For assessment of cardiovascular effects of sensorimotor work, blood pressure is commonly measured by arm sphygmomanometry. A technique introduced by Penaz makes it feasible to monitor blood pressure noninvasively and continuously from the finger artery which measures give high correlations with intraarterial measurement. This study compared blood-pressure changes induced by a standard sensorimotor task using sphygmomanometry and the Penaz-method. It was investigated whether sphygmomanometrically recorded blood pressure can be used to estimate task-induced blood-pressure changes and whether inflating the cuff to different maximum pressures induces blood-pressure changes. 46 normotensive individuals were randomly assigned to the discomfort group (maximum arm-cuff pressure of 280 mmHg) or to the control group (maximum arm-cuff pressure of 160 mmHg). The experiment consisted of six tasks of 4 min. each. Results indicated that sphygmomanometries under-estimated task-induced blood-pressure changes and that phasic systolic and diastolic blood-pressure elevations during the task were leveled off shortly after the end of the task. Effects of 'cuff-inflation hypertension' were not found. The Penaz-method appears to be more appropriate than sphygmomanometry if dynamic aspects of blood pressure are of interest.


Both IPO volume and average initial returns are highly autocorrelated. Further, more companies tend to go public following periods of high initial returns. However, we find that the level of average initial returns at the time of filing contains no information about that company's eventual underpricing. Both the cycles in initial returns and the lead-lag relation between initial returns and IPO volume are predominantly driven by information learned during the registration period. More positive information results in higher initial returns and more companies filing IPOs soon thereafter.


In order to operate a reactor safely and
efficiently, computer simulations must be used to predict certain
nuclear characteristics of the reactor. To determine how materials
change in a fission power environment, a time-dependent depletion
isotopic code must be used. Over the past several decades, the MIT
Reactor (MITR) has taken many steps to prepare for its conversion
from the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched
uranium (LEU) in its fuel. Throughout this process, detailed
neutronics simulations must be run to predict the characteristics
of the reactor with its current HEU fuel, with potential forms of
LEU fuel, and with combinations of the two. MCODE Version 3 is a
linkage code that performs time-dependent burnup calculations by
combining the Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code, MCNP, with the
Oak Ridge Isotope Generation point depletion code, ORIGEN-S. MCNP
provides reaction rates and neutron flux in user-specified
irradiation material regions. COUPLE, a data-editing code included
in the SCALE- 6.1 software package, uses these data from MCNP to
update the cross section libraries, which ORIGEN then uses to
perform nuclide depletion calculations in each irradiation zone.
The MCNP model is then updated with the depleted material
compositions, and the exchange is repeated. The MCNP/ORIGEN
coupling utilizes an optional predictor-corrector capability. As a
newer version of MCODE Version 2.2, MCODE-3 offers three major
changes from its predecessor. The first is the incorporation of
ORIGEN-S. MCODE-2 used a previous version of ORIGEN, which is no
longer supported by ORNL. ORIGEN-S provides newer nuclear data as
well as additional functionality and usability. Secondly, MCODE-3
uses COUPLE to create an entirely unique cross section library from
the regionally averaged 238-group flux, which means every cross
section value that MCODE-3 uses in its depletion is specific to the
input model. MCODE-2 only updates a fraction of nuclides' cross
sections, the rest default to a pre-compiled library. Finally,
while MCODE-2.2 was written in ANSI C, MCODE-3's main function has
been rewritten in the Python scripting language. MCODE's preproc,
mcodeout, and mcnpxs programs have not been edited, and are thus
still written in ANSI C. Benchmarking has indicated that while the
evolution of most nuclides is similar to an MCODE-2 calculation,
over many depletion steps some nuclides can diverge due to COUPLE's
use of the 238-group flux.


Background. Comorbid substance use disorders (SUD) are associated with increased illness severity and functional impairment among adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD). Previous psychosocial treatment studies have excluded adolescents with both BD and SUD. Studies suggest that integrated interventions are optimal for adults with BD and SUD. Methods. We modified family-focused treatment for adolescents with BD (FFT-A) in order to explicitly target comorbid SUD (FFT-SUD). Ten adolescents with BD who had both SUD and an exacerbation of manic, depressed, or mixed symptoms within the last 3 months were enrolled. FFT-SUD was offered as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy, with a target of 21 sessions over 12 months of treatment. The FFT- SUD manual was iteratively modified to integrate a concurrent focus on SUD. Results. Six subjects completed a mid-treatment 6-month assessment (after a mean of 16 sessions was completed). Of the 10 subjects, 3 dropped out early (after ⩽1 session); in the case of each of these subjects, the participating parent had active SUD. No other subjects in the study had a parent with active SUD. Preliminary findings suggested significant reductions in manic symptoms and depressive symptoms and improved global functioning in the subjects who completed 6 months of treatment. Reduction in cannabis use was modest and did not reach significance. Limitations. Limitations included a small sample, open treatment, concurrent medications, and no control group. Conclusions. These preliminary findings suggest that FFT-SUD is a feasible intervention, particularly for youth without parental SUD. FFT-SUD may be effective in treating mood symptoms, particularly depression, despite modest reductions in substance use. Integrating motivation enhancing strategies may augment the effect of this intervention on substance use. Additional strategies, such as targeting parental substance use, may prevent early attrition.(Journal of Psychiatric Practice 2014;20:237–248)


Floral resource continuity is an important component in pollinator conservation. Mass blooms early in the season may bolster pollinator communities on sequentially flowering crops by creating a resource pulse in an agricultural landscape. This study seeks to understand if mass flowering crops in polycultural systems can be used to simultaneously conserve pollinators and benefit farmers. To understand if these systems can be used to inform conservation policy, we are also interested in learning why farmers establish polycultures to begin with. A mixed-methods approach was used to address the following research questions: 1) do farmer's motivations for diversification align with the principles of diversity described by agroecological theory? And 2) do early flowering crops (Vaccinium corymbosum) affect the abundance and diversity of native pollinators (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) visiting later season crops (raspberry, Rubus cv.)? A sample of nine Vermont berry farmers were interviewed about the crops they grow, why they chose polycultural systems, and their potential benefits. Ecological data was collected from 14 Vermont berry farms, 8 of which grew blueberry and raspberry crops, and 6 of which only grew raspberry. We found that farmers most commonly reported reasons for diversification that aligned with agroecological principles of diversity. Additionally, we found no significant relationship between pollinator abundance and diversity on sequentially flowering crops between the two farm treatments. We conclude that follow-up studies are necessary to determine if mass flowering crops can be used as a sustainable pollination management practice and whether or not farmers would be interested in adopting


Magnesium diboride (MgB2) is known to have good potential to be used in a commercial liquid helium-free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) magnet. The magnet is expected to be fabricated using reacted MgB2 conductors to minimize modifications in the existing magnet production technologies and operated in the persistent mode by forming a closed-loop using superconducting joints. The superconducting joints of the reacted MgB2 conductors are typically formed by placing unreacted magnesium and boron powders in between them followed by sintering. During this process, the MgB2 conductors will inevitably experience dual sintering in the vicinity of the superconducting joints. However, the effects of dual sintering on the performance of MgB2 conductors are still unknown. Therefore, herein, we dual sintered commercially available multifilament in situ and laboratory-made monofilament internal magnesium diffusion (IMD) processed MgB2 conductors (un-doped and C-doped) and evaluated their transport performance, microstructure, lattice parameters, and critical temperature in detail. In the IMD processed wires, the C-doped boron powder was found to promote a better diffusion of magnesium compared with the un-doped boron powder. Under typical dual sintering conditions, surprisingly, the C-doped in situ wire showed a simultaneous improvement in the engineering critical current density and n-value in different magnetic fields at 4.2 K and 20 K. On the other hand, the remaining conductors showed a strong dual sintering induced transport performance variation. Our findings provide insights into MgB2 conductors' performance after dual sintering for their further development towards MRI applications.


Triassic metasediments in the internal Dinarides (Kopaonik area, southern Serbia): stratigraphy, paleogeographic and tectonic significance Strongly deformed and metamorphosed sediments in the Studenica Valley and Kopaonik area in southern Serbia expose the easternmost occurrences of Triassic sediments in the Dinarides. In these areas, Upper Paleozoic terrigenous sediments are overlain by Lower Triassic siliciclastics and limestones and by Anisian shallow-water carbonates. A pronounced facies change to hemipelagic and distal turbiditic, cherty metalimestones (Kopaonik Formation) testifies a Late Anisian drowning of the former shallow-water carbonate shelf. Sedimentation of the Kopaonik Formation was contemporaneous with shallow-water carbonate production on nearby carbonate platforms that were the source areas of diluted turbidity currents reaching the depositional area of this formation. The Kopaonik Formation was dated by conodont faunas as Late Anisian to Norian and possibly extends into the Early Jurassic. It is therefore considered an equivalent of the grey Hallstatt facies of the Eastern Alps, the Western Carpathians, and the Albanides-Hellenides. The coeval carbonate platforms were generally situated in more proximal areas of the Adriatic margin, whereas the distal margin was dominated by hemipelagic/pelagic and distal turbiditic sedimentation, facing the evolving Neotethys Ocean to the east. A similar arrangement of Triassic facies belts can be recognized all along the evolving Meliata-Maliac-Vardar branch of Neotethys, which is in line with a 'one-ocean-hypothesis' for the Dinarides: all the ophiolites presently located southwest of the Drina-Ivanjica and Kopaonik thrust sheets are derived from an area to the east, and the Drina-Ivanjica and Kopaonik units emerge in tectonic windows from below this ophiolite nappe. On the base of the Triassic facies distribution we see neither argument for an independent Dinaridic Ocean nor evidence for isolated terranes or blocks.


