Complex clinical endpoints are present in studies in cancer. Especially in studies on hematopoietic stemcell transplantation (HSCT), various risks exist after HSCT. Patients can experience acute and chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD) or need to undergo immunosuppressive therapy (IST), a relapse can occur, or patients can die after relapse orwithout former relapse (nonrelapsemortality,NRM). Sometimes, endpoints can be reasonably combined in a composite endpoint, as, for example, relapse andNRMare combined into disease-free survival (DFS). In this case, standard survival techniques, as Kaplan–Meier estimationof theDFS probability, can be applied. Often, interest focuses on endpoints for which competing risks are present, as, for example, GVHD, with death without prior GVHD as competing risk. This results in a competing risks model, a special case of a multistate model. A more complex multistate model is required when the effects of events occurring in the course of the study on further disease process shall be investigated, as, for example, the effect of GVHD on relapse and NRM. Another endpoint of interest is time under IST. As patients usually experience multiple episodes of IST, thus switching back and forth between "IST" and "no IST" during follow-up, the multistate model used for analysis must be adapted for this event structure. The aim of this nontechnical report is to explain use and interpretation of Cox-type regression models suitable for the different situations in a randomized trial on the effects of anti-T-cell globulin as GVHD prophylaxis. Clin Cancer Res; 19(1); 1–10. 2012 AACR.


The infectivity of 310 hepatitis B carriers (among antenatal and genitourinary medicine clinic attendees, blood donors, and patients of a liver disease unit) was assessed using three different assays: chemiluminescent molecular hybridisation assay (Murex Digene), column-based solution hybridisation assay (Abbott Genostics) and in-house polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR was found to be at least 100 times more sensitive (1 x 10(4) copies/mL) than Murex Digene (3.2 x 10(6) copies/mL) and Abbott Genostics (3.7 x 10(7) copies/mL). Comparison of the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)/anti-HBe status and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level confirmed an association between these two variables. The overall detection rate of HBV DNA by Murex Digene was 28% (87/310): 89% (73/82) in the HBeAg positive group, 10% (4/40) in the HBeAg/anti HBe negative group, and 5% (10/188) in the anti-HBe positive group. The detection rate by PCR increased to 53% (163/310): 98% (80/82) in the HBeAg positive group, 38% (15/40) in the HBeAg/anti-HBe negative group, and 36% (67/188) in the anti-HBe positive group. HBV DNA detection rates by all three assays in 97 liver disease unit patients were higher, particularly in anti-HBe positive patients, than in the cohort overall, probably reflecting a higher rate of active liver disease in these patients. HBV DNA was detected at the lowest rate in the antenatal clinic group. We suggest that HBeAg negative patients who are positive by PCR but negative by either Murex Digene or Abbott Genostics are still infectious. A cut-off serum HBV DNA level of 10(4) copies/mL is proposed, below which transmission is unlikely to occur, but further studies using quantitative PCR are needed to refine the cut-off level.


The biofouling of ureteral stents and subsequent urinary tract infections mainly come from the adsorption and adhesion of proteins and microorganisms and their ensuing proliferation. Although general polycationic surfaces in implants have good antibacterial activities, they suffer from limited durability due to severe protein and bacterial adsorption. Here, a biodegradable and anti-biofilm fiber-membrane structured ureteral stent (FMBUS) with synergetic contact-killing antibacterial activity and antiprotein adsorption is described. The stent is prepared by generating hyperbranched poly(amide-amine)-grafted polydopamine microparticles (≈300 nm) on the surface of fibers by in situ polymerization and Schiff base reactions. The biomimetic surface endows the FMBUS with a positive charge (+21.36 mV) and superhydrophilicity (water contact angle: 0°). As a result, the stents fulfilled the following functions: i) reduced attachment of host protein due to superhydrophilicity (Lysozyme: 92.1%; human serum albumin: 39.4%); ii) high bactericidal activities against contact pathogenic bacteria (contact-killing rate: 99.9999% for both E. coli and S. aureus; antiadhesion rate: 99.2% for E. coli and 99.9999% for S. aureus); iii) biocompatibility in vitro (relative growth rate of L929: >90% on day 3) and in vivo; and iv) gradient biodegradability to avoid a second surgery of stent extraction 1-2 weeks after implantation.


Security measures are being applied in the Telecom Eireann trunk telephone network to minimise disruption due to excess traffic or system failure. Dynamic measures, such as network management, will be deployed in the very near future, but in the meantime static measures are being applied. Geographically separate exchanges of the same status are provided at major nodes with traffic shared equally between them on separate transmission links. Rerouting is provided automatically when a system fails, but at a reduced grade of service. The paper presents a model which simulates this concept of mutual alternative routing using the UNIX-based OPNET (Optimised Network Engineering Tools) package.


One aspect that can influence the success of the curriculum is the empowerment of the field of curriculum management or management in the educational institutions concerned. The management of the curriculum at the level of the education unit or school needs to be coordinated by the institution's leadership and assistant leaders who are developed integrally in the context of School Based Management (SBM) and the Education Unit Level Curriculum (SBC) and adjusted to the vision and mission of the relevant educational institution.One aspect that influences the success of national education is the curriculum aspect. The curriculum is one component that has a strategic role in the education system. The curriculum is a system of learning programs to achieve institutional goals in educational institutions, so that the curriculum plays an important role in creating quality schools. The existence of several renewal programs in the field of national education is one of the efforts to prepare the Indonesian people and nation who are able to develop a stable democratic life in entering the current era of globalization and information.


: The calcaneus is not a common site for a unicameral solitary bone cyst. Little is known about the etiology and natural history of these lesions. The author reports an adult man with a solitary bone cyst of the os calcis which was confirmed radiologically and histologically and successfully treated with curretage and bone grafting.


The concentration of sodium chloride strongly influences primed polymerization of nucleoside diphosphates by polynucleotide phosphorylase. High concentrations of NaCl allow the addition of only a few nucleotide residues onto the 3' end of the primer. When pure oligonucleotides are used as primers and when the product is fractionated, pure block oligonucleotides can be obtained.


The term 'girl' is by no means neutral, but culture-specific. A person called a 'girl' in one decade or place might not be classified as 'girl' in another. It is widely assumed that in the 1960s the very concept of 'girlhood' undertook a profound transformation. However, such claims are usually directed towards western culture. Much less has been written about girls in the countries of state socialism. To make up for this gap, this article considers representations of girls in two Polish films from the beginning of the 1960s, Niewinni czarodzieje (Innocent Sorcerers) (1960), directed by Andrzej Wajda and Do widzenia, do jutra (Good Bye, Till Tomorrow) (1960), directed by Jerzy Morgenstern; and two from the beginning of the 1970s, Seksolatki (Sex-Teenagers) (1971), directed by Zygmunt Hubner and Dziewczyny do wziecia (Girls to Pick Up) (1971), directed by Janusz Kondratiuk – all set in two large Polish cities, Warsaw and Gdansk. It examines their appearance, their interests, their attitude to sex and their place in the city culture. Of special interest is the relationship between girlhood and class.


In 2003, the National Heart Foundation of Australia published a position statement on psychosocial risk factors and coronary heart disease (CHD). This consensus statement provides an updated review of the literature on psychosocial stressors, including chronic stressors (in particular, work stress), acute individual stressors and acute population stressors, to guide health professionals based on current evidence. It complements a separate updated statement on depression and CHD. Perceived chronic job strain and shift work are associated with a small absolute increased risk of developing CHD, but there is limited evidence regarding their effect on the prognosis of CHD. Evidence regarding a relationship between CHD and job (in)security, job satisfaction, working hours, effort–reward imbalance and job loss is inconclusive. Expert consensus is that workplace programs aimed at weight loss, exercise and other standard cardiovascular risk factors may have positive outcomes for these risk factors, but no evidence is available regarding the effect of such programs on the development of CHD. Social isolation after myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with an adverse prognosis. Expert consensus is that although measures to reduce social isolation are likely to produce positive psychosocial effects, it is unclear whether this would also improve CHD outcomes. Acute emotional stress may trigger MI or takotsubo ("stress") cardiomyopathy, but the absolute increase in transient risk from an individual stressor is low. Psychosocial stressors have an impact on CHD, but clinical significance and prevention require further study. Awareness of the potential for increased cardiovascular risk among populations exposed to natural disasters and other conditions of extreme stress may be useful for emergency services response planning. Wider public access to defibrillators should be available where large populations gather, such as sporting venues and airports, and as part of the response to natural and other disasters.


The effects on activity against Schistosoma mansoni of further modifications of the diaminodiphenoxyalkanes are reported. Replacement of the amino-group by any of a large number of other groups destroys activity. Activity is retained in the presence of certain substituted (hydroxyalkyl, carboxyalkyl) amino-groups and in some of their aldehyde-bisulphite derivatives. Many variations of the central chain lead to compounds of reduced activity, the outstanding exceptions being a number of but-2-ene derivatives, which retain full activity.


BACKGROUND
Social support has been shown to be greatly important for breastfeeding success. The objective of this study was to investigate if mothers who were attended by midwives and nurses specially trained in breastfeeding counseling perceived better continuity of care and emotional and informative breastfeeding support than mothers who received only routine care.

METHOD
Ten municipalities, each with an antenatal center and child health center, in southwest Sweden were randomized either to intervention or control municipalities. The intervention included a process-oriented training in breastfeeding counseling and continuity of care at the antenatal and child health centers. Primiparas were asked to evaluate the care given, and those living in the control municipalities were divided into control groups A and B. Data collection took place at different points in time for the two control groups. The 540 mothers responded to 3 questionnaires at 3 days and at 3 and 9 months postpartum. The perception of support provided by the health professionals and from the family classes was rated on Likert scales.

