Abstract We describe SYM-GOTR, a protocol for secure Group Off-The-Record (GOTR) messaging. In contrast to previous work, SYM-GOTR is the first protocol to offer confidential, authenticated, and repudiable conversations among a dynamic group with the additional properties of message unlinkability and the guarantee that all users see the same conversation, while providing efficient use of network and CPU resources. SYM-GOTR achieves these properties through the use of a novel optimistic consistency check protocol that either determines that all users agree on a transcript with constant-size messages or identifies at least one user that has not followed the protocol. We provide an implementation of SYM-GOTR as a Java library along with a plugin for the Jitsi instant messaging client. We analyze the performance of SYM-GOTR in a real world deployment scenario and discuss the challenges of providing a usable implementation without compromising the security of the conversation.


Ophiopogon Ker‐Gawl. (Ophiopogoneae, Asparagaceae) is a genus containing approximately 65 species distributed in East and Southeast Asia. The biogeographical history within the area is still poorly known. Divergence time estimation was used to infer the biogeographic history of Ophiopogon based on nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer data from 33 Ophiopogon species, three Liriope Lour. species, and six Peliosanthes Andrews species. The ancestral area and dispersal routes of Ophiopogon were inferred using the Bayesian binary method. Ophiopogon motouensis S. C. Chen was a transitional taxon. Ophiopogon was estimated to have originated in Southwest China during the middle Miocene (11.74 Ma). Five migrations were hypothesized to explain the expansion of Ophiopogon from Southwest China to East China, South Central China, South China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The separation of Ophiopogon into East China and South Central China may be consistent with a broad east–west arid zone in continental Asia during the Paleogene. A migration from Southwest China to Taiwan was inferred in the Pliocene, when the ancestor of O. intermedius D. Don may have moved from Southwest China through the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau by the Nanling Corridor and Fujian–Taiwan Bridge into Taiwan. There was a dispersal route in the Pliocene (at 3.79 Ma) from Southwest China to South China, either along the Taiwan route (from Southwest China through the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau along the Nanling Corridor to Guangxi), or related to the E'mei Mountain orogeny. There was another dispersal event in the early Pleistocene at 2.00 Ma from Southwest China to Southeast Asia, possibly associated with the last uplift of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau.


This cross-sectional study examined primary and secondary teachers' and students' views regarding technology integration into teaching and learning in Muscat, Oman. The target group consisted of teachers (N=44) and students (N=219) from two bilingual and two international schools in Oman. Results showed that the majority of students use technology to do projects and research. Both teachers and students enjoy the use of technology in teaching and learning, they feel competent in using it and they similarly evaluate the effectiveness of available technologies. Although the majority of teachers agreed that teaching has become easier and faster with technology, only a small percentage integrates technology into teaching. Factors hindering technology integration concern curriculum design, network issues, time constraint and other. In theory, the study contributes to our understanding of the reasons why teachers' and students' find it challenging to use technological innovations in school. Methodologically, this study provides the basis for examining Technological Pedagogical Knowledge in certain socio-geographical contexts. In practice, the study provides educational authorities with suggestions on how technology can be used to support, enhance and extend the curriculum.


Abstract Since the properties of systems comprising many homogeneous agents may be expected to be independent of how the agents happen to be indexed, it should be possible to formulate and solve multi-agent control problems in an index-free way. In this paper we provide such an approach, based on an indicator distribution representation, which results in integro-differential dynamics that parallel and extend those obtained within the traditional indexed formulations. Conservation and stability properties are proven; a compatible geometric structure is constructed for the indexed representation; and a discrete analogue is presented which illustrates that for certain problems the Eulerian viewpoint results in very simple controllers.


The effects of La-substitution into SrTiO_3 (STO) perovskite oxides on their phase structure, formation enthalpy and electrical conductivity have been investigated. La substitution in STO has been reported to show a significant enhancement in electronic conductivity in a wideband-gap layered perovskite compound STO. Mixture of Lanthanum and Titanium oxide may lead to various phases including La_2/3TiO_3, La_2Ti_2O_7 and La_2TiO_5. In this work, more than 50 structural models have been constructed by considering ionic state substituents, distance between substituents and their concentrations. We investigated the formation enthalpy, elastic properties and band gap by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We have also investigated the effect of reducing environment on La_2/3TiO_3. The computed bulk modulus (~2.4 % deviation) and band gap (~12% deviation) of STO are in good agreement with the literature. Our results indicate that La substitution into STO could significantly reduce the band gap. Reduction in band gap is maximum when the substituents is present at low concentrations. Internal position of La substituents in STO affects the band gap marginally while energy remains almost same. Formation enthalpy of La_2/3TiO_3 from LaTiO_3 is around 2 eV. La_2/3TiO_3 acts as band insulator (band gap = 2.8 eV). In reducing environment, the band gap of La_2/3TiO_3 significantly reduces. Sr substitution in La_2/3TiO_3 lower the band gap and formation enthalpy. La_2Ti_2O_7 and La_2TiO_5 have higher band gap and lower bulk modulus than STO. Sr substitution is not feasible in La_2Ti_2O_7 and La_2TiO_5.


The paper presents a tabular interpretation for a kind of 2-Stack Automata. These automata may be used to describe various parsing strategies, ranging from purely top-down to purely bottom-up, for LIGs and TAGs. The tabular interpretation ensures, for all strategies, a time complexity in O(n6) and space complexity in O(n5) where n is the length of the input string.


The results of the experimental investigations and numerical simulations of droplet impact on a stationary horizontal surface are presented. The impact process of a droplet with high impact energy on a horizontal surface was photographed by a high-speed CCD. In addition, two-dimensional numerical simulation of the impact process was also performed using the VOF model. Comparison between the experimental and numerical results shows that the chosen computational model is suitable to simulate such impact processes. Furthermore, the effect of the droplet impact velocity and diameter on the impact process was studied in detailed. The numerical results show that the variation in droplet impact velocity has a significant effect on the maximum spread factor and spread speed, whereas, the variation in droplet diameter considerably influences the maximum spread factor and the oscillation of the drop in the receding phase.


The effect of intramolecular cross-linking in an amphiphilic block copolymer (BCP) system was systematically investigated in terms of its thermal properties, critical micelle concentration (CMC), and aqueous self-assembly. A series of linear BCPs consisting of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) as a hydrophilic block and poly(e-caprolactone-co-7-allyloxepan-2-one) (P(CL-co-ACL)) as a hydrophobic block were prepared by the ring-opening copolymerization of e-caprolactone (CL) and 7-allyloxepan-2-one (ACL) using poly(ethylene glycol)monomethyl ether as an initiator. The intramolecular olefin metathesis reaction in the P(CL-co-ACL) block was subsequently carried out under various conditions to prepare the cross-linked BCPs with different degrees of cross-linking. The thermal analysis confirmed that the linear P(CL-co-ACL) block was found to crystallize, while the cross-linked one showed no crystallinity. In addition, glass transition temperature of the P(CL-co-ACL) block increased upon cross-linking. On the other hand, the intramolecular cross-linking had no significant influence on the CMC. The self-assembled micelles were prepared from the obtained BCPs and their size and morphology were investigated. For the BCPs with relatively short PEG chains, the micellar size decreased from 36.6 nm to 16.7 nm as the degree of cross-linking of the P(CL-co-ACL) block increased. On the other hand, the BCPs with relatively long PEG chains showed a change in the micellar morphology from spherical micelles to short worm and large compound micelles upon cross-linking.


Kiore (Rattus exulans) carry food to husking stations to feed, where they are sheltered from predators, competitors and rain. On four northern offshore islands of New Zealand remains of plant foods left in husking stations and in the open included seeds, leaf laminae, shoots, bark, flowers and root bases. A wide variety of animal remains were identified in husking station material, from habitats as diverse as tree tops and below the ground. All stages of both small social and large solitary insects were eaten. Use of husking station material is a new technique; the advantages and limitations of which are discussed.


Background Injury is not evenly distributed across race and class. In the U.S., urban Black men are at high risk for injury and poor outcomes from injury. Our purpose was to examine the contribution of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression after recent serious physical injury in Black men. Methods This prospective, cohort follow-up study consecutively enrolled adult Black men hospitalised for serious injury at a Level I Trauma Centre. Men with head injury or currently receiving medical treatment for PTSD or depression, and those in police custody were excluded. ACES (7) were collected by self-report during the intake interview. The outcomes of PTSD (measured by the PCL-C) and depression (measured by the QID-SR16) were collected during in-person interviews in the men's homes 3 months after hospital discharge. Results 320 (mean age = 36.8 years) were enrolled. Injury was classified as unintentional (50%) or intentional, i.e. the result of interpersonal violence (50%). The mean number of ACEs did not differ between intentional and unintentional injuries (2.64 vs. 2.35, p = 0.187). 81% reported at least 1 ACE, 45% reported 3 or more ACEs and 34% reported > 4 ACEs. Intentional injuries were associated with higher mean PCL-C scores (42.4 vs. 33.7, p <0.001) and higher mean QID-SR scores (10.0 vs. 7.6, p <0.001). In adjusted multiple regressions, younger age, intentional injury, and number of ACEs were independently associated with higher PCL-C scores. Intentional injury and number of ACEs were independently associated with higher QID-SR scores. Conclusions This sample of urban Black men reported substantial histories of childhood trauma and adversity. Results provide evidence that adverse childhood experiences increase the risk for depression and PTSD after serious injury. (Funded: NIH R01NR013503 to Dr. Richmond)


Over the past decade the governance of global climate change has evolved into a complex, multi-level process involving actors and initiatives at multiple levels of social organization from the global to the local in both the public and private spheres. This article analyzes the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) as one component of this multilevel governance system. Specifically, it evaluates the CEC as a site of regional climate governance based on three potential advantages of governance through regional organizations: a small number of actors, opportunities for issue linkage, and linkage between national and global governance systems. On each count I find that the benefits of a CEC-based climate governance system are limited and argue for greater consideration of how such a system would interact with other forms of climate governance in North America.


