Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a research-based and effective procedure used to change the behavior of individuals, groups, and organizations. While some may think of ABA to decrease maladaptive behavior, it can also be used to improve adaptive behavior, academic, social, and employment skills. There is a growing need for experts in behavior analysis to provide services in early intervention programs, schools, day treatment centers, institutions and in the work place. A board certified behavior analyst (BCBA) is credentialed to provide these behavior analytic services. This paper will provide a brief overview of applied behavior analysis, define the BCBA credential, illustrate the process of becoming a BCBA, and explain the role of the BCBA.


Amazonia is considered the world's most important centre of biodiversity. Several important crops for world agriculture (e.g. cassava, pineapple, cocoa, rubber) were first domesticated in this area. However, numerous underexploited Amazonian plant species with promising economic value still remain little-known and neglected by science. Typical example of such species is 'sacha inchi' (Plukenetia volubilis, Euphorbiaceae). Sacha inchi is a potential new crop indigenous to the high-altitude rain forests of the Andean region of South America nowadays spreaded to the lowlands of Peruvian Amazon. It is a semi perennial, semi woody twining vine yielding mostly tetra-lobular capsules, with 4 lenticular oleaginous seeds inside. The plant has probably been used by pre-Incas and the Incas 3000 years ago which is evident from the interpretation of the plant on vessels in Inca tombs. Chancas Indians and other tribal groups of the region extract oil from the seeds which is used for the preparation of various meals. Roasted seeds and cooked leaves are also an important component of their diets. The sacha inchi seeds are rich in oil (35–60%) and protein (27 %) content. The oil contains high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic) and is rich in vitamins A and E. According to the properties mentioned above 'sacha inchi' is ideal for improving children alimentation and very desirable for recuperation after diseases and especially for aged persons alimentation. Furthermore, the leaves of 'sacha inchi' are considered as excellent forage. Although the composition and properties of 'sacha inchi' seeds are relatively well known, to date there is a lack of detailed information about traditional uses, cultivation, processing, economic potential and genetic diversity within this species. Intensive research on this species can contribute to future implementation of sacha inchi into the agricultural systems of the region as alternative crop which can reduce local farmers' dependence on cultivation of coca. Aim of this paper is to introduce sacha inchi plant and analyse its cultivation potential in Peruvian Amazon.


Deep disposal concepts are usually based on a multibarrier concept that may involve a physical contact between clayey and cementitious materials. In such context, zeolites are a group of important phases, which group most of the transition phases between cement and the clayey barrier since zeolites have been shown to form readily after the weathering of clays in a hyperalkaline environment [1]. Thermodynamic properties can be found in the literature for some of the zeolites of interest in deep disposal contexts. However, there is still a lack of consistency among the available thermodynamics datasets. A first task realized in the present work consists in a critical selection of the thermodynamic datasets published so far. The selection could be achieved with some confidence for a rather large list of minerals. Some questions and uncertainties still remain for phases like phillipsite, chabazite or gismondine. Cases from the previous critical selection indicate the role of kinetics in the precipitation of zeolites, which can help in moderating the phase relations indicated by thermodynamics and can be related to field observations or experimental results. In addition, the concept of rock acidity can applied with success in order to investigate the phase relations between cements, zeolites and clayey materials.


The light-matter interaction has been at the heart of major advances from the atomic scale right to the microscopic scale over the past four decades. Confinement by light, embodied by the area of optical trapping, has had a major influence across all of the natural sciences. However, an emergent and powerful topic within this field that has steadily merged but not gained much recognition is optical binding: the importance of exploring the optically mediated interaction between assembled objects that can cause attractive and repulsive forces and dramatically influence the way they assemble and organize themselves. This offers routes for colloidal self-assembly, crystallization, and organization of templates for biological and colloidal sciences. In this Colloquium, this emergent area is reviewed looking at the pioneering experiments in the field and the various theoretical approaches that aim to describe this behavior. The latest experimental studies in the field are reviewed and theoretical approaches are now beginning to converge to describe the binding behavior seen. Recent links between optical binding and nonlinearity are explored as well as future themes and challenges.


BACKGROUND
In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) plays an increasingly important role in differential diagnosis of melanoma. The aim of the study was to assess typical confocal features of thin (≤1mm according to Breslow index) versus thick (>1mm) melanomas.

METHODS
30 patients with histopathologically confirmed cutaneous melanoma were included in the study. Reflectance confocal microscopy was performed with Vivascope equipment prior to excision. Fifteen melanomas were thin (Breslow thickness ≤ 1mm) and 15 were thick melanomas (Breslow thickness >1mm).

RESULTS
In the RCM examination, the following features were more frequently observed in thin compared to thick melanomas: edged papillae (26.7% vs 0%, p=0.032) and areas with honeycomb or cobblestone pattern (33.3% vs 6.7%, p=0.068). Both features are present in benign melanocytic lesions, so in melanoma are good prognostic factors. The group of thick melanomas compared to the group of thin melanomas in the RCM images presented with greater frequency of roundish cells (100% vs 40%, p=0.001), non-edged papillae (100% vs 60%, p=0.006), numerous pagetoid cells (73.3% vs 33.3%, p=0.028), numerous atypical cells at dermal-epidermal junction (53.3% vs 20%, p=0.058) and epidermal disarray (93.3% vs 66.7%, p=0.068).

CONCLUSIONS
Non-invasive imaging methods helps in deepening of knowledge about the evolution and biology of melanoma. The most characteristic features for thin melanomas in confocal examination are: fragments of cobblestone or honeycomb pattern and edged papillae (as good prognostic factors). The features of thick melanomas in RCM examination are: roundish cells, non-edged papillae, numerous pagetoid cells at dermal-epidermal junction and epidermal disarray.


Context: Depression is the commonest mood disorder, could also be secondary to a number of physical disorders. Pharmacological treatment of such co-morbidities is difficult. If statins show antidepressant activity that could appear to be better lipid-lowering agents as they provide additional benefits in cardiovascular disorders with co-morbidity like depression. Aims: To investigate the effect of simvastatin, lovastatin and atorvastatin for their antidepressant activity using forced swim test and tail suspension test on behavioral models of depression in male swiss mice. Design: Experimental Study Methods and Material: The in vivo antidepressant activity of simvastatin and lovastatin was studied using forced swim test and tail suspension test. The mice received the drug as per their weight and subjected for experimentation. Group mean immobility time was calculated in treated and control groups for comparison. Statistical analysis used: One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni's multiple comparison test. (P / 0.05) Results: Simvastatin and Lovastatin used in the present study showed significant antidepressant activity in both behavioral models of depression (p<0.05) while atorvastatin failed to show significant antidepressant action. Conclusion: The study suggests that the antidepressant activity of simvastatin and lovastatin, if could be extrapolated to clinical situations, appear to be better lipid-lowering agents as they provide additional benefits in cardiovascular disorders with co-morbidity like depression.


The purpose of this study was to explore the stress level in teaching job at college level in Pakistan. There were two main questions discussed in this study, is there any stress in teaching job if yes what are those and second how stress effect the performance of cadres of college teachers in public and private sectors in Pakistan. Stress in teaching varies to the ranks hold by the teachers and environment where they are working. The study examines all the factors causing the stress for teachers working in different levels and the performance of teachers in terms of out put and the satisfaction level of teachers towards their jobs. A statistical treatment was given to the data gathered from 106 college teachers of public and private sectors selected through stratified sampling technique. The test of regression analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA were applied. It was found that intrinsic and extrinsic variables have positive effects on academic performance of college teachers. As a result of the study, no statistical difference was noted in academic performance of teachers of boys and girls colleges whereas significant difference was found between academic performance teachers of public and private colleges. There was no statistical significance found at the p>0.05 level of academic performance for different cadres of college teachers and also for their teaching experience. However, there was statistical significance noted at the p<0.05 level in academic performance for the public and private colleges. The interaction effect between cadres of college teachers and their experience was not statistical significant and the main effect for these two factors did not reach the statistical significance. The results of the study are interesting and may help in exploring the possibilities of sharing and generating cross-cultural studies among countries of the region.


A schematic method to characterize the human health impact of toxic chemicals is presented. This schematic method uses a streamlined three-tiered hierarchy process which includes intake, toxicity and persistence of a chemical release for its impact characterization. The human health impact of a chemical is represented by its position in a two-dimensional characterization plot, which enables the benchmarking of chemicals to be easily made by comparing the relative positions of the chemicals in the characterization plot. A case study is performed on 12 toxic chemicals commonly used as solvents by the manufacturing industry. The reliability of this schematic method is checked and confirmed by comparing its benchmarked results with that of the conventional Human Toxicity Potential (HTP) method. With an explicit model structure and a visual representation, this schematic method increases the transparency of the human impact assessment and can facilitate decision-making in the material screening and benchmarking of toxic chemicals for implementation of sustainable design and manufacturing strategies.


An efficient racemic total synthesis of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids tetrandrine and isotetrandrine in four different routes is reported herein. Key steps of the synthesis include N-acyl Pictet-Spengler condensations to access the tetrahydroisoquinoline moieties, as well as copper-catalyzed Ullmann couplings for diaryl ether formation. Starting from commercially available building blocks tetrandrine and isotetrandrine are accessed in 12 steps. Depending on the sequence of the four central condensation steps, equimolar mixtures of both diastereomers or predominantly tetrandrine or its diastereomer isotetrandrine are obtained. Through computational analysis we were able to rationalize the differences in the observed diastereomeric specificities.


