The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of ampicillin as bacteriostats on the doubling time and relative survival rate of antibiotic resistant Rhizobium strains and the ratio of undesirable microbes in artificially polluted inoculants during 60 days storage, and the nodule occupancy of two bacteriostat-resistant strains were also investigated. Fully grown Yeast-mannitol liquid media culture of Rhizobium meliloti LW107 and Rhizobium sp. RSW 96 were added with ampicillin as bacteriostats at various concentrations in an artificial pollution test, and the relative survival rate of rhizobia and the counts of undesirable microbes were determined by the agar plate dilution method. The result shows that in the artificially polluted liquid inoculants, the survival rate of rhizobia was increased and the ratio of undesirable microbes declined significantly when the ampicillin was used as the bacteriostats. The growth of selected antibiotic-resistant strains was promoted at the concentration of less than 100 ug/ml and the doubling time was reduced, but inhibited and the doubling time was significantly prolonged at the concentration of more than 200 ug/ml. Inoculation tests also shows an increased nodulation competitiveness of two bacteriostat-resistant strains in five-fold dilutions of liquid inoculants containing ampicillin (at optimal concentration). According to comprehensive consideration, the optimum concentration for ampicillin as bacteriostat in Rhizobium meliloti LW107 and Rhizobium sp. RSW 96 inoculants appeared to be 100 ug/ml and 200 ug/ml, respectivly.


This toolkit has two versions. One for C and one for java.
AdventNet Agent Toolkit C Edition is a rapid prototyping and development tool for building SNMP agent, TL1 agent, and CLI agents in strict ANSI C language. In addition to this it also enables the development of Multi-protocol agent with SNMP, TL1, CLI, and HTTP protocol support. The run-time agent developed using AdventNet Agent Toolkit C Edition is very modular, portable, and customizable. The developed agent can be used for managing systems, devices, applications etc.
AdventNet Agent Toolkit Java Edition unleashes the power of network management through industry-acclaimed standard management technologies like SNMP, JMX, and TL1. Based on the technology needs, Agent Toolkit enables rapid building and prototyping of SNMP agents, Multi-protocol agents, and TL1 agents.


This paper aims at identifying the key stakeholders in maritime human factors and analyse their interest in, and power to influence the human factors issues. A stakeholder analysis is done and a model displays eight stakeholders from a vessel lifecycle perspective. It is concluded that the interest and the power to influence is much differentiated, largely due to the nature of shipping. An increased public interest in environmental, economic and socio-political sustainability has affected the environmental work in the industry and it is believed that pressure from consumers will lead to increased demands on shipping. It is further concluded that well operated shipping contribute to greater overall efficiency and economy and should offset higher unit freight costs resulting by the use of better maintained and managed ships.


Antibodies were raised in rabbits against the purified voltage- dependent sodium channel from rat skeletal muscle sarcolemma. The resultant antiserum reacted with the purified channel in a solid-phase radioimmunoassay and precipitated the sodium channel from a crude mixture of solubilized membrane proteins. Crude membrane proteins separated according to size under nondenaturing conditions by chromatography on Sepharose CL-6B contained a single peak of immunoreactivity that coincided with the native channel. On immunoblots of sarcolemmal membrane proteins, the antiserum reacted predominantly with a diffuse high molecular weight band that was comparable in migratory characteristics to the large glycoprotein subunit of the purified channel. Using immunocytochemical techniques, binding of this polyclonal antiserum was localized to the surface membrane of rat skeletal muscle. This staining was specifically blocked by pre- incubation of the antiserum with the purified channel protein. The antiserum also stained the surface membrane of rat cardiac muscle and the nodes of Ranvier in rat peripheral nerve. Species cross-reactivity was seen with mouse, human, and guinea pig skeletal muscle while chicken, rabbit, and frog muscle was not stained. The antiserum also reacted with the surface membranes of fetal rat muscle in tissue culture. These results indicate that sodium channels in adult mammalian skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and peripheral nerve and in fetal muscle in culture all share common antigenic determinants. The antiserum should prove useful for topographical studies of sodium channel distribution in these tissues.


A candidate reference material of natural isotopic composition for inorganic mercury has been characterized by the Institute for National Measurement Standards of the National Research Council Canada. The material, designated NIMS-1 (natural inorganic mercury standard) is certified for isotope ratios, isotopic abundances and atomic weight of mercury. The certification was achieved using multi-collector ICP-MS based on a state-of-the-art regression model for calibration. The certified isotopic composition is x196 = 0.001 55(4), x198 = 0.100 38(10), x199 = 0.169 38(9), x200 = 0.231 38(6), x201 = 0.131 70(12), x202 = 0.297 43(9) and x204 = 0.068 18(6) with the corresponding atomic weight of mercury Ar(Hg) = 200.5924(8). Values are presented in a concise notation whereby the expanded uncertainty with a coverage factor of two is given in parenthesis next to the least significant digits to which it applies. A full disclosure of all raw data pertinent to certification is presented in order to afford a fully transparent process. Care was taken to ensure high metrological quality in the evaluation of the accuracy and the uncertainty of the certified results. In this regard, it is superior to the best measurement from a single terrestrial source as currently recognized by IUPAC. Considering the known natural variations of Hg isotopic composition, we propose 200.592(3) as a revised assessment of the standard atomic weight of mercury.


Apocalyptism has been broadly defined as the belief that God has revealed the imminent end of the ongoing struggle between good and evil throughout history. It has been a major element in the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and extensive scholarship has been devoted to apocalyptic study during the latter half of the 20th century. With contributions from 42 scholars, this encyclopedia in three volumes provides a comprehensive survey of apocalypticism's role in Western history from its origins down to the eve of the third millennium.


Ever since its invention and initial description in 1652, Blaise Pascal's adding machine has been the subject of numerous studies and publications (D. Diderot and J.L. d'Alembert, 1751). However, when compiling and systematically analyzing the literature, a rather diffuse image emerges. For one thing, the method of subtraction is not accurately described. The article attempts to find out how one could have used Pascal's Adding Machine (PAM), had it ever functioned properly. In addition, this is an attempt to provide a comprehensive functional description of the machine.


Parasitic flowering plants represent a unique ecological adaptation, having evolved away from independent function and toward an increasing dependence on other higher plants for survival. Mistletoe, a common evergreen parasite of woody plants, has played a significant role in human culture for centuries. Throughout history, mistletoe species were nurtured and revered as medicinal herbs and religious symbols. But the role of mistletoe has changed. Its importance in western culture has dwindled to a minor, though enduring, association with the Christmas holiday. In contrast, its significance as a parasite of tree crops and woody ornamentals has increased in recent years. Mistletoe species are studied in efforts to control their pathogenic effects and to gain insight into the evolutionary role played by this family of parasitic flowering plants. The unique characteristics of mistletoe that challenge horticultural researchers have contributed to its enduring role in human life.


Cytotoxicity of hydroxyurea has been studied in mouse epidermis and small intestine by determining the loss of thymidine-3 H-labeled DNA by both autoradiographic and biochemical methods. In the normal epidermis, hydroxyurea-induced cytotoxicity appears to be limited to some of the DNA-synthesizing cells, which are lost within 12 hr after hydroxyurea injection. Labeled cells that survive hydroxyurea treatment proceed through mitosis. A low dose of hydroxyurea, which inhibits DNA synthesis effectively for at least 1 hr, is not cytotoxic. In rapidly proliferating epidermis 18 hr after an application of croton oil, the duration of the inhibition of DNA synthesis by a given dose of hydroxyurea is somewhat reduced, and the loss of prelabeled DNA is greatly reduced. In contrast, the extent of hydroxyurea-induced cytotoxicity in the rapidly regenerating small intestine 3 days after whole-body X-irradiation with 1000 R was only slightly less than that found under normal conditions. This difference between the number of cells killed by hydroxyurea in the two stimulated tissues may be related to the degree of increase in cell proliferation rate. The thymidine-3H labeling index in croton oil-treated epidermis was increased more than 10-fold, while that in the small intestine of X-irradiated mice was increased less than 2-fold.


Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a member of the subfamily Pneumovirinae within the family Paramyxoviridae. Other members of this subfamily, respiratory syncytial virus and avian pneumovirus, can be divided into subgroups based on genetic or antigenic differences or both. For HMPV, the existence of different genetic lineages has been described on the basis of variation in a limited set of available sequences. We address the antigenic relationship between genetic lineages in virus neutralization assays. In addition, we analyzed the genetic diversity of HMPV by phylogenetic analysis of sequences obtained for part of the fusion protein (n = 84) and the complete attachment protein open reading frames (n = 35). On the basis of sequence diversity between attachment protein genes and the differences in virus neutralization titers, two HMPV serotypes were defined. Each serotype could be divided into two genetic lineages, but these did not reflect major antigenic differences.


The luminosity of hadron colliders rises with the beam intensity, until some limit is encountered, mostly due to head-on and long-range beam-beam interaction, due to electron cloud, or due to conventional impedance sources. Also beam losses caused by various mechanisms may affect the performance. The limitations can be alleviated, if not overcome, by a proper choice of beam parameters and by dedicated compensation schemes. Examples include alternating crossing at several interaction points, electromagnetic wires, super-bunches, electron lenses, clearing electrodes, and nonlinear collimation. I discuss such mitigating measures and related research efforts, with special emphasis on the LHC and its upgrade.


A number of viruses transport their genomic material from cell to cell enclosed within a lipid bilayer that is in turn encased within a symmetric protein shell. This review focuses in a group of RNA viruses that have this type of virions. This group includes several of important human pathogenic viruses, such as the hepatitis C virus, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, rubella virus and the bunyaviruses. The best studied are the flaviviruses and the alphaviruses, which have a β‐sheet rich class II viral fusion protein used for entry into susceptible cells. We extend here the class II concept to encompass symmetric viruses in which the envelope proteins are derived from a precursor polyprotein containing two transmembrane glycoproteins arranged in tandem. The first glycoprotein acts as chaperone for the folding of the second one, which carries the membrane fusion function. Since the bunyaviruses, included here, are very similar to the class I arenaviruses in other respects, this analysis highlights the patchwork nature of the various viral functional modules acting at different stages of the virus cycle, which appear assembled from genes of different origins.