Introduction Data collected and analyzed by the Operator Licensing Branch at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has shed additional light on the discriminatory effectiveness of validated, modified, and new test items in examinee test performance. Examination data gathered over a period of five years shows remarkable and consistent differences in test item performance among validated (bank items), modified items, and new items used on the NRC Generic Fundamentals Examination (GFE). Since there is a paucity of empirical research in this area, these recent and substantive findings may be valuable to organizations and agencies who use test item banks in developing examinations and serve as useful information in setting examination development policy. Although the NRC had not originally set out to measure the effectiveness of item discrimination among three categories of test items, the data on examination results, as collected and presented over time, began to yield a clear and distinctive pattern on how each category of item functioned. This serendipitous finding served as the basis to continue data collection and analysis. For five continuous years and over 28 separate examinations, the pattern of differences in item discrimination among item categories has remained consistently distinctive as will be shown and discussed in the Tables and discussion that follow. Examination Description Since 1989, the Operator Licensing Branch of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation at the NRC has administered the Generic Fundamental Examination (GFE). This examination is administered twice yearly to candidates seeking a Reactor Operator (RO) or Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) license in nuclear power plants nationwide. In 1991, the NRC initiated a successful approach to GFE examination development through the combined use of validated, modified, and new items to yield a discriminating, content-valid examination. The GFE are two separately administered 100 item examinations specific to Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) and Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). The license examinations measure candidate knowledge in three areas: (1) reactor theory (2) plant components, and (3) thermodynamics. This examination must be passed with a minimum score of 80 percent before candidates are eligible to take the plant-specific written examination and operating test at their facilities. The GFE examination measures fundamental knowledge applicable to all reactor operators and senior reactor operators; for example, test items that measure candidate knowledge of plant components include questions on valves, sensors and detectors, controllers and positioners, pumps, motors, generators and so forth while reactor theory questions include questions on topics covering reactivity coefficients, control rods, neutrons, fission product poisons, and others. In essence, the GFE assesses candidate basic knowledge for understanding the elements of nuclear power and plant behavior, and in this regard, represents the underpinnings for later control room related problem-solving, trouble-shooting, and decision-making. The GFE multiple choice item format has proven successful for objective scoring and standardizing a nationally-administered exam of this type. The multiple choice format has also proven to be effective for testing higher cognitive thought processes. Carefully, well-designed multiple choice test items require candidates to think through responses and alternatives where they must weigh and consider the conditions posed in the stem of the question and further discriminate and eliminate among plausible distractors before choosing the correct answer. The mental processes involved in arriving at the correct answer often challenge candidates to analyze and synthesize information in a problem solving context. An example follows of a reactor theory test item taken from a past PWR exam: Following a reactor trip, the power decrease rate initially stabilizes at negative one-third decade per minute when: A. …


Water-soluble and cytocompatible polymers were investigated to enhance a transporting efficiency of biomolecules into cells in vitro. The polymers composed of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) unit, a hydrophobic monomer unit, and a cationic monomer unit bearing an amino group were synthesized for complexation with model biomolecules, siRNA. The cationic MPC polymer was shown to interact with both siRNA and the cell membrane and was successively transported siRNA into cells. When introducing 20 − 50 mol% hydrophobic units into the cationic MPC polymer, transport of siRNA into cells. The MPC units (10 − 20 mol%) in the cationic MPC polymer were able to impart cytocompatibility, while maintaining interaction with siRNA and the cell membrane. The level of gene suppression of the siRNA/MPC polymer complex was evaluated in vitro and it was as the same level as that of a conventional siRNA transfection reagent, whereas its cytotoxicity was significantly lower. We concluded that these cytocompatible MPC polymers may be promising complexation reagent for introducing biomolecules into cells, with the potential to contribute to future fields of biotechnology, such as in vitro evaluation of gene functionality, and the production of engineered cells with biological functions.


Freeze drying, as relatively new process of drying in vacuum at very low temperatures, ensures the preservation of all thermo labile compounds in the initial raw material, and final low content of moisture provides microbiological stability and permanent preservation of products. Red raspberry, because of relatively high content of water (90%), specific structure of aggregate fruit, characteristic bright colour and flavour, was not preserved up to now by conventional drying. This paper gives an overview on the two different methods of drying fruits: freeze drying and convective drying. Raspberry sorts Willamette and Meeker were dried by freeze drying, as well as by conventional drying with warm air of low relative humidity. Freeze drying was performed in the device Christ Alpha I/5 under desublimers' temperature of -55°C and processing temperature of raw material of -35°C. Fruits of the sort Willamette were dried to a final moisture content of 18.86%, and Meeker up to 16.15%. Also, some changes in chemical composition, overall aroma, sensory characteristics, density and volume, water activity, loss of vitamin C, the degree of rehydration of the dried fruit in comparison to fresh one were tested. Gained results show that freeze drying can effectively preserve the chemical composition, volume, colour and aroma of raspberry.In the paper of authors from foreign countries the influence of different technologies for the products preservation was tested as freezing, freeze drying (or lyophilisation) and conventional drying. Tests were done with the main goal to determine the qualitative changes on strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry, elder, apricot, sour cherry, apple and cornelian cherry. All preservation technologies have reduced the amount of biologically active compounds, such as vitamin C and phenolic compounds. Related to the chemical composition of fresh fruit, decrease of tested parameters was affected by freezing for 15%, freeze drying for 28-32% and conventional drying for 45-48%. The process of freeze drying is among one of the methods for preservation of raw materials of plant origin (fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs). Final product has a high nutritional value (as fresh fruits and vegetables). Freeze dried products do require special storage conditions (e.g. absence of light, packaging materials with low gas permeability, inert atmosphere, etc.). In this way dried products represent the basis for instant soups, bakery, dairy and confectionery products.


This article investigates the effects mirrors in films can have on the composition of a filmic image, the staging of a scene and the viewing activities of the spectators. It discusses four such effects: (1) So-called 'complex mirror shots' can modify how spectators look onto the picture as a flat composition by way of a quasi-transformation of the screen shape. (2) They can function as a magnetizing frame-within-the-frame that channels the viewer's look into the anterior depth of the mirror. (3) By referring spectators to off-screen space and thus making them look beyond the image into its lateral and posterior depth, some specific examples also allow for an intricately layered experience of perception and imagination, challenging and complicating efforts to "read" the image. (4) Finally, mirrors may be a source of spatial complication and can even lead to a full-blown disorientation regarding the status of the image, thus transforming the way viewers understand, problematise and look at the filmic image as such.


Dynamometry is widely used to measure subject strength. The method employed to correct dynamometry scores for gravitational influences can result in differing correction estimates. This study investigates differences between mathematical estimates of correction values and directly measured passive forces. Using the Kin-Com dynamometer, passive force measurements from 90 degrees of knee flexion to full extension were collected for nine asymptomatic subjects. These measurements were then compared with correction estimates mathematically extrapolated from a force reading obtained at one point in the test range. Direct passive measurements obtained between 0 and 70 degrees of knee flexion and mathematical estimates of correction values differed by as much as 50 N. The equivalence of gravity correction values obtained using the two methods detailed cannot be assumed. Mathematical estimates of correction values for knee scores obtained between 0 and 90 degrees of flexion were found to be clinically identical to direct passive measurements when: 1) the limb was weighed close to 50 degrees of flexion and 2) the angular location of the lower limb mass relative to the horizontal was not assumed to be represented by the angular location of the lever arm, but rather 15 degrees further below the horizontal than the lever arm.


Brain serotonin 7 (5-hydroxytryptamine 7, or 5-HT7) is the most recently identified serotonin receptor. It is involved in mood disorders and is studied as a target for antidepressants. Because no radioligand has yet been successfully used to study this receptor by PET neuroimaging, the objective of the present study was to develop a 5-HT7 18F-labeled radiotracer. Methods: Four structural analogs of SB269970, a specific 5-HT7 receptor antagonist, were synthesized. The nitro precursors of these analogs were radiolabeled by 18F nucleophilic substitution. Analog antagonist effects were investigated by cellular functional assay. The cerebral distribution of radiolabeled molecules was studied by in vitro autoradiography in rats, and respective selectivity was determined by competition with the 5-HT7 receptor antagonist SB269970 at different concentrations. Ex vivo small-animal PET studies in rats and in vivo PET studies in cats focused on the 1-(2-{(2R)-1-[(fluorophenyl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidin-2-yl}ethyl)-4-methylpiperidine (FP3) series. Results: Four analogs were synthesized from the SB269970 pharmacophore and divided into an FP3 (18F-4FP3 and 18F-2FP3) and an 1-(2-{(2R)-1-[(fluorophenyl)sulfonyl]pyrrolidin-2-yl}ethyl)-4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazine (FPMP) (18F-2FPMP and 18F-4FPMP) series. The chemical and radiochemical purities of the 4 radiolabeled molecules were greater than 98%. All presented suitable affinity for 5-HT7 (apparent dissociation constant [KD] between 1.6 and 14 nM), although the FPMP series showed moderate agonist activity for 5-HT1A receptors. Lipophilicity values were predictive of good radiotracer blood–brain barrier penetration (logD from 1.4 to 3.9). In vitro competition with a 5-HT7 antagonist, SB269970, revealed that only radioligands from the FP3 series were displaced by the 5-HT7–specific antagonist: subsequent in vivo study, therefore, focused on this series. Ex vivo 18F-4FP3 and 18F-2FP3 autoradiography was in accordance with the 5-HT7 brain distribution, with few brain radioactive metabolites. PET scans in cats showed that pretreatment with a 5-HT7 antagonist significantly reduced 18F-2FP3 but not 18F-4FP3 binding. Conclusion: The 4 PET radiotracers had suitable characteristics for 5-HT7 receptor probing in vitro, although the FP3 series seemed to be more specific for in vivo imaging of 5-HT7 receptors. In particular, on the basis of the in vivo results, 18F-2FP3 appears to be the first PET radiotracer to enable in vivo imaging of 5-HT7 receptors in animal models, possibly leading to neuroimaging studies in humans.


