Providing accurate diagnosis of diseases generally requires complex analyses of many clinical, biological and pathological variables. In this context, solutions based on machine learning techniques achieved relevant results in specific disease detection and classification, and can hence provide significant clinical decision support. However, such approaches suffer from the lack of proper means for interpreting the choices made by the models, especially in case of deep-learning ones. In order to improve interpretability and explainability in the process of making qualified decisions, we designed a system that allows for a partial opening of this black box by means of proper investigations on the rationale behind the decisions; this can provide improved understandings into which pre-processing steps are crucial for better performance. We tested our approach over artificial neural networks trained for automatic medical diagnosis based on high-dimensional gene expression and clinical data. Our tool analyzed the internal processes performed by the networks during the classification tasks in order to identify the most important elements involved in the training process that influence the network's decisions.We report the results of an experimental analysis aimed at assessing the viability of the proposed approach.


Evanescent-mode filters are realized by both silicon micromachining as well as layer-by-layer polymer stereolithography (SL) processing. Capacitive loading an enclosed resonator reduces the size of a distributed cavity to be much smaller than a wavelength but which has much higher unloaded Q than lumped elements. The loaded resonators are extended into reduced-size filters with a low insertion loss due to the relatively high quality factor. Size reduction of resonators and filters can be a full order of magnitude depending on the height of the capacitive post. A 14 GHz resonator micro-machined in silicon with 5 mm/spl times/5 mm/spl times/0.45 mm volume reduces the size by 76.8%. The polymer-based fabrication was used to create a resonator with a Q greater than 1,050. An insertion loss of 0.83 dB was measured in a 1.69% filter with a size reduction of 47%. Furthermore, the proposed filters are quasi-planar and capable of integration with other RF components.


Commercial CdSe–ZnS–polymer quantum dots (QDs) were shown to be readily quenched by strong oxidants such as potassium permanganate. When exposed to permanganate solution of millimolar concentration for hours, damage was severe and the QDs would be permanently bleached. When oxidant concentration was micromolar and reaction time was minutes, oxidation would be mild and bleached QDs could recover their fluorescence if the oxidant was removed and the QDs subsequently irradiated. Light was essential in activating the fluorescence recovery. Light could also transform mild oxidations into severe ones if administered with the oxidant simultaneously. A model of the bleaching and recovery was proposed. It was based on the oxidative attack of the Zn–ligand bond and its repair. The model helped explain the critical role that light played and was consistent with all the experimental observations. By means of photocatalyzed oxidation of single QDs, a redox probe of high spatial and temporal resolution was demonstrated.


5.1 Introduction In Chap. 4, the subject is electromechanical kinematics. Field sources are physically constrained to have predetermined spatial distributions and the relative motion is prescribed. As a result, in a typical example, the electromechanical dynamics can be incapsulated in a lumped-parameter model. In this and the next chapter, the mechanics remain kinematic, in that the material deformations are again prescribed. However, now material may be suffering relative deformations, represented by a given velocity field v(r,t). More important, in this and the next chapter, electrodes and wires are no longer used to constrain the "free" field sources. Rather, the distribution of free charge and current is now determined by.the field laws themselves, augmented by conservation laws and constitutive relations. The physical situations now considered are electroquasistatic and the sources are therefore charge densities. In Chap. 6, magnetoquasistatic systems are of interest, the relevant sources are the free current density and magnetization density, and the subject is magnetic diffusion in the face of material convection. In the next section, equations are deduced that represent the fate of each species of charge. Throughout this chapter, the charge carriers are dominated in their motions by collisions with neutral particles and with each other. On the average, collisions are so frequent that the inertia of each carrier can be ignored. Such collision-dominated carrier motions are introduced in Sees. 3.2 and 3.3, where the observation is made that it is only if the particle inertia is ignorable that the electrical force on the carrier can be taken as instantaneously transmitted to the media through which it moves. If the carrier inertia is important, the carrier densities constitute mechanical continua in their own right. Such examples are the electron beam in vacuum and the ions and electrons that constitute a "cold" plasma. These models are therefore appropriately included in Chaps. 7 and 8, where fluids and fluid-like continua are studied. The conservation of charge equations, together with the electroquasistatic field laws and the specified material deformation, constitute a description of the way in which the fields and their sources self-consistently evolve. Whether to gain insights concerning the implications of these equations , or to solve these equations in a specific situation, characteristic coordinates are valuable. Thus, the characteristic approach to partial differential equations is introduced in the context of charge-charrier migration, relaxation and convection. The method of characteristics will be used extensively to describe other phenomena …


An attempt is made to elucidate the pathogenesis of polyuria arising consequent upon medication of affective states with lithium salts. Experiments conducted with 54 male-rats showed that changes in the neurosecretion of supraoptic nuclei of the hypothalamus and neurohypophysis that take place after a course-wise intraperitoneal administration in amounts of 200 mg/kg (2/9DL20) of lithium chloride per 24 hours for a duration of 6 days occur parallel with histochemical changes of renal acid muconpolysaccharides and they accord with the nature of diuresis disorders. By the 5th day of the experiment the compound perverts the antidiuretic effect of a single subcutaneous injection of pituitrin (10 U/kg). The authors infer therefrom that polyuria emerging after introduction of lithium salts is caused by a deranged synthesis and secretion of the diuretic hormone and also by the ability of lithium to mitigate the action of this hormone on the kidneys.


The global SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has been accompanied with severe socio-economic and health burdens that will ripple through history. It is now known that SARS-CoV-2 induces a cytokine storm that leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome and systemic organ damage. With no definitive nor safe therapy for COVID-19 as well as the rise of viral variants the need for an urgent treatment modality is paramount. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their extracellular vesicles (EVs) have long been praised for their anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and tissue regenerative capabilities. MSCs and their EVs are now being studied for their possible use as a treatment modality for COVID-19. In this review we explore their capabilities and outline the evidence of their use in ALI, ARDS and COVID-19.


The aim of this work was the development of a new composite material based on natural fibres as reinforcement and an acrylic thermoset as binder to investigate the material properties for various applications. All applications were made by forming and curing the composite material in a hot forming press. In a first step the technology for formation of such a composite material was tested: Based on the nonwoven-process natural fibre mats were made, only composed of natural fibres without binder and with different area weights. After that, different technologies of application of binder and additives like hydrophobizing agents were tested. In the second step the material properties (flexural and impact strength, water uptake and moisture expansion, testing for climatic extremes and sound-absorbing properties) were investigated for different applications as function of the density of the pressed parts, the mixing ratio of binder and additives. The following properties can be given as very special features of the material: In comparison with composites made of usual thermoset binders the fabricator has not to apply the resin immediately before processing. Secondly the material can be stored easily, because the curing is started beyond 100°C, at lower temperatures the binder is thermoplastic. In comparison with composites made of thermoplastic binders, a lesser fraction of binder is necessary and the pressed parts have a very high flexural stiffness. Finally the critical properties like the water uptake and moisture expansion were improved by the addition of hydrophobizing agents.


The structure of the doubly-odd180 Re nucleus has been studied by means of in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy at the Australian National University. Excited states in 180 Re have been populated using the fusion-evaporation reaction 174Yb(11B,5n) at a bombarding energy of 71 MeV. Gamma-rays have been observed by using the CAESAR detector array which consists of six Hyper-Pure Germanium (HPGe) detector and two Low Energy Photon Spectrometers (LEPS). The level scheme of 180 Re was established from the analysis of gamma-gamma coincidence relations, Directional Correlations of gamma-rays from Oriented states (DCO), electron conversion measurements and gamma-ray intensity balances. Energy levels of intrinsic states have been compared with calculations based on the Blocked BCS (BBCS) theory as well as Potential Energy Surface (PES) calculations which were also used to determine the nuclear shape. Previously identified bands have been observed in this work. Their band-head spins, however, have been reassigned. Their assignment was done on the basis of the BBCS calculations, g-factors, and potential energy surface calculations. Two high-K rotational bands have also been observed, together with a new isomer, with a mean-life of 13?s. This isomeric level was assigned a Kpi=21- band head. It has one of the new rotational bands associated with it and the second one feeding into it. This second band was tentatively assigned a Kpi=22+ configuration. Both the configurations of these bands involve the 9/2+[624] and 7/2- [514] Nilsson states which are coupled to the same protons, 5/2+[402]9/2-[514]7/2+[404] respectively, with only the third neutron, 5/2-[512] for Kpi=21- and 7/2+[633] for Kpi=22+, differing. The experimental aligned angular momenta for these bands increase as the spin increases. Prom this increase it is concluded that these high-K bands gradually change their structure from deformation aligned to rotation aligned through the Fermi aligned scheme as spin increases. During the change of the structure, the quasiparticles which form high-K states at the band heads change their direction of angular momentum from the symmetry axis to the rotation axis due to the effect of the Coriolis force. A number of K-forbidden transitions have been found in this work. Their decay can take place due to K-mixing. Statistical level mixing for Kpi=13+ and Kpi=21- isomeric states was employed in this work to explain the K-mixing process. 180Re is the highest-Z, deformed odd-odd nucleus that has been found to have a six-quasiparticle isomer; K remains approximately a good quantum number despite a tendency towards axially asymmetric shape distortions.


