Recent literature emphasizes the importance of independent media for beneficial political, economic and social outcomes. I investigate how media consumers react to state ownership of TV stations and the regulation and financing of these public broadcasters. The empirical results show that a higher share of state-owned TV stations is associated with lower TV consumption, both in total and with regard to news and information only. The negative effects of state ownership are larger when the public stations are regulated by a Ministry as opposed to a more independent regulatory body. When public broadcasters are subject to selfregulation only, there is even a positive association between the share of state ownership and TV consumption. The negative effects of state ownership and total TV consumption A but not news and information consumption A are also smaller when the share of commercial income of public broadcasters is higher. The results are consistent with the view that political influence leads mainly to less attractive news information broadcasting whereas public funding leads to a less attractive entertainment spectrum but not to less attractive news.


Solubility of crystal plays an important role in both biological and chemical field. For this project, we will focus on two factors that affects the solubility of crystal which is effect of ultrasound and effect of particle size. In this research project, the solute, benzoic acid (AR Grade) which also categorised as sparingly soluble acid that is not easy to dissolve in water. It is a colourless crystalline solid and a simple aromatic carboxylic acid. Salts of benzoic acid are used as food preservatives and benzoic acid also is an important ancestor for the industrial synthesis of many other organic substances. This acid shows low aqueous solubility and dissolution rate and this has become the main concern in the industry that require dissolution of this chemical. In this project, the solvent that will be used to dissolve the benzoic acid is the distilled water. The experiment was conducted by applying the ultrasound during the dissolution of benzoic acid in distilled water in a different range of time and according to different particle size groups. Result shows the relation between different particle size groups and different range of time during sonication on the solubility of the crystal. The purpose of conducting this research project is because of the lack of literature data on solubility of benzoic acid which is also the acid that is categorised as sparingly soluble acid. The experimental outcome shows the crystal with smaller particle size have higher solubility compared to crystal with larger particle size and the solution with longer time of sonication also have higher solubility compared to solution that being sonication with a shorter time.


Data from sedimentary cycles in basins from northern England, the Appalachians and Midcontinent US afford an insight into periodicities and controls of Late Carboniferous glacio-eustatic sea-level changes. Lithofacies with identifiable palaeobathymetry are used to assess the magnitude of sea-level change in the Pennine Basin of northern England; the method yields a minimum value of 42m. Walsh power spectral analysis is employed to resolve periodicities of about 120ka within the Pennine Basin of northern England, 212, 140 and 93 ka within the Midcontinent US succession and 109, 84, 67, 63 ka within the Appalachian Basin. Within the Pennine Basin periodicities and magnitudes are found to be independent of their position within the basin thus any tectonism can be assumed to have had a negligible effect on the transgressions. A simplified modelled climatic curve is derived from Milankovitch parameters and Pleistocene δ18O data. This is used in a basin fill model that simulates the thermally subsiding Pennine Basin. The resulting distribution of marine deposits is seen to depend upon both the steady regional subsidence and the magnitude and extent of glacio-eustatic transgressions.


In analyzing the sediment and water quality of the Stoney Creek habitat, four key aspects were investigated: lithology, sediment/water quality, salmon spawning/incubation, and particle size distribution. The lithology found the streambed sediment layer is 3 cm in depth (over bedrock) and consists mainly of sand and some coarser material including gravels, cobbles, and boulders. The sediment of the offchannel pond is mainly mud (fine material) with a moderate amount of sand and a very small percentage of coarser material including gravels and organic matter (leaf detritus and woody debris). Chemical analysis concluded a significant concentration of iron in the pond environment, with potential for adverse effects to salmon offspring. This report further aims to assess the influences of fine sediment on the quality of salmon spawning habitat and incubation success rate. Permeability of spawning gravels and dissolved oxygen concentrations are measured to see if they support the incubation and growth of salmon eggs. Particle size distributions are found significantly different between upstream pool and pond side. And the difference of particle size distributions can influence salmon production in the off-channel site.


Signaling in host plants is an integral part of a successful infection by pathogenic RNA viruses. Therefore, identifying early signaling events in host plants that play an important role in establishing the infection process will help our understanding of the disease process. In this context, phosphorylation constitutes one of the most important post-translational protein modifications, regulating many cellular signaling processes. In this study, we aimed to identify the processes affected by infection with Peanut stunt virus (PSV) and its satellite RNA (satRNA) in Nicotiana benthamiana at the early stage of pathogenesis. To achieve this, we performed proteome and phosphoproteome analyses on plants treated with PSV and its satRNA. The analysis of the number of differentially phosphorylated proteins showed strong down-regulation in phosphorylation in virus-treated plants (without satRNA). Moreover, proteome analysis revealed more down-regulated proteins in PSV and satRNA-treated plants, which indicated a complex dependence between proteins and their modifications. Apart from changes in photosynthesis and carbon metabolism, which are usually observed in virus-infected plants, alterations in proteins involved in RNA synthesis, transport, and turnover were observed. As a whole, this is the first community (phospho)proteome resource upon infection of N. benthamiana with a cucumovirus and its satRNA and this resource constitutes a valuable data set for future studies.


Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the commonest type of cyanotic congenital heart disease which accounts for 10% of all congenital heart disease. Delay in surgical treatment leads to polycythaemia, cerebral abscess, thrombotic episodes etc. Corrective surgery in a case with cerebral abscess always has risk of intracranial hemorrhage during bypass1. We are hereby reporting a case of TOF who had multiple cerebral abscess managed with burr hole operation and extra ventricular drainage. Later 5 coronary stents were placed in Right Ventricular Outflow Tract (RVOT) to Main Pulmonary Artery (MPA) to overcome infundibular and valvular stenosis and thus reducing right to left shunt and cyanosis. This is the first ever palliation with RVOT stenting in a case of Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV), Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD), Pulmonary Stenosis (PS) with cerebral abscess where surgery was contraindicated at that time and patient condition was unstable. Later on she had bidirectional Glenn shunt on 8th December 2015 by Saudi charity team. Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.11(1) 2015: 81-84


This paper presents a new approach for the design of a multi-band bowtie antenna. By incorporating slots with different shapes and sizes on the arms of the bowtie, resonance is obtained in the 2.4 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 5 GHz bands corresponding to Wi-Fi 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g , 802.11n, and WiMAX 802.16-2004 standards. A study of the effect of circular and triangular slots, their size and their location on the return loss of the antenna is presented. The designed antenna enjoys advantages such as low profile, low cost of fabrication, and high radiation efficiency.


This paper addresses a detection problem where several spatially distributed sensors independently observe a time-inhomogeneous stochastic process. The task is to decide at the end of a fixed time interval between two hypotheses regarding the statistics of the observed process. In the proposed method, each of the sensors transmits once to a fusion center a locally processed summary of its information in the form of a likelihood ratio. The fusion center then combines these messages to arrive at an optimal decision in the Neyman-Pearson framework. The approach is motivated by applications arising in the detection of mobile radioactive sources, and it serves as a first step toward the development of novel fixed-interval detection algorithms that combine decentralized processing with optimal centralized decision making.


The dictum "a quart of milk a day for every child" is largely the result of an investigation by Sherman and Hawley 1 in which it was shown that the optimum amount of calcium is retained only when approximately 1 quart of milk is included in the diet. Calcium from other sources was found to be less available, lower amounts being retained when the calcium was supplied more largely from vegetables and fruits. The variations in the retentions of calcium of children who were living under comparable conditions as well as the results reported in more recent studies with both children and adults 2 suggest that the difference in the amounts of calcium retained may be due in part to the lack of uniformity in the physiologic condition of the persons studied. For example, the potentialities of growth in children or the physiologic balance in adults may have been less


Best practices for the dissemination of global health guidelines has not undergone rigorous research. We used a new approach to digitizing World Health Organization (WHO) global tuberculosis guideline recommendations (eTB RecMap) and compared its usability to the conventional method of accessing TB recommendations using the WHO website. We conducted a two-arm superiority randomised controlled trial using a survey among global stakeholders who were past or planned future users of TB guidelines, recommendations, or policy advice. We assigned participants randomly (1:1) to complete an activity using the WHO eTB RecMap or the conventional website. The primary outcome was the accessibility of information and secondary outcomes understanding, satisfaction, and preference for one of the two formats. Between February 26 and August 29, 2021, we received 478 responses from stakeholders, of whom 244 (122 per group) were eligible and provided analysable results. Participants rated the eTB RecMap as more accessible, on average, when compared to the conventional website (on a seven-point scale, the mean difference {MD} was 0.9; 95% confidence interval {CI}: 0.6, 1.2; p < 0.001) and were more likely to correctly answer understanding questions. This is the first trial comparing digitized dissemination formats of health guideline recommendations. Stakeholders rated the WHO eTB RecMap as more accessible than the conventional WHO website for the tested recommendations. They also understood presented information better. The findings support better usability of TB information through the eTB RecMap and contribute to the effort to end the TB epidemic. Trial registration: This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04745897) on February 9, 2021.


This article explores "connected" and "extended" cultural traumas in order to identify certain issues which dominated pensions of the war widows throughout twentieth century India. Nearly two million Indian men were recruited into the British army during the two World Wars. Despite the fact that notions of race and physical fitness of the Indian men in the war dominated this colonial relationship, about 22,000 Indian widows were receiving a pension by the end of the Second World War. At one level, it was the articulation of the shared cultural trauma by the Indian and British war widows which led the colonial state to adopt a special sense of duty to look after the welfare of the war widows and soldiers' dependents in India. As opposed to their Western counterparts, Indian widows in general face a wider set of challenges over the years after the husband's death. The Indian widow was initiated into an extended cultural trauma structured by intersectionality, i.e. religion, customary laws, caste and, most importantly, the question of remarriage. In present day India, widows/dependents of the World Wars are not treated on par with widows/dependents of the soldiers/officers who died fighting the wars in 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999 with China and Pakistan respectively. This is based on the state-driven parameters of nationhood – that the former are the Empire's widows and the latter are widows of the Nation. This paper gives several examples of court cases filed by the widows themselves to show evidence of their trauma.


