Summary
1In recent years the use of species distribution models by ecologists and conservation managers has increased considerably, along with an awareness of the need to provide accuracy assessment for predictions of such models. The kappa statistic is the most widely used measure for the performance of models generating presence–absence predictions, but several studies have criticized it for being inherently dependent on prevalence, and argued that this dependency introduces statistical artefacts to estimates of predictive accuracy. This criticism has been supported recently by computer simulations showing that kappa responds to the prevalence of the modelled species in a unimodal fashion.
2In this paper we provide a theoretical explanation for the observed dependence of kappa on prevalence, and introduce into ecology an alternative measure of accuracy, the true skill statistic (TSS), which corrects for this dependence while still keeping all the advantages of kappa. We also compare the responses of kappa and TSS to prevalence using empirical data, by modelling distribution patterns of 128 species of woody plant in Israel.
3The theoretical analysis shows that kappa responds in a unimodal fashion to variation in prevalence and that the level of prevalence that maximizes kappa depends on the ratio between sensitivity (the proportion of correctly predicted presences) and specificity (the proportion of correctly predicted absences). In contrast, TSS is independent of prevalence.
4When the two measures of accuracy were compared using empirical data, kappa showed a unimodal response to prevalence, in agreement with the theoretical analysis. TSS showed a decreasing linear response to prevalence, a result we interpret as reflecting true ecological phenomena rather than a statistical artefact. This interpretation is supported by the fact that a similar pattern was found for the area under the ROC curve, a measure known to be independent of prevalence.
5Synthesis and applications. Our results provide theoretical and empirical evidence that kappa, one of the most widely used measures of model performance in ecology, has serious limitations that make it unsuitable for such applications. The alternative we suggest, TSS, compensates for the shortcomings of kappa while keeping all of its advantages. We therefore recommend the TSS as a simple and intuitive measure for the performance of species distribution models when predictions are expressed as presence–absence maps.


Haloalkane dehalogenases are hydrolytic enzymes with a broad range of potential practical applications such as biodegradation, biosensing, biocatalysis and cellular imaging. Two newly isolated psychrophilic haloalkane dehalogenases exhibiting interesting catalytic properties, DpcA from Psychrobacter cryohalolentis K5 and DmxA from Marinobacter sp. ELB17, were purified and used for crystallization experiments. After the optimization of crystallization conditions, crystals of diffraction quality were obtained. Diffraction data sets were collected for native enzymes and complexes with selected ligands such as 1-bromohexane and 1,2-dichloroethane to resolutions ranging from 1.05 to 2.49 Å.


Summary: We report 2 patients with dural arteriovenous fistula of the anterior condylar vein in which the patients presented with rare clinical symptoms related to unusual venous drainage patterns. The first patient had progressive myelopathy and showed venous drainage into the anterior spinal vein. The second had ocular signs and showed retrograde drainage into the superior ophthalmic vein. Complete cure was attained by transarterial glue injection in the first patient and transvenous coil embolization in the latter.


Nancy Hanks, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) from 1969 to 1977, turned this fledgling organization into a major instrument for government support of the arts-accomplishing thereby a virtual revolution in the public arts policy of the United States. She died of cancer on January 7, 1983; later that year, at the request of Congress, President Ronald Reagan designated the building complex at Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street (the "Old Post Office") in Washington, D.C., as the Nancy Hanks Center. This biography captures the spirit and the flavor of Ms. Hanks's remarkable life, above all during the eight years in which she led the Endowment. Tracing her childhood in Florida and North Carolina through her achievements as a student leader at Duke University, Straight makes clear her conscious effort to find a path with more scope than the usual marriage-and-a-family when expected of Southern women. Nancy Hanks went to Washington and found a job with the Office of War Mobilization. She later worked with Nelson Rockefeller, who became governor of New York, a Republican party luminary, and vice president under Gerald Ford, in addition to being an heir to one of America's greatest fortunes. Her relationship with Rockefeller was crucial to her personal life, and his conception of government and its role and a lasting influence on her career. Straight examines Nancy Hanks's leadership of the NEA and takes particular note of the intense debate over the role of government in fostering American artistic expression, an issue with roots running back through the New Deal to the early history of the United States. Nancy Hanks took a strong and activist role in the formulation and administration of a national arts policy, and her accomplishments have left an indelible mark on public support for arts in the United States. Straight, who worked closely with Ms. Hanks and admired her despite frequent policy disagreements, deals honestly with both the successes and failures of her efforts. His biography imparts a sense of the reasons why her many friends felt such loyalty to this complex and gifted woman.


The predictive power of the middle arm circumference for early identification of acute malnutrition in preschool and school children hospitalized in two hospitals in Valencia, Carabobo state. Was evaluated 182 children aged 2-10 years were evaluated. Anthropometric nutritional status calculated by: mid-arm circumference for age MAC and weight for height P/T. SPSS version 15.0 and Statistix version 6.0 was used. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value was determined by Bayes Theorem; Kappa index for correspondence; Diagnosis of acute malnutrition and sensitivity by MAC and area under the curve ROC; 95% confidence level. We found 51.1% male, 48.9% female, age 5.2 ± 2.2 years; 71.4% pre-school, school 28.6% (p = 0.000) between ages. When adjusted for sex and age, the CMB was significantly correlated with weight (r = 0.804; p = 0.000) and height (r = 0.510; p = 0.000). Kappa index of 0.720 (p = 0.000) for the comparison between P/T and CMB in the diagnosis of acute malnutrition. Acute malnutrition 28% prevalence for P/T and 34.6% for MAC, with agreement between both indicators. MAC showed good sensitivity and specificity, being more sensitive and specific in pre-school and school male children with acute malnutrition. 14.9 cm of cutoff point for acute malnutrition in preschool, with 85.5% sensitivity; 74.5% specificity; for school 16 cm with 89.2% sensitivity; 80% specificity. MAC showed better predictor of acute malnutrition P/T. It is recommended to set specific cutoffs for age and sex, for the definition and classification of nutritional deficit.


Cole Family Planning [5] No-scalpel vasectomy, or NSV or keyhole vasectomy, is a surgical method of sterilization [7] that involves puncturing the skin of the scrotum to access the vas deferens, a tube that carries spermatozoa [8] , or sperm [9] , from the testes [10] to the penis. The surgeon performing the procedure blocks the flow of sperm [9] through the vas deferens, sterilizing the patient. NSV is a less invasive procedure, as it does not use a scalpel to make a deep cut on sensitive scrotal tissue. Typically, urologists perform NSV with the purpose of rendering the patient sterile while not altering other functions of the testes [10] , scrotum, and penis. Li Shunqiang technique in in 1974 as a less invasive method of vasectomy for male patients. Li's development of NSV provided an alternative method to vasectomies that rely on making incisions into the scrotum with a blade. NSV wide use as a sterilization [7] technique, providing a path for males to take greater responsibility for contraception [11] and family planning [12] .


Developed here is a value at risk-based measure of portfolio performance called the reward-to-VaR ratio. It is demonstrated that, under normality, the reward-to-VaR ratio gives the same ranking for portfolio performance as the frequently used Sharpe ratio. Under non-normality, the reward-to-VaR ratio at one confidence level may give a ranking for portfolio performance different from the ranking obtained at a different confidence level. This indicates that the risk-taking incentives of a portfolio manager in a VaR-based risk management system can be substantially different from the incentives in a Sharpe ratio-based system.


This paper reports the results of three studies using mood induction procedures (MIPs) designed to investigate the relationship between anxiety and disgust. Study 1 used guided imagery vignettes (i.e., asking participants to imagine themselves in a series of described situations) and music (Mayer, Allen, & Beauregard, 1995). Study 2 used video clips (Gross & Levenson, 1995). Study 3 used autobiographical recall and music (Blagden & Craske, 1996). In order to be as sure as possible that target moods were being induced, and that manipulation checks provided good evidence of mood induction, Studies 1 and 2 measured six moods (anxiety, sadness, happiness, anger, disgust, and contempt) on visual analogue scales. In addition, Study 3 included two further mood measures: a 30-adjective rating scale measuring 10 emotions, the Differential Emotion Scale (DES; Izard, 1972) and a free label questionnaire, allowing participants to record how they feel without any prior imposed structure. Results from all three studies demonstrated that induced anxiety will produce increases in reported disgust, but there was no evidence for an effect of induced disgust on reported anxiety. These findings were independent of the type of MIP (guided imagery vignette and music, video clips, and autobiographical recall and music), and the type of dependent mood measure used (visual analogue scale, differential emotion scale or a free label questionnaire). The findings have important implications for the putative role of disgust in anxious psychopathologies, and suggest that if disgust does have a causal influence in some anxious psychopathologies, this influence is not mediated simply by experienced disgust facilitating experienced anxiety.


Previous studies have shown that one can exploit "wisdom of crowds" by oneself. This is achieved by aggregating multiple "quasi-independent" estimates from the same person. However, previous methods were not necessarily easy to utilize. Therefore, we propose an efficient method based on perspective-taking. The procedure is as follows: First, one makes her/his own estimation. Second, one estimates again based on a different perspective ("general public"). Then these two estimations were averaged. Two experiments revealed that our method effectively induced the wisdom of crowds by oneself. More importantly, participants in our method made estimations more quickly than those in a previously proposed method, suggesting that our method required a relatively diminished cognitive load for participants. Further investigation suggested that our method was immune to adverse effects of confidence. Therefore, the present findings show that our method could be effective and efficient method for inducing the wisdom of crowds in one mind.