Vertebrate GATA transcription factors have been classified into two subgroups; GATA-1, GATA-2, and GATA-3 are expressed in hematopoietic cells, whereas GATA-4, GATA-5, and GATA-6 are expressed in mesoendoderm-derived tissues. We previously discovered that expression of GATA-2 or GATA-3 under the transcriptional control for the Gata1 gene eliminates lethal anemia in Gata1 germ line mutant mice (Gata1.05/Y). Here, we show that the GATA-4 expression by the same regulatory cassette prolongs the life span of Gata1.05/Y embryos from embryonic day 12.5 to 15.5 but fails to abrogate its embryonic lethality. Gata1.05/Y mice bearing the GATA-4 transgene showed impaired maturation of both primitive and definitive erythroid cells and defective erythroid cell expansion in fetal liver. Moreover, the incidence of apoptosis was observed prominently in primitive erythroid cells. In contrast, a GATA-4-GATA-1 chimeric protein prepared by linking the N-terminal region of GATA-4 to the C-terminal region of GATA-1 significantly promoted the differentiation and survival of primitive erythroid cells, although this protein is still insufficient for rescuing Gata1.05/Y embryos from lethal anemia. These data thus show a functional incompatibility between hematopoietic and endodermal GATA factors in vivo and provide evidence indicating specific roles of the C-terminal region of GATA-1 in primitive erythropoiesis.


Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are gaining popularity in many applications such as file sharing, e-commerce, and social networking, many of which deal with rich, distributed data sources that can benefit from data mining. P2P networks are, in fact, well-suited to distributed data mining (DDM), which deals with the problem of data analysis in environments with distributed data, computing nodes, and users. This article offers an overview of DDM applications and algorithms for P2P environments, focusing particularly on local algorithms that perform data analysis by using computing primitives with limited communication overhead. The authors describe both exact and approximate local P2P data mining algorithms that work in a decentralized and communication-efficient manner


The 1940s witnessed perhaps the most ambitious attempts to transform international politics into wholly new forms - the Nazi 'New Order' sought to eradicate the European state-system as it had emerged during the course of the previous century, the Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere had no less ambitious objectives in Asia, while the Allies toyed not merely with possible institutions to realise the principles of the Atlantic Charter, but gave serious contemplation to federal union. In 1945, however, during what Robert Latham has called the 'liberal moment', international politics returned to a plural order of sovereign states, overlaid with new institutions of global governance in the past century - the United Nations, the IMF, NATO, and later the European Economic Community. This paper examines both the underlying justifications for the shape and character of these institutions, generated largely by American and British intellectuals and policy-makers, as well as the arguments of their critics and opponents. It aims to interpret the various traditions of thought that helped to recreate a plural order of sovereign states, combined with strengthened institutions of conference diplomacy and functional agencies, rather than generate a new order.


We are facing challenges at all levels ranging from infrastructures to programming models for managing and mining large graphs. A lot of algorithms on graphs are ad-hoc in the sense that each of them assumes that the underlying graph data can be organized in a certain way that maximizes the performance of the algorithm. In other words, there is no standard graph systems based on which graph algorithms are developed and optimized. In response to this situation, a lot of graph systems have been proposed recently. In this tutorial, we discuss several representative systems. Still, we focus on providing perspectives from a variety of standpoints on the goals and the means for developing a general purpose graph system. We highlight the challenges posed by the graph data, the constraints of architectural design, the different types of application needs, and the power of different programming models that support such needs. This tutorial is complementary to the related tutorial "Managing and Mining Large Graphs: Patterns and Algorithms".


In the present article we will discuss the electronic trans‐ port properties of carbon nanotube field‐effect transistors (CNFETs). Three different device concepts will be studied in more detail: Schottky‐barrier CNFETs with metallic source and drain contacts, conventional‐type CNFETs with doped nanotube segments as source and drain electrodes and finally a new concept, the tunneling CNFET. As it turns out, tunneling phenomena play a prominent role in all three CNFET designs and determine their electrical behavior to a large extend. In addition, the one‐dimensionality of the electronic transport makes them ideally suited for novel device architecture such as the tunneling CNFET. Analytical as well as simulation results will be given and compared with each other and with experimental data in order to explain the different influences on the electronic transport in CNFETs and thus on the device behavior. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


A procedure is presented for modeling and investigating the pre and post-failure geotechnical characteristics of soils affected by strong earthquakes. Using a new method of dynamic numerical analysis and an experimental program aimed at understanding the post-failure behavior of such soils, it is shown that the resultant 0.74 factor of safety, 30 – 40 m failure elevation, critical failure plane and zero effective stress values are consistent with field work findings and observations. Compared to another method of stability analysis used in this research only the dynamic analysis provided the exact location of the most critical sliding surface. Laboratory undrained shear results on strongly weathered soils from the affected slopes show that after failure, generated excess pore water pressure was equal to the applied normal stress on the soils indicating that the soils liquefied and that they must have traveled down slope at considerable speed which correspond to the destruction and disruptions witnessed.


We measured the vitamin K status in postmortem human tissues (brain, heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas) to see if there is a tissue-specific distribution pattern. Phylloquinone (K1,) was recovered in all tissues with relatively high levels in liver, heart and pancreas (medians, 10·6 (4·8), 9·3 (4·2), 28·4 (12·8) pmol(ng)/g wet weight tissue); low levels (< 2 pmol/g) were found in brain, kidney and lung. Menaquinone-4 (MK-4) was recovered from most of the tissues; its levels exceeded the K1 levels in brain and kidney (median, 2·8 ng/g) and equalled K1 in pancreas. Liver, heart and lung were low in MK–4. The higher menaquinones, MK-6–11, were recovered in the liver samples (n 6), traces of MK-6–9 were found in some of the heart and pancreas samples. The results show that in man there are tissue-specific, vitamin-K distribution patterns comparable to those in the rat. Furthermore, the accumulation of vitamin K in heart, brain and pancreas suggests a hitherto unrecognized physiological function of this vitamin.


Effect of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and their structure components (lipid A, oligosaccharide core, and O-specific polysaccharides) from 8 strains of P. fontium on the adhesion process have been investigated for the first time. It was demonstrated, that LPS and their structural components may compete with E. coli adhesins and phytohemagglutinin under binding with receptors on the surface of the rabbit erythrocytes. An analysis of different structural components influence indicated, that in comparison with O-specific polysaccharides and core oligosaccharide lipids A of all investigated strains of P. fontium displayed the highest inhibitory action on the adhesion process. It was shown that there existed certain dependence between LPS composition and their effects on the adhesion process. LPS, obtained from P. fontium strains grown at different temperatures (36, 25, 4 degrees C) and characterized by various quantitative and qualitative monosaccharide and fatty acid composition, demonstrated different adhesion properties.


We describe the use of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) for the determination of tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) without derivatization or purification. The influences of buffer pH and voltage on the separation of TBHQ were studied. The internal standard method was used for the quantification of TBHQ. Amperometric detection was carried out at an applied potential of 0.80 V. The detection limit of TBHQ was found to be 10-6 M. Peak intensity varied linearly with TBHQ concentration from 10-4 to 5×10-6 M. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for peak intensity and migration time was in the range of 3.58–4.36% and 0.51–0.94%, respectively. The recovery of the method in food samples is 95.36% for TBHQ. The method developed is suitable for the routine analysis of synthetic phenolic antioxidant TBHQ in samples.


The present work aims to give an overview of the research published in the last 20 years on the study of mediaeval wall paintings using complementary analytical diagnostic techniques. The analyses carried out on fragments or in the field allowed the identification of the execution techniques and the chromatic palettes of the Middle Ages and uncommon materials, according to local availability, were sometimes identified. Portable analytical techniques have been very useful in the identification of raw material and degradation products, while in other cases they have allowed identifying particularly interesting areas, from a diagnostic point of view, where samples can be taken to complete the studies in the laboratory. Furthermore, this review aims to highlight the substantial change that has taken place in recent years in the study of wall paintings, mainly focused on the identification of degradation processes for preservation and restoration purposes. Indeed, particular attention has been paid to publications related to the study of the conservation state of wall paintings that tried to explain the decay pathways that occur because of the interaction between natural and anthropic environmental stressors (humidity, climatic variations, infiltration waters and environmental contamination) and the wall painting materials.


A polyethylene pipe reinforced by winding steel wires (PSP) has been widely used in the petroleum, chemical, and water supply industries. The PSP has outstanding mechanical properties due to its unique composite structure. However, interfacial debonding between steel wire and adhesive sometimes occurs when the temperature and inner pressure increases to some extent in the application. In this study, the interfacial behavior between steel wire and adhesive was investigated and the interfacial failure process was analyzed. First, to acquire test data of interfacial failure, pull-out tests were conducted using specimens consisted of steel wire and adhesive. Specimens were prepared per the PSP manufacturing process, and a temperature change occurred in the specimens' preparation. Second, as the details of failure process could not be observed directly, finite element models were established to represent the mechanical behavior of the steel-polymer interface in-order to reproduce the debonding failure process. The thermal preload was taken into account in the model, and its influence on interfacial behavior was discussed. Contact surface with cohesive behavior was utilized to characterize the interfacial property. Finally, the interfacial failure process including stick–slip interaction and frictional sliding interaction was modeled in the simulation. The simulation result agreed well with the experimental data. Based on the finite element model, the cause and the distribution of thermal residual stress in pull-out specimen were illuminated. Further, it is discussed that how the stress distribution changes along the adhesive interface.