RESULTS
Intervention group mothers rated the breastfeeding information given during the family class as significantly better during pregnancy than both control groups, and better than control group B mothers at 3 months postpartum; compared with both control groups, intervention group mothers perceived that they received significantly better overall support and that postnatal nurses provided better information about breastfeeding and the baby's needs. At 9 months, intervention group mothers were more satisfied with knowledge about social rights, information about the baby's needs, and their social network than control group B mothers. Both intervention group and control group B mothers perceived better overall support than control group A during pregnancy. At 3 and 9 months, intervention group mothers perceived that postnatal nurses were more sensitive and understanding compared with both control groups.

CONCLUSIONS
After implementation of a process-oriented breastfeeding training program for antenatal midwives and postnatal nurses that included an intervention guaranteeing continuity of care, the mothers were more satisfied with emotional and informative support during the first 9 months postpartum. The results lend support to family classes incorporating continuity of care.


The Fundamental Right to Property enjoys the unique distinction of not only being the second most contentious provision in the drafting of the Indian Constitution, but also the most amended provision, and the only fundamental right to be ultimately abolished. The debate over property rights began early in the Constituent Assembly even while the terms of independence were being worked out and the controversy was more prolonged and acute than that over any subject, except that of official languages. In this paper, I outline key debates on the inclusion, content, and judicial enforcement of the right to property within the Assembly. My aim is to present a snapshot of the deliberative process that transmuted abstract policy goals of the founders into guaranteed fundamental rights of Indians, especially pertaining to the right to property. I show that there were two broad discourses underpinning the debates on the right to property. The first was the "rights" discourse, with its sub-discourses on "civil and political rights" and "social and economic rights". The second was the "development" discourse with its concomitant focus on "land reform" and "industrialisation and capital formation". Both were enabling discourses, but grounded in different premises. While the "development" discourse was a utilitarian discourse premised on the philosophy of the "greatest good of the greatest number", the "rights" discourse was a dignitarian discourse, premised on the dignity of individuals and their right to realise their full potential as human beings and equal citizens of newly independent India. The contention over the inclusion of the right to property in the Constitution was a contention between the "rights" discourse that sought to empower the disempowered and respect individual rights, and the "development" discourse which sought to give the state, as representatives of the people, power to take measures to bring about development according to a utilitarian calculus that fundamentally contradicted rights of individual citizens, including, but not limited to, the right to property.

Existing scholarly literature has described the history of the fundamental right to property as a tussle between progressive legislatures, that were trying to bring about much needed land reform in India, and reactionary courts, that impeded such reform efforts by protecting the property rights of rich zamindars. I have argued elsewhere that this narrative is simplistic, and therefore somewhat misleading both as to the real issues at stake in the contentious history of the right to property, but also the learnings we can take from that history for political and constitutional reform in India and other constitutional democracies that are also developing countries. Through this paper, I hope to reveal that the final unwieldy draft of the provisions relating to constitutional property adopted by the Constituent Assembly reflected an uneasy compromise between competing interests represented within the Assembly. But this compromise failed to please any of the constituencies entirely and resolved nothing. At best, it postponed the resolution of these issues to a future time and foreshadowed the conflicts that emerged in the courts. It is clear that the Constituent Assembly expected resistance from traditional elites on the abolition of the zamindari system, but it seems to have either wilfully ignored or underestimated the extent of resistance it would face on the issue to reach a resolution that would enable the Assembly to have a fundamental rights chapter, or perhaps to even have a Constitution in the first place.


PET/CT imaging after radioembolization is a viable method for determining the posttreatment 90Y distribution in the liver. Low true-to-random coincidence ratios in 90Y PET studies limit the quantitative accuracy of these studies when reconstruction algorithms optimized for traditional PET imaging are used. This study examined these quantitative limitations and assessed the feasibility of generating radiation dosimetry maps in liver regions with high and low 90Y concentrations. Methods: 90Y PET images were collected on a PET/CT scanner and iteratively reconstructed with the vendor-supplied reconstruction algorithm. PET studies on a Jaszczak cylindric phantom were performed to determine quantitative accuracy and minimum detectable concentration (MDC). 90Y and 18F point-source studies were used to investigate the possible increase in detected random coincidence events due to bremsstrahlung photons. Retrospective quantitative analyses were performed on 90Y PET/CT images obtained after 65 right or left hepatic artery radioembolizations in 59 patients. Quantitative image errors were determined by comparing the measured image activity with the assayed 90Y activity. PET images were converted to dose maps through convolution with voxel S values generated using MCNPX, a Monte Carlo N-particle transport code system for multiparticle and high-energy applications. Tumor and parenchyma doses and potential bias based on measurements found below the MDC were recorded. Results: Random coincidences were found to increase in 90Y acquisitions, compared with 18F acquisitions, at similar positron emission rates because of bremsstrahlung photons. Positive bias was observed in all images. Quantitative accuracy was achieved for phantom inserts above the MDC of 1 MBq/mL. The mean dose to viable tumors was 183.6 ± 156.5 Gy, with an average potential bias of 3.3 ± 6.4 Gy. The mean dose to the parenchyma was 97.1 ± 22.1 Gy, with an average potential bias of 8.9 ± 4.9 Gy. Conclusion: The low signal-to-noise ratio caused by low positron emission rates and high bremsstrahlung photon production resulted in a positive bias on 90Y PET images reconstructed with conventional iterative algorithms. However, quantitative accuracy was good at high activity concentrations, such as those found in tumor volumes, allowing for adequate tumor 90Y PET/CT dosimetry after radioembolization.


Ocimum gratissimum leaf oil, which has been reported to possess in vitro and in vivo efficacy against enteric bacteria was tested against forty six clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Lagos, Nigeria. The effect of the essential oil (EO) on pyocyanin production among these strains was also investigated. Agar well diffusion assay revealed susceptibility in 40 (87%) of the 46 tested strains with inhibition zone diameter (20-36 mm) comparable with the effect of tobramycin. Of the 40 susceptible isolates, 34 strains were quantitatively demonstrated to show susceptibility when further tested with the essential oil in broth and on agar yielding MIC and MBC values of 36 – 54 mg/ml and 42 – 66 mg/ml respectively. The values were higher than the 12 mg/ml (MIC) and 24 mg/ml (MBC) observed in Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. Compared with the control, the essential oil was found to reduce pyocyanin production significantly (p Ocimum gratissimum leaf oil may inhibit expression of virulence factors and progression of Pseudomonas infections caused by the tested strains. Key Words: Ocimum gratissimum leaf oil, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Nigeria
Afr. J. Clin. Exper. Microbiol. 2004; 5 (3): 265-271


Thyroid cancer shows high heritability but causative genes remain largely unknown. According to a common hypothesis the genetic predisposition to thyroid cancer is highly heterogeneous; being in part due to many different rare alleles. Here we used linkage analysis and targeted deep sequencing to detect a novel single-nucleotide mutation in chromosome 4q32 (4q32A>C) in a large pedigree displaying non-medullary thyroid carcinoma (NMTC). This mutation is generally ultra-rare; it was not found in 38 NMTC families, in 2676 sporadic NMTC cases or 2470 controls. The mutation is located in a long-range enhancer element whose ability to bind the transcription factors POU2F and YY1 is significantly impaired, with decreased activity in the presence of the C- allele compared with the wild type A-allele. An enhancer RNA (eRNA) is transcribed in thyroid tissue from this region and is greatly downregulated in NMTC tumors. We suggest that this is an example of an ultra-rare mutation predisposing to thyroid cancer with high penetrance.


1,4-Dithiafulvenes, Products of the Reaction of 4,4-Disubstituted 1,3-Thiazol-5(4H)-thiones and Acetylenic Compounds

On heating in toluene, 4,4-disubstituted 1,3-thiazol-5(4H)-thiones 1 and acetylenecarboxylates or acetylenecarbonitriles 2 undergo a cyclosubstitution reaction to yield 2-methylidene-1,3-dithiol derivatives 3 (1,4-dithiafulvenes) and a nitrile. Further heating of 3a and 3b in the presence of excess 2a leads to the isomeric 2,3-dihydrothiophene-2-thiones 4a and 4b, respectively. The benzodithiafulvene 14 has been formed in a similar reaction from 1a and in situ generate benzyne.