Soft X-ray amplification by optical field-induced ionization (OFI) of a preformed plasma is investigated. A small-signal gain of 20 cm/sup -1/ and a gain-length product of 4 at 13.5 nm on the Lyman-/spl alpha/ transition in hydrogen-like lithium have been obtained using the modified OFI scheme. Experimental and numerical results ensure that we have produced a plasma with a significantly lower electron temperature than what is expected by an above-threshold ionization model. To explain the results, a two component plasma model in which relatively high temperature electrons are produced by OFI in a cold electron bath of the preformed plasma is presented. The model indicates that the average electron temperature of the OFI plasma rapidly decreases since a high-temperature part of the electrons escapes from the focal volume without interaction. The initial electrons produced prior to the field ionization, which survive after the OEI, also significantly contribute to the rapid three-body recombination. Based on the ionization-induced refractive index change, the pulse propagation of a high-intensity pump laser during the OFI is also discussed. >


Wales was part of a continental convergent plate margin for ∼50 m.y. during Ordovician time. The crustal stress regime was one of sinistral transtension, due largely to oblique subduction. Early uplift and subsequent growth of subaerial arc volcanoes were followed by development of a broad, fault-bound, marine basin (>150 km wide) in an infra-arc or back-arc setting. Within the basin, relatively narrow grabens became sites of pronounced subsidence and bimodal (basalt-rhyolite) volcanism. The grabens developed in fault-splays above steep, crust-penetrating discontinuities that focused extension and plumbing of magmas at these sites. At Snowdon, the Bedded Pyroclastic Formation records submarine and island basaltic volcanism with associated sedimentation at the site of an active rhyolitic caldera volcano. The volcanoes formed on the axis of the Snowdon Graben, and the basaltic succession, which contains several unconformities due to marine abrasion at sea level, shows a complex history of alternate uplift and subsidence. The uplift is attributable to resurgence of rhyolitic magma and was >336 m in total. Subsidence, due mainly to crustal extension, was >500 m at a rate of ≥500 m/m.y. The Bedded Pyroclastic Formation shows clear evidence of tectonic influence in the timing, location, and style of basaltic magmatism. Repeated reactivation of magmatic plumbing systems demonstrates fault- or fault-intersection controlled channeling of magmas in the upper crust. Episodes of relatively vigorous subsidence preceded copious magmatism, and both intrusive and extrusive basalt magmas exploited contemporaneously active normal faults. Pronounced topographic ponding of extrusive products, and highly variable trends of fault-block subsidence and rotation evident from the volcanogenic sedimentary deposits, testify to chaotic (piecemeal) displacements on faults spaced commonly at


This survey aims to explore the relationship between leadership and learning organization dimensions on employee job satisfaction. The sample involved staff working in the top telecom companies operating in Ghana. Data were gathered utilizing a structured questionnaire; a total of 700 questionnaires were distributed and 500 valid responses were returned. The data were processed using exploratory factor analysis as well as multiple linear regression. The study findings revealed a positive impact of interactive learning organization building blocks on employee job satisfaction. The results also indicated leadership behaviors to cause significant positive impact on learning organizations. With the growing number of knowledge workers in Ghana, it is not possible for business executives to satisfy the demands of employees through conventional leadership. Rather, business executives need to enhance their own skills in transformational leadership, setting a good example, encouraging continuous learning and innovative activities, developing the potentials of their employees, providing training and education and offering monetary incentives, as these are necessary to keep people with excellent talents. Thus, this study effort, for the first time, raises the awareness of Ghanaian business organizations of the effect of leadership and learning organization practices on job satisfaction.


We present a structured overview of adaptation algorithms for neural network-based speech recognition, considering both hybrid hidden Markov model / neural network systems and end-to-end neural network systems, with a focus on speaker adaptation, domain adaptation, and accent adaptation. The overview characterizes adaptation algorithms as based on embeddings, model parameter adaptation, or data augmentation. We present a meta-analysis of the performance of speech recognition adaptation algorithms, based on relative error rate reductions as reported in the literature.


The EcoCyc database is an online scientific database which provides an integrated view of the metabolic and regulatory network of the bacterium Escherichia coli K-12 and facilitates computational exploration of this important model organism. We have analysed the occurrence of dead end metabolites within the database – these are metabolites which lack the requisite reactions (either metabolic or transport) that would account for their production or consumption within the metabolic network. 127 dead end metabolites were identified from the 995 compounds that are contained within the EcoCyc metabolic network. Their presence reflects either a deficit in our representation of the network or in our knowledge of E. coli metabolism. Extensive literature searches resulted in the addition of 38 transport reactions and 3 metabolic reactions to the database and led to an improved representation of the pathway for Vitamin B12 salvage. 39 dead end metabolites were identified as components of reactions that are not physiologically relevant to E. coli K-12 – these reactions are properties of purified enzymes in vitro that would not be expected to occur in vivo. Our analysis led to improvements in the software that underpins the database and to the program that finds dead end metabolites within EcoCyc. The remaining dead end metabolites in the EcoCyc database likely represent deficiencies in our knowledge of E. coli metabolism.


Much has been written about the artistic output of Domenicos Theotocopoulos
during his time in Spain, but few scholars have examined his works in Venice and even
fewer have looked at the years he spent in Rome. This may be in part attributed to the
lack of firm documentary evidence regarding his activities there and to the small corpus
of works that survive from his Italian period, many of which are furthermore
controversial. The present study focuses on Domenicos' Roman years and questions the
traditional notion that he was a spiritual painter who served the principles of the Counter
Reformation.
To support such a view I have looked critically at the Counter Reformation,
which I consider more as an amalgam of diverse and competitive institutions and less as
an austere movement that strangled the freedom of artistic expression. I contend,
moreover, that Domenicos' acquaintance with Cardinal Alessandro Farnese's librarian,
Fulvio Orsini, was seminal for the artist, not only because it brought him into closer
contact with Rome's most refined circles, but principally because it helped Domenicos to
assume the persona of 'pictor doctus', the learned artist, following the example of another
of Fulvio's friends, Pirro Ligorio. The elitist art that resulted from Domenicos'
collaboration with Orsini, represented, for example, in his paintings of Boy Lighting a
Candle and the Healing of the Blind, was partly responsible for the Greek painter's failure
to engage the interest of Cardinal Farnese, in whose palace he stayed for two years, 1570-
1572. But Domenicos was determined to establish a career in Rome, as his registration in
the painters' guild, the Accademia di San Luca, in September of 1572, confirms.
Although he ultimately failed in this respect, the time he spent in the city was decisive for
his understanding of both ancient and modern art, and played a fundamental role in his
later artistic development in Spain.


The three member states of the East African Community (EAC) have made great efforts in modernizing their air transport industry in order to meet the increased demand for international tourism and horticultural export trade. The policy adopted by the sub-region, at independence, to regulate the airline industry was the bilateralism approach with emphasis on reciprocity. Such a policy became a bottleneck in the development of the air transport industry in the sub-region. It became apparent that the EAC member states needed efficient air services and not airlines that served mainly as status symbols. However, the last decade witnessed the liberalization of the aviation sector in the sub-region. This liberalization process is part of a proactive policy to encourage global investment in the sub-region. This has led to the adoption of the Yamoussoukro Decision, which calls for the opening of the African skies. This paper, therefore, critically discusses the process of the airline industry liberalization and its prospects for success in the sub-region.


The Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority of Turkey (KGK), issued the "Communique Nr. 30138: Financial Reporting Standard for Large and Medium-sized Entities (BOBI FRS), on the Official Gazette dated 29 July 2017 for the Turkish Companies that are subject to independent audit of financial statements but not using Turkish Financial Reporting Standards (TFRS). This communique is in effect starting from January 1, 2018. The BOBI FRS is consisted of 27 Sections and 9 Appendices including Definitions of Financial Statements. The BOBI FRS is prepared by using a more simple and clear format than the TFRS and out-of-scope details are omitted. The purpose of the BOBI FRS is to provide that the companies subject to independent audit but not using TFRS will issue useful, accurate and comparable consolidated and separate financial statements. With implementation of BOBI FRS, financial statements that make the real performance of the company understandable and that will report asset and sources at real amounts. The purpose of this study is to compare the 4 standards related to financial instruments in TFRS (TAS 32 Financial Instruments: Presentation, TAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement, TFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures, TFRS 9 Financial Instruments) to the Section 9: Financial Instruments and Equity of the BOBI FRS, and to demonstrate the similarities and differences. Key Words : Financial Instruments, Turkish Financial Reporting Standards (TFRS), Financial Reporting Standards for Large and Medium-sized Entities (BOBI FRS).