Introduction: Staff members in a residential setting for older people participated in a quality improvement initiative to improve end of life care practices within their facility.  As part of this initiative, staff members sought to create a genuine culture of involvement for service users, and staff.  Talking about end of life care is a difficult topic.  It is recognised that in practice, there is generally very poor communication around end of life issues and care (Quinlan & O'Neill, 2013).  This is particularly true where service users have cognitive impairment or dementia.  A novel approach to involving service users was required in this setting to ensure that their views were accurately represented. Objectives: The purpose of this project was to adopt an integrated care approach to a quality improvement initiative in a residential setting, putting service user outcomes and experience at the centre of the change process.  Specifically: - To involve service users, particularly those whose voices are seldom heard, in the review and development of end of life care practices - To empower service users to develop and own a unique vision for good end of life care in their residential centre Method: A focus group consisting of 9 service users was convened. Participants were considered for inclusion based on the following criteria: - Alert enough to attend group session - Adequate health and ambulatory ability (walking; in wheelchair/high support chair) - Participants were not automatically excluded on the basis of cognitive status or communication impairment.  Where communication could be supported in the group by a skilled moderator (as predicted by specialist Speech & Language Therapy assessment), service users were invited to participate The group was facilitated by a Senior Grade Speech & Language Therapist (SLT), and SLT Assistant. Results: Service users with dementia, cognitive impairment and communication impairments were successfully supported to directly communicate their views on end of life care.  The focus group method served to empower service users, as evidenced by: - Service users developing their own unique end of life symbol - Service users requesting that the focus group meetings continue on a regular basis to allow them to explore other topics relevant to their care.  Service users will determine and direct themes for future meetings. Discussion: The Irish National Strategy for Service User Involvement highlights service user input as a key element in the delivery of patient centred care. It is vital that the needs and preferences of residents who have difficulty communicating are actively sought, and every effort is made to support them to communicate their views directly (HIQA, 2016).  With the appropriate methods and communication facilitation strategies, service users with dementia and cognitive impairment can be supoorted to express their views, even with regard to more challenging topics.  A focus group method can create an accepting, non-threatening environment for service users.  The need for skilled facilitators is of paramount importance in supporting individuals with dementia and cognitive impairment. As specialists in communication, SLTs are ideally placed to adapt, modify and support communication.


Two patients with eccrine syringofibroadenomas were studied. The first patient had a 3-year history of asymptomatic, unilateral, linear, moist mosaic plaques of the lower part of the left leg and foot; the second patient had a solitary papule on the back. Histologically, both tumors exhibited superficial elongated strands of eccrine ductal epithelium containing occasional lumina lined by an eosinophilic cuticle. The stroma was loose, myxoid, and fibrovascular. The secretory portions of the eccrine glands were ectatic in the first patient but were not seen in the second patient. We believe these lesions represent acrosyringeal hamartomas (nevi), although some authors interpret them as adenomas. The literature seems to indicate that lesions with similar histologic features may be solitary, multiple, or combined with other neoplasms; in other cases, the lesions may possibly represent an unusual morphologic expression of hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia.


Postlarvae of Litopenaeus vannamei were acclimated and stocked in lake-based cages at the following stocking densities: 10, 20, 30 and 40 shrimp m−2. Another set of shrimp was stocked in concrete tanks as reference samples at 30 shrimp m−2. Significant differences were observed among stocking densities throughout the 95-day culture. The final weight at harvest decreased with increasing stocking density: mean weights of 23.3, 15.8, 13.0, 10.9 and 14.6 g for the 10, 20, 30, 40 shrimp m−2 and reference tanks were observed respectively. There were no significant differences in survival throughout the culture period, ranging between 69% and 77%. Daily growth rates (range: 0.11–0.24 g day−1) and specific growth rates (range: 3.54–4.34%) also differed significantly among stocking densities, both increasing with decreasing stocking density. The feed conversion ratio in the cages did not differ among the stocking densities, ranging from 1.53 to 1.65. The relationship between stocking density and mean individual weight at harvest followed the equation y=81.06x−0.54 (R2=0.938) and that of stocking density and production (in g m−2) is y=58.01x−0.46 (R2=0.834).


This paper reports a novel non-aqueous solvent chemical process to prepare nano ZrO2 powders. ZrOCl2•6H2O and urea were directly dissolved into an organic solvent of glycol. After this solution was put into an oven and reacted at 950C for 2 h, a transparent gel was obtained. As-received gel was heated at 2100C for 5 hrs to remove glycol, and dry powders were obtained. Then the powders were calcined at 7500C, and monoclinic phase of ZrO2 was obtained. With different concentration of ZrOCl2, a range of nano ZrO2 powders were obtained. Furthermore, a surfactant of polyglycol was added into the solution to improve the dispersion of nano-particles in the gel. XRD analysis confirmed the monoclinic phase of ZrO2. SEM imaging showed the characteristics of nanoparticles. BET analysis was employed to test the aggregation of as-received nano ZrO2 particles. Considering the effects of both the concentration of ZrOCl2 and the surfactant, the optimized synthesis process of nano ZrO2 particles was formed.


This paper examines the frequencies of mammal roadkill in two adjacent biogeographic ecoregions (Atlantic Forest and Cerrado) of Brazil. Mammals were recorded during a seven-year period and over 3,900 km of roads, in order to obtain data for frequencies of species in habitats (sites) and frequencies of species killed by cars on roads. Sites (n = 80) within ecoregions (Cerrado, n = 57; Atlantic Forest, n = 23) were searched for records of mammals. Species surveyed in the entire region totaled 33, belonging to nine orders and 16 families. In the Cerrado, 31 species were recorded in habitats; of these, 25 were found dead on roads. In the Atlantic Forest ecoregions, however, we found 21 species in habitats, 16 of which were also found dead on roads. There was no overall significant difference between ecoregions for frequencies of occurrence in habitats or for roadkills, but there were differences between individual species. Hence, anteaters were mostly recorded in the Cerrado ecoregion, whereas caviomorph rodents tended to be more frequent in the Atlantic Forest ecoregion (seen mainly by roadkills). The greater number of species (overall and threatened) and the greater abundance of species records in the Cerrado suggest that this ecoregion has a greater biodiversity and is better conserved than the Atlantic Forest ecoregion, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, south-western Brazil.


Detection of P-glycoprotein and other multidrug resistance protein activity is currently under investigation to identify subgroups of cancer patients with tumors resistant to chemotherapy. Application of a test that reliably evaluates the phenomenon in vivo would not only serve as a predictor for responses to chemotherapy but would also be of use in testing the efficacy of multidrug resistance reversers in humans. Tc-99m radiolabeled hexakis-2-methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile (Tc-sestamibi) has been recently shown to be extruded from cells through P-glycoprotein activity. In the present study, we examined the uptake and extrusion rate of the radiotracer in 25 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer undergoing chest radiotherapy, using a novel scintigraphic technique based on simulation-guided pinhole imaging. Five-min tumor images were taken 10, 60, and 120 min postinjection of 20 mCi of Tc-sestamibi. Six of 25 (24%) of tumors showed a 1.3-1.7 times higher extrusion rate as compared to that of normal lung tissue. Increased tumor clearance of Tc-sestamibi significantly correlated with resistance to radiotherapy (P = 0.05) as well as the existence of distant metastasis (P = 0.008). Patients with known resistance to chemotherapy had a higher extrusion rate as compared to chemotherapy-naive patients (P = 0.01). Moreover, increased Tc-sestamibi tumor capture was seen in patients with distant metastasis (P = 0.09). We concluded that functional imaging of lung cancer with Tc-sestamibi may have a role in predicting responses to cytotoxic treatment and in identifying tumors with aggressive behavior. Additional clinicopathological trials are required to investigate whether Tc-sestamibi kinetics correlates with P-glycoprotein expression, intratumoral angiogenesis, or other mechanisms.


ABSTRACT One of the first modern mass nationalist parties, the Irish Parliamentary Party [IPP] dominated Irish politics for almost half a century until its defeat in the 1918 general election. Although long designated nationalists by 1918, the party and its supporters encompassed a broad alliance entailing strong nationalists and those with affinity for an imperialist-nationalist vision. The IPP based its campaign on a demand for home rule — an accommodation whereby Ireland would gain its own parliament with jurisdiction over domestic affairs while remaining part of the United Kingdom. Although the demands of Irish unionists put the unity of the country in doubt, home rule legislation was on the British statute book in 1914 when IPP leader John Redmond called on Irishmen to enlist in the British army to help safeguard home rule when hostilities ended. The war, however, provided radical nationalists with an opportunity to plan and launch a rebellion at Easter 1916. While it has been argued that mass nationalism combining cultural and political nationalism was a relatively late development in the Irish case, this article examines how the IPP's electoral defeat in 1918 interacted with events at home and abroad. It analyses the language and propaganda of both the IPP and its nationalist opponent, Sinn Féin, to examine how both parties framed their campaigns in the context of the post-war peace conference. The use of continental examples in the campaigns of both is analysed to assess contemporary perceptions and the ability of Sinn Féin to turn the Wilsonian message into a propaganda victory. While stressing the importance of domestic events in the decline of the IPP, this article sets the Irish election in a European context by examining how Sinn Féin sought to claim the language of self-determination for itself and disassociate the IPP from the Wilsonian message.


A seismic isolation system for the proposed 'Advanced LIGO' detector upgrade is under development. It consists of a two-stage in-vacuum active isolation platform that is supported by an external hydraulic actuation stage. A full-scale preliminary-design technology demonstrator of the in-vacuum platform has been assembled and is being tested at Stanford's engineering test facility. Unanticipated excess ground motion from local human activity at LIGO Livingston has prompted accelerated development of the external stage for installation and use in the initial Livingston detector. As an interim measure, active external isolation in the laser beam direction is implemented using existing PZT external actuators.