Punishment menus allow offenders to choose the punishment to which they will be subjected from a set of options. We present several behaviorally informed ratio-nales for why punishment menus may serve as effective deterrents, notably by causing people to refrain from entering a calculative mindset; reducing their psychological reactance; causing them to reconsider the reputational impacts of punishment; and reducing suspicions about whether the act is enforced for rent-seeking purposes. We argue that punishment menus can outperform the traditional single punishment if these effects can be harnessed properly. Our observations thus constitute a challenge, based on behavioral arguments, to the conventional view that adding (possibly unexercised) punishment options to an existing punishment scheme is unlikely to increase deterrence or welfare. We explain how hetero-geneities among individuals can pose problems to designing effective punishment menus and discuss potential solutions. After explaining how punishment menus, if designed and implemented benevolently, can serve socially desirable goals, we caution against their possible misuse by self-interested governments.


The aim of this paper is to show the potentiality of the historical analysis mixed with the experimental data elaboration in identifying the mechanical behavior of an ancient monument. Firstly, an ideal route through the crack pattern of Santa Maria del Fiore dome in Florence is presented herein: the conclusion of the historical debates about the mechanical behavior of the dome are analyzed in light of the statistical interpretation of the last 55years cracks monitoring data. The recall of some historical debates has been fundamental in the comprehension of its mechanical behavior, showing the validity of the empiric-experimental method in ancient master builders solution (the "art of building" rules) to the main problem of the masonry domes: their primeval and ineradicable horizontal thrust on supporting structures. The final aim is to present some results on the beneficent effect of the scaffolding installed on the dome from 1980 to 1996, which seems to confirm the prevision made by Vincenzo Viviani at the end of XVII century on the future consolidation of this dome.


The aim of this study was to assess the hygienic quality of raw milk used in the manufacture of São Jorge, a Protected Denomination of Origin Portuguese semihard cheese, as well as to ascertain the sanitary conditions prevailing during its processing. Viable counts of Enterobacteriaceae and Micrococcaceae were accordingly obtained, pertaining to 21 independent batches (including samples of raw milk, curd, and cheeses after 1, 3, and 4 months of ripening), from 7 dairy farms. Standard plate counts (log CFU per milliliter or per gram) ranged from 6.1 to 8.6 in raw milk, whereas they ranged from 7.0 to 8.0 in 4-month-old cheeses. Viable counts of Enterobacteriaceae ranged between 5.9 and 7.0 in raw milk and between 0.0 and 1.3 in 4-month-old cheeses. Species identified within this family encompassed Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter sakazakii, and Escherichia coli; Klebsiella ornithinolytica, Klebsiella terrigena, and Serratia odorifera were detected only in raw milk. No Salmonella whatsoever could be detected in any of the samples. Viable counts of Micrococcaceae ranged between 4.7 and 5.9 and between 1.3 and 3.3 in raw milk and 4-month-old cheeses, respectively. Species identified within this family encompassed Staphylococcus sciuri, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus (which was found mainly in ripened cheeses), and Staphylococcus aureus (which was not detected in 4-month-old cheeses). Accompanying physicochemical analyses included determination of moisture, salt, and pH. Statistical analyses revealed a negative correlation between salt content and viable numbers of Enterobacteriaceae in cheese, whereas in the case of Micrococcaceae, a more negative correlation was found between viable numbers and moisture content than between viable numbers and pH. The results of our study indicate, in general, poor milk handling conditions in all farms, given that the indicators total mesophile and Enterobacteriaceae counts were high, between 100- and 1,000-fold those enforced by international standards pertaining to the matrices in question. However, by the time of regular consumption (i.e., after 4 months of ripening), São Jorge cheeses exhibit low levels of contamination by Enterobacteriaceae and S. aureus, as well as absence of Salmonella.


ABSTRACT The Cow Head Group is an allochthonous Cambro-Ordovician sequence of deep-water limestone conglomerates, mudstones to grainstones, minor quartz sandstones, siltstones and shales. Platy-clast conglomerates and boulder-rich megaconglomerates as much as 100 m thick exhibit features similar to those described for subaerial debris flows; that is, flat, sharp bases with only minor evidence for erosion, poorly developed clast fabric with tilting of platy clasts at right angles to the flow direction, boulders floating within flows or projecting above the tops of flows, irregular flow tops indicating primary relief above the sea floor, and tapered flow margins (snouts). Snout geometry and the extent of boulder projection both allow calculation of debris static strength. These results, combined with measured flow thickness, permit calculation of minimum and maximum paleoslope gradients. Original debris static strengths were in the range of 103 to 105 dynes/cm2, similar to the observed range in subaerial flows. Calculations yield bottom gradients of l-l 8°, but independent field data suggest that the paleoslope dip was on the order of only a few degrees. This constraint suggests that debris strength was substantially reduced during flow, probably by excess pore-fluid pressures, thus permitting flow on very gentle slopes. The paleoslope orientations used in this study are substantially different from those previously published by Hubert et at. (1977).


Communities across our nation-whether geographic, ethnic, or issue-based in their composition-are struggling to be healthy, to grow, and thrive. The production of knowledge and the sharing of knowledge by both the community and the higher education institution is the key to helping our communities to improve. Retaining and valuing community-engaged faculty who can both represent the academy to the community and bring the community into the academy are essential to helping secure our vision of the common good. In this paper, three community partners, experienced with and engaged in partnerships between universities and communities with varying challenges of success and failure, examine the specific challenge of review, promotion, and tenure for community-engaged faculty.


The MATRRESS, a MAnipulation Tactics in Romantic RElationships Scale was designed by 18 mental health professionals to facilitate the scientific exploration of the properties of manipulation in couples. In study 1, a PCA on a sample of 610 respondents revealed an 8-factor structure of eight distinct manipulation tactics which was cross-validated with CFA on a second sample of 609 participants. A bi-factor model produced the best fit to the data which consisted of a composite factor (General Manipulation) and 8 distinct reliable manipulation tactics (Threats of Abandonment, Induction to Guilt, Self-harm Threats, Induction to Jealousy, Coercive Distance / Silent Treatment, Dividing and Conquering, Use of Charm and Deflation of Self-esteem). In study 2, 462 participants completed the MATRRESS as well as other scales related to manipulation (Machiavellianism, Emotional Manipulation and Psychopathy) and adequate convergent validity was established as well as satisfactory test-retest reliability. Overall, it appears that the MATRRESS has excellent internal consistency (α=.95), and correlates significantly to Machiavellianism (r=.66), Emotional Manipulation (r=.73) and Psychopathy (r=.49). As a reliable and valid scale it has numerous potential applications in social, psychological and clinical research as a useful tool to assess manipulation tactics in romantic relationships.


Chapter 1 Chapter 1 contains a discussion of the effects of the introduction of fluorine atoms into organic molecules. A review of electrophilic fluorination reactions which have been reported recently, from the viewpoint of selectivity is given. Chapter 2 As a new methodology for selective fluorination of unactivated C-H sites, geometrically directed remote fluorination of steroid derivatives was investigated. Steroid derivatives bearing a variety of tethers which possess an ability to interact with elemental fluorine were prepared. Direct fluorination of 3ɑ-(3-cyanobenzoyloxy)- 5ɑ-androstan-17-one showed an increased selectivity for the 9-position compared with the control reactions. Chapter 3 A feasibility study of the use of elemental fluorine for catalytic enantioselective fluorination reaction of 1,3-ketoesters was conducted. A range of metal compounds were examined in the fluorination of a 1,3-ketoester and some of them were applied for further investigation involving attempts at catalytic enantioselective direct fluorination. Chapter 4 The capability of the Durham-type multi-channel microreactor for direct fluorination of carbonyl compounds was demonstrated. Effects of various parameters on the conversion and the selectivity in the direct fluorination of ethyl 3-oxobutanoate using a 9-channel microreactor were investigated systematically and results were helpful for determining the conditions of fluorination of other substrates. Chapter 5 Some miscellaneous reactions were collected in this chapter Chapter 6-9 Experimental details of the work discussed in Chapter 2-5.


Abstract. Hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) analysis has been successfully
applied to several sets of ambient data (e.g., Crawford et al., 2015;
Robinson et al., 2013) and with respect to standardized particles in the
laboratory environment (Ruske et al., 2017, 2018). Here
we show for the first time a systematic application of HAC to a comprehensive
set of laboratory data collected for many individual particle types using the
wideband integrated bioaerosol sensor (WIBS-4A)
(Savage et al., 2017). The impact of the ratio of
particle concentrations on HAC results was investigated, showing that
clustering quality can vary dramatically as a function of ratio. Six
strategies for particle preprocessing were also compared, concluding that
using raw fluorescence intensity (without normalizing to particle size) and
logarithmically transforming data values (scenario B) consistently produced
the highest-quality results for the particle types analyzed. A total of 23
one-to-one matchups of individual particles types was investigated. Results
showed a cluster misclassification of < 15 % for 12 of 17 numerical
experiments using one biological and one nonbiological particle type each.
Inputting fluorescence data using a baseline +3σ threshold
produced a lower degree of misclassification than when inputting either all particles
(without a fluorescence threshold) or a baseline +9σ threshold.
Lastly, six numerical simulations of mixtures of four to seven components
were analyzed using HAC. These results show that a range of 12 %–24 % of
fungal clusters was consistently misclassified by inclusion of a mixture of
nonbiological materials, whereas bacteria and diesel soot were each able to
be separated with nearly 100 % efficiency. The study gives significant
support to clustering analysis commonly being applied to data from commercial
ultraviolet laser/light-induced fluorescence (UV-LIF) instruments used for bioaerosol research across the
globe and provides practical tools that will improve clustering results
within scientific studies as a part of diverse research disciplines.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the causes of the spelling errors students of grade ten make and to explore the possible remedies for the treatment of the misspellings. The sample of the study included 91 grade ten teachers in North Batinah and South Batinah governorates in Oman. A questionnaire was designed to cover the causes and remedies. The findings revealed that the highly rated causes of the misspellings as perceived by the teachers were the complexity of the English spelling system, letter(s)' combinations in English, poor reading proficiency, students' carelessness, sounds that exist in English but not in Arabic and the fact that sound-letter correspondence in English is not regular. The most frequent suggestions for remedy of the spelling errors as perceived by grade ten teachers were breaking long words into smaller parts, drawing students' attention to silent letters, keeping personal dictionaries of challenging words, including tasks that stimulate both sound-to-letter phonic spelling and spelling of irregular words, noting down the most common spelling errors and praising the students for spelling difficult words correctly. In light of the findings, the study presents some recommendations and suggestions for further studies.


