The feasibility of exploring the solar system by radar was demonstrated on March 10, 1961, when a radio signal was beamed at the planet Venus, and for the first time in history the return echo was detected within a few minutes. The JPL Venus radar experiment has resulted in 1) an improvement of the accuracy of the Astronomical Unit by more than two orders of magnitude, 2) a determination that the dielectric constant and apparent roughness of its surface material are not unlike surface materials commonly found on Earth, and 3) a determination of the rotation rate of Venus for its most probable axis of rotation. In addition, the experiment verified that reliable interplanetary UHF communication is possible over ranges of 50 to 75 million miles and that planetary radar observatories are both practical and useful. Many improvements in the state of the radar and communications art are noted.


Impaired endothelial function, which is dysregulated in diabetes, also precedes hypertension. We hypothesized that in Type 2 diabetes, the impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation is due to a loss of endothelium-derived hyperpolarization (EDH) that is regulated by impaired ion channel function. Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF), Zucker heterozygote, and homozygote lean control rats were used as the experimental models in our study. Third-order mesenteric arteries were dissected and mounted on a pressure myograph; mRNA was quantified by RT-PCR and channel proteins by Western blotting. Under nitric oxide (NO) synthase and cyclooxygenase inhibition, endothelial stimulation with ACh fully relaxes control but not diabetic arteries. In contrast, when small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channels and intermediate- and large-conductance KCa (I/BKCa) are inhibited with apamin and charybdotoxin, NO is able to compensate for ACh-induced relaxation in control but not in diabetic vessels. After replacement of charybdotoxin with 1-[(2-chlorophenyl)diphenylmethyl]-(1)H-pyrazole (TRAM-34; IKCa inhibitor), ACh-induced relaxation in diabetic animals is attenuated. Specific inhibition with TRAM-34 or charybdotoxin attenuates ACh relaxation in diabetes. Stimulation with 1-ethyl-2-benzimidazolinone (IKCa activator) shows a reduced relaxation in diabetes. Activation of BKCa with 1,3-dihydro-1-[2-hydroxy-5-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-5-(trifluoromethyl)-(2)H-benzimidazol-2-one NS619 leads to similar relaxations of control and diabetic arteries. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis demonstrate elevated mRNA and protein expression levels of IKCa in diabetes. Our results suggest that the compensatory effect of NO and EDH-associated, endothelium-dependent relaxation is reduced in ZDF rats. Specific blockade of IKCa with TRAM-34 reduces NO and EDH-type relaxation in diabetic rats, indicating an elevated contribution of IKCa in diabetic small mesenteric artery relaxation. This finding correlates with increased IKCa mRNA and protein expression in this vessel.


A simple and an expedient process to prepare 5-aryl-1-benzyl-1H-imidazole-4-carboxamides by the aminocarbonylation of 5-aryl-4-iodo-1H-imidazoles using ex situ generation of CO from Mo(CO)6 with an amino acid amide nucleophile is reported. Furthermore, a microwave-assisted protocol for the direct C-5 arylation of 1-benzyl-1H-imidazole and a regioselective C-4 iodination method to acquire starting material for our aminocarbonylation are presented. The method can be used to prepare imidazole based peptidomimetics, herein exemplified by the synthesis of constrained H-Phe-Phe-NH2 analogues.


Relationship Marketing - will banks be able to handle higher consumer mobility in the private market?The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the factors that affect customer loyalty to the bank. Consumer mobility will probably increase as a result of political changes and pressures on the private banking market to become more competitive. This study was carried out using semi-structured interviews and were transcribed and analyzed with the help of models and theories centered on relationship marketing. The theories describe loyalty, the customer lifecycle and relationships between customers and organizations. The collected data comes from a representative at Nordea, one of Sweden's biggest banks, and interviews with four customers of different Swedish banks about their views on their relationship with their own banks. The results show that customers are not engaging with the marketing activities of their respective banks and have little knowledge about their services and the banking sector as a whole. The customers stay with their current banks because they find it tedious to make a switch when there is little to no gain for doing so. Customers use online banking for most of their day to day banking errands but they feel that the physical locations are important for their sense of security and confidence in the bank.


Cognitive symptoms, complex movement deficits, and increased propensity for falls are interrelated and levodopa-unresponsive symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We developed a test system for the assessment of fall propensity in rats and tested the hypothesis that interactions between loss of cortical cholinergic and striatal dopaminergic afferents increase fall propensity. Rats were trained to traverse stationary and rotating rods, placed horizontally or at inclines, and while exposed to distractors. Rats also performed an operant Sustained Attention Task (SAT). Partial cortical cholinergic and/or caudate dopaminergic deafferentation were produced by bilateral infusions of 192 IgG-saporin (SAP) into the basal forebrain and/or 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the caudate nucleus, respectively, modeling the lesions seen in early PD. Rats with dual cholinergic–dopaminergic lesions (DL) fell more frequently than SAP or 6-OHDA rats. Falls in DL rats were associated with incomplete rebalancing after slips and low traversal speed. Ladder rung walking and pasta handling performance did not indicate sensorimotor deficits. SAT performance was impaired in DL and SAP rats; however, SAT performance and falls were correlated only in DL rats. Furthermore, in DL rats, but not in rats with only dopaminergic lesions, the placement and size of dopaminergic lesion correlated significantly with fall rates. The results support the hypothesis that after dual cholinergic–dopaminergic lesions, attentional resources can no longer be recruited to compensate for diminished striatal control of complex movement, thereby "unmasking" impaired striatal control of complex movements and yielding falls.


This paper explores the role of archives in the promotion of accountability and transparency in post-conflict societies by focussing on a case study of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone was engulfed in a destructive civil war in the 1990\'s. Since the end of the war in 2002, the government of Sierra Leone and the international community have been involved in the process of peace building, national reconciliation and reconstruction. This paper argues that access to public records is a right for citizens in a democratic society in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Human Rights Declaration. The paper further demonstrates that the enlightenment of a society through access to information is a vital key to peace and development. The state of the Archives in Sierra Leone poses challenges for peace and
reconciliation. In order to promote the democratisation of information, the national archives will need to be rehabilitated. This is important for peace building, democratic governance and the creation of an engaged civil society and a vibrant public sphere. The paper further
addresses the importance of archives in safeguarding the rights of the people in order to create a firm foundation for a democratic society. Information is empowerment and that is why repressive governments misinform the electorate or withhold information from it. The paper also argues that the role played by archivists in government institutions in the West is relevant to the challenges facing the proper documentation and maintenance of government archives in Africa. Keywords : Accountability, Archives, Civil War, Sierra Leone ESARBICA Vol. 27 2008: pp. 20-38


Editors' Notes (Melva -Thompson-Robinson, Rodney Hopson, Saumitra SenGupta).1. Cultural Competence in Evaluation: An Overview (Saumitra SenGupta, Rodney Hopson, Melva -Thompson-Robinson). In laying the groundwork for the entire volume, the authors define culture, cultural competence, and culturally competent evaluation.2. A Journey to Understand the Role of Culture in Program Evaluation: Snapshots and Personal Reflections of One African American Evaluator (Stafford Hood). An African American evaluator examines and builds a case for incorporating culture into evaluation theory and practice.3. Culturally Competent Evaluation in Indian Country (Joan LaFrance). A case study of culturally competent evaluation in Indian Country and the particular nuances of working in Indian Country, as well as advice for evaluators, are presented.4. Developing and Implementing Culturally Competent Evaluation: A Discussion of Multicultural Validity in Two HIV Prevention Programs for Latinos (Ross F. Conner). Multicultural validity, used to make evaluations more culturally competent, is defined and explored in the light of two case studies from evaluations of HIV prevention programs with Latinos.5. Lessons for Culturally Competent Evaluation from the Study of a Multicultural Initiative (Jean A. King, Julie E. Nielsen, Jeanette Colby). This chapter presents lessons learned and guiding principles that are the result of conducting a culturally competent evaluation for a multicultural education initiative.6. A Focus on Cultural Variables in Evaluating an Upward Bound Program (Rebecca A. Zulli, Henry T. Frierson). Cultural factors are often not addressed in program planning. This chapter suggests factors that facilitate not only program planning but also evaluation.7. Walking Pathways Toward Becoming a Culturally Competent Evaluator: Boundaries, Borderlands, and Border Crossings (Hazel Symonette). The journey of one evaluator toward implementing more culturally responsive evaluations is explored.Index.


Quality Estimation (QE) and error analysis of Machine Translation (MT) output remain
active areas in Natural Language Processing (NLP) research. Many recent efforts have
focused on Machine Learning (ML) systems to estimate the MT quality, translation errors,
post-editing speed or post-editing effort. As the accuracy of such ml tasks relies
on the availability of corpora, there is an increasing need for large corpora of machine
translations annotated with translation errors and the error annotation guidelines to
produce consistent annotations. Drawing on previous work on translation error taxonomies,
we present the SCATE (Smart Computer-aided Translation Environment)
mt error taxonomy, which is hierarchical in nature and is based upon the familiar
notions of accuracy and fluency. In the scate annotation framework, we annotate
fluency errors in the target text and accuracy errors in both the source and target text,
while linking the source and target annotations. We also propose a novel method for
alignment-based Inter-Annotator Agreement (IAA) analysis and show that this method
can be used effectively on large annotation sets. Using the scate taxonomy and
guidelines, we create the first corpus of MT errors for the English-Dutch language pair,
consisting of Statistical Machine Translation (SMT) and Rule-Based Machine Translation
(RBMT) errors, which is a valuable resource not only for NLP tasks in this field
but also to study the relationship between mt errors and post-editing efforts in the
future. Finally, we analyse the error profiles of the smt and the rbmt systems used in
this study and compare the quality of these two different mt architectures based on
the error types.


