Connecting biodiversity data across databases is not as easy as one might think. Different databases use different identifiers and taxonomies and connecting these data often results in loss of information and precision. Here we present some of the challenges we faced with integrating multiple biodiversity data sets, including specimen data from the scientific collections, during a hackathon hosted by the Phenoscape project in December of 2017. The hackathon brought together a diverse group of participants, including biologists and software developers, to explore ways of using the computable phenotype data in the Pheno scape Knowledgebase (KB) (Edmunds et al. 2015). The KB contains ontology-annotated data that links evolutionary phenotypes from the comparative literature to model organism phenotypes enabling, e.g., the retrieval of candidate genes for evolutionary phenotypes and the generation of synthetic supermatrices of presence/absence characters. During this hackathon, our team explored how to link phenotype data in the KB to museum specimen ‡,§ | ¶ # ¤ © Collins M et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. data in iDigBio (Matsunaga et al. 2013) with the hope of creating visualizations including world maps showing species distributions with different character states and their phylogenetic relationships. We visualized lineage relationships by querying the Open Tree of Life (OT) (Hinchliff et al. 2015) website using data integrated by another group at the hackathon that linked KB and OT taxonomic identifiers. Phenoscape uses terms from anatomy, quality, and taxonomy ontologies to annotate characters and taxonomic information from the phylogenetic literature along with specimen information. When populating the KB, specimen identifiers such as occurrence identifiers, collector's number, and catalog numbers were preserved if present in the literature. We found that these identifiers, although standard in the biodiversity domain, were mostly insufficient to uniquely identify the source specimen in iDigBio. As an alternative, we instead mapped all the occurrences of taxa using string matches of the genus and species from Vertebrate Taxonomy Ontology identifiers. Without specimen identifiers that are consistent across databases, we lost the ability to explore spatial and temporal variation of characters within genera and were only able to explore phenotypes and geographic distributions among genera. We look forward to discussing these issues with the collections community represented at this meeting by the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC). We developed an R Shiny application that integrates characters and taxa from Phenoscape with specimen records from iDigBio and phylogenies from OT, to visualize phenotypic characters and taxon distributions in three interactive panels. The app allows a user to visualize OT phylogenies and place presence/absence character data on the tree. Specifically, users can: select taxa or specific characters to visualize their geographic distributions, navigate a phylogeny browser which displays character and specimen data available for taxa under consideration, and view a heatmap of characters available for character and taxon combinations. Because of our challenges joining data, our distribution map leaves users with the impression that all individuals in a genus exhibit a character whereas the KB was populated with data describing individuals. We hope that with improved data standards and their use by more people, constructing applications like ours will become easier.


The nearest neighbour problem is of practical significance in a number of fields. Often we are interested in finding an object near to a given query object. The problem is old, and a large number of solutions have been proposed for it in the literature. However, it remains the case that even the most popular of the techniques proposed for its solution have not been compared against each other. Also, many techniques, including the old and popular ones, can be implemented in a number of ways, and often the different implementations of a technique have not been thoroughly compared either. This research presents a detailed investigation of different implementations of two popular nearest neighbour search data structures, KDTrees and Metric Trees, and compares the different implementations of each of the two structures against each other. The best implementations of these structures are then compared against each other and against two other techniques, Annulus Method and Cover Trees. Annulus Method is an old technique that was rediscovered during the research for this thesis. Cover Trees are one of the most novel and promising data structures for nearest neighbour search that have been proposed in the literature.


In this paper, wafer-level packages (WLPs) using an anisotropic conductive adhesives (ACAs) solution have been newly developed for flip-chip interconnections. WLPs using ACAs (ACA-WLPs) reduce processing steps compared to WLPs using anisotropic conductive films (ACFs), because ACA solution is directly coated on a wafer without an ACF formation process on the releasing film and an ACF lamination process on the wafer. The effects of ACA coating process parameters, such as blade gap and temperature, were first investigated for a uniform thickness coating without voids on an Au-bumped wafer. After solvent drying and subsequent singulation of a B-stage ACA-coated wafer, a singulated chip was flip-chip assembled on an organic substrate using a thermo-compression bonding method. The reliabilities of flip-chip assemblies using ACA-WLPs were evaluated in terms of a high temperature/humidity test, thermal cycling test, and pressure cooker test (PCT) and compared with corresponding results of conventional ACF flip-chip assemblies. In the high temperature/humidity reliability test and thermal cycling test, there was no difference in the flip-chip reliabilities between the two types of flip-chip assemblies. Furthermore, the flip-chip assemblies using ACA-WLPs showed better PCT reliability than the conventional ACF flip-chip assemblies.


This Essay considers the profit to be made in virtue signaling solely for the purpose of attracting customers and driving sales: Pro-female, woke menstruation messaging that may merely be an exploitative and empty co-optation. Feminists should expect more of menstrual capitalists, including a commitment that firms operating within this space address the diapositive issue of period poverty and meaningfully assist those unable to meet basic hygiene needs who may never be direct consumers. This Essay serves as a thought piece that first presents, in Section I, the B Corporation as a relatively new direction in corporate law that redefines the corporation as a potential agent of social change. Section II considers the way in which B Corporation certification may serve as an implicit sorting device to distinguish companies performing hollow virtue signaling from those menstrual capitalists committed to socially responsible pro-female business practices.


ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with what I define as a cultural politics of 'being from' in the American settler colony. I use Tom Dey's Western/'cop-buddy' hybrid Shanghai Noon (2000), and most specifically what is presented in the film as actor Jackie Chan's failed and comedic partaking in the white and homosocial tradition of Indian play. I use the film as a textual anchor for the critical analysis of the types of contracting subjectivities that are implicitly privileged within the foundational delineations separating settlers, Natives, and arrivants in what President Obama described as a nation of immigrants that is carried on the back of the non-immigrant status of Native Americans. I explain that in his conversion from Chinese national to Asian American – a transition that is prefaced by his disqualification from the settler's exclusive struggle over nativeness, followed by his peculiar transition into an (Asian) American cowboy – Chan's character becomes representative of this dialectical (and, in his case, always already incomplete) movement from genealogy to autology, or from pre-modern forms of marriage, ethnic affiliations, and social constraints, to a settler-liberal ideal of intimacy, reasoned consent, and self-sovereignty. In other words, once Chan's character fulfils this trajectory of self-discovery in the refashioning of place and self, his new-found voice and sexuality bespeak his idiosyncratic conversion into an Asian American. I argue that his conversion illuminates some of the complex modalities of raced and gendered intimacy in settler articulations of the privileged, contracting subjectivity of liberal colonialism. What such representation of an idealized, autological migrant subject allows us to suggest, is that non-Native people of colour, as they re-enact themselves settler colonial modes of Native dispossession and/or co-optation, often remain peculiarly moored to the hegemonic structure of feeling of American settlerism in ways that often put upon them assimilationist demands that are parallel to those imposed upon Indigenous bodies as always incomplete white liberal subjects in the making.


Transparent conductive Cu-In-O thin films were deposited by reactive DC magnetron sputtering. Two types of targets were used. The first was In target covered with a fan-shaped Cu plate of the same radius and the second was Cu target on which six In grains of 1.5mm was placed with equal distance between each other. The samples were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV/VIS spectrophotometer, four-probe measurement etc. SEM shows that the surfaces of all the samples are very smooth. EDX shows that the samples contain Cu, In as well as O, and different targets result in different atomic ratios of Cu to In. A diffraction peak related to rhombohedra-centered In2O3 (012) is observed in the XRD spectra of all the samples. For both the two targets, the transmittance decreases with the increase of O2 flow rates. The direct optical band gap of all the samples is also estimated according to the transmittance curve. For both the two targets, different O2 flow rates result in different sheet resistances and conductivities. The target of Cu on In shows more controllability in the composition and properties of Cu-In-O films.


This study investigated the haptic 'dissection' of a digital model of the hand and wrist in anatomy education at both undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) levels. The study ran over five successive years and was split into three discreet phases. Phase one compared the results of PG students across control, non-haptic and haptic groups. Phase two compared the results of UG students between control and haptic groups. Phase three compared the results of UG students across control, non-haptic and haptic groups. Results for all phases indicate that use of the model, both through haptic and non-haptic interfaces produced some significantly improved test results. The non-haptic group performing the strongest overall indicating that the addition of haptic feedback may not be beneficial to student learning.


Ballistic-induced traumatic brain injury remains the most severe type of injury with the highest rate of fatality. Yet, its injury biomechanics remains the least understood. Ballistic injury biomechanics studies have been mostly focused on the trunk and extremities using large gelatin blocks with unconstrained boundaries [1, 2]. Results from these investigations are not directly applicable to brain injuries studies because the human head is smaller and the soft brain is enclosed in a relatively rigid cranium. Thali et al. developed a "skin-skull-brain" model to reproduce gunshot wounds to the head for forensic purposes [3]. These studies focused on wound morphology to the skull rather than brain injury. Watkins et al. used human dry skulls filled with gelatin and investigated temporary cavities and pressure change [4]. However, the frame rate of the cine X-ray was too slow to describe the cavity dynamics, and pressures were only quantified at the center of skull. In addition, the ordnance gelatin used in these studies is not the most suitable simulant to model brain material because of differences in dynamic moduli [5]. Sylgard gel (Dow Corning Co., Midland, MI) demonstrates similar behavior as the brain and has been used as a brain surrogate to determine brain deformations under blunt impact loading [6, 7]. Zhang et al. used the simulant for ballistic brain injury and investigated the correlation between temporary cavity pulsation and pressure change [8, 9]. However, the skulls used in these models were not as rigid as the human cranium. The presence of a stronger cranial bone may significantly decrease the projectile velocity and change the kinematics of cavity and pressure distribution in the cranium. In addition, projectiles perforated through the models in these studies. Patients with through-and-through perforating gunshot wounds to the head have a greater fatality rate than patients with non-exit penetrating wounds [10]. Therefore, it is more clinically relevant to investigate non-exit ballistic traumatic brain injuries. Consequently, the current study is designed to investigate the brain injury biomechanics from non-exit penetrating projectile using an appropriately sized and shaped physical head model.