Background: Prescribers' adherence to guidelines is critical for the successful implementation of any new drug policy. Nigeria in 2005 changed its antimalarial drug policy to artemether-lumefantrine (AL) for treatment of uncomplicated malaria. New national guidelines were disseminated to health providers together with in-service training. Aim: This study aimed at assessing predictors of adherence to this new antimalarial treatment policy.
Methods: The study was carried out in Enugu State of Nigeria. The study population was made up of all prescribers within the selected facilities under study. This study included one tertiary, three secondary and two primary facilities which were purposively selected from the three senatorial zones of Enugu state. To select the patients? records, systematic sampling was used. Based on the total number of cases per facility, a sampling interval ?k?, was calculated. A total of 600 patients? records between May 2005 and December 2009 were selected and reviewed (100 records from each of the selected facilities, 20 records per year). A total of 1038 antimalarial prescriptions from the selected 600 patients? case files were reviewed.
Results: The risk of adherence to NTG/NTP was higher among young prescribers who were less ten years in practice (OR = 21.05), prescribers with daily practice volume of less than 25 patients (OR = 7.271), prescribers who were aware of NTG/NTP (OR =9.847), and prescribers who received training on the new NTG/NTP (OR =29.311). The percentage adherence from May, 2005 to December, 2009 followed the same pattern with overall percentage adherence of 20.76%.
Conclusion: This study revealed that each of the variable, years of practice, practice volume, awareness and having received training at the introduction of the new antimalarial treatment policy made an independent contribution to predicting adherence to the new NTG/NTP.


Global concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions combined with soaring oil prices have driven the search for renewable diesel fuels derived from either virgin or waste vegetable oils, dubbed "bio-diesels". A key challenge in the emerging bio-diesel industry is cost-effective pre-treatment of waste vegetable oils to reduce free-fatty acid content prior to transesterification. This article reports, for the first time, recoverability and reusability of hydrochloric and sulfuric acid catalysts for efficient pre-treatment of waste cooking oils for subsequent conversion to bio-diesels. Esterification of omega-9 polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly 18:2,18:3 linoleic acid with methanol and a homogenous acid catalyst was investigated over a range of fatty acid concentrations. It was determined that greater than 95% by weight of each catalyst was recovered after esterification under all conditions investigated. When recovered methanol was used, containing recovered catalyst and water, it was determined that hydrochloric acid catalyzed esterification exhibits a higher tolerance to water accumulation. After sulfuric acid was recovered and re-used, the observed rate constant decreased more than 50% to a value comparable to that observed for hydrochloric acid at more than three times the water concentration.


This Final Report to Donors presents the findings of the Second Independent Evaluation of the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) conducted by the Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE) of the Inter-American Development Bank. The first independent evaluation, produced by OVE in 2003 as Donors considered the MIF's request for a replenishment, was prepared to report to Donors on the MIF's performance during its first mandate (MIF I), and to provide lessons learned for the MIF itself. In 2007 Donors approved the replenishment for the MIF (MIF II) and, as part of the replenishment agreement, required that a similar evaluation exercise be conducted at the end of that replenishment. This evaluation, which has the same two objectives as the first, was timed so that the final results are available to inform both MIF Donors and MIF Management about the institution's performance during MIF II.


ABSTRACT Paraconiothyrium cyclothyrioides is a recently described coelomycetous fungal species. We present a case in a renal transplant patient with chronic skin lesions of the lower extremities caused by P. cyclothyrioides. Treatment with posaconazole led to complete resolution of the lesions. P. cyclothyrioides should be considered an opportunistic human pathogen in immunocompromised patients.


Objectives: Health professionals recognize simulation training as a beneficial educational technology. Physical therapy programs are slow to embrace this technology as a high-impact teaching tool, leaving students to learn in a more traditional, subjective manner with minimal objective feedback. Simulation technologies used during student physical therapist (SPT) education have been limited to mobilization and palpation. When learning palpation skills, SPTs rely mainly upon subjective feedback from peers and instructors to verify correct skill performance. Simulation with real time auditory feedback (RAF) as a teaching device may eliminate this bias. We hypothesize that the utilization of real-time audio feedback (RAF) during simulated lumbar spine palpation will improve the speed and accuracy skills of SPTs.
Methods: This was a mixed design study. The effect of RAF on palpation speed and accuracy during use of a simulated lumbar spine was examined in 30 SPTs. All were randomly assigned to one of three groups: RAF/tactile feedback training, tactile feedback training, and a control without training. A mixed ANOVA was performed if any interaction effect existed within and among groups.
Results: No significant interaction effect was found for actual accuracy (p=0.90), self-perceived accuracy (p=0.30), or speed (p=0.46). Within group difference for actual accuracy was found significant with those training with RAF. (p=0.038) Accuracy for those training with RAF/tactile feedback was 55% higher than those who trained with tactile feedback alone.
Conclusion: In this study, SPTs improved their palpation accuracy using RAF and a lumbar spine palpation simulator. Those who received RAF during training outperformed their peers by 55% greater accuracy. These findings support the use of RAF and simulation technology in education to enhance palpation skill development for SPTs.


Thanks to the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO Public Survey it is now possible to explore a large number of objects in those regions. This paper addresses the variability analysis of all VVV point sources having more than 10 observations in VVVDR4 using a novel approach. In total, the near-IR light curves of 288,378,769 sources were analysed using methods developed in the New Insight Into Time Series Analysis project. As a result, we present a complete sample having 44, 998, 752 variable star candidates (VVV-CVSC), which include accurate individual coordinates, near-IR magnitudes (ZYJHKs), extinctions A(Ks), variability indices, periods, amplitudes, among other parameters to assess the science. Unfortunately, a side effect of having a highly complete sample, is also having a high level of contamination by non-variable (contamination ratio of non-variables to variables is slightly over 10:1). To deal with this, we also provide some flags and parameters that can be used by the community to de-crease the number of variable candidates without heavily decreasing the completeness of the sample. In particular, we cross-identified 339,601 of our sources with Simbad and AAVSO databases, which provide us with information for these objects at other wavelegths. This sub-sample constitutes a unique resource to study the corresponding near-IR variability of known sources as well as to assess the IR variability related with X-ray and Gamma-Ray sources. On the other hand, the other 99.5% sources in our sample constitutes a number of potentially new objects with variability information for the heavily crowded and reddened regions of the Galactic Plane and Bulge. The present results also provide an important queryable resource to perform variability analysis and to characterize ongoing and future surveys like TESS and LSST.


Modification of the microstructure of ZE41A-T5 magnesium alloy substrates was investigated by laser surface re-melting and solidification using a 2.5 kW Nd:YAG laser. The effects of laser power, high scan rate and beam configuration were examined. The microstructure of laser treated ZE41 consisted of small precipitates dispersed in a fine dendritic α-magnesium matrix at high scan rates. The redistribution of chemical elements depended mainly on the dwell time in the liquid stage. At high scan rates, long dwell times were achieved by splitting the laser beam into two spots trailing in the scan direction which resulted in a more homogenous distribution of Mg, Zn and Zr. Cracking due to thermal shrinkage during solidification was prevented by reducing the temperature of the melt pool. This was achieved by lowering the laser power, increasing the scan rate and laser spot size. Increasing the laser spot size in the scan direction was conducive to producing homogeneous microstructures without cracks.


Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease resulting in severe muscle weakness and eventual death by respiratory failure. Although little is known about its pathogenesis, mutations in fused in sarcoma/translated in liposarcoma (FUS) are causative for familial ALS. FUS is a multifunctional protein that is involved in many aspects of RNA processing. To elucidate the role of FUS in ALS, we overexpressed wild-type and two mutant forms of FUS in HEK-293T cells, as well as knocked-down FUS expression. This was followed by RNA-Seq to identify genes which displayed differential expression or altered splicing patterns. Pathway analysis revealed that overexpression of wild-type FUS regulates ribosomal genes, whereas knock-down of FUS additionally affects expression of spliceosome related genes. Furthermore, cells expressing mutant FUS displayed global transcription patterns more similar to cells overexpressing wild-type FUS than to the knock-down condition. This observation suggests that FUS mutants do not contribute to the pathogenesis of ALS through a loss-of-function. Finally, our results demonstrate that the R521G and R522G mutations display differences in their influence on transcription and splicing. Taken together, these results provide additional insights into the function of FUS and how mutations contribute to the development of ALS.


This article presents a research is intended to verify theories that explain the process of implementation of an Integrated System of Administration (ISA) in an organization, analyzing the effects on the use of accounting information. The empiric work based on a case study an organization that implemented of an ISA which main objective is to produce analytical reports integrated. The found evidences support the propositions done by Walton (1993:14) which describes the integration of the information technology and the organization. The results of using the information accounting in this case study evidences the difficulty in expanding the use of this type of information when they are not obtained the success in the implementation of an ISA.


Important needs and concerns that relate to generalization in operational settings are discussed. Some background relating to this issue is discussed in order to indicate its centrality for the decision and management sciences. The discussion concludes with the requirements for and the benefits that can result from successful generalization within operational settings.


Subject of the thesis are research results concerning the packaging and assembly
of hybrid optical systems. The discussed packaging concept is suitable for
miniaturized, free-space and two-dimensional optical systems that allow to
realize a broad range of optical functions, but it is also capable for the
integration of electronical components as well as silicon micromachined parts.
Basic idea is to use planar ceramic printed circuit boards (PCB) made of
aluminum oxide (Al2O3) or Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC) as a system
platform for the optical assembly. Ceramic PCB are already well known from
electronics manufacturing and by additionally embedding mechanical mounting
structures within the substrate optical components can be assembled on top of
the platform. The geometrical variety of these mounting structures and their
design are the first focus of the thesis. In a second part the assembly
technologies are described and evaluated that are necessary to place, adjust and
finally join optical components in such mounting structures. Procedures from
electronics manufacturing and assembly like "Pick& Place" need to be adapted
since positioning and adjustment of optical components often require more than
four degrees of freedom. In the thesis two types of assembly strategies that
take the issues of optical mounting into account and use mechanical stops or the
adjusted optical function for a position representation of the component are
evaluated.
The investigations were carried out by designing and assembling an
optoelectronic demonstrator system. The results show that if the mounting
structures within the ceramic PCB are used as mechanical stops for the
positioning of optical components the mounting structure accuracies, currently
ranging from ±27 µm to ±90 µm, constrain the packaging concept. By using
adjustment processes an enhanced positioning accuracy of < ±5 µm was
demonstrated. Thus and also concerning the various non-optical functionalities
that can be integrated the overall conclusion of the thesis is that ceramic PCB
are well suitable for the integration of optics and electronics on a common
platform, especially if the demands on the positioning accuracies for the
optical components are above 5 µm.