The oldest and the biggest Polish port in Gdansk has a very intricate history, which begins in 1000. Located in the delta of the Vistula River, the port has a fully developed infrastructure starting from Nowy Port and Westerplatte, through Motlawa and Martwa Wisla to Gorki Zachodnie and Port Polnocny. The strenuous development of the port started in the 14th and 15th centuries, together with the increase of trans-shipment of wood, grain, pitch, wax and other goods. Because of the continuous increase of turnover and profit from trade, the quickest development of Gdansk took place in the 16th and 17th centuries. At that time approximately 500–1000 vessels called at the port, mainly from the Netherlands and England. From the second half of the 18th century, Gdansk had been under the influence of Prussia, thus the port became one of the Prussian ports. In the years 1919–1939, due to the will of the League of Nations, Gdansk became a Free City. After 1945, there was intensive development of the port and all institutions connected with maritime affairs. During the mentioned period the port was immensely exploited and it demanded good navigational support at the approach and in port channels. In the 15–17th centuries the Wisloujscie (Weichselmunde) Lighthouse directed vessels to the entrance to the harbor; the lighthouse was situated on the right fringe of the Vistula estuary. Later on, the localization of the estuary changed place and thus the navigation signs at the entrance. The new lighthouse was built in 1758 and, together with the front beacon, created a leading mark, which pointed out the new entrance to the port. Modifications of aids to navigation also took place in the following years. The next lighthouses were built in Gdansk in 1894 and 1984. The history of Gdansk Lighthouses is the main subject of this study.


Small business firms usually obtain finance from commercial lenders on fixed or variable rates of interest. These businesses, or any other bonower for that matter, will have to pay back the principal bortowed along with its stipulated interest at the end of the specified period. They are willing to pay the interest on the loan over and above the principal bortOwed because they expect the borrowed amount of capital would make a marginal contribution in their profit at least equal to the total interest paid. They are legally liable for the payment of the interest and the principal regardless of their actual level of earnings. They must make these payments as per contract even if they suffer heavy losses in the project. This arrangement, which is common in most, if not all countries of the world, may cause a great deal of hardship on the part of the boiTowers, especially at times of economic slowdown. There is a method of finance called profit/loss sharing practiced in some South-East Asian and Middle Eastern countries. A number of financial institufions in the Western countries including UK, Denmark, Luxembourg and Switzerland has been applying this method since the early 1980s. The main objective of this thesis is to find out the attitudes towards, motivations for and probability of using the profit/loss sharing principle of finance by the Australian small businesses and financial institutions. Two surveys were conducted to achieve this objective. Multivariate statistical analysis, especially factor analysis, discriminant analysis and logit and probit regressions, was applied to the survey results. Factor analysis identified five factors which may explain why small businesses are motivated to borrow funds using the profit/loss sharing method of finance. These factors are business support, risk sharing, risk of default in the traditional system, cost of borrowing and suitability of the profit/loss sharing method. Another three factors were identified to provide reasons why small businesses would not borrow funds using this new principle namely, terms of borrowing, management intervention and high cost of borrowing. Discriminant analysis indicates that risk sharing between bonowers and lenders is the most important predictor in discriminating between the two groups of small businessesthose who would and those who would not like to bortow funds using this method. The other discriminating variables include motivation for business expansion, cost of borrowing and management intervention. The logit and probit models show that the higher the degree of risk sharing, the lesser the cost of bortowing and the greater the motivation to business expansion, the higher the probability that the small businesses would apply the profit/loss sharing method. The respondents also indicated that the lower the degree of management intervention, the higher the likelihood that the small businesses would be prepared to apply this method of finance. A large number of vaiiables determining the motives of financial institutions to lend funds on the basis of the profiL loss sharing method were reduced to four factors namely, business support, growth in demand for funds, risk of default under the traditional system and potential higher return to lenders. At least three underlying factors may vi explain why some financial institutions would not like to lend funds on this basis namely, management complication, unfamiliarity of the profit/loss sharing method and risk sharing with borrowers. Discriminant analysis applied to financial institutions suggests that the growth in demand for funds is the most important predictor in discriminating between the financial insdtutions who are prepared to lend money on the basis of the profit/loss sharing method and those who are not. The other significantiy discriminating variables include the potential higher return on funds, depositors' concern, monetary regulation, management complexity and risk sharing with bon'owers. As a majority of the responding small businesses (59.5%) are willing to bonow and a sizeable percentage of the financial institutions (41.2%) are willing to lend funds on the principle of the profit/loss sharing, the Australian monetary authority could consider offering this new method of finance as an integral part of the Australian financial system. The financial institutions may introduce the new method on a trial basis to selected customers. The financial institutions should find some mechanisms to minimise the concerns of depositors for lending their money using this principle, perhaps through obtaining prior consent of depositors in this regard. They should also conduct serious research in the areas of simplified business performance monitoring, auditing and record keeping to minimise the cost of lending and secure a greater share of the market.


Photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) is combined with theoretical calculations to investigate the electronic and atomic structures of three doped aluminum clusters, MAl12- (M=Li, Cu, and Au). Well-resolved PES spectra have been obtained at two detachment photon energies, 266 nm (4.661 eV) and 193 nm (6.424 eV). Basin-hopping global optimization method in combination with density-functional theory calculations has been used for the structural searches. Good agreement between the measured PES spectra and theoretical simulations helps to identify the global minimum structures. It is found that LiAl12- (C(5nu)) can be viewed as replacing a surface Al atom by Li on an icosahedral Al13-, whereas Cu prefers the central site to form the encapsulated D3d-Cu@Al12-. For AuAl12- (C1), Au also prefers the central site, but severely distorts the Al12 cage due to its large size.


We discuss different kinds of Killing horizons possible in static, spherically symmetric configurations and recently classified as 'usual', 'naked', and 'truly naked' ones depending on the near-horizon behavior of transverse tidal forces acting on an extended body. We obtain the necessary conditions for the metric to be extensible beyond a horizon in terms of an arbitrary radial coordinate and show that all truly naked horizons, as well as many of those previously characterized as naked and even usual ones, do not admit an extension and therefore must be considered as singularities. Some examples are given, showing which kinds of matter are able to create specific space-times with different kinds of horizons, including truly naked ones. Among them are fluids with negative pressure and scalar fields with a particular behavior of the potential. We also discuss horizons and singularities in Kantowski-Sachs spherically symmetric cosmologies and present horizon regularity conditions in terms of an arbitrary time coordinate and proper (synchronous) time. It turns out that horizons of orders 2 and higher occur in infinite proper times in the past or future, but one-way communication with regions beyond such horizons is still possible.


Global climate change is a topic that has garnered much attention in recent decades from both scientific and policy arenas. This article provides a synopsis of the current state of the science, and reviews the challenges of climate change in scientific, policy, and public arenas. Secondly, we provide a review of observed changes in global climate with a more detailed view of climatic changes and their subsequent impacts on terrestrial systems across the American West. We specifically highlight studies published since 2014 that provide current insights to the collection of science on climate change; its impacts on the American West; and complement national and international assessment reports.


Abstract
Continued progress over the next decade in reducing premature morbidity and mortality from chronic disease will require that health communication efforts target a significant proportion of the American public that has not been influenced by the health promotion efforts of the 1980s. Focus groups conducted with members of the hard-to-reach American public showed that while being healthy seemed to be important to participants, and they were generally aware of what to do to stay healthy, they had a different operational definition of health than that used in health promotion programs. Participants seemed to believe that better health behaviors would build their resistance to acute illnesses, that is, keep them healthy, but that chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, were due to fate and heredity and beyond their individual control. The focus group results show that participants had not made the link between chronic disease prevention and the importance of diet, exercise, and weight control. Although most of them seemed to express a genuine interest in "doing better," they were not able to supply more than superficial examples of how such changes might be made. Surprisingly, there were more similarities than differences in participants' attitudes and beliefs, with the similarities cutting across boundaries of race-ethnicity, age, and sex. Interest in changing behaviors was only slightly more pronounced among female rather than male, and older rather than younger, participants. However, there was not much evidence from the participants that they were actively seeking health information or trying to reconcile conflicting knowledge and beliefs.


ABSTRACT The chiffchaff's tret calls are short sounds rhythmically repeating in intervals between the song strophes. Phonetically, tret calls differ markedly from the elements (notes) of the basic song. Although the song of the chiffchaffs from different taxa has attracted a lot of attention from researchers, the variety of tret calls still remains unexplored. We present here the results of a comparative study of tret calls of P hylloscopus collybita collybita, P. c. abietinus, P. c. tristis, P.c. brevirostris, P. c. caucasicus, P. c. menzbieri, P. sindianus sindianus, and P.s. lorenzii. Our studies also encompass two hybridisation zones of abietinus and tristis. Within the range of most taxa, the structure of the tret calls remains very uniform. One exception was the Siberian chiffchaff (tristis), whose call structure showed significant differences between populations found in Central Siberia and North–Eastern Yakutia. In contrast, different chiffchaff taxa usually perform different tret calls, however, both European taxa (collybita and abietinus) perform acoustically very similar calls. The frequency and temporal characteristics of abietinus and tristis tret calls were found to be intermediate in the hybridisation zones between them both in the Arkhangelsk region and in the southern Urals.