Resource scarcity poses challenging demands on the human cognitive system. Budgeting with limited resources induces an attentional focus on the problem at hand. This focus enhances processing of relevant information, but it also comes with a cost. Specifically, scarcity may cause a failure to notice beneficial information that helps alleviate the condition of scarcity. In three experiments, participants were randomly assigned with a small budget ("the poor") or a large budget ("the rich") to order a meal from a restaurant menu. The poor participants looked longer at the prices of the items and recalled the prices more accurately, compared to the rich participants. Importantly, the poor neglected a useful discount that would save them money. This neglect may arise as a result of attentional narrowing, and help explain a range of counterproductive behaviors of low-income individuals. The current findings have important implications for public policy and services for low-income individuals.


G-level open space is an effective way to create more open space for public congregation and community life in densely populated cities like Chong Qing, and compact neighborhoods like NFHY. One prototype for modern G-level open space of NFHY was the traditional housing in southeast China; the other was the worldwide modern architectural movement, especially Le Corbusie's work. Compared to other kinds of open space, G-level open space is distinctive in its dualism; it has the qualities of both interior space and public space. Findings in NFHY show that, with it peculiar space quality, G-level open space integrated private life and public life, making the space more attractive to the residents, especially seniors and children. In order to encourage the developers to incorporate more of this kind of open space in their projects, the government needs to make some compromise on building regulations.


Thanks to their excellent properties such as superelasticity, high hardness, and shape memory effect, polycrystalline shape memory alloys (SMAs) have extensive applications in various engineering fields including automobile, functional materials, and aerospace. Using molecular dynamics simulations, the present paper aims to a systematic study of the fundamental tensile behavior in the nanoscale of polycrystalline B2-CuZr SMAs with mean grain sizes in the range of 6–25 nm. Effects of mean grain size, temperature, and tensile rate on mechanical properties are considered. Our results show that along with the increase in mean grain size came increases in Young's modulus, yield strength, flow stress, and ultimate tensile strength. The development of amorphous regions in the grain cores is the major deformation mode in polycrystalline CuZr SMAs with larger grain sizes, while the grain boundary sliding and grain rotation for smaller grain sizes. Besides, an increased temperature results in mechanical performance degradation and the temperature sensitivity of mechanical properties does not depend on the mean grain size. Our work would lay the groundwork for the optimization of the mechanical properties of polycrystalline SMAs as well as serving as a useful theoretical guideline for their practical engineering applications.


This study examined the compliance and violation in the principle of cooperation within a WA group in the University of Muhammadiyah Jember. There were several WA groups used as the data sources. The method for data collection method is documentation. The data analysis method is agih. To check the data validity triangulation of data sources was done by observing the data of speech in other WA groups outside the research data. The results of the study indicated the existence of compliance and violation of the maxim of quantity, quality, relevance, and manner. The maxim of quantity compliance appears in the provision of information appropriateness to the needs of WA group members.


The move to decentralize and develop the inner areas of New South Wales in the first half of the century resulted in the development of several irrigation regions along the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. Water was supplied to these regions at a low price, resulting in overuse of water and consequently environmental degradation. The increasing emphasis on the user-pays principle in the 1980s and an increase in concern as to the environmental damage in the region has resulted in a review of attitudes by the water supplying authorities. The provision of subsidized water is no longer considered desirable and proposals have been put forward to increase the price of water. in this paper, the results of a study to estimate the responsiveness of water demand to price in the Murray Valley are presented. The results indicate that a policy of cost recovery may result in a short term economic loss to the region, depending on the regime of prevailing commodity prices.


Aim and Objectives: To assess Tufts Medical Center obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN) residents' knowledge, beliefs, and previous training in oral health and to assess the effect of an oral health educational seminar on their knowledge and beliefs. Materials and Methods: A preseminar questionnaire was distributed to the residents. The same questionnaire was distributed immediately after the seminar and 3 months later. SPSS Version 21 was used for the data analysis. Results: Convenience sample of 25 residents were included in the study. The mean (standard deviation) age of participants was 29.08 (2.47) years. Only 1 (4%) participant reported receiving >8 h previous training in oral health and 7 (28%) reported receiving <1 h of training. The nonparametric Friedman test showed a statistically significant difference between administrations in terms of total score on knowledge-based questions (P < 0.001) and some of the belief-based questions. The post hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank test with Bonferroni correction showed statistically significant improvement in the knowledge-based questions between pre- and post-seminar questionnaire (P = 0.002) and between preseminar and 3-month follow-up (P = 0.003). Conclusions: OB/GYN residents at Tufts Medical Center received limited training in oral health. Their knowledge improved significantly following the oral health educational seminar. Similar training modules can be brought to other OB/GYN residencies and OB/GYNs in an effort to enhance the symbiotic relationship between medical and dental professionals.


Reproductive biology and habitat preferences of the white trevally, Pseudocaranx dentex (Carangidae), were studied in the Azores islands, central north Atlantic, to determine the spatial and seasonal dynamics of habitat use of immature and mature fish. The sex ratio was close to 1:1 and fish matured at about 30 cm fork length. There were no differences in the maturation or length-weight relationships between sexes. The spawning season lasts from June to September. Underwater visual censuses showed that schools of mature individuals preferentially aggregate around the summits of offshore reefs during the spawning season. In contrast, schools of smaller, immature fish use inshore habitats all year round. Our data support the hypothesis that offshore reefs are a preferential spawning habitat of larger white trevally, and most possibly for a number of visitor pelagic predators as well. Inverse relationships between exploitation levels, abundance and size composition at the two different islands suggest that the summer fishery targeting trevally schools around offshore reefs has negatively impacted the population. These findings bring additional ecological and management relevance to offshore reefs.


OBJECTIVE
To review the most salient issues in the pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders. These pertain to means of achieving greater efficacy, accelerating the onset of therapeutic action, improving side-effect profile and tolerability, decreasing the propensity to induce therapeutic dependence and achieving better long-term outcome.

CONCLUSIONS
By and large, pharmacological agents with greater efficacy in anxiety disorders have yet to be developed. Several strategies have been used with some success to make medications for anxiety disorders work faster and to lessen their side-effect burden. The field of psychopharmacology has yet to find ways of lessening or eliminating the problem of therapeutic drug dependence and, even more so, of minimizing the risk of relapse following the cessation of medication.


ABSTRACT Objectives. To examine published antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) initiatives in hospitals in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in order to characterize AMS terminology usage, geotemporality, and elements of structure (human resources), process (interventions), and outcomes, and to set priority areas for improving AMS reporting. Methods. This was a scoping review that searched PubMed, LILACS, EMBASE, and 12 other databases, along with a manual search for academic and grey literature to identify documents on AMS initiatives in hospitals in 33 countries of LAC, up to August 2019. Keywords included 'antibiotic' or 'antimicrobial' AND 'stewardship, policy, strategies, management, control, rational use, appropriate use, surveillance, or interventions' and 33 country names. Results. Selected articles totalled 147 studies published in 1985 – 2019; of those, 22% used 'antimicrobial stewardship' in the title. Eighteen countries published AMS hospital initiatives, one-half of which were implemented in capital cities. Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Chile, in descending frequency, made up > 59% of published initiatives. Educational interventions were the most frequently reported, followed by persuasive and restrictive strategies. Antimicrobial consumption was the most common outcome measure reported. About one-third of the studies (35%) referred to baseline measures-only in preparation for AMS interventions. Fifty-nine studies from 6 countries reported AMS comprehensively, using structure, process, and outcome (SPO) elements. Conclusions. Published hospital AMS initiatives have increased over time and have expanded across LAC. However, more programs need to be developed. Complete reporting of SPO elements is imperative to evaluating and replicating AMS actions.


In this work, a new simple spectrophotometric method is presented for determination of the two antihypertensive binary mixtures of hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) with either carvedilol (CRV) or losartan potassium (LOS) without prior separation. The proposed method is based on generation of ratio spectra of one compound using the other as a divisor followed by measurement of the ratio-difference (peak-to-trough) amplitudes between two selected wavelengths in the ratio spectra. For analysis of HCT/CRV mixture, 20 μg/mL CRV was used as a divisor, and the ratio-difference amplitudes between 287 and 299 nm were plotted against HCT concentration. Similarly, by using 20 μg/mL HCT as a divisor, the peak-to-trough amplitudes between 269.5 and 287.5 nm were found proportional to CRV concentration. Calibration curves were linear in the range 5 - 80 μg/mL for both drugs. For determination of HCT/LOS mixture, a standard solution of LOS 50 μg/mL was used as a divisor, and the ratio-difference amplitudes between 224 and 275 nm were measured and correlated to HCT concentration. Similarly, HCT 50 μg/mL was set as a divisor in LOS determination and the peak-to-trough amplitudes between 242 and 275 nm were recorded. Calibration curves were linear over the concentration ranges 5-50 and 5-60 μg/mL for HCT and LOS, respectively. The developed methods were validated following the ICH guidelines and successfully applied to the determination of the studied drugs in various laboratory prepared mixtures. In addition, satisfactory results were obtained from analysis of the tablets dosage forms with no significant statistical differences from the reference methods.


BACKGROUND
Renal myofibroblast infiltration has been shown to be strongly associated with renal function decline in several chronic renal diseases. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether early detection of myofibroblast infiltration using alpha-smooth-muscle actin (alpha-SMA) expression in time-zero biopsies predicts renal allograft dysfunction.