Background Hemangiomas are sometimes difficult to diagnose with current techniques. Sluggish speed signs (SSS) are a phenomenon that: (i) cannot be depicted as Doppler flow on Doppler ultrasound; (ii) can be observed as fluid movements on Doppler ultrasound; and (iii) cannot be depicted as waveforms on pulse Doppler mode. We hypothesized that SSS could be diagnostic indicators for hemangiomas. Purpose To evaluate whether ultrasound findings, in particular those relating to SSS, are a reliable tool for detecting hemangiomas compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the gold standard for hemangioma diagnosis: pathological examination by biopsy or after surgical resection. Material and Methods Totally, 105 patients (mean age, 44.9 years) with soft-tissue tumors underwent MRI and ultrasound examination before biopsy or tumor resection. Ultrasound findings were compared with MRI as well as pathological findings, which were used as reference. Results Hemangiomas were identified in 16 (6.25%) of the 105 patients. On MRI, flow voids showed sensitivity and specificity values of 81.3% and 96.6%, respectively. On ultrasound examination, SSS was the only finding to show equally high sensitivity (93.8%) and specificity (96.6%) for diagnosing hemangiomas. There was no significant difference in the diagnostic capabilities between these two parameters (P = 0.479). Conclusion SSS showed a high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing hemangiomas and therefore are useful diagnostic tools to supplement MRI.


Sonic‐boom propagation is affected by stratification, geometrical spreading, nonlinear distortion, absorption and dispersion, and turbulence. Stressed in this paper is stratification, in particular its indirect effect on distortion and absorption. The stratification of the density and sound speed leads to refraction and impedance variation, which play a major role in determining the amplitude of the waveform on the ground. Stratification, and associated spreading, can also control the amount of nonlinear distortion a sonic boom suffers. In extreme cases the amount of nonlinear distortion is finite—a phenomenon known as waveform freezing. Analysis shows that for aircraft in the lower 20 km of the atmosphere waveform freezing does not occur. Through their dependence on temperature, pressure, and humidity, absorption and dispersion are also stratified. A new time domain algorithm, based on a Burgers‐type equation, was developed to analyze the effect of the stratification of absorption [ 3275 (A) (1994)]. The...


In this paper we investigate the approximation properties of the coarse-graining procedure applied to kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of lattice stochastic dynamics. We provide both analytical and numerical evidence that the hierarchy of the coarse models is built in a systematic way that allows for error control in both transient and long-time simulations. We demonstrate that the numerical accuracy of the CGMC algorithm as an approximation of stochastic lattice spin flip dynamics is of order two in terms of the coarse-graining ratio and that the natural small parameter is the coarse-graining ratio over the range of particle/particle interactions. The error estimate is shown to hold in the weak convergence sense. We employ the derived analytical results to guide CGMC algorithms and we demonstrate a CPU speed-up in demanding computational regimes that involve nucleation, phase transitions and metastability.


It is generally agreed that for the sustainable management of natural resources to be effective a degree of de-centralisation to local level is an essential requirement. This simple axiom conceals a multitude of conflicting issues. Central to these are the questions of scale of jurisdiction, systems of tenure and
appropriate institutional arrangements.

This thesis examines the management of natural resources in Zimbabwe's Communal Landsusing diachronic methodologies based on case studies and narratives through time and from
selected sites. It attempts to unravel issues of complexity and institutional plurality and to determine the factors that encourage resilience and sustainability both of natural resources and
of institutions of management. It is the postulate of this thesis that a critical ingredient for sustainability is the need to recognise the importance of worldviews. Unless there is a general institutional fit between epistemologies that have an ontological congruence with institutions of governance at local level, then programmes designed to enhance natural resource management
are likely to lack sustainability. It is through institutions that have sufficient flexibility to allow for adaptive management, that encourage holistic, integrated systems of governance of daily
life, that conservation and development of resources is operationalised.

The data in this thesis supports the notion that in Zimbabwe's communal lands the institutions that best meet these criteria are those rooted in the indigenous system of governance. These
institutions, rooted in a strong kinship organisation, supported by a commonly held worldview and authenticated by customary law and practice, have exhibited a remarkable resilience.

Despite the best intentioned interventions of successive central government regimes, it is these institutions of local level management that provide local communities with the necessary 'rules of the game' to manage their common pool resources as well as their traditionally held rights to individual holdings. A corollary that derives from this assertion is that central governments lack the resources to engage with local level communities other than on an irregular basis. They also
often lack a genuine intention to de-centralise authority and control over resources to the local level. Techno-bureaucratic and political players in the field of resource allocation and
management tend to hold views that are supported by Western science and encourage the notion that at community level people lack the sophistication, knowledge and institutional capacity to
manage their own resources. My research would indicate that this is not the case. Indeed all the data in this thesis supports the notion that in the management of natural resources it is local
communities that have an innate knowledge of their environment and a strong motivation to preserve it for their individual and community good. (A case study undertaken in a large-scale
commercial farming area as a deliberate attempt to examine the dynamics of local level management of resources produced similar supportive data.) What was evident was that systems
of management fail or lack sustainability because of institutional complexities and inhibitions imposed from above and because of a lack of genuine devolution to local level.

My analysis of community based management of natural resource in the communal lands concluded by identifying the traditional ward (dunhu) community as being functionally the most appropriate unit of natural resource management, placed midway in the hierarchy of nested levels of jurisdiction within the indigenous governance system. It is the conclusion of the thesis
that in order to maximise the energy and resilience of the indigenous institutions, systems of local government and of tenure over resources need to give genuine recognition to traditional institutions and the worldviews upon which they are founded.


It is well known that cross-layer scheduling can boost the spectral efficiency of multi-user OFDMA systems through multi-user selection diversity but existing designs usually have two important assumptions - users are delay-insensitive and channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT) is perfect. In practice, users have heterogeneous delay requirements and CSIT usually becomes outdated in time varying channel, which in turns leads to systematic packet errors and hence results in significant degradation on the throughput and delay performance in the OFDMA systems. In this paper, a novel cross-layer design problem is formulated as a convex optimization problem, on which a delay-sensitive jointly optimal power, rate and subcarrier allocation scheme is proposed so as to maintain heterogeneous users' delay requirement as well as achieving a target packet outage probability through combining queueing theory and information theory. Furthermore, we obtain closed-form asymptotic performance of the proposed delay-sensitive scheduler. Unlike the well-known SNR gain of Theta(log - sigma2 DeltaH) in conventional cross-layer scheduler with perfect CSIT, we demonstrate a cross-layer SNR gain of Theta((1 - sigma2 DeltaH)log K)can still be achieved under heterogeneous delay constraints and outdated CSIT with error variance sigma2 DeltaH. Finally, simulation results show that our proposed delay-sensitive CSIT error considerate schemes provide robust system performance enhancement over conventional CSIT error inconsiderate opportunistic scheduler and naive queue length based MAX-Weight scheduler while satisfying heterogeneous delay requirements even at moderate to high CSIT errors.


Background: The hygiene practices of pool patrons are important in maintaining water quality as well as patron health and safety. Poor practices, such as not taking a pre-swim shower, can introduce additional contaminants, which will then react with the free available chlorine to form disinfection by products (DBPs). Not only will excess contaminants decrease the free available chlorine but it will also cause a copious amount of DBPs to be formed. DBPs are known to cause eye and skin irritation, an unpleasant odor, and may cause additional respiratory issues. Therefore, in the interest of public health the number of contaminants introduced into the water should be minimized, which can be done through improving the hygiene practices of patrons. This study investigated factors that may affect pre-swim shower frequencies among aquatic facility patrons. Methods: Data from 78 respondents to a self-administered electronic survey were used in this study. The survey evaluated respondents' knowledge of pool related illnesses, knowledge of proper aquatic facility hygiene practices and their attitudes toward these practices. Results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, chi squared test and independent samples t-test. Results: The only statistically significant relationship found was an association between the how often an individual used aquatic facilities and their pre-swim shower frequency; frequent aquatic facility users were found to rarely/never take a pre-swim shower (p = 0.049). As well, factors such as knowledge of pool related illnesses, knowledge of proper hygiene practices, age, and if an individual had read the pool rules were not found to be related to pre-swim shower frequency. Conclusion: The results indicate that educational campaigns aimed at increasing the public knowledge of pool related illnesses and proper pool hygiene practices may not increase pre-swim shower frequencies. Results from this study also indicate that if the showers were cleaner, warmer, and or more private, preswim shower frequencies may increase. As well, 79.5% of respondents knew that taking a pre-swim shower is required and 52.6% of participants indicated that they would improve their hygiene practices if consequences were implemented. Taken together, this may suggest that the physical layout of the showering facilities within a swimming pool complex may influence showering behaviour, and greater enforcement of pool rules may be needed in order to increase pre-swim shower frequency.


This study assessed the growth and yield of two introduced cooking banana cultivars 'Mpologoma' and 'NARITA 4' relative to seven local highland cooking cultivars, across three sites in Rwanda, namely Karongi (1496 m a.s.l.), Gatore (1523 m a.s.l.) and Rwinzuki (1671 m a.s.l.). Data were obtained during two cropping cycles (plant crop cycle and the 1st ratoon). Data on pseudostem girth (cm) at 100 cm above the ground was collected at flowering, while number of hands per bunch, number of fingers of the second lowest hand and bunch weight (kg) were obtained at bunch harvest. Significant differences for all assessed growth and yield parameters were observed between cultivars (p<0.001). Generally, the two exotic cultivars ranked high with respect to number of fingers on the second lowest hand and number of hands per bunch. 'Mpologoma' had the largest bunch with a mean bunch weight of 23 kg, whereas 'NARITA 4' had a bunch weight of 17 kg which was comparable to the local cultivars. Thus, these 2 cultivars could potentially be adopted by farmers.

