This study aims to investigate the prospective teachers' epistemological beliefs and creativity fostering behaviour and changes with the same according to various variables. The study was designed based on the relational survey model. The sample of the research consisted of 420 prospective teachers. For the purpose of the study, the epistemological beliefs scale and creativity fostering teacher index were used as data collection tools. The difference between the epistemological beliefs and creativity fostering teacher index sub-dimensions according to gender, programme and university variables was examined by "Multivariate Variance Analysis MANOVA". As a result of the research, the prospective teachers' epistemological belief and creativity fostering behaviour were found to be average. However, when the changes in the sub-dimensions of epistemological belief scale according to gender and university variables were examined, the effect of both variables was significant. The changes in epistemological beliefs according to the class and education programme were not significant. There was also no significant difference in sub-dimensions of creativity fostering teacher index scales according to gender and programme and class and programme.


The proliferation of media technologies can transform human's engagement and their sense of place with their environment, and it is important to revisit the role of architects when designing public physical places in the digital era. Juhanni Pallasmaa and Merleau-Ponty's arguments on senses, perception and movement within a space are all re-occurring themes in this design exploration. Yu-Fi Tuan's concept of transforming a space into a place is also used, especially when interacting with the space by utilizing our senses. Finally, Huizinga's ideas on what constitutes play within a space; has also been applied. This thesis aims to reconfigure a space and transform it into a place where sensing technology is used to stimulate senses to encourage the user to engage with the physical space. The advancement of digital technology in architecture has resulted in a new phenomenon referred to as interactive architecture which makes up the foundation for this thesis.


Galantamine, a drug used to treat Alzheimer's disease, is a nicotinic allosteric potentiating ligand, and kynurenic acid (KYNA), a neuroactive metabolite of the kynurenine pathway, is an endogenous noncompetitive inhibitor of α7* nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) [the asterisk next to the nAChR subunit is intended to indicate that the exact subunit composition of the receptor is not known (Pharmacol Rev 51:397–401, 1999)]. Here, possible interactions between KYNA and galantamine at α7* nAChRs were examined in vitro and in vivo. In the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX), approximately 85% of cultured hippocampal neurons responded to choline (0.3–30 mM) with α7* nAChR-subserved whole-cell (type IA) currents. In the absence of TTX and in the presence of glutamate receptor antagonists, choline triggered inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) by activating α7* nAChRs on GABAergic neurons synapsing onto the neurons under study. Galantamine (1–10 μM) potentiated, whereas KYNA (10 nM-1 mM) inhibited, choline-triggered responses. Galantamine (1 μM), applied before KYNA, shifted to the right the concentration-response relationship for KYNA to inhibit type IA currents, increasing the IC50 of KYNA from 13.9 ± 8.3 to 271 ± 131 μM. Galantamine, applied before or after KYNA, antagonized inhibition of choline-triggered IPSCs by KYNA. Local infusion of KYNA (100 nM) in the rat striatum reduced extracellular dopamine levels in vivo. This effect resulted from α7* nAChR inhibition and was blocked by coapplied galantamine (1–5 μM). It is concluded that galantamine competitively antagonizes the actions of KYNA on α7* nAChRs. Reducing α7* nAChR inhibition by endogenous KYNA may be an important determinant of the effectiveness of galantamine in neurological and psychiatric disorders associated with decreased α7* nAChR activity in the brain.


In this paper, a simple and effective scheme for tuning of fuzzy PI-PD controller based on fuzzy logic is proposed. Here the input scaling factors are tuned online by gain updating factors where values are determined by rule base with error and change in error as inputs according to the required controlled process. The performance comparison of conventional fuzzy logic controller, auto-tuned fuzzy controller with cross auto-tuned fuzzy PI-PD controllers has been done in terms of transient state and steady state. Simulation results show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed tuning mechanism


Martyrdom, Murder, and Magic: Child Saints and Their Cults in Medieval Europe is a comprehensive history of child saints and their cults from late Antiquity to the end of the fifteenth century. The child martyrs of the persecutions, including the Holy Innocents, were the first child saints recognized by the Church and their cults spread throughout Europe in the early Middle Ages. Alongside these cults, medieval society also venerated child «martyrs, victims of political or domestic violence. The increasing role of the papacy in the canonization process after the tenth century resulted in the veneration of saintly child confessors in the high Middle Ages, but from the end of the twelfth century, most children worshipped as saints were the alleged victims of ritual murder by Jews. This book considers the formation and transformation of child saints and their cults in the context of popular belief and the history of childhood.


GJ436b is a unique member of the transiting extrasolar planet population being one of the smallest and least irradiated and possessing an eccentric orbit. Because of its size, mass, and density, GJ436b could plausibly have an atmospheric metallicity similar to Neptune (20–60 times solar abundances), which makes it an ideal target to study the effects of atmospheric metallicity on dynamics and radiative transfer in an extrasolar planetary atmosphere. We present three-dimensional atmospheric circulation models that include realistic non-gray radiative transfer for 1, 3, 10, 30, and 50 times solar atmospheric metallicity cases of GJ436b. Low metallicity models (1 and 3 times solar) show little day/night temperature variation and strong high-latitude jets. In contrast, higher metallicity models (30 and 50 times solar) exhibit day/night temperature variations and a strong equatorial jet. Spectra and light curves produced from these simulations show strong orbital phase dependencies in the 50 times solar case and negligible variations with orbital phase in the 1 times solar case. Comparisons between the predicted planet/star flux ratio from these models and current secondary eclipse measurements support a high metallicity atmosphere (30–50 times solar abundances) with disequilibrium carbon chemistry at play for GJ436b. Regardless of the actual atmospheric composition of GJ436b, our models serve to illuminate how metallicity influences the atmospheric circulation for a broad range of warm extrasolar planets.


Abstract Background: In this case we describe the rare and not previously documented presentation of cystitis cystica as a large solitary cystic lesion within the bladder wall. Case Presentation: We present a case of a 46-year-old Russian male with a history of lower urinary tract symptoms and suprapubic pain. CT urogram showed a 5.8 cm filling defect/cystic mass related to the base of the bladder and prostate with 8 mm thick wall. The patient underwent cystoscopy and contrast study of bladder lesion with urethral dilatation and transurethral deroofing of bladder wall cyst under general anesthesia. A histologic diagnosis of cystitis cystica was made. Conclusion: This case described the rare presentation of a large solitary bladder cyst arising from the anterior bladder wall, identified histologically as cystitis cystica. Cystitis cystica presenting as a large cystic lesion of the bladder wall is rare; however, a diagnosis of cystitis cystica should be considered in unexplained cystic defects of the bladde...


This article illustrates a model selection management approach for virtual prototypes in interactive simulations. In those numerical simulations, the virtual prototype and its environment are modelled as a multi-agent system, where every entity (prototype, human, etc.) is modelled as an agent. In particular, virtual prototyping agents that provide mathematical models of mechanical behaviour in form of computational methods are considered. This work argues that selection of an appropriate model in a changing environment, supported by models' characteristics, can be managed by the determination a priori of specific exploitation and performance measures of virtual prototype models. As different models exist to represent a single phenomenon, it is not always possible to select the best one under all possible circumstances of the environment. Instead the most appropriate shall be selecting according to the use case. The proposed approach consists in identifying relevant metrics or indicators for each group of models (e.g. entity models, global model), formulate their qualification, analyse the performance, and apply the qualification criteria. Then, a model can be selected based on the performance prediction obtained from its qualification. The authors hope that this approach will not only help to inform engineers and researchers about another approach for selecting virtual prototype models, but also assist virtual prototype engineers in the systematic or automatic model selection.


Gene Expression Programming (GEP) is a genetic algorithm that evolves linear chromosomes encoding nonlinear (tree-like) structures. In the original GEP algorithm, the genome size is problem specific and is determined through trial and error.
In this work, a novel method for adaptively tuning the genome size is presented. The approach introduces new mutation, transposition and recolI)bination operators that enable a population of heterogeneously structured chromosomes, something the original GEP algorithm does not support. This permits crossbreeding between normally incompatible individuals, speciation within a population, increases the evolvability of the representations and enhances parallel GEP.
To test our approach an assortment of problems were used, including symbolic regression, classification and parameter optimization. Our experimental results show that our approach provides a solution for the problem of self-adaptively tuning the genome size of GEP's representation.


We investigate whether the publicly available information on Facebook about job applicants affects employers' hiring decisions. To this end, we conduct a field experiment in which fictitious job applications are sent to real job openings in Belgium. The only characteristic in which these candidates differ is the unique Facebook profile that can be found online with their name. Candidates with the most beneficial Facebook picture obtain approximately 38% more job interview invitations compared to candidates with the least beneficial picture. In addition, we find suggestive evidence for a higher effect of Facebook profile picture appearance on hiring chances when candidates are highly educated and when recruiters are female.


The difficulties in analyzing and clustering (synthesizing) multivariate data of the mixed type (discrete and continuous) are largely due to: 1) nonuniform scaling in different coordinates, 2) the lack of order in nominal data, and 3) the lack of a suitable similarity measure. This paper presents a new approach which bypasses these difficulties and can acquire statistical knowledge from incomplete mixed-mode data. The proposed method adopts an event-covering approach which covers a subset of statistically relevant outcomes in the outcome space of variable-pairs. And once the covered event patterns are acquired, subsequent analysis tasks such as probabilistic inference, cluster analysis, and detection of event patterns for each cluster based on the incomplete probability scheme can be performed. There are four phases in our method: 1) the discretization of the continuous components based on a maximum entropy criterion so that the data can be treated as n-tuples of discrete-valued features; 2) the estimation of the missing values using our newly developed inference procedure; 3) the initial formation of clusters by analyzing the nearest-neighbor distance on subsets of selected samples; and 4) the reclassification of the n-tuples into more reliable clusters based on the detected interdependence relationships. For performance evaluation, experiments have been conducted using both simulated and real life data.