A composite proton exchange membrane comprising a copper–benzene tricarboxylic acid (Cu–TMA) based metal–organic framework (MOF) and sulfonated polyether ether ketone (sPEEK) (SP/CT-MOF-3) for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is reported. The MOF based composite membrane shows excellent tolerance towards methanol crossover in DMFCs. The effective blocking of pore channels present in the sPEEK by the MOF reduces the permeation of methanol without affecting its proton conductivity. The methanol permeabilities for SP/CT-MOF-3 and pristine sPEEK are 4.26 × 10−7 cm2 s−1 and 7.95 × 10−7 cm2 s−1 respectively. The proton conductivity of SP/CT-MOF-3 is 45 mS cm−1 with an activation energy of 7.27 kJ mol−1 which is better than pristine sPEEK. SP/CT-MOF-3 shows a higher peak power density of 116 mW cm−2 and current density of 570 mA cm−2 in comparison with pristine sPEEK. The improved DMFC performance of the SP/CT-MOF-3 composite membrane electrolyte is attributed to the better ion exchange capacity, water sorption, and proton conductivity of the composite membrane over pristine sPEEK.


How would a cellular network designed for high energy efficiency look like? To answer this fundamental question, we model cellular networks using stochastic geometry and optimize the energy efficiency with respect to the density of base stations, the number of antennas and users per cell, the transmit power levels, and the pilot reuse. The highest efficiency is neither achieved by a pure small-cell approach, nor by a pure massive MIMO solution. Interestingly, it is the combination of these approaches that provides the highest energy efficiency; small cells contributes by reducing the propagation losses while massive MIMO enables multiplexing of users with controlled interference.


This chapter focuses on the aspect of Authoring in Adaptive Hypermedia, from some of its different perspectives, including authoring for learning environments. It starts by showing the necessity of research in this area, then describes a new framework model for authoring of Adaptive Hypermedia, LAOS. Within LAOS, the adaptation model, which is the main aspect of adaptive hypermedia, is detailed into a separate model, LAG. The flexibility offered by the LAOS framework is analyzed and estimated. To illustrate the theory, the chapter describes an implementation of this framework, MOT, and test results. The chapter ends with conclusions and some discussion on future trends.


STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate falls among elective orthopaedic inpatients at a musculoskeletal hospital.

BACKGROUND
Falls are the most commonly reported hospital incidents. Approximately 30% of in-hospital falls result in minor injury, and up to 8% of falls result in moderate to severe injury. Given the projected rise in elective orthopaedic procedures, it is important to better understand fall patterns in this population.

METHODS
A retrospective review of electronic medical records and patient charts (2000-2009) was conducted to identify falls in patients admitted for elective orthopaedic procedures.

RESULTS
There were 868 falls among orthopaedic patients older than 18 years. The fall rate was 0.9% of admissions, or 2.0 falls per 1000 inpatient days. The average age of the patients who had fallen was 68 years, and 57.6% were women. Knee replacements (38.2%), spine procedures (18.5%), and hip replacements (14.7%) were the procedures most commonly associated with falls. Three hundred eighty-six falls (45.8%) involved bathroom usage. One hundred ten first falls (13.1%) resulted in injuries. Twenty-eight falls (3.3%) resulted in serious events, including 5 returns to the operating room, 3 transfers to a higher level of care, 14 prosthesis dislocations, 6 fractures, 2 intracranial bleeds, and 1 hemorrhage. Patients with serious injuries were more likely to fall earlier (mean postoperative days, 2.7 versus 4.1; mean difference, 1.4 days; 95% confidence interval: 0.51, 2.3; P = .003) and to have had hip replacement (odds ratio = 3.7; 95% confidence interval: 1.7, 8.2). Serious injuries were not associated with body mass index, age, gender, hospital location, day, or fall history.

CONCLUSION
Falls are avoidable events that are poorly described among orthopaedic patients having elective procedures. This large series identifies hip replacement patients as being at almost 4-fold risk of having a serious adverse event after falling. Larger prospective trials are needed to confirm results and to inform prevention strategies.


Abstract Background: We have previously reported antidepressant effect of Cnestis ferruginea (CF) in behavioral models of depression. Due to the promise shown by this extract, this study was carried out to investigate the contribution of monoaminergic, cholinergic and nitrergic systems to the antidepressant-like effect elicited by CF. Methods: Male albino mice were pretreated with monoaminergic or cholinergic receptor antagonists, L-arginine or NG-nitro-L-arginine (nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) (at doses reported to block the in vivo effect of the agonists), 15 min before oral administration of CF (100 mg/kg), 1 h later, the forced swim test (FST) in mice was carried out. Results: CF treatment produced significant changes in the duration of swimming (F(5,42)=9.86, P<0.001), climbing behaviour (F(5,42)=4.51, P=0.004) and mean time spent immobile (F(5,42)=11.55, P<0.001) vs. vehicle-treated control. Co-administration of CF with fluoxetine or imipramine potentiated their effect. However, pretreatment of mice with reserpine (F(1,16)=119.20, P<0.001), prazosin (F(1,16)=68.98, P<0.001), sulpiride (F(1,16)=15.46, P<0.01), RS 127445 ((F(1,20)=8.22, P<0.01), SB 399885 ((F(1,20)=38.44, P<0.001), atropine (F(1,16)=53.77, P<0.001), or L-arginine (nitric oxide precursor) (F(1,16)=10.35, P<0.01) prevented CF-induced antidepressant-like effect in mice. In addition, pretreatment of mice with L-NNA (10 mg/kg) augmented the effect of CF. Conclusion: C. ferruginea exerts its antidepressant-like action through interaction with α-adrenoceptor, dopamine D2, 5-HT2B, 5-HT6 and muscarinic cholinergi1c receptors as well as L-arginine-nitric oxide systems. C. ferruginea could be used as adjuvant with conventional antidepressants in the treatment of major depressive disorder.


INTRODUCTION
Nicotine patch therapy has not been shown to be efficacious for increasing long-term (≥6 months) tobacco abstinence rates among smokeless tobacco (ST) users. Higher doses of nicotine patch therapy may be needed to increase tobacco abstinence rates in this population of tobacco users.

METHODS
We randomized ST users who used ≥3 cans/pouches per week to either 8 weeks of high-dose nicotine patch therapy (42mg/day) or matching placebo patch. Subjects were followed for 6 months after randomization.

RESULTS
Fifty-two subjects were randomized. Compared with placebo, high-dose nicotine patch therapy was associated with significantly higher prolonged tobacco abstinence at end-of-treatment (44% vs. 22%, odds ratio [OR] = 2.7, p = .050) and 3 months (40% vs. 19%, OR = 2.9, p = .047). High-dose nicotine patch therapy was associated with significant weight gain attenuation among tobacco abstinence subjects at 3 months (p = .013) and 6 months (p = .018). Compared with placebo, high-dose nicotine patch therapy was associated with nonsignificantly lower nicotine withdrawal scores. Adverse events were not significantly increased with high-dose nicotine patch therapy.

CONCLUSIONS
High-dose nicotine patch therapy is safe and increases short-term tobacco abstinence rates among ST users who use ≥3 cans/pouches per week. High-dose nicotine patch therapy is associated with significant long-term attenuation of weight gain. Future studies to investigate the long-term efficacy of high-dose nicotine patch therapy and the comparative efficacy of this approach compared with standard nicotine patch doses for ST users seems warranted.


Abstract Background Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients require frequent endoscopies for disease assessment and confirmation of remission, making it a crucial component in their management. It is unknown if measures put in place to reduce the spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2, including the delay of non-urgent IBD patient endoscopy, resulted in more deleterious outcomes for patients with IBD. Therefore, we aimed to determine if delays in endoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with an increased risk of adverse IBD outcomes (emergency room, ER presentation, hospitalization, surgery or escalation of drug therapy). Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed in IBD patients receiving outpatient endoscopies between March and August, 2019 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic) and, 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) at two tertiary care centers affiliated with Western University, London, Canada. Data pertaining to endoscopy timing, IBD drug prescription, ER attendance, hospitalization, and surgery were collected. Results A total of, 1160 endoscopies (2019, n=718;, 2020, n=442) occurred across, 1083 patients (2019, n=669;, 2020, n=414). More endoscopies were delayed in, 2020 than, 2019 (26.7% vs., 9.7% respectively, p<0.0001) and for longer, 56 days (IQR=63) in, 2020 vs., 30 days (IQR=42) in, 2019. No differences were seen in the baseline demographic characteristics based on cohort year or occurrence of endoscopy delay. Also, rurality, sex, IBD type, and age were not associated with a delay in endoscopy. It was found that endoscopy delay was not associated with an increased risk of an adverse IBD outcome (composite outcome of emergency room presentation, ER presentation, hospitalization, surgery or escalation of drug therapy) (RR, 1.23, p=0.20). Conclusion A greater proportion of delays in endoscopy were observed during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, delays in general were not associated with more adverse IBD outcomes, and were found to be associated with less deleterious IBD outcomes. This may reflect the accurate and preferential triage of more severe IBD patients to endoscopic assessments.


There is a growing recognition in both the professional and popular literatures that water scarcity is a key policy issue that is especially important in arid, urban settings with the prospects for shortfalls in water availability due to the effects of climate change. Those evaluating these types of water problems usually conclude prices must be reformed so that incentives facing water users change to reflect this scarcity. Demand functions provide the basic economic relationships required to understand how water use will respond to such changes. This paper proposes a new method for estimating the price elasticity of demand that meets policy needs and can accommodate the presence of increasing block pricing structures.