UM71C track circuit detects a train by the Audio frequency(AF) signal through rails on the KTX. The track circuit does not use a physical insulating joint, but is electrically isolated using a passive LC filter. The passive LC filter used in the boundary of the track circuit is composed of the L and C in series or in parallel to separate the tracks. The filters are selected by using the resonant filter that cut-off or passes frequencies. Therefore, the change in the boundary characteristic of track is generated by changing the line of the track circuit constants and L, C characteristic of the filters. To analyze the circuit 4-port network analysis using Transmission line theory and uses Matlab Simulink.


We retrospectively reviewed the 4.5 year (range, 21–88 months) follow-up results of arthroscopic partial meniscectomies performed in 11 knees between 1994 and 2000 to treat a symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus. The average age at surgery was 11.5 years (range, 5–17 years). All except one of the discoid menisci were of a complete type, and all except three were torn menisci. At the latest follow-up examination, the result was excellent for nine knees, and good for two; no degenerative changes were evident on the roentgenograms. Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy should be the treatment of choice for the complete type symptomatic lateral discoid meniscus, even if it is intact. Preoperative lack of the knee extension requires a gentle rehabilitation program postoperatively.


We describe a system (GOLEM) which is aimed at formalising, implementing and experimenting different kinds and levels of social cooperation, represented by different social attitudes or personality traits. First, we examine why personalities in agents are needed and what they are. Second, we propose our definition of the two basic elements of Multi Agent cooperative activity (Delegation and Adoption), explaining how they are related to the agent's level of autonomy and of cooperativeness. Then, we present how we formalise these levels of Delegation and Adoption in terms of agents' personality traits or attitudes, and we outline how they can be organised in reasonable personalities and interesting interactive situations. Finally, we show how these traits and attitudes are involved in deciding what to do both proactively and in response to the other's social action, and in reasoning about the other's mind.


Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The impact of poor nutritional status on increased mortality and prolonged ICU (intensive care unit) stay in critically ill patients is well-documented. This study aims to assess how nutritional status and BMI (body mass index) affected in-hospital mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients Methods: We conducted a retrospective study and analysed medical records of 286 COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit of the University Clinical Hospital in Wroclaw (Poland). Results: A total of 286 patients were analysed. In the sample group, 8% of patients who died had a BMI within the normal range, 46% were overweight, and 46% were obese. There was a statistically significantly higher death rate in men (73%) and those with BMIs between 25.0–29.9 (p = 0.011). Nonsurvivors had a statistically significantly higher HF (Heart Failure) rate (p = 0.037) and HT (hypertension) rate (p < 0.001). Furthermore, nonsurvivors were statistically significantly older (p < 0.001). The risk of death was higher in overweight patients (HR = 2.13; p = 0.038). Mortality was influenced by higher scores in parameters such as age (HR = 1.03; p = 0.001), NRS2002 (nutritional risk score, HR = 1.18; p = 0.019), PCT (procalcitonin, HR = 1.10; p < 0.001) and potassium level (HR = 1.40; p = 0.023). Conclusions: Being overweight in critically ill COVID-19 patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation increases their risk of death significantly. Additional factors indicating a higher risk of death include the patient's age, high PCT, potassium levels, and NRS ≥ 3 measured at the time of admission to the ICU.


The thesis - divided into four sections devoted respectively to the production of Chiarelli, Rosso di San Secondo, Cavacchioli and Antonelli - notes the centrality of women in this production and the system reconstructs the intertextual references that have affected the representation of women in the Italian theater in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The survey shows that the female characters of the plays selected despite being born in the wake of the protagonists of the bourgeois theater, and while presenting obvious contamination with certain figures panting D'Annunzio of erotic and religious tensions, are presented as victims of a dehumanized society, and even when they embody a destiny of infamy, are increasingly freed from the perspective of authorial.
Far from being just a 'residual' melodramatic (G. Livio, 1976) the representation of women in the grotesque emerges, then, as a further expression of its originality of this theater. The space given to women and the ways in which it reveals, moreover, suggest to reconsider in a new light and irreducible conflict between the traditional 'Sacred Love' and 'profane love' leading to a substantial revision of the key themes of the drama bourgeois adultery and motherhood.
The betrayal of women, in fact, is not mere infringement of morality, but from a perspective 'existentialist', is an opportunity for personal growth, a source of empowerment through which the woman makes the process of identification. Likewise, the anarchic impulse in which she gives voice, his utter inability to adapt to the established order, finds its natural termination in motherhood by offering the first self-affirmation as a guarantee.
This discussion leads us, finally, the motif of the "sinful pure", the leitmotiv of the matrix expression often present in these texts and reinterpreted through the filter of all Christian morality. Parallel to the thematic discussion, we identify the formal criteria that guide the redefinition of the female character through a complete analysis of references, special attention is paid to the analysis of the symbolic fabric of the texts from which we often see the use of the topos of the 'disease' and 'martyrdom' devouring passion which plans metaphorical; similarly the case for 'war' (symbolic order of the conflict between the sexes) and the 'dance', which is well suited to represent the souls motus, instability and impermanence of feeling, instinct. A note, finally, deserves reflection Expressionism language of the characters examined: closer to a spontaneity is not articulated (crying, screaming and wailing, aphasia), the language of the protagonists exacerbates the conflict between his rational dialectics of 'bourgeois' and 'direct expression, visceral, female ego.
The representation of women in the world of Grotesque Theatre, then, more than a limited residual nature reveals its relevance in a context of deep crisis, as noted Ferrante, "is a reaction against a world where man destroys man," but also a way to recognize the crisis.


This paper presents a fuel cell (FC)-supercapacitor traction drive and its power control. The proposed solution allows increasing efficiency and performances of an FC-based powertrain by means of a dual cascaded voltage source inverter and a supercapacitor bank. An optimal control algorithm allows avoiding the fast transition of the FC output power under whatever operating condition. It is based on five operation modes, which are selected as a function of the actual traction power request. This way, both power peaks and slopes are controlled during vehicle accelerations. A supercapacitor charge stabilization strategy, which uses the same cascaded converter power circuit, is also proposed. Experimental implementation has been performed for validation.


In the work reported here, titanium oxide film were synthesized using magnetron sputtering from a high-purity Ti metal target while sustaining a differential oxygen partial pressure of from 0.02 to 0.30 Pa. The biological behavior of endothelial cells grown on the film surface was studied by in vitro human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) culture investigation. Our studies revealed that the adherence, growth, and proliferation of endothelial cells on different Ti-O film surfaces were strongly affected by the oxygen partial pressure. The biocompatibility mechanisms of ECs on Ti-O film surfaces were explored using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), a-step profilometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). We conclude that the various film characteristics such as structure, composition and surface morphology due to the different oxygen partial pressures significantly influence the biological behavior of EC.


Spinal cord ischemia leading to paraplegia is a rare, life-limiting complication of acute type B aortic dissection. We report a case of spinal cord ischemia occurred in a young woman treated with endovascular scissor technique in urgent setting. The patient had an uneventful post-procedural course. After 4 months, computed tomography angiography confirmed false lumen reperfusion and major symptoms were regressed. In selected cases, this procedure is a tool to improve false lumen perfusion in type B dissections, and demonstrated to be helpful in our case of spinal cord ischaemia.


A sound target-searching robot system which includes a 4-channel microphone array for sound collection, magneto-resistive sensor for declination measurement, and a wireless sensor networks (WSN) for exchanging information is described. It has an embedded sound signal enhancement, recognition and location method, and a sound searching strategy based on a digital signal processor (DSP). As the wireless network nodes, three robots comprise the WSN a personal computer (PC) in order to search the three different sound targets in task-oriented collaboration. The improved spectral subtraction method is used for noise reduction. As the feature of audio signal, Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC) is extracted. Based on the K-nearest neighbor classification method, we match the trained feature template to recognize sound signal type. This paper utilizes the improved generalized cross correlation method to estimate time delay of arrival (TDOA), and then employs spherical-interpolation for sound location according to the TDOA and the geometrical position of the microphone array. A new mapping has been proposed to direct the motor to search sound targets flexibly. As the sink node, the PC receives and displays the result processed in the WSN, and it also has the ultimate power to make decision on the received results in order to improve their accuracy. The experiment results show that the designed three-robot system implements sound target searching function without collisions and performs well.


INTRODUCTION: Abdominal wall closure is not possible in large congenital defects, even after extensively stretching in to enlarge its capacity. The skin coverage is usually adequate but the aponeurotic defect has to be closed temporally using synthetic patches. The use of these materials leads to increase complication such as infection, fistula formation and extrusion. In addition a second operation is required to remove the material and to perform a definitive closure. The role of fascia lata in reconstruction of abdominal wall is well established as free grafts, pedicled flaps or free flaps. Bank cadaveric fascia lata is used extensively in neurosurgical, ophtalmological, orthopaedic and urogynecological procedures. This is the first description of the use of cadaveric fascia lata for the closure of large abdominal wall defects. CASE REPORTS: We present two cases of congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The first patient was a newborn who presented the impossibility to close the fascia, that was salvaged by a teflon patch. Five months later the wound opened, leaving the mesh exposed that had to be removed. A cadaveric fascia lata patch was used to cover the defect, closing the skin satisfactorily. The second case was a two days newborn. We performed the diaphragmatic closure, and the aponeurotic defect was closed using cadaveric fascia lata. RESULTS: Cosmetic and functional appearance are satisfactory in both cases and no complications have been seen. CONCLUSION: Fascia lata patches are revascularized in the abdominal wall and incorporates into receptor tissue. They have the following advantages with respect to synthetic materials: First, the risk of complications is lower. Second, their removal is not necessary. Finally, no intraperitoneal adhesions occur. The risks of disease transmission and rejection are minimized by the Centro Comunitario de Transfusiones donor selection and processing of the cadaveric fascia lata.


Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) is a Gram-negative, spherical-shaped
bacterium that gains its needs of carbon and energy via oxidation of methane, a
potent greenhouse gas, thus alleviating global warming. This bacterium oxidises
methane to methanol using a membrane-bound particulate methane monooxygenase
(pMMO) or a soluble, cytoplasmic methane monooxygenases (sMMO). Copper-tobiomass-
ratios significantly affect the expression and activity of both enzymes; the
biosynthesis of sMMO is switched on when copper-to-biomass ratios are low, while
pMMO is up-regulated when they are high. The exact mechanisms by which copper
regulates the switching between sMMO and pMMO are not fully elucidated.
Therefore, the main aim of this study was to shed some light on this copper switch,
taking the advantage of the availability of the genome sequence of this organism,
together with mutagenesis and transcriptional regulation studies.
Three potential copper transport Mc. capsulatus mutants; ΔcopA1, ΔcopA2
and ΔcopA3 were generated. The genes inactivated encode three different P-type
ATPase homologs.This revealed that CopA1, CopA2 and CopA3 have roles in
copper homeostasis, although disruption of genes encoding these proteins
individually did not result in constitutive sMMO expression.
In addition, three mutants; ΔnrpS-1, ΔnrpS-2 and pkS were constructed. pkS
encodes for a polyketide synthase, nrpS-1 and nrpS-2 encode for two non-ribosomal
peptide synthetases. The products of these genes were proposed to be involved in
biosynthesis of methanobactin, a short peptide that scavenges copper when it is
limited. Results suggested that nrpS-2 and pkS might be involved in production of a
functional methanobactin.
Putative coding sequences predicted to be involved in methanobactin
biosynthesis in another methane-oxidising bacterium, Methylosinus trichosporium
(OB3b), were also mutated. The mutant was unable to produce methanobactin,
could not express sMMO, and was copper resistant compared to the wild-type
organism. Therefore, methanobactin is ribosomally- produced in Ms.
trichosporium. Corresponding genes were not identified in the genome of Mc.
capsulatus.
A microarray-based comparative expression profiling study of whole-genome
transcriptomics of Mc. capsulatus expressing sMMO versus pMMO was carried out
to identify genes involved in regulation of MMO by copper. This identified 53 genes
that were differentially expressed and hence promising candidate genes for future
studies of MMO regulation. For example, tetR, a down-regulated gene, encodes a
putative transcriptional regulator and tonB, an up-regulated gene, which encodes a
protein that is a part of a membrane transporter. Interestingly, a cluster of six genes
5' of sMMO was up-regulated; five of them were found to be co-transcribed. A
mutant was made in an up-regulated gene encoding ScO protein (synthesis of
cytochrome c). The mutant could tolerate high concentrations of copper compared to
the wild-type strain.
The work presented in this study is considered a step forward towards
understanding the regulatory mechanisms of the copper switch in methanotrophs and
provided the basis for new lines of future research to fully understand this
phenomenon.


The goal of the Community Sediment Transport Modeling System (CSTMS) is to produce an opensource model that couples hydrodynamics (circulation and waves), sediment transport, and morphodynamics. The model is intended to be used as both a research tool and for practical applications. An accurate and useful model requires coupling sediment-transport with hydrodynamic forcing and stratigraphic evolution. Ultimately, the modeling system will consist of interoperable modules, conforming to a community-accepted standard such as the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF).


Adolescents and young adults mostly drink alcohol because of social activities. However, some drink outside of normative social contexts, exhibiting a behaviour pattern known as solitary drinking. Increasing evidence indicates that solitary drinking is strongly associated with problematic drinking in adolescents and young adults. However, it remains unclear why individuals initiate and maintain this drinking habit. To address this gap in the existing literature, the current study explored the factors contributing to solitary drinking in this population. Descriptive phenomenology was used. A convenience sample of 44 solitary drinkers aged between 10 and 24 were invited to undergo individual semi-structured interviews. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data were analysed by two researchers separately using Colaizzi's method. Using qualitative descriptions, the following factors were identified as explaining the initiation and continuation of solitary drinking among adolescents and young adults: (1) enhancement and coping drinking motives, (2) social discomfort, (3) reduced self-control, (4) automatic mental process, and (5) a desperate response to stressors. Since reduced self-control plays an important role in long-term addiction, future studies should be conducted to determine potential applications of mindfulness-based interventions to improve self-control, which may prevent the progression from solitary drinking to alcohol use disorder.


With over one billion monthly active users, Chinese social networking and multipurpose software Wechat has become one of the world's most popular social media platforms. Wechat has gradually risen to the top of the social media heap among Chinese teenagers. Because of this, little is known about how people's usage of Wechat is influenced by psychological factors. In order to build an integrated model that can predict and explain a person's ongoing use of Wechat, researchers utilised the theory of use and satisfaction (TUS) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Researchers used an upgraded version of the TPB model that incorporated the extra variables of self-identity and belongingness to predict long-term Wechat usage intentions and behaviour in a sample of Chinese adolescents. Further studies looked at the impact of Chinese adolescents' sense of self-identity and belongingness on their usage of Wechat. regression studies partly confirmed the TPB: attitude and subjective norm substantially predicted intents to continue using Wechat, and intention significantly predicted behaviour.... Intention and, perhaps surprisingly, behaviour were strongly predicted by self-identity, but not by belongingness. Prior behaviour also had a strong influence on both intention and behaviour. Wechat addiction was shown to be strongly correlated with feelings of self-identity and belongingness. Fuzzy based theories of usage and satisfaction and hidden markov theories of planned behaviour are also used in this research to investigate why adolescents use WeChat on their mobile phones. Consumer involvement is examined for its effect on motivating demands and as a mediating factor in problematic usage. All hypotheses are tested using techniques such as factor analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modelling, which are based on Wechat user surveys. These results may guide efforts aimed at modifying Chinese teens' ongoing usage of Wechat or addictive tendencies for Wechat.


OBJECTIVE
The effect of clinical pathway (CP) care and early switch from intravenous to oral antibiotics therapy on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has been well documented. However, limited studies have evaluated the effects of CP on reducing time taken for attaining clinical stability and duration of antibiotics prescriptions. This study was aimed to investigate the use of a CP and its implication for CAP in a community hospital.

METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of CAP patients hospitalized between November 2005 and January 2007. The patients were divided into two groups, those for whom CP was adopted and those for whom CP was not adopted on admission. We compared the outcomes of three risk classes assessed using the severity scoring system (A-DROP). CP included switching from an intravenous beta-lactam plus a macrolide to an oral respiratory fluoroquinolone, when the patients exhibited risk factors for drug-resistant pneumococci.

RESULTS
One hundred thirty-five patients were evaluated, and sixty received CP care. Patients in the CP group had a lower A-DROP score. Although clinical cure proportions were similar, the CP group in the mild and moderate classes (A-DROP score, <or=2) required significantly less time to achieve clinical stability and had a reduced duration of total antibiotics prescriptions, length of hospital stay, and hospital charges. These effects were absent in the severe class.

CONCLUSION
Implementation of this CP would lead to effective care, may serve to reduce time for attaining clinical stability and reduce the use of unnecessary antibiotics without worsening clinical outcomes in mild and moderate CAP.


This study assessed people's perception of climate change and their preparedness at the village level to cope with the disaster in coastal areas of Bangladesh. Data were collected from stratified randomly selected 500 landless, small, medium & large landowners in purposively selected 10 coastal villages of 5 districts. It is revealed that majority of the people understand the past and future climate change impacts on their livelihoods and habitats while don't have the apprehension confidently of Sea Level Rise (SLR) in future. They are not prepared at the village level to cope with the climate change impacts. The common interventions mentioned by both people's bottom-up and government's top-down prescriptions for coping with climate change impacts are "heights and sluice gates of existing barrages/polders should be increased and new long barrages with adequate heights and sluice gates should be constructed"; "number and size of cyclone shelter centers should be increased"; "various measures including use of cement-blocks should be increased for protecting riverbanks from erosion"; "salinity tolerant rice varieties and fish species should be innovated and replicated in the coastal area"; "pure drinking-water sources should be installed in the coastal belt"; and "forestation along the coastal belt should be accelerated". The unique interventions mentioned by people's bottom-up prescription for coping with climate change impacts are "high lands may be created to be used by people in various purposes during emergency"; "canals of limited use to people should be closed at their ends"; "coastal area friendly industrialization should be patronized"; "professional skill development training should be strengthened"; "non-farming income generating opportunity should be increased"; "hospitals should be established in the coastal belt"; and "educational institutions should be established on sufficiently raised lands". 1 Visiting Research Fellow, Graduate School of International Development (GSID), Nagoya University, Japan and Director, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), Bangladesh 2 Professor, GSID, Nagoya University, Japan 3 Director General, BARD, Bangladesh 4 Director, BARD, Bangladesh 2 Therefore, the study principally recommends, as alternative to constructing thousands of new cyclone shelter centers, long barrage and polders, to establish cluster villages of multistoried buildings surrounded by deep green belt of trees along the coastal belt for a reasonable number of landless and small landowners on land raised up to the estimated safe level by gathering soil from silted riverbed and seabed. Medium and large landowners should be motivated by GOs and NGOs to construct multistoried buildings by use of the long-term loan with low interest rate and installment from commercial banks, GOs and NGOs. This intervention is to safe the coastal people's habitats and to discourage their migration during SLR, cyclones, floods, and tidal surges due to climate change.