We continue the systematic computation of Landau gauge gluon and ghost propagators of SU(2) gluodynamics using a sequence of increasing lattice sizes L^4 up to L=112 with corresponding \beta-values chosen to keep the linear physical size a(\beta)L ~ 9.6 fm fixed. To extremize the Landau gauge functional we employ simulated annealing combined with subsequent overrelaxation. Renormalizing the propagators at momentum \mu= 2.2 GeV we observe quite strong lattice artifacts for the gluon propagator as well as for the ghost dressing function within the momentum region q < 1.0 GeV. The dependence on the lattice spacing for the gluon propagator at lowest accessible physical momentum values does not yet allow a simple extrapolation to the continuum limit. On the contrary, the running coupling derived from the bare dressing functions seems less affected by lattice artifacts.


PURPOSE
The aim of this article is to investigate the energy dependence of the radiochromic film type, Gafchromic™ EBT-1, when scanned with a flatbed scanner for film readout.

METHODS
Dose response curves were determined for 12 different beam qualities ranging from a10kVp x-ray beam to a 15MVp x-ray beam and include also two high energy electron beam qualities (6 and 18MeV). The dose responses measured as net optical density (netOD) for the different beam qualities were normalized to the response of a reference beam quality (6MVp).

RESULTS
A strong systematic energy dependence of the film response was found. The lower the effective beam energy, the less sensitive the EBT-1 films get. The maximum decrease in dose for the same film response between the25kVp and 6MVp beam qualities was 44%. Additionally, a difference in energy dependence for different doses was discovered, meaning that higher doses show a smaller dependency on energy than lower doses. The maximum decrease in the normalized netOD was found to be 25% for a dose of 0.5Gy relative to the normalized netOD for 10Gy. Moreover, a scaling procedure is introduced, allowing the correction of the energy dependence for the investigated beam qualities and also for comparable x-ray beam qualities within the energy range studied.

CONCLUSIONS
A strong energy dependence for EBT-1 radiochromic films was found. The films were readout with a flatbed scanner. If the effective beam energy is known, the energy dependence can be corrected with the introduced scaling procedure. Further investigation of the influence of the spectral band of the readout device on energy dependence is needed to understand the reason for the different energy dependences found in this and previous works.


There has been a revival of interest in economic techniques to measure the value of a firm through the use of economic value added as a technique for measuring such value to shareholders. This technique, based upon the concept of economic value equating to total value, is founded upon the assumptions of classical liberal economic theory. Such techniques have been subject to criticism both from the point of view of the level of adjustment to published accounts needed to make the technique work and from the point of view of the validity of such techniques in actually measuring value in a meaningful context. This paper critiques economic value added techniques as a means of calculating changes in shareholder value, contrasting such techniques with more traditional techniques of measuring value added. It uses the company Severn Trent plc as an actual example in order to evaluate and contrast the techniques in action. The paper demonstrates discrepancies between the calculated results from using economic value added analysis and those reported using conventional accounting measures. It considers the merits of the respective techniques in explaining shareholder and managerial behaviour and the problems with using such techniques in considering the wider stakeholder concept of value. It concludes that this economic value added technique has merits when compared with traditional accounting measures of performance but that it does not provide the universal panacea claimed by its proponents.


: The presenting clinical details of 53 patients admitted with proven primary acute pancreatitis due to gall stones were compared with those of 31 patients in whom the disease was due to other causes. Ten statistically significant differences existed between the two groups (p less than 0.05). A computer data base for each group of patients was prepared by listing the relative frequency of symptoms and signs. A computer program was written to predict the likelihood of gall stones in patients suffering from acute pancreatitis and prediction was correct in 92% of patients. A predictive index devised from the presence of three of the significantly differing clinical features correctly identified gall stones in 82%. Subsequent computer analysis of the presenting clinical symptoms and signs on admission every patient with acute pancreatitis has confirmed the accuracy of this technique and has resulted in alteration in the management whereby cholecystectomy for biliary pancreatitis is performed at an early stage of the illness.


Kevin Dowd explains how central banking and the monopoly issue of currency by government have politicised and greatly destabilised the banking system. The change from money backed by a commodity standard to fiat money has destroyed the mechanism by which price stability was earlier secured, and opened the way for an historically unprecedented inflation. The Bank of England and other central banks have a record of losses which is comparable to those of the worst managed nationalised trading companies. In contrast, the private issue of currency disciplines banks through competitive pressures, and there is no real danger that the currency will be debased by over-issue. Indeed the historical evidence indicates that private monetary systems, as in Scotland from 1728 to 1845, have been stable and successful. Monetary stability can be achieved through a competitive banking system. This requires complete financial deregulation, the abolition of the Bank of England, and a re-definition of the monetary standard in terms of a general commodity index.


ABSTRACT Cyclic GMP (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase G [PKG]) is essential for microneme secretion, motility, invasion, and egress in apicomplexan parasites, However, the separate roles of two isoforms of the kinase that are expressed by some apicomplexans remain uncertain. Despite having identical regulatory and catalytic domains, PKGI is plasma membrane associated whereas PKGII is cytosolic in Toxoplasma gondii. To determine whether these isoforms are functionally distinct or redundant, we developed an auxin-inducible degron (AID) tagging system for conditional protein depletion in T. gondii. By combining AID regulation with genome editing strategies, we determined that PKGI is necessary and fully sufficient for PKG-dependent cellular processes. Conversely, PKGII is functionally insufficient and dispensable in the presence of PKGI. The difference in functionality mapped to the first 15 residues of PKGI, containing a myristoylated Gly residue at position 2 that is critical for membrane association and PKG function. Collectively, we have identified a novel requirement for cGMP signaling at the plasma membrane and developed a new system for examining essential proteins in T. gondii. IMPORTANCE Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite and important clinical and veterinary pathogen that causes toxoplasmosis. Since apicomplexans can only propagate within host cells, efficient invasion is critically important for their life cycles. Previous studies using chemical genetics demonstrated that cyclic GMP signaling through protein kinase G (PKG)-controlled invasion by apicomplexan parasites. However, these studies did not resolve functional differences between two compartmentalized isoforms of the kinase. Here we developed a conditional protein regulation tool to interrogate PKG isoforms in T. gondii. We found that the cytosolic PKG isoform was largely insufficient and dispensable. In contrast, the plasma membrane-associated isoform was necessary and fully sufficient for PKG function. Our studies identify the plasma membrane as a key location for PKG activity and provide a broadly applicable system for examining essential proteins in T. gondii. Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite and important clinical and veterinary pathogen that causes toxoplasmosis. Since apicomplexans can only propagate within host cells, efficient invasion is critically important for their life cycles. Previous studies using chemical genetics demonstrated that cyclic GMP signaling through protein kinase G (PKG)-controlled invasion by apicomplexan parasites. However, these studies did not resolve functional differences between two compartmentalized isoforms of the kinase. Here we developed a conditional protein regulation tool to interrogate PKG isoforms in T. gondii. We found that the cytosolic PKG isoform was largely insufficient and dispensable. In contrast, the plasma membrane-associated isoform was necessary and fully sufficient for PKG function. Our studies identify the plasma membrane as a key location for PKG activity and provide a broadly applicable system for examining essential proteins in T. gondii.


Vitamin B12 deficiency becomes increasingly common with advancing age. Diverse recommendations exist for initial and maintenance therapy of deficiency states. With cyanocobalamin, the only B12 preparation available in the United States, much greater amounts of the vitamin are retained with a 1000 micrograms injection than with 100 micrograms, with no disadvantage in cost or toxicity. Maintenance therapy using the larger dosage may be necessary to meet metabolic requirements in many patients. Thus, it is recommended that parenteral regimens use 1000 micrograms cyanocobalamin: 5 or 6 biweekly injections for loading, and once-a-month for maintenance. Oral therapy with 300-1000 micrograms per day may be therapeutically equivalent to parenteral therapy.


An estimate of the cross sections of nuclear reactions with thermal neutrons in terms of the average parameters of the target nucleus (the strength function, the average level spacing, and the average reaction width) is obtained. The probability distributions for the ratios of actual thermal neutron cross sections to their estimated values are introduced. These f&Sons can be calculated from the statistical model. They are calculated for neutron radiative capture and for inelastic neutron acceleration by the isomeric nuclei [as well as the (n,a) reaction, etc./. Using these results, one can predict the probability of finding the actual thermal neutron cross section in a given interval.


Introduction:
Vascular complications involving the ureter are rare and usually present as an arterio-ureteral fistula. They can arise in several situations including degenerative iliac artery disease [1], previous vascular reconstruction procedures [2], extirpative surgery for pelvic or abdominal malignant disease [3], pelvic irradiation urolithiasis, urinary diversion procedure [4], extensive ureteral mobilization and prolonged indwelling ureteral stent [5]. Venous complications during the installation of the ureteral endoprosthesis are uncommon than arterial complications. We report a very rare case of simultaneous ureter and iliac vein perforation with intravenous migration of a ureteral stent through the inferior vena cava till the right atrium.