Control of the bottom-up self-assembly of ionic bent-core dendrimers has been systematically studied by molecular design. This process gave rise to architectures with diverse packing, shapes and dimensions to construct structured materials at the nanoscale. The compact organization of the molecules achieved in bent-core mesophases was transferred or induced to self-assemblies in the presence of water – even in the case of non-mesogenic dendrimers. The subtle balance of molecule–molecule and molecule–solvent interactions regulated the morphology of the aggregates and these ranged from rods, non-twisted or twisted fibers, helical ribbons and nanotubes. The structure obtained was dependent on the choice of dendritic nucleus, the bent-core structure (from 5 to 3 aromatic ring systems), the lateral moiety and the length of the outer flexible tails. The rigid nature of the chemical structure controlled the type of molecular packing in the layers and allowed molecular conformational chirality to be transmitted to the supramolecular aggregates, despite achiral molecules being used. The short/long terminal chain lengths determined the type of curvature of the ribbons. Some of these self-assemblies are proposed as alternatives to the attractive and widely applied helical nanofilaments formed by bent-core mesogens, but, thanks to their amphiphilic nature, the novel compounds can be processed from solution. Moreover, the self-assembly process was studied in an effort to elucidate the aggregation mechanism of these bent-shaped amphiphiles and to define experimental protocols to provide high quality and homogeneous aggregates.


This is a report of a nonrandomized comparison of treatment results of 244 patients with stage IB carcinoma of the uterine cervix treated by radiation alone and 92 treated with preoperative radiation and surgery and 77 patients with stage IIA treated by radiation alone and 24 treated with a combination of radiation and surgery. The techniques of irradiation and types of operation are described in detail. The five‐year tumor free actuarial survival for the patients with stage IB treated either with irradiation alone or combined with surgery was approximately 85% and the ten‐year survival, 78%. For stage IIA the tumor free actuarial five‐year survival without tumor was 73% and for ten years, 60%. In the 244 patients treated with radiation alone, there were ten central failures (4%) usually combined with distant metastasis. Further, 16 of these patients (6.5%) developed parametrial recurrence, in all but one instance associated with distant metastasis. In the 92 patients with stage IB treated with combined therapy, there were three local recurrences (3.8%), two of them combined with parametrial failures and six parametrial recurrences (6.5%), all of them concomitant with distant metastasis. Of the 77 patients with stage IIA treated by irradiation alone, there was one central recurrence alone and five local and parametrial recurrences, all of them associated with periaortic nodes or distant metastasis. Four additional patients had parametrial recurrences only concurrent with distant metastasis. Of the 24 patients treated with irradiation and surgery, there were two parametrial recurrences combined with distant metastasis (8.2%). There was no significant difference in the survival or recurrence rate of the patients treated with either method. In the group treated with combined therapy, patients with stage IB who showed evidence of microscopic residual tumor after irradiation had a failure rate of approximately 42% (8/18) in contrast to only 8.6% (6/70) in those with negative specimens. In stage IIA there were three failures in eight patients with residual tumor in the specimen in contrast to only two of 16 with negative specimens (12.5%). Major complications were comparable in both groups (radiation alone approximately 8.7% and irradiation combined with surgery approximately 14%), the difference is not statistically significant. The most frequent minor complication in patients treated with radiation alone was vaginal fibrosis (30 patients—9%) or vaginal vault necrosis (10 patients—3%). Cancer 43:1062–1072, 1979.


The Willwood Formation of the Bighorn Basin (Wyoming, USA) is a thick succession of upper Paleocene and lower Eocene fluvial-floodplain sandstones and mudstones. Reddish paleosols, formed on the floodplain mudstones, alternate rhythmically on various scales with heterolithic intervals of small-channel sandstones and mudstones showing weak pedogenesis. Spectral analysis of redness in the Willwood successions at Polecat Bench and Red Butte reveals significant spectral peaks corresponding to cycle thicknesses of ~8 and ~3 m. The ~8 m cycle reflects distinct clusters of 3–5 paleosols. Age constraints show that the period of this cycle closely matches the ~21 k.y. climatic precession cycle. The ~3 m cycle corresponds to individual paleosols, with a period of 7–8 k.y. This period is similar to millennial-scale sub-Milankovitch cycles found in marine and lacustrine successions of Pliocene–Pleistocene age. Precession and millennial-scale climate variations probably affected paleosol development through cyclic changes from predominantly overbank to predominantly channel-avulsion deposition, with the latter periodically halting soil formation because of high sediment accumulation. A new age model was developed for the Paleocene-Eocene carbon isotope excursion (CIE) at Polecat Bench, based on the precessional origin of paleosol clusters. The main body of the CIE spans ~5.5 precession cycles, or ~115 k.y., and the recovery tail of the CIE spans 2 precession cycles, or ~42 k.y. This outcome is consistent with, and independently confirms, recent estimates of CIE duration based on deep-sea cores.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Emotional reactivity to negative stimuli has been investigated in insomnia, but little is known about emotional reactivity to positive stimuli and its neural representation.

METHODS
We used 3T fMRI to determine neural reactivity during the presentation of standardized short, 10-40-s, humorous films in insomnia patients (n=20, 18 females, aged 27.7 +/- 8.6 years) and age-matched individuals without insomnia (n=20, 19 females, aged 26.7 +/- 7.0 years), and assessed humour ratings through a visual analogue scale (VAS). Seed-based functional connectivity was analysed for left and right amygdala networks: group-level mixed-effects analysis (FLAME; FSL) was used to compare amygdala connectivity maps between groups.

RESULTS
fMRI seed-based analysis of the amygdala revealed stronger neural reactivity in insomnia patients than in controls in several brain network clusters within the reward brain network, without humour rating differences between groups (p = 0.6). For left amygdala connectivity, cluster maxima were in the left caudate (Z=3.88), left putamen (Z=3.79) and left anterior cingulate gyrus (Z=4.11), while for right amygdala connectivity, cluster maxima were in the left caudate (Z=4.05), right insula (Z=3.83) and left anterior cingulate gyrus (Z=4.29). Cluster maxima of the right amygdala network were correlated with hyperarousal scores in insomnia patients only.

CONCLUSIONS
Presentation of humorous films leads to increased brain activity in the neural reward network for insomnia patients compared to controls, related to hyperarousal features in insomnia patients, in the absence of humor rating group differences. These novel findings may benefit insomnia treatment interventions.


– Macro‐environmental scanning is a first step in strategic planning, which is essential in an emerging industry such as liquid biofuels. The purpose of this paper is to identify the dimensions within which the governments of Brazil, the USA and Germany have constructed the macro‐environment for liquid biofuels over time and to test for similarities between the governments' constructs., – Documentary research was carried out on official public policies and program documents on the topic of liquid biofuels, covering a ten‐year period from 1997 to 2006. The database consisted of 624 documents from the Brazilian government, 854 from the American government and 168 documents from the German government. Text mining was used to extract information from the texts by applying a specific analysis structure that was built on macro‐environmental dimensions as expressed by their respective dimensional words "d‐words". The "d‐words" were selected based on their usage frequency in the knowledge fields related to each dimension., – The results indicate that the macro‐environments for liquid biofuels, as configured by the governments under analysis, differ systematically and over time in their emphasis of specific macro‐environmental dimensions., – There are two primary aspects of this study which are original and valuable: the application of text‐mining techniques as a tool for strategic planning and the development of a particular tool to extract knowledge from text documents and to categorize them according to their macro‐environmental dimensions.


Of all the buildings in the world, the Taj Mahal is one of the most famous. It is renowned for its beauty, and, for many, it is a symbol of romantic love. Yet surprisingly the Taj Mahal is increasingly becoming a highly contested site. Recent challenges include questioning its Muslim Mughal patronage, its function as a royal tomb, and even its 17 th -century date of construction. This probably sounds to you like scholarship as usual, but before I address the uncritical nature of these claims, I'd like to think about the larger issue of religious belief and contestation of religious sites in South Asia. That may help contextualize the case of the Taj Mahal.


A new type of tactile sensor using pressure-conductive rubber with stitched electrical wires is presented. The sensor is thin and flexible and can cover three-dimensional objects. Since the sensor adopts a single-layer composite structure, the sensor is durable with respect to external force. In order to verify the effectiveness of this tactile sensor, we performed an experiment in which a four-fingered robot hand equipped with tactile sensors grasped sphere and column. The sensor structure, electrical circuit, and characteristics are described. The sensor control system and experimental results are also described.