The study was drawn to investigate an unusual form of 'industrial democracy', in Fiocruz, the Brazilian public research organisation in the health field, linked to the Ministry of Health. It is a single case study research making use of two contrasting cases: Embrapa and Pasteur Institute. The former is the Brazilian public research organisation in the agriculture field, similar to Fiocruz in space; and the latter is the French public research organisation for health, similar to Fiocruz in the field. The investigation works with the triangulation of methods approach, combining the analysis of quantitative and qualitative methods aiming at an in-depth analysis of the decision-making and the strategic planning processes of these research-led organisations. For this purpose, two exclusive tools were created and applied to their management boards and key actors. The first tool, an online questionnaire, was applied to the management boards; the second tool, a face-to-face interview, was made with the key actors. The findings were examined considering the literature, whose results supported the analysis of the context of each organisation and their strategic plans. The research revealed an original approach to industrial democracy by Fiocruz, based on a concept postulated by Arouca, which underpinned the creation of SUS, the Brazilian National Unified Health System: 'Democracy is health'. It represents a paradigm shift in the way the health concept is addressed, by adding a political dimension to it, which includes the citizenship, the free self-determination, the capacity of mastering the future. This unique approach to industrial democracy underpins the decision-making and the strategic planning of Fiocruz, revealing that it is, in fact, a new type of public research organisation; thus, questioning the validity of the existing framework concerning such entities.

 Democracy is Health is an original conceptual approach postulated by Arouca, which underpinned the creation of the Brazilian National Unified Health System. Fiocruz is the Brazilian Public Research Organisation in the Health field, whose unique administration approach questions the literature in the field.


With economic development, the type and form of tourism products are constantly innovated, and rural tourism has become one of the main travel choices of contemporary Chinese people. In 2014, China formulated National New Urbanization Plan, providing a new opportunity for development of rural tourism. In this paper, we first summarize the development situation and connotation of new urbanization and rural tourism, then discuss the mutually reinforcing interaction between the two, analyze the main problems in Chinese rural tourism under new urbanization, and finally put forth the recommendations, in order to better meet the needs of new urbanization, and strive to create a new model of tourism urbanization.


Summary

Ethylene induced an increase in the level of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase mRNA but suppressed the expression of ACC synthase transcript in mung bean hypocotyls. Induction of ACC oxidase transcript by ethylene was saturated at a low concentration (1–3 µl l−1) and detectable within 1 h after ethylene treatment; 2,5-norbornadiene, an inhibitor of ethylene action, significantly reduced the basal level of ACC oxidase transcript present in intact mung bean hypocotyls. Treatment with the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide completely inhibited the ethylene-induced accumulation of ACC oxidase transcript, indicating that de novo protein synthesis is necessary for expression of the ethylene-inducible ACC oxidase gene. ABA decreased the ethylene-induced accumulation of ACC oxidase mRNA, but restored the ethylene-suppressed level of ACC synthase (VR-ACS1) transcript. The protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine effectively prevented ethylene-induced ACC oxidase gene expression, whereas it substantially recovered the ethylene-suppressed transcript level of ACC synthase, suggesting that protein phosphorylation plays a role in the induction of ACC oxidase and the suppression of ACC synthase by ethylene in mung bean hypocotyls. Okadaic acid, a potent inhibitor of protein phosphatase, did not affect the expression of ACC oxidase. However, addition of okadaic acid along with ethylene effectively blocked the ethylene-induced accumulation of ACC oxidase transcript, while there was an increase in the level of ethylene-suppressed ACC synthase transcript. These results indicate that protein dephosphorylation in addition to phosphorylation is necessary for the ethylene signaling that regulates the expression of these genes.


This thesis addresses contemporary debates in the sociology of science, the sociology of media and the public understanding of science by examining the UK television and print media coverage of three substantive scientific issues. The first case study follows the debate as to whether a Martian meteorite (ALH 84001) provided evidence of ancient bacterial life-forms that could prove primitive life had once existed on Mars. The second case study tracks the use of cell nucleus replacement to "clone" mammals. The third case study examines the scientific and political controversy over the existence, symptoms, causes and response to "Gulf War syndrome". The empirical research employed methodologies developed at the Glasgow Media Group, providing a comparative analysis of the production, content and reception of news media coverage of the case studies. The methods included interviews with scientists, journalists, media professionals and interest groups, a two-year content analysis of press and television news and focus group interviews. The content analysis discovered that media coverage of the case studies was extensive, unevenly distributed over time and emphasised scientific and science-based controversy as news values. The production analysis highlighted the importance of the interaction between scientific institutions and the media. For example, science journalists regularly draw on scientific journals as credible source material. The scientific community actively maintained this situation through information subsidies as a way of generating science news. The reception analysis demonstrated that news media, especially television news, provided an important source of information for audience members. Audience members were active consumers of science news, based on their education, gender, age and personal experience of science. Motivation to consume science news was also a key factor for audience members, varying according to the scientific issue being covered by the media. Overall, this thesis has highlighted the contested interactions that construct and interpret news media coverage of science. By analysing these complex interactions, this thesis contributes to contemporary concerns about the public presentation of science.


Psychological and social characteristics of individuals are important determinants of their health choices and behaviors. Social networks represent "pipes" through which information and opinions circulate and spread out in the social circle surrounding individuals, influencing their propensity toward important health care interventions. This paper aims to explore the relationship between students' vaccination health choices and their social networks. We administered a questionnaire to students to collect data on individual students' demographics, knowledge, and attitudes about vaccinations, as well as their social networks. Forty-nine pupils belonging to 4 classrooms in an Italian secondary school were enrolled in the study. We applied a logistic regression quadratic assignment procedure (LR-QAP) by regressing students' positive responsive behavior similarity as a dependent variable. LRQAP findings indicate that students' vaccination behavior similarity is significantly associated with after-school social ties and related social mechanisms, suggesting that pupils are more likely to share information and knowledge about health behaviors through social relationships maintained after school hours rather than through those established during the school day. Moreover, we found that vaccination behaviors are more similar for those students having the same ethnicity as well as for those belonging to the same class. Our findings may help policymakers in implementing effective vaccination strategies.


Kidney cortex DNA synthesis was studied in female rats treated with a low dose of gentamicin (10 mg/kg) up to 14 days. Synthesis was measured by incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA 1 h after intraperitoneal injection of the labeled precursor (200 muCi per animal). Gentamicin given in one injection per day resulted in a greater incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA after both 7 and 14 days of treatment as compared with control animals. When the daily dose was divided into three equal injections given at 8-h intervals, a statistically significant increase in thymidine incorporation was observed as early as 4 days after starting gentamicin administration. Excellent agreement was found between DNA specific radioactivity and kidney cortex nuclear labeling, as measured by histoautoradiography. The greatest amount of [3H]thymidine incorporation occurred within proximal tubular cells and interstitial cells. We conclude that a finite duration of gentamicin treatment at low dosage induces an increased DNA synthesis in vivo in rat kidney cortex. We suggest that this reaction results from cellular proliferation and could reflect a regenerative process after focal necrosis induced by gentamicin at low doses. The demonstrated early increase in DNA synthesis could be a useful tool to measure kidney cortex alterations caused by various aminoglycosides at low, therapeutic doses.


Arabic and English are acknowledged as two major natural languages used by
many countries and regions. Reviews of previous literature conclude that machine
translation (MT) between these languages is disappointing and unsatisfactory due
to its poor quality.
This research aims to improve the translation quality of MT between Arabic and
English by developing higher quality parallel corpora. The thesis developed a
higher quality parallel test corpus, based on corpora from Al Hayat articles and
the OPUS open-source online corpora database.
A new Prediction by Partial Matching (PPM)-based metric for sentence alignment
has been applied to verify quality in translation between the sentence pairs
in the test corpus. This metric combines two techniques; the traditional approach
is based on sentence length and the other is based on compression code length.
A higher quality parallel corpus has been constructed from the existing resources.
Obtaining sentences and words from two online sources, Al Hayat and OPUS, the
new corpus offers 27,775,663 words in Arabic and 30,808,480 in English. Experimental
results on sample data indicate that the PPM-based and sentence length
technique for sentence alignment on this corpus improves accuracy of alignment
compared to sentence length alone.