P2P data management systems provide a scalable alternative to centralized architectures. Their adoption, however, is limited by the lack of possibility to control the access to the resources stored in the system. We address this problem in the case of structured P2P networks, in particular, when the system is used in a collaborative working environment. We analyze the problem assuming a simple threat model and we systematically explore the solution possibilities. We design and compare access control enforcement techniques which realize the desired functionality by constructing independent networks or by implementing access control at query or at response time.


Psychologists and psychiatrists are regularly used during civil commitment and other hearings to prognosticate dangerousness for the courts. In this process, the judiciary has shown almost complete deference to the recommendations of forensic specialists despite a number of early studies that did not support a clinician's ability to predict violence. This study examined if the Cognitive Control Battery (CCB) can contribute to discrimination in a model that includes known predictor variables and if the CCB can discr iminate violent juveniles based upon actual episodes of violence. A stepwise discriminant analysis was used on a calibration sample (N=175) of dangerous and non-dangerous juvenile inpatients. Forty-five demographic, psychosocial, and cognitive variables were employed. The res,Alting statistical model was cross-validated on the remainder of the sample (N=175). Results indicated that 58.6% of the cross-validation sample w-e; 0%.,rt-ectly classified. Moreover, the CCB demonstrated that dangr-mus youths processed aggressive/neutral stimuli differently than non-dangerous youths. Results did not suggest that cognition (or type of cognitive style) could be viewed as a cause of violence. Recent advances in cognitive psychology (e.g., the CCB) may assist policymakers, judges, and forensic clinicians to make more inlormed choices concerning dangerous juvenile inpatients. (ABL) **********************************A************************************ Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** PREDICTING DANGEROUS JUVENILE INPATIENTS: THE ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY OF COGNITIVE CONTROLS


Despite George W. Bush's professed opposition to big government, federal spending has increased under his watch more quickly than it did during the Clinton administration, and demands on government have continued to grow. Why? Lawrence D. Brown and Lawrence R. Jacobs show that conservative efforts to expand markets and shrink government often have the ironic effect of expanding government's reach by creating problems that force legislators to enact new rules and regulations. Dismantling the flawed reasoning behind these attempts to cast markets and public power in opposing roles, "The Private Abuse of the Public Interest" urges citizens and policy makers to recognize that properly functioning markets presuppose the government's ability to create, sustain, and repair them over time.The authors support their pragmatic approach with evidence drawn from in-depth analyses of education, transportation, and health care policies. In each policy area, initiatives such as school choice, deregulation of airlines and other carriers, and the promotion of managed care have introduced or enlarged the role of market forces with the aim of eliminating bureaucratic inefficiency. But in each case, the authors show, reality proved to be much more complex than market models predicted. This complexity has resulted in a political cycle - strikingly consistent across policy spheres - that culminates in public interventions to sustain markets while protecting citizens from their undesirable effects. Situating these case studies in the context of more than two hundred years of debate about the role of markets in society, Brown and Jacobs call for a renewed focus on public-private partnerships that recognize and respect both sectors' vital - and fundamentally complementary - roles.


Budget cuts have had a devastating effect on public defenders and their ability to effectively represent indigent clients, mostly in the form of increasing caseloads. Much has been written about the effect these excessive caseloads have had on indigent defendants' right to counsel. This article, instead, focuses on how excessive caseloads are placing public defenders in ethical dilemmas. Public defenders are bound by the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, but these high caseloads are making it increasingly difficult for them to meet these required ethical standards. Specifically, it is more challenging for an attorney to represent indigent clients diligently and competently when dealing with caseload numbers well beyond the recommended levels. The author discusses why the solutions being offered by the American Bar Association's Formal Opinion 06-441 are not tenable and concludes that true reform in indigent defense is the only way to alleviate the excessive caseloads.


We investigate the effect of a density gradient on Chandrasekhar's dynamical friction formula based on the method of 2-body encounters in the local approximation. We apply these generalizations to the orbit evolution of satellite galaxies in Dark Matter haloes. We find from the analysis that the main influence occurs through a position-dependent maximum impact parameter in the Coulomb logarithm, which is determined by the local scale-length of the density distribution. We also show that for eccentric orbits the explicit dependence of the Coulomb logarithm on position yields significant differences for the standard homogeneous force. Including the velocity dependence of the Coulomb logarithm yields ambigous results. The orbital fits in the first few periods are further improved, but the deviations at later times are much larger. The additional force induced by the density gradient, the inhomogeneous force, is not antiparallel to the satellite motion and can exceed 10% of the homogeneous friction force in magnitude. However, due to the symmetry properties of the inhomogeneous force, there is a deformation and no secular effect on the orbit at the first order. Therefore the inhomogeneous force can be safely neglected for the orbital evolution of satellite galaxies. For the homogeneous force we compare numerical N-body calculations with semi-analytical orbits to determine quantitatively the accuracy of the generalized formulae of the Coulomb logarithm in the Chandrasekhar approach. With the local scale-length as the maximum impact parameter we find a significant improvement of the orbital fits and a better interpretation of the quantitative value of the Coulomb logarithm.


Social-Networking Websites (SNWs) like Facebook and MySpace are playing an increasingly prevalent role in everyday social interactions. But very little is known about the effectiveness of the various profile elements in conveying information about the personality of the profile owner. Here we examine 5,303 impressions made on the basis of a specially designed social networking website (http://www.YouJustGetMe.com) and on the basis of Facebook profiles. Our findings suggest that profile owners are generally seen by others as they see themselves; that when raters are judging unknown targets, rater-target agreement is stronger for female (vs. male) targets and for female (vs. male) raters; and several specific elements of profiles are associated with increased or diminished levels of rater-target impression agreement. The findings are important because they are the first to show how impression agreement may be affected by specific elements in SNW profiles.


Abstract Today, cancer is one of the main health issues faced in the workplace, with asbestos an important carcinogen in the occupational environment. Among the asbestos minerals, chrysotile is the main species of socio-economic and industrial relevance. Although chrysotile asbestos is classified as a "carcinogenic substance" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), this fiber is still mined and used in Russia. The effective health hazard posed by the Russian commercial chrysotile has not been quantitatively assessed to date. In this work, the potential toxicity/pathogenicity of Russian chrysotile was quantitatively determined using the fiber potential toxicity index (FPTI) model. This model was applied to a representative commercial chrysotile from the Orenburg region, Russia, whose morphometric, crystal-chemical, surface activity, and biodurability related parameters were determined. We have quantitatively assessed that the toxicity/pathogenicity potential of Russian chrysotile (FPTI = 2.4) is lower than that of amphibole asbestos species but higher than the threshold limit set for "safe" mineral fibers (FPTI = 2.0), although it does not contain impurities of amphibole asbestos. Differences with other chrysotile samples were discussed, and it was found that the investigated Russian commercial chrysotile shares several features with the Italian Balangero chrysotile, indicating that widespread concern on commercial Russian chrysotile is justified.


BACKGROUND
Hepatosteatosis is a common pathological feature of impaired hepatic metabolism following chronic alcohol consumption. Although often benign and reversible, it is widely believed that steatosis is a risk factor for development of advanced liver pathologies, including steatohepatitis and fibrosis. The hepatocyte alterations accompanying the initiation of steatosis are not yet clearly defined.

METHODS
Induction of hepatosteatosis by chronic ethanol consumption was investigated using the Lieber-DeCarli (LD) high fat diet model. Effects were assessed by immunohistochemistry and blood and tissue enzymatic assays. Cell culture models were employed for mechanistic studies.

RESULTS
Pair feeding mice ethanol (LD-Et) or isocaloric control (LD-Co) diets for 6 weeks progressively increased hepatocyte triglyceride accumulation in morphological, biochemical, and zonally distinct cytoplasmic lipid droplets (CLD). The LD-Et diet induced zone 2-specific triglyceride accumulation in large CLD coated with perilipin, adipophilin (ADPH), and TIP47. In LD-Co-fed mice, CLD were significantly smaller than those in LD-Et-fed mice and lacked perilipin. A direct role of perilipin in formation of large CLD was further suggested by cell culture studies showing that perilipin-coated CLD were significantly larger than those coated with ADPH or TIP47. LD-Co- and LD-Et-fed animals also differed in hepatic metabolic stress responses. In LD-Et but not LD-Co-fed mice, inductions were observed in the following: microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system [cytochrome P-4502E1 (CYP2E1)], hypoxia response pathway (hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha, HIF1α), endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway (calreticulin), and synthesis of lipid peroxidation products [4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE)]. CYP2E1 and HIF1 α immunostaining localized to zone 3 and did not correlate with accumulation of large CLD. In contrast, calreticulin and 4-HNE immunostaining closely correlated with large CLD accumulation. Importantly, 4-HNE staining significantly colocalized with ADPH and perilipin on the CLD surface.

CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that ethanol contributes to macrosteatosis by both altering CLD protein composition and inducing lipid peroxide adduction of CLD-associated proteins.