RGB–thermal scene parsing has recently attracted increasing research interest in the field of computer vision. However, most existing methods fail to perform good boundary extraction for prediction maps and cannot fully use high-level features. In addition, these methods simply fuse the features from RGB and thermal modalities but are unable to obtain comprehensive fused features. To address these problems, we propose an edge-aware guidance fusion network (EGFNet) for RGB–thermal scene parsing. First, we introduce a prior edge map generated using the RGB and thermal images to capture detailed information in the prediction map and then embed the prior edge information in the feature maps. To effectively fuse the RGB and thermal information, we propose a multimodal fusion module that guarantees adequate cross-modal fusion. Considering the importance of high-level semantic information, we propose a global information module and a semantic information module to extract rich semantic information from the high-level features. For decoding, we use simple elementwise addition for cascaded feature fusion. Finally, to improve the parsing accuracy, we apply multitask deep supervision to the semantic and boundary maps. Extensive experiments were performed on benchmark datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed EGFNet and its superior performance compared with state-of-the-art methods. The code and results can be found at https://github.com/ShaohuaDong2021/EGFNet.


As the name implies, indeterminate sentenced prisoners in England and Wales do not have a fixed release date. Instead, a panel of the Parole Board decides whether or not the prisoner can safely be released or moved to a lower security prison without presenting a significant risk of harm to the public. In order to make these decisions, the Parole Board panel relies on written and oral evidence from a range of professionals, including psychologists, who have assessed the risk of the prisoner committing further serious offences. As part of the risk assessment process, psychologists interview prisoners in order to inform their recommendations to the Parole Board. Despite the potential implications of psychological risk assessment, there has been little research focused on how it is experienced by those whom it affects. However, there is suggestion within the extant literature that psychological risk assessment carries substantial weight in Parole Board decision making. Additionally, relationships between prisoners and psychologists seem to be characterised by hostility and mistrust. This research aimed to gain greater understanding of the experiences of psychologists, indeterminate sentenced prisoners and Parole Board members in relation to psychological risk assessment. It also explored relationships between psychologists and prisoners and their experiences of the risk assessment interview. Data were gathered mainly from interviews with the three stakeholder groups and analysed using Grounded Theory methodology. The results reveal pressures and contextual influences on all three participant groups. The prison environment, the organisation and the high stakes nature of the task differentially affect psychologists, prisoners and Parole Board members. Consequently, taking a more systemic approach to understanding and conducting risk assessment is essential in reducing stress and improving the quality and utility of risk assessment. The results also suggest competing views of the legitimacy of psychological assessment. Psychologists and Parole Board members perceive it as valuable and justifiably influential in parole decision making. Prisoners perceive it as unfair and opaque, a view which contributes towards resentment and mistrust of psychologists. The risk assessment interview is an opportunity for differing perspectives to interact. Therefore, the interview is best understood in intersubjective terms, with participants' multiply and reciprocally influenced by their own and each other's attitudes and behaviour. The results also reveal a shared understanding between prisoners and psychologists about features of risk assessment interviewing that are most likely to promote trust, engagement and consequently legitimacy. These elements can be built on to improve risk assessment practice. Overall, this study has improved understanding of the experiences of the three participant groups. It has highlighted the importance of understanding context when trying to understand criminal justice practice. It has identified the unique intersubjective experience of risk assessment interviewing, and the inevitability of influence on the participants. Finally, it has revealed areas where psychological risk assessment can improve in order to promote legitimacy and procedural justice.


Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is a member of the genus Flavivirus. It can cause serious infections in humans that may result in encephalitis/meningoencephalitis. Although several studies have described the involvement of specific genes in the host response to TBEV infection in the central nervous system (CNS), the overall network remains poorly characterized. Therefore, we investigated the response of DAOY cells (human medulloblastoma cells derived from cerebellar neurons) to TBEV (Neudoerfl strain, Western subtype) infection to characterize differentially expressed genes by transcriptome analysis. Our results revealed a wide panel of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including type III but not type I (or II) interferons (IFNs), which are activated upon TBEV infection, as well as a number of non-coding RNAs, including long non-coding RNAs. To obtain a broader view of the pathways responsible for eliciting an antiviral state in DAOY cells we examined the effect of type I and III IFNs and found that only type I IFN pre-treatment inhibited TBEV production. The cellular response to TBEV showed only partial overlap with gene expression changes induced by IFN-β treatment - suggesting a virus-specific signature - and we identified a group of ISGs that were highly up-regulated following IFN-β treatment. Moreover, a high rate of down-regulation was observed for a wide panel of pro-inflammatory cytokines upon IFN-β treatment. These data can serve as the basis for further studies of host-TBEV interactions and the identification of ISGs and/or lncRNAs with potent antiviral effects in cases of TBEV infection in human neuronal cells.


We introduce a new algorithm for K-nearest neighbor queries that uses clustering and caching to improve performance. The main idea is to reduce the distance computation cost between the query point and the data points in the data set. We use a divide-and-conquer approach. First, we divide the training data into clusters based on similarity between the data points in terms of Euclidean distance. Next we use linearization for faster lookup. The data points in a cluster can be sorted based on their similarity (measured by Euclidean distance) to the center of the cluster. Fast search data structures such as the B-tree can be utilized to store data points based on their distance from the cluster center and perform fast data search. The B-tree algorithm is good for range search as well. We achieve a further performance boost by using Btree based data caching. In this work we provide details of the algorithm, an implementation, and experimental results in a robot navigation task.


This paper introduces a new high-rate analysis of the multiple description scalar quantizer (MDSQ) with balanced descriptions. The analysis provides insight into the structure of the MDSQ, suggesting the nonoptimality of uniform central quantizer cell lengths, as well as a method to approximate optimal cell lengths. For both level-constrained and entropy-constrained MDSQ, new upper bounds on the granular distortion for sources with smooth probability density functions (pdfs) are derived under the mean-squared error measure, which are 0.4 dB lower than previous results. Based on the insights, a universal multiple description scalar quantizer (UMDSQ) is proposed which, at high rate, can achieve nearly the same performance as the fully optimized entropy-constrained MDSQ (ECMDSQ), without requiring extensive training. The proposed UMDSQ has only two control parameters, and a continuum of tradeoff points between the central and side distortions can be achieved as the two parameters are varied.


This article explores the notion of the periphery as it concerns Hispanic food studies. It argues that the periphery has a multiplicity of meanings in this context, and also that it is useful for various methodological and substantive reasons. These include the initial academic marginalisation of food studies itself, the slow acceptance of culinary texts as an object of academic study, as well as the ongoing drive to move food studies from the margins of Hispanic cultural studies. By reference to the Author's own research on Spanish culinary nationalism, this article also shows how the tension between centre and periphery is key to understanding Spanish food discourses of the past few centuries. This discussion hopes to show that the academy is increasingly paying attention to peripheral cultures and objects of study.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how specialised capabilities including absorptive capacity and marketing capabilities influence innovation commercialisation in manufacturing and service firms in Nigeria. The authors hypothesise that absorptive capacity measures including openness and formal training for innovation, and marketing capabilities encompassing new product marketing and marketing innovation are positively associated with innovation performance.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine commercialisation of innovation within the profiting from innovation (PFI) and dynamic capabilities (DC) framework and use data from the 2012 Nigeria Innovation Survey to test the hypothesis by means of a Heckman sample selection model.

Findings
The authors find that absorptive capacity measures comprising openness and formal training are positively associated with innovation performance. The authors also find that marketing capabilities as indicated by new product marketing and marketing innovation are positively associated with innovation performance.

Research limitations/implications
The authors acknowledge that firms undergo continuous changes and that there may be the presence of unobserved or unmeasured heterogeneity. Taking into cognisance that Nigeria is a federal state, cultural diversity and economic factors are likely to differ widely between geographical regions. Also, while the proposed conceptual framework offers a deeper understanding of innovation performance, examining how integrating activities of the R&D department, human resource department and marketing department affect innovation commercialisation is likely to provide more meaningful insights.

Practical implications
The role that inter-organisational learning and intra-organisational learning play in driving innovation performance provide managers with a basis for incorporating absorptive capacity building programs that boost employees' ability to recognise and apply valuable external knowledge to commercial ends. Similarly, firms may benefit from offering marketing capabilities development programs. Furthermore, innovation policies in Nigeria are generally designed to focus on fostering innovation activities aimed at developing innovative output. Accordingly, government support explicitly targeting new product marketing and marketing innovation is likely to play a vital role in the successful commercialisation of innovation in Nigeria.

Originality/value
This study fuses the PFI and DC framework to examine why innovating firms may not necessarily succeed. This area of study has received scant attention in sub-Saharan Africa given that extant literature focusses on value creation as opposed to value capture.


This paper is concerned with the application of formal optimisation methods to the design of mixed-granularity FPGAs. In particular, the authors investigate the appropriate mix and floorplan of heterogeneous elements: multipliers, RAMs, and LUT-based logic, in order to maximise the performance of a set of DSP benchmark applications, given a fixed silicon budget. The authors extend our previous mathematical programming framework by proposing a novel set of heuristics, capable of providing upper bounds on the achievable reconfigurable-to-fixed-logic performance ratio. The results provide, for the first time, quantifications of the optimal performance/area-enhancing capability of multipliers and RAM blocks within a system context, and indicate that only a minimal performance benefit can be achieved over Virtex II by re-organising the device floorplan, when using optimal technology mapping


ABSTRACT The Caithness Flagstones are part of a thick Middle Devonian sequence, generally considered part of the continental Old Red Sandstone facies, which crops out in northeast Scotland, including the islands of Orkney and Shetland. The succession consists of lacustrine and fluvial beds deposited in a large internal basin with no evidence of marine connections. Between 5 and 6 km thickness of light gray, red-brown and gray-green cross-bedded sandstone, greenish-gray laminated siltstone and gray-black laminite and limestone are exposed along the east and north coasts of Caithness. Many of the gray-black laminites and a few of the greenish-gray laminated siltstones exhibit numerous small-scale (50 mm plan length) linear cracks. The cracks are in fine siltstone and have been infilled by coarse siltstone. They are attributed to subaqueous shrinkage by a syneresis mechanism. About one-half of the crack-bearing beds show a persistent crack orientation in plan, the direction of which corresponds with the long axes of ripple marks. The preservation of the cracks is a reflection of the placidity of the lacustrine environment.