Axial-flux machines, by the nature of their topology, are suited for high torque, low speed applications. In an attempt to improve the power-to-mass ratio of such a machine, the feasibility of stacking several alternate stator and rotor sections onto a common shaft in a multi-stage configuration was investigated. A prototype 5 kW double-stage machine was developed for comparison to other designs presented in the literature. Although the results appeared promising, whilst under evaluation, an unequal load-sharing anomaly was observed: even though both stages contributed to driving the load, one stage always dominated. Furthermore, the discrepancy appeared to be dependent on the direction of rotation. This research investigates and explains the cause of the unequal load-sharing and presents design considerations to aid the future development of multi-stage machines.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally and control biological processes, including fibrogenesis. Kidney fibrosis remains a clinical challenge and miRNAs may represent a valid therapeutic avenue. We show that miR-9-5p protected from renal fibrosis in the mouse model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). This was reflected in reduced expression of pro-fibrotic markers, decreased number of infiltrating monocytes/macrophages and diminished tubular epithelial cell injury and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1)-dependent de-differentiation in human kidney proximal tubular (HKC-8) cells. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) studies in the UUO model revealed that this protection was mediated by a global shift in the expression profile of genes related to key metabolic pathways, including mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and glycolysis, preventing their UUO-dependent down-regulation. This effect was mirrored by a prevention in the TGF-β1-induced bioenergetics changes in HKC-8 cells. The expression of the FAO-related axis peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α)-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) was reduced by UUO, although preserved by the administration of miR-9-5p. We found that in mice null for the mitochondrial master regulator PGC-1α, miR-9-5p was unable to promote a protective effect in the UUO model. We propose that miR-9-5p elicits a protective response to chronic kidney injury and renal fibrosis by inducing reprogramming of the metabolic derangement and mitochondrial dysfunction affecting tubular epithelial cells.


In the Netherlands, annually almost 13.000 women get breast cancer. After completion of the treatments, the patient remains under observation for a long time, also called the follow-up. The guideline in the Netherlands is a three-monthly hospital check in the first year after the treatment, but there are doubts whether these frequent checks provide optimum care. Studies among 320 breast cancer patients from seven hospitals in the Netherlands show that a number of hospital checks in the first year can be replaced by telephone checks by the mammacare nurse, maintaining quality of life, high patient satisfaction and no increase of anxiety feelings. Moreover, the combination of telephone follow-up and an educational group programme appears to be a cost-effective strategy. Based on these results, it is advised to critically examine the guideline for follow-up for the first year after breast cancer and to implement telephone follow-up and the educational group programme in the guideline.


The efficacy and tolerability of single doses of dexketoprofen trometamol 12.5 mg, 25 mg, and 50 mg and ketoprofen 50 mg were compared in this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 210 patients with moderate to severe pain after removal of one mandibular impacted third molar tooth. Pain intensity and pain relief were monitored for 6 h after administration of medication using visual analogue and verbal rating scales. All four active treatments were significantly more effective than placebo (P < 0.001). Dexketoprofen 25 mg and 50 mg produced an analgesic effect within 30 min of administration and their effect persisted for 6 h. Ketoprofen 50 mg produced a level of analgesia similar to those of the higher doses of dexketoprofen trometamol, but it had a slower onset. The 12.5-mg dose of dexketoprofen trometamol was significantly superior to placebo but produced a lower level and shorter duration of analgesia compared to the other active treatments. There were no significant differences between 25 and 50 mg of dexketoprofen trometamol in any measure of analgesic efficacy. No serious adverse events were observed and there were no significant differences in the incidence of adverse events among treatment groups. These results demonstrate that dexketoprofen trometamol 25 mg is at least as effective as the racemic ketoprofen 50 mg in the treatment of postsurgical dental pain. The more rapid onset of action compared to ketoprofen suggests that dexketoprofen trometamol is more appropriate for treatment of acute pain.


This paper provides the socio-historical background to a research project which includes the investigation of the relationship between school rugby culture, ethnicity and attitudes towards the reporting of a concussion. It examines rugby culture in relation to the reporting of concussion by senior secondary school rugby players. The concept of 'Rugby culture' in the present research was defined as "the importance the school, staff, pupils and parents place on success in rugby" and is explored in-depth with respect to cultural, ethnic and historical parameters. In particular, the paper examines the inter-relationship of Māori culture and rugby culture in general.


A variant of Vero cell line has been obtained, adapted to the Russian Eagle's medium with 8% fetal calf serum. The variant is characterized by intensive cell proliferation, possesses a different content of chromosomes, contains no oncogens and contaminants, specifically, Mycoplasma. The strain was characterized and certified in accordance with the WHO requirements. Inoculation (110 ampules) and working (100 ampules) stocks at the levels of the 170th and 178th passages were placed for storage in liquid nitrogen. Vero (B) cell line is sensitive to herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, CMV, hepatitis A virus, recombinant variolovaccinia strain expressing HbS antigen, etc. The line retains its biological properties from passage 178 to passage 200 and is recommended for control and preparation of various biomedical agents, including antiviral vaccines.


Geomorphic research in the Black Hills and northern High Plains poses an intriguing hypothesis for the Cenozoic evolution of this salient of the Laramide Rockies. Most recently, geologists have appealed to late Cenozoic epeirogenic uplift or climate change to explain the post-Laramide unroofing of the Rockies. On the basis of field mapping and the interpretation of long-valley profiles, we conclude that the propagation of knickzones is the primary mechanism for exhumation in the Black Hills. Long profiles of major drainages show discrete breaks in the slope of the channel gradient that are not coincident with changes in rock type. We use the term knickzones to describe these features because their profiles are broadly convex over tens of kilometers. At and below the knickzone, the channel is incising into bedrock, abandoning a flood plain, and forming a terrace. Above the knickzone, the channel is much less incised, resulting in a broad valley bottom. Numerous examples of stream piracy are documented, and in each case, the capture is recorded in the same terrace level. These observations are consistent with migrating knickzones that have swept through Black Hills streams, rearranging drainages in their wake. We demonstrate there are two knickzone fronts associated with mapped terraces. Preliminary field evidence of soil development shows that these terraces are time transgressive in nature. Our data strongly suggest that knickzone propagation must be considered a viable mechanism driving late Cenozoic fluvial incision and exhumation of the northern High Plains and adjacent northern Rocky Mountains.


Mechanisms of cochlea excitation and amplification were investigated experimentally across a range of mammalian species.
Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) are used to clinically assess hearing. DPOAEs recorded from the ears of human subjects in the presence of a low frequency, high level tone were compared with similar recordings made from guinea pigs. Both guinea pig and human data were found to originate from a common cochlear nonlinearity; the Boltzmann model of DPOAE generation at the output of a spatially localised single-saturating non-linearity. Accordingly, the guinea pig cochlea can be used as a human model system for the study of DPOAE generation.


Proceeding from the current ideas on the significance of the catalase in the oxidative phosphorylation, oxygenation and desoxygenation of hemoglobin the activity of the above enzyme was studied in the blood of 60 patients with brain tumours. It was found that prior to a surgical intervention the catalase activity at the rate per 1 g of hemoglobin (the catalase index-CI) varied within the same range in patients with brain tumours of a different histological structure (meningiomas, adenomas of the pituitary, gliomas, metastases of cancer). The catalase index of the patients' blood does not differ from that in healthy individuals. In the post-operative period the catalase index rises right from the first days, paralleling the development of a general reaction to the damage. There exists a correlation between a fall in the level of hemoglobin and a rise of the catalase index, which apparently, has a compensatory significance. An investigation of the catalase in the clinical picture of the stress-syndrome may be of use for prognostic purposes.


It is very important to comprehend the climate variations in the vast regions of Central Plains of China. Current knowledge about climate changes of the past few hundred years in this region is primarily based on historical documents, and lack of evidences from the natural archives. However, these documents had somewhat artificially effects caused by the recorders, and not sufficient to fully understand natural climatic changes. In this paper, based on a significant correlation between the tree-ring width of Chinese Pine and observed instrumental data in the Mt. Yaoshan, China, we formulated a transfer function to reconstruct the mean minimum temperature (MMinT) from the previous December to the current June ( T min_DJ ) for the period 1873–2011. The reconstruction explained 39.8% of the instrumental variance during the calibration period of 1958–2011. High T min_DJ intervals with values greater than the 139 year average occurred in 1932–1965 and 1976–2006. The intervals 1878–1894 and 1906–1931 experienced a T min_DJ lower than the 139 year average. The ten highest T min_DJ years occurred after the 1950s, especially after 1996. A distinct upward trend in the T min_DJ series beginning in the 1910s was apparent, and the highest value occurred around 2000. The 20th-century warming signal was captured well by the Yaoshan T min_DJ temperature reconstruction, indicating that the temperature rise in the sensitive Central Plains of China region reflected the global temperature change. The T min_DJ reconstruction also matched several other temperature series in China with similar warm-cold patterns. The distinct spatial correlation between both observed and reconstructed series and CRU TS3.10 grid data indicates that our results may represent T min_DJ changes on a larger scale. The spatial correlation with sea surface temperature (SST) indicated that observed and reconstructed T min_DJ temperatures in the Mt. Yaoshan are closely linked to the West Pacific, Indian and North Atlantic Oceans as well as El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).