METHODS
We studied renal tissue from 38 renal transplant patients from whom biopsies had been taken after vascular anastomosis during transplantation to ascertain whether myofibroblasts infiltration predicts renal graft survival. Immunohistochemistry was performed on time-zero biopsies to determine alpha-SMA expression, and this was compared to annual glomerular filtration rate (GFR) variation and other parameters including cold ischaemic time (CIT), donor and recipient age, number of acute rejections, and delayed graft function (DGF). GFR was measured by inulin clearance during of 3 years of follow-up after the transplantation. Progressors were defined as patients with an annual GFR decline >5 ml/min/year.

RESULTS
We found a significant correlation between interstitial alpha-SMA expression in time-zero biopsies and GFR evolution during the post-transplantation course (r=0.60, P<0.001). Although progressors had greater interstitial alpha-SMA expression than non progressors (7.9+/-0.7 vs 4.3+/-0.4%), they showed only a tendency towards higher glomerular alpha-SMA expression. In addition, progressors had more interstitial fibrosis in time-zero biopsies than non-progressors. There was no relationship between alpha-SMA expression and CIT, donor and recipient ages, number of acute rejections, and occurrence of DGF.

CONCLUSION
This study suggests that alpha-SMA evaluation in time-zero biopsies, especially the combination of alpha-SMA expression and interstitial fibrosis, can strongly predict chronic renal allograft dysfunctions.


Running a refrigeration cycle at saturated liquid conditions at the evaporator inlet has a few interesting advantages in comparison to the conventional 2-phase situation. Opportunities in using novelty heat exchangers, increased cycle efficiency and significantly reduced main compressor sizes occur. Using the two rotor integrated compressor/expander idea developed by Olofsson (1993) in a refrigeration cycle theoretically offer the possibility of pure liquid evaporator inlet conditions, the device is called Phase Separator. This paper reports results from hardware tests as well as some theoretical results. To evaluate the efficiency of a Phase Separator three terms of efficiency are suggested. The test results prove that pure liquid conditions to the evaporator are obtainable with a practical Phase Separator.


: The regional tree of life, reconstructing the tree of life to include the regional species pool, has been a research focus in biological science over the past decade. Informed by phylogenetic relationships among coexisting species, a regional tree of life can connect evolutionary and ecological factors during the evolution of a biota and thus has become an efficient tool to trace its temporal and spatial diversification. In this paper, we summarize the application of a regional tree of life in floristic studies in the following three fields: (1) To reveal temporal patterns of a flora by estimating divergence time and evolutionary rates based on the tree of life; (2) To reveal spatial patterns of the biodiversity in a flora and to guide the regionalization of floristic zones by integrating phylogenetic and spatial data; and (3) By integrating biogeographic and environmental data and investigating how taxa respond to paleogeographic events and thus climate change to reveal the underlying ecological, geographical and historic factors of the formation of the floristic biodiversity pattern. In addition, we highlight the relationship between the regional and global tree of life and indicate the potential to identify biased divergence times with incomplete taxa sampling using a regional tree of life. Finally, we suggest that future studies should integrate current mega data at different scales in hotspots to elucidate biodiversity patterns in a worldwide framework.


A novel polishing technique based on the two-dimension vibration of fluid is put forward to obtain ultra-smooth surface without damage. In operation, the polishing pad is replaced by fluid where fine abrasive particles are mixed, and the impact and grinding effect can be produced by means of the vibration of fluid and the relative motion of workpiece. It can achieve the ultra-precise polishing for all kinds of planes and curved surfaces. A finite element method is employed to analyze the dynamic behaviors, including vibration mode and harmonic response under the action of the exciter, and the fluid field based on two-dimension vibration is simulated.


Once thought to be a mere nuisance, exacerbations are now recognized as a major contributor to the morbidity and mortality associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This recognition has led to research using new investigative tools that has substantially enhanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of exacerbations. Several overlapping etiologies can precipitate the symptom complex of an exacerbation. Treatment of exacerbations requires the use of several therapeutic modalities with the goal of restoring the patient to baseline. Results of recent clinical trials and observational studies have allowed a refinement of the approach to treatment of exacerbations. These include a rational, stratified approach to the use of antibiotics and several trials substantiating the use of systemic corticosteroids. Relapse or failure rates of 20 to 33% have been described in the treatment of acute exacerbation, with these treatment failures contributing substantially to the costs associated with exacerbations. Improved treatment based on enhanced understanding and good clinical evidence should lead to better outcomes in this common clinical entity.


Although radiation-induced mesenteritis or peritonitis can potentially exacerbate the risk of bowel obstruction, there are no data in the literature on the incidence of intestinal obstruction related to peptide receptor radionuclide therapy. Methods: The records of all patients treated with 177Lu-DOTATATE at Moffitt Cancer Center between April 2018 and October 2019 were evaluated. The number of patients who developed bowel obstruction within 3 mo of a 177Lu-DOTATATE treatment was divided by the total number of patients with preexisting peritoneal or mesenteric disease. Management strategies and outcomes were evaluated. Results: Of a total of 159 patients treated, 81 had baseline mesenteric or peritoneal disease, among whom 5 (6%) experienced at least 1 episode of bowel obstruction within 3 mo of treatment. Two of the patients underwent surgical exploration during obstruction describing a "frozen abdomen." All 5 responded at least temporarily to high-dose corticosteroid treatment and regained bowel function, but 2 patients eventually succumbed to progressive peritoneal disease. Conclusion: Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy can lead to bowel obstruction in patients with mesenteric or peritoneal disease, likely by inducing inflammation. Corticosteroids can potentially play a role in treatment and prophylaxis.


This paper describes the study of cryptographic hash functions, one of the most important classes of primitives used in recent techniques in cryptography. The main aim is the development of recent crypt analysis hash function. We present different approaches to defining security properties more formally and present basic attack on hash function. We recall Merkle-Damgard security properties of iterated hash function. The Main aim of this paper is the development of recent techniques applicable to crypt Analysis hash function, mainly from SHA family. Recent proposed attacks an MD5 & SHA motivate a new hash function design. It is designed not only to have higher security but also to be faster than SHA-256. The performance of the new hash function is at least 30% better than that of SHA-256 in software. And it is secure against any known cryptographic attacks on hash functions. Keywords—Crypt Analysis, cryptographic.


The influence of a configured nozzle on the turbulent fluid flow in a continuous casting mold was investigated using the simulation program Visual Cast, which used the finite difference method and the SIMPLER algorithm. CAD software was used to construct the complicated nozzle in the calculational region. The simulation accuracy was validated by comparison with the classic driven cavity flow problem. The simu- lation results agree well with water modeling experiments. The simulations show that the velocity distribution at the nozzle port is uneven and the jet faces downward more than the nozzle outlet. Simulations with a con- figured nozzle and the inlet velocity at the nozzle entrance give precise results and overcome the traditional difficulty in determining the nozzle outlet velocity.


The authors, based on the analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature, summarizing the results of the study of the experience of cooperation between teachers and students in the educational process of an educational institution, highlighted the specifics of the organization of partnership interaction "teacher-student" in the conditions of a mixed format of education in modern institutions of higher education. The article reveals the theoretical and methodological foundations of blended learning technologies, describes the features of their implementation in the educational process, summarizes positive developments, and outlines typical problems. Researchers emphasize that the use of blended learning technologies determines the combination of different learning formats and teaching styles. It is indicated that mixed learning technologies are the best option for organizing the educational process when it comes to learning during quarantine or pandemic, martial law, limited access to classrooms, which requires teachers and managers of higher education institutions to use non-standard approaches and creativity in meeting educational needs and professional requests of education seekers. The article notes that the use of blended learning technologies in pedagogical practice helps to optimize partnership interaction in the "teacher-student" context, promotes the formation of digital competences, improves program learning results, and increases the effectiveness of the educational process in a higher education institution.


Abstract : This paper describes the properties of a new material for optical fiber jacket and those of jacketed optical fibers. The new material, which is thermoplastic resin filled with potassium titanate whiskers, can be easily extruded by ordinary extruder and colored by ordinary method as well. The jacket consisting of this material has a small linear expansion coefficient, thus the optical fibers jacketed with this material are quite superior to temperature characteristics where the fibers show no significant loss increase even at temperature characteristics where the fibers show no significant loss increase evenat temperatures as low as -60 C. The lateral force characteristics of the fibers are also improved because of enhanced Young's modulus of the jacket. Furthermore, the optical fibers jacketed with this material preserves sufficient flexibility and handling performances on the same level as conventional nylon jacketed fibers. (Author)


This article develops a framework for the study of spirituality and the congregational lives of women religious in the Philippines from the 1930s to the early 1970s. It explores the multiple and sometimes contradictory meanings of membership of women in religious communities. Set within the history of women religious in the Catholic Church, the study explains the transformations in the originally Belgian order, the Immaculé Coeur Marie (ICM), while also drawing on the experiences of women leaders from other congregations. This article looks at the Filipinization of leadership and subsequent reshaping of congregational ideologies in the context of the Second Vatican Council and the Marcos regime.


This study was conducted in five randomly selected rice schemes in Morogoro region to obtain information on farmers' knowledge, attitude and practice in respect to management strategies undertaken for controlling insect pests both in rice fields and stores as an aid to reduce crop loss. A total of 150 farmers were randomly selected from 5 villages (30 respondents per village) and interviewed using semi structured questionnaires. Each village represented only one rice scheme. The study reveals that 61.3% of farmers cultivate rice under 0.5 to 1 acres showing that the crop is grown largely by small scale farmers. About 94.4% of farmers reported to have faced insect pest problems in rice fields with no farmer reported damage in store. It was reported that 82% of farmers control insect pests in their rice field when they notice their presence. Most of farmers (84%) used synthetic insecticides where some of them do nothing and others use non-chemical method. However, among those farmers who use pesticides, majority (83%) of them reported that they have never attained any training on the proper handling and application of chemicals suggesting a need for trainings to farmers on how to handle pesticides.