 Key words: Banana germplasm, local cultivars, plant crop, ratoon crop.


CD99 is a cell surface molecule involved in the aggregation of lymphocytes and apoptosis of immature cortical thymocytes. Despite its high level expression on immature cortical thymocytes, the functional roles of this molecule during thymic selection are only now being elucidated. Examination of the effects of CD99 engagement on the expression kinetics of the TCR and MHC class I and II molecules, which are involved primarily in thymic positive selection, revealed a marked up-regulation of these proteins on the surface of immature thymocytes. This increase was the result of accelerated mobilization of molecules stored in cytosolic compartments to the plasma membrane, rather than increased RNA and protein synthesis. Confocal microscopic analysis revealed the changes in subcellular distribution of these molecules. When CD99 was engaged, TCR and MHC class I and II molecules were concentrated at the plasma membrane, particularly at cell-cell contact sites. The TCRlow subpopulation of immature double positive thymocytes was much more responsive to CD99-mediated up-regulation than was the TCRhigh population. These findings suggest that CD99-dependent up-regulation may have possible implication in positive selection during thymocyte ontogeny.


This article is a revision of Teodor Llorente's literary work in Catalan, in prose and in poetry, which turns out to be an exceptional production for his time, in accordance with his role as a leader and an ideologist of the Valencian Renaixenca, and places him as the poet who contributes most, both in quantity and quality, to this literary movement. The first part of the article, focused on his lyric poetry, revises the six editions of his verses which were published between 1885 and 1983, and brings back to life 'unknown' poems -unpublished or dispersed- which have never been included in any edition. The second part lists and catalogues his prose writings in Catalan and dismantles the belief that he only used Catalan to write poetry.


The weight and oxygen consumption of individual locusts, six from each instar, have been measured at 12-hourly intervals throughout each stadium. An analysis of short duration changes shows that fluctuations in live weight are unavoidable in the growing animal, and that they are accompanied by fluctuations in oxygen consumption. In time the latter lag behind the former. As the fluctuations of these two variables are out of phase, there is a considerable range of oxygen consumption which must be regarded as normal for any given weight. Calculations are made to find the limits of these fluctuations compatible with normal growth. The changes that occur during a stadium can be represented by a straight trend line for both weight and oxygen consumption. Exceptions occur in the case of weight of the adult where two straight lines are necessary, one for the growing phase and one for the steady phase of this instar. In certain cases in the fifth instar two straight lines are necessary to express the trend in oxygen consumption which may show an abrupt change in the middle of the stadium. A high degree of correlation is found between the trend lines for weight and oxygen consumption in the early instars. A low degree is found in latter instars where the weight increases and the oxygen consumption remains nearly constant. A curve representing the changes of weight and oxygen consumption that occur during the growth of the locust has been constructed.


The carbon fibers / rubber composite films were fabricated by compression molding method with butyl rubber (IIR) as matrix and carbon fiber as reinforced material. The mechanical properties and electromagnetic shielding effect of the thin films at different conditions were measured by the WDW electronic universal testing machine according the national standard GB13022-91 and the far-field EMC shielding effectiveness test fixture (DN1015 type) respectively. The results show that the good mechanical properties of composite films with mess ratio of IIR and carbon black of 1:6 and vulcanizing time of 1.5h were obtained at the same other condition that the tensile strength reached 534.65MPa, the elongation rate reached 87.26% and the yield point stress up to124.85MPa. Meanwhile, it is also found that the electromagnetic shielding effect of the thin films shows negative growth at low frequency area ranging from 1MHz to 300MHz. Whereas, the shielding effect increases with frequency at 300MHz ~ 1.5GHz, and the SE value is up to -25dB ~-35dB.


The infrared spectra of a number of aryl tin and aryl lead compounds have been examined in the 2-50mu. region. The infrared spectra (2.15mu.) of these derivatives are the spectra of mono-substituted benzene derivatives. The spectra in the far infrared region (15-50 mu) have been found to be distinctive and can be used for the qualitative identification of these compounds. Frequency assignments are made and the spectra are discussed in terms of structural features of the organometallis, derivatives. There seems to be no evidence to support the possible existence of Ph3Sn+ and Ph3Pb+ cations in any of the derivatives examined. The derivatives with strong electro-negative groups, i.e. fluorides, fluoroborates, perchlorates, hexafluoroarsenates, hexafluoroantimonates, nitrates are considered a predominently covalent in character with polymeric structures involving five co-ordinate tin or lead atoms. A number of new compound have been prepared during the course of this work. Conductivity measurements have been made on nitromethane solutions of hexaphenylditin and hexaphenyldilead at varying temperatures. It has been conclusively shown that there is no heterolytic dissociation of these compounds. The far infrared spectra (15-50 mu) of a range of aryl compounds of Group IVA, VA, VIA and VIIA elements have been studied. Frequency assignments are made for the stronger bands. Most of the vibrational frequencies occurring in this region sensitive t the substituent atom attached to the benzene ring. Some new salts of the triphenylmetnea carbonium ion have been prepared and their infrared spectra examined. The carbonium ion dyestuffs (malachite green, brilliant green and crystal violet) form ionic derivatives with fluoro-boratec perchlorate and heteropoly acid anions. The solution spectra of these derivatives have been examined in the visible region (400-700 mu.) and the spectra are discussed in terms of aggregation of the dyestuff cations in solution. Many new crystalline compounds have been prepared with fluoroborete, perchlorate and heteropoly acid anions and the infrared and reflectance spectra discussed. The cyanide, cyanates, thiocyanate, metaborate and sulphide derivatives of the dyestuffs have been found to be covalent with a true tetrahedral arrangement about the central carbon atom. The dyestuffs give orange-red solutions in strong acids. The colour is due to the formation of new species by protonatior of the nitrogen atoms of the dyestuff cations. Many new salts containing these protonated species with anions derived from heteropoly and Lewis acids have been prepared and examined spectroscopically. The dyestuffs also form complexes with Lewis acids (SnCl4, SbCl5) in non-aqueous solvents. The successive addition of SbCl5 has been studied and a number of new colplexes have been prepared with crystal violet.


MISTiC Winds is an approach to improve short-term weather forecasting based on a miniature high resolution, wide field, thermal emission spectrometry instrument that will provide global tropospheric vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and humidity at high (3-4 km) horizontal and vertical ( 1 km) spatial resolution. MISTiC's extraordinarily small size, payload mass of less than 15 kg, and minimal cooling requirements can be accommodated aboard a 27U-class CubeSat or an ESPA-Class micro-satellite. Low fabrication and launch costs enable a LEO sunsynchronous sounding constellation that would collectively provide frequent IR vertical profiles and vertically resolved atmospheric motion vector wind observations in the troposphere. These observations are highly complementary to present and emerging environmental observing systems, and would provide a combination of high vertical and horizontal resolution not provided by any other environmental observing system currently in operation. The spectral measurements that would be provided by MISTiC Winds are similar to those of NASA's AIRS that was built by BAE Systems and operates aboard the AQUA satellite. These new observations, when assimilated into high resolution numerical weather models, would revolutionize short-term and severe weather forecasting, save lives, and support key economic decisions in the energy, air transport, and agriculture arenas–at much lower cost than providing these observations from geostationary orbit. In addition, this observation capability would be a critical tool for the study of transport processes for water vapor, clouds, pollution, and aerosols. Key remaining technical risks are being reduced through laboratory and airborne testing under NASA's Instrument Incubator Program.


We explore the hemispherical asymmetry predicted in cosmic microwave background polarization when there is an asymmetry in temperature anisotropies due to primordial perturbations. We consider the cases of asymmetries due to adiabatic and isocurvature modes, and tensor perturbations. We show that the asymmetry in the TE, EE and/or BB correlations can be substantially larger than those in the TT power spectrum in certain cases. The relative asymmetry in the different cross-correlations, as well as the angular scale dependence, can in principle distinguish between different origins for the asymmetry.


: A retrospective review of hospital records reveals that over 90% of recurrent bleeds in traumatic hyphema occur at night. It is postulated that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, with its displays of saccadic virtuosity, is the major reason for the nocturnal prevalence of such recurrent hyphemas. Theoretical considerations suggesting a more rational therapy of traumatic hyphema are presented and clinical trials are suggested.


Memory technologies with higher density, higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, higher speed, and lower cost are in high demand in the current big data era. In this paper, recent progress of emerging non-volatile memories is reviewed. The current status, challenges, and opportunities of emerging non-volatile memories, such as phase-change memory, resistive random-access memory, ferroelectric field-effect transistors, and magnetic random-access memory, are discussed toward storage-class memory, embedded non-volatile memories, and near/in-memory computing applications. Graphic abstract


Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) cultivars developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are currently grown on more than 8 million hectares worldwide. Because of the lack of information on the genetic basis of resistance to stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis), crosses in a diallel arrangement (without reciprocals) were made among five worldwide resistant cultivars and the susceptible cultivar Local Red. Inheritance of resistance was investigated in seedling and adult plant growth stages of F2 populations, and F3lines. The low seedling infection type of each resistant cultivar, namely Kroub 76, Chonta Inia, Sna 3, Syros, and Arena, was based on the additive action of the same two genes. Each of these genes conferred intermediate infection types when present alone. The field resistance of the cultivars was based on the additive action of the two genes identified in the seedlings and one additional, partially effective adult resistance gene. Segregation for plants with stripe rust severities higher than that of the parents in intercrosses of resistant cultivars indicated that some genetic diversity exists for adult genes. The resistance of these cultivars may prove to be long-lasting, since it results from the combined action of at least three genes.