In response to rising input costs and narrowing profit margins, soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] producers are continually looking for ways to increase soybean yield. One approach being promoted is the use of foliar fungicides, for both foliar pathogen control and nonfungicidal plant physiological effects. The objective of this field experiment was to evaluate a strobilurin and a triazole alone or in combination on soybean in the absence of foliar diseases to determine the potential effect on soybean growth and yield. The experiment was conducted in Iowa at one location in 2005 and two locations in 2006 with four soybean cultivars. Triazole (tebuconazole), a curative fungicide and strobilurin (pyraclostrobin), a preventative fungicide, were applied alone and in combination at growth stages R1, R3, and R5. Low levels of foliar diseases were observed. Seed yield for the control treatment averaged 4308 kg ha -1 across all sites. Foliar fungicides did not affect soybean seed yield. Few differences were observed among the treatments in soybean growth and yield components. Total biomass was 10% greater with the pyraclostrobin applied at R3 compared with the control, and was a result of increased stem weight. In this study, fungicides applied in the absence of foliar disease did not produce nonfungicidal physiological effect or associated yield improvement. It was concluded that environmental conditions and assessment of disease levels should be used as a guide for foliar fungicide application on soybean.


Multimode effects in the free propagation region (FPR) of an etched diffraction grating (EDG) demultiplexer based on silicon-on-insulator are analyzed. The insertion loss and the crosstalk increase due to these undesired multimode effects. A bi-level taper structure between the FPR and the input/output waveguides is proposed. It is shown that such a taper structure can reduce the multimode effects to an almost negligible level. At the same time, the 3-dB passband width is enlarged by increasing the rib width. No additional fabrication process is needed for an EDG with such a design.


A study of leucocyte response to infection, polymorphonuclear leucocyte chemotaxis and bactericidal activity, and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction in children with kwashiorkor was undertaken and compared with a control group. The results show that total leucocyte counts were depressed in children with kwashiorkor, and lymphopenia was not infrequent. NBT reduction was normal. Abnormal polymorphonuclear leucocyte chemotaxis and bactericidal activity, though frequently found in children with kwashiorkor, was shown to be dependent on infection and not on protein depletion per se. Therefore, apart from some impairment of leucocyte mobilization in the presence of infection, the qualtiy of polymorphonuclear function, as determined by the above techniques, appears to be normal in kwashiorkor.


ABSTRACT Inequalities in student enrolment, retention and success for specific demographic groups exist throughout the higher education sector. Although there are numerous and diverse initiatives implemented in universities to support student retention and/or success, experience and/or satisfaction, the feasibility or effectiveness of programs targeting these outcomes has not been systematically explored. The objective of this systematic review was to report the success of interventions or programs delivered in universities specifically targeting improved student outcomes based on published quantitative data. A systematic search of peer-reviewed papers (2009–2019) from four electronic databases (INFROMIT, PROQUEST, EBSCO and SCOPUS) was conducted. Most of the 55 studies included targeted 1st year undergraduate students from varied disciplines. The positive findings relating to student retention and academic success, and student satisfaction and experience reported in this review are promising. The review concludes by outlining implications for higher education providers seeking to determine institutional policies on investment in student retention and experience interventions.


Weight stigmatization is defined as the devaluation of others based on weight, a visible and specific characteristic that cannot be hidden. The consequences of weight stigmatization have been studied in victims and healthcare providers. This narrative literature review describes the consequences of weight stigmatization in victims and healthcare practitioners. According to several studies, high levels of psychological dysfunction in victims coexist with negative stereotypes in healthcare professionals, since the latter are exposed to the same negative media messages about obesity. Thus, weight stigmatization contributes to increase the burden of obesity, since when obese patients perceive that they are discriminated by healthcare professionals, their unhealthy behaviors persist and they have a low adherence to obesity treatment and medical recommendations.


The life of the nineteenth-century American prophet, William Bickerton, was not explored
comprehensively until 2017-2018 — two centuries after his birth. His life offers new and
exciting perspectives for the historiographies of American revivalism, Christian
Restorationism, millennialism, Mormonism, and biography. My articles, "The Rocky Road
to Prophethood: William Bickerton's Emergence as an American Prophet" (2017) and
"Opening the Windows of Heaven: The Bickertonite Spiritual Revival 1856-1858" (2018),
along with my book, William Bickerton: Forgotten Latter Day Prophet (2018), utilise an
emic approach to examine Bickerton and his religious movement within the contexts of
American culture and Mormonism. Following in the footsteps of scholars such as Richard
Lyman Bushman (biographer of Joseph Smith), John G. Turner (biographer of Brigham
Young), and Deborah Madden (biographer of Richard Brothers), the work submitted
applies a sympathetic, yet critical approach to examine Bickerton. It shows that he
promoted unique Christian Restorationist, revivalist, and millennialist beliefs during the
American Civil War, Reconstruction, and afterward, and fostered progressive theological
innovations within the Latter Day Saint movement. The commentary on these
submissions expands upon these ideas and argues that the most fruitful approach to
Bickerton's religious movement is to begin with the man himself. He was not only the
leader, but the prophet, who motivated his people with exceptional visionary power. While
accepting that there are weaknesses to biography (especially as the academy continues
to favour scholarship that explores trends and processes within the confines of social
history and bottom-up studies), this thesis argues that it continues to be a valuable
approach for historians of religion. In particular, the hierarchical elements of biography
work well when studying radical prophets and offer a foundational approach for
understanding prophetic leaders, the culture they interacted with, and the people who
followed them.


This study examines how the concept of tragedy has been introduced and has negotiated itself into modern Chinese literary discourse during a time period of thirty-two years from 1917 to 1949. Taking into consideration the simultaneous development of a modern Chinese literary tradition, this study concentrates on the relationship between the discourse on one particular genre and the discourse on literature as a whole during the process of reception of an alien literary concept and its influence on indigenous literature. Modern Chinese intellectuals interpret the concept of tragedy from two main aspects: one is in the theatrical domain where tragedy functions as a dramatic form closely related to the emergence of a new genre in Chinese literature, namely, the spoken drama (huaju); the other is in the aesthetic domain where tragedy (or more specifically, the tragic) operates as a literary or philosophical idea and offers possibilities for the development of this notion in non-dramatic literature. This dual-focus approach is fundamental in the formation of a modern Chinese discourse on tragedy, as a paralleled line of arguments concerning these two aspects remains visible in the modern period. The major influence from foreign intellectual tradition on modern Chinese perception of tragedy takes the shape of two pairs of different perspectives, namely, literary utilitarianism and literary aestheticism in theoretical discussions, corresponding to realism and romanticism in literary creativity. These two pairs of perspectives set the tone for modern Chinese understanding of the concept of tragedy: literary utilitarianism and literary aestheticism focus respectively on the foremost importance of tragedy's practical utility in social progression, or of tragedy's aesthetic function to offer emotional cleansing to the audience; realism and romanticism debate the intricate relation between tragedy and social reality that besieged several generations of writers throughout the Republican era. It is noticeable that these viewpoints have not developed in a balanced way, as a pragmatic realist perspective has prevailed in both theory and practice, while the aesthetic/romantic pursuit being either rejected or incorporated into the ultimate thematic concern with social reformation and national salvation. This study abstracts the idea of the tragic from its dramatic form in examining the cross-genre and multidisciplinary development of the concept of tragedy in modern Chinese literary tradition. The main body of the thesis contains four chapters. The first chapter sets the scope of this study by clarifying several terminologies that are key to approach the long-lasting debates on whether there is a Chinese tragedy in 20th-century Chinese literary discourse. The second chapter focuses on the period of the New Culture Movement from 1917 to 1927, when the counter-traditional and iconoclastic agenda dominates the overall literary field and associates tragedy largely with literature's functional role in social criticism. The third chapter examines theories and writings produced from 1928 to 1937, when the perspective of pragmatic realism prevails the reading of the tragic due to the strengthened connection between literature and politics. The fourth chapter centres on the wartime literary expression of the tragic from 1937 to 1949, when the Anti-Japanese War homogenises the literary subjects with an overt and unified political theme to inspire the people with optimism and fighting spirit. By exploring the possible factors that differentiate modern Chinese tragic perception from its foreign counterparts, this study investigates and demonstrates the constant interplay among several cultural, social, and political factors in affecting the formation of a modern critical discourse


Legionella pneumophila and other Legionella species replicate intracellularly using the Icm/Dot type IV secretion system. In L. pneumophila this system translocates >300 effectors into host cells and in the Legionella genus thousands of effectors were identified, the function of most of which is unknown. ABSTRACT Legionella pneumophila and other Legionella species replicate intracellularly using the Icm/Dot type IV secretion system. In L. pneumophila this system translocates >300 effectors into host cells and in the Legionella genus thousands of effectors were identified, the function of most of which is unknown. Fourteen L. pneumophila effectors were previously shown to specifically bind phosphoinositides (PIs) using dedicated domains. We found that PI-binding domains of effectors are usually not homologous to one another; they are relatively small and located at the effectors' C termini. We used the previously identified Legionella effector domains (LEDs) with unknown function and the above characteristics of effector PI-binding domains to discover novel PI-binding LEDs. We identified three predicted PI-binding LEDs that are present in 14 L. pneumophila effectors and in >200 effectors in the Legionella genus. Using an in vitro protein-lipid overlay assay, we found that 11 of these L. pneumophila effectors specifically bind phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PI3P), almost doubling the number of L. pneumophila effectors known to bind PIs. Further, we identified in each of these newly discovered PI3P-binding LEDs conserved, mainly positively charged, amino acids that are essential for PI3P binding. Our results indicate that Legionella effectors harbor unique domains, shared by many effectors, which directly mediate PI3P binding.