&NA; The science of medicine has evolved dramatically over recent years, with better understanding of the mechanisms of disease leading to innovative new treatments. However, the critical care patient still suffers from a high mortality rate with few advances from the traditional modalities of therapy. Arginine vasopressin has been explored as a vasoconstrictor in the treatment of the hypotension associated with septic shock. This drug has also recently been added to the advanced cardiac life support protocol for the resuscitation of pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Studies of arginine vasopressin in these situations have been promising but still have yet to prove a survival benefit over traditional therapies. Newer and larger trials are necessary to determine whether any mortality benefit can be sustained from the use of arginine vasopressin in critical care patients with septic shock and cardiac arrest secondary to pulseless ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.


We introduce CaMEL (Case Marker Extraction without Labels), a novel and challenging task in computational morphology that is especially relevant for low-resource languages. We propose a first model for CaMEL that uses a massively multilingual corpus to extract case markers in 83 languages based only on a noun phrase chunker and an alignment system. To evaluate CaMEL, we automatically construct a silver standard from UniMorph. The case markers extracted by our model can be used to detect and visualise similarities and differences between the case systems of different languages as well as to annotate fine-grained deep cases in languages in which they are not overtly marked.


A sustained increase in heavy axle loads and cumulative freight tonnages, coupled with increased development of high-speed passenger rail, is placing an increasing demand on railway infrastructures. Some of the most-critical areas of the infrastructure in need of further research are track components used in high-speed passenger, heavy haul and shared infrastructure applications. In North America, many design guidelines for these systems use historical wheel loads and design factors that may not necessarily be representative of the loading currently experienced on rail networks. Without a clear understanding of the nature of these loads and how design processes reflect them, it is impossible to adequately evaluate the superstructure in order to make design improvements. Therefore, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are conducting research to lay the groundwork for an improved and thorough understanding of the loading environment imparted into the track structure using wheel loads captured by wheel impact load detectors. This paper identifies several design factors that have been developed internationally, and evaluates their effectiveness based on wheel loads using several existing and new evaluative metrics. New design factors are also developed to represent the wheel-loading environment in a different manner. An evaluative approach to historical and innovative design methodologies will provide improvements to designs, based on actual loading experienced on today's rail networks.


Computational thinking sits at the core of every engineering and computing related discipline. It has increasingly emerged as its own subject in all levels of education. It is a powerful cornerstone for cognitive development, creative problem solving, algorithmic thinking and designs, and programming. How to effectively teach computational thinking skills poses real challenges and creates opportunities. Targeting entering computer science and engineering undergraduates, we resourcefully integrate elements from artificial intelligence (AI) into introductory computing courses. In addition to comprehension of the essence of computational thinking, practical exercises in AI enable inspirations of collaborative problem solving beyond abstraction, logical reasoning, critical and analytical thinking. Problems in machine intelligence systems intrinsically connect students to algorithmic oriented computing and essential mathematical foundations. Beyond knowledge representation, AI fosters a gentle introduction to data structures and algorithms. Focused on engaging mental tool, a computer is never a necessity. Neither coding nor programming is ever required. Instead, students enjoy constructivist classrooms designed to always be active, flexible, and highly dynamic. Learning to learn and reflecting on cognitive experiences, they rigorously construct knowledge from collectively solving exciting puzzles, competing in strategic games, and participating in intellectual discussions.


Neurons expressing latexin, a carboxypeptidase A inhibitor, are restricted to lateral areas in the cerebral cortex of adult and early postnatal rats. To address the precise timing of cortical regional specification at the cellular level, we monitored latexin expression in developing cortical cells under specific conditions in vitro. Individual cortical cells were labeled with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine in vivo, dissociated and exposed to a defined new environment in a monolayer or a reaggregated-cell culture system. While a substantial fraction of early progenitor cells derived from the lateral cerebral wall became latexin-expressing neurons in both systems, far fewer progenitors from dorsal cortex did so under the same environmental conditions, indicating early establishment of cortical regional specification at the progenitor cell level. Furthermore, it was shown that the probability for postmitotic cells within lateral cortex to become latexin-expressing neurons was influenced by temporally regulated regional environmental signals. These findings suggest that developing cortical cells are progressively specified for a regional molecular phenotype during both their proliferative and postmitotic periods.


Strong evidence indicates that, following a relapse, patients with schizophrenia who return home to live with relatives who are rated as critical, hostile, or emotionally over-involved, known as high expressed emotion or high-EE, suffer elevated future relapse rates compared to those whose relatives are rated as low-EE. Evidence further suggests that highEE relatives tend to make more blaming attributions for the patient's illness than do low-EE relatives. Few studies, however, have examined other important variables that predict family members' EE and attributions. Using a tri-ethnic sample of 57 relatives of patients with schizophrenia, this study finds that greater educational attainment in family members predicts less blameworthy attributions towards patients. Specifically, for Whites and Hispanics, greater educational attainment predicts less blameworthy self-reported causal attributions. For Blacks, education does not relate to attributions. A content analysis of relatives' causal attributions further reveals that, regardless of ethnicity or education, biological factors are most often cited as having caused relatives' schizophrenia. Study implications are discussed.


Understanding the mechanical properties of formations has its importance in the drilling, production, and management phases of reservoirs. In petroleum engineering, measurements through wire-line logs, which run in the boreholes after the drilling phase, are of the most common methods to estimate mechanical properties of different layers. Elastic rock mechanic measurements from logs are dynamic values and need to be upscaled and calibrated to fit the corresponding pseudo-static measurements that are obtained from cores in the laboratory. As a practical approach to having a continuous profile of these static parameters and surmount the arduousness that confronts by using core samples and laboratory tests, many researchers tried to deploy predictive methods and empirical correlations. However, it will be a great advantage to have a real-time estimation of these static parameters while drilling based on bit and formation rock interaction. Artificial neural networks are powerful tools for estimation of complex functions subjected to availability of large enough data sets that present samples of actual behavior of the function. In this study, artificial neural networks were implemented to estimate in situ rock mechanical properties, including Unconfined Compressive Strength, Young's Modulus of Elasticity, and the ratio of these parameters known as Modulus Ratio, by using operational drilling parameters as inputs. Required data were gathered from drilling reports, logging operations, and core samples from nine wells placed in Ahwaz Oilfield located in south-west Iran. The trained networks showed satisfactory low errors in the testing process and sketched the capability of artificial neural networks in estimation of complex functions. The accuracy of the presented model was then compared with the results of calibrated regional correlations and modified Warren's equation. These correlations are used in the candidate wells to estimate Unconfined Compressive Strength and Young's Modulus of Elasticity. It was observed that the new artificial neural network approach is a competent and accurate method for real-time calculation of static elastic properties of formation rocks. The results of this work could be used for drilling optimization, reducing stability problems, and lithologic boundary detection while drilling.


CAR (constitutive active/androstane receptor) regulates both the distal enhancer PBREM (phenobarbital-responsive enhancer module) and the proximal element OARE [OA (okadaic acid) response element] to synergistically up-regulate the endogenous CYP2B6 (where CYP is cytochrome P450) gene in HepG2 cells. In this up-regulation, CAR acts as both a transcription factor and a co-regulator, directly binding to and enhancing PBREM upon activation by xenobiotics such as TCPOBOP {1,4-bis[2-(3,5-dichloropyridyloxy)]benzene} and indirectly associating with the OARE in response to OA [Swales, Kakizaki, Yamamoto, Inoue, Kobayashi and Negishi (2005) J. Biol. Chem. 280, 3458– 3466]. We have now identified the cohesin protein SMC1 (structural maintenance of chromosomes 1) as a CAR-binding protein and characterized it as a negative regulator of OARE activity, thus repressing synergy. Treatment with SMC1 small interfering RNA augmented the synergistic up-regulation of CYP2B6 expression 20-fold in HepG2 cells, while transient co-expression of spliced form of SMC1 abrogated the synergistic activation of a 1.8 kb CYP2B6 promoter. SMC1 indirectly binds to a 19 bp sequence (−236/−217) immediately downstream from the OARE in the CYP2B6 promoter. Both DNA affinity and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that OA treatment dissociates SMC1 from the CYP2B6 promoter, reciprocating the indirect binding of CAR to OARE. These results are consistent with the conclusion that SMC1 binding represses OARE activity and its dissociation allows the recruitment of CAR to the OARE, synergizing PBREM activity and the expression of the CYP2B6 gene.