The object of the article are the questions concerning the "ethical aspects" of functioning of stock exchange law during partitions of Poland and in the first years of independent Poland. The analysis covers the period from 1817 (when in Warsaw the first official stock exchange on Polish territory was created) to 1921 when the first in independent Poland Act about the Organization of Stock Exchanges was passed.
In the 19th century, several stock exchanges were created on Polish territory, from which the most essential were those in: Warsaw, Lvov and Lodz.
The stock exchange was (and still is) regarded as one of the key institutions of market economy. Already, even on this account, the stock exchange law constituted the essential reference to economic law. On its basis the important institutions functioned, not only in the area of economy.
In this article, the basic records of laws and exchange charters were traced, as well as different – essential for stock exchanges – documents (for instance, ministerial instructions), which set the principles of functioning of those institutions. The principles were considered from ethical norms' point of view, which established ethics of economic life of that time. I have especially focused my attention on the principles of functioning of stock
exchanges, which related to: the main stock organs, members of exchanges, as well as the so-called clientele. The stock exchange law also related to realities of that time, where-for different reasons – common cases of disobedience of the law occured.
It should be stressed here, that stock exchange law was shaped on basis of economic legislation of the partitioners and that it was subject to changes along with political, economic and social transformations, which took place on Polish territory in the discussed period.


We are reprinting this article by Jack Treynor, which first appeared in the May/June 1976 issue, as a companion to Stephen J. Brown's Editor's Corner about Treynor's legacy. Treynor distinguishes between ideas whose implications are obvious and consequently travel quickly and ideas that require reflection, judgment, and special expertise for their evaluation and consequently travel slowly. According to Treynor, the second kind of idea is the only meaningful basis for "long-term investing." Reprinted from Financial Analysts Journal, vol. 32, no. 3 (May/June 1976): 56–59.


China has evolved from a nation with local and regional security interests to a major economic and political power with global interests, investments, and political commitments. It now requires a military that can project itself around the globe, albeit on a limited scale, to secure its interests. Therefore, as Larry M. Wortzel explains, the Chinese Communist Party leadership has charged the People's Liberation Army (PLA) with new and challenging missions that require global capabilities. Advances in technology and the development of indigenous weapons platforms in China, combined with reactions to modern conflicts, have produced a military force very different from that which China has fielded in the past. Wortzel presents a clear and sobering picture of the PLA's modernization effort as it expands into space and cyberspace, and as it integrates operations in the traditional domains of war. This book will appeal to the specialist in security and foreign policy issues in Asia as well as to the person interested in arms control, future warfare, and global military strategies. The book puts China's military growth into historical context for readers of recent military and diplomatic history. About the Author Larry M. Wortzel, spent much of his thirty-two-year military career in the Asia-Pacific region, including two tours of duty as a military attachein China. He served as director of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College and, after retirement, as Asian studies director and vice president at the Heritage Foundation. For a decade he was a commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is the author or editor of ten previously published books about China. He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.


Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is a serum HDL-bound enzyme that hydrolyzes a number of aromatic carboxylic acid esters including lipid peroxides, preventing LDL oxidation. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients are at greater risk of oxidative stress, which is associated with abnormal plasma lipid metabolism. In this study, association of PON-55 polymorphism with serum arylesterase (ARE) activities, malondialdehyde (MDA), neopterin, lipids and lipoproteins levels in SLE patients and the development of hypertension was investigated. The present case-control study consisted of 109 SLE patients with and without high blood pressure (BP) and 103 healthy controls from the population in the west of Iran. PON-55 Met<Leu polymorphism was detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), serum ARE activity, MDA, neoptrin, lipid and apolipoprotein levels were determined by spectrophotometery and HPLC and enzyme assay, respectively. The presence of PON-55 M/M genotype was found to be associated with SLE and the development of high BP. The SLE patients with PON-M (M/L+M/M) allele had significantly lower serum ARE activity, but higher neoptrin and LDL-C than the carriers of corresponding genotypes in control group. The ARE activity was positively correlated with HDL-C and negatively correlated with LDL-C and MDA levels in SLE patients. Whereas, in SLE patients with high BP, ARE activity was only found to be negatively correlated with MDA concentration. These data suggest that PON-55 M/M genotype is a risk factor for SLE. The carriers of this allele have high levels of MDA, neopterin and LDL-C, thus, they are more likely to develop hypertension.


Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery AB produce five gas turbines models. The SGT-700 can currently only start on gases which contain low amounts of inert gases. It is therefore of interest to widen the fuel range which the SGT-700, as well as other gas turbines, can start on. This report investigates the maximum limit of inert gases the SGT-700 will be able to start on, but also investigates if it is possible to start on liquid fuel (diesel) by making a few modifications to the gas turbine.To investigate this, the atmospheric combustion rig available at Siemens in Finspang has been used with a standard burner, igniter and ignition unit for the SGT-700. For the liquid fuel, the igniter was replaced by a torch igniter specially made for liquid fuels. Four different gases were evaluated; methane, propane, CO2 and N2 in order to see the effect of both various hydrocarbons and various inert gases.A model was developed for the gaseous experiments to estimate the limit for the maximum amount of inert gases the gas turbine would be able to start on. The model suggested that CO2 would require a larger amount of energy than N2 for the same amount in the composition, but that varying hydrocarbons did not have any effect if looking at the mass % of inert gas in the composition. The model was also extended with ethane and hydrogen but no experiments were performed with these gases.The model gave satisfying results. It overestimated the maximum amount of inert gases which could be mixed with propane, but agreed well when comparing the two inert gases with each other. Other interesting results were that an increased fuel flow decreased the minimum ignition energy and that an increased air flow gave a minor decrease in the maximum amount of inert gases that was possible to ignite.The torch igniter for the liquid fuel worked in a satisfying way. The ignition energy was however too low, so the ignition reliability was low. A new ignition unit with larger energy output therefore needs to be implemented. The igniter was fairly insensitive to variations in burner air flow and the ignition delay was small enough to provide a sustainable flame.


Isolation calls produced by dependent young are a fundamental form of communication. For species in which vocal signals remain important to adult communication, the function and social context of vocal behavior changes dramatically with the onset of sexual maturity. The ontogenetic relationship between these distinct forms of acoustic communication is surprisingly under-studied. We conducted a detailed analysis of vocal development in sister species of Neotropical singing mice, Scotinomys teguina and S. xerampelinus. Adult singing mice are remarkable for their advertisement songs, rapidly articulated trills used in long-distance communication; the vocal behavior of pups was previously undescribed. We recorded 30 S. teguina and 15 S. xerampelinus pups daily, from birth to weaning; 23 S. teguina and 11 S. xerampelinus were recorded until sexual maturity. Like other rodent species with poikilothermic young, singing mice were highly vocal during the first weeks of life and stopped vocalizing before weaning. Production of first advertisement songs coincided with the onset of sexual maturity after a silent period of ≧2 weeks. Species differences in vocal behavior emerged early in ontogeny and notes that comprise adult song were produced from birth. However, the organization and relative abundance of distinct note types was very different between pups and adults. Notably, the structure, note repetition rate, and intra-individual repeatability of pup vocalizations did not become more adult-like with age; the highly stereotyped structure of adult song appeared de novo in the first songs of young adults. We conclude that, while the basic elements of adult song are available from birth, distinct selection pressures during maternal dependency, dispersal, and territorial establishment favor major shifts in the structure and prevalence of acoustic signals. This study provides insight into how an evolutionarily conserved form of acoustic signaling provides the raw material for adult vocalizations that are highly species specific.


Summary: Interferon was produced in chick embryo cell cultures or in chick embryos by five viruses and in mouse embryo cell cultures or mouse lungs by two viruses. The slopes of the log dose response lines for the five chick inter-ferons were compared by using vaccinia virus as the assay virus. Analysis of variance showed that they did not differ significantly. Partially purified interferon gave the same slope as the crude preparations. These findings allowed a comparison to be made of relative yields of interferon induced by different viruses in the same cell system. Viruses differed widely in their ability to induce interferon. Chikungunya virus induced about 70 times more interferon than did vaccinia or Newcastle disease virus and 2.6 times more interferon than Kumba virus. The slopes of the log dose response lines for two interferon preparations were compared by using Chikungunya virus as the assay virus. Analysis of variance showed that they were not significantly different. A comparison of the vaccinia and Chikungunya assays for interferon showed that the Chikungunya assay was approximately 2.9 times more sensitive when the amount of interferon depressing the plaque count by 50% (PDD 50 doses) were compared. An analysis of variance showed that the difference in slope between the two assays was small but approaching significance. Mouse interferon, induced by two viruses, yielded parallel dose response lines. However, the slope of the curves for mouse interferon was significantly different from that for chick interferon. Because of this difference in slope, interferon production by the same virus in the two cell types could not be validly compared.


We examine the impact of scrapping entitlement to unemployment insurance (UI) on job finding and employment of young labor market entrants. In Belgium, young labor market entrants with short or no employment record are eligible for non-means-tested UI after a one-year waiting period. This zero benefit period gives rise to an unusual inclining benefit profile. We exploit a policy change that restricted access to UI for two groups of job seekers in 2015: university graduates aged 25 and older at the end of their waiting period and high school dropouts younger than 21. At the moment when the reform was announced, many job seekers realized that they were not eligible anymore for UI by the end of their waiting period. We use a differences-in-differences approach to identify the causal impact of the reform. Our main finding is that losing eligibility to UI does not increase the employment probability of targeted youths.