Terminalia arjuna has been used by ancient physicians in cardiovascular disease. The bark is possesses unique properties as it contains flavonoids (exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipid lowering effects), glycosides (cardiotonic), tannins etc. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of Terminalia arjuna versus placebo on cardiovascular parameters and platelet aggregation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Study was randomized, double-blind, parallel group placebo-controlled study in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. After consent and screening for eligibility, subjects were randomised to receive either Terminalia arjuna or identical placebo 500mg capsule thrice daily for 8 weeks. Efficacy, safety and platelet function were evaluated before and at end of treatment. There was a highly significant increase in mean cardiac output from 4.34±0.38 to 4.86±0.20 (Lt/min) along with reduction in mean systemic vascular resistance from 1729±93.52 to 1484±115.5 (dyne.sec/cm 5 ) in Terminalia arjuna group. Further, active drug also produced significant inhibition of platelet aggregation compared to placebo. Both treatments were well tolerated. It can be concluded from the present study that Terminalia arjuna by producing significant increase in mean cardiac output along with reduction in mean systemic vascular resistance, and also significant inhibition of platelet aggregation, can be a good therapeutic option for reducing cardiovascular morbidity in diabetic subjects. However, long term studies in more number of subjects are required to confirm this beneficial effect.


BACKGROUND
Bronchiectasis is a common but under-diagnosed chronic disorder characterised by permanent dilation of the airways arising from a cycle of recurrent infection and inflammation. Symptoms including chronic, persistent cough and productive phlegm are a significant burden for people with bronchiectasis, and the main aim of treatment is to reduce exacerbation frequency and improve quality of life. Prophylactic antibiotic therapy aims to break this infection cycle and is recommended by clinical guidelines for adults with three or more exacerbations a year, based on limited evidence. It is important to weigh the evidence for bacterial suppression against the prevention of antibiotic resistance and further evidence is required on the safety and efficacy of different regimens of intermittently administered antibiotic treatments for people with bronchiectasis.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the safety and efficacy of intermittent prophylactic antibiotics in the treatment of adults and children with bronchiectasis.

SEARCH METHODS
We identified trials from the Cochrane Airways Trials Register, which contains studies identified through multiple electronic searches and handsearches of other sources. We also searched trial registries and reference lists of primary studies. We conducted searches on 6 September 2021, with no restriction on language of publication.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of at least three months' duration comparing an intermittent regime of prophylactic antibiotics with placebo, usual care or an alternate intermittent regimen. Intermittent prophylactic administration was defined as repeated courses of antibiotics with on-treatment and off-treatment intervals of at least 14 days' duration. We included adults and children with a clinical diagnosis of bronchiectasis confirmed by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT), plain film chest radiograph, or bronchography and a documented history of recurrent chest infections. We excluded studies where participants received high dose antibiotics immediately prior to enrolment or those with a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), primary ciliary dyskinesia, hypogammaglobulinaemia, sarcoidosis, or a primary diagnosis of COPD. Our primary outcomes were exacerbation frequency and serious adverse events. We did not exclude studies on the basis of review outcomes.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We analysed dichotomous data as odds ratios (ORs) or relative risk (RRs) and continuous data as mean differences (MDs) or standardised mean differences (SMDs). We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We conducted GRADE assessments for the following primary outcomes: exacerbation frequency; serious adverse events and secondary outcomes: antibiotic resistance; hospital admissions; health-related quality of life.

MAIN RESULTS
We included eight RCTs, with interventions ranging from 16 to 48 weeks, involving 2180 adults. All evaluated one of three types of antibiotics over two to six cycles of 28 days on/off treatment: aminoglycosides, ß-lactams or fluoroquinolones. Two studies also included 12 cycles of 14 days on/off treatment with fluoroquinolones. Participants had a mean age of 63.6 years, 65% were women and approximately 85% Caucasian. Baseline FEV1 ranged from 55.5% to 62.6% predicted. None of the studies included children. Generally, there was a low risk of bias in the included studies. Antibiotic versus placebo: cycle of 14 days on/off. Ciprofloxacin reduced the frequency of exacerbations compared to placebo (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.93; I2 = 65%; 2 studies, 469 participants; moderate-certainty evidence), with eight people (95% CI 6 to 28) needed to treat for an additional beneficial outcome. The intervention increased the risk of antibiotic resistance more than twofold (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.36 to 3.35; I2 = 0%; 2 studies, 624 participants; high-certainty evidence). Serious adverse events, lung function (FEV1), health-related quality of life, and adverse effects did not differ between groups. Antibiotic versus placebo: cycle of 28 days on/off. Antibiotics did not reduce overall exacerbation frequency (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.02; I2 = 0%; 8 studies, 1695 participants; high-certainty evidence) but there were fewer severe exacerbations (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.93; I2 = 54%; 3 studies, 624 participants), though this should be interpreted with caution due to low event rates. The risk of antibiotic resistance was more than twofold higher based on a pooled analysis (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.42 to 3.42; I2 = 0%; 3 studies, 685 participants; high-certainty evidence) and consistent with unpooled data from four further studies. Serious adverse events, time to first exacerbation, duration of exacerbation, respiratory-related hospital admissions, lung function, health-related quality of life and adverse effects did not differ between study groups. Antibiotic versus usual care. We did not find any studies that compared intermittent antibiotic regimens with usual care. Cycle of 14 days on/off versus cycle of 28 days on/off. Exacerbation frequency did not differ between the two treatment regimens (RR 1.02, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.24; I2 = 71%; 2 studies, 625 participants; moderate-certainty evidence) However, inconsistencies in the results from the two trials in this comparison indicate that the apparent aggregated similarities may not be reliable. There was no evidence of a difference in antibiotic resistance between groups (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.48; I2 = 60%; 2 studies, 624 participants; moderate-certainty evidence). Serious adverse events, adverse effects, lung function and health-related quality of life did not differ between the two antibiotic regimens.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Overall, in adults who have frequent chest infections, long-term antibiotics given at 14-day on/off intervals slightly reduces the frequency of those infections and increases antibiotic resistance. Intermittent antibiotic regimens result in little to no difference in serious adverse events. The impact of intermittent antibiotic therapy on children with bronchiectasis is unknown due to an absence of evidence, and further research is needed to establish the potential risks and benefits.


The literature review on Human Resource Administration (HRA) permits inferring that since the late 1970s, interest emerged to align processes in personnel management with the business strategy. Along with new practice, also came a new field of study: Strategic Human Resource Administration (SHRA). It was proved that, since the last quarter of the century, the global tendency in the executive practice has been the application of Strategic Human Resource Models (SHRM). These have been classified by this new field of study from each of their theoretical contributions. Thus, it is possible to currently find in the world four dominant theoretical perspectives: the Universalist, the contingent, the configurational, and the contextual perspectives. This article presents a concise description of these perspectives and criticizes the fact that, in spite of the huge theoretical accumulation, within this strategic vision of personnel management, the ethical aspects are quite problematic. This leaves the need to formulate local investigations seeking to improve the state-of-the-art and it is concluded that with these types of theoretical approaches, it is not possible to conduct human management stricto sensu


In this study, we report the quantification of the concentrations of Cd, Pb and As in borehole, well, stream and rain water sources in Ota and some major towns in Ogun State, Nigeria. The pH ranges from 4.8 to 6.98, 5.40 to 7.86 and 6.99 to 8.20 in boreholes, well and rain respectively. Lead was not detected at all in the drinking water sources in all the locations investigated. However, the concentrations of Cadmium and Arsenic were observed to be higher than the maximum allowable limits (MAL) in drinking water by the WHO and the Nigerian Standard for drinking water quality in some of the drinking water sources. The Cadmium levels in boreholes for Ota, Agbara, Ifo, Abeokuta and the Male hostel of BellsTech are greater than the maximum allowable limits while the metal was not detected in the boreholes of CU student hostel and the Female hostel of BellsTech. Similarly, the Arsenic levels in boreholes for Ota, Abeokuta, Agbara and Ifo are greater than the maximum allowable limits whereas the metal was not detected in the boreholes of Male and Female hostels of BellsTech and Covenant University (CU) student hostel. The health implication is that if nothing is done to remove these metals before drinking from these water sources in which the concentrations are significantly higher than the MAL, the consumers of such drinking water are at risk of the health hazards that could be caused by these metals.


Breast cancer is the leading cancer site in women, both in the developed and the developing world. Incidence rates are increasing in many countries, although, in some, mortality may be stable or slightly decreasing. Geographical differences exist, with high rates of disease in North America, North Europe and Oceania, intermediate rates in South and Central America as well as South and East Europe, and low rates in Africa and Asia. Most of the literature reports that genetic inherited factors account for less than 5% of cases, although some authors advance higher figures, up to about 10%. Risk factors for breast cancer are related to the reproductive life of women: early menarche, nulliparity or late age at first birth, late menopause, diet and physical exercise, as well as hormonal factors, be they endogenous (high levels of free or not bound to SHBG estrogens) or exogenous (long‐term use of oral contraceptives or menopausal hormone replacement). The present review does not aim to be exhaustive and fully comprehensive, or to present in detail domains currently well known and accepted by all. On the contrary, it modestly wishes to highlight potentially controversial conditions which could in the future be recognized as new risk factors.