This study evaluated the pregnancy rate in Nelore cows (Bos indicus) subjected to fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) using different protocols consisting of injectable progesterone (P4) or an intravaginal device (impregnated with P4). Multiparous cows 72–84 months in age, 30–45 days postpartum, were selected on the basis of the absence of a corpus luteum (CL) and follicles <8 mm after transrectal palpation and ultrasound examinations. On a random day of the estrus cycle (D0), the selected animals (n = 135) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups (n = 45 each). Group I (injectable P4/FTAI 36 hours) received 250 mg of injectable P4 and 2 mg EB on D0; on D7, they received 500 µg of cloprostenol; on D8, 300 IU of eCG and 1 mg of EB were administered; and finally, FTAI was performed 36 hours after the application of EB. Group II (injectable P4/FTAI 48 hours) received the same protocol as Group I, except that the FTAI was performed 48 hours after ovulation induction. The animals of Group III (Control/CIDR) received a conventional protocol for FTAI using an intravaginal device (D0: P4 and 2 mg EB; D8: device removal, 500 µg cloprostenol, 300 IU eCG, 1 mg EB; and FTAI performed 48 hours after removal of the device). The results showed that cows synchronized with the conventional protocol for FTAI (Control/CIDR) had a higher pregnancy rate (60%, 27/45) than those synchronized with an injectable P4/FTAI 36 hours (33.33%; 15/45, P = 0.010). However, the group receiving injectable P4 group/FTAI 48 hours had a similar pregnancy rate (48.9%; 22/45; P = 0.290) when compared to both the group receiving the conventional protocol and that receiving injectable P4/FTAI 36 hours (P = 0.134). The use of injectable P4 in cows inseminated 48 hours after ovulation induction presented similar pregnancy rates to cows that received the intravaginal device.


This study aims to identify process models that support the organization of radical innovation within Siemens. From studying ten corporate ventures at Siemens, we were able to derive two process models that describe the successful development and commercialization of radical innovation. We called these models 'Installation' and 'Integration'. We found the model of 'Installation' to be suitable for innovations that aim at the creation of new or at the renewal of existing Siemens businesses without replacing these. Conversely, the model of 'Integration' was found suitable for innovations that aim at the expansion or substitution of existing Siemens businesses. Both models exhibit different characteristics with regard to reporting structure, target systems, and leadership


Water is a natural resource, fundamental to life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development. With a growing population and rising needs of a fast developing nation as well as the given indications of the impact of climate change, availability of utilizable water will be under further strain in the future with the possibility of deepening water conflicts among different user groups. In addition, there are inequities in distribution and lack of a unified perspective in planning, management and the use of water resources among stakeholders' relation to water governance. Rapid growth in demand for water due to population growth, urbanization and changing lifestyle poses serious challenges to water security. In order to successfully achieve water governance in arid regions, we should implicate an integrated approach in water policy making. Generally, in water governance present different actors (multiple actors), as social and institutional networks, that have various relations together in different scales. Planning, development and management of water resources need to be governed by a common integrated perspective considering local, regional, State and national context, having an environmentally sound basis, keeping in view the human, social and economic needs. In this project, our attempt, by using social network analysis, is showing the relationships between all the stakeholders in security and governance of water in several case studies. The analysis of a social network structure can be useful to analyze relations among actors in natural resources management.


Last Landscapes is an exploration of the cult and celebration of death, loss and memory. It traces the history and design of burial places throughout Europe and the USA, ranging from the picturesque tradition of the village churchyard to tightly packed cities of the dead', such as the Jewish Cemetery in Prague and Pere Lachaise in Paris. Other landscapes that feature in this book include the war cemeteries of northern France, Viking burial islands in central Sweden, Etruscan tombs and early Christian catacombs in Italy, the 17th-century Portuguese Jewish cemetery 'Beth Haim' at Ouderkerk in the Netherlands, Forest Lawns in California, Derek Jarman's garden in Kent and the Stockholm Woodland Cemetery. It is a fact that architecture began with the tomb', yet, as Ken Worpole shows us in Last Landscapes, many historic cemeteries have been demolished or abandoned in recent times (notably the case with Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe), and there has been an increasing loss of inscription and memorialization in the modern urban cemetery. Too often cemeteries today are both poorly designed and physically and culturally marginalized. Worse, cremation denies a full architectural response to the mystery and solemnity of death. The author explores how modes of disposal burial, cremation, inhumation in mausoleums and wall tombs vary across Europe and North America, according to religious and other cultural influences. And Last Landscapes raises profound questions as to how, in an age of mass cremation, architects and landscape designers might create meaningful structures and settings in the absence of a body, since for most of history the human body itself has provided the fundamental structural scale. This evocative book also contemplates other forms of memorialization within modern societies, from sculptures to parks, most notably the extraordinary Duisberg Park, set in a former giant steelworks in Germany's Ruhr Valley.


Although reality TV offers more representations of women and racial diversity than most other mainstream television, there are still few studies that investigate gendered racial representation in the genre. I argue that the abundance of discourses about feminine racialization on America's Next Top Model signals a new neoliberal rhetoric of race in popular culture in which instead of silently and superficially representing racial difference, the show's explicit discussions about race and racialized identity transformations are promoted as a valuable commodity. In particular, African American model Danielle's struggle to change her rural Southern accent is a key narrative arc on the show. Positioning feminine racialization as a lucrative flexible personal asset, the show ensures that the women of color are doubly commodified—for their eroticized physical attractiveness and for their marketable personal narratives of racial self-transformation. I contend that the racial rhetoric of Top Model makes race hyper-visible as a malleable commodity and confirms the neoliberal fantasy of the structural irrelevance of race and class in the US by satisfying the demand for recognizable tropes of racialized feminine beauty that only reference hardship or disadvantage as something that can be overcome through hard work.


A computer-network infrastructure was realized to integrate the different remote cardiovascular diagnostic laboratories with the data derived from CCU and the administrative information. A variety of heterogeneous data, texts, signals, images is gathered from each peripheral unit, stored into a relational database (ARCA), processed and presented to health-care personnel by network-connected clinical workstations. From August 1999 to August 2000 the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) of 754 patients hospitalized in a Cardiological department were collected; 7808 procedures were digitally integrated and for each patient was possible to calculate the number of tests performed during hospitalization and the quantity of drugs assumed. The use of EMR allowed to obtain rapidly a clinical data integration, to access to patient data from any clinical lab; to collect information to obtain patient cost definition.


Recent international agreements on climate change aim to increase the production of electricity derived from renewable energy resources. Renewable energy generation can be pursued on both an individual building and utility scale. Due to the intermittent nature of renewables, some form of energy storage is essential to bridge diurnal mismatches between generation and demand. Air-conditioning loads associated with commercial buildings dominate peak electricity demand on the utility grid in some areas and climates. Therefore, Cool Thermal Energy Storage (CTES) is a relatively technically mature and inexpensive means of providing this "storage" and balancing supply/demand mismatches, thereby enabling the success of increased renewable energy penetration. Electrical energy generated by renewables during periods of higher availability can be used to run chillers that charge CTES systems. The stored thermal energy can subsequently be used to meet air-conditioning demand during periods of low renewable energy resource availability. In this work, the U.S. Department of Energy Commercial Reference Building Model for a secondary school is used to obtain simulated cooling loads that are met by a combination of two chillers and a stratified chilled water thermal storage system. Control strategies are designed to charge the thermal storage system when renewable resources are available and discharge storage to meet building cooling loads during periods with low or no renewable energy resource. One optimization target is the fraction of the chiller energy consumption met by renewable power. This metric is one that may be of interest to electric utilities trying to manage a grid with increasing renewable penetration. An alternative optimization target is the net economic benefit to the building owner assuming on-site, small scale renewable generation and thermal storage. This metric is based on equipment costs, net electric demand after wind and/or solar generation offsets the chiller electric demand, and time-of-use electricity rate structures. The results show that there is a trade-off between maximizing the use of renewable power and life-cycle cost, but a storage system designed to optimize either variable will be more cost effective and utilize the renewable resource better than a system without storage. The analysis is carried out for locations in Texas and California. These results suggest that CTES may be a technology enabling utilities to reach higher penetration of renewables while avoiding the so-called "duck curve" generation ramp caused by the time mismatch between the renewable generation and demand peaks.


A retrospective study of 464 patients with delayed epilepsy was carried out. There were 311 males and 153 females with their ages ranging between 20 and 87 years. The seizures were Generalized in 298, and Partial in 139. Neurological examination showed abnormalities in 189, and normal finding in 275. The EEG studies and CT scans revealed abnormalities in 196 (80.6%) and 283 (61%) respectively. The CT scan findings were compatible with cerebrovascular diseases in 16.4%, with brain tumors in 12.9%, with craniocerebral trauma in 8.4%, and with diffuse brain atrophy in 7.4%. The CT scans would show a higher frequency of abnormalities if there were local neurological signs with the EEG findings suggesting, partial seizures and focal lesions of the brain. It was considered that a CT scan would be mandatory in the evaluation of patients with delayed epilepsy, even though the EEG and clinical examination were normal.


The coating of medical devices with antimicrobial agents has recently emerged as a potentially effective method for the prevention of device-related infections. We examined the anti-infective efficacy of intramedullary nails coated with an antiseptic combination of chlorhexidine and chloroxylenol in a rabbit model of device-related infection after fixation of an open tibial fracture. The rabbits were randomized to receive 2.8-by-100-millimeter stainless-steel tibial intramedullary nails that either were uncoated or were coated with antiseptic. After administration of anesthesia and preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis, a tibial fracture was created and then reduced with insertion of the intramedullary nail. A bacterial inoculum of 106 colony-forming units of Staphylococcus aureus was injected into the intramedullary canal, and the wound was sutured. Radiographs of the tibiae were made postoperatively, and the rabbits were monitored daily. They were killed at six weeks, or earlier if there was dehiscence of the wound, the fracture became grossly unstable, or the rabbit failed to thrive. The use of the antiseptic-coated nails was associated with a significantly lower rate of device-related osteomyelitis (two of twenty-two; 9 per cent) than the use of the uncoated nails (thirteen of twenty-one; 62 per cent) (p = 0.0003). The radiographic and histopathological findings were generally similar in the two groups of rabbits. Antiseptic agents were not detected in serum. The results suggest that antiseptic-coated fracture-fixation devices provide significant local protection against Staphylococcus aureus, which is the most common cause of infections related to orthopaedic devices.