Canada's Tobacco Package Label or Warning System: "Telling the Truth†about Tobacco Product Risks. The Need for an Effective Package-Based Label System. The World Health Organization's draft Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) will be presented to the World Health Assembly in May 2003. Its call for dramatically improved tobacco warnings worldwide reflects growing interest in tobacco package labelling or warning systems (1). This interest is augmented by greatly improved warnings now appearing on the shelves of retail outlets throughout the European Union, and by the announcements of other countries, such as Malaysia, of the planned introduction of reforms modelled on the Canadian or Brazilian warnings. This heightened interest created by the FCTC proc-ess, and the encouragement it provides to parties to the Convention to implement more effective warnings, raises significant questions. Why are bigger and bolder warnings better? What messages are most effective? What tactics might be expected from an industry determined to under-mine any measure that might cut its sales? Canada has been one of the pioneering countries in devel-oping and implementing innovative labelling requirements for tobacco products. This Country Report on warnings has been prepared in the hope that it will make a timely contribution to the development of similar reforms in other countries. Though some aspects of Canadian warnings are now well known, particularly the use of images, the debate and analysis that led Canada to move ahead in this area are less well understood. The gradual move towards large, explicit and graphic health messages came about because of a deepening understanding of the misinforma-tion and deception that underlie the tobacco epidemic.


Abstract Purpose: Prior studies evaluating the effect of administered progestogens on peak cervical mucus have not controlled for the influence of endogenous hormones. To address this, we treated women with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist to suppress the hypothalamus–pituitary–ovarian (HPO) axis and used transdermal oestradiol replacement to stimulate peak cervical mucus and then evaluated the effects of an oral progestin or oestradiol withdrawal. Materials and methods: We used a crossover design to examine cervical mucus changes in women receiving transdermal oestradiol replacement following intramuscular administration of leuprolide acetate. After increasing oestradiol patches to mid-cycle levels, subjects were assigned to either 0.35 mg oral norethindrone with continuation of the patches (NET) or oestradiol withdrawal by patch removal (E2WD). We collected serum and cervical mucus samples at 0, 2, 4, 6, 22 and 24 h following the intervention. Results: We analysed 12 cycles (6 NET, 6 E2WD) from three subjects. Baseline cervical mucus scores were favourable to sperm penetration [NET median 11, interquartile range (9–12), E2WD 13 (12–13)]. Two hours after removal of oestradiol patch or administration of norethindrone, cervical mucus scores declined [NET 8.5 (4–9), E2WD 10.5 (10–12)]. Low cervical mucus scores persisted at 24 h with NET [8.0 (7–8)] but not E2WD [10.5 (8–11)]. Conclusions: We observed a rapid decline in cervical mucus Insler scores following administration of a single dose of oral norethindrone, and scores remained lower and unfavourable through 24 h. Oestradiol withdrawal did not result in similar unfavourable changes.


Abstract Objectives Limited data are available on the effect of how cyclophosphamide (CY) and total body irradiation (TBI) are administered. We analyzed the effect of the interval from TBI to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) on the outcome of HSCT. Methods Adult patients who underwent HSCT using myeloablative conditioning consisting of TBI and CY were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into three groups according to the duration between the start of TBI and HSCT (Group A: 2–4 days, Group B: 5–8 days, Group C: 9–10 days). Results Seventy-five adult patients were included. The 3-year overall survival rate was 56, 47, and 77% in Groups A, B, and C, respectively (P = 0.14). Similarly, there was no significant difference among the three groups with respect to progression-free survival (57, 47, and 72%, P = 0.17), relapse rate (32, 37, and 16%, P = 0.29), or non-relapse mortality (8, 14, and 12%, P = 0.81). In addition, we observed no significant difference among the three groups with respect to the incidence of grade II–IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (31, 47, and 32%, respectively, P = 0.56) and that of chronic GVHD (23, 23, and 22%, respectively, P = 0.97). Discussion and conclusion Although recipient immune system at HSCT might be affected by the timing of TBI, the duration between the start of TBI and HSCT did not influence the outcome of HSCT using myeloablative conditioning with TBI and CY.


The kidney plays a major role in arginine metabolism in 3 principal ways: arginine synthesis, creatine synthesis, and arginine reabsorption. Appreciable quantities of arginine are synthesized in the kidney from citrulline produced by the intestine. The renal enzymes of arginine synthesis, argininosuccinate synthetase and argininosuccinate lyase, occur in the cells of the proximal tubule. The rate of arginine synthesis depends on citrulline delivery and does not appear to be regulated by dietary arginine availability. Renal arginine synthesis in humans produces approximately 2 g arginine/d, which may be compared to an intake, from a Western diet, of approximately 4 to 5 g/d. Spontaneous, nonenzymatic breakdown of creatine and creatine phosphate to creatinine causes the excretion of 1 to 2 g creatinine/d and requires the replacement of an equivalent amount of creatine from the diet and by endogenous synthesis. The first enzyme of creatine biosynthesis, L-arginine:glycine amidinotransferase, occurs in the kidney and produces guanidinoacetate, which is released into the renal vein. The renal output of guanidinoacetate, however, is rather low, and we propose that the entire pathway of creatine synthesis may also occur in the liver. Renal arginine reabsorption salvages approximately 3 g arginine/d. At the apical membrane of proximal tubular cells, arginine shares a transporter with lysine, ornithine, and cystine. Defects in this heteromeric transporter cause cystinuria, which is also characterized by urinary loss of arginine, lysine, and ornithine. Arginine is transported out of the proximal tubular cells at the basolateral membrane by another heteromeric transporter, which also transports lysine and ornithine. Defects in this transporter cause lysinuric protein intolerance.


Abstract Finding new ways to improve health and safety management in construction continues to generate much interest. Despite a reduction in deaths, injuries and ill health in recent years, UK construction still has high rates of fatal and major injuries compared to other industries. One of the key concerns is the difficulty of organisational learning in construction manifested as reactive responses to health and safety issues. The Olympic Delivery Authority launched a learning legacy programme in conjunction with industry, government and academia to capture important lessons learnt in a number of areas, including health and safety. Communication has long been considered an important factor in the implementation of health and safety initiatives. Previous research has typically focused on programmes run by single organisations. The London 2012 Olympic Park construction project offered a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of safety initiatives and communication across a range of organisations working side by side. It also offered an exciting opportunity to track health and safety messages as they are communicated to the workforce. The main aim of this research project was to evaluate the range of health and safety initiatives used at the Olympic Park in terms of messages communicated to workers, workers' awareness, attitude and behaviour, and the transfer of knowledge within and outside the Park. A semi-structured inventory was used to survey the workforce (managers, supervisors and workers) using interviews and focus groups on seven Park sites. A follow-up survey was conducted after three months, at which time interviews and focus groups were also held at non-Olympic comparison sites. Data were also collected through the observation of meetings and document review. The data were analysed using template analysis in line with the communication-human information processing (C-HIP) model. The transfer of knowledge into and out of the Olympic Park, and the impact of the communication processes on workers, were key issues identified from the analysis. The results were used to produce industry recommendations that are applicable beyond the realm of a mega project. Important recommendations include, but are not limited to, the important role of the client, the need for planning and the focus on workers' comprehension and safety behaviour. The most important recommendation was that methods used at the Olympic Park should be used on more traditional projects.


The growth and development of SMEs in Jaffna is vulnerable due to the three decades of internal war. Even having finished the war, there is no remarkable progress in the development of SMEs in Jaffna. Thus, main objective of study is to scrutinize the severity and degree of issues of small and medium enterprises in post conflict Jaffna. The second objective is to identify the growth status of SMEs in Jaffna. Self administered Likert scale questionnaire has been employed for the analysis of study. The results bring to light the fact that mean value of assets , value of turnover and mean value of number of employees as well as growth stages of SMEs clearly show that there is very poor growth of small enterprises in Jaffna. Another finding is that the mean values of all issues of SMEs are closer to one or two indicating that small enterprises of Jaffna have been undergoing several severe problems in the growth of business in post war. Government should give more priority in policy making to the development of SMEs of North and East where as political and economic climate should be conducive to flow foreign and local investment into North and East region. This is a first empirical study in regard to SMEs after 30 years civil War in the region. This study will be giving new insights to the policy makers and government. In addition, those who are interested in developing their business in the same region can acquire valuable information and knowledge about SMEs.


The published literature on the strength and
structural changes occurring during and after hot working of
AI5I316 and 304 austenitic stainless steels are reviewed.
Isothermal plane strain compression tests have
been carried out with the purpose of determining
relationships to describe the kinetics of static
recrystallization, the recrystallized grain size, the
isothermal grain growth rate and the strength during hot
rolling of AISI316 steel. The kinetics of static
recrystallization were also studied in samples tested in
axisymmetric compression, or hot rolled. The effect on the
kinetics of static recrystallization of the strain
distribution in samples tested in plane strain compression
was analysed. The set of equations determined for 316 steel wasused in a computer model modified from the one developed by Leduc (1980) for simulation of hot rolling loads and
microstructural evolution. Partially recrystallized
microstructure was generated in a laboratory hot rolling
mill and was reasonably simulated by the use of the computer
programme. Non-isothermal plane strain compression tests were carried out for direct simulation of laboratory hot rolling results. Comparison between experimental hot rolling and plane strain compression data has shown reasonable levels of agreement in the microstructural simulations undertaken in the present work. The mean plane strain strengths from non-isothermal plane strain compression tests were higher than the ones from hot rolling. This may have been caused by thermal gradients inside the sample being tested.