The Human Metabolome Database (HMDB, http://www.hmdb.ca) is a richly annotated resource that is designed to address the broad needs of biochemists, clinical chemists, physicians, medical geneticists, nutritionists and members of the metabolomics community. Since its first release in 2007, the HMDB has been used to facilitate the research for nearly 100 published studies in metabolomics, clinical biochemistry and systems biology. The most recent release of HMDB (version 2.0) has been significantly expanded and enhanced over the previous release (version 1.0). In particular, the number of fully annotated metabolite entries has grown from 2180 to more than 6800 (a 300% increase), while the number of metabolites with biofluid or tissue concentration data has grown by a factor of five (from 883 to 4413). Similarly, the number of purified compounds with reference to NMR, LC-MS and GC-MS spectra has more than doubled (from 380 to more than 790 compounds). In addition to this significant expansion in database size, many new database searching tools and new data content has been added or enhanced. These include better algorithms for spectral searching and matching, more powerful chemical substructure searches, faster text searching software, as well as dedicated pathway searching tools and customized, clickable metabolic maps. Changes to the user-interface have also been implemented to accommodate future expansion and to make database navigation much easier. These improvements should make the HMDB much more useful to a much wider community of users.


Background:The inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) disability index has recently been introduced to measure patients' physical, psychological, familial, and social limitations associated with IBD. We assessed factors related to self-reported disability and the relationship between disability and direct health care costs. Methods:A large cohort of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) was prospectively followed for 2 years by 3 monthly web-based questionnaires. At 2 years, patients completed the IBD disability index, with lower score indicating more disability. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the impact of demographics, clinical characteristics, and illness perceptions on self-reported disability. Trends in direct health care costs across the disability severity groups minimal, mild, moderate, and severe, were tested. Results:A total of 554 patients with CD and 424 patients with UC completed the IBD disability index (response rate, 45%). Both clinical characteristics and illness perceptions significantly contributed to self-reported disability (45%–47%, P = 0.000 and 8%–12%, P = 0.000, respectively). Patients with CD scored lower on the self-reported IBD disability index than patients with UC (0.255 versus 3.890, P < 0.000), indicating more disability in patients with CD. Factors independently associated with higher self-reported disability rates were increased disease activity, illness identity (higher number of symptoms attributed to IBD), and stronger emotional response. Disease duration and disease phenotype were not associated with self-reported disability. Direct health care costs increased with the worsening of self-reported disability (P = 0.000). Conclusions:More disability was reported by patients with CD than by UC. Self-reported disability in IBD was mainly determined by clinical disease activity and illness perceptions but not by disease duration or disease phenotype.


SUMMARY The attitudes of neighbouring communities towards protected areas are increasingly being considered in the establishment and management of national parks. In South Africa, more inclusive policies have been introduced which seek to involve neighbouring communities in policy formulation and management of Kruger National Park (KNP). This paper examines the attitudes of 38 communities towards KNP along its western border. A random survey of 240 households was conducted to assess attitudes towards the Park, and what factors might influence them. Attitudes were measured by responses to 12 related questions, which were transformed to construct an attitude index. Attitudes are more varied than previously reported. Notwithstanding KNP outreach programmes, many respondents had had no interaction with KNP, 72.9% had never been in the Park, and only 32.1% claimed they knew of KNP's activities. Having a household member employed by KNP, age and de jure Traditional Authority affiliation influenced more positive attitudes toward KNP. Negative attitudes were primarily linked with problems associated with damage-causing animals, including inadequate maintenance of the KNP border fence, poor animal control outside KNP and lack of compensation for affected farmers. These findings on relationships between KNP and its neighbours are relevant for many protected areas in similar contexts elsewhere.


This paper proposes an online path planning and motion generation algorithm for heterogeneous robot teams performing target search in a real-world environment. Path selection for each robot is optimized using an information-theoretic formulation and is computed sequentially for each agent. First, we generate candidate trajectories sampled from both global waypoints derived from vertical cell decomposition and local frontier points. From this set, we choose the path with maximum information gain. We demonstrate that the hierarchical sequential decision-making structure provided by the algorithm is scalable to multiple agents in a simulation setup. We also validate our framework in a real-world apartment setting using a two robot team comprised of the Unitree A1 quadruped and the Toyota HSR mobile manipulator searching for a person. The agents leverage an efficient leader-follower communication structure where only critical information is shared.


ABSTRACT Infections with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) have almost exclusively occurred in young patients, but the reasons for this age distribution are uncertain. Our data suggest that the pathogenesis of many peripherally acquired transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agents is less efficient in aged individuals. Four vCJD cases linked to transfusion of vCJD-contaminated blood or blood products have been described. Three cases occurred in elderly patients, implying that intravenous exposure is more efficient in aged individuals than other peripheral routes. To test this hypothesis, young (6 to 8 weeks old) and aged (600 days old) mice were injected intravenously with a TSE agent. In aged and young mice, the intravenous route was more efficient than other peripheral routes of TSE agent exposure. However, in aged mice, disease pathogenesis was significantly reduced. Although most aged mice failed to develop clinical disease during their life spans, many showed histopathological signs of TSE disease in their brains. Thus, the effects of age on intravenous TSE pathogenesis may lead to significant levels of subclinical disease in the population. After peripheral exposure, many TSE agents accumulate upon follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) in lymphoid tissues before they infect the brain. In aged spleens, PrPC expression and TSE agent accumulation upon FDCs were reduced. Furthermore, the splenic marginal zone microarchitecture was substantially disturbed, adversely affecting the delivery of immune complexes to FDCs. This study is the first to suggest that the effects of aging on the microarchitecture and the function of the splenic marginal zone significantly influence the pathogenesis of an important pathogen.


OBJECTIVE To review findings from the authors' laboratory in studies of electrophysiological properties of single rod- and spindle-shaped myocytes from rabbit atrioventricular node (AVN). DESIGN Single cells were isolated from the AVN of the rabbit heart with the use of enzymatic and mechanical dispersion. For recording, cells were superfused with a Tyrode's solution at 33 to 37 degrees C, and recordings were made with microelectrodes or patch pipettes under 'current' or voltage' clamp conditions. Results are expressed as mean +/- SEM. RESULTS AVN cells had a mean membrane capacitance of 40 +/- 3.9 pF and membrane resistance of 565 +/- 167 M omega (n = 9). Spontaneously active cells exhibited pacemaker activity showing a clear diastolic depolarization and overshooting action potential (AP) with a relatively slow upstroke velocity (7.4 +/- 0.9 V/s, n = 6) and a maximum diastolic potential of -70.5 +/- 2.9 mV. Under voltage clamp conditions, depolarizing pulses from 40 mV elicited L-type calcium currents sensitive to inhibition by nifedipine and managanese or cadmium ions, which could also block spontaneous APs. Depolarizing pulses also activated delayed rectifier potassium current (IK). IK showed rapid activation, and IK 'tails' in AVN cells were blocked by 5 microM E4031, consistent with the rapidly activating subtype of IK (IKr). IK was similar in AVN and ventricular myocytes, except for the time-course of deactivation, which was faster in AVN cells. In 80% to 90% of cells, hyperpolarizing voltage steps activated a small time-independent current. Ten per cent to 20% of cells showed the hyperpolarization-activated current (I(f)), but I(f) amplitude was only significant at potentials more negative than the pacemaker potential. AVN cells showed an apparent absence of inwardly rectifying potassium current. CONCLUSIONS The high membrane resistance of AVN cells suggests that only small changes in ionic currents could significantly affect membrane potential. L-type calcium current is important in generating the AP upstroke, and IKr may play a role in both AP repolarization and diastolic depolarization. The ionic basis underlying spontaneous activity is not yet clear, but in some cells I(f) is not required because cells without I(f) can generate spontaneous APs.


Nowadays cloud computing is becoming a trend on big data processing. Google created MapReduce model to simplify the complex computation of big data processing by configuring and splitting the data into key/values pair to be processed in parallel, usually within a network of computers, then merge the results. However, MapReduce model has its limitations. Researchers have been trying to improve the model resulting in some newer models, such as Mantri, Camdoop, Sudo, and Nectar model. Each model exploits the different characteristics of MapReduce model to create improvements in different way and cases. Challenges and improvements still remain within these enhanced models, which open new possibilities on area of research.


The blast furnace campaign length is today usually restricted by the hearth life, which is strongly related to the drainage and behavior of the coke bed in the hearth, usually referred to as the dead man. Because the hearth is inaccessible and the conditions are complex, knowledge and understanding of the state of the dead man are still limited compared to other parts of the blast furnace process. Since a number of publications have studied different aspects of the dead man in the literature, the purpose of the current review is to compile the findings and knowledge in a comprehensive document. We mainly focus on contributions with respect to the dead man state, and those assessing its influence on the hearth performance in terms of liquid flow patterns, lining wear and drainage behavior. A set of common modeling approaches in this specific furnace area is also briefly presented. The aim of the review is also to deepen the understanding and stimulate further research on open questions related to the dead man in the blast furnace hearth.


