the next section reviews the growth of online applications in general and those relating to Page: 32 FIU Rm'ewVol. 24, No. 1


The purpose of the present study was to learn about people's opinions on nurses' performance and on what do they expect from it. Authors interviewed patients and their families in Health Institutions and people walking in malls at the cities of Ribeirao Preto (125) and Bauru (125). The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. Results showed that the nurse is recognized as the one who is responsible for the care but there is still a representation of nurses as the doctor's helper. They refer to the nurse as someone courageous, important and on whom they depend on. They look for human care, dedication, respect, responsibility, understanding, affection and efficiency. They enable nurses' work and recognize the lack of better work conditions and fair wages.


Previous studies have shown that the detection of antibodies to an 18-kDa cytoplasmic protein of Brucella spp. is useful for the diagnosis of human and animal brucellosis. This protein has now been expressed in recombinant form in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein is soluble only under reducing conditions, but alkylation with iodoacetamide renders it soluble in non-reducing media. As shown by gel exclusion chromatography, this soluble form arranges in pentamers of 90 kDa. The reactivity of human and animal sera against the recombinant protein was similar to that found with the native protein present in brucella cytoplasmic fraction, suggesting that the recombinant protein is correctly folded. The protein has low but significant homology (30%) with lumazine synthases involved in bacterial riboflavin biosynthesis, which also arrange as pentamers. Biological tests on the crude extract of the recombinant bacteria and on the purified recombinant protein showed that the biological activity of the Brucella spp. 18-kDa protein is that of lumazine synthase. Preliminary crystallographic analysis showed that the Brucella spp. lumazine synthase arranges in icosahedric capsids similar to those formed by the lumazine synthases of other bacteria. The high immunogenicity of this protein, potentially useful for the design of acellular vaccines, could be explained by this polymeric arrangement.


Abstract NiAl intermetallic coating thickness of about 50 μm was fabricated on hypo-eutectoid steel by mechanical alloying using pre-activated Ni–Al composite granules as coating material. First, Ni and Al powders were mixed with the composition of Ni-50 at.% Al and mechanically activated in a planetary ball mill, until the composite granules of this powder mixture, having maximum activity (9 cm sec−1), were formed after 120 min of milling at 200 rpm. The composite granules were then taken out from the planetary ball mill just before the critical time, i. e. the time at which these granules synthesize and convert to an intermetallic NiAl compound. The highly activated composite granules of Ni–Al were then put into the vial of a vibratory ball mill with the substrate on top of the chamber. After mechanical alloying for 60 min in the vibratory ball mill, the composite granules were synthesized fully and heat was produced during the synthesis which helped producing a thick and strong adhesive coating of NiAl intermetallic on the steel substrate. The main advantage of this technique is that not only is time saved but also there is no need for any post mechanical alloying process such as annealing or laser treatment etc. to get homogeneous, strongly bonded intermetallic coatings. X-ray diffraction analysis clearly indicates the formation of NiAl phase. Micro-hardness of the coating and substrate was also measured. The cross-sectional microstructure of the composite granules and the final coating were studied by scanning electron microscopy.


Labour market reforms are essential to promote social cohesion by removing obstacles to employment, particularly for women, youth and older persons. In addition to reducing income inequality and poverty, such reforms would also sustain economic growth as Korea's working-age population begins to decline in 2017. Breaking down labour market duality is crucial to reduce the wide wage disparity. Better conditions for non-regular workers would in turn promote greater labour participation. Increasing the take-up of maternity and parental leave, expanding the availability of high-quality childcare, reducing working time, narrowing the large gender wage gap and eliminating discrimination would also increase opportunities for women. Boosting youth employment from its current low level requires addressing labour market mismatch by better aligning the skills learned in school with those demanded by employers. Reducing the emphasis on seniority in setting wages by moving to more flexible systems and expanding training to improve the skills of older persons would allow them to extend their careers, thereby reducing old-age poverty.