Is Winter Past? Some plants are adapted to wait through the winter before their genetic programs for flowering are initiated. But the duration of winter varies with location, and thus, to avoid flowering too late into the summer or exposing blossoms to frost, the adaptation needs to hold the flowers off for just the right amount of time. Working with Arabidopsis thaliana, Coustham et al. (p. 584, published online 12 July) identified a quantitative mechanism that "counts" off the duration of winter. FLC, a repressor of flowering, carries sequence polymorphisms that direct epigenetic events. Plants with fewer of these polymorphisms are adapted to short winters, and plants with all four polymorphisms are adapted to long winters. Arabidopsis adjusts the onset of flowering to the length of winters via an epigenetic mechanism. Arabidopsis thaliana accessions have adapted to growth in a wide range of climates. Variation in flowering and alignment of vernalization response with winter length are central to this adaptation. Vernalization involves the epigenetic silencing of the floral repressor FLC via a conserved Polycomb (PRC2) mechanism involving trimethylation of Lys27 on histone H3 (H3K27me3). We found that variation for response to winter length maps to cis polymorphism within FLC. A rare combination of four polymorphisms localized around the nucleation region of a PHD-Polycomb complex determines a need for longer cold. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that these polymorphisms influence the accumulation of H3K27me3 in Arabidopsis accession Lov-1, both at the nucleation site and over the gene body. Quantitative modulation of chromatin silencing through cis variation may be a general mechanism contributing to evolutionary change.


This book explores the scope, application and role of medical law, regulatory norms and ethics, and addresses key challenges introduced by contemporary advances in biomedical research and healthcare. While mindful of national developments, the handbook supports a global perspective in its approach to medical law. Contributors include leading scholars in both medical law and ethics, who have developed specially commissioned pieces in order to present a critical overview and analysis of the current state of medical law and ethics. Each chapter offers comprehensive coverage of longstanding and traditional topics in medical law and ethics, and provides dynamic insights into contemporary and emerging issues in this heavily debated field. Topics covered include: •Bioethics, health and human rights •Medical liability •Law and emerging health technologies •Public health law •Personalized medicine •The law and ethics of access to medicines in developing countries •Medical research in the genome era •Emerging legal and ethical issues in reproductive technologies This advanced level reference work will prove invaluable to legal practitioners, scholars, students and researchers in the disciplines of law, medicine, genetics, dentistry, theology, and medical ethics.


Background: Resistance to endocrine therapy remains a major clinical challenge with aberrant PI3K/ mTOR pathway activation being one of the main drivers. Randomised clinical trials have demonstrated a substantial benefit of adding everolimus to endocrine therapy. Vistusertib (AZD2014), a dual inhibitor of mTORC1 and mTORC2, has shown a broader range of activity in preclinical ER+ breast cancer models, showing superior activity to everolimus (EVE) both in hormone-sensitive and resistant models. The MANTA trial was desgined to evaluate the safety and efficacy of vistusertib (VIS) in combination with fulvestrant (FULV) relative to FULV alone or FULV + EVE. In addition to a continuous (cont) daily schedule of VIS, the study also explored an intermittent (int) schedule to assess the potential of short-term, maximum target inhibition. Methods: MANTA is an investigator-led, randomised, open-label phase II trial. Postmenopausal women with estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer were eligible if they had disease recurrence while on or within 12 months of end of adjuvant treatment with an aromatase inhibitor (AI), or progression while on or within one month of end of AI treatment for locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Patients were randomly assigned (2:3:3:2) to receive either FULV (500 mg intramuscular injection on day 1, followed by 500 mg doses on days 15 and 29, and then every 28 days); FULV + daily VIS (50mg BD), FULV + intermittent VIS (2 days on, 5 days off; 125mg BD); or FULV + EVE (10mg OD). Treatment was given until disease progression (RECIST 1.1) or intolerable toxicity. Patients were stratified by disease measurability and response to prior endocrine therapy. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary objectives included objective response, clinical benefit rate, duration of response and clinical benefit, overall survival and safety. Results: Between 04/2014 and 10/2016, a total of 333 patients were randomised at 88 sites in 9 countries. 66 patients were assigned to receive FULV; 101 to FULV+VIS (cont), 95 to FULV+VIS (int); and 64 to FULV+EVE. Median PFS was 4.6 months (95% CI 3.4–6.9) in patients assigned to FULV; 7.5 months (95% CI 5.6–9.4) in those assigned to FULV+VIS (cont); 7.6 months (95% CI 5.5–9.6) in those assigned to FULV+VIS (int); and 12.2 months (95% CI 7.5–14.3) in those assigned to FULV+EVE. No significant difference was recorded between the patients assigned to FULV+VIS (cont) and FULV (hazard ratio 0.87, 95% CI 0.62-1.23; log-rank p=0.42); FULV+VIS (int) and FULV (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.55-1.12; log-rank p=0.16); and FULV+VIS (cont) and FULV+VIS (int) (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.81-1.52; log-rank p=0.52). PFS was significantly longer in patients assigned to FULV+EVE compared to FULV+VIS (cont) (HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.45-0.91; log-rank p=0.01) and FULV+EVE compared to FULV (HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.43-0.94; log-rank p=0.02). Conclusion: The trial failed to demonstrate a benefit of adding the TORC1/2 inhibitor vistusertib (AZD2014) to FULV. The combination FULV+EVE demonstrated significantly longer PFS compared to FULV+VIS or FULV. Citation Format: Schmid P, Zaiss M, Harper-Wynne C, Ferreira M, Dubey S, Chan S, Makris A, Nemsadze G, Brunt AM, Kuemmel S, Ruiz Cabrero I, Perello A, Kendall A, Brown J, Kristeleit H, Conibear J, Saura C, Grenier J, Mahr K, Schenker M, Sohn JH, Lee KS, Sarker S-J, Coetzee C, Mousa K, Cortes Castan J. MANTA - A randomized phase II study of fulvestrant in combination with the dual mTOR inhibitor AZD2014 or everolimus or fulvestrant alone in estrogen receptor-positive advanced or metastatic breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr GS2-07.


Critical Energy Infrastructures can suffer different impacts from accidents and natural disasters which concern the whole energy system and specific functional aspects of Energy Security as well. A negative energy event -i.e. a strategic refinery blockade due to an accidentcan provide useful experiences which demonstrate the connection among logistic efficiency, resilience and Energy Security. Spanish refinery Puertollano suffered an accident in year 2003 which stopped oil logistics in a significant part of the country. Military oil refined products logistics in Spain are managed by CLH oil products logistic company -operating in the framework of a Public-Private Partnership and civil-military cooperation modeland then this enterprise facilitated the implementation of a resilience measures aimed to guarantee the operation of oil products logistic chain in the affected area. Management of Puertollano refinery crisis in 2003 showed positive results for ensuring National Energy Security, market and business normal function, system stability and infrastructure re-adjustment. This crisis advanced criteria and lesson learned for Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection and business continuity planning.


Postulating that the predisposition to illness in Claridge's disease model of schizophrenia can be equated with the personality dimensions S or Insensitivity, (low) E or Extraversion, and N or Neuroticism, as measured by Van Kampen's 3DPT, and assuming that the mode of transmission of schizophrenia is basically polygenic, the genetic and environmental etiology of S, E, and N was assessed in a sample of 52 MZ and 76 DZ twin pairs and their parents by means of LISREL. Besides, in a sample of 2118 subjects MAXCOV–HITMAX analyses were conducted for these factors as well as for the personality dimension G or Orderliness, but now assessed by the 4DPT, in order to find out whether a discrete or quasi-discrete variable might also underlie these dimensions, giving support to the possibility of dominance or epistasis. The results obtained in these investigations favoured a model for all three dimensions, allowing for both additive and non-additive genetic effects in combination with non-shared environmental influences. It was not possible to choose between a model involving dominance and a model involving epistatic genetic effects. With the use of scores corrected for sex and age, which were converted to normal scores, the proportion of variance explained by additive genetic factors was 20% for S, 40–41% for E, and 26–29% for N. Dominance or multiple-gene epistasis accounted for 37–38% (S), 19–20% (E), and 30–31% (N), and unshared environmental influences for 42–43% (S), 41% (E), and 42–43% (N) respectively.