 Key words: Rice, scheme, insect, management.


Background: Aging population has become one of the most pressing demographic phe-nomena in the world. The situation presents challenges to the health sector due to the higher number of chronic diseases (e.g., hypertension) that the situation presents. One of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is hypertension, and its management may reduce such risk. Therefore, this study examines the factors affecting outpatient healthcare utilization among the elderly for the management of hypertension. Methods: Using data from the 2007/2008 Global Aging and Adult Health (SAGE) study on Ghana, this study investigated the determinants of outpatient healthcare utilization among 332 elderly persons with hypertension in Ghana. Chi-square test of association and logistic regression model were used to examine the effect of socio-economic factors on outpatient healthcare use. Results: The analysis was conducted on 332 elderly persons suffering from hypertension in Ghana. Out of this number, 78.61% utilized outpatient healthcare services in the 12 months prior to the SAGE Ghana Wave 1 survey. Patients with health insurance constituted 51.51% of the sample; and this was a significant determinant of healthcare use. There was a statistically significant positive association between patients' age and use of outpatient healthcare services. Outpatient healthcare utilization increased for persons in the 70–79 age group and below. After this, outpatient healthcare use declined. Education, household wealth, location, and sex of the patient did not have any significant effect on outpatient healthcare service utilization. Conclusion: The level of outpatient healthcare use was higher among elderly patients. Membership of health insurance plan is a major factor affecting the use of outpatient healthcare services in managing hypertension among the elderly. Factors such as education, household wealth, location, and sex did not have any significant influence on outpatient healthcare consumption patterns for elderly hypertensive patients.


Sediment transport during a storm event on the inner continental shelf was detailed through the development o f models based on field experiments conducted at Duck, North Carolina in October 1994. A vertical one-dimensional model (1DV model) was developed by coupling the Grant and Madsen (1986) model with bed stratigraphy to consider real seabeds. Sediment was divided into seven size classes and fractional transport was estimated. Mixing depth and total depth from a simplified sediment conservation equation provided the basis for changing bottom sediment, sediment availability for transport, and armoring processes. These processes involve a feedback between hydrodynamics and bed stratigraphy. A horizontal one-dimensional, depth-resolved model (1DH model) was developed to predict inner-shelf morphological changes. Flow and shear stress fields were calculated using a simple wave transformation model combined with the Jenter and Madsen (1989) model. Sediment flux was computed in relation to fractional transport and armoring processes. The sediment conservation equation was numerically solved to yield bed elevation changes associated with individual size classes. Predictions o f suspended sediment concentrations from both models were adjusted by the resuspension coefficient Yo, resulting in y0= 0.001 for the 1DV model and y0 = 0.002 for the 1DH model, respectively. The coupling in the 1DV model was critical to predicting suspended sediment concentrations. Hydrodynamic variables, however, were not significantly affected by changing bottom sediment Predicted suspended sediment concentrations were higher during the waning phase of the storm than during the erosional phase. Modeled bed stratigraphy showed fining upward sequences. Wind-driven processes on the inner shelf were interpreted using the 1DH model. The magnitude and the direction of horizontal sediment flux were explained in terms of wind-driven currents. Waves produced a sigmoidal-shaped vertical concentration distribution, explaining horizontal gradients of suspended sediment concentrations. The steepness of the sediment flux gradient due to the waves was correlated with wave height. Synchronization of currents and waves was necessary for large flux divergence and morphological changes. During downwelling currents, deposition occurred on the shoreface whereas upwelling currents were accompanied by shoreface/inner shelf erosion. The inner shelf thus responded as either the sink of sediment or the source of sediment. Baeck Oon Kim Department of Physical Sciences Virginia Institute of Marine Science Thesis supervisor : L. D. Wright, Ph.D. Title : Professor, Virginia Institute of Marine Science


Historiography is becoming more critical of the typology/ population dichotomy introduced by Ernst Mayr. Therefore, one should look again at the problem of species in non-Darwinian theories: neo-Lamarckism and orthogenesis, and consider the possibility that this problem was overly simplified. What can be seen in both of them is the existence of a tension between the idea of evolution and the essence of species. In neo-Lamarckism, this tension was resolved by recognizing species as static entities which changed only when triggered by external stimulus. In orthogenesis, evolution was seen as constant phenomena and species – as naturally changeable entities. However, orthogeneticists assumed that not only species, but also whole phyletic lines had essences that constrained their further evolution. Thus, in both cases we can see interpretation of species in tune with essentialism, but essentialism is widely differently integrated with each of these concepts of evolution.


LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAM LATIN AMERICAN PROGRAM * Contact information: Department of Economics, 365 Fairfield Way, Unit 1063, Storrs, CT 06269-1063 (email@example.com). I would like to thank Eric Olson, Robert Pantzer, Viviana Velez-Grajales, Denisse Wolfenzon, and Gustavo Mauricio Bastien Olvera for their comments and suggestions, and I also express my gratitude to Michael DiNardi for his valuable contributions as a research assistant on this project. About half of Peruvian women between the ages of 15 and 49 have experienced some form of violence from their partners. Through a quantitative analysis, this report explores how violence rates against women vary by ethnic group and over time. Based on a nationally representative sample of more than 75,000 women surveyed between 2003 and 2012 and a review of the literature on ethnic classification in Peru, a typology is applied to measure ethnicity, based on women's linguistic backgrounds, allowing for a consistent ethnic characterization throughout the period of analysis. In this typology, the first group is made up of women who speak an indigenous language at home and do not speak Spanish. A second group, called "historic" Spanish speakers, is composed of women who learned Spanish during childhood and still use it today, while the third group, called "recent" Spanish speakers, includes women who grew up speaking an indigenous language but now speak Spanish. The highest rate of all types of violence is found in this last group, with a much greater difference in sexual and severe physical violence. This is consistent with the predictions of the theoretical model developed in this study in which violence depends on the type of couple. The model finds that women who speak "recent" Spanish—and who have what is termed a lower "outside option" than their "historic" Spanish-speaking male partners—experience greater violence. The study found that the gap in rates of violence against women among these three language groupings has remained constant over time despite an overall reduction in violence. This shows that current policies to provide care for victims and prevent violence against women are insufficient because the policies do not necessarily target groups with a greater risk of violence. This is unlike other areas of public health, where interventions are directly targeted at the most vulnerable populations. JEL Codes: H76, J16, K14, K42


Ulysses deriding Polyphemus is an experiential painting that brilliantly illuminates the canvas using multiple focal points to simultaneously disperse original darkness and shine light on a deeper, multi-layered narrative. As the pioneering "painter of light", Turner manages to both shine a reverent light on the old masters and provide a complete break from the past. His fundamental insight into the operations of light and colour as registers of cosmic meaning in combination with a scientifically enlightened and inquiring mind, superb technical skill and uncompromising sophistication with poetic leanings allowed him to interweave "many pictures within one picture". The classical account of Ulysses escaping the Cyclops is therefore embellished with specific natural observations and symbolic connotations. Different sources of illumination are examined and details are infused with chromatic intensity: from the subterranean glow of volcanic fires breaking up the darkness on the far left, to the chemical light of surface phosphorescence allowing bow-wave frolicking Nereids to be visible at night (science rationalising the supernatural), to the all-encompassing celestial light of the rising sun on the right (Apollo and his horse-drawn chariot).


In this work some diagnostic to the customer had been boarded after the BIRD development. The bibliography revision searched to clarify on the excellent information to the nurse in relation to the cares to the patient with BIRD. The situation problem was the monitorization of the level of conscience of the customer with BIRD, in UTI. The objective of this research was to identify the scientific production of nursing on the encefAilico vascular accident, in UTI. It was a bibliographical research that approached on the signals and symptoms presented for the customer with BIRD, the monitorization of the PIC, the factors of risk and the disgnostic of nursing for the customer who developed the BIRD. One concluded that the nurse must apply the nursing disgnostic systemize the nursing assistance, planning better the actions and making possible the best therapeutical form for the customer who developed cerebral vascular accident.
Keywords: neurological, intensive care unit, vascular brain accident, nursing.


OBJECTIVE
To review the indications and complications of the use of endourological catheters in the treatment of urinary lithiasis and choice of catheter based on its physical and hydrodynamic characteristics and biocompatibility.

METHODS
Data from our experimental and clinical studies, as well as those published in the literature are summarized.

RESULTS
Polyurethane, C-flex and Percuflex catheters have the highest retaining capacity, while the silicone, Urosoft and Wiruthan catheters have the lowest. The tensile strength of polyurethane and copolymers is superior to that of silicone. The friction coefficient, which varies within the same material, influences the facility of catheter insertion. The number and size of the side vents are essential to catheter hydrodynamic behavior. Silicone is the most biocompatible material, followed by Urosoft. The polyurethanes and C-flex catheters cause important urothelial hyperplasia and edema of the lamina propia.

CONCLUSIONS
The choice of endourological catheter should be individualized and based on the clinical indication. For prevention of obstruction from steinstrasse post-lithotripsy, a catheter with a high extraluminal flow and high retaining capacity is indicated to facilitate passage of stone fragments and to avoid catheter migration.


BACKGROUND
Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be one of the most devastating and widespread infections in the world. Of the nine million annual tuberculosis cases, about one million (11%) occur in children (under 15 years of age). Childhood tuberculosis is a neglected aspect of the tuberculosis epidemic.

OBJECTIVES
To know the socio-demographic profile, type of tuberculosis and treatment outcome in paediatric tuberculosis patients

METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted in nine Tuberculosis units of Bangalore city from January 2009 to December 2009. Five Tuberculosis units from the nine tuberculosis units were selected by simple random sampling, paediatric patients diagnosed as having TB and registered under RNTCP were included in the study till the sample size of 209 was reached. Data regarding socio-demographic profile and type of TB was collected and the patients were followed up to assess treatment outcome.