Nicotine treatment has long been associated with alterations in α4β2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) expression that modify dopaminergic function. However, the influence of long-term nicotine treatment on the α6β2* nAChR, a subtype specifically localized on dopaminergic neurons, is less clear. Here we used voltammetry, as well as receptor binding studies, to identify the effects of nicotine on striatal α6β2* nAChR function and expression. Long-term nicotine treatment via drinking water enhanced nonburst and burst endogenous dopamine release from rat striatal slices. In control animals, α6β2* nAChR blockade with α-conotoxin MII (α-CtxMII) decreased release with nonburst stimulation but not with burst firing. These data in control animals suggest that varying stimulus frequencies differentially regulate α6β2* nAChR-evoked dopamine release. In contrast, in nicotine-treated rats, α6β2* nAChR blockade elicited a similar pattern of dopamine release with nonburst and burst firing. To elucidate the α6β2* nAChR subtypes altered with long-term nicotine treatment, we used the novel α-CtxMII analog E11A in combination with α4 nAChR knockout mice. 125I-α-CtxMII competition studies in striatum of knockout mice showed that nicotine treatment decreased the α6α4β2* subtype but increased the α6(nonα4)β2* nAChR population. These data indicate that α6β2* nAChR-evoked dopamine release in nicotine-treated rats is mediated by the α6(nonα4)β2* nAChR subtype and suggest that the α6α4β2* nAChR and/or α4β2* nAChR contribute to the differential effect of higher frequency stimulation on dopamine release under control conditions. Thus, α6β2* nAChR subtypes may represent important targets for smoking cessation therapies and neurological disorders involving these receptors such as Parkinson's disease.


The fact that only part of the population that lives in endemic areas gets Chagas disease and that only some of the patients with chronic infection develop symptoms, supports the importance of investigating the factors of each host in the susceptibility and the development of the disease. Chronic pathological processes and progressive inflammation lead to alterations in the cellular antioxidant status. This imbalance would contribute to the destruction of the parasite and would be related to the cardiac damage observed in patients with chagasic cardiomyopathy.The objective of the present study was to determine the plasma activity of oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers: SOD, CAT, GPx, TBARS and TNF-α in chagasic patients with and without cardiomyopathy and healthy individuals.The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the predisposition to severe forms of chagasic heart disease by quantifying the biomarkers mentioned in blood from the study population.The results show significant differences in the enzymatic activities in the different groups of patients, which would mean at the cellular level, an alteration of the antioxidant capacity. Contrary to what we expected (a depletion of these enzymes), patients show an increase in antioxidant activity, that is, they respond to the generation of free radicals. The same trend is observed in the case of TBARS that are elevated in the case of chagasic patients, indicating a high degree of lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage. Regarding TNF-α levels, we found statistically significant differences, which show an active and chronic inflammatory state in these patients. Although we have found significant differences between the CN group and the other groups of patients, we should indicate that between the MCC and ECsinMCC groups, the results obtained did not show marked differences. This is important since it has been shown that patients infected with Tc have a marked antioxidant potential and are able to respond to the oxidative stress induced by the parasite, although this would not be decisive in the evolution of the disease.


There are many parallels between historical linguistics and molecular phylogenetics. In this paper we describe an algorithmic pipeline that mimics, as closely as possible, the traditional workflow of language reconstruction known as the comparative method. The pipeline consists of suitably modified algorithms based on recent research in bioinformatics, which are adapted to the specifics of linguistic data. This approach can alleviate much of the laborious research needed to establish proof of historical relationships between languages. Equally important to our proposal is that each step in the workflow of the comparative method is implemented independently, so language specialists have the possibility to scrutinize intermediate results. We have used our pipeline to investigate two groups of languages, the Tsezic languages of the Caucasus and the Mataco-Guaicuruan languages of South America, based on the lexical data from the Intercontinental Dictionary Series (IDS). The results of these tests show that the current approach is a viable and useful extension to historical linguistic research.