The memory of the past is always vital for building national identity in transitional contexts. Yet, the preservation of a particular representation of the national history may lead not only to distortion of the self-identification process, but also to distortion of rights protection. Taking Poland as a case study, we aim to explain mechanisms of using criminal laws for historical assessment and show instances when victimhood became a legally protected value used to justify limitations of free speech and academic research. We argue that the law criminalising defamation of the Polish Nation, and also the decision of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal, were symptoms of frustration and fear against opening and engaging in an honest public debate on recent history, which is necessary for establishing not only the fundamentals of transitional justice, but more importantly, for building mutual trust in a democratic society. Key words: victimhood, memory, constitutional court, Poland


The interpretation of CT exams from patients with interstitial lung diseases depends on the correct assessment of associated CT patterns. Computer aided diagnosis systems often study the automatic identification of CT patterns, using the division of the lung in volumes of interest and the use of supervised classification. Despite moderate success, this approach has been hampered by the shortage of medical annotations available to research groups. We propose a new method that collects exams that contain CT patterns through the presence of keywords in radiology reports, to learn pattern models using a multiple instance learning algorithm. We compared our approach to the traditional use of volumes of interest annotations for six interstitial lung diseases patterns. The results show our approach performed comparatively in four of the studied patterns, and poorly for the other two. The results suggest that under certain conditions learning CT patterns from radiology reports is possible, which could foster developments in computer aided diagnosis


Over the course of the past two hundred years, only one United States territory has experienced foreign occupation: Alaska. Available for the first time in paperback, "Alaska at War" brings readers face to face with the North Pacific front in World War II. Wide-ranging essays cover the war as seen by Alaskan eyes, including the Japanese invasion of Attu and Kiska the effects of the war on Aleutian islanders, and the American campaign to recover occupied territory. Whether you're a historian or a novice student interested in this pivotal period of American history, "Alaska at War" provides fascinating insight into the background, history, and cultural impact of war on the Alaskan homefront.


The link between exposure to early life stress (ELS), such as child maltreatment, and the development of depression has been well-replicated. However, the mechanisms that underlie this connection remain poorly understood. One potential mechanism may be neural alterations in reward-related brain regions, such as the ventral striatum and sub-regions of the prefrontal cortex. Recent research indicates that exposure to child maltreatment is associated with aberrant reward-related brain activity. A separate body of work implicates similar reward-related neural alterations in the etiology and maintenance of depression. The current study investigated whether altered neural response to reward plays a mechanistic role in explaining the association between ELS and depression. Here, we examined associations between history of child maltreatment, depressive symptoms, and neural response to reward during a reward processing fMRI task in a sample of adult men (N = 165; 30.5% White, 60.6% Black) who were a part of the Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS), a longitudinal study examining the development of negative mental health outcomes. History of child maltreatment was assessed via referrals prior to age 18 from the Allegheny County's Office of Children, Youth, and Families. Neuroimaging data and self-reported depressive symptoms were collected in adulthood (M age = 32.64, SD age = 3.62). Child maltreatment significantly predicted greater depressive symptoms. Child maltreatment and depressive symptoms were, however, not significantly associated with altered neural response to reward. Findings from the current study suggest directions for future work probing characteristics of adversity (e.g., chronicity, timing), as well as specific factors likely to moderate neural responses to reward (e.g., reward phase, magnitude of gains).


The objective of the paper is to examine the systemic legal changes in the area of public service introduced as a response to the economic crisis in the countries of the Western Balkans. Three different aspects of the reform are analysed: regulation of the legal status of a broad range of public sector employees, especially their salary levels; introduction of more flexible working arrangements in public administration and improving the efficiency in the recruitment and selection process. The author concludes that most of the countries have introduced modern legal frameworks in at least one of the analysed fields, which is an important step forward in the right direction. It, however, still remains to be seen how these new pieces of legislation will be implemented, especially bearing in mind a fairly large number of employees they cover. The paper especially raises attention to the case of blatant politicisation of the senior civil service in the Federation of BiH, which has been justified by the need to introduce more flexible working arrangements in the public administration. This example shows real difficulties in improving human resource management regulations and practices in the public administration at a time of economic crisis and strong external political pressures for partisan employment in the public sector. In this case, the crisis itself has proven to be an important reform obstacle, which should to be taken into account as an important risk in the process of planning future reform efforts during the times of economic and fiscal constraints.


Non-indigenous species that become invasive are one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide. In various freshwater systems in Europe, populations of native amphipods and fish are progressively displaced by highly adaptive non-indigenous species that can perform explosive range extensions. A total of 40 Ponto-Caspian round gobies Neogobius melanostomus from the Rhine River near Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, were examined for metazoan parasites and feeding ecology. Three metazoan parasite species were found: two Nematoda and one Acanthocephala. The two Nematoda, Raphidascaris acus and Paracuaria adunca, had a low prevalence of 2.5%. The Acanthocephala, Pomphorhynchus tereticollis, was the predominant parasite species, reaching a level of 90.0% prevalence in the larval stage, correlated with fish size. In addition, four invasive amphipod species, Corophium curvispinum (435 specimens), Dikerogammarus villosus (5,454), Echinogammarus trichiatus (2,695) and Orchestia cavimana (1,448) were trapped at the sampling site. Only D. villosus was infected with P. tereticollis at a prevalence of 0.04%. The invasive goby N. melanostomus mainly preys on these non-indigenous amphipods, and may have replaced native amphipods in the transmission of P. tereticollis into the vertebrate paratenic host. This study gives insight into a potential parasite-host system that consists mainly of invasive species, such as the Ponto-Caspian fish and amphipods in the Rhine. We discuss prospective distribution and migration pathways of non-indigenous vertebrate (round goby) and invertebrates (amphipods) under special consideration of parasite dispersal.


BACKGROUND
To our knowledge, no rigorously designed clinical trials have evaluated the relation between vitamin D and physician-diagnosed seasonal influenza.

OBJECTIVE
We investigated the effect of vitamin D supplements on the incidence of seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.

DESIGN
From December 2008 through March 2009, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing vitamin D(3) supplements (1200 IU/d) with placebo in schoolchildren. The primary outcome was the incidence of influenza A, diagnosed with influenza antigen testing with a nasopharyngeal swab specimen.

RESULTS
Influenza A occurred in 18 of 167 (10.8%) children in the vitamin D(3) group compared with 31 of 167 (18.6%) children in the placebo group [relative risk (RR), 0.58; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.99; P = 0.04]. The reduction in influenza A was more prominent in children who had not been taking other vitamin D supplements (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.79; P = 0.006) and who started nursery school after age 3 y (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.78; P = 0.005). In children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, asthma attacks as a secondary outcome occurred in 2 children receiving vitamin D(3) compared with 12 children receiving placebo (RR: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.73; P = 0.006).

CONCLUSION
This study suggests that vitamin D(3) supplementation during the winter may reduce the incidence of influenza A, especially in specific subgroups of schoolchildren. This trial was registered at https://center.umin.ac.jp as UMIN000001373.


A Planar Inverted-F Antenna for LTE2300 (2.3-2.4 GHz), WLAN (2.4-2.484 GHz), and LTE2500 (2.5-2.69 GHz) bands has been presented in this paper. The proposed structure has a dimension of 18 x 13 mm over the ground plane of size 100 x 50 mm which can easily be implanted in the small space available within the mobile device. The proposed structure is having an impedance bandwidth ranging from 2.16 GHz to 2.726 GHz covering all the desired frequency bands. The antenna has a resonating frequency at 2.395 GHz. For getting the impedance bandwidth we are taking -8 dB as the reference return loss. The VSWR, input impedance plot along with parametric study of some key parameters is presented. The radiation pattern and current density plots of the antenna at 2.4 GHz and 2.55 GHz are also presented. The peak realized gain of the proposed antenna varies from 4.17 dB to 4.84 dB in the desired operating band.


The short-term effects of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality in 30 European cities participating in the Air Pollution on Health: a European Approach (APHEA)-2 project were investigated. The association was examined using hierarchical models implemented in two stages. In the first stage, data from each city were analysed separately, whereas in the second stage, the city-specific air pollution estimates were regressed on city-specific covariates to obtain overall estimates and to explore sources of possible heterogeneity. A significant association of NO2 with total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality was found, with stronger effects on cause-specific mortality. There was evidence of confounding in respiratory mortality with black smoke and sulphur dioxide. The effect of NO2 on total and cardiovascular mortality was observed mainly in western and southern European cities, and was larger when smoking prevalence was lower and household gas consumption was higher. The effect of NO2 on respiratory mortality was higher in cities with a larger proportion of elderly persons in the population and higher levels of particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 10 μm. The results of this large study are consistent with an independent effect of nitrogen dioxide on mortality, but the role of nitrogen dioxide as a surrogate of other unmeasured pollutants cannot be completely ruled out.


Central and peripheral hemodynamic changes have been studied in 80 patients aged 18 to 67 years after planned gastro-intestinal and biliary surgery. In 40 of them clopheline (clonidine) was used in premedication. The use of clopheline in premedication led to stabilization of central hemodynamic parameters, made it possible to improve considerably microcirculation, avoid the unfavourable effects of psychic tension, induction to anesthesia, laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation. All the above permits the authors to recommend the use of clopheline in premedication.


Abstract Information on nitrogen fertilizer effects on crop–weed competitive interactions might aid in developing improved weed management programs. A controlled environment study was conducted to examine the effect of three N rates on the competitive ability of four weed species grown with wheat. The four weed species were chosen to represent species that varied in their growth responsiveness to nitrogen (N): Persian darnel (low), Russian thistle (low), redroot pigweed (high), and wild oat (high). Wheat and each weed species were grown in a replacement series design at N rates of 60, 120, and 240 mg N kg−1 soil. The competitive ability of the low N-responsive species, Persian darnel and Russian thistle, was not influenced by N rate, supporting our hypothesis that N rate would have little effect on the competitiveness of species responding minimally to N. Conversely, the competitiveness of the high N-responsive species redroot pigweed progressively improved as N rate increased. However, wild oat competitiveness was unaffected by N fertilizer rate. There is some evidence from this study to suggest that fertilizer management strategies that favor crops over weeds deserve greater attention when weed infestations consist of species known to be highly responsive to higher soil N levels. Information gained in this study will be used to advise farmers of the importance of strategic fertilizer management in terms of both weed management and crop yield. Nomenclature: Redroot pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus L. AMARE; wild oat, Avena fatua L. AVEFA; Persian darnel, Lolium persicum Boiss. & Hohen. ex Boiss. LOLPS; wild mustard, Sinapis arvensis L. SINAR; wheat, Triticum aestivum L. 'AC Barrie'.


zeta-Globin is the embryonic form of the alpha chain of hemoglobin. Transgenic mice generated with zeta-globin constructs containing the zeta-globin gene, 557 bp of 5' flanking sequence, and 2-kb of 3' flanking sequence linked to the beta-globin locus control region hypersensitive site 2 (HS2) expressed human zeta-globin only in embryonic yolk sac erythroid tissue, and not in definitive erythroid tissue in the fetal liver or in adult peripheral blood. To determine what sequences in the 5' flanking region of the zeta-globin gene might be important for developmental specificity, a series of 5' deletion constructs of the zeta-globin gene were made and used to generate transgenic mice. The 5' ends of these constructs were located 417, 207, and 128 bp 5' to the zeta-globin transcriptional start site, and HS2 was included to increase the level of erythroid-specific expression. In all lines of mice tested, human zeta-globin was expressed only in embryonic tissue, and not in fetal livers or in adult peripheral blood. Expression was independent of copy number and appeared to be dependent on the site of transgene insertion. These data suggest that the proximal 128 bp of the zeta-globin promoter is sufficient to properly regulate zeta-globin expression during development.