RESULTS
Most of the patients coming to the RNTCP centres belong to the under-privileged group. Most of the patients were in the age group of 1 to < 6 years, (37.7 %), male to female ratio was observed to be 0.6:1. Majority of the patients lived in nuclear families (73.2%), belonged to low socio-economic status (95.5%) and dwelled in overcrowded houses (89.5%). 23% reported history of contact with tuberculosis patients. More than half of the patients (57.4%) were undernurished. In the study, 56.5% had pulmonary TB and 43.5 % had extra-pulmonary TB. 94.7% of the patients completed treatment.

CONCLUSION
Paediatric tuberculosis still continues to be a major problem in one-five years of age who are undernourished and belonging to low socio-economic status.


Finding a realistic deformation that transforms one image into another, in case large deformations are required, is considered a key challenge in medical image analysis. Having a proper image registration approach to achieve this could unleash a number of applications requiring information to be transferred between images. Clinical adoption is currently hampered by many existing methods requiring extensive configuration effort before each use, or not being able to (realistically) capture large deformations. A recent multi-objective approach that uses the Multi-Objective Real-Valued Gene-pool Optimal Mixing Evolutionary Algorithm (MO-RV-GOMEA) and a dual-dynamic mesh transformation model has shown promise, exposing the trade-offs inherent to image registration problems and modeling large deformations in 2D. This work builds on this promise and introduces MOREA: the first evolutionary algorithm-based multi-objective approach to deformable registration of 3D images capable of tackling large deformations. MOREA includes a 3D biomechanical mesh model for physical plausibility and is fully GPU-accelerated. We compare MOREA to two state-of-the-art approaches on abdominal CT scans of 4 cervical cancer patients, with the latter two approaches configured for the best results per patient. Without requiring per-patient configuration, MOREA significantly outperforms these approaches on 3 of the 4 patients that represent the most difficult cases.


Objective: To determine the association of TNF α and NRAMP1 polymorphisms in leprosy. Material and Method: The polymorphisms of TNF α at -238, -308, and NRAMP1 at INT4, D543N, and 3′ UTR were examined in 37 patients with leprosy (24 multibacillary and 13 paucibacillary) and 140 healthy controls. PCR-SSP and PCR-SSO method were used to type TNF and NRAMP1 polymorphisms. Results: The genotype frequency of TNF-308 G/A was significantly increased in all leprosy patients compared to the controls (p = 0.04, OR = 2.69). When leprosy types were divided, the allele frequency of TNF-308A was significantly increased in multibacillary leprosy compared to the normal controls (p = 0.04, OR = 2.93). There was no significant difference in the distribution of the genotypes and allele frequencies of TNF -238 and NRAMP1 polymorphisms between the patients and controls. Conclusion: TNF-308A was associated with susceptibility to multibacillary leprosy. Keywords: TNF, NRAMP1, Leprosy


For centuries, land degradation triggered by deforestation has occurred in Ethiopia, in particular in the northern regional state Tigray, the area under study. In order to change this situation, the local government started to establish enclosures. In these sites, grazing is no longer permitted so that forest can naturally regenerate. In order to develop sustainable yield planning for forest rehabilitation areas in Tigray, one needs to know the effect of closing areas on biomass accumulation. In an enclosure, aboveground dry weight of herbaceous and woody species was estimated at 1,84 ton/ha. A combination of destructive and non-destructive methods was tested. The non-destructive study was rejected because of a non-accurate wood density estimation, and low correlation coefficients for the weight predicting models. Best fit-least square regression models were developed using diameter at 30 cm height as the independent variables and dry weight as the dependent variable. Coefficients of determination for the selected total biomass models of the destructive study ranged from 0,67 up to 0,99, whereas they ranged from 0,20 to 0,90 for the woody species in the non-destructive study. Equations for foliage biomass generally had lower coefficients of determination than the equations for either stem or total biomass of the woody species. Non woody biomass was measured in different enclosures in order to estimate the biomass production in function of the management technique. 98% of the total herbaceous biomass of the sampled grass plots belonged to Hypperrhenia hirta, while in the grazing land nearby it was only 11%. The correlation coefficient between grass biomass and basal area of the woody vegetation was -0,11. Based on this study this enclosure is not adopted for fuelwood collection.


BACKGROUND
 The broad availability of smartphones and the number of health apps in app stores have risen in recent years. Health apps have benefits for individuals (eg, the ability to monitor one's health) as well as for researchers (eg, the ability to collect data in population-based, clinical, and observational studies). Although the number of health apps on the global app market is huge and the associated potential seems to be great, app-based questionnaires for collecting patient-related data have not played an important role in epidemiological studies so far.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aims to provide an overview of studies that have collected patient data using an app-based approach, with a particular focus on longitudinal studies. This literature review describes the current extent to which smartphones have been used for collecting (patient) data for research purposes, and the potential benefits and challenges associated with this approach.

 METHODS
 We conducted a scoping review of studies that used data collection via apps. PubMed was used to identify studies describing the use of smartphone app questionnaires for collecting data over time. Overall, 17 articles were included in the summary.

 RESULTS
 Based on the results of this scoping review, there are only a few studies that integrate smartphone apps into data-collection approaches. Studies dealing with the collection of health-related data via smartphone apps have mainly been developed with regard to psychosomatic, neurodegenerative, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as malign neoplasm. Among the identified studies, the duration of data collection ranged from 4 weeks to 12 months, and the participants' mean ages ranged from 7 to 69 years.
Potential can be seen for real-time information transfer, fast data synchronization (which saves time and increases effectivity), and the possibility of tracking responses longitudinally. Furthermore, smartphone-based data-collection techniques might prevent biases, such as reminder bias or mistakes occurring during manual data transfers. In chronic diseases, real-time communication with physicians and early detection of symptoms enables rapid modifications in disease management.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The results indicate that using mobile technologies can help to overcome challenges linked with data collection in epidemiological research. However, further feasibility studies need to be conducted in the near future to test the applicability and acceptance of these mobile apps for epidemiological research in various subpopulations.


The Autocidal Gravid Ovitrap (AGO) is being marketed as an alternative mosquito control tactic to potentially harmful spraying. One problem is the high number of non-target organisms captured with AGOs that is not present in other gravid traps utilized by mosquito control districts. We tested three different infusion water types with a tap water control in AGOs to determine if they would reduce non-target capture rates. However, all three infusion water types captured more non-target organisms than the tap water control, and the infusion water did not have a significant effect on the number of Aedes aegypti or Ae. albopictus mosquitoes collected. Fermentation time (the date) had an effect on non-target organism capture rates in the AGO traps, but weather conditions may have confounded the fermentation effect. Despite capturing a low number of mosquitoes, this trap was attractive to pest species such as Lucilia sericata. Overall, this trap was ineffective at capturing high rates of Aedes mosquitoes, but it may function as a passive pest control trap with future design modifications.


OBJECTIVE
Fibromyalgia is a common syndrome of musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. Lacking distinctive tissue or laboratory correlations, it has often been considered a form of "psychogenic rheumatism." In the present study, the notion that the stage-4 sleep anomaly typically seen in the fibromyalgia syndrome may disrupt growth hormone secretion was tested. Because growth hormone has a very short half-life, serum levels of somatomedin C were measured; somatomedin C is the major mediator of growth hormone's anabolic actions and is a prerequisite for normal muscle homeostasis.

METHODS
Serum levels of somatomedin C were measured in 70 female fibromyalgia patients and 55 healthy controls, using a peptide-specific radioimmunoassay.

RESULTS
Significantly lower levels of somatomedin C were observed in the fibromyalgia patients compared with controls (mean +/- SD 124.7 +/- 47 ng/ml versus 175.2 +/- 60 ng/ml; P = 0.000001). These results could not be explained by concomitant therapy or by weight, and in a subset of 21 patients in whom this was investigated, there was no correlation with various indices of disease activity.

CONCLUSION
These findings indicate that there is a distinctive disruption of the growth hormone-somatomedin C neuroendocrine axis in a majority of fibromyalgia patients. It is hypothesized that this abnormality may explain the link between disturbed sleep and predisposition to muscle pain.


Nowadays, European countries like Germany, Spain and Denmark already have a significant share of wind generation in their electricity generation mix. In parallel, the large-scale integration of wind power is also taking place at a rapid pace in other European countries. Due to the variable nature of the wind resource, this large-scale integration of wind power causes several difficulties in the operation and management of a power system. Forecasts and understanding of wind conditions and related power generation from a few hours to a few days ahead in the whole considered area are paramount for various management tasks related to the integration of wind generation in power systems When going offshore, dimensioning the network requires a good understanding of spatio-temporal propagation of wind power production and of wind power forecast errors. In particular, the number of wind farms installed in a 10kmx10km area in Denmark becomes significant and it is of interest to understand the main characteristics of these propagations below the synoptic scale (i.e. at the 15 minutes resolution) conditionally to parameters describing the general meteorological situation. In this work, we present a detailed analysis of the spatio-temporal characteristic of wind power production and forecast errors in Denmark using more than 200 wind farms located in DK1 for a period of 4 years with a 15 minutes resolution. In particular we derive and discuss the spatial and temporal scales that are involved and describe the propagations conditionally to wind speed and direction at different model levels. A direct product of this type of spatio-temporal characterisation is spatio-temporal scenario of wind power generation and forecast errors. When going offshore, these scenario can help dimensioning and designing the network. However, the spatio-temporal characterisation obtained on flat onshore land requires calibration before it can be used for offshore simulations. In the second part of this work, we present a statistical methodology to use onshore spatio-temporal characterization and offshore meteorological analysis of a meteorological model to produce calibrated spatio-temporal scenario of wind power production. We also show how to calibrate the temporal variability of the generated spatio-temporal scenario with respect to an additional offshore wind farm and we apply this methodology with Fino met mast and using a power curve. The first part of the work has been performed in the framework of the FP7 EU project Safewind


Complex biomolecular technologies revolutionise scientific research. Fully embedding scientific advances in the community requires innovative ways to educate learners on the molecular foundations upon which these technologies are based. In this case study, we present the conception and design of Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI's) inaugural wholly online learning course focussed on explaining the revolutionary genome-editing technology, clustered regulatory interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR). Utilising WEHI's strength in bringing science educators and world-leading CRISPR scientists together, we designed a multimodal online resource that introduces learners, without an extensive background in either science or genome editing, to the fundamental concepts of CRISPR technology. Using the online course creation tool, Articulate 360, we guided learners through three modules containing targeted lessons designed to focus on specific learning outcomes. Integrated videos, research articles, interviews, and other resources, allowed for self-paced learning that met various learning style needs. The extensive resources provided opportunities to delve deeper into the content for advanced learners. The effectiveness of the course, evaluated with survey responses collected upon completion of the course, highlighted the ease of use and functionality of the course, and an increased understanding of CRISPR technology after course completion. We anticipate future online learning course development to showcase complex molecular technology that will be valuable for tertiary education, as well as for those in the wider community interested in understanding important advances in biomedicine.