Currently, there is an intense debate on the "marketization" of health care and its consequences for the work of professionals. With the introduction of performance-based contracting, health insurers in the Netherlands are now expected to transform from passive payers to prudent and critical purchasers of health care who evaluate care providers according to performance criteria. Yet, this may put pressure on healthcare professionals who traditionally work in an autonomous environment, because the market and managerial principles embedded in performance-based contracting contrarily seek to strengthen health insurers' control over professional work. To date, the lack of empirical comparative research – inclusive of several professional groups in different service domains – makes it difficult to decide what the actual consequences of market-based policies for professional work actually are. In response to this gap, using a mixed-methods design, this study examines how distinct market and managerialist principles "work" across the distinct institutional settings of hospital care and home care in the Netherlands. Specific attention is paid to degrees of professionalism as an explanatory factor for differences in development, implementation and consequences of performance-based contracting for professional work. The conclusions of this study challenge the common assertions on the relationship between market and managerialist principles and professionalism. The study shows that performance-based contracting may trigger different types of mechanisms of varying intensity in terms of affecting professional work. First, the transparency mechanism makes professional work more transparent for health insurers, by providing them information on what happened, how it happened, and what its outcomes were. Second, the accountability mechanism means that the individual professional is to be held accountable for and explain to the insurer those actions for which he has responsibility and authority. Third, the interference mechanism entails that purchasers interfere directly with professional decision-making processes in a way that professional standards and protocols are increasingly submitted to "external" criteria as defined by actors that do not belong to the "inner circle" of the corporate profession. The study discovers that the way in which performance-based contracting is implemented, the mechanism that it triggers – transparency, accountability, interference – and subsequently the consequences it has for professionals' individual autonomy and intrinsic job satisfaction, are dependent on the particular institutional position of professionals and managers in the healthcare sector. On the one hand, this study illustrates that the consequences of performance-based contracting for the individual autonomy and intrinsic job satisfaction of medical specialists, hospital nurses and home care workers are limited. On the other hand it shows that in their daily work healthcare professions are increasingly confronted with policies of insurers that seek to measure and evaluate professional work. Remarkably, the medical profession, characterized by a high degree of professionalism, is better able to influence the development of performance-based contracting. But at the same time individual medical specialists are more than the less professionalized hospital nurses and home care workers negatively affected by performance-based contracting in terms of individual autonomy and intrinsic job satisfaction. The results of this study have implications for healthcare professionals, policy makers, health insurers and managers of healthcare organizations.


For applications of face recognition (FR) in video surveillance, it is often costly or unfeasible to collect several high quality reference samples a priori to design representative facial models. Moreover, changes in capture conditions and human physiology create divergence between facial models and input captures. Multiple classifier systems (MCS) have been successfully applied to video-to-video FR, where the face of each individual of interest is modeled using an ensemble of 2-class classifiers (trained on target vs. non-target samples). However, the reliable self-update of these individual-specific ensembles with relevant target and non-target samples raises several challenges. In this paper, an adaptive MCS is proposed that allows for self-updating facial models given face trajectories captured during operations. Different faces appearing in a camera viewpoint are tracked, and ensemble predictions for facial captures are accumulated along each track for robust video-to-video FR. When the number of positive predictions over time surpasses an update threshold, the target face samples extracted from the trajectory are combined with non-target samples selected from the cohort and universal models for efficient self-update the corresponding face model. A learn-and-combine strategy is then employed to avoid knowledge corruption during self-update of an ensemble. At a transaction level, the adaptive MCS outperforms the reference systems that do not allow self-updating on Face in Action videos. Analysis at a trajectory level indicates that the proposed system allows for robust spatio-temporal recognition, which translates to enhanced security and situation analysis.


Many organizations find supply chain management an essential prerequisite to building a sustainable competitive edge for their services or products. While interest in SCM is enormous, lack of theoretical frameworks and real world applications often characterizes research in the field, and effective management of the supply chain remains elusive. Supply Chain Sustainability and Raw Material Management: Concepts and Processes is a comprehensive and up-to-date resource for operations researchers, management scientists, industrial engineers, and other business practitioners and specialists looking for systemic and advanced discussions of supply chain management. By presenting qualitative concepts, quantitative models, and case studies, this book is a coherent guide to creating long-term and sustainable performance for organizations who want to compete in the global market.


A variety of evidence has suggested that the enigmatic Australian–Antarctic Discordance is caused by a cold zone beneath the present-day South East Indian Ridge south of Australia. We show that the present position of the subduction zone which surrounded Gondwanaland until the Mesozoic is within a few hundred kilometres of the Australian–Antarctic Discordance. Beneath the Australian–Antarctic Discordance, tomographic inversions show a north-south-trending seismic anomaly with a higher than average shear velocity in the lower mantle and a prominent, nearly circular, high-velocity anomaly within the transition zone. These seismic inversions are consistent with the predictions of three-dimensional models of mantle convection with imposed plate tectonics. However, these earlier models, incorporating only a thermal slab, resulted in a circular topographic depression on the present South East Indian Ridge and are inconsistent with the observed residual depth anomaly which is continuous from the South East Indian Ridge nearly to the Australian and Antarctic margins. To resolve this discrepancy, we propose that the Australian–Antarctic Discordance results from the sampling of both an ancient mantle wedge, depleted by prolonged melting, and mantle cooled by the subduction system. Dynamic models show that the new ridge forming between Australia and Antarctica would have sampled the wedge first, resulting in a V-shaped structure, which matches the observed residual depth anomaly. The models show that the South East Indian Ridge would later sample the cool mantle which became trapped within the transition zone at 20 Ma, consistent with the observed increase in fracture zone density at the Australian–Antarctic Discordance in the Neogene. We propose that along the trace of the residual depth anomaly, a fundamental change occurred in the dominant mechanism causing the topography, first by sampling of refractory mantle from the old wedge and later by the sampling of cold mantle. This hypothesis can be tested with ocean floor recovered from drillholes along the depth anomaly.


Vulvar lichen sclerosus (LS), a lymphocyte‐mediated chronic skin disease, begins with uncharacteristic symptoms and progresses undiagnosed to atrophy and destructive scarring. Some patients with longstanding advanced LS have an increased risk of vulvar carcinoma. Early LS is treatable, although not curable, if diagnosed early. Therefore, patients with persistent vulvar symptoms should be biopsied to establish the diagnosis. In contrast to advanced LS, the histological features in early LS are quite subtle and often more prominent in adnexal structures than in interfollicular skin. Adnexal structures show acanthosis, luminal hyperkeratosis and hypergranulosis with/without dystrophic hair and basement membrane thickening. The epidermis/mucosa shows mild irregular, occasionally psoriasiform acanthosis and focal basement membrane thickening. Early dermal changes are homogenized collagen and wide ectatic capillaries in dermal papillae immediately beneath the basement membrane. The lymphocytic infiltrate can be sparse or dense, lichenoid or interstitial with epidermal lymphocyte exocytosis and lymphocytic/lymphohistiocytic vasculitis. Dermal melanophages indicate preceding keratinocyte/melanocyte destruction. Biopsy specimens of early LS rarely display all features. Therefore, serial sections and periodic acid–Schiff reactions are necessary for their identification. Recognition and treatment of these early stages of LS may result in longstanding remission. Progression to atrophic stages with their associated morbidity and even to squamous cell carcinoma may be prevented.


With the renewed interest, both among British theatre practitioners and academics at all levels, in the theatre of the German late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the time is ripe for a new survey study of the period. After an understandably sketchy but sure-footed account of the social and cultural background, Lamport proceeds to analyze the writing of all the major figures, and to include some often ignored in more traditional 'Germanist' studies — such as Lenz, Biichner, and Grabbe — who are nonetheless important for the subsequent development of European theatre. In his analysis of the plays he does attempt to view them as more than literary texts, even at times referring to recent productions. This is a most readable study, and one which would provide an excellent introduction to the period to a non-Germanist student or practitioner of theatre (all the quotations are either in English or are offered with a translation). For the more serious student, the enthusiasm in the writing must undoubtedly encourage further research. This valuable addition to the secondary literature on German 'classical' drama should be made available as quickly as possible in paperback in order to reach the audience for which it is primarily intended.


"This report was prepared by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) for a project sponsored by the State of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE)"--T.p. verso.


This paper examines the implications of the Arab Spring for the Palestinians. The aim is to point out the basic lessons and implications of the transformations occurring in the Arab world for the Palestinians as an exceptional case, due to their situation under occupation and exile. Cause for optimism is discerned in the anticipated increase in broad and practical Arab support for the Palestinians. However, the contention here is that Palestinians themselves have derived too limited a lesson from the Arab revolutions by focusing only on the call for unity between the competing Palestinian factions. Their reconciliation is only about their self-preservation and that of the system which has served them hitherto. The recommendations posited here are for the Palestinians to embrace the full message of the Arab Spring and make peaceful protest en masse and across the whole Palestinian people their path to liberation.


Australia's arid zone is one of the most unique desert regions in the world due to its dominance across the continent, distinctive rainfall patterns, low soil nutrients and unique faunal assemblage. Drivers of faunal assemblages are varied, with rainfall, fire and predators considered most influential. The aim of this study was to identify the drivers of fauna persistence following a period of high rainfall and to refine management strategies in the spinifex sand plains of central Australia, with particular reference to the brush-tailed mulgara, Dasycercus blythi. I utilised broad scale fauna monitoring to assess the effect of environmental factors on persistence generally and conducted a detailed assessment of the fine-scale habitat use by D. blythi. I further compared the efficacy of three popular monitoring techniques utilised in the region. This study revealed large mammalian predators were most influential in predicting the occurrence of small mammals and reptile assemblages, whilst rainfall and temperature were most influential for invertebrates. The distribution of D. blythi populations contracted spatially during periods of low rainfall to areas of potential refuge. Fine scale habitat use indicating access to food resources was more influential than selecting areas with low exposure to predators. Infrared cameras sampled the broadest range of species and were the most cost effective over time, whilst sign surveys were most cost effective short term and live trapping essential in detecting several specific species. Overall, these findings inform land managers on the importance of gaining a better understanding of the invertebrate fauna in the region and implementing effective predator control during periods of low rainfall. By targeting management to specific areas of refuge land managers could reduce financial costs whilst maintaining support for key species, such as D. blythi. Land managers would further benefit from implementing a greater variety of monitoring techniques to maximise the effectiveness of monitoring both financially and statistically.