Self-esteem and self-enhancement are two critical phenomena that play major roles in social psychological theory and research. Everyone has an idea what self-esteem is; however, from an empirical standpoint, what exactly is self-esteem is hotly debated. The unidimensional definition of self-esteem defines it as a global assessment of one's worth, with greater self-esteem being associated with greater self-worth. Whereas the multidimensional view of self-esteem defines self-esteem as a ratio of competences and worthiness. Furthermore, self-esteem can be broken down into different types: trait self-esteem is a stable view of the self that does not fluctuate much from day to day; state self-esteem is a more transitory view of the self that fluctuates from day to day; and domain-specific self-esteem relies on decisions we make about ourselves or self-evaluations about how we perform in specific situations. Regardless of type, there is an overall belief that humans have an innate need for high self-esteem and that they are particularly attuned to situations that may threaten this. When self-esteem is threatened, people enact behaviors aimed at increasing it: this is called self-enhancement. The idea that people are driven to self-enhance has become a popular topic in psychology and is found in some of the field's most influential theories. For example, self-determination theory (SDT) examines both interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of self-esteem and self-enhancement. Terror management theory (TMT) explains why human beings need self-esteem and how they self-enhance. Sociometer theory is concerned with understanding how self-esteem developed in humanity's past and how it affects self-enhancement in the present. Finally, self-affirmation theory focuses on how people try to self-enhance after their self-integrity has been threatened.


Background: Hot flashes affect as many as 75% of menopausal women. Estrogen reliably reduces the severity of hot flashes and remain the single most effective treatment. Today, however, more and more women are seeking alternatives. Instead of hormonal therapy, women are turning to vitamins, and other over-the-counter products for relief from hot flashes. This study was undertaken to assess the effect of vitamin E on hot flashes. Method: A placebo double blind-controlled trial was conducted. After 1 week baseline period, the enrolled patients (n = 51) received placebo (identical in appearance to vitamin E softgel) daily for 4 weeks, followed by 1 week wash out and 400 IU vitamin E (softgel cap) daily for the next 4 weeks. Diary was used to measure hot flashes before and at the end of the study. Result: There were statistical significant differences in hot flashes severity score (2.37 ± 0.74, 1.80 ± 0.87) and their daily frequency (5.00 ± 3.34, 3.19 ± 2.74) after the treatments between the placebo and vitamin E therapies (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Based on our trial, vitamin E is recommended for the treatment of hot flashes.


A grid is a distributed computational and storage environment often composed of heterogeneous autonomously managed subsystems. As a result, varying resource availability becomes commonplace, often resulting in loss and delay of executing jobs. To ensure good grid performance, fault tolerance should be taken into account. Commonly utilized techniques for providing fault tolerance in distributed systems are periodic job checkpointing and replication. While very robust, both techniques can delay job execution if inappropriate checkpointing intervals and replica numbers are chosen. This paper introduces several heuristics that dynamically adapt the above mentioned parameters based on information on grid status to provide high job throughput in the presence of failure while reducing the system overhead. Furthermore, a novel fault-tolerant algorithm combining checkpointing and replication is presented. The proposed methods are evaluated in a newly developed grid simulation environment dynamic scheduling in distributed environments (DSiDE), which allows for easy modeling of dynamic system and job behavior. Simulations are run employing workload and system parameters derived from logs that were collected from several large-scale parallel production systems. Experiments have shown that adaptive approaches can considerably improve system performance, while the preference for one of the solutions depends on particular system characteristics, such as load, job submission patterns, and failure frequency.


In response to the worldwide mercury contamination contributed by both natural and anthropogenic sources, two different domains of aqueous mercury (II), Hg(II) complexation have been carried out using homogeneous complexing agent, Rhodamine B and heterogeneous complexing agent, Covellite (CuS). The studies of Rhodamine B was conducted using UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV-Vis) where it revealed the instability of Rhodamine B-Hg(II)-Iodide complex in acidic media and it has been resolved either by extraction with benzene or stabilization in water using polyvinyalcohol (PVAl). The studies on Rhodamine B-Hg(II)-Iodide complex were further developed as a non-destructive spectrophotometric method for trace Hg(II) detection. The investigations of CuS in heterogeneous aqueous Hg(II) complexation were conducted using two analytical approach: (i) solution phase analysis i.e. atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS); (ii) solid characterization analysis i.e. powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). From solution phase analysis, the trends of Hg(II) uptake observed were found to dependent on the sorption rate of Hg(II) onto CuS at acidic and alkaline pH. The relatively fast sorption rate of Hg(II) onto CuS at acidic pH can be viewed as the formation of both cubic phase mercury sulfide (Metacinnabar, β-HgS) and monoclinic phase mercuric sulfide chloride (m-Hg3S2Cl2) from PXRD analysis. The relatively slow sorption rate of Hg(II) onto CuS at alkaline pH can be viewed by the sole formation of β-HgS from PXRD analysis. The formation of m-Hg3S2Cl2 was associated with the growth of nanosize ranged needle like architecture namely nano-needle crystallite on the edges of the initial CuS hexagonal plates from FESEM-EDX analysis. The formation of β-HgS was also observed at the edges of the CuS hexagonal plates but its formation was only preferred along the {101} and {100} plane of CuS hexagonal plates from HRTEM-EDX analysis. Furthermore, the uptake of Hg(II) onto CuS at different Hg(II) concentration has been modeled using sorption isotherm models. The equilibrium data suggested that the sorption behavior of Hg(II) onto CuS obeys well to the Langmuir isotherm with the maximum sorption capacity of CuS for Hg(II), Qmax reaching 434.78 mg Hg(II) / g of sorbent at 25°C. Apart from the Hg(II) uptake studies, a consecutive decrease of CuS dissolution and decrease on final solution pH were also detected when initial solution pH is raised. These results showed that an in-situ re-adsorption of Cu(II) and OH- onto CuS has taken place at increasing pH in addition to the ion-exchange of Hg(II) onto CuS. The re-adsorption of Cu(II) and OH- can be viewed as the formation of Cu4(SO4)(OH)6 and its hydrate Cu4(SO4)(OH)6(H2O) from PXRD analysis. Whilst, the re-adsorption of Cu(II) and OH- can be also discussed in term of the formation of Cu(OH)2 and CuO from XPS studies. Moreover, the precipitation of Cu4(SO4)(OH)6 and Cu4(SO4)(OH)6(H2O) has actually led to the growth of additional platelet crystallite in which it has been identified from FESEM-EDX analysis.


The present paper aims at demonstrating that human interaction lead to the creation of new meanings, to the creation of a new language. Whereas the authors of the theatre of the absurd consider that language cannot render meanings, that the word is crushed under the heaviness of misunderstanding and uselessness, believers in the power of the spoken word formulate other opinions. Eugeniu Coseriu, Mikhail Bakhtin or H.P. Grice are some of the advocates of the value of language, of the importance of dialogue and interaction in the construction of new meanings in human contexts.


Purpose : Due to high production rates in visual pigment and high metabolic activity, photoreceptor neurons (PN) are especially vulnerable to defects in proteostasis. The structurally misfolded rhodopsin (Rh) exerts excessive stress on rods, causing adRP. The ATPase valosin-containing protein (VCP) acts as a quality control checkpoint of membrane proteins and binds to Rh before its release from the ER. This study evaluated the e ect of VCP inhibition in the Rh rat in vitro Methods : Retinal organ cultures from heterozygous Rh transgenic rats (SD-Tg(P23H)1Lav, RRRC) with the RPE attached, as previously described (Arango-Gonzalez et al. 2010), were incubated in supplemented serum-free medium and treated either with Eeyarestatin I (EerI) or with ML240. PN survival, as well as functional and structural integrity, was evaluated by cell row quanti cation, TUNEL assay, high-resolution light microscopy and electron microscopy (EM). One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD test was used for statistical analysis. The impact of the treatment on the retinal visual responses was investigated by light stimulation and simultaneous ganglion cell recordings, utilizing multi-electrode arrays (MEA) Results : The percentage of TUNEL(+) cells in the ONL indicates that VCP inhibition signi cantly reduced the number of dying cells (EerI: 1,70%±0,39, P<0,001; ML240: 2,23%±0,36, P<0,0001; control: 5,08%±0,41). More importantly, the ONL of EerI and ML240treated Rh retinas contained more cell rows than the controls (EerI: 9,48±0,21, P<0.0222; ML240; 9,49±0,93, P<0.0063; control: 8,08±0,54). VCP inhibition also corrected the aberrant distribution of Rh, arrestin, and transducin in the Rh transgenic rat retina, restoring their physiological localization similar to that of the WT phenotype. Ultrastructural analysis by EM con rmed preservation of proper morphology within treated Rh rod outer segments (OS) and electrophysiological MEA recordings demonstrated improved responses to light stimulation in the treated Rh retina Conclusions : VCP inhibition strongly rescues degenerating Rh rods and preserve the functional properties of the retina, suggesting VCP as a target to treat adRP. Protection correlates with restoration of physiological Rh tra cking to rod OS. This results in improved rod OS ultrastructure as well as an electrophysiological response in treated Rh retinas This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 May 2, 2019. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. P23H


This article discusses the internationalisation of corporate governance principles and codes of conduct. The essential controversy surrounds the extent to which corporate governance principles should encompass the needs of external constituencies such as stakeholders in addition to the needs of the traditional shareholder constituency. European Union harmonisation initiatives, the globalisation and indeed internationalisation of commerce and information technology advances are building an international consensus that the reconciliation of shareholder and stakeholder concerns are not necessarily mutually exclusive. However, fundamental divergences between the major legal systems of the world, the political power of interest groups, the development of capital markets and the acceptance of the stakeholder model are the factors that are inhibiting convergence. Undoubtedly, corporate governance codes of conduct that are successful in attracting long-term capital and shareholder investment and which promote corporate efficiency will, in the long term, become established as the dominant international rules.


Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is the only form of dementia that can be cured by surgery. Its diagnosis relies on clinical and radiological criteria. Identifying patients who can benefit from surgery is challenging, as other neurological diseases can be concomitant or mimic iNPH. We performed a systematic review on the role of positron emission tomography (PET) in iNPH. We retrieved 35 papers evaluating four main functional aspects with different PET radiotracers: (1) PET with amyloid tracers, revealing Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology in 20–57% of suspected iNPH patients, could be useful in predictions of surgical outcome. (2) PET with radiolabeled water as perfusion tracer showed a global decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) and regional reduction of CBF in basal ganglia in iNPH; preoperative perfusion parameters could predict surgical outcome. (3) PET with 2-Deoxy-2-[18F]fluoroglucose ([18F]FDG ) showed a global reduction of glucose metabolism without a specific cortical pattern and a hypometabolism in basal ganglia; [18F]FDG PET may identify a coexisting neurodegenerative disease, helping in patient selection for surgery; postsurgery increase in glucose metabolism was associated with clinical improvement. (4) Dopaminergic PET imaging showed a postsynaptic D2 receptor reduction and striatal upregulation of D2 receptor after treatment, associated with clinical improvement. Overall, PET imaging could be a useful tool in iNPH diagnoses and treatment response.


ABSTRACT A Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate showing moderate to high-level imipenem and meropenem resistance was investigated. The MICs of both drugs were 16 μg/ml. The β-lactamase activity against imipenem and meropenem was inhibited in the presence of clavulanic acid. The strain was also resistant to extended-spectrum cephalosporins and aztreonam. Isoelectric focusing studies demonstrated three β-lactamases, with pIs of 7.2 (SHV-29), 6.7 (KPC-1), and 5.4 (TEM-1). The presence of blaSHV andblaTEM genes was confirmed by specific PCRs and DNA sequence analysis. Transformation and conjugation studies withEscherichia coli showed that the β-lactamase with a pI of 6.7, KPC-1 (K. pneumoniae carbapenemase-1), was encoded on an approximately 50-kb nonconjugative plasmid. The gene,blaKPC-1, was cloned in E. coli and shown to confer resistance to imipenem, meropenem, extended-spectrum cephalosporins, and aztreonam. The amino acid sequence of the novel carbapenem-hydrolyzing β-lactamase, KPC-1, showed 45% identity to the pI 9.7 carbapenem-hydrolyzing β-lactamase, Sme-1, fromSerratia marcescens S6. Hydrolysis studies showed that purified KPC-1 hydrolyzed not only carbapenems but also penicillins, cephalosporins, and monobactams. KPC-1 had the highest affinity for meropenem. The kinetic studies also revealed that clavulanic acid and tazobactam inhibited KPC-1. An examination of the outer membrane proteins of the parent K. pneumoniae strain demonstrated that the strain does not express detectable levels of OmpK35 and OmpK37, although OmpK36 is present. We concluded that carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae strain 1534 is mainly due to production of a novel Bush group 2f, class A, carbapenem-hydrolyzing β-lactamase, KPC-1, although alterations in porin expression may also play a role.


Abstract : The Department of Defense (DoD) relies heavily on petroleum-based fuel to sustain its forward-deployed locations -- particularly those that are not connected to local power grids. While weapon platforms require large amounts of fuel, DoD reports that the single largest battlefield fuel consumer is generators, which provide power for base support activities such as cooling, heating, and lighting. Transporting fuel to forward-deployed locations presents an enormous logistics burden and risk, including exposing fuel truck convoys to attack. GAO was asked to address the following: (1) DoD's efforts to reduce fuel demand at forward-deployed locations, and (2) DoD's approach to managing fuel demand at these locations. This review focused on locations within Central Command's area of responsibility. GAO visited DoD locations in Kuwait and Djibouti to learn about fuel reduction efforts and challenges facing these locations. GAO recommends that DoD establish an effective approach to managing fuel demand at forward-deployed locations by developing fuel demand management requirements; designating the new director of operational energy as the lead proponent of fuel demand management at forward-deployed locations; addressing demand management shortcomings in DoD's energy strategy; and establishing military department oversight of fuel demand issues. DoD generally concurred with the recommendations.


Aestheticization is a pervasive force in consumer culture (Featherstone 2002); it is central to the invention and reinvention of symbolic resources that structure current market economies (Reckwitz 2017). A recent example with a complex nexus of consumption, identity, politics and nostalgia, is the reinvention of 'Nordicness' and 'The Nordic Lifestyle', with sub-fields such as (New) Nordic Cuisine, (New) Nordic Design and (New) Nordic Cinema (Leer 2016, Andersen et al. 2019, Skou and Munch 2016). This paper investigates the aestheticization of 'The Nordic Way of Life' as commodified and marketed in the form of the magazine Oak The


This study is about perceptions of students, teachers and school heads over the roles of school inspectors in primary schools located in Morogoro Municipality. The study was conducted in Morogoro Municipality. It was guided by the following objectives; examining the perceptions students have over the school inspectors in primary schools in Morogoro Municipality. Secondly, investigating the perceptions of teachers over the school inspectors in primary schools in Morogoro Municipality; and thirdly, investigating on the best approaches of school inspection in primary schools in Morogoro Municipality. The study employed qualitative approach design. Interview, focused group discussion and documents review were employed as data collection methods. The actual sample of this study was thirty nine (39). The first form of findings revealed that many students of primary schools in Morogoro Municipality see that there is a good relationship between school inspectors and primary school teachers. To a majority of these students believed that the school inspectors are good because they come to see how students are taught at school. Second set of findings showed that a majority of the primary school teachers perceived the school inspectors in a negative way because they do not help teachers on solving their teaching professional problems. The other reason that makes teachers hate school inspectors is the behavior of the school inspectors using abusive language and de-valuing teachers' work when they are inspecting the school teachers in the classrooms. Conducting seminars to school inspectors, advising the school inspectors to use humanistic approach, inspectors having common stand on their inspection roles were some of the recommendations that were suggested to improve inspection in primary schools in Morogoro Municipality.


This paper extends previous work by presenting a framework for modelling legislative deliberation in the form of dialogues with incomplete information. Roughly, in such legislative dialogues coalitions are initially equipped with different theories which constitute their private knowledge. Under this assumption they can dynamically change and propose new legislation associated with different utility functions.


Halitosis (oral malodour) while not a classic disease is prevalent and can be
socially disabling; thus studying the origins and control of malodour are socially
and commercially important. Volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) are important
contributors to halitosis, and can be combated by adding zinc to oral care
products. The aims of the thesis were to develop a model system to grow mixed
culture, tongue-derived microbial biofilms in vitro. This model was used to
investigate the efficacy of zinc as a VSC-reducing and antimicrobial agent, as
well as visualising the distribution and retention of zinc within the biofilms.

A perfusion biofilm model (PBM) was established with sorbarod filters as a
microcosm representing the tongue. Treatments with zinc toothpaste, placebo
toothpaste, zinc sulfate solution (ZnSO4) and deionised water were assessed
using a portable gas chromatograph (OralChromaT'V'), microbiological assays,
confocal microscopy and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (lCP-
MS). Zinc significantly reduced hydrogen sulfide concentrations but had a
moderate effect on methanethiol. The zinc and placebo toothpaste exhibited
bacteriostatic effects, confirmed by plate counting and confocal live-dead
images. Zinc was retained and visible to a greater extent in the zinc toothpaste
treated biofilm compared to ZnSO4 solution; distribution varied markedly
between biofilm layers and replicates. lCP-MS confirmed presence of zinc.

PBM was shown to be a suitable model for studying sources of oral malodour.
Zinc reduced VSCs, probably by binding sulfur compounds forming insoluble
zinc sulfides; zinc had a bacteriostatic effect, potentially due to metabolic
inhibition, which was increased by other toothpaste ingredients. The varied
distribution of zinc reflected the heterogeneity and complexity in the architecture of mature biofilms. In conclusion, zinc had multifactorial effects on VSCs,
including antimicrobial and VSC reducing. Retention of zinc was visible,
however with variations in distribution within the biofilms. Further work is
needed; including conducting human microbe identification microarrays.


The European Union is a leading patron for the introduction of renewable energy, having set a target that renewable sources will represent at least 27% of total energy consumption by the year 2030. Presently, the most significant Croatian renewable resource is hydropower, which is presently at its peak and will not develop further because of limited hydro resources. Therefore, the share of electricity generation from onshore wind farms in Croatia during in recent years has grown significantly. However, as the Croatian government has already made most of the concessions for possible locations of wind farms, the aim of the present study is to evaluate a different renewable energy resource, wave energy. An assessment of the offshore wave energy potential in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea is performed using data taken from WorldWaves atlas (WWA). WWA is based on satellite measurements, validated against buoy measurements and reanalysed by numerical wave modelling. This assessment was done for seven locations, and mean yearly energy is calculated for two offshore wave energy converters. Capacity factors were calculated for annual as well as for seasonal levels, and it was concluded that the bulk of the energy would be generated in autumn and winter. The most probable extreme significant wave height was determined at the investigated locations as well. Furthermore, the offshore wind energy potential was evaluated and compared to the wave energy potential.