Abstract Four fungicides used for controlling foliar diseases of potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) were evaluated under field and laboratory conditions for their effects on the infectivity and sporulation of Beauveria bassiana when used as a control for the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (CPB). We investigated the direct effects of fungicides on B. bassiana -induced CPB mortality and the effect of time between fungicide and B. bassiana application. Effects of fungicide on conidial survival in the soil and on foliage were examined in the field. Significantly more larval mortality was observed when larvae were sprayed with B. bassiana than with the water control. Fungicide had no significant effect on larval mortality in the field. In the laboratory, survival of larvae was significantly lower among larvae fed fungicide-treated foliage. B. bassiana -induced mortality in the laboratory was observed only when larvae were fed foliage treated with copper hydroxide or water. Larvae fed mancozeb- or chlorothalonil-treated foliage experienced high mortality regardless of B. bassiana treatment. While there was no significant effect of fungicide on B. bassiana sporulation on cadavers in the field, a pattern emerged that indicated higher proportions of cadavers producing conidia in plots sprayed with water or copper hydroxide than in plots sprayed with chlorothalonil or mancozeb. Survival of B. bassiana conidia in the soil and on foliage was significantly greater in plots treated with copper hydroxide or water than in plots treated with mancozeb or chlorothalonil. Fungicides such as copper hydroxide may be less deleterious to the fungus than mancozeb and chlorothalonil.


The dependence of Tb and Co concentration on the magnetoresistance (MR) of TbFeCo amorphous films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy have been studied at room temperature. Tb/sub x/Fe/sub (88-x-y)/Co/sub y/ films (where x=15--37 at% and y=5--25 at%) with thickness of 200 nm are deposited by dc-magnetron sputtering. The MR ratio is sensitively dependent on the Tb concentration. The MR ratio is increased up to about 2.8% for a Tb concentration of about 22.4 at% then decreased for more Tb content. No significant effect of Co concentration on the MR ratio has been observed. The relation between MR ratio and film composition can be ascribed to the dependence of the domain wall width on the film concentration. The domain wall width decreases with an increase in Tb concentration and again increases for more Tb content showing its minimum value at about 22.4 at % of Tb concentration. It may be considered that the observed MR is contributed from the domain wall.


The key to an efficient screening method is the ability to screen large amounts of plant material in the shortest time possible. Due to the complexity of drought tolerance, a quick and effective screen for this trait has yet to be established. The research reported herein was designed to evaluate a screening method for drought tolerance in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) seedlings. Twenty-one converted race stocks (CRS) and two cultivars were evaluated for seedling drought tolerance (SDT) on an individual plant basis. Genotypes were evaluated October-November 2004 and February-March 2005 under greenhouse conditions. Seedlings were subjected to three sequential cycles of drought at 15 d after planting (DAP). Drought cycles consisted of withholding water until the moisture content of indicator 'Deltapine 491' (DP 491) plants had an average volumetric water content of 0.07. Plants then were watered to saturation and allowed to drain to field capacity and percent survival recorded after 48 h. Genotypes differed in their percent survival following three consecutive drought cycles. Drought cycles 2 and 3 did not contribute to the separation of genotypes. DP 491 was the most tolerant genotype evaluated. The drought tolerance of the CRS was similar to that of 'Acala 1517-99'. CRS M-9044-0165 was the most stable genotype, according to an analysis of the difference in percentage of survival for each genotype across the two experiments.


Some voltage sources are transient, lasting only for a moment of time, such as the voltage generated by converting a human motion into electricity. Such sources moreover tend to have a degree of randomness as well as internal resistance. We investigate how to put a number to how valuable a given transient source is. We derive several candidate measures via a systematic approach. We establish an inter-convertibility hierarchy between such sources, where inter-conversion means adding passive interface circuits to the sources. Resistors at the ambient temperature are at the bottom of this hierarchy and sources with low internal resistance and high internal voltages are at the top. We provide three possible measures for a given source that assign a number to the source respecting this hierarchy. One measure captures how much ``unitdc"the source contains, meaning $1$ V dc with $1\Omega$ internal resistance for $1$s. Another measure relates to the signal-to-noise ratio of the voltage time-series whereas a third is based on the relative entropy between the voltage probability distribution and a thermal noise resistor. We argue that the unitdc measure is particularly useful by virtue of its operational interpretation in terms of the number of unit dc sources that one needs to combine to create the source or that can be distilled from the source.


Optical loss from scattered light could limit the performance of quantum-noise filter cavities being considered for an upgrade to the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) gravitational-wave detectors. This paper describes imaging scatterometer measurements of the large-angle scattered light from two high-quality sample optics, a high reflector and a beamsplitter. These optics are each superpolished fused silica substrates with silica:tantala dielectric coatings. They represent the current state-of-the art optical technology for use in filter cavities. We present angle-resolved scatter values and integrate these to estimate the total scatter over the measured angles. We find that the total integrated light scattered into larger angles can be as small as 4 ppm.


In this paper, we propose a Self-aware Distance Transform (SDT) for efficient templatebased point feature tracking. The proposed SDT encapsulates the relationship between autocorrelation coefficients and the distance from the best match; therefore, it can be used to automatically determine the size of a search region in each point feature. The proposed SDT returns the expected distance between the predicted position and the best match from a statistical viewpoint, which guarantees a certain level of successful tracking depending on the cross-correlation at the predicted position. If the SDT returns a large expected distance due to the abrupt motion of a feature or inaccurate prediction, we progressively expand the search region on a hexagonal lattice while also using the SDT to reduce unnecessary computations. The performance of the proposed tracking method based on the SDT was verified experimentally in terms of its accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency by comparing the proposed method to other tracking methods.


Uniaxial cyclic tensile deformation of flexible cell culture membranes has been reported to induce cell body and cytoskeleton alignment with respect to the axis of the applied mechanical stimulus. This effect was proven to be strongly dependent on the stretching frequency and amplitude. However there is only little information available on cell type-specific responses. Extension of this stretching technique by live-cell imaging allowed us to investigate the temporal behavior of cells, which enabled us to define a cell-specific kinetic fingerprint. Based on this approach, we could identify significant differences between two periodontal cell populations closely related in vivo. The orientation response was shown to be faster for periodontal ligament fibroblasts than for alveolar bone cells. These results were substantiated by our observation of altered activation levels of RhoA. With this work we could show that the combination of biomechanical stimulation and live cell imaging provides a potential tool to distinguish between morphologically and biochemically very similar cell populations and to reveal altered stimuli-dependent physiological processes, as indicated by the kinetic fingerprint on flexible substrates. Moreover, these new findings can be implemented in the development of cell type-/tissue-specific customized substrates based on soft matter biomaterials or prospective smart flexible polymers.


Successful implementation of e-learning is dependent on successful delivery of contents, courses and training via electronic media including the Internet, intranets, extranets, satellite broadcast, audio/video tape, radio, interactive television, and compact disk read only memory. Weaker economy and absence of adequate infrastructure facilities are main obstacles of effective e-learning practices in least developed countries. As a member of least developed countries, Bangladesh has lots of challenges regarding e-learning. This study illustrates technological, psychological, socio-cultural and economic factors that would affect successful implementation of e-learning for higher education in Bangladesh. Unwillingness to change the learning atmosphere, poor level of competency in English, lack of funds and technical resources in universities, lack of confidence to practice computer applications coupled with absence of infrastructure such as electricity and telephone lines in many parts of the country are the most difficult issues to address. A five point scale to measure computer knowledge level and another five point scale to measure the e-learning knowledge for least developed countries are used in the study. The benefits and potentials of e-learning far outweigh its challenges. The paper concludes recommending some measures to resolve these issues by cohesively working together of the government and the private sectors.


Abstract Objective: Nitrate (NO3−)-rich beetroot juice (BR) is recognized as an ergogenic supplement that improves exercise tolerance during submaximal to maximal intensity exercise in recreational and competitive athletes. A recent study has investigated the effectiveness of BR on exercise performance during supramaximal intensity intermittent exercise (SIE) in Olympic-level track cyclists, but studies conducted in elite endurance athletes are scarce. The present study aimed to determine whether BR supplementation enhances the tolerance to SIE in elite endurance athletes. Methods: Eleven elite endurance athletes (age: 21.7 ± 3.7 years, maximal oxygen uptake 71.1 ± 5.2 mL·kg−1·min−1) performed an SIE test until exhaustion following either a 3-day BR supplementation (340 mg/d) or a placebo (PL) supplementation (<2.5 mg/d) in a randomized, single blind, placebo-controlled, and crossover study. The exercise test consisted of 15-second cycling exercise bouts at 170% of the maximal aerobic power interspersed with 30-second passive recovery periods. Gas exchange was measured during SIE tests as local muscle O2 delivery and extraction were assessed by near infrared spectroscopy. Results: The number of repetitions completed was not significantly different between BR (13.9 ± 4.0 reps) and PL conditions (14.2 ± 4.5 reps). BR supplementation did not affect oxygen uptake () during SIE tests (BR: 3378.5 ± 681.8 mL·min−1, PL: 3466.1 ± 505.3 mL·min−1). No significant change in the areas under curves was found for local muscle total hemoglobin (BR: 6816.9 ± 1463.1 arbitrary units (a.u.), PL: 6771.5 ± 3004.5 a.u.) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (BR: 6619.7 ± 875.8 a.u., PL: 6332.7 ± 1336.8 a.u.) during time-matched work + recovery periods from SIE tests following BR supplementation. Conclusions: BR supplementation does not enhance the tolerance to SIE in elite endurance athletes and affects neither nor local muscle O2 delivery and extraction.