Phytophthora crown and root rot, caused by the oomycete pathogen Phytophthora capsici, is a devastating disease of squash and pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo). No currently available cultivars provide complete resistance to this disease. Three newly developed squash lines and four hybrids were evaluated in greenhouse and field experiments for their resistance to phytophthora crown and root rot as well as for their horticultural performance. The three newly developed lines ranked among the most resistant entries included in 2 years of field trials. In addition, in a separate greenhouse experiment, one of the lines was shown to display the least severe disease symptoms among a group of accessions previously reported to possess partial resistance to phytophthora crown and root. Furthermore, the resistance was observed to be robust to several isolates of P. capsici. However, the phytophthora-resistant lines had reduced yield relative to standard squash cultivars. These lines are useful for continued breeding efforts toward a phytophthora crown and root rot-resistant cultivar.


In the age of participatory and convergence paradigms, video game music has its own networked culture with cybercommunities that discuss, share, and create content, thus opening up a creative space for artistic activities in a constant digital flow. Music composition and production is one of these activities, with files made available on several platforms such as SoundCloud and YouTube, specifically in the format of modification files (or mods). Building on research for a master's dissertation, this article examines a new model of online artistic production in the form of the circulation of musical mods that were composed and shared on the Nexus Mods platform for the The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim video games. These mods add new musical material that is similar to the existing soundtrack of both titles, but the majority of the files in this platform's audio category are related only to sounds, not to musical composition. By using titles such as "better sounds" or "immersive sounds" to describe their additions, many modders aim to give other gamers a more immersive experience in the game(s). In this case, immersive relates not only to the musical style and sound quality of the aural effects but also a plausible construction of the reality in which the gamers live, play, and negotiate meaning relating to their own social context. Intersecting "playbour," fandom, aural immersion, and audiovisual literacy, these audio modders work on adding new layers to the soundscapes and environments of the virtual worlds presented in the two games. The modders regard immersion as a key aspect of design and playability, and they contribute audio material to enable their social capital and visibility on online platforms.


Based on the traditional time series methods, this paper researched a time series-exponential smoothing model that is built by SPSS statistical analysis software. In the application of the model, the original data of water consumption were in processed by a particular smoothing method first.Secondly, the processed data were used to build a time series-exponential smoothing model. On error test, we found that this forecasting model has advantages of better effect, high precision and minor error on urban water demand forecasing.


The paper presents the elasticity evaluation of some advanced symmetric composite laminates based on epoxy resin reinforced alternatively with HM carbon, HS carbon and kevlar49 fibres. The laminates taken into account into this evaluation have following plies sequences: [0/30/-30/60]S, [0/45/90]2S, [90/452/0]S and are subjected to off-axis loading systems. The elastic constants as well as the tensile-shear interaction have been determined. In order to obtain equal stiffness in all loading systems, a composite laminate have to present balanced angle plies.


This paper aims to develop the generalized dynamical model of multiple photovoltaic (PV) units connected to the grid along with the dynamic interaction analysis among different PV units. The dynamical models of multiple PV units are developed by considering three different configurations through which these PV units are connected to the grid. These configurations include: (a) the direct connection of multiple PV units to the grid; (b) the connection of multiple PV units to the grid through a point of common coupling (PCC); and (c) the connection of PV units without a PCC. The proposed modeling framework provides meaningful insights for analyzing dynamic interaction analysis where these interactions from other PV units are expressed in terms of voltages and line impedances rather than the dynamics of currents. The dynamic interactions among different PV units for all these configurations are analyzed using both analytical and simulation studies. Simulations are carried out on an IEEE 15-bus test system and dynamic interactions are analyzed from the total harmonic distortions (THDs) in the current responses of different PV units. Both analytical and simulation studies clearly indicate that the effects of dynamic interactions are prominent with the increase in PV units.


To understand the distribution characteristics of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in agricultural soils in typical regions of Guangdong Province, surface soil (0-20 cm) samples were collected, and the concentrations of 6 PAEs were determined by gas chromatography. The results showed that the total concentration of the PAEs (sigma PAEs) ranged from not detected to 25.99 mg x kg(-1), and was < or = 1.00 mg x kg(-1) in 92.8% of the samples. The sigma PAEs differed with land use types and regions, and decreased in the sequences of paddy soil > banana soil > vegetable soil > sugarcane soil > orchard soil, and Dongguan > Shantou > Shunde > Zhanjiang > Zhongshan > Zhuhai > Huizhou. Among the test PAEs, DEHP had the highest detection rate (85.1%), DnBP had the highest concentration (not detected to 17.51 mg x kg(-1)). Comparing with the corresponding control limits of soil PAEs in USA, all test PAEs except DnOP were exceeded the limits to some extent, and DnBP, DMP and DEP exceeded seriously, indicating that the agricultural soils in the typical regions of Guangdong Province were contaminated by PAEs.


An integral formula for the solutions of Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov
(KZ) equation with values in an arbitrary irreducible representation of the
symmetric group SN is presented for integer values of the parameter. The corresponding
integrals can be computed effectively as certain iterated residues
determined by a given Young diagram and give polynomials with integer coefficients.
The derivation is based on Schur-Weyl duality and the results of
Matsuo on the original SU(n) KZ equation. The duality between the spaces
of solutions with parameters m and −m is discussed in relation with the intersection
pairing in the corresponding homology groups.


Interaction of the pore-forming protein (porin) from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis with S- and R-forms of the endogenous lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was studied at various ionic strengths (20-600 mM NaCl), concentrations of divalent cations (5-100 mM CaCl2, MgCl2), and pH values from 3.0 to 9.0. The interaction of the R-LPS with porin has been shown in all experimental conditions to be in consensus with the model suggesting binding at independent sites of two types. S-LPS binds to interacting sites of relatively high affinity and to independent sites of low affinity at all pH values examined and at low NaCl concentration. The cooperative interaction of the S-LPS and porin is not observed at high ionic strength and in divalent cation-free medium. The number of binding sites of porin and association constants (Ka) for both LPS forms decrease significantly on increasing the solution ionic strength. The Ka values for the R- and S-LPS change oppositely on changing the pH: the Ka value for the R-LPS is maximal (Ka = 6.7 x 10(5) M-1), but that for S-LPS is minimal (Ka = 0.4 x 10(5) M(-1) at pH 5.0-5.5. The number of high-affinity and low-affinity binding sites for both LPS forms is maximal at pH 5.0-5.5. In this case, the numbers of high- and low-affinity sites for R-LPS are 3 and 10, respectively, and those for the S-LPS are 7 and 20, respectively. These data suggest an important role of electrostatic interactions on binding of LPS to porin. The contribution of conformational changes of the ligand and protein and hydrophobic interactions are discussed.


This presented work gives an overview on the FP7 project — SAIL, that aims at designing architectures for the Future Networks. The conceptual developments in the work package - Open Connectivity Services (OConS) is the focus of this paper. OConS is proposing an open and flexible architecture framework for handling the connectivities in current and future networks. As exemplary studies, we applied OConS architecture framework to two scenarios: (1) the Mult-P transmission of 3GPP LTE connected with WLAN; (2) the extensions of ICN (Information Centric Networks) supporting Multi-P. They show the flexibility and the openness of OConS, and the benefits expected will be e.g. higher data rates, higher resource utilization and more reliable connectivity.


Ascorhombispora is a new genus characterised by superficial, dark brown to black perithecial ascomata; bitunicate, swollen saccate asci; and dark brown, 3-septate trapezoid ascospores with a wide septum band. The 28S rDNA and 18S rDNA regions of this fungus were amplified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted in order to infer systematic placement of this fungus. Results show that Ascorhombispora aquatica nests within Pleosporales (Dothidiomycetes, Ascomycota), which corroborate with the morphological prediction.


In this article I examine public engagement with matters of concern by affects drawing on anethnographic case study on the Center for Political Beauty's antagonistic artwork and practices ofpolitical resistance against human rights violations. Focusing particularly on the affective attachmentsbetween human and non-human elements, as recent work in Science and Technology Studies andActor-Network Theory has emphasized, I identify and discuss specific productivities and problematicsof these complex entanglements. My analysis indicates that these co-constitutive interactions betweenheterogeneous elements, such as bodies, specific artifacts, technology, symbols or architectures, play adecisive although highly ambivalent role in the actual enactment of issues and publics. In times ofincreasing antagonistic endeavors of various actors across a broad political spectrum this focus onaffective attachments might provide a useful just as critical insight into concrete "doings" of politicalresistance and its future capacities in current social controversies.