In this study, new mathematical formulations and algorithms for joint scheduling and hybrid resource allocation are derived and investigated for a multi-user downlink orthogonal frequency division multiple access system. A three-sectored multi-cellular heterogeneous traffic environment is considered where users are randomly distributed and categorised under different priority levels. Traffic consists of time delay-sensitive and time delay-insensitive services. Three practical scheduling and resource allocation methods are proposed to address the balance between throughput, outage probability and resource efficiency under varying channel conditions. The proposed methods are based on the Lagrangian duality framework, and are formulated as mixed integer programming problems constrained by the total power of the base station and users' data rate while maintaining the quality of service for each user. Both dynamic and fixed resource allocation approaches are included in the main problem formulation. The complexity of the resource allocation problem is minimised by approximating the well-known water level. Simulation results show that the total system throughput is penalised for the method that aims to minimise the outage probability of the highest priority level. This is because of the severe channel conditions experienced by some users, whereas the alternatively proposed methods maintain system efficiency under a similar amount of constrained resources and required traffic.


On the basis of the field measurement, the characteristics of advance strata behavior are analyzed in the past filling working face and the advance support method is optimized in the roadway. The practical measure researches show that, because the paste filling supports the overlying strata of the goaf availably, the strata behaviors of 2351 paste filling working face in Daizhuang coalmine are not obvious; And the protective pillar bears a little load, The strata behaviors in non-production side are smaller than that in production side. The overlying strata gravity mainly acts on the coal wall in front of the face and the paste filling in the goaf. The value and main influence range of advance stress in front of the face is quite small and the main influence range is less than 15m. According to the advance strata behavior characteristics of the paste filling working face, the advance support of the track roadway is changed from 3 rows to 2 rows. And the support length of each row reduces from 20m to 15m. The advance support after optimizing can reduce the labor intensity greatly and improve the working efficiency of backfill mining.


The emergence of new digital video technologies, combined with the increasing ubiquity of Internet access, is challenging classical video-based marketing practices. As technological evolution has enabled the World Wide Web to improve its infrastructure, more sophisticated forms of digital video have emerged. Digital videos have the potential to add new dimensions of interactivity to product placements embedded within them. This thesis investigates how product placement effectiveness might be improved using hypervideo. In a hypervideo, through interactive placements, clickable spots are activated within a video, allowing viewers to retrieve information, or buy from, the brands portrayed. As a media vehicle, hypervideo has a greater ability to allow interactivity with consumers, and capture data, while offering a fluid and tailored product placement experience, in contrast with classical non-interactive product placement. The theoretical positioning of this thesis lays at the confluence of research on product placement, and its effects on central memory, in particular recall and recognition, and interactivity literature. Specifically, to examine whether interactivity increases brand recall and recognition of product placement embedded within digital music videos. Taking Balasubramanian, Karrh and Patwardhan (2006) as a theoretical base, 10 factors directly affecting placement recall and recognition were explored to gain an understanding of the effect of interactivity. This study followed an experimental between-group design, using human-computer interaction (HCI) recording software, a pre-questionnaire, an after-exposure questionnaire and a one-week after-exposure questionnaire. Evidence from a study of 280 participants suggests that interactive product placement is more effective than non-interactive product placement within digital music videos, as the interactive process increases recall and recognition of brands. This is the first empirical study on interactive product placement in digital music videos. This thesis proposes a Product Placement Interactivity Grid which incorporates different types of interactivity between the media vehicle, product placement, and user. Future research is required to understand the impact of interactive product placement in different media vehicles.


The phenomenon of human levitation while in the state of meditation has been investigated from a six sigma perspective. Using the forces of gravitation and buoyancy, we provide scientific explanation for the phenomenon and derive balancing condition for neutrality beyond which the gravitational forces can be overcome. Direct experimental evidences in the form of snapshots in time giving the details as one progresses into meditation as well as a link to video records of persons in the state of levitation are provided. Indirect evidences and ancient writings appear to be consistent with the mechanics of levitation. Reputable scientific publications have been reporting on the characteristics and benefits of meditation for some years. The work reported herein appears to add to an increasing body of evidence on the variety of measurable outcomes of meditation.


Designing for the ease of end of life (EOL) disassembly is an important design function. The product structure that is the spatial relationships between the parts of the product and the value distribution over them plays an important role in determining the ease and profitability of disassembly. This paper presents a conceptual methodology to determine the effect of the spatial precedence on the desired value precedence of the product. The methodology introduces a digraph called the bureau graph to model this relationship between the spatial and value precedence structures. Based on this modeling indices are derived that provide a holistic evaluation of the product structure and also help determine the bottle necks and weak points of the product structure to aid the designer. This approach is explained for the family of unidirectional, fixed precedence assemblies.


Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular (CV) disease in later life, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The bioactive sphingolipid metabolite sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is critically involved in CV development in the fetus, and plays a significant role in the regulation of CV health in adulthood. S1P receptor (S1PR) type 1, 2 and 3 are widely expressed in CV system which S1PR1 has a protective role against kidney injury, while S1PR3 is involved in controlling BP. Yet, the contribution of S1P on BP in IUGR is unknown. In the present studies, we tested the hypothesis that IUGR alters renal S1P receptors expression during- and post-nephrogenesis, which contributes to high BP in male IUGR mouse. C57bl/6J mice underwent sham or reduced uterine perfusion (RUP) at day 13 of gestation with delivery at full term. IUGR offspring (from RUP dam) had a lower birth weight than control (p<0.05). Kidneys were isolated from 2 day old male pups or adult 24 week old male control and IUGR. S1PR3 protein expression was increased in 2 day old IUGR kidneys (2.4 fold vs control, N=3, p< 0.01). At 24 weeks of age, S1PR3 mRNA levels were increased (1.2 fold vs control, N=4, p< 0.05) whereas S1PR3 protein levels were decreased (0.75 fold vs control, N=4, p< 0.05) in IUGR kidneys. mRNA and protein expression levels of S1PR1 and S1PR2 were not different between control and IUGR kidneys. Finally, we assessed the role of S1PRs agonist on BP of IUGR. Male IUGR offspring had a significantly higher BP compared to male control via carotid catheter in the conscious state (control: 112.1±2.1, IUGR: 125.0±3.7 mmHg; N=7, P <0.05). Acute administration of FTY720 (1 mg/kgBW i.p, Fingomod), a S1P receptor type 1, 3 agonist did not significantly alter BP in control (106.0 ± 5.7 mmHg) but significantly decreased BP in IUGR (105.7±2.3 mmHg, p< 0.05). A dose response to FTY720 (10 mg/kgBW) decreased BP in both control (94.0±2.0 mmHg, p< 0.05) and IUGR (99.3±2.3 mmHg, p< 0.05). Together our data suggest that IUGR programs an alteration of renal S1PR3 expression in both during- and post-nephrogenesis thereby contributing to an increase in sensitivity to S1PRs agonist. Thus, S1P signaling is a putative mechanism underlying the hypertension of IUGR offspring.


Learning persistence plays a central role in models of skill formation, estimates of education production functions, and evaluations of educational programs. In non-experimental settings, estimated impacts of educational inputs can be highly sensitive to correctly specifying persistence when inputs are correlated with baseline achievement. While less of a concern in experimental settings, persistence still links short-run treatment effects to long-run impacts. We study learning persistence using dynamic panel methods that account for two key empirical challenges: unobserved student-level heterogeneity in learning and measurement error in test scores. Our estimates, based on detailed primary panel data from Pakistan, suggest that only a fifth to a half of achievement persists between grades. Using private schools as an example, we show that incorrectly assuming high persistence significantly understates and occasionally yields the wrong sign for private schools' impact on achievement. Towards an economic interpretation of low persistence, we use question-level exam responses as well as household expenditure and time-use data to explore whether psychometric testing issues, behavioral responses, or forgetting contribute to low persistence—causes that have different welfare implications.