Research aims: Communicating about end-of-life (EOL) matters is an essential part of providing care to older people in long term care facilities (LTCFs). When care staff do not feel competent to discuss these issues, they could fail in starting conversations about EOL issues. However, not much is known about whether LTCF staff feel competent to engage in EOL conversations. This research compares among 6 European countries the care staff's level of self-efficacy regarding EOL communication in LTCFs. This study also assesses which country, facility and staff characteristics are related to care staff's self-efficacy regarding EOL communication. Study population: In total 2275 care staff members in 305 LTCFs participated in the research project, of whom 1680 in 290 LTCFs filled in all questions on self-efficacy and were included in the current study. Study design and methods: A cross-sectional survey of care staff (nurses and care assistants) was conducted in a random sample of representative LTCFs in Belgium, England, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Staff rated their self-efficacy on a scale of 0-7 (cannot do at all-certain can do) on the communication subscale of the Self-efficacy in End-of-Life Care survey, which comprises 8 statements regarding EOL communication. Method of statistical analysis: Generalized estimating equations were used to account for clustering of data on facility level. Results and interpretation: The proportion of staff with a mean selfefficacy score >5 was 76.4% in the Netherlands, ranged between 55.9% and 60.0% in Belgium, Poland, England and Finland and was only 29.6% in Italy. Factors related to higher self-efficacy scores included: staff >50 years of age, working as a nurse (compared to care assistant), completed higher secondary or tertiary education, formal training in palliative care, >10 years working in resident care, working in a facility with onsite nurses and offsite physicians, working in a facility with guidelines on palliative care and working in the Netherlands or England. In general perceived self-efficacy seems to be a precursor to actually performing a certain practice. LTCFs could improve staff's self-efficacy and practices on EOL communication by providing education and supporting staff with guidelines regarding palliative care.


Rocking motion is sensitive to the boundary and initial conditions of a rocking structure, making experiments nonrepeatable. Thus, the claims that numerical rocking motion models are not only inaccurate but that all rocking structures behave unpredictably. Hence, rocking is not used as a seismic design approach. This paper revisits the issue of rocking motion unpredictability. Seismic behavior of structures is inherently stochastic, because the loading is stochastic. Therefore, the question of interest is not whether models can predict the seismic response to a single ground motion, but if the statistical characteristics of the ensemble of responses to a set of ground motions that define the seismic hazard can be predicted. For this purpose, a rocking podium, which is a three‐dimensional structure comprising an aluminum slab supported by four tubular steel columns, was tested on a shake table excited by two sets of 100 consistently generated ground motions. It was found that the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the experimentally obtained displacements is statistically stable. Next, a blind prediction contest was organized. The contestants were invited to predict the CDFs of the slab lateral displacement. They were able to predict the slab displacement CDF relatively well. Both finite element and discrete element modeling approaches were used, but no clear pattern emerged as it was found that the performance of either approach depends on the input parameters used and the assumptions made. It was also observed that the contestants who did not use Rayleigh damping in their models produced better predictions.


In this study, we investigated the protective effects of the extract of chicken meat (EC) on liver damage in mice caused by restraint stress. Our results showed that 18 h of restraint stress-induced liver damage was marked by an increase of plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) levels. However, oral administration of EC (0.12 and 0.24 mL/10 g per day, 7 d) was found to reduce the increased plasma ALT and AST levels in stressed mice. Meanwhile, EC significantly decreased the contents of malondialdehyde and increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in plasma or liver of stressed mice. The gene expressions of antioxidative enzymes (Cu/Zn-SOD, Mn-SOD and GPX) were also up-regulated in the EC-treated group when compared with the stressed group. In addition, EC administration was found to resist a stress-induced increase of plasma corticosterone levels and down-regulation of liver glucocorticoid receptor gene expression. These results suggested that EC could protect against restraint stress-induced liver damage by smoothing stress and promoting antioxidative processes.


Skyline queries have recently received a lot of attention due to their intuitive query formulation: users can state preferences with respect to several attributes. Unlike numerical preferences, preferences over discrete value domains do not show an inherent total order, but have to rely on partial orders as stated by the user. In such orders typically many object values are incomparable, increasing the size of skyline sets significantly, and making their computation expensive. In this paper we explore how to enable interactive tasks like query refinement or relevance feedback by providing 'prime cuts'. Prime cuts are interesting subsets of the full Pareto skyline, which give users a good overview over the skyline. They have to be small, efficient to compute, suitable for higher numbers of query predicates, and representative. The key to improved performance and reduced result set sizes is the relaxation of Pareto semantics to the concept of weak Pareto dominance. We argue that this relaxation yields intuitive results and show how it opens up the use of efficient and scalable query processing algorithms. Assessing the practical impact, our experiments show that our approach leads to lean result set sizes and outperforms Pareto skyline computations by up to two orders of magnitude.


[1] A Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroradiometer was deployed at Palmer Station, Antarctica, from 1 September to 17 November 1991. This instrument is similar to the Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) deployed with the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program. The instrument measured downwelling zenith radiance in the spectral interval 400–2000 cm−1, at a resolution of 1 cm−1. The spectral radiance measurements, which can be expressed as spectral brightness temperature Tb(ν), contain information about cloud optical properties in the middle infrared window (800–1200 cm−1, 8.3–12.5 μm). In this study, this information is exploited to (1) provide additional characterization of Antarctic cloud radiative properties, and (2) demonstrate how multisensor analysis of ARM data can potentially retrieve cloud thermodynamic phase. Radiative transfer simulations demonstrate how Tb(ν) is a function of cloud optical depth τ, effective particle radius re, and thermodynamic phase. For typical values of τ and re, the effect of increasing the ice fraction of the total optical depth is to flatten the slope of Tb(ν) between 800–1000 cm−1. For optically thin clouds (τ ∼ 3) and larger ice particles (re (ice) > 50 μm) the behavior of Tb(ν) in this interval switches from a decrease with increasing wavenumber ν to an increase with ν, once the ice fraction of the total optical depth exceeds ∼0.7. The FTIR spectra alone cannot be interpreted to obtain thermodynamic phase, because a relatively small slope in Tb(ν) between 800–1000 cm−1 could represent either an optically thin cloud in the ice or mixed phase, or an optically thick cloud radiating as a blackbody. Sky observations and ancillary radiometric data are needed to sort the FTIR spectra into categories of small cloud optical depth, where the mid-IR window data can be interpreted; and larger cloud optical depth, where the FTIR data contain information only about cloud base temperature. Spectral solar ultraviolet (UV) irradiance measurements from the U.S. National Science Foundation's UV Monitor at Palmer Station are used to estimate area-averaged effective cloud optical depth τsw, and these estimates are used to sort the FTIR data. FTIR measurements with colocated τsw < 16 are interpreted to estimate cloud thermodynamic phase. Precipitating cloud decks generally show flatter slopes in Tb(ν), consistent with the ice or mixed phase. Altostratus decks show a larger range in Tb(ν) slope than low cloud decks, including increasing slopes with ν, suggesting a more likely occurrence of the ice phase. This study illustrates how cloud thermodynamic phase can be defensibly retrieved from FTIR data if high quality shortwave radiometric data are also available to sort the FTIR measurements by cloud opacity, and both data types are available at the ARM sites.


The emergence of the systematic study of complexity as a science has resulted from the growing recognition that the fundamental assumptions upon which Newtonian physics is based are not satisfied throughout most of science, e.g., time is not necessarily uniformly flowing in one direction, nor is space homogeneous. Herein we discuss how the fractional calculus (FC), renormalization group (RG) theory and machine learning (ML) have each developed independently in the study of distinct phenomena in which one or more of the underlying assumptions of Newtonian formalism is violated. FC has been shown to help us better understand complex systems, improve the processing of complex signals, enhance the control of complex networks, increase optimization performance, and even extend the enabling of the potential for creativity. RG allows one to investigate the changes of a dynamical system at different scales. For example, in quantum field theory, divergent parts of a calculation can lead to nonsensical infinite results. However, by applying RG, the divergent parts can be adsorbed into fewer measurable quantities, yielding finite results. To date, ML is a fashionable research topic and will probably remain so into the foreseeable future. How a model can learn efficiently (optimally) is always essential. The key to learnability is designing efficient optimization methods. Although extensive research has been carried out on the three topics separately, few studies have investigated the association triangle between the FC, RG, and ML. To initiate the study of their interdependence, herein the authors discuss the critical connections between them (Fig. 1). In the FC and RG, scaling laws reveal the complexity of the phenomena discussed. The authors emphasize that the FC's and RG's critical connection is the form of inverse power laws (IPL), and the IPL index provides a measure of the level of complexity. For FC and ML, the critical connections in big data, wherein variability, optimization, and non-local models are described. The authors introduce the derivative-free and gradient-based optimization methods and explain how the FC could contribute to these study areas. In the end, the association between the RG and ML is also explained. The mutual information, feature extraction, and locality are also discussed. Many of the cross-sectional studies suggest a connection between the RG and ML. The RG has a superficial similarity to deep neural networks (DNNs) structure in which one marginalizes over hidden degrees of freedom. The authors remark in the conclusions that the association triangle between FC, RG, and ML, form a stool on which the foundation to complexity science might comfortably sit for a wide range of future research topics.