Recurrent liver metastases of colorectal carcinoma are frequent. The repeat hepatectomy is superior to other therapeutic options. In about 20% of patients with recurrent liver metastases a complete resection (R0) is possible. The morbidity of repeat hepatectomy is similar to that of first hepatectomy. The 5-year survival rate after repeat hepatectomy ranges between 30 and 40%. Often in the follow-up additional operations become necessary for extrahepatic recurrencies. For determination of the optimal therapy an interdisciplinary approach must be chosen.


This article studies the joint impact of smoothing and fat tails on the risk–return properties of hedge fund strategies. First, the authors adjust risk and performance measures for illiquidity and the non-Gaussian distribution of hedge funds returns. They use two risk metrics: the Modified Value-at-Risk and a preference-based measure retrieved from the linear exponential utility function. Second, they revisit the hedge fund diversification effect with these adjustments for illiquidity. Their results report similar fund performance rankings and optimal hedge fund strategy allocations for both adjusted metrics. They also show that the benefits of hedge funds in portfolio diversification persist but tend to weaken after adjustments for illiquidity are made.


The combined effect of the sea surface temperature (SST) and the North Atlantic subtropical high-pressure system (NASH) in the interannual variability of the genesis of tropical cyclones (TCs) and landfalling in the period 1980–2019 is explored in this study. The SST was extracted from the Centennial Time Scale dataset from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and TC records were obtained from the Atlantic Hurricane Database of the NOAA/National Hurricane Center. The genesis and landfalling regions were objectively clustered for this analysis. Seven regions of TC genesis and five for landfalling were identified. Intercluster differences were observed in the monthly frequency distribution and annual variability, both for genesis and landfalling. From the generalized least square multiple regression model, SST and NASH (intensity and position) covariates can explain 22.7% of the variance of the frequency of TC genesis, but it is only statistically significant (p < 0.1) for the NASH center latitude. The SST mostly modulates the frequency of TCs formed near the West African coast, and the NASH latitudinal variation affects those originated in the Lesser Antilles arc. For landfalling, both covariates explain 38.7% of the variance; however, significant differences are observed in the comparison between each region. With a statistical significance higher than 90%, SST and NASH explain 33.4% of the landfalling variability in the archipelago of the Bahamas and central–eastern region of Cuba. Besides, landfalls in the Gulf of Mexico and Central America seem to be modulated by SST. It was also found there was no statistically significant relationship between the frequency of genesis and landfalling with the NASH intensity. However, the NASH structure modulates the probability density of the TCs trajectory that make landfall once or several times in their lifetime. Thus, the NASH variability throughout a hurricane season affects the TCs trajectory in the North Atlantic basin. Moreover, we found that the landfalling frequency of TCs formed near the West Africa coast and the central North Atlantic is relatively low. Furthermore, the SST and NASH longitude center explains 31.6% (p < 0.05) of the variance of the landfalling intensity in the archipelago of the Bahamas, while the SST explains 26.4% (p < 0.05) in Central America. Furthermore, the 5-year moving average filter revealed decadal and multidecadal variability in both genesis and landfalling by region. Our findings confirm the complexity of the atmospheric processes involved in the TC genesis and landfalling.


With the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) flown in February 2000, the most comprehensive interferometric SAR data of the Earth's land mass so far were acquired. At the German Aerospace Center the X-SAR data are processed to a precise and homogeneous Digital Elevation Model (DEM). One of the most critical processing steps is phase unwrapping (PU). We are using an implementation of the Minimum Cost Flow (MCF) algorithm. Now that a total of 16,000 interferograms between /spl plusmn/60/spl deg/ latitude have been processed, this offers the unique opportunity to study the behavior of the MCF algorithm using a very large data pool. In this paper we report on the practical experiences with MCF gained during operational SRTM/X-SAR data processing. We present the results of a throughput analysis. Further, the problems experienced with MCF PU of the X-SAR data are discussed. It is shown how specific adoptions of the MCF cost functions can help to overcome them. The paper also presents the methods of PU quality assessment used in our operational processing.


Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) remains an important traffic-related pollutant associated with both short- and long-term health effects. We aim to model daily average NO2 concentrations in Switzerland in a multistage framework with mixed-effect and random forest models to respectively downscale satellite measurements and incorporate local sources. Spatial and temporal predictor variables include data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, land use, and meteorological variables. We derived robust models explaining ∼58% (R2 range, 0.56-0.64) of the variation in measured NO2 concentrations using mixed-effect models at a 1 × 1 km resolution. The random forest models explained ∼73% (R2 range, 0.70-0.75) of the overall variation in the residuals at a 100 × 100 m resolution. This is one of the first studies showing the potential of using earth observation data to develop robust models with fine-scale spatial (100 × 100 m) and temporal (daily) variation of NO2 across Switzerland from 2005 to 2016. The novelty of this study is in demonstrating that methods originally developed for particulate matter can also successfully be applied to NO2. The predicted NO2 concentrations will be made available to facilitate health research in Switzerland.


Arnold J. Toynbee was the author of the twelve-volume A Study of History on rise and fall of civilizations. After the First World War he also played a crucial role as political analyst at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. He was director of studies from 1924 to 1943 and supervised the Institute's Surveys of International Affairs. Because of Toynbee's harsh comments about Hitler's murders of S.A. in 1934, the English historian was surprisingly invited by the German chancellor for a private interview. At that time Hitler was trying to convince the European audience of his peaceful intentions. During the interview, which took place on the 28th February 1936, he talked about several critical points of current international affairs such as the Russian threat, the colonies and his friendly intentions toward Great Britain. Toynbee never published the interview but was asked to write a memorandum of his conversation with Hitler for the British Government. Although in his book Acquaintances, written in 1967, Toynbee stated that he had never trusted Hitler's proposed agreement with Great Britain, in the unpublished memorandum Toynbee seems to support a future arrangement with the Germans. He also stressed the right of Hitler's claims and his good attitude toward Great Britain. The real value of these documents can only be understood inside the cultural framework of the "Cliveden set", a group of appeasers in the British establishment that supported an Anglo-German appeasement. Thus, it seems that many appeasers and members of the Government, such as foreign minister Eden, were encouraged by Toynbee's memorandum to pursue a soft line in response to Hitler's occupation of the Rhineland on 7th March 1936 and to reach an agreement with Germany.


The generation of technological knowledge is paramount to our present development. Economic science concentrates on representing the functions of production applied to all sectors, e.g., the well known Cobb-Douglas model, associated with parameters such as capital and labor. Based on the paradigm, demonstrated in another paper, that the production of technological knowledge is governed by the same Cobb-Douglas type model, by the means of research and the intelligence level replacing capital, respectively labor, we are exploring the basic behavior of present days economies that are producing technological knowledge, along with the 'usual' industrial production. Considering the intercorrelations of technology and industrial production we determine a basic behavior that turns out to be a 'Henon attractor', well known as one of the first analyzed systems that present chaotic behavior confined to strange attractors. The behavior inside the basin of the attractor's dynamic shows some interesting features such as the fact that too little effort in technological knowledge production is associated to low industrial production, while too much resource allocation to technological production is also reaching an area of low industrial production. This effect clearly shows that too little allocation of resources to research is equivalent to a disproportionate allocation of resources to research, namely that both hamper the industrial production. Moreover, there is an area of large industrial production that corresponds to a certain rate of technology production that, in some way, optimizes development. Measures are introduced for the gain of technological knowledge and the information of technological sequences that are based on the underlying multi-valued logic of the technological research and on nonlinear thermodynamic considerations. We have witnessed in the last decades several cases of economies, e.g., Ireland and Finland, in Europe, the Asian tigers and China in Asia, which had had a moment in their history when research (both means and intelligence) was a main priority. Luckily, the globalization acted as a stabilizer that kept them close to the optimum of 'As High As Reasonably Acceptable' technological production. By contrast to ALARA (as low as reasonably acceptable) principle, that applies in risk analysis, here we may introduce the AHARA principle resulting from the nonlinear behavior of technological production vs. industrial production.


Establishing adequacy of psychometric properties of an instrument involves acquisition and evaluation of evidence based on item content and internal structure. Content validity evidence consists of subject matter experts providing quantitative ratings of the extent to which items are a representative sample of targeted domain. Evidence of internal structure includes factor analytic studies and examination of item interrelationships based on item responses from participants. Although subject matter expert ratings and participant response data are traditionally analyzed separately, each serves to inform the other in important ways. We propose integrating subject matter experts' and participants' data seamlessly to establish a unified model of validity evidence. The approach is applied to an instrument designed to measure nursing home culture change (i.e., resident-centered care). The proposed method has been demonstrated to be useful with a posterior distribution resulting in stable estimates of psychometric parameters superior to traditional analytic approaches. To illustrate the efficacy of the methodology, we present a simulation study and discuss its place in psychometric methods.


This short comment responds to Michael Stokes Paulsen's "The Uselessness of Constitutional Law." Paulsen makes the provocative suggestion that Constitutional Law be removed from the required curriculum at every law school in the country, and offered only as a Great Books/Great Cases elective. His goal is to foster a general liberal education that does not contribute to the corrupt, result-oriented culture of legal reasoning fostered by the Supreme Court and the legal professoriate.This response to Paulsen suggests that if his entirely plausible accusations are valid, his proposed correction is simultaneously too bold and too timid. Too bold because it sacrifices an opportunity to help students become better lawyers. Too timid because it does not propose the kind of genuinely liberal education that would equip students to undertake a serious rethinking and reform of the degenerate culture that he condemns.