Quantification of lichen abundance is important for management of reindeer populations. We measured dry lichen biomass in 876 micro plots (16.5 cm × 16.5 cm) systematically sampled within 219 vegetation plots (2 m × 2 m) from 7 different areas in S Norway. Lichen biomass was quantified as: (a) dry weight in g m-2, (b) lichen height in cm, (c) lichen cover, and (d) lichen volume (lichen height × lichen cover). Lichen biomass decreased with increasing precipitation and increasing altitude. On local scale, the variation in lichen biomass varied strongly with snow conditions. The grazed parts of Hardangervidda had in general a low average lichen biomass (an average mostly lower than 150 g m-2). Lichen biomass was much higher in area where reindeer migration was interfered by human activity. Lichen height and lichen volume were strongly linearly correlated with dry lichen biomass. These proxy methods may therefore be used to predict lichen biomass, but deviations from exact measurements should be expected.


A cryptographic system is described which is secure if and only if computing logarithms over GF(p) is infeasible. Previously published algorithms for computing this function require O(P'/~) complexity in both time and space. An improved algorithm is derived which requires O(log2 p) complexity if p 1 has only small prime factors. Such values of p must be avoided in the cryptosystem. Constructive uses for the new algorithm are also described.


Hypertext functionalities represent a form of the distilled wisdom of the hypermedia community. Given the peculiar nature of the World Wide Web, it is very difficult to successfully propose functionalities that become widely accepted. XMLC is a prototype of an XML browser that, given its modular architecture and general scope, can be proposed as the basis for implementing sophisticated hypertext functionalities on the Web.


Follicular lymphoma may be defined as a B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma where the lymphoid follicles of the neoplasm may simulate the typical secondary, activated follicles. It comprises of 40% of the adult lymphomas and 22% of the indolent no Hodgkin's lymphomas of the developed world with greater than 1500 instances of annual prevalence. The disorder is infrequent in Africans and with adolescents (patients below 20 years of age). A nodular lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin's disease (NLPHD) or a nodal reactive follicular hyperplasia (RFH) may replicate the disorder in children. A majority (80%) of individuals necessitate a therapeutic intervention on account of disease progression. An estimated one fifth (20%) of patients may survive in the absence of therapy for the first decade following detection.


Abstract The present work concerns an equilibrium study of naturally occurring clinoptilolite as an ion‐exchange medium; the clinoptilolite has been used for the removal of the NH4 + ion from a model aqueous effluent of the Landfill Leachate Assisted Froth Flotation (LLAFF) process. The other principal cations involved were sodium and calcium, and the anion was chloride. A number of experimental tests with constant ionic strength in solution were conducted; these were performed to further validate the feasibility of using clinoptilolite to remove NH4 + ion from the LLAFF effluent. The experimental data obtained were well described by the law of mass action. A binary‐component equilibrium study revealed a value for the binary separation factor αNH4 +, Na+ of 5.5; this value was relatively unaffected by the total salinity under the experimental conditions. Values for the intra‐particle diffusion coefficient and the maximum ion‐exchange capacity were also obtained; the latter was affected by total salinity. Results from the binary‐component and multicomponent studies have revealed the selectivity of clinoptilolite for ammonium over other cations under the compositional conditions of the model LLAFF effluent: The selectivity sequence is K+ > NH4 + > Na+ > Ca2+. The factors that influence the selectivity of clinoptilolite for NH4 + in LLAFF effluent have been ascertained; in particular, it has been found that small quantities of Ca2+ in the effluent have a deleterious effect on both selectivity toward ammonium and ammonium ion‐exchange capacity.


In this paper, we analyze in depth a simplicial decomposition like algorithmic framework for large scale convex quadratic programming. In particular, we first propose two tailored strategies for handling the master problem. Then, we describe a few techniques for speeding up the solution of the pricing problem. We report extensive numerical experiments on both real portfolio optimization and general quadratic programming problems, showing the efficiency and robustness of the method when compared to Cplex.


Many algorithmic efforts have been made to address technical issues in designing a streaming media caching proxy. Typical of those are segment-based caching approaches that efficiently cache large media objects in segments which reduces the startup latency while ensuring continuous streaming. However, few systems have been practically implemented and deployed. The implementation and deployment efforts are hindered by several factors: 1) streaming of media content in complicated data formats is difficult; 2) typical streaming protocols such as RTP often run on UDP; in practice, UDP traffic is likely to be blocked by firewalls at the client side due to security considerations; and 3) coordination between caching discrete object segments and streaming continuous media data is challenging. To address these problems, we have designed and implemented a segment-based streaming media proxy, called SProxy. This proxy system has the following merits. First, SProxy leverages existing Internet infrastructure to address the flash crowd. The content server is now free of the streaming duty while hosting streaming content through a regular Web server. Thus, UDP based streaming traffic from SProxy suffers less dropping and no blocking. Second, SProxy streams and caches media objects in small segments determined by the object popularity, causing very low startup latency, and significantly reducing network traffic. Finally, prefetching techniques are used to pro-actively preload uncached segments that are likely to be used soon, thus providing continuous streaming. SProxy has been extensively tested and we show that it provides high quality streaming delivery in both local area networks and wide area networks (e.g., between Japan and the U.S.).


In an attempt to identify the nature of guanine nucleotide binding protein(s) (G-protein) involved in the acetylcholine (ACh)-induced (muscarinic) response of pig coronary-artery smooth muscle, we studied the effect of ADP-ribosylation of specific membrane protein(s) catalysed by islet-activating protein (IAP; pertussis toxin). The ACh-stimulated and guanine nucleotide-dependent activities of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) phosphodiesterase (PDE), assessed by the production of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) from exogenously applied PIP2, were not modified, in either IAP-treated or non-treated cell homogenates used as the enzyme source. In intact tissues, pretreatment with up to 100 ng of IAP/ml inhibited neither the ACh-induced decrease in the amount of inositol phospholipids nor the increase in the amounts of phosphatidic acid and of inositol phosphates. IAP treatment increased the amount of cyclic AMP accumulated by isoprenaline. These observations suggest that G-protein which couples the muscarinic receptor to PIP2-PDE is insensitive to IAP. Such being the case, the nature of this protein(s) probably differs from that required for the regulation of adenylate cyclase activities (Ni or Gi).


Power line interference is a major problem in high-resolution biopotential measurements. Because interference coupling is mostly capacitive, shielding electrode leads and a high common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) are quite effective in reducing power-line interference but do not completely eliminate it. We propose a model that includes both interference external to the measuring system and interference coming from its internal power supply. Moreover, the model considers interference directly coupled to the measuring electrodes, because, as opposed to connecting leads, electrodes are not usually shielded. Experimental results confirm that reducing interference coupled through electrodes yields a negligible interference. The proposed model can be applied to other differential measurement systems, particularly those involving electrodes or sensors placed far apart.


ABSTRACT Both formative assessment and growth mindset scholars aim to understand how to enhance achievement. While research on formative assessment focuses on external teaching practices, work on growth mindset emphasises internal psychological processes. This study examined the interplay between three formative assessment strategies (i.e. sharing learning progressions, providing feedback, and instructional adjustments) and growth mindset in predicting reading achievement using the PISA2018 data. We focused specifically on samples from the West (the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) and the East (Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Chinese Taipei, Japan and Korea) which comprised of 109,204 15-year old students. The results showed that formative assessment strategies were positively, albeit weakly, related to a growth mindset in the East, but not in the West. In contrast, growth mindset was positively related to reading achievement only in the West, but not in the East. The impacts of different formative assessment strategies on reading achievement demonstrated cross-cultural variability, but the strongest positive predictor was instructional adjustments. These findings highlight the potential synergy between formative assessment and growth mindset in enhancing academic achievement as well as the importance of cultural contexts in understanding their roles in student learning.


BioDeNOx is a novel technique for NOx removal from industrial flue gases. In principle, BioDeNOx is based on NO absorption into an aqueous Fe(II)EDTA2− solution combined with biological regeneration of that scrubber liquor in a bioreactor. The technical and economical feasibility of the BioDeNOx concept is strongly determined by high rate biological regeneration of the aqueous Fe(II)EDTA2− scrubber liquor and by EDTA degradation. This investigation deals with the Fe(II)EDTA2− regeneration capacity and EDTA degradation in a lab‐scale BioDeNOx reactor (10–20 mM Fe(II)EDTA2−, pH 7.2 ± 0.2, 55°C), treating an artificial flue gas (1.5 m3/h) containing 60–155 ppm NO and 3.5–3.9% O2. The results obtained show a contradiction between the optimal redox state of the aqueous FeEDTA solution for NO absorption and the biological regeneration. A low redox potential (below −150 mV vs. Ag/AgCl) is needed to obtain a maximal NO removal efficiency from the gas phase via Fe(II)EDTA2− absorption. Fe(III)EDTA− reduction was found to be too slow to keep all FeEDTA in the reduced state. Stimulation of Fe(III)EDTA− reduction via periodical sulfide additions (2 mM spikes twice a week for the conditions applied in this study) was found to be necessary to regenerate the Fe(II)EDTA2− scrubber liquor and to achieve stable operation at redox potentials below −150 mV (pH 7.2 ± 0.2). However, redox potentials of below −200 mV should be avoided since sulfide accumulation is unwanted because it is toxic for NO reduction. Very low values for biomass growth rate and yield, respectively, 0.043/d and 0.009 mg protein per mg ethanol, were observed. This might be due to substrate limitations, that is the electron acceptors NO and presumably polysulfide, or to physiological stress conditions induced by the EDTA rich medium or by radicals formed in the scrubber upon the oxidation of Fe(II)EDTA2− by oxygen present in the flue gas. Radicals possibly also induce EDTA degradation, which occurs at a substantial rate: 2.1 (±0.1) mM/d under the conditions investigated. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The article attempts to identify the key moments of F. Dostoevsky's presence in the context of the literary and critical declarations of the journal Zavety, primarily, by its co-editors, V. Chernov, and especially by Ivanov-Razumnik. His attitude towards the writer as a "world genius", "the apogee of ethical individualism", expressed in a number of articles, should be considered programmatic for this journal. A. Dolinin's critical reception and reviews in the bibliographic department are in line with this attitude.