On-tissue enzymatic digestion is a prerequisite for MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) and spatialomic analysis of tissue proteins and their N-glycan conjugates. Despite the more widely accepted importance of N-glycans as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of many diseases and their potential as pharmacodynamic markers, the crucial sample preparation step, namely on-tissue digestion with enzymes like PNGaseF, is currently mainly carried out by specialized laboratories using home-built incubation arrangements, e.g., petri dishes placed in an incubator. Standardized spatially confined enzyme digests, however, require precise control and possible regulation of humidity and temperature, as high humidity increases the risk of analyte dislocation and low humidity compromises enzyme function. Here, a digestion device that controls humidity by cyclic ventilation and heating of the slide holder and the chamber lid was designed to enable controlled micro-condensation on the slide and to stabilize and monitor the digestion process. The device presented here may help with standardization in MSI. Using sagittal mouse brain sections and xenografted human U87 glioblastoma cells in CD1 nu/nu mouse brain, a device-controlled workflow for MALDI MSI of N-glycans was developed.


This paper investigates the implementation of a predictive controller using nonlinear dynamic model derived from first principles, together with online optimization, for a rotary crane system. The system is driven by two motors in velocity mode, and a white LED is installed on the payload to be observed by a camera located on the rotary frame to derive swing angles for control feedback. The proposed prediction controller is featured with control horizon long enough for online computation of prediction and optimization algorithms. Possible control sequences within the control horizon are described using spline interpolation to reduce the number of parameters to be optimized online. Response of the proposed scheme in face of exogenous disturbances and inaccuracy in estimated string length is demonstrated by numerical simulations.


This paper focused on impact localization of composite structures, which possess more complexity in the guided wave propagation because of the anisotropic behavior of composite materials. In this work, a composite plate was manufactured by using a compression molding process with proper pressure and temperature cycle. Eight layers of woven composite prepreg were used to make the plate. A structural health monitoring (SHM) technique is implemented with piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) to detect and localize the impact on the plate. There are two types of impact event are considered in this paper (a) low energy impact event (b) high energy impact event. Two clusters of sensors recorded the guided acoustic waves generated from the impact. The acoustic signals are then analyzed using a wavelet transform based time-frequency analysis. The proposed SHM technique successfully detect and localize the impact event on the plate. The experimentally measured impact locations are compared with the actual impact locations. An immersion ultrasonic scanning method was used to visualize the composite plate before and after the impact event. A high frequency 10 MHz 1-inch focused transducer was used to scan the plate in an immersion tank. Scanning results show that there is no visible manufacturing damage in the composite plate. However, clear impact damage was observed after the high-energy impact event.


Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a progressive, chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia. Despite recent advances to early diagnosis and prevention, its prevalence is rising worldwide. More than half of the T2DM patients do not achieve optimal glycemic control according to current guidelines. It is obvious that the need for new antidiabetic treatment and the achievement of therapeutic targets is of great importance in order to prevent micro- and macrovascular complications as well as morbidity and mortality. The most recent therapeutic choices for the management of T2DM are dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors. In this article, we summarize the mechanism of action, the advantages and disadvantages of SGLT-2 and DDP-4 inhibitors, their effect on cardiovascular (CV) events, their role in current guidelines for T2DM treatment and how they are implemented in daily clinical practice.


The rhythm of vocalizing a written language depends on a merge process that combines meaningless linguistic units into a meaningful lexical unit, word, or Bunsetsu in Japanese. However, in most previous studies, written language was presented to the participants in lexical units (word-by-word) with explicit in-ter-word (or inter-Bunsetsu) marks or spacing. Therefore, it has been difficult to conduct psychophysical assessment of the participants ' own speed in segmenting meaningful units from unstructured written language when reading. Here, we hypothesized that the spontaneous reading speed of Japanese readers reflects their own punctuation process, even when sentences are written without punctuation marks or spaces. To test this hypoth-esis, we developed a new " self-paced sequential letterstring reading task, " which visually presents sentences letter-by-letter. The task required participants to push a button to proceed to the next letter at their own pace, hence allowing evaluation of the reaction time (RT) to individual letters. We found that the average RT decreased parametrically as the position of the letter approached the end of a Bunsetsu. Moreover, the RT increased drastically at the last letter completing the Bunsetsu. Participants were not shown any punctuation marks and not instructed to explicitly recognize the punctuations during reading. Therefore, these effects strongly suggest that the implicit and spontaneous punctuation is the origin of the rhythm in reading. These results show that spontaneous punctuation of letterstring affects the reading speed. The task we have developed is a promising tool for revealing the temporal dynamics of natural reading, which opens a way to shape the fluency of script-to-speech human interfaces.


Social movement organisations need to have a pragmatic understanding of our current weaknesses and challenge ourselves to be much more adventurous for how to build social power and transformative change. This article considers three core weaknesses of our activist organisations, including how our issue agenda is often reactive, our disconnection from place and our poor track record on collaboration. It then suggests that the hope for stronger social change lies with a proactive issue agenda, strong reciprocal coalitions and the ability to move campaigns at multiple scales (locally, regionally, nationally, globally). The article includes a variety of examples that suggest how this stronger kind of organising is possible.


Assurance Cases are promoted as a means by which to present an argument for why a system is sufficiently dependable (alternate terms for the same concept include "Dependability Cases", "Safety Cases" when the concern is safety, "Security Cases", etc.). The purpose of such an argument is typically to inform a decision maker, often in the context of a key certification decision, so he/she will be better able to make that decision. Examples of such decisions include whether to deploy a system, whether to make an upgrade to an existing system, whether to advance a system to the next phase in its development. Assurance Cases are widely practiced in Europe, and are receiving growing attention in North America. For software systems in particular, an assurance-case-based approach is often contrasted to a standards-based approach, the latter being characterized as more "prescriptive" in specifying the process and techniques to be applied to sufficiently assure software. The proponents of an assurance-case-based approach point out that the need to construct a sufficiently convincing Assurance Case puts the onus on the provider of the software to present the argument for its dependability, as compared to putting the onus on the regulator to have described in advance a sufficient process to be followed by the provider in their development of software. The distinction is not as clear-cut as it might at first seem. Both approaches have the need to assess by how much the outcomes of assurance activities (e.g., testing; code review; fault tree analysis; model-checking) raise confidence in decisions made about the system. For a standards-based approach, how is it possible to determine whether the required standard practice can be relaxed or waived entirely, when an alternate approach can be substituted, when additional activities are warranted? These determinations hinge on an understanding of the role of assurance activities, and the information conveyed by their outcome. These questions will arise more often and become more urgent to answer in the evolving world mentioned in the Call for Papers. For an assurance-case-based approach the outcome of an assurance activity will be evidence located within the assurance case, which makes it easier to see the role it plays in the overall assurance argument, but the same question arises — what is its information contribution to confidence? Distilling these gives the "Fundamental Assurance Question," namely how much do assurance activities contribute to raising decision confidence about system qualities, such as safety? These questions — and an intriguing start at answering them — will be the focus of this talk.


The Caribbean region is highly prone to natural disasters, with he increased occurrence in recent years of hurricanes, storms, floods, storm surges and volcanic eruptions. These bring about the loss of lives, property and employment, and damage to the physical infrastructure and the environment. The poor are generally the most vulnerable to the impact of natural disasters, and it is the women and children among them who are often the hardest hit. These impacts are likely to be amplified by a country's particular development patterns, with the level of vulnerability of social groups influenced by the socio-economic patterns and conditions existing prior to the natural disaster. These same patterns and conditions affect survival and recovery of the population following the event. Response to natural disasters in the Caribbean has seen an overemphasis on the replacement of damaged infrastructure at the expense of a closer focus on social aspects of the populations affected. Incorporation of gender analysis into the evaluations carried out in the emergency phase of the disaster cycle can help redress this imbalance to ensure that the differentiated needs of women and men are taken on board during rehabilitation and reconstruction. This document presents tools and methodologies to conduct gender analysis in this area, including: - analysis of the socio-economic effects of natural disasters in the Caribbean from a gender perspective; - a methodological framework for gender analysis. Among the analytical tools presented in this document are: - gender analysis of data collection methods; - evaluation of pre-disaster gender relations; - incorporation of gender analysis in the evaluation of post-disaster casualties and material loss; -examination of the gender aspects underlying the division of labour and allocation of resources; - gender analysis of the impacts on health and social network response. These strategies can help advance gender equality in the Caribbean during the rehabilitation and reconstruction processes that follow in the wake of natural disasters.