A family of reservoir operating rules, termed \Iconditional-yield operating rules,\N is developed for operation of water quality storage in a multipurpose reservoir. Conditional-yield rules generalize safe-yield rules in a straightforward fashion. An important feature of conditional-yield rules is that they can be represented as parametric operating rules, that is, operating rules for which release is specified as a function of previous inflow and a vector of operating parameters. Conditional-yield rules have a natural relationship with a maximum-yield problem. Solution of the maximum-yield problem specifies not only yield of the system but also operating parameters required for implementing the rules. A key feature of the statistical framework proposed for development of reservoir operating rules is that the random component of the problem, reservoir inflow, is treated in a nonparametric framework. Procedures are applied to water quality operation of Jennings Randolph reservoir, a multipurpose reservoir located in the headwaters of the Potomac River basin. It is shown that large increases in the average yield from water quality storage can be achieved, relative to safe-yield rules, with only a modest increase in the risk of not meeting a minimum-flow threshold.


The Hubbard $U$ of the $3d$ transition metal series as well as $\mathrm{Sr}\mathrm{V}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, $\mathrm{Y}\mathrm{Ti}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$, Ce, and Gd has been estimated using a recently proposed scheme based on the random-phase approximation. The values obtained are generally in good accord with the values often used in model calculations but for some cases the estimated values are somewhat smaller than those used in the literature. We have also calculated the frequency-dependent $U$ for some of the materials. The strong frequency dependence of $U$ in some of the cases considered in this paper suggests that the static value of $U$ may not be the most appropriate one to use in model calculations. We have also made comparison with the constrained local density approximation (LDA) method and found some discrepancies in a number of cases. We emphasize that our scheme and the constrained local density approximation LDA method theoretically ought to give similar results and the discrepancies may be attributed to technical difficulties in performing calculations based on currently implemented constrained LDA schemes.


Understanding the distribution of crossovers along chromosomes is crucial to evolutionary genomics because the crossover rate determines how strongly a genome region is influenced by natural selection on linked sites. Nevertheless, generalities in the chromosome‐scale distribution of crossovers have not been investigated formally. We fill this gap by synthesizing joint information on genetic and physical maps across 62 animal, plant and fungal species. Our quantitative analysis reveals a strong and taxonomically widespread reduction of the crossover rate in the centre of chromosomes relative to their peripheries. We demonstrate that this pattern is poorly explained by the position of the centromere, but find that the magnitude of the relative reduction in the crossover rate in chromosome centres increases with chromosome length. That is, long chromosomes often display a dramatically low crossover rate in their centre, whereas short chromosomes exhibit a relatively homogeneous crossover rate. This observation is compatible with a model in which crossover is initiated from the chromosome tips, an idea with preliminary support from mechanistic investigations of meiotic recombination. Consequently, we show that organisms achieve a higher genome‐wide crossover rate by evolving smaller chromosomes. Summarizing theory and providing empirical examples, we finally highlight that taxonomically widespread and systematic heterogeneity in crossover rate along chromosomes generates predictable broad‐scale trends in genetic diversity and population differentiation by modifying the impact of natural selection among regions within a genome. We conclude by emphasizing that chromosome‐scale heterogeneity in crossover rate should urgently be incorporated into analytical tools in evolutionary genomics, and in the interpretation of resulting patterns.


Gardens have been incorporated into elementary school education since the 1800s and are gaining popularity once again. The growing interest in school gardens stems from recent trends toward eating locally grown food as well as public health concerns about improving the nutrition of youth. School garden programs can be utilized as a vehicle for improving the health and well being of elementary school youth, in both low and non-low socioeconomic (SES) elementary schools. A review of the literature indicates that school garden programs have been successful in improving academic achievement, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and nutrition knowledge, building social skills, interpersonal relationships and team-building skills among elementary school youth. Through hands-on learning, gardens can enhance classroom lessons while providing youth with environmental experiences. However, barriers to successful implementation exist especially in low SES schools. These include: a lack of funding, the onus of responsibility is placed on teachers who lack knowledge of gardening skills, and little community and parent involvement. Some recommendations for improving school garden programs in order to increase sustainability and success include: 1) provide gardening techniques, skills and tips on how to incorporate gardens into classroom lessons during pre-service education for early education teachers, 2) include community volunteers to alleviate the burden on teachers, 3) complete garden program evaluations.


The aim of this paper is to study the exploitation of firm capabilities as dynamic capabilities through sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities. Such a perspective enables us to better understand the logic behind the exploitation of dynamic capabilities. This study proposes that firms need to exploit all relevant firm capabilities according to the dynamic capabilities view. We also provide insights into positive practices that underpin dynamic capabilities as well as negative practices that cause rigidity in their deployment. Our paper highlights the importance of ensuring a continuous commitment to the sensing, seizing and reconfiguring capabilities. DOI: 10.15458/85451.72


Author(s): Fernandez Bou, Angel Santiago | Advisor(s): Harmon, Thomas C. | Abstract: Leaf-cutter ants are one of the most conspicuous inhabitants of New World forests and plantations. They amaze visitors and worry farmers when thousands of them march in endless parades carrying leaf fragments to their massive underground nests, or when they go back in the opposite direction to collect more. However, rather than eating the hundreds of kilograms of vegetation they harvest each year, they shred them to create a substrate to feed a fungus that has been their fundamental diet for 50 Ma. They are indeed the first farmers on Earth's natural history and, as any farmer, they have learned to optimize the conditions required by their gardens by engineering their surroundings. Here we present a series of studies designed to shed light on the effects of leaf-cutter ants on soil CO2 dynamics in Neotropical soils, an important part of the rainforest carbon cycle. We studied soil CO2 concentrations at different depths in several nonnest, nest, and abandoned nest soils for three years to understand the seasonal effects of the nest structure in soil CO2. In two selected locations, we monitored soil CO2 concentrations at high frequency (every 30 minutes) along with soil moisture and soil temperature to understand the effect of weather in the short-term, and how the nest presence impacts their dynamics. In addition, we measured soil surface CO2 efflux with closed chambers, and nest vent efflux with our own novel flow-through chambers, which we describe for the first time, that we equipped with thermocouples to monitor temperature gradients. We present statistical and conceptual models to account for differences in soil CO2 and to understand the fluid dynamics of CO2 in nests. Nest soils exhibited lower CO2 accumulation than nonnest soils for the same precipitation amounts. During wet periods, soil CO2 concentrations increased across all depths, but were significantly less in nest than in nonnest soils. Differences were nonsignificant during drier periods. In the short-term, precipitation events impacted soil CO2 concentration more than any other variable, and dramatically increased tortuosity, which leaded to the observed seasonal increases of soil CO2 concentration during wet periods. Surface efflux was equal across nest and nonnest plots (5 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1), suggesting that nest soils do not have enhanced surface emissions. However, vent efflux was substantially (103 to 105 times) greater and followed a diel pattern driven by free convection (warm and moist, less dense air rises out the nest more markedly at night). Episodic wind-forced convection events also provide supplemental ventilation during the day. Nest tunnel CO2 concentrations were less than in soil, suggesting CO2 efflux from the soil matrix into the nest. This is supported by the short-term diel pattern showed in nest soil CO2 concentration that did not occur in nonnest soils, except for a very dry period (El Nino, 2016). Thanks to the nest structure, the nest air is better ventilated than the soil, and CO2 produced in the soil matrix finds a faster way out of the soil through the nest tunnels. The diel pattern in nest vent CO2 efflux seems to regulate the diffusion of CO2 from the soil matrix by affecting the CO2 concentration gradient. These findings indicate that leaf-cutter ant nests provide alternative transport pathways to soil CO2 that increase total emissions and decrease soil CO2 concentrations, and have a lasting impact. We estimate average greenhouse gas emissions of about 78 kg CO2eq nest-1 yr 1. At the ecosystem level, leaf-cutter ant nests can account for 0.2% to 1% of the total forest soil emissions. However, balancing vegetation inputs and emissions, and considering their carbon cycle, these ant nests are a net carbon store in the soil that can persist for a decade or more.


Historically, cities have been friendly places for women, especially single women, and in cities like New York and Boston, women have outnumbered men. Women's movements, indeed feminism itself, owe their beginnings to the stimulus of the urban environment. Research shows that it is in cities that women begin to move up the career ladder. But, when women have children they often move to the suburbs because they and their spouses conclude that cities are poor places to raise children: they are dangerous and dirty, with poor schools and inadequate child care support systems. Once children arrive, women pick up most of the housekeeping and child care burdens. Research shows that women's isolation in the suburbs, distance from work, and the obligations of childcare cause them to leave the workforce or land on something called the "mommy track," now recognized as too often a road to career oblivion. But what if the cities were liveable and clean, with parks for children to play in, with safe and inviting neighbourhoods, good schools and all of the community supports that can come with urban density? What if women could benefit from the synergies of living near their professional peers, or being near women with similar career goals and challenges? Recent developments in urban planning for sustainability in the US, have and will have an impact on women's lives, especially career women with children for whom sustainable cities may offer the most clear path yet for successfully combining family and work. Also cities may become more sustainable in economic, social and environmental terms when women, building careers and raising families in cities, become part of the process as sustainable cities are developed.


Monitoring changes in regional manufacturing activity is one means of analyzing current business-cycle conditions. Since 1965, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland has been surveying manufacturing firms within the Fourth Federal Reserve District on a monthly basis to ascertain basic conditions of production activity. This article describes the survey and the cyclical properties of the indexes derived from the survey and provides a statistical analysis of the performance of the index over the last ten years.