In this paper, we study the zero loci of locally constant sheaves of the form δΠ, where Π is the period sheaf of the universal family of CY hypersurfaces in a suitable ambient space X , and δ is a given differential operator on the space of sections V ∨ = Γ(X,K X ). Using earlier results of three of the authors and their collaborators, we give several different descriptions of the zero locus of δΠ. As applications, we prove that the locus is algebraic and in some cases, non-empty. We also give an explicit way to compute the polynomial defining equations of the locus in some cases. This description gives rise to a natural stratification to the zero locus.


74

 Angiogenesis therapy is emerging as a new strategy for treatment of vascular disease, not susceptible of revascularization. As kinins are implicated in vascular protection and repair, we hypothesized that targeted potentiation of kinin-nitric oxide (NO) pathway may stimulate neo-vascularization. CD1 mice were IM injected with 3.6x10
 8
 plaque forming units of adenovirus (Ad) harboring human tissue kallikrein (HK) or β-galactosidase (LacZ) gene under the control of cytomegalovirus enhancer/promoter (CMV). Successful transduction of injected adductor skeletal muscle was documented at mRNA and protein level. HK expression reached a peak between 3 and 7 d and then declined to become undetectable at 28 d. Contralateral muscles and liver were not transduced. Immunohistochemical identification of endothelial cell antigen factor VIII combined with blinded morphometric analysis of capillary density revealed a marked angiogenic effect in HK-transduced muscle (1013±18 vs 518±15 n
 cap
 /mm
 2
 in LacZ-injected muscle at 28 d, P<.001), whereas no angiogenic effect was seen in ipsilateral gastrocnemious or contralateral muscles. HK increased muscular kinin (60±12 vs 20±6 pg/g tissue in controls at 3 d, P<.05), cAMP (1.02±0.06 vs 0.48±0.04 ng/mg prot, P<.01) and cGMP levels (99±5 vs 68±5 fmol/mg prot, P<.01). HK-induced angiogenic response was completely prevented by pharmacologic blockade of kinin B
 1
 or B
 2
 receptors, or inhibition of NO synthase, but not by cycloxygenase inhibition. Neovascularization was associated with a transient increase in muscular blood flow as determined by laser Doppler flowmetry. HK-induced neo-vascularization was stable and functionally utilitarian, as surgical induction of hindlimb ischemia 28 d after gene tranfer was followed by accelerated hemodynamic recovery of HK-injected muscle (perfusion ratio: 0.84±0.05 vs 0.68±0.03 in LacZ-injected muscle at 14 d, P<.05). We conclude that (a) HK acts as an angiogenic factor via kinin-mediated stimulation of NO release, (b) neo-vascularization can preserve tissue from supervening ischemia. The discovery that HK has angiogenic activity may represent an important advancement in vascular medicine for therapeutic benefit.


Problem. Plant1000 was launched in 2016 by the North American Division (NAD), the fifth largest of 13 divisions of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. Since then, it has been reported that over 1000 new church plants have been started, but we do not really understand how healthy most of these are, or not. We also do not know what they are actually experiencing in their developing into viable congregations. The focus of this dissertation is the story of four selected church plants that may be able to help us understand those dynamics that, at the moment, are little understood. -- Method. This research was designed as a qualitative, descriptive case study. It directed attention to a central question: How do church planters describe the actual experiences and stories of four church plants? The four selected churches were planted in the last ten years and their membership/attendance has grown to currently 50-200 active members. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to explore the stories of five pastors representing the four church plants with the intention to better understand the opportunities and challenges that are part of the adventure of planting churches. Each interview yielded an in-depth wide scope of detailed information about the realities of these churches. The study paid special attention to the different realities faced by Communitybased entrepreneurial churches (a process of evangelism where the primary financial and volunteer support are independent of official church organizations) and Regular church planting (establishment of other congregations by a parent church or church planting organization which is the sole source of funding and volunteers for this enterprise). The case studies were completed in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Interviews had to be conducted virtually on Zoom, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Despite these limitations, the study brought together a vivid array of voices and perspectives. -- Results. The study results confirmed that Plant1000 has been a catalyst for some amazing church plants that are reaching their communities creatively. It also became clear that church planters favored creative over traditional approaches to worship and ministry. This was reinforced when the COVID-19 pandemic prevented parishioners from attending churches across the nation. Presently, uncertainty looms in several crucial areas of church work, making it important to seriously look at and understand church planting as a new alternative evangelistic tool to grow churches in the NAD context. The common thread from the five individuals of the four church plants interviewed, was that we need to think more of entrepreneurial methods of church planting and new ways of determining growth which may be the answer in the 21st century's chaotic environment and economy. Other crucial findings related to issues like (a) the drying up of financial assistance; (b) the information wilderness experienced by planters; (c) the centrality of community outreach, and (d) the crucial importance of worship and fellowship. -- Conclusions. In terms of the success of church planting in the North American Division (NAD), it is clear that much has been achieved by Plant1000, but a wide door of opportunity is available to facilitate a rise to other heights of accomplishment. The words of Margaret Wheatly (2005), written to inspire leaders to function at a higher level in our increasingly chaotic, uncertain world, best captures this opinion: I believe that we have only just begun the process of discovering and inventing the new organizational forms that will inhabit the twenty-first century. To be responsible inventors and discoverers, we need the courage to let go of the old world, to relinquish most of what we have cherished, to abandon our interpretations about what does or does not work. We must learn to see the world anew. (p. 7) Church planting in the NAD needs better support structures. Church planting can and must continue to be conceived and practiced in innovative ways. The passion of planters, whose numbers continue to increase, demands this even as it assures the accomplishment of such a cherished goal as a greater harvest in the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.


Abstract The tracking of the migration of ice frontal surface is crucial for the understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms in freezing soil. Owing to the distinct advantages, including non-invasive sensing, high safety, low cost and high data acquisition speed, the electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) is considered to be a promising visualization measurement method. In this paper, the ECT method is used to visualize the migration of ice frontal surface in freezing soil. With the main motivation of the improvement of imaging quality, a loss function with multiple regularizers that incorporate the prior formation related to the imaging objects is proposed to cast the ECT image reconstruction task into an optimization problem. An iteration scheme that integrates the superiority of the split Bregman iteration (SBI) method is developed for searching for the optimal solution of the proposed loss function. An unclosed electrodes sensor is designed for satisfying the requirements of practical measurements. An experimental system of one dimensional freezing in frozen soil is constructed, and the ice frontal surface migration in the freezing process of the wet soil sample containing five percent of moisture is measured. The visualization measurement results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the ECT visualization method


In 2009, Oxfam took forward a civil society demand for an agricultural insurance scheme against climate risks in Bolivia and worked with international colleagues and local experts to collect information and data supporting the initiative. The government developed a policy for universal agricultural insurance. However, opposition from farmers' organisations led to the initiative being dropped. When the government showed renewed interest, Oxfam supported a consultation process with a broad alliance of farmers' organisations and built momentum locally and nationally. As a result, Bolivia now has the legal framework and institutional bodies to implement universal agricultural insurance. A scheme for poor farmers is reaching nearly 700,000 people, and will be rolled out to the rest of Bolivia over the next five years. This $90,000 Oxfam project helped leverage government funds of $4.43m with an expected subsidy of $29m. For more information, refer to our pages on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction  or visit Grow.Sell.Thrive. online community.


Previous research examining attitudes toward foreigners and immigration has focused primarily on economic, socioeconomic, and cultural variables to explain the different attitudes of individuals toward foreigners. With my research, I add language as another dimension to explain these differences. I use the difference in how languages distinguish between different politeness groups in their second person pronouns to explain how much trust individuals place in foreigners. Using data from the World Value Survey and the World Atlas of Language Structure I find that individuals who speak a language without politeness distinctions have a higher probability to respond that they trust foreigners.


Today's and future parameters of stationary gas turbines and aircraft engines require intensive and highly efficient cooling of hot gas path components. High temperature and thermally induced stress gradients with impact on fatigue life are the consequence. Thermally induced stress gradients differ from geometrically induced stress gradients with respect to stress mechanics by the independence from external loads and material mechanics by the influence of temperature on material properties and strength. Regarding the contribution and evaluation on damage, the latter characteristic feature in turbomachinery is currently not fully understood. Therefore, a test facility has been designed, setup, and reported in GTP-18-1482 for the investigation of the influence of stationary temperature, and thus thermally induced stress gradients, on the damage evolution of cooled high-temperature components. To achieve high temperature and thermally induced stress gradients, large heat fluxes are required. A unique radiation heating has been developed allowing very high heat fluxes of q˙ ≥ 1.5 MW/m2 for testing of hollow cylindrical specimens. The conventional cast nickel-base alloy Mar-M247 has been chosen to study the influence of thermally induced stress gradients on fatigue life. The low-cycle fatigue testing of the hollow cylindrical specimens has been conducted both with and without superimposed stationary temperature gradients. In addition, complex low-cycle fatigue (CLCF) tests with symmetric and nonsymmetric loading conditions have been performed to provide the necessary database for the adaptation of a viscoplastic deformation model. To calculate the local stress–strain field and service life of the test specimens, linear elastic and viscoplastic finite element studies have been performed and were assessed by means of a fracture mechanics-based lifetime model. The test results show the considerable influence of the temperature gradient on the low-cycle fatigue life for the investigated material. Both the radial temperature variation over the specimen wall with a hot outer surface and a cooled inner surface as well as the thermally induced stresses are stated to be the main drivers for the change in low-cycle fatigue life. The test results enhance the understanding of fatigue-damage mechanisms under local unsteady conditions and can be used as a basis for improved service life predictions.