SIR,-While appreciating that a " Current Practice " article must necessarily be general in scope and appeal, and that it must be brief, we feel that this review of the subject of venous thrombosis (23 July, p. 217) should not be allowed to stand unchallenged, as we find it contains some unsubstantiated assumptions and is in some ways misleading. We feel Dr. Richards's conception of the pathological processes involved in venous thrombosis and the natural history of condition is outdated, and consequently some of the recommendations for treatment are not soundly based. Our major disagreements with Dr. Richards are: (1) His apparent failure to recognize iliofemoral venous thrombosis and its frequency, and to discuss its importance as a source of emboli. (2) His failure to discuss the whole problem of post-phlebitic symptoms and their possible prophylaxis. Because venous thrombosis frequently involves the ilio-femoral segment-and this is a common source of emboli and cause of venous insufficiency-we feel that venous thrombectomy is often indicated. Bilateral femoral ligation is often unsatisfactory, the embolic source frequently being proximal to this. Inferior vena cava ligation is a major procedure in an ill patient and leads to considerable leg morbidity.' If any vein interruption is indicated caval plication is surely preferable.2-5 Dr. Richards recommends anticoagulants while at the same time saying there is no real proof of their effectiveness in treatment. Surely such dangerous drugs should not be widely recommended without proof of effectiveness. A well-controlled clinical trial is essential, though a more complete understanding of the pathological processes involved and the mechanisms of the drugs' action in vivo would be infinitely preferable before they can be generally recommended. Certainly anticoagulants with the loose control frequently employed (the dosage often being left to a new houseman) can only be dangerous. There is experimental evidence to show the superiority of heparin over oral anticoagulants.3 These authors showed that, for coumarin derivatives to prevent propagation of clot produced in a standard manner, the prothrombin activity must be reduced to 6 to 10%/,, levels at which few clinicians are prepared to maintain their patients. Further, although it is possible that anticoagulants may stop progression of the thrombotic process and reduce the incidence of pulmonary embolism, it is most unlikely (admittedly not impossible) that they will in any way influence subsequent venous insufficiency in the leg if this is present at diagnosis. Further, in dealing with " axillary vein thrombosis syndrome," where sometimes in fact no thrombus exists, anticoagulants are surely dangerous and unnecessary, as embolism is not a recorded complication.' Dr. Richards suggests that 66%.' of pulmonary emboli may have a " silent " source; also that Homan's sign may be positive in only 10% of cases. We have found that critical observation, including the temperature chart, as Dr. Richards stresses, attempts to elicit Homan's sign, careful palpation of the calves, thigh, groin, and supra-inguinal regions, and measurements of the legs will yield the diagnosis in a high proportion of cases in which less detailed examination failed to reveal a source of embolism. There seems a danger of propagating the idea that deepvein thrombosis frequently cannot be diagnosed clinically, thus encouraging only cursory examination. In the section dealing with superficial phlebitis operation is rightly advocated when the process is within 5 to 8 cm. of the sapheno-femoral junction, but no mention is made of the cellulitic, localized, extremely painful type requiring conservative treatment with rest of the part rather than exercises. Operation should not consist of ligation and stripping of long saphenous vein but of ligation combined with aspiration of propagated clot from the femoral vein. To state that, if arterial disease is present with thrombophlebitis migrans, the diagnosis is thromboangiitis obliterans, is erroneousthe two may well be manifestations of overt, latent, or developing collagen disease or other systemic disorder.-We are, etc., JOHN M. D. GALLOWAY. Royal Infirmary, J. S. KIRKHAM. Aberdeen.


OBJECTIVES
 To describe the implant characteristics and surgical application of a custom-made trochlear ridge prosthesis (TRP) and to report clinical outcomes in dogs affected by patellar luxation treated with TRP.

STUDY DESIGN
 Dogs affected by patellar luxation underwent computed tomography. A specific canine bone anatomical replica, a cutting guide, and a TRP were designed and provided for surgery. Surgical records, clinical and radiographic reassessments, complications, pre- and postoperative lameness, type and degree of patellar luxation, and TRP and patellar position after surgery were reviewed. Clinical outcomes were defined as full, acceptable, or unacceptable function.

RESULTS
 The TRP was implanted in 60 femoral trochleae: 48 unilateral and 12 bilateral. Successful correction of patellar luxation was achieved in 59/60 cases. TRP was applied with other surgical techniques in 36/60 of the cases and as the only surgical procedure in 24/60 cases. Overall, three complications were observed: two minor and one major (patellar luxation recurrence). Neither implant loosening nor infection was observed. The mean radiographic follow-up was 3.8 months. At the time of the final follow-up, 57/60 cases were scored as fully functional.

CONCLUSION
 The TRP application either alone or in combination with other surgical techniques allowed for correction of patellar luxation and improvement in preoperative lameness with nominal complications. TRP could represent a potentially reliable alternative to trochleoplasty.


With the growing popularity of Autonomous Vehicles, more opportunities have bloomed in the context of Human-Vehicle Interactions. However, the lack of comprehensive and concrete database support for such specific use case limits relevant studies in the whole design spaces. In this paper, we present our work-in-progress BROOK, a public multi-modal database with facial video records, which could be used to characterise drivers' affective states and driving styles. We first explain how we over-engineer such database in details, and what we have gained through a ten-month study. Then we showcase a Neural Network-based predictor, leveraging BROOK, which supports multi-modal prediction (including physiological data of heart rate and skin conductance and driving status data of speed) through facial videos. Finally we discuss related issues when building such a database and our future directions in the context of BROOK. We believe BROOK is an essential building block for future Human-Vehicle Interaction Research. More details and updates about the project BROOK is online at https: //unnc-idl-ucc.github.io/BROOK/.


The reduction of the laminectomy membrane (LM) with synovial fluid soaked absorbable gelatin sponge (SSAGS) after laminectomy was investigated. Modified laminectomy of the first and second lumbar vertebra and concomitant full length durotomy were carried out in 16 mongrel dogs of different ages and sex. Two pieces of absorbable gelatin sponge (AGS-Gelfoam, Upjohn), soaked with 2 ml of synovial fluid taken from the shoulder joint, were implanted into the laminectomy defect in 8 dogs. Two pieces of AGS were implanted into the laminectomy defect in the control group of 8 dogs. Animals were allocated to 4 groups, each consisting of 4 dogs according to follow up examinations done in weeks 2, 5, 10 and 20. Myelography was performed at the end of the observation periods and the dogs were sacrificed. Gross and histologic evaluations of the operated region were done by an observer blinded to the groups. Modified laminectomy and full length duratomy were tolerated well by the dogs except for one dog, during both the early and the late postoperative observation periods. There was no noticeable difference between the two groups according to the clinical findings. Myelography indicated that the dural sac was reproduced in the SSAGS, but loss of the dorsal contrast column was noticeable in the control group at week 20. Gross and histological findings suggested that qualitative decreases in the inflammatory reaction at an early stage and LM in later periods were present in the SSAGS group. In conclusion SSAGS could be an alternative way of reducing the LM.


Abstract Superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) describes a pathological aperture at the level of the arcuate eminence. Techniques for quantifying defect size are described with most studies using two-dimensional lengths that underestimate the pathology. The objective of this study is to describe a novel method of measurement that combines manual segmentation of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images of the temporal bone and a morphological skeletonization transform to calculate dehiscence volume. Images were imported into a freely available image segmentation tool: ITK-SNAP (version 3.4.0; available at: http://www.itksnap.org/) software. Coronal and sagittal planes were used to outline the dehiscence in all slices demonstrating the defect using the paintbrush tool. A morphological skeletonization transform derived a single-pixel thick representation of the original delineation. This "sheet" of voxels overlaid the dehiscence. Volume was calculated by counting the number of nonzero image voxels within this "sheet" and multiplying this number by the volume (mm3) of each voxel. A total of 70 cases of SSCD were identified. Overall, mean volume was 0.88 mm3 (standard deviation: 0.57, range: 0.11–2.27). We present a novel technique for measuring SSCD, which we believe provides a more accurate representation of the pathology, and has the potential to standardize measurement of SSCD.


Synthetic Geomechanical Logs and Distributions for Marcellus Shale Mohammad O. Eshkalak The intent of this study is to generate synthetic Geomechanical Logs for a specific Marcellus Shale asset using Artificial Intelligence and Data mining Technology. Geomechanical Distributions (Map and Volume) for the entire Marcellus Shale asset was completed. In order to accomplish the objectives, conventional well logs such as Gamma Ray and Bulk Density are used to build Data-Driven models. The Data-Driven technique used in this study is applicable to other shale reservoirs. Successful recovery of hydrocarbons from the reservoirs, notably shale, is attributed to realizing the key fundamentals of reservoir rock properties. Having adequate and sufficient information regarding the variable lithology and mineralogy is crucial in order to identify the "right" pay-zone intervals for shale gas production. In addition, contribution of mechanical properties (Principal stress profiles) of shale to hydraulic fracturing strategies is a wellunderstood concept. It may also contribute to better, more accurate simulation models of production from shale gas reservoirs. In this study, synthetic Geomechanical logs (Including following properties: Poisson's Ratio, Total Minimum Horizontal Stress, Bulk and Shear Modulus, etc.) are developed for more than 50 Marcellus Shale wells. Using Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining (AI&DM), datadriven models are developed that are capable of generating synthetic Geomechanical logs from conventional logs such as Gamma Ray and Density Porosity. The data-driven models are validated using wells with actual Geomechanical logs that have been removed from the database to serve as blind validation wells. In addition, having access to necessary data to building Geomechanical distributions (Map and Volume) model can assist in understanding the rock mechanical behavior and consequently creating effective hydraulic fractures that is considered an essential step in economically development of Shale assets. Moreover, running Geomechanical logs on a subset of wells, but having the luxury of generating logs of similar quality for all the existing wells in a Shale asset can prove to be a sound reservoir management tool for better reservoir characterization, modeling and efficient production of Marcellus Shale reservoir.