The accumulation of amplitude jitter in ultralong-haul (ULH) systems deploying strong optical filters is studied. It is shown that in such systems that operate with nonsoliton waveforms, the selective inclusion of filters may lead to the enhancement or suppression of amplitude noise accumulation, depending on the filter's positioning. This paper explains the improvement in performance that was demonstrated experimentally in a 60-span 12.5-Gb/s system with 12 periodically positioned bandlimited dynamic gain equalizers (DGE) (Optical Fiber Communication Conf., 2005). It is also shown that the same noise suppression as in (Optical Fiber Communication Conf., 2005) achieved by such a system can be achieved with as few as two strong filters if their positioning is properly optimized


Conditions of crisis can be fertile soil for social transformation. The Lovely Weather project in Donegal, northwest Ireland, brought artists into residence in localities where changing socio-economic and awareness of shifting environmental conditions opened up space for different cooperative relations. Donegal, bounded by the Atlantic, sitting between the north and south of Ireland, is an ambiguous in-between region with strong yet undervalued traditions relating to the sea and land. Drawing from a keynote presentation, this paper considers how residency models can dynamically connect poetics of place with broader environmental influences.


The objective of the study was to analyze the risk factors for anemia among pregnant women in Indonesia. The study design was a cross-sectional study. All of data used in this study was from Basic Health Research 2013, Ministry of Health. The data collected include age, education, birth number, parity, pregnancy spacing, antenatal care, and nutritional status (chronic energy deficiency). The number of subjects was 452 pregnant women. The chi-square test was applied to analyze correlation on dependent and independent variable. Logistic regression was applied to analyze determinants of anemia in pregnant women. The results showed that there were 38.1% pregnant women in Indonesia who had anemia (Hb<11 g/dl). The prevalence of pregnant women with anemia in rural and urban were 37.9% and 38.2% respectively. Bivariate analysis showed that age, education, birth number, parity, pregnancy spacing, and antenatal care were not significantly associated with anemia. Main determinant of anemia in pregnant women was nutritional status (chronic energy deficiency; OR=1.975; 95%CI:1.279-3.049).


Arrhythmias in patients with heart failure may result from altered electrophysiological properties of the myocardium. To examine changes in ventricular excitability during cardiac failure and to relate these changes to ventricular structural and neurochemical abnormalities, right ventricular failure was produced in dogs by pulmonary artery banding and by creating tricuspid regurgitation. Right and left ventricular excitability thresholds were tested biweekly in heart failure (HF) and sham-operated conscious dogs by means of strength-duration curves (1-40 ms) at basic cycle lengths (BCL) of 300-500 ms until time of death (21-188 days). Marked increases in the excitability threshold of the right ventricle occurred in HF (mean maximum % increase, 205 +/- 42 at BCL 500 ms). Smaller, though significant increases in the left ventricular excitability threshold in HF were also seen (mean maximum % increase 103 +/- 36 at BCL 500 ms). Increases in the excitability threshold of the left as well as the right ventricles occurred, even though ventricular dilation (2-D Echo) was confined to the right ventricle. The time course of changes in the excitability threshold was variable (maximum occurrence at 21 +/- 3 days right ventricle, 23 +/- 11 days left ventricle). Tyrosine hydroxylase activity and norepinephrine content of the right ventricle were markedly depleted at death, when the excitability threshold was high. Similar though nonsignificant trends in reductions of these sympathetic neurochemicals were seen in the left ventricle. Levels of choline acetyltransferase and QNB binding in both ventricles were unaffected.


This study sought to explore the status of pedagogical ICT integration by teachers in Kenyan secondary schools with special focus on schools that have been supported by Computer for Schools Kenya (CFSK). The need for this study was
based on the premise that educational systems worldwide are vigorously pursuing the integration of ICT to enhance pedagogy and that a failure on the part of Kenya's educational system would not only create a digital divide but also affect
the quality of learning in schools. In 2006, the Ministry of Education introduced the National ICT strategy for Education and Training which empowers schools to engage with stakeholders like CFSK in partnerships to facilitate access to ICT infrastructure and enhance ICT integration. However, according to Karsenti, et al., (2009), in various education systems across Africa, ICTs are increasingly being
taught as a completely separate discipline, while the integration of ICTs into pedagogical practices to improve the quality of teaching and learning across disciplines remains the exception. This study aimed at examining the level and
manner of ICT integration in Kenyan secondary schools. A cross-sectional and descriptive survey design was adapted for the study. Research data was collected through triangulation, which made use of questionnaires, interview guides and
checklists. The study targeted 30 secondary schools from Nairobi and Kiambu Counties. The study sample comprised 278 teachers, 375 secondary school students, 30 schools and two CFSK computer trainers. The data collected was
then analyzed using SPSS and MS Excel statistical packages. The analyzed data was then discussed under suitable themes derived from the objectives of the study. The results showed that across all schools participating in the study, the use
of ICTs to teach subject matter other than computing itself was almost completely absent. It also emerged from the study that although most teachers have positive attitudes towards ICT, they face a myriad of challenges including teacher-level and school-level barriers, factors that constrain their attempts to integrate ICT in instruction. Further, it was noted that although CFSK is contributing towards enhancing access to technology in Kenyan schools, the ICT infrastructure that is available in schools is way below the required amount. The 1:25 computer to student ratio found in the sampled schools was too high for meaningful ICT
integration in schools. Secondly, the study shows that teachers lack requisite capacity to adopt ICTs for pedagogical integration. In order to aid the endeavors of teachers in integrating technologies, the study recommends among others more
robust professional development programmes which use a convergent model as well as provision of adequate technologies. These strategies would continuously
provide support in order for teachers to be able to overcome the aforementioned problems and challenges faced when attempting to integrate technology.
Moreover teachers need to be provided with different types of learning opportunities, including periodic workshops, peer-to-peer training, mentoring, online training programmes, and conferences to enhance pedagogical ICT
integration.


Intake of polyphenols, probiotics, and multivitamins has shown beneficial effects on spatial memory, learning, and cognition. However, the effect of various combinations of these nutrients as dietary intake on cognitive performance has remained unexamined. Knowing which antioxidant combination would be most effective is important, especially because regular intake of all nutraceuticals may not be possible. This study examined the best combination of nutrients that enhances spatial memory and cognitive performance. Since quality of nutrition can have a significant effect on memory and learning, the outcome of this study could be significant to improving cognitive function in humans, particularly in the context of childhood education. Especially with current disparities leading to food deserts and differing access to quality food, this may reveal changes to make in mass nutrition to better support cognitive performance and learning.


When it comes to aggregate economic shocks, the poor and the near-poor often face a double whammy. They are often among the most adversely affected by the shock, suffering from crisis effects that push them and their children deeper into poverty. The poor and near-poor are also the least equipped to participate in and benefit from the subsequent recovery. In a grim twist of irony, the very same coping strategies that the poor turn to, in order to survive and weather the crisis are often also among the causes for their inability to recover quickly. This paper reviews the emerging evidence on the impact of the global economic crisis and food and fuel price volatility of 2008-2009, and it analyzes some of the key policy responses deployed by governments. It finds evidence suggesting that once again the poor risk facing a double whammy. To help ensure a more inclusive social and economic recovery, governments could follow a pro-poor countercyclical strategy that preserves social spending and investments as well as uses part of these resources to develop social protection systems. Failure to do so risks translating the effects of the crisis into permanent harm for children, women and poor families.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the following factors-medical training in family practice, age of the doctor, health care organization and percentage of patients over 65 years--influence the quality of pharmaceutical prescription as measured in terms of its intrinsic value and potential use of the prescription.

DESIGN
Descriptive cross study. SITE. Regional health authorities of Costa de Ponent. Barcelona.

PARTICIPANTS
400 general practitioners throughout the whole of 1992.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
Doctors belonging to the new health system and specialising in family practise, present higher intrinsic value and potential use of the prescription (statistically confirmed), as well as a greater concentration of prescription of the top 100 prescribed medicines. Doctors no more than 40 years old had better prescription but no statistical differences were found. An aged population had nearly no influence.

CONCLUSIONS
The characteristics of the doctor (organization, training) are conditioning factors in the quality of pharmaceutical prescription.


type="main"> Late Victorian Britain was very important in the development of British dominance in light consumer goods industries, such as fermented liquors and spirits; detergents and perfumery; bicycles and other carriages; paper, stationery, and bookbinding; and games of all kinds and sports goods. Firms developed technology-based innovations and marketing-based innovations, creating abnormal peaks of trademark registrations in certain industries. This article investigates those peaks and shows that factors usually pointed out as explaining British economic decline in heavy industries did not impact on the development of light consumer goods industries, and on the contrary encouraged their fast growth during this period. Trademark registrations are shown to provide new insights into the debate on British relative decline, when combined with other industry and firm-level data.


This paper describes a technology for manipulating the shape of an implicitly modeled surface so that it follows a geometric flow. The proposed technology is a generalization of the method of level sets, which specifies how to manipulate the isosurfaces of greyscale functions, sampled on discrete grids. The proposed formulation projects the geometric motion of the level sets of a greyscale function onto its parametric representation. The resulting method provides a set of new capabilities for implicit models, including the computation of geometric flows, such as motion by mean curvature and the fitting of implicitly represented surfaces to volumetric data. This paper presents results for the computation of mean-curvature flow on the level sets of polynomials and the fitting of radial basis functions, arranged as dipoles, in an adaptive-refinement scheme to achieve surface fitting with variational implicits.