The advance in microlithography has greatly helped the development of microoptical elements. Large array of microlenses can now be fabricated in the same fashion as manufacturing of integrated circuits. Because most of the microoptical elements require well-defined and continuous surface relief profile, special methods are needed to supplement to the normal microlithography to produce those relief structures. One of the techniques is greyscale lithography, including electron and laser beam direct write and greyscale photolithography. In this paper, the development of greyscale photolithography is reviewed, in comparison with the direct write techniques. The new development in coding method for greyscale mask is introduced. The importance of correcting non linearity in optical imaging and resist development is discussed. A discussing is also devoted to practical issues in mask fabrication, thick resist patterning and pattern transfer process.


Examination of value average multivariate is often met in life everyday, just taking example met in case of univariate and also earn is also extended into case of multivariate. in case of exemplified variable random n of population peubah (p) owning flating vector (µ) and matrix of koragam (∑), hence can to test hypothesis by using way of maximum method of likelihood.
Maximum method of likelihood is the way of getting value estimate from some examination average. If taken by variable of random fairish from a population owning normal swampy forest , and taking example also wish to be tested by hypothesis null fighting against alternative hypothesis where unknown. Equation of likelihood obtained by duplicating function concentration of opportunity, Become . afterwards value substitution for µ and σ into above
mentioned equation, so that will yield . Next, obtained by maximizing equation of likelihood through , so that finally will be obtained by value of assumption maximum likelihood . With existence of maximum method of likelihood, hence expected can become alternative in conducting verification of degradation of test statistic which in yielding from some examination average multivariate.


Lead sulfide (PbS) colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are emerging materials for fundamental studies because of their potential application in near infrared (NIR) light harvesting technologies. However, inefficient electron separation, facile charge recombination and defect state trapping of photoexcited carriers are reported as limitations of the PbS QDs to achieve efficient energy conversion. In the present study, we have synthesized a triohybrid by assembling a semiconductor titanium dioxide (TiO2), an organic oxidizing molecule phenothiazine (PTZ) and PbS QDs. The triohybrid along with PbS_TiO2 and PbS_PTZ hybrids has been characterized and the attachment of different components is verified by spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The interfacial dynamics of the photoexcited carriers in the PbS_TiO2 and PbS_PTZ hybrids have been investigated separately using steady state and time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements. The photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from the PbS QD to the conduction band (CB) of TiO2 and photoinduced hole transfer (PHT) from the valence band (VB) of the QD to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of PTZ have been observed and correlated mechanistically to the energy level alignments obtained from cyclic voltammetric (CV) analysis. The PTZ molecule is also found to act as a surface defect passivator of the PbS QD. Finally, simultaneous exciton dissociation and reduced back recombination phenomena have been correlated with a higher reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation activity of the triohybrid than the other two, under IR light irradiation. Thus, a detailed investigation of carrier dynamics and the mechanism of higher NIR light activity for a novel nanohybrid is explored and analyzed which could be beneficial for NIR catalysis or antibacterial activities.


This thesis develops models for three problems of liquidity under asymmetric information. In the chapter "Disclosures, Rollover Risk, and Debt Runs", I build a model of dynamic debt runs without perfect information in order to understand the impact of asset opacity and disclosure policies on run likelihood and economic efficiency. I find that opacity is desirable with respect to both these metrics if and only if fundamentals are strong enough; and that a bank should commit to disclose truthfully any information it has unless the level of opacity is large. The model also uncovers rich interactions between debt dynamics, beliefs dynamics and equilibrium outcomes: short-term yields may remain low while risk builds up in the background, and therefore may not contain a warning sign of an upcoming crisis; and a disclosure regime might produce higher beliefs about collateral quality but nevertheless imply larger financing costs and thus lead to a bank failure. In the chapter "Short-term Bank Leverage and the Value of Liquid Reserves", we extend the modelling toolbox of the global games literature by providing a fully rational setup where liquid reserves are modeled explicitly. The banks' balance sheet decisions and the prices of all securities are endogenous in the model. A bank possesses two instruments to manage illiquidity risk: its funding policy and the size of its liquid asset holdings, modeled as government bonds. Higher short-term indebtness allows the bank to better capture the liquidity benefits priced into deposits but increases illiquidity risk. Holding more bonds makes the bank more robust to withdrawals but it reduces the bank's asset returns. The impact of an increase in bond supply on bank leverage depends on the general-equilibrium change in the cost of absorbing the supply. The model also illustrates how considering an endogenous leverage decision is key to predict the impact of the economic environment on the liquidity premium. In the chapter "Insider Trading under Penalties", we establish existence and uniqueness of equilibrium in a generalised one-period Kyle (1985) model where insider trades can be subject to a size-dependent penalty. The result is obtained by considering uniform instead of Gaussian noise and holds for virtually any penalty function. We apply this result to regulation issues. We show that the penalty functions maximising price informativeness for given noise traders' losses eliminate small rather than large trades. We generalise this result to cases where a budget constraint distorts the set of penalties available to the regulator.


Human Dachshund homologue 1 (DACH1) is a major component of the Retinal Determination Gene Network. Loss of DACH1 expression was found in breast, prostate, lung, endometrial, colorectal and hepatocellular carcinoma. To explore the expression, regulation and function of DACH1 in human esophageal cancer, 11 esophageal cancer cell lines, 10 cases of normal esophageal mucosa, 51 cases of different grades of dysplasia and 104 cases of primary esophageal squamous cancer were employed. Methylation specific PCR, immunohistochemistry, western blot, flow cytometry, small interfering RNAs, colony formation techniques and xenograft mice model were used. We found that DACH1 expression was regulated by promoter region hypermethylation in esophageal cancer cell lines. 18.8% (6 of 32) of grade 1, 42.1% (8 of 19) of grade 2 and grade 3 dysplasia (ED2,3), and 61.5% (64 of 104) of esophageal cancer were methylated, but no methylation was found in 10 cases of normal esophageal mucosa. The methylation was increased in progression tendency during esophageal carcinogenesis (P<0.01). DACH1 methylation was associated with poor differentiation (P<0.05) and late tumor stage (P<0.05). Restoration of DACH1 expression inhibited cell growth and activated TGF-β signaling in KYSE150 and KYSE510 cells. DACH1 suppressed human esophageal cancer cell tumor growth in xenograft mice. In conclusion, DACH1 is frequently methylated in human esophageal cancer and methylation of DACH1 is involved in the early stage of esophageal carcinogenesis. DACH1 expression is regulated by promoter region hypermethylation. DACH1 suppresses esophageal cancer growth by activating TGF-β signaling.


In this paper, we investigate a differential signalling (DS) scheme to mitigate pointing errors effect in intensity-modulation/direct-detection (IM/DD) free space optical (FSO) communication systems with the non-return-to-zero on-off keying (NRZ-OOK) modulation format. The most common approach to detect a digital signal is based on comparing the received signal with an optimal threshold level. Normally, this optimal threshold level is set at the mean value of the signal in a clear channel. However, this detection threshold method is inefficient in a channel with fading effects. DS has been reported to mitigate the fluctuation of optimal detection threshold in NRZ-OOK IM/DD FSO communication systems only to combat atmospheric fading effects (e.g., fog and turbulence) and to reduce the background noise of the received signal. In this paper, we adopt the DS scheme to mitigate the optimal detection threshold level fluctuations induced by pointing errors. We also discuss the conditions in which DS cancels out the fluctuation of threshold level. The proposed technique is supported by carrying out experimental investigation of the FSO link with pointing errors. Measured results confirm that the effect of PE on the received signal was highly correlated (i.e., ρ = 0.92, where ρ is the correlation coefficient between channels) thus resulting in reduced variance value of the combined signal threshold level. We also derive an expression for bit-error-rate for the system which is supported by simulation.


The 1960s through the 1980s were very productive of new theory and empirical insight into the sources of technical change. In this paper I argue that each of the three approaches that have been advanced--induced technical change, evolutionary theory and path dependence--is approaching a dead end. The induced technical change process is driven by changes in the economic environment in which the firm (or public research agency) finds itself. But its internal mechanism, the learning and search process, remain inside a black box. The evolutionary model builds on the behavioral theory of the firm in an attempt to provide a more realistic description of the internal workings of the black box. The strength of the path dependence interpretation lies in the importance it places on the sequence of specific micro-level historical events. But it holds only for network technologies characterized by increasing returns to scale--and only until the increasing returns have been exhausted. The three approaches should be regarded as components of a more general theory of the sources of technical change. In the later section of the paper steps that might be taken toward the development of a more general theory of the sources of technical change are suggested.


Bordetella pertussis still poses an important health threat in developing countries. In Niger, notified pertussis cases are few despite the low diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis/pentavalent vaccine coverage. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of B. pertussis in children aged <5 years consulting at a pediatric ward. A 5-month study in 2011 recruited 342 children with respiratory symptoms at the National Hospital of Niamey. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were tested by culture and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Overall, 34 (11.2%) of the 305 available nasopharyngeal aspirates tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction were positive for a Bordetella spp., with an estimated prevalence of 8.2 cases per 1000 children aged <5. None was notified to the surveillance network. A single specimen was positive on culture. This study, the first to provide laboratory-confirmed data on pertussis in Niger, highlights the need to sensitize health care personnel to actively notify clinical cases and to integrate laboratory diagnosis in the existing surveillance system.