Many automated software engineering approaches, including code search, bug report categorization, and duplicate bug report detection, measure similarities between two documents by analyzing natural language contents. Often different words are used to express the same meaning and thus measuring similarities using exact matching of words is insufficient. To solve this problem, past studies have shown the need to measure the similarities between pairs of words. To meet this need, the natural language processing community has built WordNet which is a manually constructed lexical database that records semantic relations among words and can be used to measure how similar two words are. However, WordNet is a general purpose resource, and often does not contain software-specific words. Also, the meanings of words in WordNet are often different than when they are used in software engineering context. Thus, there is a need for a software-specific WordNet-like resource that can measure similarities of words. In this work, we propose an automated approach that builds a software-specific WordNet like resource, named WordSimSEDB, by leveraging the textual contents of posts in StackOverflow. Our approach measures the similarity of words by computing the similarities of the weighted co-occurrences of these words with three types of words in the textual corpus. We have evaluated our approach on a set of software-specific words and compared our approach with an existing WordNet-based technique (WordNetres) to return top-k most similar words. Human judges are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the two techniques. We find that WordNetres returns no result for 55 % of the queries. For the remaining queries, WordNetres returns significantly poorer results.


Abstract Like insulin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) may have direct trophic actions on the nervous system, but its potential role in supporting diabetic sensory neurons is uncertain. We identified wide expression of GLP-1 receptors on dorsal root ganglia sensory neurons of diabetic and nondiabetic mice. Exendin-4, a GLP-1 agonist, increased neurite outgrowth of adult sensory neurons in vitro. To determine the effects ofexendin-4 in comparison with continuous low- or high-dose insulin in vivo, we evaluated parallel cohorts of type 1 (streptozotocin-induced) and type 2 (db/db) mice of 2 months' diabetes duration with established neuropathy during an additional month of treatment. High-dose insulin alone reversed hyperglycemia in type 1 diabetic mice, partly reversed thermal sensory loss, improved epidermal innervation but failed to reverse electrophysiological abnormalities. Exendin-4 improved both sensory electrophysiology and behavioral sensory loss. Low-dose insulin was ineffective. In type 2 diabetes, hyperglycemia was uncorrected, and neither insulin nor exendin-4 reversed sensory electrophysiology, sensory behavior, or loss of epidermal axons. However, exendin-4 alone improved motor electrophysiology. Receptor for advanced glycosylated end products and nuclear factor-&kgr;B neuronal expression were not significantly altered by diabetes or treatment. Taken together, these results suggest that although GLP-1 agonists and insulin alone are insufficient to reverse all features of diabetic neuropathy, in combination, they might benefit some aspects of established diabetic neuropathy.


Newbouldiaquinone (1), a new naphthoquinone–anthraquinone coupled pigment and a new ceramide named newbouldiamide (2), have been isolated from Newbouldia laevis , besides the known compounds lapachol (3), canthic acid, oleanolic acid, 2-methyl-9,10-anthracenedione, 2-acetylfuro-1,4-naphthoquinone, 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone, 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl triacontanoate, bb -sitosterol and bb -sitosterol glucopyranoside. The structure elucidations of the isolated new compounds were performed on the basis of spectroscopic and chemical evidence. Preliminary studies showed that 1 is moderately antibacterial against Gram-positive Bacillus megaterium and that 3 has moderate herbicidal and antibacterial activities.


The two major working characteristics of the oil control ring are: 1) to scrape the lubricant oil from the cylinder wall to the direction of the crankcase, and 2) to maintain a sufficient amount of lubricant oil to the compression rings above it in order to sustain a suitable lubricant film thickness between the rings and the cylinder. The oil control ring efficiency is the outcome of the combination of the following parameters: conformability, sort of the contact between the ring and the cylinder, contact pressure, and oil scraping dynamics. This work shows the development of an original oil control ring named Monoland, conceived by powder metallurgy design, having high conformability and optimized contact pressure that provides a superior oil scraping efficiency even with decreasing the friction losses. These qualities were achieved as an effect of an extensive product advance program established by Mahle Metal Leve Research and Development Center and Mahle Metal Leve Miba Sinterizados, which involved steps beginning from the product concept to the production streamline and passing through an extensive product validation program.


s 16th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine sl59 of the National Intervention Plan for Radiological Emergencies. After a review of the available open source literature, the plan was developed in cooperation with the involved authorities, mainly based on the recommendations of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Radiation Protection Commission (Germany), and the British Institute of Radiology (BIR) Manual on the Acute Radiation Syndrome. If a radiation accident cannot safely be handled by the occupational radiation protection system, the concept envisages a multi-step approach based on the hazardous material response of the first responders at the scene (handover to emergency medical services (EMS) after grossdecontamination by the fire service). Any patient should be transported to a hospital for further management. Hospitals are divided in the categories "basic", "regional", and "central". Basic hospitals should not receive patients known to be involved in radiation accidents, but must prepare for selfreferred victims and to be able to perform emergency decontamination similar to that done on scene and first diagnostic measures before transferring the patient. In regional hospitals all specialties with knowledge about radiation effects (mainly radiotherapy and nuclear medicine) must form a cooperational network. A Radiation Emergency Management Plan should comprise the preparation of facilities and equipment, alerting procedures, and an emergency telephone number for inquiries. In central hospitals, this cooperational network is augmented by hematological and intensive care competencies in order to provide all measures of diagnostics and therapy. If necessary, the REMPAN-network can be contacted for further assistance. The described multi-step-approach appears appropriate for Austrian circumstances; however, its practicality still needs to be demonstrated by exercises and experience.


This paper considers decentralized stochastic optimization over a network of $n$ nodes, where each node possesses a smooth non-convex local cost function and the goal of the networked nodes is to find an $\epsilon$-accurate first-order stationary point of the sum of the local costs. We focus on an online setting, where each node accesses its local cost only by means of a stochastic first-order oracle that returns a noisy version of the exact gradient. In this context, we propose a novel single-loop decentralized hybrid variance-reduced stochastic gradient method, called GT-HSGD, that outperforms the existing approaches in terms of both the oracle complexity and practical implementation. The GT-HSGD algorithm implements specialized local hybrid stochastic gradient estimators that are fused over the network to track the global gradient. Remarkably, GT-HSGD achieves a network topology-independent oracle complexity of $O(n^{-1}\epsilon^{-3})$ when the required error tolerance $\epsilon$ is small enough, leading to a linear speedup with respect to the centralized optimal online variance-reduced approaches that operate on a single node. Numerical experiments are provided to illustrate our main technical results.


For decades, spreadsheets have been one of the most commonly used computer applications by auditors. However, the use of spreadsheets varies considerably from one firm to another. Successful spreadsheet implementation can be viewed as occurring when spreadsheets are diffused to all auditors within an organization and are used to the fullest potential. This study aims to identify factors that contribute to the different levels of spreadsheet use among audit firms to help auditors use spreadsheets to their fullest potential (infusion). Using a series of case studies, this study found infrastructure flexibility and training to be critical infusion enablers at an early implementation stage. At later stages, support from IT champion, certain psychological factors such as staff self-efficacy, and social networks were found to be more important. Therefore, audit partners should focus on particular enablers at the right time in order to encourage auditors to use technology to its fullest potential.


In traditional ad hoc networks, all nodes are considered equal and take equal part in the routing and forwarding of packets. We believe that this may not always be desirable. Rather, some nodes may be equipped with virtually unlimited power supplies, while others have to rely on battery power Thus, we propose the creation of "infrastructured" ad hoc networks by the deployment of pseudo base-stations (PBSs), which are nodes that have constant power supply (e.g., through a power outlet or a car battery), do not move, and are present just to act as routers and forward packets for other nodes, thus allowing the mobile nodes to save power The paper also presents ISAIAH, an ad hoc routing protocol based on the ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol, which tries to select routes that go through PBSs instead of through mobile nodes to reduce the amount of power spent by these mobile nodes. Furthermore, it allows nodes to enter a power-saving mode, significantly reducing the power consumption compared to AODV.


THE CLASSICAL twin method has played a major role in influencing the direction of psychiatric thought on the relative importance of heredity and environment in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Fundamentally, this method is a comparison of a group of monozygotic or "identical" twins with a group of dizygotic or "fraternal" twins. The percentage of pairs where both twins are affected by a particular disease is compared in the two groups. This percentage is called the pairwise concordance rate. Since monozygotic twins are assumed to be genetically identical, while dizygotic twins no more so than nontwin siblings, comparisons of concordance rates between these two groups have been used to estimate the genetic contribution to a given illness. In the past, studies showing a high concordance rate for schizophrenia in monozygotic twins and a much lower one in dizygotic twins have been accepted as


Objective: Triple negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2) positive breast tumors are characterized by the absence of expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors and with either Her2 expression or not. Generally, they are larger tumors with higher grade, higher incidence of recurrence and distant metastasis. This article will investigate clinical, pathological, and molecular features of these high risk breast cancer patients and whether these features are correlated with recurrences or not. Materials and Methods: Breast cancer patients of 109 triple negative and 81 Her2 positive histology followed in the medical oncology department of our hospital between 2004 and 2011 were enrolled in the study. These patients were mostly treated with adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Results: The median age of patients was 51 and 52 years. Median follow-up duration was 22 and 29 months. Four patients in each group died during the follow-up. 5 year survival rates were 81.1% in triple negative group and 73.5% in Her2 positive group. Relapses were seen in 30 patients. Bone and brain were the most common metastatic sites in the first and second groups respectively. Triple negative patients having larger tumor size and Her2 positive patients having positive lymph node or not treated with radiotherapy have a statistically higher chance of relapse during the follow-up. Conclusion: Despite the short median follow-up time, approximately one sixth of our patients had recurrence and this supported the aggressive course of the disease in high risk patients. For this reason, risk factors that help us to predict the early recurrences in both of the groups are very important.