We present a case study of the alternatives and design trade-offs encountered when adapting an established numerical library into a form compatible with modern component-software implementation practices. Our study will help scientific software users, authors, and maintainers develop their own roadmaps for shifting to component-oriented software. The primary library studied, LSODE, and the issues involved in the adaptation are typical of many commonly used numerical libraries. We examine the adaptation of a related library, CVODE, and compare the impact on applications of the two different designs. The LSODE-derived components solve models composed with CCA components developed independently at the Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. The resulting applications run in the Ccaffeine framework implementation of the common component architecture specification. We provide CCA-style interface specifications appropriate to linear equations, ordinary differential equations (ODE), and differential algebraic equations (DAE) solvers.


Advances in medical treatment of prolactinomas and acromegaly in the last 20 years are analyzed. Dopaminergic drugs as bromocriptine, lisuride, pergolide and terguride successfully control hyperprolactinemia, reduce tumor size and cause clinical improvement. New long lasting medications with less adverse effects such as cabergoline, with oral weekly administration, and the repeatable monthly injectable form of bromocriptine (Parlodel LAR, Sandoz) may be the treatment of choice for prolactinomas. Dopaminergic medications are less effective in acromegaly. The higher doses required induce more collateral effects. An important step has been the incorporation of long lasting somatostatin analogues such as octreotide (for sbc use tid) intramuscular every 28 days injectable Sandostatin LAR and lanreotide SR (Somatuline, Ipsen Biotech), injectable every 10 to 14 days. Medical treatment of acromegaly is not, at the present, an alternative to surgery. However, the development of long lasting specific drugs may become, in the future, the choice or an alternative in the treatment of acromegaly.


To the Editor .—In a recent issue, Adams et al 1 reported on their limited experience with 73 patients undergoing jejunostomy during a 15-year period. They concluded, based on this limited experience with high-risk patients, that jejunostomy is a rarely indicated procedure. I take strong exception to this point of view. The patients they described were obviously at high risk since 29 of these patients died during hospitalization. Since our complication rate remains at less than 1% with large numbers of patients of all ages, one would obviously have to assume that the patients of Adams et al constituted an extremely high-risk group. In addition, they reported aspiration as a significant complication, although 16 of their patients had a prior history of aspiration, and 14 patients were comatose at the time of jejunostomy. No mention of the incidence of gastroesophageal (GE) reflux was reported. Since it is well known that


Accurate relative wealth estimates in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICS) are crucial to help policymakers address socio-demographic inequalities under the guidance of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. Survey-based approaches have traditionally been employed to collect highly granular data about income, consumption, or household material goods to create index-based poverty estimates. However, these methods are only capture persons in households (i.e., in the household sample framework) and they do not include migrant populations or unhoused citizens. Novel approaches combining frontier data, computer vision, and machine learning have been proposed to complement these existing approaches. However, the strengths and limitations of these big-data-derived indices have yet to be sufficiently studied. In this paper, we focus on the case of Indonesia and examine one frontier-data derived Relative Wealth Index (RWI), created by the Facebook Data for Good initiative, that utilizes connectivity data from the Facebook Platform and satellite imagery data to produce a high-resolution estimate of relative wealth for 135 countries. We examine it concerning asset-based relative wealth indices estimated from existing high-quality national-level traditional survey instruments, the USAID-developed Demographic Health Survey (DHS), and the Indonesian National Socio-economic survey (SUSENAS). In this work, we aim to understand how the frontier-data derived index can be used to inform anti-poverty programs in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region. First, we unveil key features that affect the comparison between the traditional and non-traditional sources, such as the publishing time and authority and the granularity of the spatial aggregation of the data. Second, to provide operational input, we hypothesize how a re-distribution of resources based on the RWI map would impact a current social program, the Social Protection Card (KPS) of Indonesia and assess impact. In this hypothetical scenario, we estimate the percentage of Indonesians eligible for the program, which would have been incorrectly excluded from a social protection payment had the RWI been used in place of the survey-based wealth index. The exclusion error in that case would be 32.82%. Within the context of the KPS program targeting, we noted significant differences between the RWI map's predictions and the SUSENAS ground truth index estimates.


Article in Spanish

The universitary institutions and the national technology centres, have principally public economic support, and invest a significant amount of these resources in research and development projects, creating significant results with a potential industrial applicability.

Until now, the public policy has followed the US model established from 1980 Bayh-Dole Act. Although the use of this scheme suppose an analysis that is not included in this article, if it is followed in the correct way, this entities must set suitable policies of intellectual property and use of the results raised from that research, using the institutions of intellectual and industrial property.

In this article it is reviewed supperficially, comparing with the American experience, the elements that support the present Chilean public policy in research and development matter, as well as the contract responsibilities of the institutions with the economic support agencies, elements that make mandatory the establishment of intellectual property policy development for each University, with the main objective to kept properly the benefits of the results obtained from the execution of these projects.


Chronic migraine (CM) is the most prevalent disabling primary daily headache disorder, the prevalence of CM in Russia is 3 times as much as worldwide (6,8% vs 2% respectively). The diagnosis of CM is based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition (beta-version) dated 2013. (ICHD-III). Not all the physicians are fully aware and/or actively use the diagnostic criteria stated in the ICHD-III. Underdiagnosis of CM causes the inadequate treatment that is still the problem for both GPs and neurologists. This article reviews in detail the specific principles of clinical interview that is critically important to evaluate the status of the patient. The use of special clinical scales, questionnaires, diaries helps to diagnose CM and other co-morbid mental and somatic disorders, to evaluate disability and decreased migraine related quality of life. The interpretation of the findings remains the most important point to diagnose CM, to define the need of additional exams and to evaluate the efficacy of therapy.


Two siblings jointly inherit their late father's rocking chair. The chair has principally sentimental and no real economic value; it cannot be physically divided between them, and selling it to distribute the proceeds will compensate neither for the sentimental loss. What, then, should become of the disputed property? In a self-confessed "strange" decision in the McDowell case, the Surrogate's Court of New York ordered that the two siblings take possession of the chair alternately for six-month periods; and that when one passed away, the other would obtain exclusive possession. An allocation method based on alternating enjoyment (or suffering) is commonly known as "rotation," or more colloquially "taking turns." Yet despite its manifestation in different legal contexts, and its considerable potential, rotation has been almost neglected by legal theorists. This Article makes the first attempt to delineate and exemplify the proper boundaries of this method's utilization by and under the law, based on a comprehensive and systematic integration of fairness- and efficiency-oriented concerns. In providing a full-fledged theoretical framework we also aim to alert law and policy makers to the availability of rotation-based solutions to allocative challenges, and to advocate a cautious expansion of their application by and under the law.


Under extreme conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic, man develops exertional diabetes, which is characterized by (1) decreases in blood insulin levels and in responses of the insular apparatus to glucose load; (2) a reduction in blood sugar; (3) a drop in glucose uptake; (4) lowering of the renal barrier for blood sugar and other low-molecular weight compounds; (5) appearance of urinary sugar and an increase in its nocturnal resting concentration. Exertional diabetes lies in the basis of switching energy metabolism from the carbohydrate to lipid types at high latitudes. The mechanism of this phenomenon is associated with the contra-insular effect of LDL and VLDL. There is a common epitope in the beta-chain of insulin and LDL and VLDL apoprotein B. The existence of the common epitope leads to competition of insulin and apoprotein B for an insulin receptor and reduces tissue glucose uptake.


Dental caries is among the most prevalent chronic diseases of childhood, affecting larger part of children and adults. Non-treated enamel caries can lead to destruction and then spreads into the underlying softer and sensitive dentine layer. Dental restorative materials are applied to treat and reconstruct damaged teeth clinically and recover their functions. Currently, there are various dental restorative materials available, and many appropriate materials are used to restore dental carious teeth. The applicability of biomimetic principles can elicit innovations in restorative dentistry for tooth conservation and preservation. There are three types of materials commonly used in dental restorations: resin, alloys, and ceramic. During the past decade, zirconia-based ceramics have been successfully introduced into the clinic due to acceptable biocompatibility, lower price compared with gold restorations, and better appearance than traditional metal-ceramic restorations. Recently, zirconia restoration is an acceptable treatment option in restorative dentistry and a developing trend in esthetic dentistry.


Zhelyazkova, M., Georgieva, S., Kostova, M., Gencheva, D. & Grozeva, N. (2019). Preliminary study on genetic diversity in Moehringia jankaе Griseb. ex Janka based on inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) MARKERS. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 25 (Suppl. 3), , 148–157 Genetic diversity among eleven natural populations of the Moehringia jankae species, Caryophyllaceae family, spread in the Sinite Kamani Natural Park in Bulgaria was assessed by inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) markers. A total of 68 loci were identifi ed by using 5 selected ISSR primers, of which 59 are polymorphic and 9 – monomorphic. Presences of 3 specifi c ISSR bands were reported in the Mj1, Mj5 and Mj9 population. For the primers used, mean values of the polymorphic information content (0.64), eff ective multiplex ratio (4.53), resolving power (27.66) and marker index (2.84) have been calculated. Shannon's information index (I = 0.226), expected (He = 0.149) and unbiased expected (uH = 0.165) heterozygosity, estimated based on molecular characteristics demonstrate a signifi cant level of intra-species genetic diversity of M. jankae. Cluster analysis, Principal component analysis (PCA) and Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) divide the studied plant populations into 2 main clusters – fi rst (А) comprises Mj7, Mj8 and Mj10, and Mj1, Mj11, Mj9, second one (В) consists of 2 subclusters, too with Mj5 and Mj6 being in the fi rst one, and Mj2, Mj4 and Mj3 in the second one. The current data complement the studies in the area of genetic resources, therefore they could be included in conservation programs for protection of rare and endangered plant species.