In a task such as face recognition, much of the important information may be contained in the high-order relationships among the image pixels. Representations such as "Eigenfaces" (197) and "Holons" (48) are based on Principal component analysis (PCA), which encodes the correlational structure of the input, but does not address high-order statistical dependencies such as relationships among three or more pixels. Independent component analysis (ICA) is a generalization of PCA which encodes the high-order dependencies in the input in addition to the correlations. Representations for face recognition were developed from the independent components of face images. The ICA representations were superior to PCA for recognizing faces across sessions and changes in expression.
ICA was compared to more than eight other image analysis methods on a task of recognizing facial expressions in a project to automate the Facial Action Coding System (62). These methods included estimation of optical flow; representations based on the second-order statistics of the full face images such Eigenfaces (47, 197) local feature analysis (156), and linear discriminant analysis (23); and representations based on the outputs of local filters, such as a Gabor wavelet representations (50, 113) and local PCA (153). The ICA and Gabor wavelet representations achieved the best performance of 96% for classifying 12 facial actions. Relationships between the independent component representation and the Gabor representation are discussed.
Temporal redundancy contains information for learning invariances. Different views of a face tend to appear in close temporal proximity as the person changes expression, pose, or moves through the environment. The final chapter modeled the development of viewpoint invariant responses to faces from visual experience in a biological system by encoding spatio-temporal dependencies. The simulations combined temporal smoothing of activity signals with Hebbian learning (72) in a network with both feed-forward connections and a recurrent layer that was a generalization of a Hopfield attractor network. Following training on sequences of graylevel images of faces as they changed pose, multiple views of a given face fell into the same basin of attraction, and the system acquired representations of faces that were approximately viewpoint invariant.


Screening newborn infants for inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) began in the United States almost 50 years ago with the introduction of testing for phenylketonuria (PKU) in the state of Maine. As the understanding of genetics and metabolism grew, and as testing methodologies became more automated and sensitive, both the number of states performing newborn screening (NBS) and the number of disorders for which patients can be screened began to grow. During the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, a new technology was introduced called tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) into the clinical laboratory and NBS arenas, which spurred the growth of screening to include as many as 30 disorders by almost all 50 states and Washington, DC. This technology gave laboratories the ability to rapidly and accurately test for multiple IEM simultaneously. Newborn screening programs became an integral part of assessing the health and well-being of every infant born in the United States.


The high mechanical properties in 7xxx aluminum alloy are obtained by controlling the precipitation hardening microstructure. In this work, the relationship between the microstructures and mechanical properties of 7A04 (Al-Zn-Mg-Cu) aluminum alloy during isothermal aging at 140 oC after different quenching rates has been studied in order to find its useful hardening conditions. The as-extruded samples were solution heat treated at 480 oC and cooled in air, 70 oC water, 40 oC water and 0 oC ice water. Tensile test were performed and the ultimate tensile strength and percentage of elongation were obtained. The difference in the amount of precipitates is known by DSC and the morphology of the precipitates is characterized by TEM. The results indicate that the artificial age hardening response is strongly dependent on the quenching rate. Lower quenching rate results in lower tensile strength but higher percentage of elongation in the peak age condition, and this corresponds to the difference in the size and number density of the precipitates. It is concluded that the highest ultimate tensile strength is obtained in the fastest quenching rate in 0 oC ice water (up to 870Ks-1) while stable and high percentage of elongation is achieved in the intermediate quenching rate (about 226 Ks-1).


Plants are the natural factories for nanoparticle production as many of their products are being used for metallic nanoparticles production. Silver nanoparticles are being used in a number of consumer products, remediation processes, and medicines due to their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory and catalytic activities. Present work focuses on a simple, one-step, environmental-friendly biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using silver nitrate as precursor and leaf extract of herb species (Sida acuta); a common wireweed of Malvaceae family, which acts as reducing as well as capping agent. Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized for their morphological description using different techniques like UV-Vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity of these nanoparticles was studied against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. The results showed good inhibitory effect against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans and found to exhibit good antibacterial activity especially at lower concentrations of 4 μg/ml and 8 μg/ml.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the distribution character of the mutations of 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) gene and to provide effective basis for gene diagnosis of tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency (BH4D) in children with hyperphenylalaninemia.

METHODS
Direct sequencing was performed for screening the PTPS gene mutations in 5 patients with clinically suspected BH4D and their parents. The nature of the novel mutations were deduced by the sequences alignment and the structural analysis of mutant protein. Artificial construct restriction site was used to detect the novel mutation in the control samples. The dates of urinary pterin analysis and BH4 loading test were retrospectively analyzed after gene analysis.

RESULTS
Four PTPS gene mutations (N52S, P87S, D96N, and L127F) were detected in our study. The genotypes of four PTPS deficiency patients were identified as N52S/L127F, P87S/D96N, N52S/D96N, and D96N/ -. As a novel mutation that has not been reported previously, the mutation L127F was not detected in 50 normal controls. This novel mutation L127F was inherited from the patient's mother, and this mutant site was highly conserved by sequences alignment and the protein structural analysis. Four of the five cases with hyperphenylalaninemia and suspicious BH4D, whose urinary biopterin percentage was lower than 2% , were diagnosed as PTPS deficiency during 5-20 months old. The remaining one case was excluded from BH4D.

CONCLUSIONS
The mutant characterization of PTPS gene was coincident with other early studies in Chinese. The novel mutation L127F was considered as a pathogenetic mutation and associated with severe clinical phenotype.


This thesis furthers our collective understanding of the flow behaviours exhibited by the silk proteins fibroin and sericin in their native state. This knowledge is both necessary for the creation of biomimetic spinning devices, and highly advantageous to those in need of bio-inspiration.
The multiplicity of evolutionary paths which have found silk to be the solution to a given problem is testament to the versatility of this wonderful material. Evolution offers an unrivalled testing ground for new ideas, and when the convergence on fibre production is as broad and strong as it is for silk, it becomes an enticing target—first for understanding and later replication. However, much of the previous work on silk has opted to focus on more accessible areas of the field—studying fibres as a finished product—rather than the mechanisms by which they are formed. Thus, exploring the liquid precursors to solid silk fibres provides substantial academic freedom.
In this work, I use bulk computational flow models, supported by experimental data, to provide the first tangible evidence that spinning silk is a process dominated by pultrusion, and that typical soft bodied silk producers such as B. mori are incapable of spinning fibres in any other way. I use this evidence to explore the oft-touted suggestion that sericin provides lubrication to fibres and reduces the energy required for spinning. As a result, I present the first rheological characterisation of native, unadulterated sericin, which offers proof that contrary to previous work, it behaves in a non-Newtonian manner; and that although it is capable of lubricating fibroin flow, it is far too viscous to support the notion that silk is spun via extrusion, which allows me to conclude that sericin evolved primarily as an adhesive rather than a lubricant.
I also present a new model for silk spinning, built by exploring the difference in energetic requirements for solidification and gelation. I argue that fibre spinning is the result of controlled energetic application and work accumulation—again an important take home principle for bio-inspiration. Finally, I reflect on past research in our field, discuss the drawbacks of the biomimetic ideal, and offer suggestions on where our collective efforts might be best directed.
In summary, this thesis provides a valuable resource for further exploration of the flow properties of biopolymers for fibre spinning applications, and substantial alternative views on the conventional definition of what the silk community's goal should be.


We aim to give an overview on how to derive the dynamic programming principle for a general stochastic control/stopping problem, using measurable selection techniques. By considering their martingale problem formulation, we show how to check the required measurability conditions for different versions of control/stopping problem, including in particular the controlled/stopped diffusion processes problem. Further, we also study the stability of the control problem, i.e. the approximation of the control process by piecewise constant control problems. It induces in particular an equivalence result for different versions of the controlled/stopped diffusion processes problem.


Genetic Algorithm (GA) has been used in this paper for a new Nyquist based sub-optimal model reduction and optimal time domain tuning of PID and fractional order (FO) PIeDi controllers. Comparative studies show that the new model reduction technique outperforms the conventional H2-norm based reduced order modeling techniques. Optimum tuning rule has been developed next with a test-bench of higher order processes via Genetic Programming (GP) with minimum value of weighted integral error index and control signal. From the Pareto optimal front which is a trade-off between the complexity of the formulae and control performance, an efficient set of tuning rules has been generated for time domain optimal PID and PIeDi controllers.


Fast developments in the world influence not only everybody but also all the organizations in regardless of whatever sector they work. Interprofessional and interorganizational communication is required to be enabled for everybody working in the organization to adapt to the development and changes. In health-related organizations, obligation to adapt to the change, a significant factor of providing competitive advantage has greater significance. In this phase, leaders working in organization have greater roles. In this study, the history of leadership is explained and the significance of leadership in pharmaceutical industry is emphasized..


Real-time Online Interactive Application (ROIA) is an emerging class of large-scale distributed application which can support millions of concurrent users around the world. Due to the dynamic changes in the number of concurrent users as well as the uncertainty of user operations, the dynamic load balancing is a key issue for ROIA. However, most of previous works are dedicated to the load balancing in a single ROIA without considering the variety of different type ROIAs. We take the advantage of differences between ROIAs and propose a new load balancing algorithm for multi-ROIA to improve the scalability of ROIA and increase the resource utilization of system. This paper firstly describes the motivation of the new load balancing algorithm, then presents the dynamic load balancing algorithm for multi-ROIA. Finally, the simulation results are also presented to show the efficiency and feasibility of the new algorithm.


The goal of this work was to determine whether acoustic cues to the phonetic features of a segment are processed independently. For stop–vowel (CV) syllables, one point of controversy concerns whether place information (as conveyed by formant transitions) and voicing information (as conveyed by VOT) are processed mutually independently. In this experiment, a replication of Massaro and Oden [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 67, 996–1013 (1980)], F2 and F3 transitions and VOT were manipulated as place and voicing cues in CVs. Members of a family of multinomial models, including FLMP, were fitted to each subject's data. FLMP, which assumes that processing is independent at both the perceptual and decisional levels, failed to account for the data. Two other models retained the perceptual independence assumption, but one assumed the voicing decision was contingent on the outcome of the place decision, and the other assumed the opposite contingency. Both fitted better than FLMP, but nevertheless were rejected on statistical...