Hydrothermal vents release reduced compounds and small organic carbon compounds into the surrounding seawater, providing essential substrates for microbial growth and bioenergy transformations. Despite the wide distribution of the marine benthic group E archaea (referred to as Hydrothermarchaeota) in the hydrothermal environment, little is known about their genomic repertoires and biogeochemical significance. Here, we studied four highly complete ( 80%) metagenomeassembled genomes (MAGs) from a black smoker chimney and the surrounding sulfur-rich sediments on the South Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge and publicly available data sets (the Integrated Microbial Genomes system of the U.S. Department of Energy-Joint Genome Institute and NCBI SRA data sets). Genomic analysis suggested a wide carbon metabolic diversity of Hydrothermarchaeota members, including the utilization of proteins, lactate, and acetate; the anaerobic degradation of aromatics; the oxidation of C1 compounds (CO, formate, and formaldehyde); the utilization of methyl compounds; CO2 incorporation by the tetrahydromethanopterin-based WoodLjungdahl pathway; and participation in the type III ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase-based Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. These microbes also potentially oxidize sulfur, arsenic, and hydrogen and engage in anaerobic respiration based on sulfate reduction and denitrification. Among the 140 MAGs reconstructed from the black smoker chimney microbial community (including Hydrothermarchaeota MAGs), community-level metabolic predictions suggested a redundancy of carbon utilization and element cycling functions and interactive syntrophic and sequential utilization of substrates. These processes might make various carbon and energy sources widely accessible to the microorganisms. Further, the analysis suggested that Hydrothermarchaeota members contained important functional components obtained from the community via lateral gene transfer, becoming a distinctive clade. This might serve as a niche-adaptive strategy for metabolizing heavy metals, C1 compounds, and reduced sulfur compounds. Collectively, the analysis provides comprehensive metabolic insights into the Hydrothermarchaeota. IMPORTANCE This study provides comprehensive metabolic insights into the Hydrothermarchaeota from comparative genomics, evolution, and community-level perspectives. Members of the Hydrothermarchaeota synergistically participate in a wide range of carbon-utilizing and element cycling processes with other microorganisms in the community. We expand the current understanding of community interactions within the hydrothermal sediment and chimney, suggesting that microbial interactions based on sequential substrate metabolism are essential to nutrient and ele-


This study sought to identify the extent of students' initiation of ideas in the classroom using three classroom interaction techniques. All senior secondary schools in Port Harcourt Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria constituted the population. One research question guided the study. One hypothesis was tested and analysed using chi square statistics. The population is made up of 10,983 students 496 teachers. The sample is made up of 1098 students and 12 teachers. SS1 and SS11 students in three public participated in the study. Six classroom were used; three in SS1 and three in SS11 respectively. Six teachers taught SS1 and six teachers taught SS11 using a technique (Flanders, IRE, and Teaching Cycles). Twelve lessons were recorded on a cassette, transcribed, coded and analysed. Flanders category was the observational instrument. Test- retest method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument at 0.87 co-efficient. The result showed students' initiation ideas in the classroom is not contingent on classroom technique used. The extent of students' initiation of ideas in the classroom is very minimal therefore teacher should go extra step to encourage voluntary verbal contribution by the students' in every classroom. This makes them more critical and reflective in weighing life challenges.


Wallas put forward an important creative process model and defined four stages of creativity as follows: preparation,incubation,illumination,and verification. The investigations of brain state before the presentation of a creative problem show that the neural activity of the preparation stage is associate with medial PFC/ACC and temporal areas. The neuroscientific researches on presentation of a hint during incubation,delayed insight and mind-wandering reflect the neural correlates of incubation,and the main active brain regions during this stage include hippocampus and ventrolateral PFC. The last two stages are associated with a neural network consisting of several brain regions including PFC,ACC,superior temporal gyrus,hippocampus,precunes,cunes,lingual gyrus and cerebellum et al. The PFC and ACC are involved in different kinds of insight problem solving; the superior temporal gyrus is responsible for the formation of remote associations; the hippocampus is associated with the process of mental set breaking and formation of novel associations; the lateral prefrontal cortex is responsible for mental set shifting; the precunes,left middle/inferior frontal gyrus and lingual gyrus participate in the process of prototype activation. In addition,the verification of the details of solution is found to rely on the left lateral prefrontal cortex. Future studies can be improved in the aspects of research subjects,contents and methods,so that the process of creative thinking can be investigated systematically.


This study determined toxic heavy metal concentration in Local and Foreign brands of lipsticks sold in FCT, Abuja Nigeria. The study analyzed twenty (20) samples of lipsticks comprising of ten (10) Local and ten (10) Foreign brands for Lead using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometric (FAAS) method. The mean concentration range of Lead in both the Local and the Foreign lipstick samples and their estimated daily intake by average users are 22-714.70 μg/g and 74.9-47927μg/g with the estimated daily intake by the average users as 1.056- 34.305 μg/g (Local samples) and 3.595 – 2300.496 μg/g. (Foreign), while the estimated daily intake by high users are 3.828 – 124.358 μg/g (Local) and 13.023 – 8339.298 μg/g (Foreign).The estimated concentration of Lead ingested daily intake in the Local and the Foreign samples indicated 20% and 70% of the samples were not safe for the average users. While the ingested daily intake in the Local and the Foreign samples indicated 50% and 90% of the samples were also not safe for high users as compared to WHO limit (20 μg/g) for Lead specified in cosmetic. Thus, continuous usage of these lipsticks can increase rate of exposure of the body system to Lead related disease conditions such as cancer which is known to be detrimental. Keywords: Lipstick, Lead, AAS, Health hazard


Historians have begun to think about the emergence of the early modern 'state' in complex and creative ways, far from the conventional focus on overweening central bureaucracies. One component of this discourse is the role of criminal law and criminal prosecution, which, it has been argued (particularly by English scholars), assisted state-forming processes by providing a universal interface between ruler and ruled, and by demarcating common patterns of behaviour. This paper attempts to apply these ideas to the case of early modern Scotland—whose decentralised legal system and reputation for judicial barbarity has tended to discourage research—through detailed analysis of the judicial activities of the Privy Council. Focusing on the reigns of Charles II and James VII & II, the paper assesses the Council's theoretical competence as a criminal court, and also reconstructs its day-to-day activities in terms of the kinds of cases tried, the varieties of punishment imposed, and the use of alternative mechanisms such as judicial commissions. The paper argues that the Restoration Privy Council was clearly able to utilise its judicial powers as a state-building tool, despite the general diffuseness of judicial authority in Scotland. It is suggested, therefore, that the Scottish data confirms the utility of criminal prosecution in early modern projects of state formation, underlining historians' need to conceptualise the process in broad, multi-faceted terms.


Outbreaks of Paraleyrodes minei Iaccarino have been noted on citrus in a wide area along the whole eastern coast of Sicily (South Italy), in the districts of Catania, Messina and Siracusa. Until this year, the whitefly was only reported in Italy from a few samples collected on a limited number of ornamental sour orange trees in a town park in Portici, in the district of Naples. Findings in 2014 of the insect in Sicily were made not only on ornamental citrus trees in urban areas, but more importantly in orange, lemon and mandarin commercial orchards. This severe and extremely rapid spread of P. minei in Sicily (where more than half of Italian citrus are produced) represents a potential threat for the local citrus industry and requires careful monitoring to define both the actual pest status of the whitefly as well as the occurrence and role of eventual natural enemies. Brief notes on morphology, bio‐ecology and present geographical distribution of P. minei are given in this paper, together with details on the occurrences in Sicily and short considerations on the pest importance and control possibilities for this insect.


In this paper, we share some observations we have made in some of our courses. We give some examples that increase students' interest when given an opportunity to use some mathematics software exploring some concepts in the course content. For studying group action, which is one of the standard mathematical topics in algebra, we give some data to students and ask them to produce their own conjectures. Results show that our students are more willing to prove their own conjectures and eagerly try to explain them.


The prevalence of viable Toxoplasma gondii was determined in 6,282 samples (2,094 each of beef, chicken, and pork) obtained from 698 retail meat stores from 28 major geographic areas of the United States. Each sample consisted of a minimum of 1 kg of meat purchased from the retail meat case. To detect viable T. gondii, meat samples were fed to T. gondii-free cats and feces of cats were examined for oocyst shedding. Initially, 100 g of meat from 6 individual samples of a given species were pooled (total, 600 g), fed to a cat over a period of 3 days, and feces were examined for oocysts for 14 days; the remaining meat samples were stored at 4 C for 14 days (until results of the initial cat fecal examination were known). When a cat fed pooled samples had shed oocysts, 6 individual meat samples from each pool were bioassayed for T. gondii in cats and mice. Toxoplasma gondii isolates were then genetically characterized using the SAG2 locus and 5 hypervariable microsatellite loci. In all, 7 cats fed pooled pork samples shed oocysts. Toxoplasma gondii oocysts were detected microscopically in the feces of 2 of the cats; 1 isolate was Type II and the second was Type III. Analyzed individually, T. gondii was detected by bioassay in 3 of the 12 associated samples with genetic data indicating T. gondii isolates present in 2. The remaining 5 pooled pork samples had so few oocysts that they were not initially detected by microscopic examination, but rather by mouse bioassay of cat feces. Two were Type I, 1 was Type II, and 2 were Type III. None of the cats fed chicken or beef samples shed oocysts. Overall, the prevalence of viable T. gondii in retail meat was very low. Nevertheless, consumers, especially pregnant women, should be aware that they can acquire T. gondii infection from ingestion of undercooked meat, and in particular, pork. Cooking meat to an internal temperature of 66 C kills T. gondii.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Effective communication among health care providers within an institution is vital for ensuring patient safety.  A radiologist's competence in identifying critical findings is just as important as being able to relay this information to the primary provider in a timely manner so that appropriate interventions can be initiated in life-threatening emergencies. This study aims to obtain baseline data regarding effective communication of critical findings between radiology and the primary health care providers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on the Massachusetts's Coalition for Prevention of Medical Errors safe practice recommendations, a communication protocol was developed. Certain selected cranial critical findings (new hemorrhage, new herniation, acute brain edema, acute stroke and findings suggestive of meningitis or abscess) were used in the critical findings protocol. Total communication time (TCT) in the relay of critical findings included time from CT scan order to scan (OS time), time from scan to interpretation (SI) and time from interpretation to relay (IR).  All these times were recorded and compared to the standard 60 minutes using percent compliance, mean time, median time and standard deviation.