BaTiO3 powder was synthesized from BaCO3 and TiO2 using a domestic microwave oven. The samples were synthesized under different temperatures with various holding times. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to examine the phase compositions and morphologies of the result samples. The main phase obtained at 950°C was BaTiO3, and the intermediate phases Ba2TiO4 and Ba4TiO9 were also detected. The pure, well-crystallized BaTiO3 powder could be obtained at 1050°C within 10 minutes and the particle size ranged from 300~500nm. In comparison with conventional synthesis, faster speed and finer grains could be achieved through microwave heating.


Five products of the dynorphin gene--alpha-neo-endorphin, beta-neo- endorphin, dynorphin A, dynorphin A-(1-8), and dynorphin B--were measured in various regions of rat brain and in rat spinal cord and pituitary. Specific antisera were used, supplemented by gel permeation analysis and high performance liquid chromatography, confirming the presence of dynorphin-32, dynorphin A, and dynorphin B in rat brain. In whole brain, alpha-neo-endorphin, dynorphin A-(1-8), and dynorphin B are present in much greater amounts than beta-neo-endorphin or dynorphin A. Although a general parallelism was found in the distribution of the five peptides, there were also noteworthy exceptions, suggesting that differential processing may occur.


We analyze lottery-choice data in a way that separately estimates the effects of risk aversion and complexity aversion, and allows both both of these to vary between individuals, and also to change with experience. The data is from an experiment in which 80 subjects engage in a sequence of 54 choices between pairs of lotteries. The lotteries always have the same expected value, but they differ in terms of variance and the level of complexity. Complexity is represented by the number of different outcomes in the lottery, and is either 1 (sure win), 3 (simple), 6 (complex) or 27 (very complex). A finite mixture random effects model is estimated which assumes that a proportion of the population are complexity neutral, and we find that around 32% of the population are complexity neutral. In those subjects who do react to complexity, there is a bias towards complexity aversion at the start of the experiment, but complexity aversion reduces with experience, to the extent that the average subject is complexity neutral by the end of the experiment. Around 23% of subjects appear complexity loving. Some of these findings are consistent with switching patterns seen in the choice data. Complexity aversion is found to increase with age, and is found to be higher for non-UK students than for UK students JEL classification codes C91, D03, D81


Human bodies have been represented and defined in various ways across different cultures and historical periods. As an object of interpretation and site of social interaction, the body has throughout history attracted more attention than perhaps any other element of human experience. The essays in this volume explore the manifestations of the body in Italian society from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Adopting a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, these fresh and thought-provoking essays offer original perspectives on corporeality as understood in the early modern literature, art, architecture, science, and politics of Italy. An impressively diverse group of contributors comment on a broad range and variety of conceptualizations of the body, creating a rich dialogue among scholars of early modern Italy. Contributors: Albert R. Ascoli, University of California, Berkeley; Douglas Biow, The University of Texas at Austin; Margaret Brose, University of California, Santa Cruz; Anthony Colantuono, University of Maryland, College Park; Elizabeth Horodowich, New Mexico State University; Sergius Kodera, New Design University, St. Polten, Austria; Jeanette Kohl, University of California, Riverside; D. Medina Lasansky, Cornell University; Luca Marcozzi, Roma Tre University; Ronald L. Martinez, Brown University; Katharine Park, Harvard University; Sandra Schmidt, Free University of Berlin; Bette Talvacchia, University of Connecticut


This paper experimentally investigates the effect of rotation on heat transfer in a typical turbine blade, three-pass, serpentine coolant channel with discrete ribbed walls at high Reynolds numbers. To achieve the high Reynolds number (Re → 190,000) and low rotation number conditions, pressurized Freon R-134a vapor is utilized as the working fluid. Cooling flow in the first passage is radial outward; after the 180 deg tip turn, the flow is radial inward through the second passage; and after the 180 deg hub turn, the flow is radial outward in the third passage. The effects of rotation on the heat transfer coefficients were investigated at rotation numbers as low as 0.07 and Reynolds numbers from 85,000 to 187,000 (based on the first passage geometry and flow conditions). Heat transfer coefficients were measured using thermocouples embedded in copper plates to provide regionally averaged heat transfer coefficients. Heat transfer enhancement due to rotation is observed on the first passage, pressure-side with radially outward flow and the second passage, suction-side with radially inward flow, but a reduction in heat transfer is observed on the third passage pressure-side with radially outward flow. In addition, results from the discrete, broken ribs are compared with those from the same serpentine coolant passage with conventional, angled ribbed walls. A significant increase in the heat transfer due to the discrete ribs is observed in the first passage. These results can be useful for understanding real rotor blade coolant passage heat transfer under high Reynolds number and low rotation number conditions.


Background : Nitric oxide (NO) is produced in different body organs in mammals and numerous physiological and pathological properties are attributed to this small molecule. The precursor of this substance in the body, L-arginine, is synthesized by the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and it is catalyzed, and is inhibited by a substance called L-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME). In this study we investigated the qualitative and quantitative effects of nitric oxide on cerebellar histopathology in vivo environment via increasing and decreasing its production. Methods : Forty Wister rats, weighing 200- 250 gr with a mean age of 8 weeks, were divided into 5 groups after making sure the rats were pregnant. Except the control group, the other pregnant groups, respectively received: 2 ml/kg normal saline, 200 mg/kg L-arginine, 20 mg/kg L-NAME and a mixture of the same doses of L-arginine and L-NAME on the third, fourth and fifth days of pregnancy. On day 18 of pregnancy, we anesthetized the rats, excised the cerebellum after craniotomy and fixed the organs in 10% formalin. We later prepared 5 to 6-micron in thickness tissue sections and dyed them by the routine Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and Masson's Trichrom staining methods before studying them by light microscopy. Results : There was a significant difference between the rats receiving L-arginine and the rats in other groups (P Conclusion : This study showed that L-NAME is capable of significantly decreasing the injury caused by nitric oxides in rat cerebellum.


Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the errors of technique in periapical radiographs as performed by fourth year students at the Dentistry School of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Material and Methods: Fifteen students were randomly selected and each one performed a complete periapical examination in a mannequin. A Direct Digital X-Ray System equipped with a size 2 Sensor was used to obtain the radiographic images. A total of 210 periapical radiographs were evaluated and the images were classified according to the errors that were related to the radiographic technique. The students were also asked to report on their experience with the direct digital system.
Results: The absence of a safety margin was the most frequent error on the radiographs that were performed by the students, while elongated image errors were not found. Regarding the radiographed regions, the highest frequency of errors was found in the upper canine region on the left side.
Conclusion: The need for a greater training of the students of dentistry, in order to better perform the radiographic technique and to decrease the occurrence of technique errors in periapical radiographs when using a digital receptor, is emphasized.

Keywords:Digital radiography, Diagnostic imaging, Learning, Students.


The aim of our study was to analyze endometrial gene expression profiles in ovariectomized cows treated with estradiol and/or progesterone by using microarray analysis. Clustering of differentially expressed genes allowed separation into distinct hormone response patterns. These patterns could be classified into independent and interdependent actions of the steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone. The use of ovariectomized cows and external administration of hormones identified a set of genes whose regulation depends on a progesterone priming effect. The progesterone-primed estrogen response comprises gene functions such as migration, cell differentiation, and cell adhesion and therefore may play a crucial role in tissue remodeling, as one of its key regulators in the endometrium, TGFB2, is among this group of progesterone-primed genes. Functional annotation analysis of the estrogen-responsive gene clusters shows a clear dominance of functions such as cell cycle, morphogenesis, and differentiation. The functional profile of the progesterone-responsive clusters is less clear but nevertheless shows some important fertility-related terms like luteinization, oocyte maturation, and catecholamine metabolism. We looked for putative regulators of the steroid hormone response in endometrium by searching for enriched transcription factor binding sites in the promoter regions of the genes with similar hormone response profile. This analysis identified transcription factors such as SP1, NFYA, FOXA2, IRF2, ESR1, and NOBOX as candidate regulators of gene expression in bovine endometrium treated with steroid hormones. Taken together, our data provide novel insights into the regulation of bovine endometrial physiology by steroid hormones.


Feed grains researchers have abundant technical opportunities to select various options for improvement of nutritional characteristics of feed grains. Choosing between those opportunities is a difficult issue for research funding organisations. In this paper, efforts to address the relative economic benefits from the different options for feed grains nutritional improvement are reported. The economic benefits arising from nutritional improvements in various feed grains are examined and compared to the benefits from increasing yields of the feed grains rather than improving their nutritional value. The results of the analysis of these options are presented in an economic surplus framework that enables the major beneficiaries and the relative gains for the different feed grains research options to be identified. The outcome of this analysis provides a basis for establishing priorities for feed grains research.


The Low Temperature Heat Capacity of the layered structure Nd3Ni13-xCoxB2 (x = 0, 1, 3, 6, 8, 11 and 13) solid solutions has been measured from 350 mK to 300 K. For high Co content (x ≥ 8), a hyperfine contribution has been explained as due to hyperfine fields of 112.4 kG for Co and 3.68 MG for Nd. The electronic heat capacity contribution reveals an increase of the density of states at the Fermi level as the Co content is increased. For x = 0 a low dimensionality magnetic transition attributed to the Nd sublattice is observed. The substitution of Ni by Co (1  x < 3) induces interaction disorder on the Nd sublattice. For Nd3Ni13B2 an estimation is given for the molecular field of Hm = 54 kG and the exchange constant of J/kB = 4.1 K.