This paper introduces the development of a new collaborative and distributed intelligent environment that supports collaboration among geographically dispersed people including intelligent systems. The collaborative and distributed intelligent environment merges seamlessly mixed realities in terms of physical space, document, people, physical facilities and equipment, virtual environments, collaborative control, distributed teleopreration, decision making, etc. into one shared collaborative space. This approach aims to bridge the gap between reality and virtuality beyond time and physical constraints. Such capabilities have been achieved through the design and implementation of innovative, interactive, shared, 3D multi-user collaborative and distributed intelligent environment (CoDIE). CoDIE represents an integrated approach with embedded systems that offers the capability to administer distributed environment and resources with people accessing the environment remotely and others are collocated with the physical counterpart supported by ambient intelligence techniques. The developed environment can be used as a metaphor for wide range of application domains to integrate distributed resources, supports synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, distributed teleoperation, collaborative control, and to enable people to work beyond time and physical constraints. The talk presents the concept of CoDIE and describes its four-tire architecture and the key features and functionalities associated with its development and implementation. Finally, the paper highlights briefly the development of an educational and training robot center integrated with distributed physical and virtual facilities through the use of CoDIE.


Abstract : Danish early childhood professionals (pedagogues) are responsible for the well-being of all children in their care, but it is not clear what well-being implies. The article presents an analysis showing how pedagogues observe and categorize the well-being in children. Well-being is a state that pedagogues recognize by using special' seeing-techniques', related to their ideas of how children are supposed to behave in a certain context. The body of a child is culturally created, depending on the indoor or outdoor surroundings. The ideal of a happy child is an attuned child, who is able to adapt to adult expectations, while the physical surroundings are co-determining what the pedagogues 'see'.


Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is an uncommon genetic bone disease associated with brittle bones and fractures in children and adults. Although OI is most commonly associated with mutations of the genes for type I collagen, many other genes (some associated with type I collagen processing) have now been identified. The genetics of OI and advances in our understanding of the biomechanical properties of OI bone are reviewed in this article. Treatment includes physiotherapy, fall prevention, and sometimes orthopedic procedures. In this brief review, we will also discuss current understanding of pharmacologic therapies for treatment of OI.


The seed bank is directly related to forest resilience because it contributes to the greatest number of regenerants after the occurrence of disturbances. Changes in seed density, floristic composition, and life forms completely alter the successional trajectory of forest environments. These changes are directly related to land use. For example, suppression of the seed bank can occur in pastures, that experience frequent fires with increase of density of seeds and predominance of herbs are typical of highly degraded areas, such as Poaceae, Rubiaceae, Asteraceae, and Cyperaceae. Melastomataceae seedlings are an important component of the seed bank in the Amazon rainforest. On the other hand, Urticaceae has greater representation in forests that exhibit low-impact land use. Any change in seed bank functionality is bound to compromise the diversity, regeneration potential and overall maintenance of tropical forests. Therefore, it is necessary to expand studies that investigate seed banks in the Amazon rainforest. It is as important to prioritize sampling methods and pursue standardization of data presentation, as well as improve the identification of species that occur in the seed bank.


This article highlights some of the information available from the latest report of cancer incidence and mortality in NSW, published by the NSW Cancer Council in June 2000. A decrease in cancer mortality was confirmed for both males and females. The incidence rate of prostate cancer fell for the third successive year in 1997. This followed a dramatic increase in rates between 1988 and 1994, and is associated with widespread use of prostate specific antigen testing. Detailed information is provided for the first time for liver cancer and mesothelioma, two less common cancers that have rapidly increasing incidence and mortality rates.


We examined the effects of anabolic-androgenic steroid use on serious violent behavior. Multivariate models based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 6823) were used to examine the association between lifetime and past-year self-reported anabolic-androgenic steroid use and involvement in violent acts. Compared with individuals who did not use steroids, young adult males who used anabolic-androgenic steroids reported greater involvement in violent behaviors after we controlled for the effects of key demographic variables, previous violent behavior, and polydrug use.


The central feature of Patricia Leavy's book, Oral History: Understanding Qualitative Research, is the legitimization of doing oral history and, generally, qualitative research in the social sciences. Leavy reviews the foundational philosophies that inform the qualitative practice of doing social research and the methodological tools that affirm the scientific nature of oral history (such as reflection, explicitness, proper coding, and congruence). Leavy instructs the reader through each stage of the methodological process from research design to writing up the research findings. Oral History is not only an instructional guide but also a response to the critics of the qualitative approach who believe oral history is too subjective and lacks the scientific rigor of the quantitative.