The paper proposes a computational strategy for detection of changes in the performance of machines and complex systems. Once a distinct change is discovered, the information can be further used for diagnosing the reason for the system malfunction. The proposed computational strategy consists of several steps. First of all, two different radial basis function (RBF) network models are learned based on given operation data from the system during two different time periods. Then these models are used to predict the respective outputs on the even grid of the input space. Finally, the difference between the two models outputs is used as new data set for generation of the fuzzy rules by a specially proposed algorithm. These rules shown in a fuzzy manner how much is the difference of the system performance in each area of the input space. Three original algorithms combined into two learning strategies for the type of normalized RBF network models are first given in the paper and then evaluated on a test example. The proposed computational strategy is applied to evaluation and detection of changes in real operation of a diesel engine for a hydraulic excavator. Three different sets of data have been examined in order to discover the degree of difference between the respective three operation periods.


The purpose of this approach is to identify an answer to the following question: it is admissible, inthe conditions expressed in the art. 483 par. 2 Code of Civil Procedure, a recourse against a decision that hasbeen pronounced in the Court of Appeal - Labor disputes and social security section? The foray into civilprocedural matters is not only theoretically valuable, it is in fact generated by a concrete cause, and the answerto this question is still under discussion – and tends towards a negative aspect in the practice of the ICCJ - itshould, in our opinion, be circumstantiated, taking into account the nature of conflict/dispute/settled by theCourt of Appeal; thereof an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal - Labor and Social SecuritySection should be considered admissible, if the conflict (dispute) resolved by this section is not a dispute(conflict) of labor and social security nature.


The major component of the cytoskeleton of the parasitic hemoflagellate Trypanosoma brucei is a membrane skeleton which consists of a single layer of tightly spaced microtubules. This array encloses the entire cell body, and it is apposed to, and connected with, the overlying cell membrane. The microtubules of this array contain numerous microtubule- associated proteins. Prominent among those is a family of high molecular weight, repetitive proteins which consist to a large extent of tandemly arranged 38-amino acid repeat units. The binding of one of these proteins, MARP-1, to microtubules has now been characterized in vitro and in vivo. MARP-1 binds to microtubules via tubulin domains other than the COOH-termini used by microtubule-associated proteins from mammalian brain, e.g., MAP2 or Tau. In vitro binding assays using recombinant protein, as well as transfection of mammalian cell lines, have established that the repetitive 38-amino acid repeat units represent a novel microtubule-binding motif. This motif is very similar in length to those of the mammalian microtubule-associated proteins Tau, MAP2, and MAP-U, but both its sequence and charge are different. The observation that the microtubule-binding motifs both of the neural and the trypanosomal proteins are of similar length may reflect the fact that both mediate binding to the same repetitive surface, the microtubule, while their sequence and charge differences are in agreement with the observation that they interact with different domains of the tubulins.


Sociolinguistic research in the general population has established the existence of gender differences in the social use of language. In particular, it has been noted that women use more markers of politeness, small talk and structural devices (e.g. minimal responses, tag questions) to help maintain their conversations. Analysis of interactions involving people with dementia (PWD) suggests that these gender based differences were still present in the face of dementia. Furthermore, the use of these forms of language helped the women with dementia to avoid conflict and extend the length of their interactions. This study investigated whether the use of such language helped or hindered women with dementia in maintaining conversational satisfaction.


Fault-tolerance is one of the main problems that must be resolved to improve the adoption of the agents' computing paradigm. In this paper, we analyze the execution model of agent platforms and the significance of the faults affecting their constituent components on the reliable execution of agent-based applications, in order to develop a pragmatic framework for agent systems fault-tolerance. The developed framework deploys a communication-pairs independent checkpointing strategy to offer a low-cost, application-transparent model for reliable agent-based computing that covers all possible faults that might invalidate reliable agent execution, migration and communication and maintains the exactly-once execution property.


OBJECT
The bilateral and unilateral interlaminar techniques for bilateral decompression both demonstrate good results for the treatment of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS). Although there is some discussion about which approach is more effective, studies that directly compare these two popular techniques are rare. To address this shortcoming, this study compares postoperative functional disability, pain, and patient satisfaction among patients with single-level DLSS who underwent bilateral decompression using either a bilateral or unilateral approach.

METHODS
This retrospective study included patients who underwent operations between November 1, 2009, and October 1, 2011. These patients underwent single-level bilateral decompressive surgery using either the bilateral or unilateral interlaminar approach at one of 5 participating hospitals. Exclusion criteria included previous lumbar surgery, additional disc surgery, and spondylolisthesis requiring fusion surgery. Primary outcome measures included bodily pain (as reported using the visual analog scale [VAS]), the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). In addition, reductions in leg and back symptoms and the patient's general evaluation of the procedure were queried. Finally, patient satisfaction and surgical parameters were evaluated. Questionnaires were sent to each patient's home, and electronic patient files were used to collect the data.

RESULTS
One hundred and seventy-five patients returned the questionnaire (74.4% response rate; 68 and 107 patients who underwent the bilateral or unilateral approach, respectively). Mean age at surgery was 68 years (range 34-89 years), and the mean follow-up period was 14.2 months (range 3.3-27.4 years). There were no significant differences in ODI (20.3 vs 22.6 for the bilateral and unilateral approaches, respectively), RMDQ (3.99 vs 4.8, respectively), or pain scores between treatment groups. Back symptoms were reduced in 74.8% (bilateral: 74.6% vs unilateral: 75%; not significant), and leg symptoms in 80.6% of the patients (bilateral: 73.1% vs unilateral: 85.4%; p = 0.048). In total, 72.1% (bilateral) and 80.0% (unilateral) of patients reported good overall treatment results (p = 0.226). Significantly more patients in the unilateral group reported a better overall satisfaction with the procedure (82.1% vs 69.1%; p = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS
There were no differences in postoperative functional disability and pain between the surgical techniques. The significant differences in patient satisfaction and reduction in leg symptoms were unrelated to surgical technique. The overall treatment results were satisfactory. Both techniques are safe and effective options for treating patients with single-level DLSS.


: Upcoming communication systems increasingly often tackle the spectrum scarcity problem through the coexistence with legacy systems in the same frequency band. Cognitive Radio presents popular methods for Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) that enable coexistence. Historically, DSA meant a separation solely in the frequency domain, while in recent years it has been extended through the dimension of time, by employing Machine Learning to learn semi-deterministic and cyclic medium access patterns of the legacy system that are observed through channel sensing. When this pattern is learnable, then a new system can utilize a neural network and predict future medium accesses, thus steering its own medium access. We investigate this novel and more fine-grained version of DSA, propose a predictor and show its capability of reliably predicting future medium accesses of a legacy system in an aeronautical coexistence scenario. We extend the predictor to the case of partial observability, where only a narrowband receiver is available, s.t. observations are limited to a single sensed channel per time slot. In particular, we propose a custom loss function that is tailored to partially observable environments. In the spirit of Open Science, all implementation files are released under an open license.


Let X and Y be supersingular K3 surfaces defined over an algebraically closed field. Suppose that the sum of their Artin invariants is 11. Then there exists a certain duality between their N\'eron-Severi lattices. We investigate geometric consequences of this duality. As an application, we classify genus one fibrations on supersingular K3 surfaces with Artin invariant 10 in characteristic 2 and 3, and give a set of generators of the automorphism group of the nef cone of these supersingular K3 surfaces. The difference between the automorphism group of a supersingular K3 surface X and the automorphism group of its nef cone is determined by the period of X. We define the notion of genericity for supersingular K3 surfaces in terms of the period, and prove the existence of generic supersingular K3 surfaces in odd characteristics for each Artin invariant larger than 1.


Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis is an acute complication of diabetes, and a medical emergency that is usually seen in type I diabetic patients. No manifestation of type I diabetes is sometimes diagnosed, particularly in children, and the disorder is accompanied by insulin deficiency, reduced size, and altered mental status.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive epidemiological study included all the diabetic patients with diabetic ketoacidosis who had been hospitalized in Shohada hospital from June 2009 to June 2013. The records of the patients were studied and the necessary data were extracted considering the specified criteria. The data were then recorded in a questionnaire.
Results: Thirty-eight cases with diabetic ketoacidosis were found in the hospital records. Most of the infected cases were female, and the complications was more prevalent in the age groups of 9-10 and 20-29 years. Discontinuation of insulin was the single most frequent predisposing factor. Most of the cases were severe, mostly in the females.
Conclusion: The patients and their families' unawareness of the acute symptoms of the disease, and refusal of treatment, which led to the discontinuation of insulin use, were the probable causes of the severity of the disease in our study population.
Keywords: Predisposing factors, Ketoacidosis, Intens


The results of 76 selective renal angiographies in 33 patients with the use of adrenalin and acetylcholine are presented (17 cases of renovascular hypertension, 7-chronic pyelonephritis, 5-essential hypertension, 2-nephroptosis, 1-kidney tumor). The pecularities of the method essential for the success of the examination and prevention of complications are described. The importance of pharmacoangiography with adrenalin for the determination of the length of renal vessels lesion in cases of fibrous dysplasia was demonstrated, as well as that of the acetylcholine test for examining the state of the vascular bed of the contralateral kidney, the same procedures being applied in cases of chronic pyelonephritis. Typical pharmacoangiographic symptoms of different forms of nephrogenic hypertension are described.


The collection of wind speed time series by means of digital data loggers occurs in many domains, including civil engineering, environmental sciences and wind turbine technology. Since averaging intervals are often significantly larger than typical system time scales, the information lost has to be recovered in order to reconstruct the true dynamics of the system. In the present work we present a simple algorithm capable of generating a real-time wind speed time series from data logger records containing the average, maximum, and minimum values of the wind speed in a fixed interval, as well as the standard deviation. The signal is generated from a generalized random Fourier series. The spectrum can be matched to any desired theoretical or measured frequency distribution. Extreme values are specified through a postprocessing step based on the concept of constrained simulation. Applications of the algorithm to 10-min wind speed records logged at a test site at 60 m height above the ground show that the recorded 10-min values can be reproduced by the simulated time series to a high degree of accuracy.