Four bacterial isolates from farmed gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata, included in a previous study as members of the Vibrionaceae and Pseudomonodaceae and the genus Micrococcus, have been evaluated for their adhesive ability to skin and intestinal mucus of farmed Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis, and their antagonistic effect on Vibrio harveyi, a pathogen of sole. These isolates showed higher adhesion to sole mucus than the pathogenic strains of V. harveyi assayed. Only two of the isolates showed antagonistic activity to V. harveyi. Interactions of the four isolates with V. harveyi in respect of adhesion to skin and intestinal mucus under exclusion, competition and displacement conditions were studied. Three isolates were able to reduce the attachment to skin and intestinal sole mucus of a pathogenic strain of V. harveyi under displacement and exclusion conditions, but not under competition conditions. The in vivo probiotic potential of isolate Pdp11 was assessed by oral administration followed by challenge with the pathogenic V. harveyi strain Lg14/00. A group of 50 Senegalese sole received a commercial diet supplemented with 10 cfu g of lyophilized Lg14/00 for 15 days. A second group of fish received a nonsupplemented commercial diet. After challenge the mortality of the fish receiving the diet supplemented with the potential probiotic isolate was significantly lower than that in the fish receiving the non-supplemented commercial diet. This study has shown that the ability to interfere with attachment of pathogens, as well as the adhesion to host surfaces, are suitable criteria for selection of candidate probiotics for use in the culture of Senegalese sole.


Voice recording is a challenging task with many pitfalls due to sub-par recording environments, mistakes in recording setup, microphone quality, etc. Newcomers to voice recording often have difficulty recording their voice, leading to recordings with low sound quality. Many amateur recordings of poor quality have two key problems: too much reverberation (echo), and too much background noise (e.g. fans, electronics, street noise). We present VoiceAssist, a system that helps inexperienced users produce high quality recordings by providing real-time visual feedback on audio quality. We integrate modern audio quality measures into an interactive human-machine feedback loop, so that the audio quality can be maximized at capture-time. We demonstrate the utility of this feedback for improving the recording quality with a user study. When presented with visual feedback about recording quality, users produced recordings that were strongly preferred by third-party listeners, when compared to recordings made without this feedback.


Hien, Tu Q., Nhung, H. T. H., Trung, Tu Q. & Khoa, M. A. (2021). Replacement of soybean meal by Moringa oleifera leaf meal in broiler diet. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 27 (4), 769–775 The purpose of this study is to determine the replacement capacity of soybean meal by Moringa oleifera leaf meal based on soybean meal crude protein presented in the diet. The trial was conducted by using 450 Luong Phuong broilers, from 15 to 70 days of age, which were divided into 5 treatments, each treatment consisted of 10 birds with 9 replicates. The trial consisted of 5 diet formulas (NT) represented by 5 replacement levels of soybean meal by M. oleifera leaf; the replacement was calculated based on the crude protein level of soybean in Luong Phuong broiler diet. The crude protein content of Moringa oleifera leaf (PMO) compares to crude protein content of soybean (PSB) in the diets was NT1 (0% PMO: 100% PSB), NT2 (20% PMO: 80% PSB), NT3 (30% PMO: 70% PSB), NT4 (40% PMO: 60% PSB), NT5 (50% PMO: 50% PSB). Birds of 5 treatments were fed in ad libitum and all diets had similar metabolic energy and crude protein levels. Result showed that in the replacement rate of 20 and 30% (NT2, NT3), the parameters such as bodyweight gain, FCR, EN index were significantly beter than those of NT1; these parameters in the treatment with replacement rate of 40% (NT4) was similar to that of NT1, and those of the replacement rate of 50% (NT5) were lower than those of NT1. Birds fed with treatments NT2 to NT5 showed some improvement; however, it was not significant compared to birds fed NT1 diet in term of slaughter parameters and meat chemical composition. The carotenoids of the liver and the yellowness colour of the skin in birds of treatments NT2 – NT5 were significantly higher than those of NT1. This can be concluded that protein of soybean meal could be replaced by that of M. oleifera leaf meal in broiler diet up to 40%, however, the best achievement was made at the replacement rate of 20 – 30%.


Microbial infection has been shown to reduce hatching success for the eggs of tropical birds. In these ecosystems, humidity and temperature encourage bacterial growth and the transport of microbes through the pores of the egg shell. A single study in a temperate ecosystem found no noticeable change of microbial communities during the length of the incubation cycle, and thus no increased risk of microbial infection by the time of hatching. This study, however, took place in the arid Mediterranean type climate of California, a locale that likely diminishes the abilities of microbial communities to colonize and grow on egg surfaces. For this study we explored the ability of microbial communities to colonize and flourish on eggshells in a temperate salt marsh. These temperate ecosystems possess much higher humidity and water exposure than Mediterranean climates, thus possessing conditions that are more conducive to microbial growth. We analyzed the microbial communities of eggs from Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson's (A. nelsoni) sparrows in a tidal salt marsh in southern Maine. Eggs were swabbed every three days during June and July to test for present microbial communities. To determine if environmental factors affect the microbial community, we compared the microbial environment of eggshells that had and had not been flooded by the tides. We found no significant differences in the microbial communities of these eggshells.


Background: Whether supplemental oxygen worsens long-term mortality remains unclear, with contradictory trial results. The authors therefore tested the hypothesis that supplemental oxygen (80% vs. 30%) increases the hazard for long-term mortality. Methods: The authors conducted a post hoc analysis of a large multiple crossover cluster trial in which more than 5,000 colorectal surgeries on 4,088 adults were allocated to receive either 30% or 80% inspired oxygen during general anesthesia. The authors assessed the effect of 80% versus 30% target-inspired oxygen on long-term mortality and calculated Kaplan–Meier survival estimates. Analysis was restricted to patients with a home address in Ohio because the authors could obtain reliable vital status information from the Ohio Department of Health (Columbus, Ohio) for them. Results: A total of 3,471 qualifying colorectal surgeries performed in 2,801 patients were analyzed, including 1,753 (51%) surgeries in 1,577 patients given 80% oxygen and 1,718 surgeries in 1,551 patients given 30% oxygen. The observed incidence of death after a median of 3 yr was 13% (234 of 1,753) in the 80% oxygen group and 14% (245 of 1,718) in the 30% oxygen group. The estimated hazard ratio for mortality was 0.94 (95% CI, 0.78 to 1.13; P = 0.493). Conclusions: In this post hoc analysis of a large, controlled trial, supplemental oxygen did not increase postoperative mortality. In a post hoc analysis of a controlled trial of 3,471 colorectal surgeries, the incidence of death after a median of 3 yr of follow-up was 13% with 80% oxygen and 14% with 30% oxygen, giving an estimated hazard ratio for mortality of 0.94 (95% CI, 0.78 to 1.13; P = 0.493). Supplemental oxygen does not increase mortality.


— This article highlights and demonstrates the new requirements variable and partly unpredictable wind power will bring to unit commitment and power system operations. Current practice is described and contrasted against the new requirements. Literature specifically addressing questions about wind power and unit commitment related power system operations is surveyed. The scope includes forecast errors, operating reserves, intra-day markets, and sharing reserves across interconnections. The discussion covers the critical issues arising from the research.


Neuroscientists classify neurons into different types that perform similar computations at different locations in the visual field. Traditional methods for neural system identification do not capitalize on this separation of 'what' and 'where'. Learning deep convolutional feature spaces that are shared among many neurons provides an exciting path forward, but the architectural design needs to account for data limitations: While new experimental techniques enable recordings from thousands of neurons, experimental time is limited so that one can sample only a small fraction of each neuron's response space. Here, we show that a major bottleneck for fitting convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to neural data is the estimation of the individual receptive field locations, a problem that has been scratched only at the surface thus far. We propose a CNN architecture with a sparse readout layer factorizing the spatial (where) and feature (what) dimensions. Our network scales well to thousands of neurons and short recordings and can be trained end-to-end. We evaluate this architecture on ground-truth data to explore the challenges and limitations of CNN-based system identification. Moreover, we show that our network model outperforms current state-of-the art system identification models of mouse primary visual cortex.


We study information flows in China's stock markets. By using panel data methods we test for a unit root in the price premium of domestic investors' A shares over foreign investors' B shares, as well as cointegration between the A- and B-share prices on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. We find that the A-share premia are nonstationary, and that the A- and B-share prices are not cointegrated up till January 2001. After February 2001, when domestic investors were allowed to trade B shares, the A-share premia become stationary and the A- and B-share prices cointegrated. One interesting result from the panel data analysis is that most firms' A and B shares are cointegrated, but not all firms. Cointegration is more likely for firms with a small A-share premium, low ratio of nontradeable shares, high growth rate and large B-share market capitalization relative to the A-share market capitalization. Our findings suggest that the relaxation of the investment restrictions decreased the segmentation between the A- and B-share markets in China.


In the mid-I 980s, Vietnam opened its borders to international investment in hopes of improving its economic atmosphere. The Vietnamese government launched new initiatives and passed new laws to facilitate and encourage Foreign Direct Investment in its ailing economy. However, after an examination of recent changes, this Note concludes that further reform is still required in order to encourage the necessary Foreign Direct Investment that will help aid Vietnam's feeble economy and allow it to prosper as the next great Asian economic


Omniscient narrators often receive negative critical attention because of their tendency to narrate with instructive authority. This is especially true of the narrators in Victorian novels such as Daniel Deronda and Vanity Fair. In these novels, scholars have alternately derided or extolled the omniscient narrator, depending upon the most fashionable theoretical model of the moment to give them their interpretive cue. I argue, however, that the narrator's attempts to address and involve the readers in the text ought to play a larger role in directing critical analysis of the narrator's conduct. If readers are attentive to the narrator's absence as well as the narrator's presence, then they will be better able to assess the narrator's conduct. A close inspection of when the narrator is absent and what textual information the narrator obscures in those absences reveals that ethical reticence undergirds the narrator's behavior in Daniel Deronda and Vanity Fair.