Cellular prion protein (PrPC) is a glycosylated membrane glycoprotein mainly expressed in the central nervous system. Some still undefined molecular events can lead to the conversion of PrPC into an abnormal conformer called scrapie prion protein (PrPSc). PrPSc is characterized by increased â-sheet content, detergent insolubility, partial resistance to protease digestion and tendency to aggregate in the brain tissue. The conversion and subsequent aggregation of PrPSc in the brain tissue underlay pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. In turn, sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is most common form of human transmissible spongiform encephalopathie. The heterogeneous disease phenotype is mainly influenced by the methionine/valine (M/V) polymorphism at codon 129 in the human prion protein gene (PRNP gene) and by the presence of two major types of pathological, protease-resistant forms of the prion protein (PrPSc) leading to 2 different profiles in Western blot (type 1 and type 2). This thesis includes 2 original publications that investigate the physiology and the pathology of the human prion protein. In our first study, CSF proteome alterations in living, symptomatic sCJD patients with two different codon 129 genotypes (MM and VV) were analyzed using a proteomic approach consisted of 2D Fluorescence Difference Gel Electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and mass spectrometry analysis. CSF proteome profiling revealed up-regulation of 27 and down-regulation of 3 proteins in the MM-sCJD as well as the up-regulation of 24 proteins in the VV-sCJD when compared to control. Beside proteins showing common regulation for both codon 129 genotypes in sCJD, some proteins seem to be specifically regulated in certain genotype. Almost 40% of sCJD specifically regulated proteins in CSF are involved in glucose metabolism, regardless of codon 129 polymorphism. The validation phase of selected glycolytic enzymes using Western blot technique confirmed up-regulation of ALDOA, LDH and G6PI when compared to three different control groups (NDC, AD and VD). Furthermore, the immunolabeling showed that G6PI is present in reactive astrocytes in sCJD affected brain while it is predominantly localized in neurons in age-matched control brain. Additionally, decreased level of G6PI was found in the brain of MM1-sCJD subtype. With these data, for the first time the implication of G6PI in prion-induced pathology was demonstrated. The identification of sCJD-regulated proteins in CSF proteome alterations in living, symptomatic sCJD- patients will broaden our knowledge about pathological processes occurring in sCJD, as they are still not fully understood. Moreover, they could serve as protein source to identify novel biomarkers for differential sCJD diagnosis. In our second study, a proteomic approach was applied in order to reveal proteins, and thereby biological processes, affected by stable overexpression of human PrPC in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line. Densitometric analysis of silver stained 2D gels showed 18 differentially regulated proteins in SH-SY5Y cells overexpressing human PrPC. Between them, 13 proteins were up- and 5 down-regulated. The PrPC overexpression in SH-SY5Y cells affected mostly few biological processes such as signal transduction, cytoskeleton organization and protein folding. Proteomics gives a unique opportunity to analyze both physiological and pathological processes at the protein level on a global scale. Proteome analysis of SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells stably overexpressing PrPC revealed proteins whose expression is directly modulated through PrPC and consequently physiological processes which are influenced by PrPC level in cells. On the other hand side, identification of CSF proteome alterations in sCJD provides more information about pathological processes occurring in the brain and caused by presence of PrPSc. Both these studies broaden our knowledge about still not fully understood pathobiology of PrP.


How can air traffic controllers lose sight of a modern Boeing 777 while it flies thousands of kilometers? In the age of satellite communications and GPS, it shouldn9t be hard to track an airliner9s location over the ocean or to download its flight recorder data before disaster strikes. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has pointed up holes in the technology and spurred discussions about improving it, but the airline industry has been slow to embrace new techniques.


A comparison was made between the phosphate- and glucose-transport systems of intact erythrocytes and resealed washed membranes. Glucose transport exhibits identical properties in both cases, but the phosphate-transport system does not appear to have survived the membrane isolation procedure unaltered. Evidence is presented to support the suggestion that some form of structural perturbation has occurred to the protein mediator of phosphate exchange.


This paper examines the dynamics of racialized securitization for transnational migrants across multiple borders—from Central America toward Mexico and the United States. Rather than a singular process where US policies, funding, and attitudes toward border security direct Mexican immigration enforcement, I argue that Mexican state collaboration redirects US xenophobia away from Mexican migrants and toward Central American migrants. Migrants' testimonies point to the ways that US and Mexican discourses are mobilized in different—but complementary—ways that shape them as racialized subjects with differential life chances. This is clearest through a crude mapping of people onto nationalities for deportation based on hair, language, and tattoos. Beyond legal violence, deported migrants describe their vulnerability as constructed within tacit networks of collaboration between actors in the US and Mexico, both licit and illicit, in an effort to extort migrants and their families. While race is a key signifier in border securitization, the differences between these racial states have material consequences in the differential state violence in immigration enforcement.


Marek's disease is one of the most common viral diseases of poultry affecting chicken flocks worldwide. The disease is caused by an alphaherpesvirus, the Marek's disease virus (MDV), and is characterized by the rapid onset of multifocal aggressive T-cell lymphoma in the chicken host. Although several viral oncogenes have been identified, the detailed mechanisms underlying MDV-induced lymphomagenesis are still poorly understood. Many viruses modulate cell cycle progression to enhance their replication and persistence in the host cell, in the case of some oncogenic viruses ultimately leading to cellular transformation and oncogenesis. In the present study, we found that MDV, like other viruses, is able to subvert the cell cycle progression by triggering the proliferation of low proliferating chicken cells and a subsequent delay of the cell cycle progression into S-phase. We further identified the tegument protein VP22 (pUL49) as a major MDV-encoded cell cycle regulator, as its vector-driven overexpression in cells lead to a dramatic cell cycle arrest in S-phase. This striking functional feature of VP22 appears to depend on its ability to associate with histones in the nucleus. Finally, we established that VP22 expression triggers the induction of massive and severe DNA damages in cells, which might cause the observed intra S-phase arrest. Taken together, our results provide the first evidence for a hitherto unknown function of the VP22 tegument protein in herpesviral reprogramming of the cell cycle of the host cell and its potential implication in the generation of DNA damages.


Transition metal oxides have been used as sintering aids for proton-conducting barium cerate-zirconates, which are promising electrolyte materials for low-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and high-performance electrochemical membrane reactors. However, the effects of the additives on properties other than the density of the electrolytes have been ignored. Here, we report our findings that transition metal additives also affect the electrical properties, stability, and even catalytic activity of proton-conducting ABO3-type perovskites. BaCe0.7Zr0.1Y0.2O3-δ (BCZY) is selected as the basic material, and 2 mol % of Ni1-xFex (x range: from 0 to 1.0) oxides and 4 mol % of FeO1.5 are, respectively, added into BCZY to prepare electrolytes of anode-supported SOFCs. All of the electrolytes with additives can be densified after sintering at 1400 °C for 5 h, while BCZY without additive is porous. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra show that Ni and Fe are doped into the lattice of BCZY. For the first time, we find a positive function of Fe additive in BCZY that it not only acts as a good sintering aid but also improves the electrical performance and stability of the BCZY electrolyte in CO2 and H2O at reduced temperatures. The cell with the 2 mol % Ni0.5Fe0.5-doped BCZY electrolyte, with an unoptimized cathode, gives a power density of 973 mW cm-2 at 700 °C, 120 mW cm-2 at 450 °C, and 45 mW cm-2 at 350 °C. It operates under a constant current of 800 mA cm-2 at 650 °C for over 200 h, during which the voltage decreases from 0.73 to 0.71 V. A newly discovered densified layer, formed in the cathode during the SOFC operation, may cause the degradation.


A cornerstone of conservation is the designation and management of protected areas (PAs): locations often under conservation management containing species of conservation concern, where some development and other detrimental influences are prevented or mitigated. However, the value of PAs for conserving biodiversity in the long term has been questioned given that species are changing their distributions in response to climatic change. There is a concern that PAs may become climatically unsuitable for those species that they were designated to protect, and may not be located appropriately to receive newly-colonizing species for which the climate is improving. In the present study, we analyze fine-scale distribution data from detailed resurveys of seven butterfly and 11 bird species in Great Britain aiming to examine any effect of PA designation in preventing extinctions and promoting colonizations. We found a positive effect of PA designation on species' persistence at trailing-edge warm range margins, although with a decreased magnitude at higher latitudes and altitudes. In addition, colonizations by range expanding species were more likely to occur on PAs even after altitude and latitude were taken into account. PAs will therefore remain an important strategy for conservation. The potential for PA management to mitigate the effects of climatic change for retracting species deserves further investigation.


Water electrolysis has been considered as one of the most effective, secure and sustainable ways to produce clean hydrogen energy to resolve the looming energy and environmental crisis. Exploring bifunctional catalysts for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with high efficiency, low cost, and easy integration is crucial for future renewable energy systems. Herein, we report the in situ controllable synthesis of hierarchical MoP/Ni2P heterostructures on 3D Ni foam (MoP/Ni2P/NF) and their application as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting. The hierarchical heterostructures are achieved by a facile hydrothermal approach to obtain the Mo-based/NF precursor, followed by a subsequent in situ phosphorization procedure. Through manipulating the concentration of ammonium molybdate for the preparation of the precursor as well as the phosphorization temperature, the optimal MoP/Ni2P/NF can be achieved which can efficiently catalyze both the OER and HER in alkaline electrolytes. The superior performance with robust durability is mainly attributed to unique hierarchical heterostructures and collaborative advantages of bimetallic phosphides, as well as the 3D porous conductive substrate. As an integrated high-performance non-noble electrocatalyst for overall water splitting, the MoP/Ni2P/NF electrode requires a cell voltage of only 1.55 V to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in alkaline solution. This work highlights the importance of the design and construction of hierarchical heterostructures for efficient overall water splitting.