Background: The nutritional and medicinal importance of watermelon has been emphasized and its diseases preventive and curative power must be evaluated. Hence, this study was designed to evaluate the antioxidative and antidiabetic potentials of watermelon. Materials and Methods: The in vivo assay was carried out on 15 male albino rats which were divided into groups of three stages. In stage I, all animals received normal feeds and water for 1-week after, which five animals were selected and sacrificed for biochemical analyses which form the nondiabetic control, group. The remaining animals were fasted for 24 h before injected intra-peritoneally with a freshly prepared solution of alloxan at a dosage of 35 mg/kg body weight. Five out of the 10 rats were sacrificed as diabetic group while last five animals were fed with water melon juice for a week after, which they were sacrificed to form the treated group animals. In all the groups, body weights, fasting blood sugar, total protein level in the blood, and other biochemical parameters such as reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration; catalase, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) % inhibition activities were determined. Results: The results of the biochemical analyses showed a significant increase in the concentration of blood glucose level after treatment with alloxan, which indicates that diabetic was induced. Hence, watermelon juice caused increased in weight, hypoglycemia; and increases in GSH, GPx, catalase, and SOD % inhibition activities with reduced MDA concentration after treatments. Conclusion: The watermelon juice resulted in the restoration of impaired conditions of the rats.


An electrocoagulation-flotation (ECF) pilot plant was designed, built and operated to evaluate its performance in comparison with a pilot scale conventional dissolved air flotation (DAF) system for treating lowland surface water in the UK. Treatment performance was assessed principally in terms of changes in dissolved organic content (DOC) and system running cost. On average, the decrease in DOC, UV-254 and colour was 10-15% with ECF at pH ca. 7.8 and current densities of 2-5 A m -2 (equivalent dose range of 1-5 gAl(III) m -3 ). Acidification of the influent (pH 8.4 down to 7.5) decreased only DOC and increased apparent current efficiencies for Al dissolution above unity. Passivation of the aluminium electrodes by Al(III) (hydrous) oxides caused difficulties in maintaining a steady dissolved Al(III) concentration and also increased specific electrical energy consumptions. Treated water quality with ECF was as good as that with DAF at lower equivalent coagulant doses ( -3 ), but was less so at higher coagulant doses. The pilot-plant DAF system appeared to be more expensive in terms of its running cost for the conditions used; the cost ratios of DAF to ECF were between 3:1 and 5:1, respectively, for an equivalent treatment performance.


A postgraduate curriculum on sustainable electronic design is briefly described. That is, to our knowledge, the only postgraduate curriculum on sustainable electronic design in South-East Europe. The motivation of this new educational effort comes from the fact that longer tradition in electronic production exists in the local region and, in the same time, long tradition in higher education in electronics exists. There is no general awareness on the interrelation of electronic-product's life cycle (e.g. electronic production and electronic waste management) and the environment in the local communities. The main goal of this curriculum is to establish this awareness, to emphasize the role of the electronic designer in the life cycle of an electronic product, and to introduce sustainability-aware design methods. Of course, special attention is paid to end of life and especially to collection and management of electronic waist. After the overview of the curriculum, contents of the subjects will be listed. Every content will be accompanied by some comments trying to stress some specifics of the subject, some specific goals to be achieved, or some characteristic data or method to be stressed. These are tailored for graduate electronic engineers that are expected to enter the field of sustainable design and management of the end of life of electronic products. Part of our published research and results that are available for this curriculum will be described too. It is related mostly to information infrastructure necessary for implementation of sustainability concepts.


Abstract The migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in North America has a number of parallels with long-distance bird migration, including the fact that migratory populations of monarchs have larger and more elongated forewings than residents. These characteristics likely serve to optimize flight performance in monarchs, as they also do with birds. A question that has rarely been addressed thus far in birds or monarchs is if and how wing characteristics vary within a migration season. Individuals with superior flight performance should migrate quickly, and/or with minimal stopovers, and these individuals should be at the forefront of the migratory cohort. Conversely, individuals with poor flight performance and/or low endurance would be more likely to fall behind, and these would comprise the latest migrants. Here we examined how the wing morphology of migrating monarchs varies to determine if wing characteristics of early migrants differ from late migrants. We measured forewing area, elongation (length/width), and redness, which has been shown to predict flight endurance in monarchs. Based on a collection of 75 monarchs made one entire season (fall 2010), results showed that the earliest migrants (n = 20) in this cohort had significantly redder and more elongated forewings than the latest migrants (n = 17). There was also a non-significant tendency for early migrants to have larger forewing areas. These results suggest that the pace of migration in monarchs is at least partly dependent on the properties of their wings. Moreover, these data also raise a number of questions about the ultimate fate of monarchs that fall behind


Importance of the field: Integrase inhibitors are the newest class of antiretroviral agents developed to treat HIV-1 infection. Raltegravir (RAL), the only integrase inhibitor (INI) currently approved for the treatment of HIV-infected patients, has proven to be a potent and well-tolerated antiretroviral (ARV) agent. It is currently approved and used for the treatment of both ARV-experienced and ARV-naive patients. Nevertheless, the relatively low genetic barrier for resistance of RAL encourages the search for new INIs with different mechanisms of actions and resistance profiles. Areas covered in this review: Here we review the data available about INI that are currently being tested in clinical trials or are in preclinical development: elvitegravir (EVG), S/GSK1349572, S/GSK1265744 and LEDGINs. We focus on their clinical efficacy, pharmacokinetic, safety and resistance profiles. What the reader will gain: Up-to-date overview on the currently available, clinically relevant INIs and promising preclinical inhibitors at all phases of development. Take home message: Integrase inhibitors represent the newest therapeutic class available to treat HIV-1 infection. There are a variety of compounds either available in the clinic (RAL), advancing to Phase III trials (EVG), or in earlier phases of development. Taken together, this class offers new treatment options for the HIV-infected individual.


In a study of employed adult business people, comparisons of preferred leader behaviour prototypes (as defined by the Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire XII) were carried out between Iceland, a culturally homogeneous nation, and Lithuania a culturally non-homogenous nation. The main aim of the study was to determine whether cultural homogeneity is a good indicator of uniform views of followers' towards preferred leader behaviour. Furthermore, the study aimed at contributing to leadership theory and research by providing empirical data from two under-researched countries. The third aim of the study was to provide expat managers working in Iceland or/and Lithuania insights into more effective leader behaviour in these countries. Results of the empirical research indicate that followers' attitudes towards preferred leaderships are different, with respondents from Iceland having very uniform views, while those from Lithuania have very diverse views when evaluating leader behaviour preferences. This can be due to the relative homogeneity of national cultures. Overall comparison of the two countries indicates that Iceland and Lithuania differ significantly in 7 out of 12 preferred leader behaviour dimensions, which confirm culture specific attitudes towards desired leader behaviour and hence is coherent with cross-cultural leadership literature. Managerial implications of these differences are discussed in length, which can serve as guidelines for expat managers of both countries in increasing business transactions between Iceland and Lithuania.


The effects of exhaustive swimming on a number of metabolic parameters were assessed in six organs of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Glycogen phosphorylase was activated in four organs (liver, gill, heart, and white skeletal muscle), the largest increases in phosphorylase a activity being 5.3- and 6-fold in liver and white muscle, respectively. Exhausted fish showed elevated lactate levels in all organs except brain with absolute increases of about 12 μmol/g wet weight in white and red skeletal muscles but only about 1 μmol/g in internal organs. ATP content dropped dramatically in skeletal muscles after exercise but remained constant in other organs. Fructose-2,6-bisphosphate levels rose in liver and brain but dropped in gill and heart during exercise. Kinetic properties of trout liver 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase and pyruvate kinase were assessed in control versus exhausted fish. Neither enzyme showed changes in substrate affinities, ion cofactor affinities, or sensitivities to metabolite inhibitors or activators as a result of exercise, giving evidence that these liver enzymes (unlike glycogen phosphorylase) were not modified by reversible protein phosphorylation in response to muscle exercise. Exhaustive exercise also resulted in major changes in the levels of various free amino acids in trout organs. Alanine content rose by 9–11 μmol/g in heart, gill, and brain. Glycine increased by 12 μmol/g in white muscle and by 0.4–2 μmol/g in liver, heart, and gill. Several organs also showed significant changes in glutamate and glutamine contents and free histidine content increased in others, most notably by 2.8 μmol/g in white muscle. Organ-specific patterns of response to the exercise stress are indicated.


Aim: To investigate: a) caries experience in 5 year-old children and
its relationship to the caries risk evaluation made before 1 year of
age; b) compliance of parents to an infant oral health program as well
as the abandonment reasons. Methods: Group A (GA) - 242 children (60-71
months old) who stayed in the program and had been enrolled since their
first year of life underwent a clinical examination according to the
WHO's criteria; their parents/caregivers were interviewed to ascertain
their compliance to the program. Group B (GB) - parents of 60 children,
who had dropped out of the program, were interviewed to check the
reasons of withdrawing. The caries risk classification was based on the
file at the first appointment. Chi-square test was used (α=0.05)
for statistical analyses. Results: Most of the children were free of
caries (71.1%). Caries risk evaluation showed low sensibility (34.3%,
95% CI = 22.4-46.1) and high specificity (74.4%, 95% CI = 67.6-81.2) to
caries experience. Sixty-two mothers (25.6%) reported difficulty to
follow the guidelines. The main reason for dropping out was changing to
similar health services (40.0%). Conclusions: Caries risk in the first
year of life was not efficient to predict dental caries experience at 5
years of age. Educational practice should be improved to increase the
compliance of the parents to the program.