In-text citations have been put forward as a new way to overcome the bias inherent in bibliographic citation analysis. In-text citation patterns have been used as the basis for citation analysis previously, but all the evidence has come from international journals. However, many countries have more local journals than international journals. This paper uses in-text citation analysis to examine local journals in Indonesia. The paper aims to determine the location-based citation pattern in the text and its effect on the articles' and authors' rankings. We collected articles from seven food science journals and then parsed these articles to detect the citations and their locations within the text. Pre-processing included normalizing section names, developing a database, and matching citation identities. The rankings were based on sections and then evaluated using the Spearman rank correlation in the final step. The results revealed that Indonesian journals did not exhibit the same patterns as international journals. There were differences in the section locations of the highest percentages of citations, the distributions of publication years, and the ranking methods. The correlations between sections indicated that the citations in the results and discussion section should be give the highest weight, followed by those in the method section, while the lowest weight should be assigned to citations in the introduction. These results need to be strengthened with further research using more extensive data and fields. Other findings, such as nonstandard and inconsistent citations, made developing an automatic citation detection system for local journals challenging.


This study argues the necessity for and the benefits of a strategic management approach in current emergency management systems. Strategic management is characterized as a long-term process for developing a continuing commitment to the mission and vision of an organization, nurturing a culture that identifies with and supports the mission and vision, and maintaining a clear focus on the organization's strategic agenda throughout all its decision processes and activities. Recent emergency management practice demands that more strategic approaches and management styles be utilized than before. This study addresses the following benefits of the integration of strategic management into emergency management: forward thinking, professionalization, capacity building, goal identification and achievement, increased public support, increased funding, and greater accountability. This study offers the following suggestions for fostering strategic planning in emergency management practice: centralize planning and decentralize execution, strengthen the intergovernmental response process, build cooperation among public and nonprofit organizations, provide training for operating emergency management strategic planning, and recruit professional emergency managers. Implications for future research are also presented.


Emergence of multidrug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) threatens humanity. This problem was complicated by the crisis in development of new anti-tuberculosis antibiotics. Induced reversion of drug resistance seems promising to overcome the problem. Successful clinical trial of a new anti-tuberculosis nanomolecular complex FS-1 has demonstrated prospectively of this approach in combating MDR-TB. Several clinical MDR-TB cultures were isolated from sputum samples prior and in the process of the clinical trial. Every isolate was tested for susceptibility to antibiotics and then they were sequenced for comparative genomics. It was found that the treatment with FS-1 caused an increase in the number of antibiotic susceptible strains among Mtb isolates that was associated with a general increase of genetic heterogeneity of the isolates. Observed impairing of phthiocerol dimycocerosate biosynthesis by disruptive mutations in ppsACD subunits indicated a possible virulence remission for the sake of persistence. It was hypothesized that the FS-1 treatment eradicated the most drug resistant Mtb variants from the population by aggravating the fitness cost of drug resistance mutations. Analysis of distribution of these mutations in the global Mtb population revealed that many of them were incompatible with each other and dependent on allelic states of many other polymorphic loci. The latter discovery may explain the negative correlation between the genetic heterogeneity of the population and the level of drug tolerance. To the best of our knowledge, this work was the first experimental confirmation of the drug induced antibiotic resistance reversion by the induced synergy mechanism that previously was predicted theoretically.


Objectives To estimate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a large civilian population with traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to assess whether brain injury severity is correlated with PTSD symptoms. Design Observational, cross-sectional study. Setting and participants Outpatient clinic in a major UK trauma centre and secondary care hospital. Estimates of PTSD prevalence are based on 171 sampled individuals attending TBI clinic within an 18-month period. Analysis of the relationship between TBI severity and PTSD was performed on the subset of 127 patients for whom injury severity data were also available. Methods Civilian TBI clinic attendees completed validated self-report questionnaires assessing PTSD (PTSD Checklist Civilian Version (PCL-C)) and other psychiatric symptoms. From this, the prevalence of PTSD was estimated in our cohort. Postresuscitation Glasgow Coma Score and Marshall grade on CT brain scan were recorded as indicators of brain injury severity. A hierarchical regression explored whether TBI severity may predict PTSD scores. Results A high prevalence of PTSD was estimated (21% with PCL-C score >50). Higher Marshall grading displayed a slight negative correlation with PTSD symptoms. This statistically significant relationship persisted after confounding factors such as depression and postconcussion symptoms were controlled for. Conclusions PTSD and TBI frequently coexist, share antecedents and overlap in their resultant symptoms. This complexity has given rise to conflicting hypotheses about relationships between the two. This research reveals that PTSD is common in civilians with TBI (adding to evidence drawn from military populations). The analysis indicated that more severe brain injury may exert a slight protective influence against the development of PTSD—potentially by disrupting implicit access to traumatic memories, or via overlapping neuropsychiatric symptoms that impede diagnosis. The association suggests that further research is warranted to explore the reuse of routine clinical and neuroimaging data—investigating its potential to predict risk of psychiatric morbidity.


ABSTRACT Most hydrological studies rely on a model calibrated using discharge alone. However, judging the model reliability based on such calibration is problematic, as it does not guarantee the correct representation of internal hydrological processes. This study aims (a) to develop a comprehensive multi-objective calibration framework using remote sensing vegetation data and hydrological signatures (flow duration curve – FDC, and baseflow index) in addition to discharge, and (b) to apply this framework for calibration of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in a typical Andean catchment. Overall, our calibration approach outperformed traditional discharge-based and FDC signature-based calibration strategies in terms of vegetation, streamflow, and flow partitioning simulation. New hydrological insights for the region are the following: baseflow is the main component of the streamflow sustaining the long dry-season flow, and pasture areas offer higher water yield and baseflow than other land-cover types. The proposed approach could be used in other data-scarce regions with complex topography.


This is a course guide for the linked courses of EAS 302 (Methods and Materials in East Asian Studies) and LIBR 302 (Library Research Paper Tutorial).


Abstract We develop a maximum likelihood (ML) method for estimating migration rates between species using genomic sequence data. A species tree is used to accommodate the phylogenetic relationships among three species, allowing for migration between the two sister species, while the third species is used as an out‐group. A Markov chain characterization of the genealogical process of coalescence and migration is used to integrate out the migration histories at each locus analytically, whereas Gaussian quadrature is used to integrate over the coalescent times on each genealogical tree numerically. This is an extension of our early implementation of the symmetrical isolation‐with‐migration model for three species to accommodate arbitrary loci with two or three sequences per locus and to allow asymmetrical migration rates. Our implementation can accommodate tens of thousands of loci, making it feasible to analyze genome‐scale data sets to test for gene flow. We calculate the posterior probabilities of gene trees at individual loci to identify genomic regions that are likely to have been transferred between species due to gene flow. We conduct a simulation study to examine the statistical properties of the likelihood ratio test for gene flow between the two in‐group species and of the ML estimates of model parameters such as the migration rate. Inclusion of data from a third out‐group species is found to increase dramatically the power of the test and the precision of parameter estimation. We compiled and analyzed several genomic data sets from the Drosophila fruit flies. Our analyses suggest no migration from D. melanogaster to D. simulans, and a significant amount of gene flow from D. simulans to D. melanogaster, at the rate of ∼0.02 migrant individuals per generation. We discuss the utility of the multispecies coalescent model for species tree estimation, accounting for incomplete lineage sorting and migration.


Bertolt Brecht's Stories of Mr. Keuner is a collection of fables, aphorisms, and comments on politics, everyday life, and exile. From 1930 til his death in 1956, Brecht penned these ironic portraits of his times as he was "changing countries more often than shoes." An ardent antifascist, Brecht roamed across Europe just ahead of Hitler's armies-only to wind up poolside in Los Angeles and then interrogated by Senator Joe McCarthy's infamous committee. Bertolt Brecht wrote The Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny, Mother Courage, The Life of Galileo, and many other plays. A major poet of the twentieth century, Brecht also wrote extensively on the theater. At war's end, Brecht became director of the renowned Berliner Ensemble in East Germany.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Lithium is widely used for the treatment of bipolar disorders and can interact with neuromuscular blockers. There is a controversy about the mechanisms by which it affects neuromuscular transmission and its interaction with neuromuscular blockers. The objective of this study was to evaluate, on the rat diaphragm, the effects of lithium on the muscular response and indirect stimulation, and the possible interaction with neuromuscular blockers.

METHODS
Rats weighing between 250 and 300 g were sacrificed under urethane anesthesia. The phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparation was assembled according to the Bulbring technique. The diaphragm was kept under tension, connected to an isometric transducer, and submitted to indirect stimulation with a frequency of 0.1 Hz. The contractions of the diaphragm were registered on a physiograph. The analysis of the amplitude of the muscular responses evaluated: the effects of the isolated drugs: lithium (1.5 mg.mL-1); atracurium (20 microg.mL-1), and cisatracurium (3 microg.mL-1); the lithium-neuromuscular blockers association; and the effects of lithium on the neuromuscular blockade produced by atracurium (35 microg.mL-1) and cisatracurium (5 microg.mL-1). The effects were evaluated before and 45 minutes after the addition of the drugs. The effects of lithium on membrane potentials (MP) and miniature end-plate potentials (MEPP) were also evaluated.

RESULTS
Lithium by itself did not change the amplitude of the muscular responses, but it decreased significantly the neuromuscular blockade produced by atracurium and cisatracurium. It did not change MP and caused an initial increase in MEPP.

CONCLUSIONS
Lithium by itself did not compromise neuromuscular transmission and increased the resistance to the effects of atracurium and cisatracurium. It did not show any action on the muscle fiber, and the changes in miniature end-plate potentials indicated pre-synaptic action.