Imatinib mesilate is a well-known antitumor target inhibitor of protein tyrosine kinase, which is effective in different cancer types expressing Bcr / Abl and, in particular, in hemoblastosis. A higher interest to imatinib during the COVID-19 epidemic is explained by the fact that cancer patients are one of the COVID-19 risk groups. Moreover, imatinib target mechanism of action, which is effective in cancer, can have a high potential against the most severe COVID-19 complication such as the disease associated pulmonary fibrosis. COVID-19 associated interstitial pulmonary fibrosis develops as an autoimmune process caused by systemic inflammation with atypical (idiopathic) pneumonia resulting from acute respiratory distress syndrome with the tyrosine kinase mechanism of signaling pathway activation and cellular response. Experi-mental and clinical results showing antifibrotic and dose-related antithrombotic imatinib effect demonstrate perspective use of this antitumor agent to correct COVID-19 associated pneumonia causing a high death rate of patients with COVID-19. The review presents literature data of 2001–2020 discussing pathologic genetic and clinical characteristics of the fibrosis which exacerbates COVID-19 pneumonia in adults. The sequence of the disease processes demonstrates that disease progression with the decreasing oxygen saturation in the peripheral blood intensifies local thrombosis in the lungs. As a result, hypoxia is developing, which is difficult to control and can cause lethal outcome in severe cases. Yet, the conventional antifibrotic and thrombolytic agents can only partially control the process of pneumofibrosis including that of cancer patients. The approximate antifibrotic dose of imatinib 400 mg / day is therapeutic for oncopatho-logy. The antitumor drug registered in many countries and well described side effects and contraindications needs no long-term registration studies for a new indication, therefore, it may be easily prepared for clinical testing.


Tensor decomposition is a fundamental framework to analyze data that can be represented by multi-dimensional arrays. In practice, tensor data is often accompanied by temporal information, namely the time points when the entry values were generated. This information implies abundant, complex temporal variation patterns. However, current methods always assume the factor representations of the entities in each tensor mode are static, and never consider their temporal evolution. To fill this gap, we propose NONparametric FActor Trajectory learning for dynamic tensor decomposition (NONFAT). We place Gaussian process (GP) priors in the frequency domain and conduct inverse Fourier transform via Gauss-Laguerre quadrature to sample the trajectory functions. In this way, we can overcome data sparsity and obtain robust trajectory estimates across long time horizons. Given the trajectory values at specific time points, we use a second-level GP to sample the entry values and to capture the temporal relationship between the entities. For efficient and scalable inference, we leverage the matrix Gaussian structure in the model, introduce a matrix Gaussian posterior, and develop a nested sparse variational learning algorithm. We have shown the advantage of our method in several real-world applications.


Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading inherited cause of intellectual disability. The syndrome is caused by a single gene mutation on the X chromosome. Although individual differences are large, most individuals with FXS display weaknesses across all language and literacy domains compared to peers of the same chronological age with typical cognitive and language development. Expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language abilities as well as literacy skills are similar to those of younger, typically developing peers at similar cognitive and language developmental levels, although there are areas in which impairments exceed developmental-level expectations. One area of special impairment is the higher occurrence of repetition in the language of individuals with FXS compared to developmentally matched peers. In this paper, we review the behavioral, language, and literacy characteristics of individuals with FXS and discuss potential clinical implications.


Extending a brand beyond its original product category is a major strategy for long-term profitability. A brand owner can internalize the development of the extension product, or license the brand to an external partner in order to exploit the licensee's better capabilities and higher efficiency on the targeted market. Brand extension is characterized by the presence of the socalled reciprocal effect, whereby the effort exerted to develop and market the extension has a feedback effect – either positive or negative – on the value of the parent brand. Under licensing, this effect is an externality from the standpoint of the brand owner. The licensing relationship is characterized by double-sided moral hazard, requiring an incentivizing contract; the reciprocal effect adds a further element that should be governed by the contract. Indeed, a positive effect can boost the attractiveness of licensing relative to internal development, whereas a negative one can have the opposite effect. Drawing from extant literature, we build a game-theoretical model and show how reciprocal effect, (dis)similarity between the extension product and the parent brand, and (in)efficiency of the brand owner relative to the licensee in developing the extension shape the optimal licensing contract and affect the choice between internal development and licensing.


This paper reports on the effect of Sm doping concentration on structural and static magnetic properties of electrodeposited NiFe thin films. A reduction of Ni concentration from 80 to 50 percent was observed as the Sm concentration increased from 0 to 25%. XRD analyses revealed that a transition from crystalline to partially disordered state occurred on the Sm-doped NiFe thin films and ultimately transformed to amorphous state at higher concentration. The saturation magnetization decreased to ~50% at 25% Sm doping as compared to that of NiFe thin films.


Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) and associated neuropathic pain is a debilitating adverse effect of cancer treatment. Current understanding of the mechanisms underpinning CIPN is limited and there are no effective treatment strategies. In this study, we treated male C57BL/6J mice with 4 cycles of either Paclitaxel (PTX) or Oxaliplatin (OXA) over a week and tested pain hypersensitivity and changes in peripheral immune responses and neuroinflammation on days 7 and 13 post 1st injection. We found that both PTX and OXA caused significant mechanical allodynia. In the periphery, PTX and OXA significantly increased circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell populations. OXA caused a significant increase in the percentage of interleukin-4+ lymphocytes in the spleen and significant down-regulation of regulatory T (T-reg) cells in the inguinal lymph nodes. However, conditional depletion of T-reg cells in OXA-treated transgenic DEREG mice had no additional effect on pain sensitivity. Furthermore, there was no leukocyte infiltration into the nervous system of OXA- or PTX-treated mice. In the peripheral nervous system, PTX induced expression of the neuronal injury marker activating transcription factor-3 in IB4+ and NF200+ sensory neurons as well as an increase in the chemokines CCL2 and CCL3 in the lumbar dorsal root ganglion. In the central nervous system, PTX induced significant astrocyte activation in the spinal cord dorsal horn, and both PTX and OXA caused reduction of P2ry12+ homeostatic microglia, with no measurable changes in IBA-1+ microglia/macrophages in the dorsal and ventral horns. We also found that PTX induced up-regulation of several inflammatory cytokines and chemokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, CCL11, CCL4, CCL3, IL-12p70 and GM-CSF) in the spinal cord. Overall, these findings suggest that PTX and OXA cause distinct pathological changes in the periphery and nervous system, which may contribute to chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain.


This paper gives an introduction to the single-phase instantaneous PQ (P-instantaneous real power and Q-instantaneous virtual power) theory and carries out the calculation and simulation analysis on reactive power, active power, instantaneous reactive power and instantaneous active power for the single system before and after the compensation of the multilevel inverter. By analyzing the experimental results, it can be seen that harmonic current of the single phase system decreased significantly after using multilevel inverter, while the power factor improved obviously.


Monocytes are innate immune cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system that have emerged as important regulators of cancer development and progression. Our understanding of monocytes has advanced from viewing these cells as a homogenous population to a heterogeneous system of cells that display diverse responses to different stimuli. During cancer, different monocyte subsets perform functions that contribute to both pro‐ and antitumoral immunity, including phagocytosis, secretion of tumoricidal mediators, promotion of angiogenesis, remodeling of the extracellular matrix, recruitment of lymphocytes, and differentiation into tumor‐associated macrophages and dendritic cells. The ability of cancer to evade immune recognition and clearance requires protumoral signals to outweigh ongoing attempts by the host immune system to prevent tumor growth. This review discusses current understanding of monocyte heterogeneity during homeostasis, highlights monocyte functions in cancer progression, and describes monocyte‐targeted therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.


In this paper, the effects of specimen size and crack length on the fracture toughness of polycrystalline graphite are studied. The experimental results reported in the previous studies showed that the fracture toughness of graphite increase in bigger specimen. It has been also demonstrated that the fracture toughness of graphite is nearly identical in specimens with crack length ratio less than 0.7 but decreases for grater crack length ratios. To justify the size and crack length dependency of fracture toughness, the modified form of maximum tangential stress (MMTS) criterion, which makes the use of higher order terms in calculating the stress field around the crack tip is employed. It is shown that the MMTS criterion can provide good estimates for the fracture toughness of graphite obtained from specimen with different sizes. It is also indicated that the MMTS criterion can predict very good the reported experimental fracture toughness data for samples with the crack length ratios less than 0.7.


We show that it is possible to adapt to nonparametric disturbance auto-correlation in time series regression in the presence of long memory in both regressors and disturbances by using a smoothed nonparametric spectrum estimate in frequency-domain generalized least squares. When the collective memory in regressors and disturbances is sufficiently strong, ordinary least squares is not only asymptotically inefficient but asymptotically non-normal and has a slow rate of convergence, whereas generalized least squares is asymptotically normal and Gauss-Markov efficient with standard convergence rate. Despite the anomalous behaviour of nonparametric spectrum estimates near a spectral pole, we are able to justify a standard construction of frequency-domain generalized least squares, earlier considered in case of short memory disturbances. A small Monte Carlo study of finite sample performance is included.


A Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) has been designed, constructed and developed. The design specification was for a VSM to work in magnetic fields up to 15T, and provide a variable temperature environment for the sample from 4.2K to 130K. A probe has been made to protect the detection coils and provide the variable temperature environment. The detection coils have been designed using computer modelling techniques such that a 4mm long sample may be measured. A low-field insert has been used to eliminate problems with flux jumping in the high field magnet system causing extremely high noise at magnetic fields below 2T. The VSM has been calibrated against a nickel standard in fields up to 15T. Considering electrical noise, the sensitivity of the VSM is 10(^-6)A.m(^2). Hopefully, this may be improved upon by modifications made to the VSM that have not yet been fully tested. The temperature measurement is accurate to +200mK from 4.2K to 30K in a liquid helium bath and from 77K to 130K in a liquid nitrogen bath. Outside these ranges it is necessary to use a temperature sensor mounted on the sample holder to ensure accurate temperature measurement. The VSM has been used to study the superconducting properties of two single crystals of YBa(_2)Cu(_3)O(_7-8) grown under identical conditions. This study was done in applied fields up to 220mT and at temperatures from 77K to 95K. It is shown from the transition temperature and the magnetisation critical current densities that the crystals do not exhibit identical superconducting properties. Some high field measurements have also been performed with the VSM. Studies of multifilaraentary niobium-titanium wires have been made and the information has been used to modify and develop the VSM, as have measurements on a tape of Bi(_2)Sr(_2)Ca(_2)Cu(_3)O(_x). Magnetic hysteresis of a multifilamentary Bi(_2)Sr(_2)CaCu(_2)O(_x) wire has been measured at 4.2K and the magnetisation critical current density determined. This agrees well with transport critical current measurements.


For buried Asbestos cement (AC) pipes in service, internal and external surface degradation occur by dissolution or leaching of cement-based components leading to loss of pipe strength. Since water quality and soil environment cannot be completely specified along a pipeline, a management methodology for AC water pipelines is required to estimate the probability of pipe failure as ageing proceeds. The paper describes the technique and its application to experimental data, which illustrates in three parts. First, the degradation rates in AC pipes are computed from 360 aggregated independent pipe segments residual strength test data taken from different pipe diameter sizes used in various water utilities locations in Thailand. Second, the predictions of service lifetime for AC pipes are estimated using Monte Carlo simulation in conjunction with the physical failure state formulations. Output from the simulation provides a number of failures recorded over time, which then allows the economic analysis for optimal pipe replacement scheduling. All is described in the third part. The end results can be used for water utilities to allocate government funds for future pipe maintenance activities.


Cloud climate feedback constitutes the most important uncertainty in climate modelling, and currently even its sign is still unknown. In the recently published report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), from 20 climate models 6 showed a positive and 14 a negative cloud radiative feedback in a doubled CO2 scenario. The radiative budget of clouds has also been investigated by experimental methods, especially by studying the relation of satellite observed broad band shortwave and longwave radiation to sea surface temperature. Here we present a new method for the investigation of the dependence of cloud properties on temperature changes, derived from spectrally resolved UV/vis satellite observations. Our study differs from previous investigations in three important ways: first, we directly extract cloud properties (amount and altitude) and relate them to surface temperature. Second, we retrieve the cloud altitude from the atmospheric O2 absorption instead from thermal IR radiation. Third, our correlation analysis is performed using 7.5 years of global monthly anomalies (with respect to the average of the same month for all years). For most parts of the globe (except the tropics) we find a negative correlation of cloud fraction versus surface-near temperature. In contrast, for the cloud top height a positive correlation is found for almost the whole globe. Both findings might serve as an indicator for an overall positive cloud climate feedback. Another peculiarity of our study is that the cloud-temperature relationships are determined for fixed locations (instead to spatial variations over selected areas) and are based on the "natural" variability over several years (instead the anomaly for a strong El-Nino event). Thus our results might be especially representative for the extrapolation to long term climate changes. Climate models should aim to reproduce our findings: if substantial differences are found, this might indicate that important details are not yet well captured by these models. If good agreement is found, from the models reliable information on the magnitude and the detail mechanisms of cloud climate feedback could be gained.


Recent research increasingly brings to question the appropriateness of using predictive tools in complex, real-world tasks. While a growing body of work has explored ways to improve value alignment in these tools, comparatively less work has centered concerns around the fundamental justifiability of using these tools. This work seeks to center validity considerations in deliberations around whether and how to build data-driven algorithms in high-stakes domains. Toward this end, we translate key concepts from validity theory to predictive algorithms. We apply the lens of validity to re-examine common challenges in problem formulation and data issues that jeopardize the justifiability of using predictive algorithms and connect these challenges to the social science discourse around validity. Our interdisciplinary exposition clarifies how these concepts apply to algorithmic decision making contexts. We demonstrate how these validity considerations could distill into a series of high-level questions intended to promote and document reflections on the legitimacy of the predictive task and the suitability of the data.


Geographic patterns in positions of 79-87 avian hybrid zones and 12 parapatric contacts in Australia are analysed in the context of past climates, palaeo-refugia, mechanisms of origin, and temporal stability. No hybrid zone occurs in rain-forest species and differentiated vicariant forms of these are generally separated by unsuitable tracts of sclerophyll forest or savanna woodland. Most hybrid zones occur in semi-arid and sub-humid species. The zones appear to have originated by secondary contact of differentiated vicars rather than by parapatric divergence, because most lie between refugia postulated on the basis of late Pleistocene climates; their widths are generally in accord with those predicted from dispersion rates. The evidence suggests that most, if not all, hybrid zones were formed when expansion of isolates from refugia became possible following the marked improvement in climate at the close of the severe arid phase of about 17 000 y before present. The persistence of hybnd zones since then and their widths offer no support for the concept of reinforcement of previously acquired differences in recognition (signalling) systems. Where a hybrid zone coincides closely with the boundary of a presumed refuge, a semi-arid form has differentially expanded towards its subhumid counterpart.


Rainfed grain production in semi-arid, subtropical south-west Queensland in north–east Australia is marginal, because of low and variable rainfall and low soil fertility. Current cropping systems are based around winter cereals, with a summer fallow period essential for storing soil water to reduce risk. Increasing the soil water storage and the efficiency of water and nitrogen use is essential for sustainable crop production in this region. The effects on crop production and economic returns of various crop rotations involving winter crops—wheat (Triticum aestivum), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), faba bean (Vicia faba) and canola (Brassica napus); summer crops - grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and mung bean (Phaseolus mungo); and fertilizer N application to wheat, canola and grain sorghum were studied from 1996 to 2005 on a grey Vertisol. Annual rainfall was above the long-term average in 6 of these 10 years and below average in 4 years. Crops were either not sown or failed due to drought in 3 years during this period. Under the seasonal conditions and grain prices that occurred during this experiment, mean annual gross margin was $100/ha greater for a 2-year chickpea–wheat rotation, $20/ha greater for a faba bean–canola–wheat rotation and $45/ha greater for an alternate cereal–grain legume rotation involving grain sorghum, mung bean, wheat and chickpea than for continuous wheat ($40/ha), where no nitrogen fertilizer was applied to wheat, canola or grain sorghum. Where nitrogen fertilizer was applied to target prime hard grain protein in wheat and maximize yield in canola and grain sorghum, chickpea–wheat ($170/ha) was the only rotation to result in greater gross margin than continuous wheat ($110/ha). Chickpea generally yielded well and resulted in a mean yield increase of 22% in the following wheat crop compared with continuous wheat, where no nitrogen fertilizer was applied in wheat and of 11% where N fertilizer was applied in wheat to target prime hard grain protein. On average, the grain legumes, chickpea and faba bean, provided soil nitrogen benefits of 20 and 40 kg N/ha, respectively, thereby reducing nitrogen fertilizer requirements for following cereal crops and canola. Therefore, the profitability and sustainability of crop production in this semi-arid, subtropical environment can be improved, compared with continuous winter cereal cropping, by appropriate crop rotations and nutrient management.


We chose 60 patients with shoulder joint injury that have received arthroscopic anchor implantation fixation treatment in Southwest Hospital from January 2012 to October 2015 and divided them into a control group and an observation group equally, using computer single-blind randomized method. Patients with shoulder joint injury in the control group have received conservative treatment, while patients with shoulder joint injury in the observation group have received arthroscopic anchor fixation treatment. The treatment effects, shoulder function score, scope of activities of shoulder joint, life quality score, pain score, and dislocation recurrence rate of shoulder joint for patients from different groups were compared. We found that after 7-15 months of follow-up observation following the treatment, the excellence rate of the observation group was 100%, while that of the control group was 80%, P<0.05. After the treatment, scope of activities of the shoulder joint, life quality score, and their pain score were significantly lower; shoulder joint function score, scope of activities of shoulder joint, and life quality score of those in the control group were significantly higher, and their pain score were significantly lower. During the time of follow-up after treatment, no recurrent dislocation of shoulder joint occurred within the observation group, which means a 0% recurrence rate, while there were 4 cases of recurrent dislocation of the shoulder joint in the control group, which means the recurrence rate in the control group is 13.33%. To conclude, the shoulder joint arthroscopic anchor fixation treatment on martial arts player for shoulder joint injury is effective in that it helps with shoulder joint functional recovery reduces the pain in the shoulder and improves patients' life quality. What is more, recurrence is also reduced after the treatment, which helps to improve the prognosis.


In this essay I seek to critically evaluate some forms of holism and organicism in biological thought, as a more deflationary echo to Gilbert and Sarkar's reflection on the need for an 'umbrella' concept to convey the new vitality of holistic concepts in biology (Gilbert and Sarkar 2000). Given that some recent discussions in theoretical biology call for an organism concept (from Moreno and Mossio's work on organization to Kirschner et al.'s research paper in Cell, 2000, building on chemistry to articulate what they called "molecular vitalism," studying the "vitalistic" properties of molecular, cellular, and organismal function, and Pepper and Herron's suggestion in their 2008 paper that organisms define a category that evolutionary biology cannot do without), the question, what concept of organicism are they calling for? To what extent are such claims philosophically committed to a non-naturalistic concept of organism as organizing centre, as a foundational rather than heuristic concept – or possibly a "biochauvinism," to use Di Paolo's term (Di Paolo 2009)? My aim in this paper is to conceptually clarify the forms of holism and organicism that are involved in these cases (and I acknowledge that the study of early 20th-century holisms [Peterson 2010] indicates that not all of them were in fact 'organicist' or 'biologistic'). I suggest that contemporary holists are still potentially beholden to a certain kind of vitalism or "biochauvinism"; but that when they reduce their claims to mere heuristics, conversely, they risk losing sight of a certain kind of organizational "thickness", a "vital materiality" (Wheeler 2010) which is characteristic of biological systems (Bechtel 2007). And I ask if it is possible to articulate a concept of biological holism or organicism which is neither an empirical 'biochauvinism' nor a metaphysical 'vitalism'?


The purpose of this study was to examine the direct and stress-buffering effect of optimism and satisfaction with social support on immune responses in women with breast cancer. Participants were 54 post-operative (M = 19 days) breast cancer patients who completed questionnaires on stress, optimism, and satisfaction with social support and provided blood to measure natural killer cell activity (NKCA) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) from whole blood. Higher levels of stress were associated with decrements in NKCA and IFN-gamma. Optimism moderated the relationship of stress on NKCA but was not related to IFN-gamma. Satisfaction with social support was unrelated to immune responses. Results suggest that interventions aimed at reducing stress and enhancing optimism in women with breast cancer might promote optimal immune response.


This paper focuses on the development of a portable roadside magnetic sensor system for vehicle counting, classification, and speed measurement. The sensor system consists of wireless anisotropic magnetic devices that do not require to be embedded in the roadway-the devices are placed next to the roadway and measure traffic in the immediately adjacent lane. An algorithm based on a magnetic field model is proposed to make the system robust to the errors created by larger vehicles driving in the nonadjacent lane. These false calls cause an 8% error if uncorrected. The use of the proposed algorithm reduces this error to only 1%. Speed measurement is based on the calculation of the cross correlation between longitudinally spaced sensors. Fast computation of the cross correlation is enabled by using frequency-domain signal processing techniques. An algorithm for automatically correcting for any small misalignment of the sensors is utilized. A high-accuracy differential Global Positioning System is used as a reference to measure vehicle speeds to evaluate the accuracy of the speed measurement from the new sensor system. The results show that the maximum error of the speed estimates is less than 2.5% over the entire range of 5-27 m/s (11-60 mi/h). Vehicle classification is done based on the magnetic length and an estimate of the average vertical magnetic height of the vehicle. Vehicle length is estimated from the product of occupancy and estimated speed. The average vertical magnetic height is estimated using two magnetic sensors that are vertically spaced by 0.25 m. Finally, it is shown that the sensor system can be used to reliably count the number of right turns at an intersection, with an accuracy of 95%. The developed sensor system is compact, portable, wireless, and inexpensive. Data are presented from a large number of vehicles on a regular busy urban road in the Twin Cities, MN, USA.


Among ethanol extracts of 10 edible berries, bilberry extract was found to be the most effective at inhibiting the growth of HL60 human leukemia cells and HCT116 human colon carcinoma cells in vitro. Bilberry extract induced apoptotic cell bodies and nucleosomal DNA fragmentation in HL60 cells. The proportion of apoptotic cells induced by bilberry extract in HCT116 was much lower than that in HL60 cells, and DNA fragmentation was not induced in the former. Of the extracts tested, that from bilberry contained the largest amounts of phenolic compounds, including anthocyanins, and showed the greatest 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. Pure delphinidin and malvidin, like the glycosides isolated from the bilberry extract, induced apoptosis in HL60 cells. These results indicate that the bilberry extract and the anthocyanins, bearing delphinidin or malvidin as the aglycon, inhibit the growth of HL60 cells through the induction of apoptosis. Only pure delphinidin and the glycoside isolated from the bilberry extract, but not malvidin and the glycoside, inhibited the growth of HCT116 cells.


In this paper the normal regimes of the Nigerian 330-132 kV power grid at 2003-2005 year levels were analyzed. The load flow studies were also carried out at perspective load growth forecast up to 10 years based on exponential trend using a program (Newton's method). An analysis of results shows that with existing available generation and maximum load estimate by the utility there is a deficit which will persist if generation, commensurate with load growth, is not immediately reinforced. The network lacks adequate reactive power sources to maintain permissible bus voltages and the power transfer capability due to thermal constraints.


Extracellular vesicles have recently emerged as a novel mode of viral transmission exploited by naked viruses to exit host cells through a nonlytic pathway. Extracellular vesicles can allow multiple viral particles to collectively traffic in and out of cells, thus enhancing the viral fitness and diversifying the transmission routes while evading the immune system. This has been shown for several RNA viruses that belong to the Picornaviridae, Hepeviridae, Reoviridae, and Caliciviridae families; however, recent studies also demonstrated that the BK and JC viruses, two DNA viruses that belong to the Polyomaviridae family, use a similar strategy. In this review, we provide an update on recent advances in understanding the mechanisms used by naked viruses to hijack extracellular vesicles, and we discuss the implications for the biology of polyomaviruses.


Describes a cosmetic composition for the compositions, especially the aging and / or stress-related skin cosmetic, and separately from this point of water, there are one or more materials to form a layer structure together with water in the composition. In addition the composition, a) one or more compounds having one or more compounds of formula (I) functional groups, -CH - (CH b) and / or one or more metabolites of the compound, c) and / or contains a S- adenosyl methionine.


The main problem of MEMS phase shifters, known for excellent linearity and low loss, is their limited power handling capability. This paper compares the high power performance of a novel W-band MEMS phase shifter concept, based on dielectrically loading of a line, to conventional MEMS phase shifter designs based on thin metallic bridges. For the new concept, the power handling is only limited by the transmission line, not the MEMS part, and the maximum temperature increase at 40dBm/75GHz is only 30°C (10–20 times less than conventional MEMS designs). Also the RF performance is better than the best conventional designs for the whole W-band.


Abstract:In this interview, the writer, activist, and well-known woman of color feminist and participant in grassroots left movements Aurora Levins Morales explores the action and language of participatory social change, considered through the lens of her social location and experience. With a focus on intergenerational communication among feminist and Left movement participants, Brooke Lober asks Levins Morales to share her method of writing and activism, based in histories of family and place; to comment on the term and practice of "identity politics"; to assess the current upsurge of feminist movements; and to revisit her historical and contemporary contributions to internationalism, women of color feminism, and Jewish organizing in the Palestine solidarity movement. Levins Morales offers insightful reconsideration of her life, work, and philosophy, with descriptions of the context and motivation of her published writing.


The paper presents sufficient and almost necessary conditions for the presence of periodic solutions for zero dynamics of virtually constrained under-actuated Euler-Lagrange system. This result is further extended to detect periodic solutions for a class of hybrid systems in the plane and analyze their orbital stability and instability. Illustrative examples are given.


In most bird species, females disperse prior to their first breeding attempt, while males remain close to the place they hatched. While explanations for such female bias in natal dispersal have focused on the resource-defense based monogamous mating system that is prevalent in most birds, the factors shaping dispersal decisions are often more complex. Studying species with different social and mating systems can help illuminate the various factors shaping sex biased dispersal. Here, we use genetic approaches to determine whether females and/or males disperse in great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus), which have a mating system where the males hold breeding territories that multiple females might choose to place their nest in, but females forage independently of these breeding territories across a wider area. We find that for individuals caught at a single site in Arizona, (i) the average relatedness among all female dyads, but not of males, is higher than average relatedness among other individuals at the site; (ii) that female close relatives are found within shorter distances from each other than pairs of unrelated females, but male close relatives at larger distances than pairs of unrelated males; and (iii) we find a decline in relatedness with increasing spatial distances for females, but not for males. Our findings show that great-tailed grackles offer opportunities to understand how divergent social and mating systems might shape natal philopatry and dispersal, given their reversal of the usual sex-bias in dispersal with females associating with genetic relatives while males are not.

https://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/36/4 Sevchik et al_ABC_9(1).pdf


Sphaerospores were found among three species of fish examined from waters known to be enzootic for proliferative kidney disease (PKD) of salmonids. They were detected in the renal tubules of both hatchery-reared rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) exposed to the infectious stage of PKD and in chubs (Gila bicolor) in the headwaters of a hatchery where PKD is enzootic. Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) collected near net pens where Pacific salmon had experienced a PKD epizootic were also found to harbor sphaerospores in the lumen of the kidney tubules. The latter two host species contained developmental stages of a myxosporidan in the blood and in the lumen of the kidney tubules which are similar to those of PKX, the causative agent of PKD in salmonid fish. The sphaerospores observed in the rainbow trout are the first to be observed in this species. The similarity to previously observed developmental stages, rarity, and presence of these sphaerospores in salmonid fish from a hatchery where PKD is enzootic suggest that they are the most mature stage of the PKX myxosporidan yet observed.


ABSTRACT During the nineteenth century the British consular service was often dismissed as an organization with purely commercial responsibilities. A succession of governments and diplomats insisted upon this notion, despite the fact that at certain times both relied very much on consular officials for information on foreign affairs. This dependence was especially evident in Italy during the decade after 1860, when British leaders had lent their moral and diplomatic support to the creation of the modern Italian state against considerable international opposition. During this period their desire not to see the achievement undone led them to maintain a close watch on Italian affairs. The contribution made in this area by the consular service, and the manner in which it was reorganized in response to Italian unification, show how such a role could take priority over its other functions. Although this state of affairs was no doubt exceptional on account of the remarkable level of British interest in the Unification of Italy, it nonetheless provides a clear demonstration of how the organization could be used under certain circumstances. The extent to which British consuls were used to monitor affairs in post-unification Italy also encourages reflection upon the widespread view that British foreign policy rejected interventionism in favour of isolation from European affairs during the 1860s.