The Greek mountain tea is well known in Europe, occurring mainly in Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece. The botanical species hereof is Sideritis scardica Griseb. Over centuries it was used as relaxing tea (so called Shepard's tea or Mursalski tea). Actual in vitro investigations showed influence on reuptake-inhibition of neurological transmitters by Sideritis scardica extracts. Due to this, investigations were performed about in-vivo effects of Sideritis extracts relating to mental CNS disorders (Alzheimer's disease) and cognition. As an established test model for cognition and spatial memory, we used the Morris water maze (MWM). Beginning with this model 30 years ago, healthy mice were tested treatment group vs. non-treatment group. Newest investigations demonstrate that a within-subject comparison approach is both valid and effective in reducing variability. Today, transgenic AD mice are available which allow testing of active substances against AD. Therefore, we introduced a Ginkgo biloba extract as positive control which is used as off-label cognition enhancer in elderly and AD patients. Following four groups (n = 6) were tested: Healthy control group (2) showed reduced latencies (-20%) as compared to the transgenic group (1, AD control), which confirms the suitability of (1) for our approach. The group (3) of Sideritis scardica treated AD mice showed significant lower latencies (-60% vs. control 1, and -40% vs. control 2, resp.), whereas the group of Ginkgo treated mice did not differ from any control 1 or 2. The behavioral testing results for the Sideritis group (3) correlate with the histopathological finding – reduction of total s-Amyloid amount by 55% vs. control (1).


A new series of carbon‐based films doped with graphene oxide and cobalt (G‐Co/a‐C:H films) were successfully prepared on Si substrate via one‐step electrochemical deposition of methanol as the carbon source and graphene oxide/cobalt as the dopant. G‐Co/a‐C:H films were fabricated at various graphene oxide concentration for comparative experiments. It can be found that the graphene oxide and cobalt were well embedded in amorphous carbon matrix to form superhydrophobic G‐Co/a‐C:H film at the doping GO concentration of 0.007 mg/mL, which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was noted that the superhydrophobicity of the resulting surface derives from its rough surface with hierarchical micro‐nanostructures and the presence of the low‐surface‐energy GO components on it. The hierarchical micro‐nanostructures are attributed to the corporate joint of GO and cobalt to form the multilevel nanoscale composite interface. Specially, the as‐fabricated superhydrophobic G‐Co/a‐C:H film could exhibit excellent self‐cleaning ability and corrosion resistance, revealed by the self‐cleaning and corrosion tests.


Economy and Rhetoric of Exchange in Early Modern SpainbyEduardo German RuizDoctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and LiteratureUniversity of California, BerkeleyProfessor Ignacio Navarrete, ChairIn this dissertation I analyze four canonical works (Lazarillo de Tormes, La Vida es Sueno, El Celoso Extremeno, and Heraclito Cristiano) with the goal of highlighting material-economic content and circumstantial connections that, taken together, come to shape selfhood and identity. I use the concept of sin or scarcity (lack) to argue that Lazarillo de Tormes grounds identity upon religious experience and material economy combined. In this process the church as institution depends on economic forces and pre-capitalistic profit motivations as well as rhetorical strategies to shape hegemonic narratives. Those strategies have economic and moral roots that, fused together through intimate exchanges, surround and determine the lacking selfhood represented by the title character. La Vida es Sueno begins with defective selfhoods, too. Segismundo and Rosaura must negotiate spatial reinsertions and organic reconstitutions through material and rhetorical exchanges that, in the end, also shape their identities. One of the rhetorical exchanges in Calderon's play adopts the form of an intertextuality, specifically a pretextuality that harks back to one of El Conde Lucanor's medieval examples, which is grounded upon the material notion of hunger and the related theme of the master-and-slave dynamic between an ignorant master and his wise servant. In the Cervantes tale of the jealous man this dynamic of mutual inscription undergoes a renewal via the capitalistic and colonial circumstance faced by Carrizales, the protagonist. First he has to escape his circumstance; then he has to undergo reinsertion in order to survive as a functioning but deeply troubled self. His project of a viable selfhood appears unachievable unless through the added space and agency of colonial alterity. Only in this way can the subject be fulfilled and hegemonic narrative reconstituted, even if an ultimate or potential downfall also dooms the protagonist. Hence the slave plays an essential role in the formation of hegemonic identity (represented by Carrizales). The slave, one of the incarnations of dominant discourse, occupies an interstitial space, which allows him to expose, undermine, and ultimately make available to discourse such transformative powers as are required for hegemonic continuation. Finally I study Francisco de Quevedo's metaphysical poetry in Heraclito Cristiano and trace there some of the colonial metaphors that, through their economic weight, pull the metaphysical content towards the sinner's physical suffering, manifested psychologically as a need for conversion and a keen awareness of grotesque death.


One of the original characteristics of French communism has been its durable strength in some rural areas ever since its foundation at the December 1920 Congres de Tours. Over the past six decades, the Communists have found strong support not only in certain urban, industrial areas but in some of the more rural and backward areas of the country as well. The Communist party's implantation in the countryside–both in terms of militants and voters – has been concentrated among a number of departments along the northern and western edge of the Massif Central, and along the Mediterranean littoral. The first time the Communists were up for national office–in 1924–they scored best not in an urban department but in the overwhelmingly rural Lot-et-Garonne (south-east of Bordeaux) where they gathered over 30% of the valid votes cast. Eight of the eighteen departments where they did best in that year were predominantly rural. By 1 936 the Party's strength in rural areas had increased notably. The Communists received over 20% of the vote in sixteen departments, nine of which can hardly be considered industrial, and in three of these over 60% of the active population was engaged in agriculture. During the interwar years it is estimated that 15% of the Party's members belonged to the agricultural professions. The question which springs to mind, then, is why the Communists have done so well (and continued to do so in the 1980s during a period of vertiginous electoral decline) in rural departments which hardly correspond, from a sociological perspective, to the image one has of the parti de la classe ouvriere?


Certain assumptions tend to come into play when George Eliot is discussed which significantly influence how she is regarded as an author and how her writing is interpreted. The main assumption is that at the beginning of her writing career she was a rationalist in an Enlightenment tradition, sympathetic to liberal ideas, but later reverted to a more conservative mindset. This has led to accusations that the decisions she made in her life were incoherent; at the very least she was lukewarm on feminist issues; was opposed to significant political reform; held some objectionable views in relation to class and race. This article suggests that such views of Eliot do not take into account her otherness as a thinker and intellectual who cannot be accommodated within conventional paradigms, and illustrates that by considering three aspects of her, focusing mainly on her non-fictional writing because it gives more direct access to her thought: the choices she made in her personal life; her social and political thinking; and her position on the Jewish question.


The aim of this work was to understand how Arabidopsis thaliana plants control starch
degradation at night. Starch is the major energy reserve in Arabidopsis. It is broken
down at night to maintain growth and metabolism of the plant, when photosynthesis is
not possible. The rate of starch degradation follows a linear pattern and is matched to
the length of the night period such that almost all starch is exhausted by dawn. The
mechanisms and the proteins involved in controlling starch degradation rates are largely
unknown.
With my work I wanted to identify components involved in the control of starch
degradation rates. Using a forward genetic screen, I discovered several mutants with
new starch degradation phenotypes. One of them was affected in the circadian clock
component EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3). It degraded its starch slower than wildtype
plants and in a non-linear way. Two mutants degraded their starch at a much faster
rate than wild-type plants and exhausted their reserves before dawn. One of them lacks
a novel protein, which was named EXCESS STARCH TURNOVER 1 (EST1). This
protein is required for normal starch degradation rates, but its function is still unknown.
The second mutant is affected in BETA-AMYLASE 1 (BAM1) and produces aberrant
BAM1 protein containing a serine to asparagine amino acid substitution in position 132.
Faster starch degradation rates in this mutant depend on the presence of another protein
of the pathway, LIKE SEX FOUR 1 (LSF1). The data indicate that modulation of
BAM1 activity can strongly affect the rates of starch degradation, although starch is
degraded normally in absence of BAM1. In a second approach, I analysed which known
components of the starch degradation pathway are necessary for the adjustment of
starch degradation rates. I found that PHOSPHOGLUCAN WATER DIKINASE
(PWD) and BAM3 might play a role in adjusting starch degradation rates in response to
an unexpectedly early night.
In summary, in this thesis I introduce a novel protein necessary for normal starch
degradation rates in Arabidopsis leaves and provide insights into proteins and
mechanisms which might control starch degradation rates in response to an early night.


Summary Homozygous carriers of factor V Leiden have an approximately 80-fold increased risk of venous thrombosis. Also double heterozygous carriers of both the factor V Leiden and the prothrombin gene mutations are at high thrombotic risk. The magnitude of the risk of venous thrombosis in pregnant women with the two severe thrombophilic conditions has not been estimated so far. We performed a multicenter retrospective family study in women with homozygous factor V Leiden, double heterozygous factor V Leiden and the prothrombin gene mutation, and women with normal coagulation. Only relatives of index patients with thrombosis formed the study cohort. Fifteen homozygous and 39 double heterozygous women were compared to 182 women with normal coagulation. Venous thrombosis occurred in 3 of 19, 2 of 50 and 1 of 221 pregnancies, respectively. One thrombotic episode occurred in the third trimester, the remaining 5 in the postpartum. The prevalence of venous thrombosis was 15.8% (95% CI 3.4-39.6) for homozygotes, 4.0% (95% CI 0.5-13.7) for double heterozygotes and 0.5% for women with normal coagulation. The relative risk of pregnancy-related venous thrombosis was 41.3 (95% CI 4.1-419.7) for homozygous and 9.2 (95% CI 0.8-103.2) for double heterozygous carriers. In conclusion, homozygous carriers of factor V Leiden and, to a lesser extent, double heterozygous carriers of factor V Leiden and of the prothrombin mutation have an increased risk of venous thrombosis during pregnancy, particularly high during the postpartum period. On the basis of these findings we recommend that these women receive anticoagulant prophylaxis at least in the postpartum, that should perhaps be extended to the whole pregnancy in homozygous carriers.