Permafrost is a large reservoir of soil organic carbon (SOC; about half of all the terrestrial storage). Therefore, its degradation (i.e., thawing) under global warming may lead to a substantial amount of additional greenhouse gas (GHG) release. However, understanding of the processes, geographical distribution of such hazards, and implementation of the relevant processes in the advanced climate models are insufficient yet so that variations in permafrost remains one of the large source of uncertainty in climatic and biogeochemical assessment and projections. Knowledge on the "vulnerability distribution" as the high potential areas of ice-rich permafrost degradation is important for assessment and projections. However, the information from the currently accessible data is limited. On the other hand, the development of ice-rich permafrost has a long timescale (i.e., on the order of hundreds to tens of thousands of years), gone through varying stages under changing ambient conditions since the Last Interglacial period (c. 130 thousand years ago, or 130ka). This study, conducted as a part of three-year research project (2-1605, ERTDF of ERCA) aims to understand the evolution of the vulnerability distribution, we developed a simple numerical model to simulate the dynamics of ground ice and SOC in the circum-Arctic region (north of 50° N). The model has two compartments, above-ground and ground; the former is driven by annual air temperature and total precipitation (Figure 1) to calculate the carbon input (i.e., litter fall) and thermal conditions, and the latter calculates subsurface carbon and water budget, including ice content (Figure). The driving data and boundary conditions are taken from literatures, open data, and outputs from global climate models, such as Paleoclimate Model Intercomparison Projects (PMIPs). The preliminary model results at 8 characteristic circum-Arctic points for the transient changes in ground ice (mm) and soil carbon content (gC m-2) from 26ka to the present successfully simulate the contrasting difference between the glacial and post-glacial periods (Figure 2). For the full period (0-130ka), the driving data is now under preparation. Further validation and calibration, including evaluations on simulated geographical distributions, are to be conducted.


The scope of this thesis has been to investigate the effects of scour on an offshore wind turbine. This was done using HAWC2, a computer code which allows the fully-integrated analysis of the wind turbine, as opposed to the commonly used sequential approach. The mean and standard deviation of the loads in two different nodes were studied. For one joint both the mean and the standard deviation increased when scour increased. For the other joint the mean was constant, while the standard deviation increased as a function of scour. It was found that for scour larger than 6 m, a sudden increase in the means and the standard deviations occurred. This couldbe caused by an error in the model, but it would be interesting to investigate this further. The accumulated fatigue damage was estimated using the rainow counting algorithm by Adam Nieslony and the Palmgren-Miner rule. The data seemed to suggest that the damage increased with increasing scour, but it is diffcult to say whether this will be noticeable in practice.


The purpose of this research is to investigate the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and its impact on corporate performance (CP). The research in particular examines the results of implementing a set of GSCM practices on different dimensions of the CP.,This study, being the first of its kind in the Middle East, developed a research model to test the relationship between four main GSCM practices namely, eco-design, green purchasing, environmental cooperation and reverse logistics, and four dimensions of CP: operational performance, environmental performance, economic performance and social performance, while controlling three main variables (firm size, firm age and environment management system certification). Statistical analyses were based on the data collected, through survey questionnaires, from 117 firms in the manufacturing industry in the UAE. Reliability and validity of the research model were tested by the commonly accepted statistical tools. To test the hypotheses relating implementation of GSCM practice and CP, multiple regression analysis was used.,The finding of the study was that GSCM practices impact the CP dimensions differently. While none of the four GSCM practices were found to have any impact on the environmental performance, green purchasing and environmental cooperation were found to have a significant impact on the operational performance. The study found that only green purchasing plays a role in improving the economic performance, while only reverse logistics practices were found to impact the social performance of the firm positively.,Research on GSCM is still in the nascent stage. Further refinement of the survey to differentiate between different manufacturing industries might be needed. Generalizability of the findings is also limited because of data collected from manufacturing firms in the UAE. This research provides important insights. The findings of this research are generally consistent with those of prior studies in other parts of the world. Firms in manufacturing industry in the UAE believe that GSCM practices help the company design and develop better products which, in turn, increase the company chances in selling its products in the international markets while, at same time, improving the average profit and market share. It was also found that the UAE firms believe that implementation of GSCM practices help improve the corporate image, enhance employees' job satisfaction and improve employees' health and safety.,Implementation of GSCM practices improves CP in different ways. Supply chain managers are required to decide on the CP dimension they want to improve and accordingly select the appropriate GSCM practices mix that leads to the desired level of improvement.,Although few earlier researches studied the impact of GSCM on CP, this study is different and makes a unique contribution by offering a holistic view of the impact of implementing four main GSCM practices on all dimensions of CP. The study offers some insights on the type of GSCM practices the firm needs to adopt to improve the targeted performance dimension.


Fifty-one referendums on issues related to the European Communities and their successor organisations have taken place since 1972, when Irish, Norwegian and Danish citizens voted on EC membership. As the European treaties up to now provided for their ratification pursuant to national rules, all these referendums have been held on the basis of national law. This working paper aims to give an overview on the respective national constitutional and legal bases of the EC/EU referendums.


Using an improved Sternberg working memory paradigm and affective pictures of different valences, this study investigates the emotional experience capability of 22 first-onset and untreated major depressive disorder patients (MDD) compared with the matching 22 healthy control participants (HC) and whether there is a moodcongruent working memory effect. We employed a general linear model analysis of variance (ANOVA) with two-factor repeated measures analysis on the emotional experience capability (pupil diameter changes) and the working memory performance (accuracy). The results show that the pupil diameter changes of positive emotions are significantly greater in MDD than those in HC (p<0.001), and the pupil diameter changes of negative emotions are not significantly different between two groups (p=0.055), which suggest that MDD have a significantly decrease in the ability to experience pleasure (anhedonia). In addition, the results only present that the working memory performances of negative emotions are significantly greater in MDD than those of positive emotions (p<0.05), which indicates that there is a mood-congruent memory effect. Moreover, in MDD, a positive correlation is found between the pupil diameter changes and working memory performances of positive emotions, however there is no correlation between those of negative emotions. Taken together, these results suggest that MDD have a moodcongruent memory effect and anhedonia, and the mood-congruent memory effect may be due to the decreased memory performances of positive emotions (a decrease in the ability to experience pleasure), but not those of negative emotions increased. This study not only illustrates that the core symptoms of depressive patients may be a mood-congruent memory effect and anhedonia but also enriches the connotation of anhedonia as an endophenotype indicator.


Revision knee replacement is a challenging procedure that will become more commonplace, as the number of failed total knee arthroplasty (TKA) cases predictably accompany the expected growth of primary TKAs. Implant choice is only one of many variables surgeons must decide on when performing revision TKA (1). The trial conducted by Raymond Kim and colleagues on Midterm Clinical and radiographic results of mobile-bearing revision TKA was very well written, with average 5-year and minimum 2-year follow up.


We investigate the performance of free-space optical interconnection systems at the technology level. Specifically, three optical transmitter technologies, lead-lanthanum-zirconate-titanate and multiple-quantum-well modulators and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, are evaluated. System performance is measured in terms of the achievable areal data throughput and the energy required per transmitted bit. It is shown that lead-lanthanum-zirconate-titanate modulator and vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser technologies are well suited for applications in which a large fan-out per transmitter is required but the total number of transmitters is relatively small. Multiple-quantum-well modulators, however, are good candidates for applications in which many transmitters with a limited fan-out are needed.


This document deals with the study of a carbon dioxide detector, which is used in survivors searching in earthquake ruins. In order to find the carbon dioxide of exhaled gases of earthquake survivors in the narrow space, we compared the different types of carbon dioxide sensors. At last, we selected the infrared sensors, which direct access to digital signals through the microcontroller, and has a temperature compensation function. The result of measuring was displayed in a vacuum fluorescent displayer. When it achieves the preset value, the sound and light alarm will be triggered. The test results show that the detector is fit for narrow space survivors search.


The fed cattle grid pricing system's premium and discount incentive mechanism is investigated. Two issues are addressed: a) we investigate changes in the weekly market value of an animal's carcass quality attributes as determined by the USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) additive grid; and b) an evaluation of the effect of packer behavior on grid valuation of carcass quality attributes. A pooled-cross sectional data set containing carcass information on 598 fed steers evaluated weekly on the AMS publically reported price grid (National Carcass Premiums and Discounts for Slaughter Steers and Heifers) was constructed for the years 2001 to 2008 (226,000 observations). Thus individual animal carcass quality characteristics are held constant through time. For the 598 animals included in this study, the empirical evidence suggests that: a) premiums and discounts associated with specific carcass quality attributes have been adjusting over time; b) during periods of packer cooperative behavior in the fed cattle market, the market value of carcass quality declined, on average, by $0.50 per hundred weight; and c) the average market value of an animal's carcass quality, meeting industry quality standards, exhibited a positive trend during the study period. This implies the grid incentive mechanism strengthened during this period for those producers who produced fed cattle that met industry quality standards.