Lodging resistance is a key criterion in pea breeding programs. In traditional breeding, a large number of lines are discarded in F3 or later generations, because of susceptibility to lodging and much labor and other costs are wasted. Implementation of selection using molecular markers for lodging resistance at earlier generations will significantly enhance the efficiency of the pea breeding process. Ten F2 populations consisting of a total of 869 plants were grown in the field in Saskatoon in the summer of 2002. These 10 populations were derived from crosses between the lodging susceptible variety Carrera, crossed with ten other lodging resistant lines. DNA samples were extracted from each individual plant. Each plant was scored for the presence of coupling phase linked SCAR markers A001 and A002, as well as a repulsion phase linked SCAR marker A004. The results showed that the frequency of marker presence is similar to the estimated frequency, obeying the rule of independent single gene segregation. Chi-Square analysis showed that the combination of A001 and A004 markers also followed a two gene model (P>0.05) in 8 populations. Due to linkage between A001 and A002 markers, population No. 3 and No. 4 did not follow the two or three independent gene segregation model. F3 populations will be planted in the field in 2003 to evaluate the effectiveness of Marker Assist Selection for lodging resistance in pea.


Strong coupling between stretching fundamentals and bending overtones of vibrational modes, known as Fermi resonance (FR), has been observed for proton motions in the protonated trimethylamine-water cluster. To investigate the role of FR, we examined the vibrational spectra of other three protonated ammonia/amine-water clusters, including the NH4+ ion and its mono- and di-methylated analogues, respectively, with and without argon tagging. In these systems, a simple frequency-scaled harmonic oscillator model will predict only one strong band between 2600 and 3200 cm-1 uniquely due to the hydrogen-bonded NH stretching fundamental for a given conformer. In the experimental vibrational spectra, however, multiple sharp bands were observed. Such a discrepancy often leads to the notions of the coexistence of multiple conformers and/or the appearance of an overtone state as a result of FR. In this work, we applied a discrete variable representation (DVR) implementation of ab initio anharmonic algorithms and demonstrated how one N-H+ stretching fundamental can lead to multiple bands as a result of intrinsic anharmonic couplings. A prominent effect of tuning these FR bands and lighting up dark overtone states in this wide frequency range was investigated by changing the number of methyl groups in the protonated amine moiety. The effect of Ar-tagging was also analyzed and decent agreement between the experimental and simulated spectra certified the above-mentioned simple pictures. We also found that the coupling constant for trimethylamine is the largest among these protonated amine-water clusters, and the overall coupling strength decreases as the hydrogen-bonded NH stretching frequency redshifts in the order of dimethylamine, methylamine, and ammonia.


It has been shown that the process of normalization of the ionic content of kidneys preserved during 6--72 hours with solutions of the "intracellular" type, is most intensive within the first 15 minutes after transplantation. At that time characteristic changes in the content of electrolyte were found in the blood outflowing from the kidney depending on the time of preservation. It enabled the authors to propose a simple and reliable ionometric method for the assessment of the kidney viability.


This paper aims at exploring the endogenous and exogenous forces that determine long-run fluctuations of innovative and economic activity. It proposes that technological paradigm shifts, structural change and major fluctuations of production are the result of the same endogenous process. This is defined as a co-evolutionary process between technological and economic variables based on cumulative multiplier and accelerator feedback effects between investments in innovation and demand. Exogenous factors are supposed to act upon this endogenous process, influencing the length and amplitude of fluctuations. This framework contributes to extant literature as it envisages an explicit endogenous mechanism explaining cyclical fluctuations of innovative and economic activity, and, at the same time, incorporates exogenous factors. Moreover, by combining the Schumpeterian analyses of innovation dynamics with the multiplier and accelerator effects coming from Keynesian theories, the framework integrates the impact of technological variables on economic activity and vice versa. To provide a preliminary supporting evidence, we have fitted the ICT cycle and the economic cycle to patent and productivity data, respectively. Our results suggest that the growth potential of ICT could be declining. This situation may represent an important opportunity, for public policy and socioinstitutional actors, to orient future development toward socially desirable directions.