Research on psychopathology is at a historical crossroads. New technologies offer the promise of lasting advances in our understanding of the causes of human psychological suffering. Making the best use of these technologies, however, requires an empirically accurate model of psychopathology. Much current research is framed by the model of psychopathology portrayed in current versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Although the modern DSMs have been fundamental in advancing psychopathology research, recent research also challenges some assumptions made in the DSM—for example, the assumption that all forms of psychopathology are well conceived of as discrete categories. Psychological science has a critical role to play in working through the implications of this research and the challenges it presents. In particular, behavior-genetic, personality, and quantitative-psychological research perspectives can be melded to inform the development of an empirically based model of psychopathology that would constitute an evolution of the DSM.


Abstract Background Abdominoplasty is widely available; however, patients with abdominal stomas appear to be relatively undertreated. Apprehension to offer abdominoplasty in the presence of a stoma may be secondary to the fear of surgical site infection and stoma compromise. Objectives To demonstrate the feasibility and safety of abdominoplasty in the presence of an abdominal stoma for both functional and aesthetic indications and to define perioperative protocols to reduce the risk of surgical site infection in this patient population. Methods The authors present 2 patients with stomas who underwent abdominoplasty. Patient 1 was a 62-year-old female with a history of urostomy formation and weight loss. She had a fold of skin overhanging her ostomy site, making it difficult to maintain a seal on her urostomy bag. She underwent fleur-de-lis abdominoplasty and urostomy revision. Patient 2 was a 43-year-old female with a history of end ileostomy formation, who requested cosmetic abdominoplasty to address postpartum abdominal changes; she had no functional stoma-related complaints. Abdominoplasty, flank liposuction, and ileostomy revision were performed. Results Both patients were satisfied with their aesthetic and functional outcomes. There were no complications and no instances of stoma compromise. At follow-up, Patient 1 reported a complete amelioration of her urosotomy appliance issues. Conclusions Abdominoplasty may confer both functional and aesthetic benefits to patients with abdominal stomas. The authors present peri- and intraoperative protocols, both to prevent stoma compromise and to reduce the risk of surgical site infection. The presence of a stoma does not appear to be an absolute contraindication to cosmetic abdominoplasty. Level of Evidence: 5


Online joint parameter and state estimation is a core problem for temporal models.Most existing methods are either restricted to a particular class of models (e.g., the Storvik filter) or computationally expensive (e.g., particle MCMC). We propose a novel nearly-black-box algorithm, the Assumed Parameter Filter (APF), a hybrid of particle filtering for state variables and assumed density filtering for parameter variables.It has the following advantages:(a) it is online and computationally efficient;(b) it is applicable to both discrete and continuous parameter spaces with arbitrary transition dynamics.On a variety of toy and real models, APF generates more accurate results within a fixed computation budget compared to several standard algorithms from the literature.


Over the years, paramilitary groups and the Colombian state have jointly policed marginal neighborhoods of the city of Medellin. Using evidence from events that have marked the history of this Colombian city, I argue that the murky pact between paramilitary and state forces reveal the nature of the state, as a force of capture, and of its sovereignty. Building on the analysis of the Italian word intreccio (intertwining) that Jane and Peter Schneider use to analyze the Sicilian Mafia and its link to the Italian state, and using Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the "war machine" acquired by the state for reterritorialization, I suggest that the intertwinement between the state and organized crime is a manifestation of the presence of the state, not of its absence at the margins. I conclude that this intertwinement is not a sign of the state's weakness but of its power; a proof of the state's effectiveness, not of its failure.


The continued scalability of a set of attitude items used in national sample surveys separated by 19 years is a remarkable and useful result. In a discipline lacking valid measures of socially important attitudes, such an outcome merits close study and wide dissemination. But exhibiting the stability of Stouffer's tolerance scale is not the prime end of the Williams et al. paper; they pursue an accounting of the "origins of tolerance." Nor is it the prime interest of the larger research from which their paper arises. Our concern in the larger study is with the political tolerance of the American people, their willingness to practice the democratic restraint shown by Lipset and Raabl to be central to democracy in America. We are studying the conditions under which democratic restraint prospers or declines, and the changes over time in these attitudes and propensities. In my judgment, the paper by Williams et al. establishes the reliability of Stouffer's tolerance scale in 1954 and 1973, but it seriously distorts rather than illuminates understanding of political tolerance.


This article investigates the way in which the presence of censored cost data in clinical trials should dictate the inferential tests adopted when comparing treatment and nontreatment groups for the purpose of economic evaluation. The authors argue that the techniques of survival analysis are appropriate where censoring is present, and that bias will be imparted if cruder methods are used to analyze cost data, even if that data is drawn from a relevant population. The first section of the article discusses the problem of censoring and survival analysis, while the second examines three methods of dealing with censored cost data and possible biases resulting from them. The third section presents results from actual trial data using the three methods described in the preceding section. Conclusions are presented in section four, where it is argued that these methodological issues are likely to become more important as economists are called upon to evaluate the treatment of chronic conditions using data from clinical trials with finite end points.


Observations across the North Atlantic jet stream with high vertical resolution are used to explore the structure of the jet stream, including the sharpness of vertical wind shear changes across the tropopause and the wind speed. Data were obtained during the North Atlantic Waveguide and Downstream Impact Experiment (NAWDEX) by an airborne Doppler wind lidar, dropsondes, and a ground-based stratosphere–troposphere radar. During the campaign, small wind speed biases throughout the troposphere and lower stratosphere of only −0.41 and −0.15 m s−1 are found, respectively, in the ECMWF and Met Office analyses and short-term forecasts. However, this study finds large and spatially coherent wind errors up to ±10 m s−1 for individual cases, with the strongest errors occurring above the tropopause in upper-level ridges. ECMWF and Met Office analyses indicate similar spatial structures in wind errors, even though their forecast models and data assimilation schemes differ greatly. The assimilation of operational observational data brings the analyses closer to the independent verifying observations, but it cannot fully compensate for the forecast error. Models tend to underestimate the peak jet stream wind, the vertical wind shear (by a factor of 2–5), and the abruptness of the change in wind shear across the tropopause, which is a major contribution to the meridional potential vorticity gradient. The differences are large enough to influence forecasts of Rossby wave disturbances to the jet stream with an anticipated effect on weather forecast skill even on large scales.


BACKGROUND
The prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in children is underestimated due to impediments in detection and diagnosis. Consequently, delayed management may affect the quality of life, and the growth and development of a child. Due to their patient demographic, Orthodontists are optimally positioned to identify those at risk of sleep disordered breathing and make referrals for investigation and management. This study aims to determine the prevalence of children at risk of sleep disordered breathing in an Australian orthodontic population.

METHODS
A 1 year retrospective study was conducted in an urban Western Australian private orthodontic practice with two branches in similar socioeconomic demographics. The responses of new patients to a modified paediatric sleep questionnaire and standard medical history form were recorded.

RESULTS
In 1209 patients (4-18 years), 7.3% were at risk of sleep disordered breathing. An association between sex and the potential risk of sleep disordered breathing was found with 11% of males at risk of sleep disordered breathing compared to 7% of females (p=0.012).

CONCLUSIONS
The relatively high prevalence of children at risk of sleep disordered breathing presenting for orthodontic care presents an opportunity to identify at risk individuals through routine use of the paediatric sleep questionnaire. This would facilitate early referral for diagnosis and management of sleep disordered breathing. © 2022 Australian Dental Association.


The inherent parallelism of the logic resources, the flexibility in its configuration and the performance at high processing frequencies makes the field programmable gate array (FPGA) the most suitable device to be used both for real time algorithm processing and data transfer in instrumentation modules. Moreover, the reconfigurability of these FPGA based modules enables exploiting different applications on the same module. When using a reconfigurable module for various applications, the availability of a common interface library for easier implementation of the algorithms on the FPGA leads to more efficient development. The FPGA configuration is usually specified in a hardware description language (HDL) or other higher level descriptive language. The critical paths, as the management of internal hardware clocks, that require deep knowledge of the module behavior shall be implemented in HDL to optimize the timing constraints. The common interface library should include these critical paths, freeing the application designer from hardware complexity and able to choose any of the available high-level abstraction languages for the algorithm implementation. With this purpose a modular Verilog code was developed for the Virtex 4 FPGA of the in-house Transient Recorder and Processor (TRP) hardware module, based on the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA), with eight channels sampling at up to 400 MSamples/s. The TRP was designed to perform real time Pulse Height Analysis (PHA), Pulse Shape Discrimination (PSD) and Pile-Up Rejection (PUR) algorithms at a high count rate (few MHz). A brief description of this modular code is presented and examples of its use as interface with end user algorithms, including a PHA with PUR, are described.