We present a way to image through complex overburden. The method uses surface shots with downhole receivers placed below the most complex part of the troublesome overburden. No knowledge of the velocity model between shots and receivers is required. The method uses time-reversal logic to create a new downward-continued data set with virtual sources VS's at the geophone locations. Time reversal focuses energy that passes through the overburden into useful primary energy for the VS. In contrast to physical acoustics, our time reversal is done on a computer, utilizing conventional acquisition with surface shots and downhole geophones. With this approach, we can image below extremely complex realistic overburden — in fact, the more complex the better. We recast the data to those with sources where we actually know and can control the waveform that has a downward-radiation pattern that may also be controlled, and is reproducible for 4D even if the near-surface changes or the shooting geometry is altered slightly. To illustrate the method, we apply the VS technique to a synthetic, elastic example with extreme heterogeneity, where conventional approaches fail to image the data. A 4D fielddata example shows that the VS method VSM enables sensitive reservoir monitoring below a complex, time-variant near surface that is not achievable with surface 4D seismic or conventional 4D vertical seismic profiling VSP .


Objective: To determine the frequency and pattern of lipid abnormalities in diagnosed female patients of coronary artery disease in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2016 to August 2016. A total of 300 female patients of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), diagnosed on the basis of angiography were included in the study. For detection of lipid profile abnormalities five ml of fasting venous sample of 1012 hours was obtained from the left median cubital vein under aseptic conditions. The blood was centrifuged for 5 minutes. Automated chemistry analyzer was used for lipid profile measurement via kits of the CYPRESS Laboratory (Langdorp, Belgium). Statistical analysis was done via SPSS version 17 and results were expressed as percentage and mean ± standard deviation. Results: Mean age of recruited females was 51.36 ± 13.71 years. About 81.39% of patients were found with abnormal lipid profile. The frequency of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in studied population was 61.66%, high triglycerides 19.33% whereas; high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was 17.33% respectively. Combined two parameter dyslipidaemia patterns was found in 41.32% followed by mixed dyslipidaemia in 19.33%, while isolated high-density lipoprotein hypocholesteraemia in 12.00% of study population. Conclusion: We conclude that low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and hypertriglyceridemia, in both combined and isolated pattern, are more prevalent in Pakistani females with CAD.The data from the current study may increase the knowledge of the guidelines for lipid lowering need in females.


This paper points out that stock incentives do not lead to myopia unless they result in more emphasis on the short-term than would occur under an optimal contract. It shows that myopia findings relative to the standard used throughout the literature (first-best efficiency) are often reversed when evaluated relative to the relevant standard of optimal contracting. Results reported by the previous literature to be myopia often in fact have excessive emphasis on the long-term. The paper solves in closed-form for the region in parameter space which gives rise to these reversals and shows that it can be arbitrarily large.


Large vessel vasculitides, such as Takayasu arteritis and giant cell arteritis, affect vital arteries and cause clinical complications by either luminal occlusion or vessel wall destruction. Inflammatory infiltrates, often with granulomatous arrangements, are distributed as a panarteritis throughout all of the artery's wall layers or cluster in the adventitia as a perivasculitis. Factors determining the architecture and compartmentalization of vasculitis are unknown. Human macrovessels are populated by indigenous dendritic cells (DCs) positioned in the adventitia. Herein, we report that these vascular DCs sense bacterial pathogens and regulate the patterning of the emerging arteritis. In human temporal artery–SCID chimeras, lipopolysaccharides stimulating Toll-like receptor (TLR)4 and flagellin stimulating TLR5 trigger vascular DCs and induce T-cell recruitment and activation. However, the architecture of the evolving inflammation is ligand-specific; TLR4 ligands cause transmural panarteritis and TLR5 ligands promote adventitial perivasculitis. Underlying mechanisms involve selective recruitment of functional T cell subsets. Specifically, TLR4-mediated DC stimulation markedly enhances production of the chemokine CCL20, biasing recruitment toward CCL20-responsive CCR6+ T cells. In adoptive transfer experiments, CCR6+ T cells produce an arteritis pattern with media-invasive T cells damaging vascular smooth muscle cells. Also, CCR6+ T cells dominate the vasculitic infiltrates in patients with panarteritic giant cell arteritis. Thus, depending on the original danger signal, vascular DCs edit the emerging immune response by differentially recruiting specialized T effector cells and direct the disease process toward distinct types of vasculitis.


End wall flows contribute the most crucial role in loss generation for axial flow turbine and compressor blades. These losses lead to modify the blade loading and overall performance in terms of stable operating range. Present study aimed to determine the end wall flow streams in a low speed low pressure linear turbine cascade vane using numerical approach. The study includes two sections. The first section includes an attempt to understand different secondary flow streams available at end wall. Location of generation of horseshoe vortex streams and subsequent vortex patterns are identified in the section. The selection of suitable turbulence model among SST (Shear Stress Transport) k–ω and SST γ–θ to identify end wall flow streams is studied in prior in the section. The steady state numerical study is performed using Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stoke's Equations closed by SST γ–θ turbulence model. The computational results are validated with experimental results available in the literature and are found to be in good agreement. The study is extended for different inflow conditions in later section. The second section includes effect of flow incidence and turbulence intensity on the end wall secondary flow field. Inflow incidences considered for the study are −20°, −10°, 0° (design incidence), +10° and +20°. The inlet turbulence intensities are varied by 1% and 10% for each case. The results revealed different secondary flow patterns at an end wall and found the change in behavior with an inflow conditions. SST γ–θ turbulence model with lower turbulence intensity is more suitable to identify such flow behavior.


This paper utilizes Demographic and Health Survey data to generate multidimensional poverty profiles for women and children in Kenya during the period 1993 to 2003.We measure wellbeing in two dimensions: assets and health status. The Alkire and Foster (2007) counting approach is applied to measure and order multidimensional poverty. Stochastic dominance approaches are used to make multidimensional poverty orderings across regions and areas of residence. A biProbit model is employed to explore the determinants of multidimensional poverty. The results show differences in the distribution of poor women and children across space and time. We find that assets contributed more than health to multidimensional poverty over the 10 year period. Rural areas contributed more than urban areas, while boys made a larger contribution than girls. The bi-Probit model results suggest that understanding the determinants of wellbeing in a multidimensional context can generate useful policy insights for improving human capital investments in Kenya.


The acquisition of resistance to anticancer drugs is an important problem in cancer chemotherapy. Ehrlich ascites tumor cells (wild type EAT cells) were grown in a medium containing 1 microgram/ml adriamycin (ADR) (ADR-resistant strain) and the cells that proliferated were established in our laboratory. Intracellular ADR accumulation and the killing effect of ADR in the ADR-resistant strain were markedly reduced compared with those of the wild type EAT cells. In this study, we initially observed thermosensitivity in both strains and found no difference in the thermosensitivity. These findings demonstrated that hyperthermic treatment was effective in the ADR-resistant strain as well as in the wild type EAT cells. On the other hand, thermotolerance is an important problem in the hyperthermic treatment of cancer. We next observed the thermotolerance of both strains and found that the thermotolerance in the ADR-resistant strain was greater than that in the wild type EAT cells, but the thermotolerance was almost restored within 24 hours. Furthermore, we investigated the influence of thermotolerance on the intracellular accumulation and killing effects of ADR in the wild type EAT cells. There was no difference in the intracellular ADR accumulation and the killing effect of ADR between non-thermoresistant cells and thermoresistant cells. These results suggested that hyperthermia was effective in the ADR-resistant cells either alone or combination with ADR.


This article reviews stock market valuations focusing on value and growth forecast returns. There are three basic rationales for the stock market valuations that we saw at the close of the 20th century; an "earnings growth argument," a new lower equity risk premium, or irrationally priced stocks—i.e., we are in a classic bubble. We argue that for the earnings growth argument to be true, earnings for companies in stock indexes would have grown to an unprecedented and unrealistic share of U.S. gross domestic product. While investors may have adopted a newer and lower equity risk premium, the second argument, we argue that the premium is too low for growth stocks—too low in fact to be reasonable. We opt instead for the irrational price explanation. The idea of a ceiling on earnings growth and a floor for the equity risk premium outlined here is useful for investors establishing boundaries for expected equity returns.


An aqueous impregnation method using manganese (II) nitrate precursor, followed by calcination at 400 °C, was carried out for the preparation of manganese doped hydroxyapatite catalysts (MnxHap; x = Mn wt.%: 2.5, 5.0, 10, 20, and 30 based on MnO2). Methods of characterization including inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP), N2 physisorption, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Transmission Infrared (FT-IR), Raman, and Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA/MS) analysis were used for the identification of Mn species and its surrounding environment. Raman spectroscopy indicated the presence of the ε-MnO2 phase for Mn20Hap and Mn30Hap in agreement with the XRD results and the presence of β-MnOOH species for Mn5Hap and Mn10Hap. The formaldehyde total oxidation was investigated on these catalysts and it was shown that Mn5Hap was the most active catalyst, achieving a normalized rate of formaldehyde (HCHO) conversion into CO2 per mole of Mn of 0.042 h−1 at a temperature of 145 °C. The well dispersed oxidized manganese species on Hap with a medium Mn AOS (average oxidation state) were mainly responsible for this performance. Since HCHO was retained on the surface of all catalysts during the catalytic test, the combined Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform spectroscopy (DRIFT) experiment at room temperature and thermodesorption (TD)-FTIR identified formate species as their oxidation consumed surface OH groups. A stability test and moisture effect study showed that the presence of water vapor has a beneficial effect on the performances of the catalyst.