Objectives: To report three cases of severely symptomatic deep infiltrating endometriosis managed by transvaginal sonography (TVS) and by a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNGIUS). Design: CASE 1: A 34 years-old woman was admitted for severe dysmenorrhea and dyspareunia, menorrhagia and severe anemia. The patient was previously unsuccessfully treated with tranexamic acid, progestins, danazol, GnRH analogues and endometrial resection. TVS showed an enlarged uterus, with inhomogeneous and thickened posterior myometrium, with focal honeycomb lesions highly and irregularly vascularized, typical for deep adenomyosis. A LNG-IUS was inserted. At 48 months follow-up, the patient was free of symptoms. CASE 2: A 38-year-old woman presented with cyclic worsening dysmenorrhea, deep dyspareunia and dyschezia during the last year. TVS showed normal uterus and ovaries, and on the left, an inhomogeneous hypoechoic lesion which infiltrate the antimesenteric sigmoid wall, painful at push-and-pull maneuvers, highly suspicious for sigmoid endometriosis. Barium enema confirmed the TVS image. By the imaging diagnosis of endometriosis, a LNG-IUS was placed. At 21 months follow-up, the patients referred dramatically improvement of symptoms with pain only evoked by deep pelvic exam. CASE 3: A 41 years-old woman was referred with a recent history of severe dysmenorrhea and dysuria. TVS showed an inhomogeneous polypoid 3 cm lesion involving the vesical base and vesicouterine septum. Cystoscopy confirmed a polypoid extramucosal lesion close to uretero-vesical junction. A LNG-IUS was inserted. At 8 months follow-up, the patient persisted free of symptoms. Conclusion: Accurate diagnosis by TVS of deep infiltrating endometriosis may permit a conservative medical treatment based on LNG-IUS.


The basket for a spent fuel shipping cask is subjected to compressive stresses that may cause global instability of the basket assemblies or local buckling of the individual members. Adopting the common buckling design practice in which the stability capacity of the entire structure is based on the performance of the individual members of the assemblies, the typical spent fuel basket, which is composed of plates and tubular structural members, can be idealized as an assemblage of columns, beam-columns and plates. This report presents the flexural buckling formulas for five load cases that are common in the basket buckling analysis: column under axial loads, column under axial and bending loads, plate under uniaxial loads, plate under biaxial loadings, and plate under biaxial loads and lateral pressure. The acceptance criteria from the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code are used to determine the adequacy of the basket components. Special acceptance criteria are proposed to address the unique material characteristics of austenitic stainless steel, a material which is frequently used in the basket assemblies.


A need remains to create access to international educational opportunities for underrepresented populations. This need is due to lack of financial resources, fear of the unknown, and time away from home. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), such as, Saint Augustine's University are working to restore the tradition of global scholarship by revitalizing the study abroad program to ensure its students truly embody the motto of "Transform, Excel, Lead". In order to do this, the University is looking to increase the number of students exposed to and participating in study abroad programs. With an increasing presence of international students from Latin America and the Caribbean, the University is pushing to embrace diversity on campus as well as develop global perspectives among U.S students. The purpose of this capstone exercise is the presentation of a short-term, faculty-led, service-learning program to Haiti hosted by the Office of International Programs at Saint Augustine's University. This program will be embedded in a special section of the pre-existing 17-week first-year experience course focusing on career development with a global perspective. Participants will engage in research to practice discussions as they prepare to compete for jobs and professional opportunities in a global economy. The service-learning component will focus on the study of the unique attributes of French/Haitian Creole language and culture. During the spring break, students will travel to Port-Au-Prince and Les Cayes, Haiti. This intervention aims to remove barriers related to duration, fear of the unknown, and with a unique budget model partly funded by the Marlene M. Johnson Innovation Challenge grant issued by NAFSA and the 100K Strong in the Americas, it addressed the need for financial resources. This capstone paper presents a framework for implementation and growth of study abroad programming at Saint Augustine's University through the Office of International Programs. HBCUs Abroad: Design and Delivery of the First-Year Haiti Experience 6


Consumer demand, retail distribution and the export trade are important aspects of the New Zealand Commercial Fishery which are outside the specific boundaries of this enquiry. It is a study in government intervention, price negotiation and supply. In analysing these three facets of the industry it was impossible to ignore the other three so they have been treated incidentally where a discussion of them was necessary to understand the central theme. There is scope for additional research into each of the above topics, perhaps more especially into administrative decision making when non economic objectives are involved and also into the optimum scale of plant given the cost conditions that apply to the industry. However, it is hoped that this essay goes part of the way towards meeting the need for fundamental economic research into an industry which periodically attracts the attention of the public, policy makers and Government. Parliament has set up three committees in the past twenty-six years to examine the industry.


This article examines the current state of men's gender-conscious organising in
Finland, and the relation of such organising to gender, gender equality and feminism.
Special comment is made on links between men's gender-conscious organising and
recent critical academic studies on men and masculinities. It specifically addresses
whether it can be said that there is a "men's movement" in Finland.


We combined dual-photon absorptiometry, iliac crest histomorphometry, and backscattered electrons analysis to characterize bone mineralization effects of a spaceflight on young monkeys. Two 4- to 5-kg male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were flown during a 11.5-day spaceflight that took place onboard Cosmos 2229 biosatellite (Bion 10). Vivarium (n = 4) and Earth-based chair (n = 4) control situations were studied for comparison. Flight monkeys exhibited lower values of iliac cancellous bone volume, associated with nonsignificantly thinner trabeculae. Bone mineralization rate and the proportion of trabecular bone surface involved in mineralization processes were found markedly reduced after spaceflight. Analysis of embedded sections by backscattered electrons imaging showed a nonsignificant shift to lower mineralization in the flight biopsies vs. postflight mock-up biopsies. These results were in accordance with dual-photon absorptiometry evaluations showing a tendency for decreased bone mineral content during flight and recovery thereafter. The ground simulation experiment performed on the same monkeys more than 1 mo after landing suggests that the observed effects were specifically related to spaceflight and that the animals had only partially recovered. Additional animals on future flights will be required to confirm these findings.


A hot-water and air-conditioning (HWAC) combined ground sourse heat pump(GSHP) system with horizontal ground heat exchanger self-designed and actualized was presented in this paper. The heat transfer performance for the heat exchanger of two different pipe arrangements, three layers and four layers, respectively, was compared. It showed that the heat exchange quantity per pipe length for the pipe arrangement of three layers and four layers are 18.0 W/m and 15.0 W/m. The coefficient of performance (COP) of unit and system could remain 4.8 and 4.2 as GSHP system for heating water, and the COP of heating and cooling combination are up to 8.5 and 7.5, respectively. The power consumption of hot-water in a whole year is 9.0 kwh/t. The economy and feasibility analysis on vertical and horizontal ground heat exchanger were made, which showed that the investment cost per heat exchange quantity of horizontal ground heat exchanger is 51.4% lower than that of the vertical ground heat exchanger, but the occupied area of the former is 7 times larger than the latter's.


Abstract To describe the mobile chest X-ray manifestations of deceased patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this retrospective study, we analyzed in patients with COVID-19 from Tongji Hospital (Wuhan, China), who had been died between February 18 and March 25, 2020. Two radiologists analyzed the radiologic characteristics of mobile chest X-ray, and analyzed the serial X-ray changes. Fifty-four deceased patients with COVID-19 were included in the study. We found that 50 (93%) patients with lesions occurred in the bilateral lung, 4 (7%) patients occurred in the right lung, 54 (100%) patients were multifocal involvement. The number of lung fields involved was 42 (78%) patients in 6 fields, 3 (6%) patients in 5 lung fields, 4 (7%) patients in 4 lung fields, and 5 (9%) patients in 3 lung fields. Fifty-three (98%) patients had patchy opacities, 3 (6%) patients had round or oval solid nodules, 9 (17%) patients had fibrous stripes, 13 (24%) patients had pleural effusion, 8 (15%) patients had pleural thickening, 6 (11%) patients had pneumothorax, 3 (6%) patients had subcutaneous emphysema. Among the 24 patients who had serial mobile chest X-rays, 16 (67%) patients had the progression of the lesions, 8 (33%) patients had no significant change of the lesions, and there was no case of reduction of the lesions. The mobile chest X-ray manifestations of deceased patients with COVID-19 were mostly bilateral lung, multifocal involvement, and extensive lung field, and pleural effusion, pleural thickening, and pneumothorax probably could be observed. The serial mobile chest X-ray showed that the chest lesions were progressive with a high probability.


This paper examines the impact of a 'no deal' or 'hard' Brexit on the recognition of insolvency proceedings commenced in the UK by the remaining Member States of the European Union ('EU') post-Brexit. The paper considers the framework currently implemented by the Recast European Insolvency Regulation and the possible approaches when it will cease to apply to proceedings commenced post-Brexit. The paper identifies that there will be no overarching framework in the event that 'no deal' is reached between the UK and EU for post-Brexit arrangements, resulting in reliance on individual Member States' domestic laws to determine recognition of insolvency proceedings commenced in the UK. The paper sets out the contrasting approaches of five of the UK's key trading partners in the EU: France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. The paper concludes that UK insolvency proceedings will not be recognised in a consistent manner in these Member States, which will be detrimental to stakeholders in, and ultimately the economies of, the UK and these Member States. In doing so, the paper underlines the importance of an agreement being reached between the UK and the EU on the recognition of cross-border insolvency proceedings for the benefit of all parties.


Abstract Nowadays, relatively high attention of public policies, also from the EU point of view, is paid to creative territories and the promotion of the creative class. However, very few published studies have been conducted about the mobility and behaviour of the creative class in the spatial-development context. To contribute to the deeper research of this issue the paper analyses the results of published empirical studies on the behaviour and mobility of the creative class in various types of territories and compares them with the behaviour and location of the creative class in the Slovak Republic. Subsequently, reflecting the key findings it proposes the public policy recommendations that should contribute to attracting and retaining the creative class as an integral driving force of regional or local development. In the empirical studies, the compared elements were the main research questions / hypotheses and results, the definition of the creative class, used methods, the factors of creative-class migration, and the policy recommendations, if they were proposed. Special attention was devoted to the issues of creative-class behaviour and localisation factors in the Slovak Republic based on the previous research findings as well as our own research results. All studies confirm that the mobility of the creative class is only a little bit higher than that of non-creatives. Among the key factors playing a dominant role in the selection of the actual place of residence are personal trajectories, followed by good employment opportunities. That is why the strategies of public policy should aim at retaining the creative class, fostering the creative and diverse climate by developing new higher-education institutions, new creative-subject incubators, supporting networks and partnerships; then the economic and social benefits of the creative class for the territories may be expected.


The study of neurite guidance in vitro relies on the ability to reproduce the distribution of attractive and repulsive guidance molecules normally expressed in vivo. The identification of subtle variations in the neurite response to changes in the spatial distribution of extracellular molecules can be achieved by monitoring the behavior of cells on protein gradients. To do this, automated high-content screening assays are needed to quantify the morphological changes resulting from growth on gradients of guidance molecules. Here, we present the use of laser-assisted protein adsorption by photobleaching (LAPAP) to allow the fabrication of large-scale substrate-bound laminin-1 gradients to study neurite extension. We produced thousands of gradients of different slopes and analyzed the variations in neurite attraction of neuron-like cells (RGC-5). An image analysis algorithm processed bright field microscopy images, detecting each cell and quantifying the soma centroid and the initiation, terminal and turning angles of the longest neurite.


Long term pavement performance studies and continuous evaluations can help inform better rehabilitation strategies, thus suggesting more innovative rehabilitation designs. This research sought to answer questions on which overlay type would perform better overtime in wet-freeze regions, and what are the major factors influencing their performances. This paper addressed the performance of asphalt concrete over PCC pavements on four LTPP data sites in the selected wetfreeze climate locations of the US and Canada. It has been found that the performance of PCC pavements is subjected to different rehabilitation strategies in the GPS-7 section of the LTPP program. Initially, both convolutional and the modified asphalt overlay strategies were applied for the asphalt concrete pavements rehabilitations for both GPS-7B and C. Then, the performance comparisons are conducted. Firstly, the data obtained were analysed to evaluate the reduction in distresses and roughness index (IRI) achieved after these rehabilitation strategies were applied. Meanwhile, trend analyses were carried out to note the improvements overtime. It was found that the surface distresses such as longitudinal and transverse cracks took longer periods to occur on the modified overlays, and those defects have lower severity compared with the conventional asphalt overlays. What's more, both types of overlay treatments resulted in similar levels of IRI after few successive years of service. However, the rate of roughness changing seemed better if the modified asphalt overlay was conducted on the milled surfaced and with thickness asphalt overlays. Finally, the scenarios generated for LCCA proved that modified asphalt overlays are more suggested than conventional asphalt overlay considering the overall pavement maintenance cost.


Recent studies have linked expression of lectin-like ox-LDL receptor 1 (OLR1) to tumorigenesis. We analyzed microarray data from Olr1 knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice for genes involved in cellular transformation and evaluated effects of OLR1 over-expression in normal mammary epithelial cells (MCF10A) and breast cancer cells (HCC1143) in terms of gene expression, migration, adhesion and transendothelial migration. Twenty-six out of 238 genes were inhibited in tissues of OLR1 KO mice; the vast majority of OLR1 sensitive genes contained NF-κB binding sites in their promoters. Further studies revealed broad inhibition of NF-kB target genes outside of the transformation-associated gene pool, with enrichment themes of defense response, immune response, apoptosis, proliferation, and wound healing. Transcriptome of Olr1 KO mice also revealed inhibition of de novo lipogenesis, rate-limiting enzymes fatty acid synthase (Fasn), stearoyl-CoA desaturase (Scd1) and ELOVL family member 6 (Elovl6), as well as lipolytic phospholipase A2 group IVB (Pla2g4b). In studies comparing MCF10A and HCC1143, the latter displayed 60% higher OLR1 expression. Forced over-expression of OLR1 resulted in upregulation of NF-κB (p65) and its target pro-oncogenes involved in inhibition of apoptosis (BCL2, BCL2A1, TNFAIP3) and regulation of cell cycle (CCND2) in both cell lines. Basal expression of FASN, SCD1 and PLA2G4B, as well as lipogenesis transcription factors PPARA, SREBF2 and CREM, was higher in HCC1143 cells. Over-expression of OLR1 in HCC1143 cells also enhanced cell migration, without affecting their adherence to TNFα-activated endothelium or transendothelial migration. On the other hand, OLR1 neutralizing antibody inhibited both adhesion and transmigration of untreated HCC1143 cells. We conclude that OLR1 may act as an oncogene by activation of NF-kB target genes responsible for proliferation, migration and inhibition of apoptosis and de novo lipogenesis genes.


─Abstract ─ This paper investigates the effects of stock market wealth on consumer spending. Basic macroeconometric models estimate that a Saudi Riyal's increase in stock market wealth boosts consumer spending by 7-9 Halals per year. With the significant 2004 and 2005 rise in stock prices in Saudi financial market, the nature and importance of this wealth effect have been much debated. After reviewing previous works, we find new evidence from the Direct Survey of Income & Consumption(DSOIC). The survey results are mostly consistent with lifecycle saving and a modest wealth effect. Some stockholders reported substantial effect of stock prices on their saving and spending.


Many species of Dipterocarpaceae and other plant families reproduce synchronously at irregular, multi‐year intervals in Southeast Asian forests. These community‐wide general flowering events are thought to facilitate seed survival through satiation of generalist seed predators. During a general flowering event, closely related Shorea species (Dipterocarpaceae) stagger their flowering times by several weeks, which may minimize cross pollination and interspecific competition for pollinators. Generalist, pre‐dispersal seed predators might also track flowering hosts and influence predator satiation. We addressed the question of whether pre‐dispersal seed predation differed between early and late flowering Shorea species by monitoring flowering, fruiting and seed predation intensity over two general flowering events at the Pasoh Research Forest, Malaysia. Pre‐dispersal insect seed predators killed up to 63 percent of developing seeds, with Nanophyes shoreae, a weevil that feeds on immature seeds being the most important predator for all Shorea species. This weevil caused significantly greater pre‐dispersal seed predation in earlier flowering species. Long larval development time precluded oviposition by adults that emerged from the earliest flowering Shorea on the final flowering Shorea. In contrast, larvae of weevils that feed on mature seeds before seed dispersal (Alcidodes spp.), appeared in seeds of all Shorea species almost simultaneously. We conclude that general flowering events have the potential to satiate post‐dispersal seed predators and pre‐dispersal seed predators of mature fruit, but are less effective at satiating pre‐dispersal predators of immature fruit attacking early flowering species.


Spreadsheets are widely used by end users, and studies have shown that most end-user spreadsheets contain non-trivial errors. To improve end users productivity, recent research proposes the use of a model-driven engineering approach to spreadsheets. In this paper we conduct the first systematic empirical study to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of this approach. A set of spreadsheet end users worked with two different model-based spreadsheets, and we present and analyze the results achieved.


This study purpose was seen what there were effect of using context-based learning videos on global warming material on the problem solving students abilities of class XI at MAN 2 Pesisir Selatan. This research is a quasi-experimental research, posttest-only control design. The study population was all class XI IPA MAN 2 Pesisir Selatan who are registered in 2021/2022 school year. Sampling was conducted using cluster random sampling technique, selected class XI IPA 1 and XI IPA 3 as sampling. The data of this research is score of students' ability of problem solving. The research instrument was a written test in consist of 7 essay questions. Data analysis was carried out using the Normality Test, Homogeneity Test and U-test. The normality test, it was found that the experimental class was normally distributed while the control class was not normally distributed. The homogeneity test of the two sample classes shows that the two sample classes do not have a homogeneous variance.  The results showed that the average problem-solving ability of the group for experimental was greater than the group for control. Using the U test (Man Withney) with a level of significance was 5%, the score of ZcountZtable is obtained. The results of the various problem solving abilities of each student could be identified. The average score of problem solving abilities in the experimental class was 90.48 while for the experimental class it was 76.06. This shows that the students' problem-solving abilities for the experimental class are higher than those for the control class. It can be concluded that there is an effect of using context-based learning videos on global warming material on the abilitiy of problem-solving in class XI students of MAN 2 Pesisir Selatan.


Abstract In this study, phenolic compounds from Crithmum maritimum L. n-butanol soluble fraction were quantified and identified spectrophotometrically and by using HPLC-DAD technics. They equally investigated for their antioxidant potential utilizing six in vitro assays: DPPH•, ABTS•+, O2•−, Bleaching of β-carotene in linoleic acid, CUPRAC and Ferric reducing power. High amounts of total phenolics and flavonoids were recorded: 161.57± 0.479 μg GAeq.mg−1 and 31.56± 0.291 μg Qeq.mg−1 respectively. Nine compounds among them hydroxicinnamic acid and hydroxybenzoic acid derivatives, coumarins and flavonoids were identified. Chlorogenic acid known for their various pharmacological properties was detected as major compound of the extract. Rutin, vanillin, trans-2-hydroxycinnamic acid, ellagic acid, ferrulic acid, 6,7 dihydroxy coumarin, methyl 1,4 benzoquinone and trans-cinnamic acid were also detected. The extract was found to exhibit strong antioxidant capacities in all systems. Based on these results, it is right to conclude the n-butanol extract is promising source of natural antioxidants.


The economics of information have been established by now as an integral part of economic analysis. However, surprisingly little has been written on the implications of search (and in particular, job search) for the estimation of the wage function and its ramifications in such cases as the estimation of the determinants of labor force participation, age-earning profiles, rates of return and rates of depreciation of human capital, degree of discrimination, etc. Given a wage offer distribution, the parameters of the observed wage distribution depend on the intensity of search. The lower a personâ€TMs wage demands the greater the chance of his finding an acceptable job, but the lower the wage he expects to receive and the wider the dispersion of acceptable wages around their mean. On the other hand, the job seeker may opt for a more ambitious search strategy, raising his minimum wage demand and consequently increasing the risk of remaining unemployed, but also increasing the expected wage and decreasing the dispersion of available offers. Models of wage offer distribution have traditionally been based on empirical observation of observed wage distribution. This approach may involve certain biases when applied to secondary labor groups â€" married women, teenagers and the aged. This paper attempts to point out some of these biases and suggests a method for their correction.


With the dramatic increase in the number of new chemical entities (NCEs) arising from combinatorial chemistry and modern high-throughput bioassays, novel bioanalytical techniques are required for the rapid determination of the metabolic stability and metabolites of these NCEs. Knowledge of the metabolic site(s) of the NCEs in early drug discovery is essential for selecting compounds with favorable pharmacokinetic credentials and aiding medicinal chemists in modifying metabolic ''soft spots''. In development, elucidation of biotransformation pathways of a drug candidate by identifying its circulatory and excretory metabolites is vitally important to understand its physiological effects. Mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have played an invaluable role in the structural characterization and quantification of drug metabolites. Indeed, liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with atmospheric pressure ionization (API) MS has now become the most powerful tool for the rapid detection, structure elucidation, and quantification of drug-derived material within various biological fluids. Often, however, MS alone is insufficient to identify the exact position of oxidation, to differentiate isomers, or to provide the precise structure of unusual and/or unstable metabolites. In addition, an excess of endogenous material in biological samples often suppress the ionization of drug-related material complicating metabolite identification by MS. In these cases, multiple analytical and wet chemistry techniques, such as LC–NMR, enzymatic hydrolysis, chemical derivatization, and hydrogen/deuterium-exchange (H/D-exchange) combined with MS are used to characterize the novel and isomeric metabolites of drug candidates. This review describes sample preparation and introduction strategies to minimize ion suppression by biological matrices for metabolite identification studies, the application of various LC–tandem MS (LC–MS/MS) techniques for the rapid quantification and identification of drug metabolites, and future trends in this field. # 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 26:340–369, 2007


The dose-duration effect of sodium cromoglycate given by metered dose aerosol was studied in nine patients with exercise-induced asthma. Exercise tests were carried out at 15, 135 and 255 min after placebo, sodium cromoglycate 2 mg, 10 mg and 20 mg. The protective effect and the duration of action were dose-related. The new metered dose aerosol delivering 5 mg of sodium cromoglycate per actuation allows greater flexibility in adjusting the dosage and frequency of administration for individual patients.


The influence of diethylstilbestrol (DES) on the SCE frequency was studied in various cell systems (V79, HTC, DON, WI-38, human lymphocytes) differing in their ability to metabolize the two promutagens benzo(a)pyrene and cyclophosphamide as well as after incubation with exogenous metabolic systems (S9 mix and peroxidase/H2O2) and in vivo on cells from the bone marrow of the Chinese hamster. DES concentrations from 10~6 to 1(T4 M were tested. Slight SCE induction was observed only at the highest concentration (10~4M)of DES in human lymphocytes treated with DES for the entire culture period of 72 h and in DON cells. No increase of the SCE rate was determined in the other cell lines and in vivo. The combination with S9 mix or peroxidase/H2O2 also had no influ ence on the SCE frequency. These findings cast doubt on the assumption that DES is metabolized to a DNA-damaging compound subsequently lead ing to SCE induction. The positive findings in the SCE test are more likely to be products of an indirect and rather unspecific effect.


Power grid reconfiguration requires appropriate intelligent optimization strategy, particularly during power system restoration. The complexity increases to develop strategy for implementing protection scheme taking into consideration the grid reconfiguration. It therefore needs innovative approach to help future power engineers to learn about protection relays in the ever growing complex power grid. In the graduate course "power system protection" at Syracuse University the students study implementation of modern microprocessor based protection relays in accordance to the surrounding system reconfiguration. Students run simulations under different fault conditions to visualize the impact of nature and location of the fault on the external measurements. Using an example of a single phase to ground fault in a transmission line between the two subsystems, students analyze, through simulations, the line impedance detected by the distance relay and develop the requirements for the distance relay parameter settings. In the next step the students study possible reconfiguration scenarios and analyze necessary distance relay parameter adjustments. We note how students perform numerical analysis and develop the requirements for the necessary adaptive changes in the relay algorithm to meet the application specifications, for example, in Zone 1 and Zone 2 transmission line protection when a loss of neutral grounding on one terminal of the transmission line occurs. Through these exercise, students get opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering in performing complex analysis for accurate data interpretation collected with a level of measurement uncertainty. In this article we will present some students works and discuss the effects of the strides we have made to improve the pedagogical aspect of teaching in response to changes in the power industry.


Sometimes, there is more truth in fiction than in publicly available accounts. This story by Warren B. Powell, a leading researcher of real-time routing and scheduling models and frequent consultant to the motor carrier industry, and Donald E. Mayoras, a senior transportation executive and president of a trucking company, provides a view into the discussions many carriers undertake prior to adopting an optimization model. The account is too long to appear as a single article and instead is being published in serial form. This is the seventh installment.


This study reports a quantitative method based on SPE, following protein precipitation and UPLCMS/MS. The method has been verified and its performance evaluated using authentic samples. Data were compared to results obtained with a GC-MS/MS method. Cannabinoids should be monitored in both forensic and roadside drug testing laboratories, thus requiring an accurate, reliable, and robust method to quantify these compounds in biological samples. The developed approach meets these requirements, and demonstrates excellent correlation with an alternative GC-MS/MS method for the analysis of cannabinoids in human whole blood samples. The method offers a number of noteworthy benefits over the GC-MS/MS approach including the following: utilization of UPLC rather than GC separation means that the lengthy post-extraction derivatization, used by the latter technique, can be eliminated with the analytical run time reduced from 20 minutes to 6.5 minutes, a three-fold reduction. The combination of these factors allows for significantly higher sample throughput. Furthermore, the superior sensitivity of the Xevo TQ-S permits detection of the required low levels of cannabinoids even with much smaller blood sample volumes, for example 0.2 mL compared with 1 mL required for other reported methods, even without the need of a post-extraction concentration step. This can be particularly advantageous as the volumes of whole blood available for testing can be small and must be sufficient for testing a number of drug classes. Benefits Reduced sample volume ■ Elimination of derivatization step prior to analysis ■ Shorter analytical run times ■ Improved sample throughput ■


A so far unknown low temperature polymorph (form II crystallized at 350 °C) of the common food preservative sodium benzoate (NaBz; E 211) could be crystallized by annealing (7 days) of the poorly crystalline technical material. Its crystal structure was solved by indexing a tiny single crystal by electron diffraction followed by structure solution and refinement applying powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). The new polymorph shows many structural similarities to form I (crystallized at 420 °C). Both form I and II are the result of a microphase separation: the structures consist of pseudo-hexagonal packings of rod-shaped micelles where the core consists of sodium cations being coordinated by the carboxylic groups, while the phenyl moieties of benzoate point outwards rendering the micelle surface hydrophobic. The structures differ by the degree of elliptical distortion of the rods which is more pronounced for the new form II due to incorporation of an additional Na-benzoate moiety into the circumference of the rods.


Background Campylobacter jejuni is the major cause of human bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, and in a minority of cases, post-infectious complications may occur. ST-22 complex (usually Penner serotype 19) strains have been overrepresented among patients with postinfectious complications of campylobacteriosis. We here present a characterization of a collection of 27 Finnish C. jejuni strains of ST-22 complex, from humans (22 strains) and animal sources (five strains), with the aim of contributing to our knowledge of the pathogenesis of C. jejuni infections. Methodology/Principal Findings All strains were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) genotyping, lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS) locus class, Y-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) activity, in vitro biofilm formation ability, invasion and adhesion in HeLa cells and induction of IL-8 production. ST-22 complex contained five STs (ST-22; ST-1947; ST-1966; ST-3892; ST-3996) which were homogeneous in having sialylated LOS class A1 but on the other hand were distinguished into two major lineages according to the major STs (ST-22 and ST-1947) by different PFGE genotypes and certain other characteristics. All ST-22 strains had similar SmaI PFGE profiles, were GGT positive, and formed biofilms, except one strain, while ST-1947 strains were all GGT negative, did not form biofilm, had significantly higher motility than ST-22 (p<0.05) and had their SmaI PFGE profile. Invasion and adhesion as well as induction of IL-8 production on HeLa cells were strain-dependent characteristics. Conclusions/Significance ST-22 complex strains, reveal potential for molecular mimicry in host interactions upon infection as they all express sialylated LOS class A1. The two major STs, ST-22 and ST-1947 formed two homogeneous lineages, which differed from each other both phenotypically and genetically, suggesting that the strains may have evolved separately, perhaps by interacting with different spectra of hosts. Further studies are needed in order to understand if these two lineages are associated with different disease outcomes.


It is widely believed that multiwavelength afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) originate from relativistic blast waves. We here show that in such blast waves, a significant fraction of the energy of shock-accelerated protons would be lost due to pion production by interactions with afterglow photons. This could lead to long-term production of 1016–1018 eV neutrinos and sub-TeV γ-rays that accompany usual afterglows, provided that the protons are accelerated to 1019 eV in the blast waves.


developed and validated a pionner AI algorithm for the automatic detection of pleomorphic lesions in the GI tract during DAE. Multicentric studies are required for the further development and clinical validation of the AI role in DAE. Neverthless, the development of these tools may enhance the diagnostic yield of DAE.


Biological disease models can be difficult and costly to develop and use on a routine basis. Particularly, in vivo lung infection models performed to study lung pathologies use to be laborious, demand a great time and commonly are associated with ethical issues. When infections in experimental animals are used, they need to be refined, defined, and validated for their intended purpose. Therefore, alternative and easy to handle models of experimental infections are still needed to test the virulence of bacterial lung pathogens. Because non-mammalian models have less ethical and cost constraints as a subjects for experimentation, in some cases would be appropriated to include these models as valuable tools to explore host–pathogen interactions. Numerous scientific data have been argued to the more extensive use of several kinds of alternative models, such as, the vertebrate zebrafish (Danio rerio), and non-vertebrate insects and nematodes (e.g., Caenorhabditis elegans) in the study of diverse infectious agents that affect humans. Here, we review the use of these vertebrate and non-vertebrate models in the study of bacterial agents, which are considered the principal causes of lung injury. Curiously none of these animals have a respiratory system as in air-breathing vertebrates, where respiration takes place in lungs. Despite this fact, with the present review we sought to provide elements in favor of the use of these alternative animal models of infection to reveal the molecular signatures of host–pathogen interactions.


Apolygus lucorum (Miridae) is an omnivorous pest that occurs worldwide and is notorious for the serious damage it causes to various crops and substantial economic losses. Although some studies have examined the biological characteristics of the mirid bug, no reference genome is available in Miridae, limiting in‐depth studies of this pest. Here, we present a chromosome‐scale reference genome of A. lucorum, the first sequenced Miridae species. The assembled genome size was 1.02 Gb with a contig N50 of 785 kb. With Hi‐C scaffolding, 1,016 Mb contig sequences were clustered, ordered and assembled into 17 large scaffolds with scaffold N50 length 68 Mb, each corresponding to a natural chromosome. Numerous transposable elements occur in this genome and contribute to the large genome size. Expansions of genes associated with omnivorousness and mesophyll feeding such as those related to digestion, chemosensory perception, and detoxification were observed in A. lucorum, suggesting that gene expansion contributed to its strong environmental adaptability and severe harm to crops. We clarified that a salivary enzyme polygalacturonase is unique in mirid bugs and has significantly expanded in A. lucorum, which may contribute to leaf damage from this pest. The reference genome of A. lucorum not only facilitates biological studies of Hemiptera as well as an understanding of the damage mechanism of mesophyll feeding, but also provides a basis on which to develop efficient control technologies for mirid bugs.


Phenylbutazone has been shown to modify the physiologic disposition of warfarin in the dog. Dogs pretreated with phenylbutazone for a week, and permitted to remain drug-free for an additional week, eliminated warfarin from plasma 2-3 times faster than non-pretreated controls with an average half-life of 7.8 hours. In-vitro hepatic microsomal metabolism of warfarin and cytochrome P-450 content were greater for hepatic microsomes derived from phenylbutazone pretreated animals.


The periodontal pathogen Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is known to elicit a systemic immune response in the infected host, and occasionally causes non-oral infections. Detailed information on its immunopathological responses and the involvement of bacterial virulence factors remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to assess the systemic immune response to A. actinomycetemcomitans oral infection. We used an animal model that simulates systemic dissemination of the bacteria by injecting live wild-type (WT) D7S-1 and a double knockout mutant of leukotoxin and cytolethal distending toxin (ΔltxΔcdt) A. actinomycetemcomitans strains in rat oral mucosa. Draining lymph nodes were examined for regulatory T (Treg) and T helper type 17 (Th17) cell subsets and their associated mediators. An increase in the proportion of Th17 cells and a decrease in Treg cells over the experimental period of 3 weeks were similarly observed for rats challenged with WT and ΔltxΔcdt. Significant upregulation and downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines in the Th17 gene pathway was noted, as well as several qualitative differences between WT and ΔltxΔcdt. Furthermore, we observed differential fold regulation in key genes associated with a proinflammatory response in ΔltxΔcdt-inoculated rats relative to D7S-1 group. This suggests that although the knockout of these two virulence factors (ΔltxΔcdt) may suppress certain proinflammatory genes, it causes similar over-expression of other genes compared with D7S-1, indicating a common factor that still remains in the pathogenicity of A. actinomycetemcomitans.


Experimental Salmonella infection in mice, developing simultaneously with the prolonged action of an artificial constant magnetic field with induction equal to 3 x 10(-4) T, was found to induce a pronounced decrease in nonspecific resistance in the animals. The study of Salmonella population structure revealed that the cells selected the animals subjected to the action of the artificial magnetic field had mostly a lesser number of signs of antibiotic resistance. By the end of the experiment Salmonella cultures isolated from the mice subjected to the action of the artificial magnetic field were characterized by greater virulence and resistance to the bactericidal action of blood serum. The use of sodium nucleinate under the conditions of the action of the artificial magnetic field enhanced the level of anti-infectious protection in the animals, which changed the direction of cell selection in Salmonella population towards cells with a greater number of markers of antibiotic resistance.


We present a detailed and statistical analysis of the column densities and Doppler b parameters of Mg II absorbing clouds at redshifts 0.4 ≤ z ≤ 1.2. We draw on the HIRES/Keck data (Δv ≃ 6.6 km s-1) and Voigt profile (VP) fitting results presented by Churchill & Vogt (Paper I). The sample comprises 175 clouds from 23 systems along 18 quasar lines of sight. In order to better understand whether the inferred physical conditions in the absorbing clouds could be "false" conditions, which can arise due to the nonuniqueness inherent in parameterizing complex absorption profiles, we performed extensive simulations of the VP analyses presented in this paper. In brief, we find the following: (1) The Fe II and Mg II column densities are correlated at the 9 σ level. There is a 5 σ anticorrelation between the Mg I/Mg II column density ratio and the Mg II column density. (2) Power-law fits to the column density distributions for Mg II, Fe II, and Mg I yielded power-law slopes of approximately -1.6, -1.7, and -2.0, respectively. (3) The observed peaks of the Doppler parameter distributions were ∼5 km s-1 for Mg II and Fe II and ∼7 km s-1 for Mg I. The clouds are consistent with being thermally broadened, with temperatures in the 30,000–40,000 K range. (4) A two-component Gaussian model to the velocity two-point correlation function yielded velocity dispersions of 54 and 166 km s-1. The narrow component has roughly twice the amplitude of the broader component. The width and amplitude of the broader component decreases as equivalent width increases. (5) From photoionization models we find that the column density ratios are most consistent with being photoionized by the ultraviolet extragalactic ionizing background, as opposed to stellar radiation. Based on the Mg I to Mg II column density ratios, it appears that at least two-phase ionization models are required to explain the data.


As environmental awareness increases, cleaner burning fuels are desired for use in power plants. Fuels such hydrogen, methane and syngas are cleaner and leaner burning, which causes combustion instabilities. The Active Combustion Throttle (ACT) project is sponsored by the Department of Energy's National Energy Technologies Laboratory (NETL) and aspires to create a valve capable of modulating the flow of fuel administered to gas turbines by +/- 10%. Development of such a valve will require an integrated valve and actuator design that can withstand the harsh environment of a power plant as well have a closed loop feedback control system in order to avoid combustion instabilities. In this thesis, an in-depth survey of current actuator and valve technologies revealed there are not any commercially available integrated valve assemblies capable of performing such a task. Two valve designs and one actuator design were devised to meet a list of specifications from NETL. Both valve designs as well as the actuator design underwent a rigorous battery of electromagnetic, stress, thermal, finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses using contemporary mechanical, electrical and physical theory and commercially available computer-aided design (CAD) programs. Prototype valve designs were designed, machined, cold flow tested and approved for further prototype design and testing. Initial cold flow testing revealed that both valve designs had linear ranges, were quick opening and demonstrated adequate flow coefficients (Cv). Further testing will continue to refine the valve designs in preparation for creating integrated valve/actuator assemblies for more aggressive testing.The primary contribution of this thesis are the two valve designs and actuator design that have thus far proven to be capable of fulfilling the requirements set forth by NETL for the ACT project. Further research and analyses of these designs will provide more robust prototype valve and actuator assemblies for eventual live testing at NETL. The framework provided by this thesis will allow those involved with the project to make changes to the current designs as needed since the same analyses can be more efficiently executed for subsequent changes throughout the remaining stages of development.


Background: Prompt entry into HIV care is often hindered by personal and structural barriers. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of self-perceived barriers to health care on 1-year mortality among newly diagnosed HIV-infected individuals in Durban, South Africa. Methods: Before HIV testing at 4 outpatient sites, adults (≥18 years) were surveyed regarding perceived barriers to care including (1) service delivery, (2) financial, (3) personal health perception, (4) logistical, and (5) structural. We assessed deaths via phone calls and the South African National Population Register. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards models to determine the association between number of perceived barriers and death within 1 year. Results: One thousand eight hundred ninety-nine HIV-infected participants enrolled. Median age was 33 years (interquartile range: 27–41 years), 49% were females, and median CD4 count was 192/&mgr;L (interquartile range: 72–346/&mgr;L). One thousand fifty-seven participants (56%) reported no, 370 (20%) reported 1–3, and 460 (24%) reported >3 barriers to care. By 1 year, 250 [13%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 12% to 15%] participants died. Adjusting for age, sex, education, baseline CD4 count, distance to clinic, and tuberculosis status, participants with 1–3 barriers (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.06 to 2.08) and >3 barriers (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.35 to 2.43) had higher 1-year mortality risk compared with those without barriers. Conclusions: HIV-infected individuals in South Africa who reported perceived barriers to medical care at diagnosis were more likely to die within 1 year. Targeted structural interventions, such as extended clinic hours, travel vouchers, and streamlined clinic operations, may improve linkage to care and antiretroviral therapy initiation for these people.


Discusses briefly the impact of MRP on UK manufacturing industry in the context of the next generation of developments. Draws a contrast with production planning and control systems in Germany which derive shopfloor control through different architecture of business control systems. Presents the state of these developments in Germany as analysed by a leading academic institution (the FIR at Aachen University of Technology). Compares this with UK developments, as seen by the Liverpool short‐term scheduling group, which recently has analysed production planning/ scheduling practice in a range of different companies across various industry types. Offers the view that future PPC systems will be based around simple "core logic" with tailored subsystems, possibly built by manufacturing companies themselves.