A life, cycle assessment (LCA) was used to evaluate the influence of choosing refrigerants R22, R407C or R410A for domestic air conditioners. Other than the chemical characteristics of R22, the other key factor was the operating pressure. Due to high pressure operation, the R410A system experienced the highest leakage rate, energy consumption and global warming potential (GWP). Sensitivity analysis was used to examine the influence of leakage and to show that, compared with the unit's lifespan, set point and efficiency, the climate in different Australian locations and the load profile have significant effects on the energy use and GWP.


Background: The progress of scientific knowledge produces an excessive amount of scholarly literature. For effective clinical use it is necessary to use time, quality and relevance filtering.
Objectives: We decided to create an independent web based interface for searching the PubMed Database for recent evidence-based articles in the domain of cardiology.
Results: The Cardio Online Reader (COR) application (http://neo.euromise.cz/cor) offers an easy way to reach valid and relevant articles filtered by keywords, MeSH terms, authors, date of publication and type of publication. Results can be commented, rated, stored as citations and shared using most popular web sharing services.
Conclusion: Using COR can positively affect clinical decisions of physicians bringing them relevant and up-to-date scientific information.


Unsteady laminar compressible boundary-layer flow with variable properties at a three-dimensional stagnation point for both cold and hot walls has been studied for the case when the velocity of the incident stream varies arbitrarily with time. The partial differential equations governing the flow have been solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme. Computations have been carried out for two particular unsteady free-stream velocity distributions: (i) an accelerating stream and (ii) a fluctuating stream. The results indicate that the variation of the density-viscosity product across the boundary layer, the wall temperature and the nature of stagnation point significantly affect the skin friction and heat transfer.


We describe a bootstrapping algorithm to learn from partially labeled data, and the results of an empirical study for using it to improve performance of sentiment classication using up to 15 million unlabeled Amazon product reviews. Our experiments cover semi-supervised learning, domain adaptation and weakly supervised learning. In some cases our methods were able to reduce test error by more than half using such large amount of data.


Adverse weather such as hurricanes can significantly affect the reliability of composite power systems. Predicting the impact of hurricanes can help utilities for better preparedness and make appropriate restoration arrangements. In this dissertation, the impact of hurricanes on the reliability of composite power systems is investigated.
Firstly, the impact of adverse weather on the long-term reliability of composite power systems is investigated by using Markov cut-set method. The Algorithms for the implementation is developed. Here, two-state weather model is used. An algorithm for sequential simulation is also developed to achieve the same goal. The results obtained by using the two methods are compared. The comparison shows that the analytical method can obtain comparable results and meantime it can be faster than the simulation method.
Secondly, the impact of hurricanes on the short-term reliability of composite power systems is investigated. A fuzzy inference system is used to assess the failure rate increment of system components. Here, different methods are used to build two types of fuzzy inference systems. Considering the fact that hurricanes usually last only a few days, short-term minimal cut-set method is proposed to compute the time-specific system and nodal reliability indices of composite power systems. The implementation demonstrates that the proposed methodology is effective and efficient and is flexible in its applications.
Thirdly, the impact of hurricanes on the short-term reliability of composite power systems including common-cause failures is investigated. Here, two methods are proposed to archive this goal. One of them uses a Bayesian network to alleviate the dimensionality problem of conditional probability method. Another method extends minimal cut-set method to accommodate common-cause failures. The implementation results obtained by using the two methods are compared and their discrepancy is analyzed.
Finally, the proposed methods in this dissertation are also applicable to other applications in power systems.


The excitonic properties of cubic ZnS quantum wells in ZnMgS are studied by reflectivity and magneto-optics. A remarkable improvement in the quality of the samples grown by MBE on GaP substrates has allowed the observation of heavy and light hole exciton transitions with values for the FWHM as narrow as 5 meV. The 2s state of the heavy hole exciton is identified and exciton binding energies as high as 55 meV are deduced, indicating that for quantum wells narrower than 3.5 nm the exciton-LO phonon scattering can be suppressed. Zeeman splittings of the order of 10 meV for both the light and heavy hole exciton transitions appear in magneto-reflectivity spectra in magnetic fields up to 54 T. Large light hole exciton g-values of the order of four for all quantum wells are obtained due to the light hole being the uppermost valence band in these tensile strained quantum wells. A strong reduction in the diamagnetic shifts for narrow wells is observed due to increasing quantum confinement.


The focus of this article is the interpretation of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) for foreign language teaching in the USA. This problem is taken to exemplify the effect of long-standing tensions between progressive and conservative stakeholders in educational processes. As the construct gains in prominence, it is claimed by the progressives and conservatives alike, who shape the contours of its meaning according to their particular educational vision. A brief summary of the construct's origins in the writings of Vygotsky is followed by an outline of its reception among Western psychologists and educators, reviewing a variety of proposals for interpreting the ZPD in teaching and in research. In the subsequent sections, the essay comments on progressive and conservative trends in the US foreign language profession, and on the reception of the construct, focusing on three cases in which the ZPD has been invoked in recent publications on research and classroom teaching.


Education and schooling involve not only materials to be taught or how they should be taught but also how the teaching and learning are assessed. Studying teachers" conceptions is important, as it relates to beliefs which influence teaching practices, including assessment. This article reviews several studies on teachers" conceptions and practices of assessment conducted in six different countries. The objective of the study is to presents teachers" conceptions of the role of assessment in teaching and learning from different contexts. Data were obtained from a careful review of international articles on the study of teachers" conception of assessment using inclusion and exclusion criteria. The result of the review reveals that assessment relates to learning improvement and support the use of various strategies and tools in assessing students. However, the six different countries in the review interpret improvement in different ways which is influenced by several factors. Implications and suggestions for further study are also provided.


National and international across-population selection is often recommended and fairly common in the current breeding practice of dairy cattle, with the primary aims to increase genetic gain and genetic variability. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the strategy of truncation selection of sires across populations [i.e., competitive gene flow strategy (CGF)] may not necessarily maximize genetic gain in the long term in the presence of genotype-by-environment interaction (G×E). Two alternative strategies used to be compared with CGF were forced gene flow (FGF) strategies, with 10 or 50% of domestic dams forced to be mated with foreign sires (FGF10%, FGF50%). Two equal-size populations (Ndams = 1,000) that were selected for the same breeding goal trait (h2 = 0.3) under G×E correlation (rg) of either 0.9 or 0.8 were simulated to test these 3 different strategies. Each population first experienced either 5 or 20 differentiation generations (Gd), then 15 migration generations. Discrete generations were simulated for simplicity. Each population performed a within-population conventional breeding program during differentiation generations and the 3 across-population sire selection strategies based on joint genomic prediction during migration generations. The 4 Gd_rg combinations defined 4 different levels of differentiation degree between the 2 populations at the start of migration. The true rate of inbreeding over the last 10 migration generations in each scenario was constrained at 0.01 to provide a fair basis for comparison of genetic gain across scenarios. Results showed that CGF maximized the genetic gain after 15 migration generations in 5_0.9 combination only, the case of the lowest differentiation degree, with a superiority of 0.4% (0.04 genetic SD units) over the suboptimal strategy. While in 5_0.8, 20_0.9, and 20_0.8 combinations, 2 FGF strategies had a superiority in genetic gain of 2.3 to 12.5% (0.21-1.07 genetic SD units) over CGF after 15 migration generations, especially FGF50%. The superiority of FGF strategies over CGF was that they alleviated inbreeding, introduced new genetic variance in the early migration period, and improved accuracy in the entire migration period. Therefore, we concluded that CGF does not necessarily maximize the genetic gain of across-population genomic breeding programs given moderate G×E. The across-population selection strategy remains to be optimized to maximize genetic gain.


The U.K. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) released a citation analysis it commissioned from Elsevier, the scientific publishing company. The analysis, according to a BIS statement, found that the United Kingdom "attracts more citations per pound spent in overall research and development than any other country." A similar analysis, independently produced by Thomson Reuters, supports that basic theme: Scientific papers from Britain have the greatest impact in the world when the six most prolific nations are ranked by average number of citations.


Glioma is among the most fatal and highly aggressive primary malignant tumors in the central nervous system. Small nucleolar RNA host gene 16 (SNHG16) is identified to play an oncogenic role in several cancers. However, the exact mechanism of SNHG16 action in the regulation of glioma development remains unknown. LncRNA SNHG16 was increased in glioma tissues and cells compared with normal brain tissues and cells. SNHG16 expression was correlated with the malignancy and poor prognosis of glioma patients. SNHG16 and E2F1 contained a binding site of miR-20a-5p. miR-20a-5p was decreased in glioma tissues and cells compared with normal brain tissues and cells. Downregulation of miR-20a-5p was correlated with the malignancy and poor prognosis of glioma patients. In glioma tissues, the expression of SNHG16 was negatively correlated with miR-20a-5p. Downregulation of SNHG16 increased miR-20a-5p expression. miR-20a-5p mimic reduced the luciferase activity of SNHG16 and E2F1; miR-20a-5p mimic enhanced the inhibition of cell proliferation, invasion, migration, and EMT, and increase of apoptosis induced by SNHG16 knockdown. Anti-miR-20a-5p reversed the effects of shSNHG16. We also found that SNHG16 may act as a ceRNA for miR-20a-5p, enhancing the expression of E2F1. Additionally, knockdown of SNHG16 remarkably reduced the increase of tumor volumes in xenograft mouse models. In tumor tissues, knockdown of SNHG16 increased the expression of miR-20a-5p, reduced EMT and increased apoptosis. In conclusion, SNHG16 promotes glioma tumorigenesis by sponging miR-20a-5p, leading to the enhancement of its endogenous targets E2F1. The data provides a new clue for the role of SNHG16/miR-20a-5p/E2F1 in the development of glioma.


Adult identity formation and individuation have been well documented in psychological and world spiritual literature. Identity and individuation differ for twins because of their physiological and psychological connection. Although the literature has to some extent explored twin identity at prepersonal and personal stages of ego development, little research literature exists which looks to unravel transpersonal phases of twins' individuation. With a focus on transpersonal development, this research used intuitive inquiry to investigate "How adult twins experience and view their identity." Individual twins derived from a single ovum (monozygotic) and from two separate ova (dizygotic), were interviewed to understand their personal experience of their identity development. The researcher's own experience of twin identity was reported through embodied writing and poetry. Results allowed for the formation of an emerging model of Twin Identity Development, which outlined a possible trajectory for twin identity development, introducing the transpersonal as a connecting thread between the prepersonal and personal twin identity. Participant perspectives on identity development indicated the possibility for twins to embrace both an individual and a joint identity and in some cases, transcend both. Embracing all aspects of both identities created a sense of wholeness for twins. Further investigation into different twin identities and parenting of twins could validate the research.


Lithium-ion batteries play critical roles in many electronic devices. It is necessary to develop a reliable and accurate remaining useful life (RUL) prediction approach to provide timely maintenance or replacement of battery systems. A novel RUL prediction approach based on Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) is proposed in this paper. LSTM is able to capture long-term dependencies and model sequential data among the capacity degradation of lithium-ion batteries. The advantages of our proposed method include: 1) obtaining high prediction accuracy without accurate physics-based model or expertise and 2) decreasing the cumulation errors by multi-step ahead prediction each time, while traditional RUL method predicts one-step ahead once and then uses the current estimated value to predict next one, which causes cumulation errors increased. The Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) battery datasets are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that, compared with echo state networks (ESN), the proposed method has higher accuracy, more stable and reliable performance for lithium-ion batteries RUL prediction.


This paper provides a critical analysis of the new operating model for NHS procurement that is being implemented in 2018/2019 (the NOM). The government expects NOM to generate significant savings through centralised procurement and strategic supply chain management, which would then be dedicated to frontline NHS healthcare services through newly devised 'sustainability and transformation plans' (STPs). The paper stresses that the NOM rests on a complex network of contracts resulting in a layer of contractualised governance that obscures its architecture and decision-making processes. It maps the changes that the NOM introduces in the operation and governance of the NHS supply chain and identifies key challenges in ensuring that the NOM is subjected to adequate oversight and accountability mechanisms, in particular from the perspective of public procurement and competition law. The paper advocates for the location of all NOM relationships on the NHS Business Services Authority, especially to facilitate judicial review.


An analysis of body handling following death is essentially an excusion into a work situation and its activities, actors, and settings. That is, there is a social structure implicit, if not explicit, in the body handling process. It is this social structure which will be the focus of this paper. Given the taboo nature of death in the American culture, (Vernon, 1970) the general public and even various professionals are typically "protected" from the post-death activities which are carried out by "professional body handlers," i.e., morgue attendents coroners, funeral home personnel, and funeral directors. However, in a disaster situation involving mass casulties it may become necessary to include other actors, i.e., volunteers, in the body handling process. In addition, the activities of the task structure whith respect to the bodies are consideably altered in the aftermath of a disaster. The task structure is greatly elaborated and the division of labor becomes much more complex than it would be in a normal death situation.


Purpose In vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) has been widely used to evaluate changes in the meibomian glands (MGs) in response to age and disease. This study examined the structures described as MGs using wide-field IVCM and laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) in situ and characterized their spatial distribution and localization relevant to the eyelid margin. Methods IVCM was performed on 30 subjects aged 18 to 38 to visualize structures in the eyelid margin. Size, shape, and distribution characteristics were measured, and individual frames were montaged into wide-field images. Structures observed on IVCM were then visualized using LSCM of whole-mount and cryosectioned cadaver eyelids stained with Nile red, mucin-1 (MUC1), laminin-5, and 4′,6-diamidine-2′-phenylindole dihydrochloride. Results The size, distribution, and staining patterns of the reflective structures seen on IVCM did not correspond to the MGs in cadaver eyelids. Instead, staining profiles indicated that these structures corresponded to the rete ridges present at the dermal–epidermal junction. Wide-field imaging showed a densely populated field of rete ridges with distinct size and shape characteristics depending on their location relative to the meibomian orifices. A distal shift of the mucocutaneous junction (MCJ) was evident in some eyelids. Conclusions IVCM is unable to visualize MGs in the human eyelid margin due to light attenuation at that tissue depth. LSCM confirms that these structures are rete ridges located at the dermal–epidermal junction. Alterations in the structure of the dermal–epidermal junction within the eyelid margin indicate a shifting of the MCJ and may impact tear film dynamics.


This study examined the influence auditor professionalism to audit quality. Most of the companies nowadays are demanding auditors to do audit services in order to assure the reliability of financial statements for a given period of time. Respondents in this study were auditors who worked in one of the Public Accounting Firm in South Jakarta. The number of auditor that were visited in this study were 49 auditors. The method of determining the sample was by using judgment sampling method, that information would be collected from the members of the population that can be found easily to provide such information. The method of primary data collection was by using questionnaire method. Based on the results of t test obtained p < ɑ namely 0.00 <0.05 which showed that professionalism of auditors affects audit quality.


This thesis examines the emergence of a trend in American post-millennial television often described in journalistic discourses with the term 'feminist quality TV'. While the strategic reliance on feminist politics is a historically established method in American television to promote certain programming's cultural value, the cultural specificities of the early 21st century deem this phenomenon unique enough for an in-depth study. The emergence of 'feminist quality television' is governed by the rhetorical subversion of two phenomena simultaneously: the much-debated development of the era's masculine-coded 'quality television' culture on the one hand, and the dominance of 'postfeminist' popular culture on the other.
Post-millennial 'quality television' culture cultivates the idea of aesthetic-generic hierarchies among different types of scripted programming. This category's development has facilitated academic interest in television texts' evaluative analysis based on aesthetic merit, an approach that other strands of TV scholarship contest for sidestepping the gendered and classed processes of canonisation informing the phenomenon. By the mid-2010s, the debate between aesthetic versus political analysis had intensified in television studies. The thesis intervenes in this by arguing for a synthesis of approaches that does not further foster already prominent processes of canonisation, but interrogates the cultural forces underlying them. Via detailed analyses of four programmes emerging within the 'feminist quality TV' trend, namely 30 Rock (2006-2013), Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), The Good Wife (2009-2016), and Orange Is the New Black (2013-), it seeks to understand how they mediate their cultural significance by negotiating formal-aesthetic exceptionalism and a politicised rhetoric around a 'problematic' postfeminism, thus linking ideals of political and aesthetic value. The ultimate purpose of this research is to demonstrate the necessity in television analysis of unpacking both the specific genderedness of television's cultivation of aesthetic value, and the context of aesthetics and form in which the programmes' political implications emerge.


Pentraxin-3 (PTX3) is a component of humoral innate immunity with essential functions both in promotion and resolution of inflammation. We aimed to study the PTX3 in the plasma and in the muscle of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and whether PTX3 may correlate with disease activity. Plasma PTX3 levels were assessed in 20 patients with IIMs, 10 Dermatomyositis (DM) and 10 Polymyositis (PM), compared to 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 10 healthy donors (HDs) aged, sex and body mass index matched. Disease activity in IIMs was assessed by Myositis Disease Activity Assessment Visual Analogue Scale (MYOACT), while disease activity score on 28 joints (DAS28) was used for RA patients. Muscle histopathology and immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses were also performed. Mean plasma PTX3 levels were significantly higher in IIM patients than HDs (518±260 pg/ml vs 275±114 pg/ml, p=0.009). Linear regression analysis adjusted for age, sex and disease duration showed a direct correlation between PTX3 and CPK levels (β: 0.590), MYOACT (β: 0.759) and physician global assessment of disease activity (β: 0.832) in IIMs. No association between PTX3 levels and DAS28 was found in RA. Global PTX3 pixel fraction was higher in IIM than HDs muscle, but a lower PTX3 expression was found in perifascicular areas of DM and in myofibers with sarcolemmal staining for membrane attack complement. PTX3 plasma levels were increased in IIMs and correlated with disease activity suggesting a possible role as biomarker of disease activity. PTX3 showed a different distribution in DM or PM muscle.


High thermal resistance building envelopes comprising wood fibre insulation board (WFIB) contribute to a reduction in building energy consumption associated with unwanted heat losses and gains. The longterm performance and durability of the WFIB material may perform differently than expected due to the temperature and moisture dependent material characteristics, including moisture sorption, vapour permeance, and thermal conductivity.
This research investigated the characterization of hygrothermal properties of WFIB at temperatures and relative humidities expected for a Canadian climate. The hygrothermal characteristics of WFIB were determined to have a range of values as a result of the variable nature of wood fibre materials with temperature and moisture, and the variability of WFIB materials amongst manufactured products. The variabilities of these hygrothermal properties are expected to impact the materials overall moisture storage at various in-situ temperature and relative humidity conditions, and the materials ability to transport moisture at various in-situ temperature and relative humidity conditions. Additionally, the thermal performance of WFIB is expected to vary with in-situ temperature and relative humidity conditions, with increased thermal losses/gains with increasing temperature and increasing relative humidities.


PURPOSE
To delineate the time course for loss of immune privilege after induction of corneal neovascularization (NV), and to test whether treatment with angiostatic agents can restore the eye's capacity to induce anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID).

METHODS
Corneal NV in murine eyes was induced by placement of intrastromal sutures. At different time points after NV induction, study eyes were initiated on a 10-day regimen of one of a variety of anti-inflammatory or angiostatic agents. After the completion of their treatment regimen, eyes were tested as to whether they could support ACAID. To test whether any observed effect on the delayed-type hypersensitivity response was because of a systemic absorption of the topically applied medication, certain animals had only their fellow eyes treated.

RESULTS
Inflammatory corneal NV leads to the loss of immune privilege during the first week of the NV induction. Left untreated, these eyes remain incapable of supporting ACAID, even weeks after the initial corneal insult. However, when treatment with an anti-inflammatory agent is initiated during the first 2 weeks after the NV induction, these eyes show a restored capacity for ACAID induction, and this appears to be unrelated to any systemic effect of the treatment regimen. Treatment started at later time points is not capable of restoring the eye's normal capacity for inducing deviant immunity.

CONCLUSIONS
Corneal neovascularization leads to loss of immune privilege in the anterior segment manifested as the inability to sustain ACAID. Moreover, topical angiostatic strategies can lead to restoration of immune privilege when instituted sufficiently early in the course of the neovascular response.


This essay covers research done about the Freikorps, paramilitary organizations formed in Germany after World War I, specifically their invasion of the Baltic that they called the "Baltic Adventure". The main focus will be to examine the motivations for individuals joining a Freikorps, as well as the political and strategic goals of the leading commanders during the Baltic Adventure. Additionally a focus will be made on the connections between earlier and later events, including World War I and II. Primary sources including personal accounts as well as secondary sources will help to shed light on the motivations and goals of both members and leaders of the Freikorps. Overall these sources will show how personal reactions to the German defeat in World War I, particularly the effect on masculinity, were used to further political goals by Freikorps leadership. These political goals were of dire consequence, including overthrowing the democratic governments of both Weimar Germany and Baltic states like Latvia.
Faculty Mentor: Tracey Rizzo


In oil and gas wells construction, the cement sheath in the annulus between casing and formation plays a critical role throughout the producing life of the oil and gas well. Under elevated conditions of temperature and pressure, set cement changes its physical, chemical and mechanical properties. Sometimes these changes can lead to strength retrogression of cement. Recently, it was found that calcined clay (CC) and nanoclay (NC) significantly improve the hardened cement matrix properties as both materials have pozzolanic properties. Both additives have characteristics such as acid and sulfate resistance, low heat of hydration, low density, low permeability and the formed phases with the higher thermal endurance.
 In this study, cement mixes with different percentages (1% & 2%) by weight of cement (BWOC) of calcined clay and nanoclay were investigated and compared with Class G cement slurry. Rheology, fluid loss and compressive strength properties of all cement slurries were measured.Rheological properties were measured at 50°C temperature and atmospheric pressure. The fluid loss test was conducted at 50°C and 1000 psi pressure. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test was conducted for cement samples cured at 121°C temperature and 3000 psi pressure conditions for 24 hours and 5 days in HPHT curing chamber. Microstructural investigations were conducted using SEM analysis of cured samples.
 It was observed that addition of nanoclay and calcined clay in Class G cement enhanced the rheological properties of cement slurries. The plastic viscosity increased with an increase in percentages of both additives. Higher values of yield point and plastic viscosity were obtained for calcined clay. In case fluid loss, a reduction in fluid loss was noticed for nanoclay. There was no appreciable change in fluid loss with the addition of calcined clay in mixes. Calcined clay-based cement slurries resulted in robust structure and sustained high compressive strength after exposure to high temperature high-pressure conditions. The nanoclay-based mixesgave higher strength compared to Class G cement slurry but lower than calcined clay. The compositional analysis showed that calcined clay gave low calcium/silica ratio and strong bonded structure.
 This study will pave a way for researchers to study further the application of calcined clay in oil and gas cementing and its long-term durability.


The primrose path and prisoner's dilemma paradigms may require cognitive (executive) control: The active maintenance of context representations in lateral prefrontal cortex to provide top-down support for specific behaviors in the face of short delays or stronger response tendencies. This perspective suggests further tests of whether altruism is a type of self-control, including brain imaging, induced affect, and dual-task studies.


Ooplasm donation, wherein ooplasm is transferred from a donor oocyte to a recipient oocyte in an effort to increase embryo viability, has been applied in the human, with resulting pregnancies and births. Neither the safety nor efficacy of this method has been adequately investigated. Mitochondrial heteroplasmy in the blood of children conceived using ooplasm donation has recently been described. A follow-up study of children born following the use of this technique primarily focused on the presence of mitochondria from the donor oocyte highlighting possible problems due to mitochondrial heteroplasmy. Other effects related to epigenetic events may also arise, but have not been addressed. Studies using inbred mouse strains reveal that genetically diverse ooplasms can impose diverse epigenetic modifications on parental genomes. Incompatibilities produced by combining maternal genome and ooplasm from different genotypes leads to defects in gene expression and development. Such defects can be heritable and observed in the next generation. Given the potential for epigenetic modifications to arise following ooplasm donation, the safety and efficacy of this method need to be evaluated in a suitable animal model.


Rodent cortical midline structures (CMS) are involved in emotional, cognitive and attentional processes. Tract tracing has revealed complex patterns of structural connectivity demonstrating connectivity-based integration and segregation for the prelimbic, cingulate area 1, retrosplenial dysgranular cortices dorsally, and infralimbic, cingulate area 2, and retrosplenial granular cortices ventrally. Understanding of CMS functional connectivity (FC) remains more limited. Here we present the first subregion-level FC analysis of the mouse CMS, and assess whether fear results in state-dependent FC changes analogous to what has been reported in humans. Brain mapping using [14C]-iodoantipyrine was performed in mice during auditory-cued fear conditioned recall and in controls. Regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) was analyzed in 3-D images reconstructed from brain autoradiographs. Regions-of-interest were selected along the CMS anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral axes. In controls, pairwise correlation and graph theoretical analyses showed strong FC within each CMS structure, strong FC along the dorsal-ventral axis, with segregation of anterior from posterior structures. Seed correlation showed FC of anterior regions to limbic/paralimbic areas, and FC of posterior regions to sensory areas–findings consistent with functional segregation noted in humans. Fear recall increased FC between the cingulate and retrosplenial cortices, but decreased FC between dorsal and ventral structures. In agreement with reports in humans, fear recall broadened FC of anterior structures to the amygdala and to somatosensory areas, suggesting integration and processing of both limbic and sensory information. Organizational principles learned from animal models at the mesoscopic level (brain regions and pathways) will not only critically inform future work at the microscopic (single neurons and synapses) level, but also have translational value to advance our understanding of human brain architecture.


In this article, we provide a theoretical discussion on the interactions between a template molecule and functional monomer(s) in the preparation of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Density functional theory (DFT) was used to compute the 3D structures, natural bond orbital, and binding energy in the template–monomer(s) complexes. Histamine (HA) and 2-(trifluoromethyl)acrylic acid (TFMAA) were, respectively, selected as the template and the monomer. The computational process was performed according to B3LYP method with 6-311 + (d,p) basis set under the different HA–TFMAA ratios from 1:1 to 1:10. The computational results show that the HA–TFMAA complex at the ratio of 1:5 yields no consequence. Furthermore, the HA–TFMAA complex at the ratio of 1:5 allowed the minimum binding energy and the steadiest condition, with four hydrogen bonds. Configurational simulations and theoretical calculations of the template–monomer complex can be used as an appropriate guiding tool for manufacturing MIPs with high specificity and selectivity, thereby avoiding repeated experiments and wastage of substantial time and investment.


Farm buildings have a large number of unused roofs, where photovoltaic panels may be installed without limiting the agricultural land. In piggeries the largest demand for electricity has the ventilation system. The daily distribution of electricity demand is correlated to the diurnal variation of solar radiation. This allows immediate use the energy produced by photovoltaic panels. The aim of the study was to determine the energy demand of the ventilation system, to design a photovoltaic system for its operation and to determine the CO 2 emission reduction. The research was carried out for the deep-litter piggery located in Poland. The demand for electricity was determined on the basis of three-year measurements of electricity consumption in the studied piggery. The photovoltaic system was designed to power the ventilation system. Mean annual demand was 26046 kWh. The designed PV system has power of 27 kWp (23984 kWh yr -1 ). Energy deficits (4591 kWh·yr -1 ) were noted for 8 months, and energy surpluses (2528 kWh·yr -1 ) for 4 months in a year. The reduction of CO 2 emissions resulting from the use of a photovoltaic system to supply the ventilation system is 19.1 Mg CO 2 ·yr -1 and represents 3% of the total greenhouse gases emissions from the piggery, expressed in CO 2 equivalent. It may increase to 8.6% in case of installing the maximum number of PV panels system (maximum power of 78 kWp; total energy production 68526 kWh yr -1 ) on the southern part of the roof, but it requires the financial support for renewable energy by the government. Keywords: PV panels, carbon dioxide emission, farm building, renewable energy Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.089


We present a novel statistical method for linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping of disease susceptibility loci in case‐control studies. Such studies exploit the statistical correlation or LD that exist between variants physically close along the genome to identify those that correlate with disease status and might thus be close to a causative mutation, generally assumed unobserved. LD structure, however, varies markedly over short distances because of variation in local recombination rates, mutation and genetic drift among other factors. We propose a Bayesian multivariate probit model that flexibly accounts for the local spatial correlation between markers. In a case‐control setting, we use a retrospective model that properly reflects the sampling scheme and identify regions where single‐ or multi‐locus marker frequencies differ across cases and controls. We formally quantify these differences using information‐theoretic distance measures while the fully Bayesian approach naturally accommodates unphased or missing genotype data. We demonstrate our approach on simulated data and on real data from the CYP2D6 region that has a confirmed role in drug metabolism. Genet. Epidemiol. 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


— A better understanding of the flow field of the cross-flow turbine (CFT) will be useful in its design and operation. As far as is known, no comprehensive study carried out relating to the effect of Reynolds number to turbulent shear stress, shear wall, energy kinetic turbulent, dissipation rate and Reynolds stress, and the occurrence of vortices around the runners of the CFTs. This study was designed to investigate the flow field in the nozzle and runner of the CFT using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. CFD methods were chosen because they can visualize detailed flow patterns that other methods cannot. The setups used in the CFD method such as two-dimensional unsteady simulations, six degrees of freedom features, shear stress transport k-ω turbulent model, and pressure-based solver. Based on results, for the nozzle, the shape of the velocity profile shows that the highest momentum flux occurs at the end of the nozzle, near the runner. Distribution of shear wall was highest at the base and tip of the nozzle; it was lowest at the centre. The turbulent kinetic energy profile at the nozzle was proportional to the turbulent boundary layer profile, Reynolds stress and eddy viscosity. This indicated that nozzle shape affects the momentum flux; therefore, good nozzle geometry can transfer the maximum water energy into the blade. The nozzle's optimum geometry can be achieved by discharge and direction, optimizing velocity magnitude. This minimizes energy loss due to friction between the stream, vortex and mass of wasted fluid. For the runner, the highest turbulent kinetic energy, dissipations rate and Reynolds stress were located at the runner. Not all the water's energy converted into mechanic energy because the part of that energy was used in mixing between water and air. The establishment of lift force on the active blades was not caused by the flow field that crosses the upper part of the blade, but by the momentum of water that hit the lower part of the blade. A vortex formed due to separation of the flow from the blade significantly affected the runner's performance rather than rotational flow (air phase) in the CFT.


This special issue of Nordic Journal of Linguistics is dedicated to diachronic generative syntax in the North Germanic languages. With the introduction of generative grammar in the late 1950s the historical perspective became less prominent within linguistics. Instead, contemporary language, normally represented by the researcher's own intuitions, became the unmarked empirical basis within the generative field, although there were some early pioneering studies in generative historical syntax (e.g. Traugott 1972). It was not until the introduction of the Principles and Parameters theory in the 1990s that diachronic syntax emerged as an important domain of inquiry for generative linguists. Since then, the study of syntactic change has added a temporal dimension to the overall enterprise to better understand the nature of variation in human language.


: Screening ophthalmological studies were carried out in 2851 soldiers arriving to Northern Navy, in order to detect ocular diseases, refraction abnormalities, and functional disorders. Visual disorders were detected in 529 subjects (19%), refraction abnormalities in 87% of these. Myopia predominated (344 subjects, 66%) in the structure of ophthalmological disorders. Hypermetropia was detected in 114 patients (21%), anisometropia in 85 (16%). Twelve percent of all examinees were in need of optic correction. Epidemiological analysis showed an obvious increase in the prevalence of myopia from South to North: 204/1000 in Northern regions, 99/1000 in the central areas, and 56/1000 in Southern regions. Service in the Extreme North can be regarded as a factor of risk of myopia progress, requiring active preventive measures.


The problems of industrial workers is a matter of concern for the partners of industry, Research scholars, academicians, policy makers, planners, labor leaders, and social workers. Recently there has been a growing awareness of the existence, importance, and needs of the unprotected workers. The unprotected workers are, by definition, disadvantaged workers, the degree varies from section to section. There is a lot of research in the field of unprotected workers. But very few research has been carried out about the unprotected industrial workers belonging to engineering and foundry units, who form a sizeable proportion of the total labor force. There is an immediate need to focus on occupational safety for the formal/organized industrial workers. In India, occupational health safety has so far benefited, only for workers of the formal sector. Against this background, the current study attempted to know the Determinants of Occupational Health Problems of industrial workers in Coimbatore – Tamilnadu. The study found that the sample industrial workers appear to be suffering from occupational-related health problems has increased with an increase in their current age, and such likelihood is also noted as moderately higher among those who are in debt, but unexpectedly such suffering from health problems is also found to be higher among those who own assets.


A remarkable improvement in life expectancy, together with the collapse of the fertility rate, is a phenomenon that can have a huge impact on the welfare state provision. It can lead to retrenchment and/or opening the market to private companies. In this research, I focus on the elderly care provision in Sweden. My idea is to evaluate the effect of the reform that took place on 1992, regarding the elderly care system. Opening the market of the services for older people, may cause a decline in the standards of hardly contractible measures of quality. On the other hand, there might be incentives, driven by competition, that imply improvements on the quality of these services. Following Bergman et al (2014), a difference-in-difference-in-difference is applied, to measure the effect of opening the market on myocardial infarction mortality rates within 28 and 365 days and on the number of myocardial infarctions. The period analyzed is 1990-2009. The results suggest that, exception made for the within 28 days (whose regression gives not statistically significant coefficient estimates), opening the market has a detrimental effect on hardly contractible measures of quality, indicated by the infarction mortality rate within 365 days and the number of infarctions.


Ralstonia solanacearum, the causal organism of bacterial wilt of solanaceous crops is a major limitation on the production of brinjal. An experiment on in vitro studies was carried out to find out the effectiveness of botanicals, bioagents and anti-bacterial chemicals to inhibiting the growth of R. solanacearum. It was revealed from the evaluation that among the eight botanicals tested patchouli leaf extract was found highly effective with the maximum meaninhibition of 11.6 mm than other botanicals. Among the bioagents Pseudomonas fluorescens showed maximum mean inhibition zone (20.30 mm) compare to Bacillus subtilis and Trichoderma harzianum. Whereas, results revealed from the evaluation of anti-bacterial chemicals viz., copper hydroxide showed maximum mean inhibition of 12.30 mm followed by copper-oxy chloride (11 mm).


Making and trading: An analysis of Merovingian beads from the Sittard-Kemperkoul burial ground. Chemical analyses and micro-CT scanning were used to analyse a set of c. 725 glass beads from a single Merovingian burial (number 11) in the Sittard-Kemperkoul burial ground (Sittard-Geleen, province of Limburg). Chemical analyses of the small, opaque, yellow beads that make up the majority of the collection showed that they were, in fact, not made of glass. Rather, they were made by fusing a lead-tin-based yellow colourant with quartz. For black beads, iron was added to this mixture. The other beads were made from glass – probably of re-used Roman origin – with various colourants. The micro-CT scans provided an unrivalled image of the various manufacturing techniques that were used to make the more complex, polychrome beads.


Ethnobotany for Beginners . Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque, Marcelo Alves Ramos, Washington Soares Ferreira Junior, Patricia Muniz de Medeiros. Springer, Cham, Switzerland 2017. xii + 71 pp. (paperback). Price: € 57.19, ISBN 978-3-319-52871-7. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-52872-4 Are you a beginner of Ethnobotany Research? If 'YES', I want to recommend to you a very useful, reliable, and a valuable guide for the research in this discipline and that is a booklet " Ethnobotany for Beginners" by Albuquerque et al (2017) . This booklet is a part of book series, Springer Briefs in Plant Science (Volume 16). Twenty-five volumes of this book series have been published since 2012 till now (September 2020). The book under review ( Ethnobotany for Beginners) is the translation from the Portuguese language edition: Introducao a Etnobotânica (Introduction to Ethnobotany) by Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque that was published in 2005. With just 71 pages, written by the authors well recognized in the field of ethnobotany and forwarded by Prof. Julio Alberto Hurrell of National University of La Plata (UNLP) Argentina, the booklet is especially designed for the beginners that features a quick and easy-to-read discussion of ethnobotany along with its major developments.  In the foreword, Prof. Hurrell says, "the accessible language of this book brings ethnobotany closer to a broad and diverse audience consisting of academics as well as the layman and acts as an effective incentive for students who see in this science an interesting opportunity for their future professional development". As the title ( Ethnobotany for Beginners) suggests, the book has been prepared especially for the those who are learners, beginners and/or new to the field of ethnobotany and interested in a quick and pleasant read containing an overview of ethnobotany and its major developments. The booklet fills the gap of an introductory text that aims to prepare the reader for denser and complex readings of the topic.


Studies of immigrant labor market incorporation in the unregulated sector of the US economy either assume that immigrant workers are trapped in low-wage jobs because of low human capital, or paint a picture of blocked mobility because of exploitation and discrimination. In this paper we offer a third sociological alternative to understand processes of occupational mobility and skill learning. Drawing on work histories of 111 immigrant construction workers, we find that many immigrants are skilled, having come to their jobs with technical skill sets acquired in their home communities and their previous U.S. jobs. We further find that these less-educated immigrants, who rank low on traditional human capital attributes but high on work experience may circumvent exploitation and build mobility pathways through skill transference, onthejob reskilling, and brincando (job jumping).