RESULTS: Seventy-nine (79) critical findings were recorded and relayed in a 30-day period. There was 100% (79/79) compliance with the relay of critical findings to the primary care team and 97.5% (77/79) success rate in direct communication of critical findings within 60 minutes of identification. The mean OS time was 155.09 (±134.43) minutes, mean SI time was 46.54 (±44.01) minutes, and mean IR time was 9.13 (±12.04) minutes. The average time elapsed from CT study acquisition to direct notification was 57.0 (± 45.80) minutes.

CONCLUSION: Effective communication of critical findings using a protocol adopted from set standards of safe practice recommendations is achievable in our institution. The proposed protocol exhibited compliance to and performed well against established benchmarks. The timely identification and delivery of critical findings to the primary care team is central to patient management and should be practiced in our setting.

Keywords: critical finding, effective communication, cranial CT, standards


The recently isolated gene for neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) encodes a 595 amino acid protein, named merlin, which is related to the cytoskeleton-associated proteins moesin, ezrin and radixin. To identify evolutionarily conserved regions and to provide sequence information necessary for the establishment of a mouse model for NF2, we have determined the cDNA sequence of the mouse NF2 tumor suppressor gene, and mapped it in the mouse genome. Mouse merlin is a 596 amino acid protein, 98% identical to human merlin, but one amino acid longer due to the insertion of a proline residue near the C-terminus. Of the nine amino acid differences between mouse and humans, seven occur in the C-terminal 20% of the protein, far from the protein 4.1 domain that defines this family. Two of the NF2 cDNA clones reveal evidence of alternative splicing events that alter the predicted merlin product, one removing a 45 amino acid segment from the middle section of the protein and the other changing the C-terminus. The existence of several different forms of merlin potentially with different primary roles will complicate the identification of the precise function that must be disrupted to cause the NF2-associated tumors. The mouse NF2 homologue maps to Chr 11, in a region homologous to human Chr 22, but devoid of any mouse mutations which could be models of the human disorder.


Accurate weed emergence models are valuable tools for scheduling planting, cultivation, and herbicide applications. Multiple models predicting giant ragweed emergence have been developed, but none have been validated in diverse crop rotation and tillage systems, which have the potential to influence weed emergence patterns. This study evaluated the performance of published giant ragweed emergence models across various crop rotations and spring tillage dates in southern Minnesota. Across experiments, the most robust model was a mixed-effects Weibull (flexible sigmoidal function) model predicting emergence in relation to hydrothermal time accumulation with a base temperature of 4.4 C, a base soil matric potential of -2.5 MPa, and two random effects determined by overwinter growing degree days (GDD) (10 C) and precipitation accumulated during seedling recruitment. The deviations in emergence between individual plots and the fixed-effects model were distinguished by the positive association between the lower horizontal asymptote (Drop) and maximum daily soil temperature during seedling recruitment. This finding indicates that crops and management practices that increase soil temperature will have a shorter lag phase at the start of giant ragweed emergence compared with practices promoting cool soil temperatures. Thus, crops with earlyseason crop canopies such as perennial crops and crops planted in early spring and in narrow rows will likely have a slower progression of giant ragweed emergence. This research provides a valuable assessment of published giant ragweed emergence models and illustrates that accurate emergence models can be used to time field operations and improve giant ragweed control across diverse cropping systems. Nomenclature: Giant ragweed, Ambrosia trifida L. AMBTR.


Metamorphic reactions within the Earth's crust produce fluids of variable composition that play a major role in the evolution of continents. Metamorphic fluids facilitate reactions that alter crustal rheology, reduce melting temperature, cycle elements between geological reservoirs and form ore deposits. These fluids are relatively inaccessible, other than by study of fluid inclusions, so most studies rely on a combination of indirect evidence and predictive thermodynamic models to determine the characteristics and roles of the fluids. In this article, the origins, compositions, controlling phase equilibria, and roles of metamorphic fluids are reviewed, followed by a discussion of selected areas of current and future research.


The Flying Geese (FG) began with the original model in the 1930s delineating the catch-up process of a singular late industrializer, namely Japan, from the late 19th century, and has since evolved into a prototype development framework of collective catch-up process of national economies as a regional group (such as East Asia). It has also evolved as an intellectual guideline that early industrializers may deploy in their diplomatic discourse with late industrializers. This Asian model underlines the generally positive nature of Centre-Periphery interplay, which is in clear contrast with critical perspectives of the Latin American structuralist school. This dissertation addresses the FG paradigm by reconstructing its intellectual lineage by undertaking some primary archival research (in Japanese) from the prewar period, together with an extensive literature review of major scholastic works in the postwar period, particularly after the 1960s on the East Asian development performance. The thesis highlights how the evolutionary process has transformed many parts of the model, and critically discusses various conceptual problems associated with different versions of the model.
The rise (and fall) of the model's appeal, particularly as a regional development model for East Asia (and beyond), has been attributable to the varying degrees of intensity and zeal with which its proponents have advocated the model. The model has gone through a "subsided period" twice, first, after Japan's defeat in World War II (WWII) (until the early 1960s), and second, after the burst of the country's financial bubble in the early 1990s (until the 2000s). After each hiatus, nonetheless, the model has revived. The first revival (from the 1960s to the early 1990s) may be attributed to Japanese researchers and policy-makers dealing with Japan's industrial reforms in the context of East Asian development, and the second revival (from the 2000s to the present) to new researchers on China's industrialization and development diplomacy. The change of the FG proponents has also affected some aspects of the model, while keeping some of its core elements intact.
The analysis in this thesis compares and contrasts the Japan-centric model and the China-centric model. It argues that whereas the Japan-centric model dealt with the national (domestic) and regional (East Asian) development processes in a sequential fashion, the China-centric model now deals with two processes in a very compressed fashion. In fact, the contemporary model admits the simultaneous occurrence of the "internal" industrial diffusion within China and the conventional "external" (cross-border) industrial diffusion. Furthermore, China's overall development trajectory encompasses a much wider area than East Asia, as its need for large external resources and markets for its own development has obliged this emerging economy to widen the scope of its foreign economic policy. The geographical sphere to which the FG paradigm applies under China's initiative is fluid, and certainly much greater than East Asia.
As far as the functional validity of the FG paradigm for East Asia is concerned, the emergence of China in the dynamic context of the region (and beyond) is a mixed blessing. This is because the sustained function of the model depends, most importantly, on the existence of a hierarchy of development achievement – or technology gap – among constituent regional economies. Here, a major fear is "flattening" of the regional hierarchy, either due to the very slow pace of industrial upgrading of leaders (most notably Japan but the 1st-tier NIEs as well) or due to the very rapid catch-up of followers (most of all China), may frustrate the presumed "orderly" industrial upgrading of the region. Certainly, the rapid expansion of China's economic performance contains the danger of "middle-income trap" for some East Asian economies, particularly the 2nd-tier NIEs, which may suffer from "premature deindustrialization".


High levels of adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) are necessary for achieving and maintaining optimal virological suppression, as suboptimal adherence leads to therapy failure and disease progression. It is well known that adherence to ART predicts therapy response, but it is unclear whether clinical outcomes of ART predict adherence. To examine the predictive power of current CD4+ T cell count for adherence of HIV-infected individuals to ART, we performed a cross-sectional analysis of 133 Dutch HIV patients with electronically measured adherence. In a multivariate analysis adjusting for a number of sociodemographic and clinical variables, high current CD4+ T cell count (>660 cells/mm3) was most strongly associated with lower adherence to ART (assessed as a continuous variable) during a two-month period immediately following the measurements of variables (P = 0.008). The twice-per-day (versus once-per-day) dosing regimen was also significantly associated with lower adherence (P = 0.014). In a second multivariate analysis aimed at determining the predictors of suboptimal (<100% of the doses taken) adherence, high current CD4+ T cell count was again the strongest independent predictor of suboptimal adherence to ART (P = 0.015), and the twice-per-day dosing regimen remained associated with suboptimal adherence (P = 0.025). The association between suboptimal adherence and virological suppression was significant in patients with high CD4+ T cell counts, but not in patients with low or intermediate CD4+ T cell counts (P = 0.036 and P = 0.52, respectively; P = 0.047 for comparison of the effects of adherence on virological suppression between patients with high vs. low or intermediate CD4+ T cell counts), suggesting that apart from promoting suboptimal adherence, high CD4+ T cell count also strengthens the effect of adherence on virological suppression. Therefore, sustained efforts to emphasize continued adherence are necessary, especially for patients with high CD4+ T cell counts.


We discuss the important roles which impulsive processes seem likely to play in the formation of binary star systems and higher multiples. On the basis of numerical simulations and theoretical considerations, we show (i) that when a dense layer is produced by a cloud/cloud (or clump/clump) collision, or a dense shell is swept up by an expanding nebula (HII Region, Stellar-Wind Bubble or Supernova Remnant), fragmentation leads to the formation of small-N subclusters of massive protostellar discs, including many wide binaries; (ii) that impulsive interactions between these protostellar discs are frequent and can lead to an hierarchical cascade, spawning new protostellar discs in closer binary systems, plus some escapers. This cascade is particularly effective if there is continuing infall replenishing the protostellar discs. The binaries formed have a wide range of separations and orbital eccentricities, and the Mass Function of the new protostars has an exponent ~-1


Abstract: This essay is an experiment in figuring the pandemic through its reconfigurations of Chineseness. It departs from the Sinophobic cliché that conflates race, geopolitics, and epidemiology: the "China Virus" and its cloud of cognate slurs. It considers the slogan-slur as both an epithet and a conceptual and political challenge to imagine the pandemic as it is lived, still, as a disorientation of Asian and Asian American life, time, and death. The essay pauses at each of the three Lunar New Years of the pandemic, so far, to consider how Chineseness—as a national example, as a mode of racialization, and as a site of racial suspicion—might upset a US-based accounting of the pandemic, which frames it only through its arrival on American shores.


This paper reviews data from the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors to establish where dc-dc converters are headed in the first decade of the new millennium. It focuses on the high performance computing (high current, fast response, high power density) and portable/handheld (low profile) sectors. Magnetics and power device packaging technologies needed to allow power supplies to move to operating frequencies in the 1-10 MHz region are discussed. It introduces the concept of magnetic components fully embedded (windings and core) in PCB and silicon offering low profile and low losses at high frequency. It also reviews developments in wirebond-free power packaging such as flip-chip assembly that offer low profile, reduced parasitics and increased thermal performance. Finally, consideration is given to the changes in the power electronics industry that may need to be addressed to enable these new technologies to play a strategic role.


Surfactants are known to enhance the photophysical properties of dyes. In this work, a photophysical study of xanthene dyes in micellar media of single and double alkyl chain cationic chromium-based metallosurfactants has been carried out. For this study, two chromium complexes, i.e. hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium chromium trichlorate and bishexadecyltrimethyl ammonium chromium tetrachlorate, were synthesized and characterized using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance. Conductivity and surface tension methods were employed to assess the role of the metal ion (which is present as part of the counter-ion) in the self-aggregation behavior of as-synthesized metallosurfactants. Furthermore, the interaction of two chromium metallosurfactants was investigated with xanthene dyes (fluorescein and eosin yellow), wherein binding constants were evaluated using fluorescence and UV-vis spectroscopy. Due to the difference in the structure of the dyes, fluorescein shows a higher binding value than eosin yellow. This may be due to the steric crowding of eosin yellow due to an additional substituent that causes difficulty in the interaction of the apolar group of the dye with the hydrophilic region of the chromium complexes. The solubilization loci of both the dyes were estimated where fluorescein being hydrophobic occupied the hydrophobic core of the metallomicelles and eosin yellow was present in the outer polar Stern region. The double alkyl chain chromium metallosurfactant, being more hydrophobic, exhibits strong binding towards fluorescein and eosin yellow in comparison to the single alkyl chain chromium metallosurfactant. Moreover, chromium metallosurfactants enhance the solubilization and fluorescence quantum yield of the dyes.


Abstract Significant anoxia may cause a variety of neuropathologic changes as well as cognitive deficits. We have recently seen 3 patients who have suffered severe anoxic episodes all with initial Glasgow Coma Scores (GCS) of 3 with sustained coma for 10–14 d. All 3 patients had extended hospitalizations and rehabilitation therapy. A neuropsychological test battery was administered and volumetric analyses of MRI scans were carried out in each case at least 6 mo postinjury. Two of the patients display distinct residual cognitive and neuropathologic changes while 1 patient made a remarkable recovery without evidence of significant morphological abnormality. These three cases demonstrate, that even with similar admission GCS, the outcome is variable and the degree of neuropsychological impairment appears to match the degree of morphologic abnormalities demonstrated by quantitative MR image analysis. An important finding of this study is that even though subjects with an anoxic insult exhibit severe cognitive and memory impairments along with concomitant morphologic changes, their attention/concentration abilities appear to be preserved. MR morphometry provides an excellent means by which neural structural changes can be quantified and compared to neuropsychological and behavioral outcomes. (JINS, 1995, I, 501–509.)


Convergence zones present very different morphologies depending on the type of the lithosphere involved (oceanic or continental). In the same way, the content of buried material is also different (oceanic crust, continental crust, sediments). Field and metamorphic P-T-t data suggest contrasting exhumation modes for these different materials (e.g., structural location within the orogenic belt, shape of the P-T path, exhumation rates). We herein present several numerical subduction models that are implemented using the thermo-mechanically and thermo-dynamically coupled code PARA(O)VOZ. The results of our models are compared with the available data for the alpine belt, where the continental subduction of the European passive margin followed the oceanic subduction of the Liguro-Piemontese ocean. They show that: (1) Our experiments can successfully reproduce natural data (topography, morphology and P-T-t paths). (2) In the oceanic subduction context, exhumation of sediments within a steady sedimentary accretionary wedge occurs only if the overriding continental plate has a strong lower crust, if the sediments have a high viscosity and/or a low density, and if the convergence rate is slow (30 mm.an-1). Moreover, exhumation of oceanic crust occurs only in the presence of a weak serpentinite layer located below the subducting oceanic crust. (3) In the continental subduction context, our experiments reproduce the reported biphase evolution of exhumation rate of high-pressure rocks, fast at mantle depths (>10 mm.yr-1) and slow at crustal depths (<4 mm.yr-1). Such a bi-phase evolution is more pronounced for slow convergence rates. UHP exhumation in a slow convergence context also requires the presence of a double-layered continental crust for the subducting plate, and leads to self-localization of non-predefined crustal "separation zones" near the level of the brittle-ductile transition, from which the low-density continental material is exhumed. (4) The syn-convergent exhumation of continental material at the rear of the accretionary wedge is a transient process (< 10 Myr) that is largely controlled by the balance of buoyancy and viscous forces within the depth interval of 35-100 km and by erosion at shallower depths (< 35 km). Our models also indicate that slab break-off does not have a significant impact on the rates of exhumation.


Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common health problem in Indonesia. Currently, Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is the gold standard to diagnose and monitor DM patient. HbA1c could be assessed using turbidimetry immunoassay and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). However, the comparison between the two devices is never conducted. Thus, this study aimed to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and correlation of HbA1c measurements using turbidimetry immunoassay method compared to HPLC as the gold standard. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from May to June 2017to measure the diagnostic values and correlation test between turbidimetry immunoassay method and HPLC. Diagnostic values were measured as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). Blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes and measured with turbidimetry immunoassay and HPLC, with a cut-off value of 6.5 mg/dL. Results: Fifty samples were collected during the study. HbA1c ≥6.5mg/dL were obtained from 27 samples, and normal results were obtained from 23 samples. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV from turbidimetry immunoassay were 92.86%, 100%, 100%, and 91.67% respectively. Pearson correlation test of HbA1c result from turbidimetry immunoassay and HPLC revealed a strong positive correlation with r = 0,988. The ROC curve analysis yield AUC value of 0.926 with P=0.000 which indicate a strong diagnostic value.Conclusion: Turbidimetry immunoassay method had high sensitivity and specificity and had strong diagnostic value according to ROC analysis. There was also a strong positive correlation between turbidimetry immunoassay and HPLC HbA1c reading. Keyword s : HbA1c, HPLC, Turbidimetry immunoassay .


This study investigates into the effects of a competence-based approach to the training of teachers in further and adult education. The study focuses on the 'traditional' City and Guilds 7307 Further and Adult Education Teacher's Certificate and the competence-based City and Guilds 7306 Further and Adult Education Teacher's Certificate which follows the NVQ model. The study seeks to investigate the perceptions of practitioners in the further education sector who have delivered both courses in terms of the differences between the two programmes, and how those differences affect their professional practice, the students' learning experiences and the students' professional knowledge.

Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, and the participants consisted of 14 practitioners in the South West of England, and a further eight practitioners from around the UK. The first group were interviewed face-to-face. Interviews were audio-recorded, and full transcripts were made. The second group were interviewed via e-mail. Supplementary interviews were also conducted with three City & Guilds officials, and a representative from FENTO and from an NTO. These were conducted by e-mail or by telephone.

The data were analysed using theme analysis, where categories are allowed to emerge from the data, rather than being imposed upon them. Emergent themes are then analysed and categorised to shed light on the research questions.

The results of the study indicated that practitioners saw the key difference between the two programmes to be that of assessment, that assessment on the NVQ model tended to dominate their practice, that students found the NVQ programme to be less enjoyable than the traditional one, and that students' professional knowledge was less profound on the NVQ model than on the traditional one.


Public sector organisations are increasingly introducing eProcurement systems in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their procurement processes. This clearly has implications for their suppliers, who are being asked to adopt eProcurement. For many SMEs, particularly small and micro businesses, this is proving a difficult challenge given their lack of eProcurement knowledge, as well as their resource shortages. It is at the Local Authority (LA) level that this situation is most problematic, as SMEs tend to supply more to local than central government. This paper presents the results of research undertaken with LAs and SMEs as part of the EPROC project. In particular, it provides insights into the level of eProcurement use and development in LAs in North West Europe, and illustrates how the introduction of eProcurement could have a negative impact on local economies and communities if LAs don't help their SMEs to adopt eProcurement. The paper also reports on the findings of research conducted with SMEs in relation to the problems they've experienced in undertaking eProcurement with LAs, and details how some LAs are engaging with their local SMEs to help them become 'eProcurement ready'. The research has demonstrated there is a need to bridge the knowledge gap between SME understanding and awareness of LA eProcurement developments on the one hand, and on the other, LA understanding of the typical eProcurement capabilities of their SME supplier base. To meet these needs, the EPROC project has developed separate eProcurement guides for SMEs and LAs.


The paper looks at the development of the secular stagnation thesis, in the context of the economic history of the time. It explores some 19th century antecedents of the thesis, before turning to its interwar development. Not only Alvin Hansen, but Keynes and Hicks were involved in the conversations that led to Hansen's eventual statement of the thesis that we are familiar with. The argument made sense in the context of the interwar period, but more so in Britain than the US.


Although research has demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of panic disorder (PD), some patients do not have an adequate response to this treatment. Several previous studies found that personality functioning was a prognostic indicator of treatment outcome. The present study examined the effects of personality characteristics on outcome of 18 PD patients treated with a 12-week trial of CBT. Results of this study indicated that although looking at the presence of significant scale elevations on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) yielded no outcome differences, treatment responders showed relative differences in specific personality characteristics (lower initial scores on borderline, histrionic, schizoid, schizotypal, antisocial, aggressive/sadistic, and self defeating scales, and higher initial scores on the compulsive scale). Additionally, the entire group of panic disorder patients showed global improvement in personality functioning with c...