The paper is divided into three parts. In the first part is presented the evolution of tourism in Europe during 2008 as indicated by data provided by Eurostat, in the second part is made a brief analysis of the Romanian tourism development in the period August 2008 - January 2009. Both the European Union and Romania reveal a decrease of the turnover, a decrease of the tourist number and a decreased length of stay. In the EU, crisis started to have an effect in the second part of the year. However, the number of nights spent in hotels and similar establishments in the European Union showed a small decrease (-0.5%) compared with the previous year. In Romania, January 2009 brought a sharp decrease of net use of tourist accommodation bed – place in hotels and similar units from 50.4% in August 2008 to 17.7% in January 2009. The last part of the paper, presents various ways to decrease and eliminate the effect of the crisis in Romanian tourism. There are presented measures taken by the Ministry of Tourism, national prizes award of goods and services quality, methods to improve services quality by implementing a quality management system. For this purpose are presented the certified companies by RENAR, which issue quality certificates and the number of firms from the tourism segment certified by them. The paper shows steps that can be followed to implement a system of quality management. ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 standards are the guideline standards that can be implemented by any firm.


The objective of this elicitation study is to provide insights into farmers' beliefs which influence their participation in knowledge exchange and innovation networks to enable the enhancement of network participation. A set of facilitating and impeding factors was obtained. Participants identified (a) 13 categories of behavioural beliefs (e.g. 'You learn something' and 'Low perceived return on investment'), (b) 4 groups of normative beliefs (influence of colleagues, spouses, network coordinators and chain partners) and (c) 11 control beliefs (facilitators or barriers related to, for example, 'Network skills', 'No time' and 'Perceived restraint by farmers in communicating openly and honestly').


A polyurethane based on unsaturated polyesters (PUP) was prepared, which can be cured and cross-linking reaction under room temperature. The polyurethane-based resin exhibited excellent endurance to acid and base relative to traditional unsaturated polyester resin. Different content and particle size of aluminum hydroxide particles were added into the PUP to improve the properties of final materials. Experiment results showed that proper content and size of aluminum hydroxide particles can improve the mechanic properties, thermal stability and electrical insulation of PUP materials to some extent. Such result was confirmed by the fracture morphology of the samples because of the well dispersion of aluminum hydroxide particles into PUP phase.


The concept of communities of practice has generated considerable debate among scholars of management. Attention has shifted from a concern with the transmission and reproduction of knowledge towards their utility for enhancing innovative potential. Questions of governance, power, collaboration and control have all entered the debate with different theorizations emerging from a wide mix of empirical research. We appraise these key findings through a critical review of the literature. From a divergent range of findings, we identify four main ways in which communities of practice enable and constrain innovative capabilities as (a) enablers of learning for innovation, (b) situated platforms for professional occupations, (c) dispersed collaborative environments and (d) governance structures designed for purpose. Our conclusion signals the way forward for further research that could be used to improve our understanding of different contextual forms and how they may align with organizations in enabling rather than constraining innovative capabilities.


The rupture of dry frictional interfaces occurs through the propagation of fronts breaking the contacts at the interface. Recent experiments have shown that the velocities of these rupture fronts range from quasistatic velocities proportional to the external loading rate to velocities larger than the shear wave speed. The way system parameters influence front speed is still poorly understood. Here we study steady-state rupture propagation in a one-dimensional (1D) spring-block model of an extended frictional interface for various friction laws. With the classical Amontons-Coulomb friction law, we derive a closed-form expression for the steady-state rupture velocity as a function of the interfacial shear stress just prior to rupture. We then consider an additional shear stiffness of the interface and show that the softer the interface, the slower the rupture fronts. We provide an approximate closed form expression for this effect. We finally show that adding a bulk viscosity on the relative motion of blocks accelerates steady-state rupture fronts and we give an approximate expression for this effect. We demonstrate that the 1D results are qualitatively valid in 2D. Our results provide insights into the qualitative role of various key parameters of a frictional interface on its rupture dynamics. They will be useful to better understand the many systems in which spring-block models have proved adequate, from friction to granular matter and earthquake dynamics.


Real-time control systems (RTCSs) tolerate delay and crash faults by replicating the controller. Each replica computes and issues setpoints to actuators over a network that might drop or delay messages. Hence, the actuators might receive an inconsistent set of setpoints. Such inconsistency is avoided either by having a single primary replica compute and issue setpoints (in passive replication) or a consensus algorithm select one sending-replica (in active replication). However, due to the impossibility of a perfect failure-detector, passive-replication schemes can have multiple primaries, causing inconsistency, especially in the presence of intermittent delay faults. Furthermore, the impossibility of bounded-latency consensus causes both schemes to have poor real-time performance. We identified three properties of RTCSs that enable active-replication schemes to agree on the measurements before computing, instead of using traditional consensus. As all computing replicas compute with the same state, the resulting setpoints are guaranteed to be consistent. We present the design of Quarts, an agreement solution for active replication that guarantees consistency and bounded latency-overhead. We prove the guarantees and compare the performance of Quarts with existing solutions through simulation. We show that Quarts provides an availability higher than existing solutions, and that the availability improvement is up to 10x with two replicas.


[1] While volcanic events are commonly characterized by multiple eruptive stages, most probabilistic tephra hazard analyses only simulate the major (paroxysmal) stage. In this study, we reconsider this simplified treatment by comparing hazard outcomes from simulated single- and multistage eruption sequences, using the Okataina Volcanic Center (OVC) in New Zealand as a case study. Our study draws upon geological evidence particular to the OVC as well as generalized patterns of eruptive behavior from other analogous volcanic centers. Exceedance probabilities of simulated tephra thickness, the cumulative duration of explosive behavior, and the duration of the entire eruptive sequence were all compared. Multistage simulations show an increased hazard with the greatest differences lying close to the vent for long duration and high thickness thresholds and at intermediate distances between the vent and the maximum extent of the deposit for lower thickness and duration thresholds. Multiple explosive stages increase the likelihood of an event lasting longer than 1 month by up to sevenfold and, for given low-probability events, accumulated tephra thicknesses in some locations may increase by 1 order of magnitude and impact up to 22% more of New Zealand's North Island. Given our understanding of the eruptive history of the Okataina Volcanic Center, multistage simulations provide a better understanding of the potential hazard from this source.


This paper reports the results of a survey of top economics bloggers. The survey was conducted in mid-January 2011 by soliciting input from top economics bloggers as ranked by Palgrave's Econolog.net. While many (around 50 percent) of the respondents have participated in all quarterly surveys, the results across quarters are not directly comparable. The Kauffman Foundation is dedicated to the idea that entrepreneurship and innovation drive economic growth. Naturally, this new technology of blogging is a fascinating one, both for its effect on the economic research frontier, but also as an innovation in its own right. A survey of so many high-profile participants offers a unique opportunity for discussion, and this survey should be viewed as one way of summarizing some of the insights of the community of economics bloggers. Key Findings - The Economy Economics bloggers are less pessimistic in their outlook on the U.S. economy than they were at the end of 2010, though 77 percent believe overall conditions are mixed, facing recession, or in recession. For an economy in which growth is the norm, 31 percent of respondents think that the U.S. economy is worse than official statistics indicate, and only 10 percent believe it is better. When asked to describe the economy using five adjectives, "uncertain" remains the most frequently used term to describe the economy. Policy Recommendations Although the panel is largely non-partisan, a three-to-one majority of top economics bloggers believe the government is too involved in the economy. The top policy recommendation (selected from a small set of choices) is for the government to "reduce regulatory burdens and fees on new firm formation" and "approve trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama," with 92 percent support. Promoting entrepreneurship is a consensus agenda among policymakers. However, only 32 percent agree with a policy of "subsidizing new firm formation with targeted spending and tax benefits," with 68 percent disagreeing (24 percent strongly). The alternative option to "reduce regulatory burdens and fees on new firm formation" is favored by 92 percent of respondents. Rather than recommending that the government get more involved in helping entrepreneurs, top economics bloggers recommend it simply do less to hinder them. Survey Results The Kauffman Economic Outlook includes core questions that will recur each quarter and one-time-only topical questions. Core questions focus on two areas, and are presented in the charts and tables that follow: the performance of the U.S. economy and policy assessments and recommendations. Finally, there are topical questions provided by economics bloggers themselves, which are not categorized.


Purpose: The high prevalence of osteoblastic bone metastases in prostate cancer involves the production of osteoblast-stimulating factors by prostate cancer cells. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a serine protease uniquely produced by prostate cancer cells and is an important serologic marker for prostate cancer. In this study, we examined the role of PSA in the induction of osteoblast differentiation. Experimental Design: Human cDNA containing a coding region for PSA was transfected into human osteosarcoma SaOS-2 cells. SaOS-2 cells were also treated with exogenously added PSA. We evaluated changes in global gene expression using cDNA arrays and Northern blot analysis resulting from expression of PSA in human osteosarcoma SaOS-2 cells. Results: SaOS-2 cells expressing PSA had markedly up-regulated expression of genes associated with osteoblast differentiation including runx-2 and osteocalcin compared with the controls. Consistent with these results, the stable clones expressing PSA showed increased mineralization and increased activity of alkaline phosphatase in vitro compared with controls, suggesting that these cells undergo osteoblast differentiation. We also found that osteoprotegerin expression was down-regulated and that the receptor activator of NF-κB ligand expression was up-regulated in cells expressing PSA compared with controls. Conclusions: Modulation of the expression of osteogenic genes and alteration of the balance between osteoprotegerin–receptor activator of NF-κB ligand by PSA suggests that PSA produced by metastatic prostate cancer cells may participate in bone remodeling in favor of the development of osteoblastic metastases in the heterogeneous mixture of osteolytic and osteoblastic lesions. These findings provide a molecular basis for understanding the high prevalence of osteoblastic bone metastases in prostate cancer.