While educational leadership and management has experienced impressive development over the last three decades the fact that a robust comparative branch of the field has failed to emerge is equally conspicuous. This article builds a case for comparative and international educational leadership and management, arguing that the development of conceptual frameworks and instrumentation are imperative if the field is to keep abreast of globalisation of policy and practice. Accordingly, a conceptual framework is described and justified based on a cultural and cross-cultural approach focusing on the school level as the baseline unit for analysis. Specifically, the proposed framework is architectured around the interrelationship between two levels of culture, societal and organisational, and four elements comprising schooling and school-based management, namely, organisational structures, leadership and management processes, curriculum, and teaching and learning. Finally, limitations and implications of the model are discussed, including the need for the framework to be operationalised by developing appropriate research instruments.


We evaluate the effects of college choice on earnings using Swedish register databases. This case study is used to motivate the introduction of a novel procedure to analyse the sensitivity of such an observational study to the assumption made that there are no unobserved confounders – variables affecting both college choice and earnings. This assumption is not testable without further information, and should be considered an approximation of reality. To perform a sensitivity analysis, we measure the departure from the unconfoundedness assumption with the correlation between college choice and earnings when conditioning on observed covariates. The use of a correlation as a measure of dependence allows us to propose a standardised procedure by advocating the use of a fixed value for the correlation, typically 1% or 5%, when checking the sensitivity of an evaluation study. A correlation coefficient is, moreover, intuitive to most empirical scientists, which makes the results of our sensitivity analysis easier to communicate than those of previously proposed methods. In our evaluation of the effects of college choice on earnings, the significantly positive effect obtained could not be questioned by a sensitivity analysis allowing for unobserved confounders inducing at most 5% correlation between college choice and earnings.


The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) provides some basic safeguards to ensure that HFC-23 reductions are additional, primarily aimed at establishing a realistic baseline scenario for HFC-23 projects.

However, there have long been doubts about the additionality of HFC-23 projects (Wara, 2007a,b). Now Schneider (2011), in an excellent article in Climate Policy, presents compelling empirical evidence that these HFC-23 safeguards have been been unsuccessful. In fact, the evidence shows that the CDM appears to have created perverse incentives to increase the HFC-23 production.

Schneider provides systematic empirical analysis on a question that so far has been dominated by suspicion and speculation. It is a paper that deserves to be read.

Proposals aimed to mitigate the 'additionality problem' often focus on getting the baseline right (Geres and Michaelowa, 2002; Begg and der Horst, 2004). Schneider also argues that "the key deficit of the current methodology is that it implicitly assumes that plants would continue to operate at or above historically observed HFC-23/HCFC-22 ratio" (Schneider, 2011, p. 855). He proposes that CERs should only be issued for a proportion of HFC-23 emissions reductions.

However, this comment will argue that the perverse incentives in the CDM are the result of a more fundamental institutional failure.

This comment explains the underlying perverse strategic incentives built into the CDM, and re-considers the question of to reform the CDM.


We presented a systematic method that combined the cross-diffusion microbatch method (CDM) with the seeding technique to enhance protein crystal reproducibility based on a "common dispersing agent". The common dispersing agent is used to dilute the crystal seeds. Seven proteins were screened, and more crystallization conditions were found. X-ray diffraction showed that the combined method is practical and useful for obtaining high-quality protein crystals.


A real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification assay, targeting tmRNA, was designed for the rapid identification of Staphylococcus aureus. The selectivity of the assay was confirmed against a panel of 76 Staphylococcus strains and species and 22 other bacterial species. A detection limit of 1 cell equivalent was determined for the assay. A chimeric in vitro transcribed internal amplification control was developed and included in the assay. Application of the assay in natural and artificially contaminated unpasteurized (raw) milk enabled detection of 1-10 CFUS. aureus mL(-1) in 3-4 h, without the need for culture enrichment. Staphylococcus aureus was detected in all artificially contaminated milk samples (n=20) and none of the natural milk samples (n=20). Microbiological analysis of the natural milk samples was performed in parallel according to ISO 6888-3 and confirmed the absence of S. aureus. The method developed in this study has the potential to enable the specific detection of S. aureus in raw milk in a significantly shorter time frame than current standard methods. The assay further demonstrates the usefulness of tmRNA/ssrA as a nucleic acid diagnostic target.


One of the best airplanes ever realized by the European Aircraft industry was the Dornier Do 28D Skyservant, an extraordinary STOL light utility aircraft with the capability to carry up to 13 passengers. It has been a simple and rugged aircraft capable also of operating under arduous conditions and very easy and simple maintenance.

The architecture of this airplane, which has operated actively for more than 20 years, is very interesting analyzing the implementation of a new propulsion system because of the unusual incorporation of two engines, as well as the two main landing gear shock struts of the faired main landing gear attached to short pylons on either side of the forward fuselage. This unconventional design allows an easy implementation of different propulsion units, such as the history of different experimental versions allowed.

This paper presents the preliminary definition of an increased performance cogeneration system for optimizing the energy efficiency and maximizing the thrust of ducted fan propeller. It then produces an effective design of the ACHEON nozzle for such an aircraft, the definition of the optimal positioning for stability and efficiency. In conclusion, it analyses the expected performances of the resulting aircraft architecture.

Outstanding results allows verifying an effective possibility of implementing the ACHEON Coanda effect thrust and vector propulsion system on real aircraft.


In recent years, academics, policy makers and media outlets have increasingly recognised the importance of Caribbean migrations and migrants to the histories and cultures of countries across the Northern Atlantic.

Memory, Migration and (De)Colonisation furthers our understanding of the lives of many of these migrants, and the contexts through which they lived and continue to live. In particular, it focuses on the relationship between Caribbean migrants and processes of decolonisation. The chapters in this book range across disciplines and time periods to present a vibrant understanding of the ever-changing interactions between Caribbean peoples and colonialism as they migrated within and between colonial contexts.
At the heart of this book are the voices of Caribbean migrants themselves, whose critical reflections on their experiences of migration and decolonisation are interwoven with the essays of academics and activists.


[1] Ground-based measurements of O3 and NO2 columns at Kiruna (68°N) and Arrival Heights (78°S) were used to validate stratospheric profile measurements of the same species by the satellite-based Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS) flown between November 1996 and June 1997. In addition, measurements of HNO3, CH4, and N2O made at Arrival Heights are compared with measurements of these species by ILAS. Even though there were no temporal coincidences in the latter comparison, the ground-based data provide a climatological context for the ILAS measurements. ILAS profiles measured within 10° of longitude and 2° of latitude of each site were used. For the species with large tropospheric components (CH4 and N2O), ILAS profiles were integrated upward from 12 km and were compared with ground-based retrievals of partial columns above 12 km. For O3, which is primarily stratospheric but has an appreciable tropospheric component, tropospheric columns (typically to 8–10 km altitude) calculated from ozonesonde climatologies were added to the integrated ILAS profiles to allow comparison with ground-based total column ozone measurements. Tropospheric columns of HNO3 and NO2 were assumed to be sufficiently small so that ILAS profiles integrated above 8 km could be compared directly with ground-based total column measurements.


Many adaptive events in natural populations, as well as response to artificial selection, are caused by polygenic action. Under selective pressure, the adaptive traits can quickly respond via small allele frequency shifts spread across numerous loci. We hypothesize that a large proportion of current phenotypic variation between individuals may be best explained by population admixture. We thus consider the complete, genome-wide universe of genetic variability, spread across several ancestral populations originally separated. We experimentally confirmed this hypothesis by predicting the differences in quantitative disease resistance levels among accessions in the wild legume Medicago truncatula. We discovered also that variation in genome admixture proportion explains most of phenotypic variation for several quantitative functional traits, but not for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. We shown that positive selection at the species level might not explain current, rapid adaptation. These findings prove the infinitesimal model as a mechanism for adaptation of quantitative phenotypes. Our study produced the first evidence that the whole-genome modeling of DNA variants is the best approach to describe an inherited quantitative trait in a higher eukaryote organism and proved the high potential of admixture-based analyses. This insight contribute to the understanding of polygenic adaptation, and can accelerate plant and animal breeding, and biomedicine research programs.


Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has evolved considerably over the last three decades. From the early days of monotherapy with high toxicities and pill burdens, through to larger pill burdens and more potent combination therapies, and finally, from 2005 and beyond where we now have the choice of low pill burdens and once-daily therapies. More convenient and less toxic regimens are also becoming available, even in resource-poor settings. An understanding of the individual variation in response to ART, both efficacy and toxicity, has evolved over this time. The strong association of the major histocompatibility class I allele HLA-B*5701 and abacavir hypersensitivity, and its translation and use in routine HIV clinical practice as a predictive marker with 100% negative predictive value, has been a success story and a notable example of the challenges and triumphs in bringing pharmacogenetics to the clinic. In real clinical practice, however, it is going to be the exception rather than the rule that individual biomarkers will definitively guide patient therapy. The need for individualized approaches to ART has been further increased by the importance of non-AIDS comorbidities in HIV clinical practice. In the future, the ideal utilization of the individualized approach to ART will likely consist of a combined approach using a combination of knowledge of drug, virus, and host (pharmacogenetic and pharmacoecologic [factors in the individual's environment that may be dynamic over time]) information to guide the truly personalized prescription. This review will focus on our knowledge of the pharmacogenetics of the efficacy and toxicity of currently available antiretroviral agents and the current and potential utility of such information and approaches in present and future HIV clinical care.