Abstract In the main control rooms of nuclear power plants, operators frequently have to switch between procedure displays and system information displays. In this study, we proposed an operation-unit-based integrated design, which combines the two displays to facilitate the synthesis of information. We grouped actions that complete a single goal into operation units and showed these operation units on the displays of system states. In addition, we used different levels of visual salience to highlight the current unit and provided a list of execution history records. A laboratory experiment, with 42 students performing a simulated procedure to deal with unexpected high pressuriser level, was conducted to compare this design against an action-based integrated design and the existing separated-displays design. The results indicate that our operation-unit-based integrated design yields the best performance in terms of time and completion rate and helped more participants to detect unexpected system failures. Practitioner Summary: In current nuclear control rooms, operators frequently have to switch between procedure and system information displays. We developed an integrated design that incorporates procedure information into system displays. A laboratory study showed that the proposed design significantly improved participants' performance and increased the probability of detecting unexpected system failures.


S-layer proteins appear to be suitable for wide variety of different technical applications due to their distinctive physico-chemical properties and their multifunctionality. Since several years the focus has been placed especially on their potential use for biosensor applications. There are many approaches under investigation to develop sensors that are highly specific and sensitive as well as robust, reliable and not expensive. Optical methods currently appear an attractive solution. Colloidal gold nanoparticle suspensions as sensory active systems, for instance, have been the subject of intensive investigations for many years. An additional promising approach is the use of proteins as template structures for the production of highly fluorescent, size-controlled gold nanoclusters (Au-NC). These gold nanoclusters can be synthesized directly at the protein by a simple chemical reaction. We present current investigations on different kind of proteins such as bovine serum albumin, calmodulin, and S-layer protein. In combination with the known S-layer or calmodulin mediated selective and specific binding of ionic analytes, e.g. rare earth elements as surrogates/analogues for intrinsic protein bound Ca, a subsequent analyte-induced change in the fluorescence intensity of the gold nanoclusters might be used as sensory system for the detection of such strategic relevant elements.


Pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDI) are the most widely used aerosol delivery devices
to treat asthma and COPD due to its unique ability to produce numerous inhalable droplets.
However the mechanism leading to droplet generation is elusive, mainly due to small length
scales and short time scale, causing experimental difficulties to obtain flow information.
Such lack of insight has - to date - limited predictive capability of theoretical approaches and
impeded device optimisation. The main aim of this research is to improve understanding of
the thermo-fluid dynamic processes leading to droplet generation by constructing validated
numerical models to predict pMDI aerosol characteristics as a function of device geometry
and formulation composition.
The thesis presents a systematic study of existing two-phase flow models to predict the flow
conditions and the rate of propellant flow through a pMDI actuator: the homogeneous
equilibrium model (HEM), the slip equilibrium model (SEM) and the homogeneous frozen
model (HFM). [Continues.]


The species P. diplodi Euzet et Cauwet, 1967, P. kuhliae (Yamaguti, 1967), P. maomao (Yamaguti, 1968), P. acanthogobii (Yamaguti, 1940), P. gerres (Sandars, 1944), P. tubicirrus (Paperna et Kohn, 1964) should be assigned to the genus Polylabris Euzet et Cauwet, 1967 (=Prostatomicrocotyla Yamaguti, 1968). Undoubtedly, "Microcotyle sillaginae Woolcock, 1936" in sensu Gupta and Khullar, 1968, and very likely the true Microcotyle sillaginae Woolcock, 1936 belong to the same genus. P. gerres (Machida, 1973) is a synonym and at the same time a homonym of P. gerres (Sandars, 1944). A new species, Polylabris acanthopagri sp. n., is described and a new genus, Polylabroides, with a single species, P. biungulatus gen. et sp. n., is proposed.


This article seeks to introduce the complex world of open-content licences against the backdrop of the massive expansion of copyright in recent years and the increasing threat posed by copyright licences to the world of cultural production. The world of open content has been inspired by the free software movement and hence this article begins with an overview of the conceptual challenges posed to copyright by free software movement. It then moves into an analysis of the ways in which the terms of free software may be understood for the purposes of cultural production and what such a translation may entail. We then go through a brief survey of the history of opencontent licences and discuss a few routes through which we may read licences not only as legal documents but also as cultural documents.


Egg capsules and intracapsular embryos of Rapana venosa were studied to determine the reproductive pattern of this invader species in the south-eastern Black Sea. Egg deposition of R. venosa in the laboratory at 25°C was described. Egg laying began in mid-June, reached a peak in July and ended in late August in 1996. The total number of the egg capsules per whelk ranged between 197 and 999 (mean 575 ±41). The mean length of the egg capsules was 13.26 mm. Each capsule contained between 124 and 1090 embryos with a mean of 555 ±10. Mean larval production per rapa whelk was about 392,931 ±42,731. The mean size of eggs produced was 213.8 μm. Five different stages of intracapsular development were observed. Embryos developed without nurse eggs. Veliger larvae completed their intracapsular development and hatched in 22 days at 25°C.


Osteoarthritis (OA) is classically defined as a progressive degenerative rather than an inflammatory disease, and is characterized by deterioration of joints including loss of articular cartilage and subchondral bone as well as osteocyte formation. OA affects about 8 million people in the United Kingdom and nearly 27 million people in the United States. OA, one of the most common skeletal disorders, characterized by joint cartilage degradation, is induced by accumulated mechanicals stress; however little is known about the underlying molecular mechanism. Thus the present study was conduced in order to analyze the molecular changes during the apoptotic cascade in knee articular cartilage of patients with OA. Articular cartilage specimens harvest from eight patients with knee OA and two control articular cartilage samples were obtained from autopsy cases with no history of joint disease, were assessed by histology (Hematoxlyn and Eosin), histochemistry (Masson's Trichromic and Alcian Blue), immunohistochemistry through TRAIL, DR5 and Caspase-3, TUNEL and Hoechst 33258 staining in fresh isolated chondrocytes. Histology results demonstrated the structural alterations in the articular knee cartilage with OA and histochemistry results demonstrated the presence of matrix calcification and a proteoglycans reduction, respectively. Immunohistochemistry staining showed that structural alterations, matrix calcification and a proteoglycans reduction, coincided with an increase in apoptotic cells when compared to normal cartilage, however this cellular mechanism of death was demonstrated by TUNEL and Hoechst 33258 staining in fresh isolated chondrocytes. The apoptosis positive cells might be due to a protection mechanism after sublethal injury, in particular represented by an increased survival of chondrocytes that are able to participate in the repair process.


Objective: This article aimed to critically review the literature on online counseling. Method: Database and hand-searches were made using search terms and eligibility criteria, yielding a total of 123 studies. Results: The review begins with what characterizes online counseling. Outcome and process research in online counseling is reviewed. Features and cyberbehaviors of online counseling such as anonymity and disinhibition, convenience, time-delay, the loss of social signaling, and writing behavior in cyberspace are discussed. Ethical behavior, professional training, client suitability, and clients' and therapists' attitudes and experiences of online counseling are reviewed. Conclusion: A growing body of knowledge to date is positive in showing that online counseling can have a similar impact and is capable of replicating the facilitative conditions as face-to-face encounters. A need remains for stronger empirical evidence to establish efficacy and effectiveness and to understand better the unique mediating and facilitative variables. C © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Clin. Psychol. 69:994–1011, 2013.


It is likely that human-level online learning for vision will require a brain-like developmental model. We present a general purpose model, called the Self-Aware and Self-Effecting (SASE) model, characterized by internal sensation and action. Rooted in the biological genomic equivalence principle, this model is a general-purpose cell-centered in-place learning scheme to handle different levels of development and operation, from the cell level all the way to the brain level. It is unknown how the brain self-organizes its internal wiring without a holistically-aware central controller. How does the brain develop internal object representations? How do such representations enable tightly intertwined attention and recognition in the presence of complex backgrounds? Internally in SASE, local neural learning uses only the co-firing between the pre-synaptic and post-synaptic activities. Such a two-way representation automatically boosts action-relevant components in the sensory inputs (e.g., foreground vs. background) by increasing the chance of only action-related feature detectors to win in competition. It enables develop in a "skull-closed" fashion. We discuss SASE networks called Where-What networks (WWN) for the open problem of general purpose online attention and recognition with complex backgrounds. In WWN, desired invariance and specificity emerge at each of the what and where motor ends without an internal master map. WWN allows both type-based top-down attention and location-based top-down attention, to attend and recognize individual objects from complex backgrounds (which may include other objects). It is proposed that WWN deals with any real-world foreground objects and any complex backgrounds.


The material contained herein is supplementary to the Article named in the title and published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, forthcoming.


The indirect placement of a limited partner's surname in business name of a limited liability partnershipIn the limited liability partnership, whose general partner is a non-natural person, there is a possibility that in its business name may occur an indirect placement of a limited partner's surname when general partner's business name contains surname of a limited partner. Accordance to art. 104 § 3 of Polish Code of Commercial Companies CCC limited liability partnership's business name shall contain full business name of at least one of its general partners who are non-natural persons. In the result art. 104 § 4 CCC is infringed by the force of the law itself. This conflict of laws can be resolved by application of either lingual or functional interpretations of these contracting to each other provisions. Due to the needs of business practice, more liberal approach to the application of art. 104 § 4 should be adopted. Additionally, it would be wrong to punish entities who are acting in accordance with law for obeying it. Finally, the indirect placement of a limited partner's surname in the business name of a limited liability partnership shall not result in holding limited partner liable for its debts.


published 12 times a year (monthly) by the American Physiological Society, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD involving normal or abnormal function of the gastrointestinal tract, hepatobiliary system, and pancreas. It is publishes original articles pertaining to all aspects of research AJP-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology