BACKGROUND
Communicating with colleagues is a key physician competency. Yet few studies have sought to uncover the complex nature of relationships between referring and consulting physicians, which may be affected by the inherent relationships between the participants.

OBJECTIVE
Our study examines themes identified from discussions about communications and the role of relationships during the referral-consultation process.

METHODS
From March to September 2010, 30 residents (10 emergency medicine, 10 general surgery, 10 internal medicine) were interviewed using a semistructured focus group protocol. Two investigators independently reviewed the transcripts using inductive methods and grounded theory to generate themes (using codes for ease of analysis) until saturation was reached. Disagreements were resolved by consensus, yielding an inventory of themes and subthemes. Measures for ensuring trustworthiness of the analysis included generating an audit trail and external auditing of the material by investigators not involved with the initial analysis.

RESULTS
Two main relationship-related themes affected the referral-consultation process: familiarity and trust. Various subthemes were further delineated and studied in the context of pertinent literature.

CONCLUSIONS
Relationships between physicians have a powerful influence on the emergency department referral-consultation dynamic. The emergency department referral-consultation may be significantly altered by the familiarity and perceived trustworthiness of the referring and consulting physicians. Our proposed framework may further inform and improve instructional methods for teaching interpersonal communication. Most importantly, it may help junior learners understand inherent difficulties they may encounter during the referral process between emergency and consulting physicians.


Hematobilia was diagnosed by computerized tomography as the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding in a 73-yr-old man. The patient suffered from recurrent abdominal pain for 4 yr and presented with a history of episodic hematochezia over the previous 24 h, suggestive of significant lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Endoscopic evaluation of the lower and upper gastrointestinal tract revealed only blood in the region of a normal ampulla. Computerized tomography demonstrated a thickened gallbladder filled with material the density of blood. A blood-filled gallbladder was removed at cholecystectomy and pathological examination of the excised gallbladder demonstrated ulceration and inflammation of the mucosa. The diagnostic evaluation of hematobilia is discussed.


We study the exploitation of a one species forest plantation when timber price is uncertain. The work focuses on providing optimality conditions for the optimal harvesting policy in terms of the parameters of the price process and the discount factor. We use risk averse stochastic dynamic programming and use the Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) as our main risk measure. We consider two important cases: when prices follow a geometric Brownian motion we completely characterize the optimal policy for all possible choices of drift and discount factor. When prices are governed by a mean-reverting (Ornstein-Uhlenbeck) process we provide sufficient conditions, based on explicit expressions for a reservation price period above which harvesting everything available is optimal. In both cases we solve the problem for every initial condition and the best policy is obtained endogenously, that is, without imposing any ad hoc restrictions such as maximum sustained yield or convergence to a predefined final state. We compare our results with the risk neutral framework and highlight the differences between the two cases. We generalize our results to any coherent risk measure that is affine on the current price and calculate the coefficients for risk measures other than the CVaR.


During an 11-year period four children were seen with asymmetric renal parenchymal reduction, arterial hypertension, and sterile urine. The history and radio-logical or histological findings, or both, were consistent with "abacterial pyelonephritis" induced by bacterial infection in early childhood. All four had raised antibody titres to Escherichia coli. Three possibilities may explain the high antibody titres and insidious course of the renal damage—the presence of bacterial variants or amorphous bacterial antigen in the kidneys or the fact that because of cross-reactivity between certain E. coli O antigens and renal tissue the "E. coli antibodies" were, in fact, autoantibodies.


Marine controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) surveys have recently found wide application for mapping resistive hydrocarbon reservoirs (Ellingsrud et al., 2002). Typically, these surveys have been target oriented and have been used to delineate potential reservoirs already mapped by other methods. However, CSEM surveys can also be used for reconnaissance in areas where no specific targets have been identified (Srnka et al., 2005). The objective of a reconnaissance CSEM survey is to detect the presence of resistive bodies that are large enough to be economic hydrocarbon reservoirs. These bodies would then be candidates for more detailed seismic or CSEM surveys.


Increasing threat from the introduced invasive species has been identified as one of the major risk factors for the extinction of freshwater fishes. There are number of identified freshwater alien species which have become invasive within Sri Lankan natural waters. However, there is a dearth of information regarding many of these alien invasive species. Therefore, this research project focused on elucidation of distribution pattern, food and feeding habitats and invasiveness of Chitala ornata, an alien invasive freshwater fish species in potentially new site of infestation in the Attanagalu oya and its tributaries over a period of three months as a preliminary study. Key objectives of the study were, to find out the present distribution of C. ornata in Attanagalu Oya and its tributaries, to evaluate the food and feeding habits of C. ornata through gut analysis and to find out the presence of other invasive/introduced species in the area. Over the study peroid, 50 individuals of C. ornata ranging from 21cm to >80cm were collected using hook and line fishing gear and captured fish were deep-frozen immediately after capturing to avoid the deterioration of the food items within the fish gut. Fish gut analyses have been carried out under laboratory conditions. Morphological measures, frequency of occurrence and Index of fullness were calculated. The results indicated that C. ornata has established in the Attanagalu oya basin in areas such as Ekala and Kotugoda. Gut content analysis indicated that C. ornata feeds on significant number of native fish species. Five major prey fish species, consisting 58 Hirikanaya (Labeo dussumeri), 35 Rathu waral katu kuriya (Puntius kelumi), 23 Iri ankutta (Mystuss vittatus), 13 Walapoththa (Ompok bimaculatus) and 16 Illeya (Megalops cyprinoides) were found to make up the diet of 28 adults and 05 juveniles of C. ornata. The average Index of fullness was 378.19. Frequencies of occurrence are 0.606, 0.485, 0.424, 0.121 and 0.242 respectively for L.dussumeri, P. kelumi, M. vittatus, O. bimaculatus and M. cyprinoides. Out of these five species P. kelumi is listed as an endangered endemic species. Other than fishes, one shrimp species, molluscs and fish eggs were also recorded as their food items. Further, other exotic species such as Tank cleaner (Pterygoplichthys spp.) and giant gourami (Osphronemus goramy) were also recorded in the Attanagalu oya. It was concluded that immediate steps should be taken to manage this potentially harmful Alien invasive species in the Attanagalu Oya basin. Keywords: Invasive, Exotic, Fresh water, Chitala, Attanagalu oya


Barcelona, Spain. - Treatments of malignant wounds should be designed not only to promote healing, but also to prevent and manage clinical infection, control and prevent bleeding, contain drainage from the wound, control and prevent odor, and promote the patient's comfort, according to Uwe Wollina, M.D., professor of dermatology and venerology at the Hautklinik Dresden-Friedrichstadt in Germany. Dr. Wollina spoke at the 12th Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology in Barcelona.


This essay re-examines Wampanoag and Anglo-American relationships by focusing on a post-King Philip's War land negotiation document. Using the concept of "terrapolitics," it argues for the significance of expansive place-based relationships for Wampanoag communities and the challenges posed by English settler colonialism in the seventeenth century.


In this study, a hardware‐accelerated dynamic clustering of moving virtual entities technique is proposed. By clustering virtual entities, both clustered and unclustered virtual agents became more aware of other agents' topological configurations. Clustering is based on their continuously changing velocity and position vectors. The proposed clustering technique efficiently uses graphics processor's parallel processing capabilities. Therefore, almost no additional central processing unit overhead is required to bring the clustering information into the simulation. In addition, in this paper, how cluster information can be used on top of the proposed virtual human steering technique is explained. The results show that by using the dynamic clustering, the number of collision in the simulation reduces, and the velocities of the the agents in the simulation increase. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background
Transforming the delivery of care for people with Long Term Conditions (LTCs) requires understanding about how health care policies in England and historical patterns of service delivery have led to different models of chronic disease management (CDM). It is also essential in this transformation to analyse and critique the models that have emerged to provide a more detailed evidence base for future decision making and better patient care. Nurses have made, and continue to make, a particular contribution to the management of chronic diseases. In the context of this study, there is a particular focus on the origins of each CDM model examined, the processes by which nursing care is developed, sustained and mainstreamed, and the outcomes of each case study as
experienced by service users and carers.
Aims
To explore, identify and characterise the origins, processes and outcomes of effective CDM models and the nursing contribution to such models using a whole systems approach
Methods
The study was divided into three phases:
Phase 1: Systematic mapping of published and web-based literature.
Phase 2: A consensus conference of nurses working within CDM. Sampling criteria were derived from the conference and selected nurses attended a follow up workshop where case study sites were identified.
Phase 3: Multiple case study evaluation
Sample: 7 case studies representing 4 CDM models. These were: i) public health nursing model; ii) primary care nursing model; iii) condition specific nurse specialist model; iv) community matron model.
Methods: Evaluative case study design with the unit of analysis the CDM model (Yin, 2003):
• semi-structured interviews with practitioners, patients, their carers, managers and commissioners
• documentary analysis
• psycho-social and clinical outcome data from specific conditions
• children and young people: focus groups, age-specific survey tools.
Benchmarking outcomes: Adults benchmarked against the Health Outcomes Data Repository (HODaR) dataset (Currie et al, 2005). Young people were benchmarked against the Health Behaviour of School aged Children Survey (Currie et al, 2008).
Cost analysis: Due to limitations in the available data, a simple costing exercise was undertaken to ascertain the per patient cost of the nurse contribution to CDM in each of the models, and to explore patterns of health and social care utilisation.
Analysis: A whole system methodology was used to establish the principles of CDM. i) The causal system is a "network of causal relationships" and focuses on long term trends and processes. ii) The data system recognises that for many important areas there is very little data. Where a particular explanatory factor is important but precise data are lacking, a range of methods should be
employed to illuminate each factor as much as possible. iii) The organisational whole system emphasises how various parts of the health and social care system function together as a single system rather than as parallel systems. iv) The patient experience recognises that the whole system comes together and is embodied in the experience of each patient.
Key findings
While all the models strove to be patient centred in their implementation, all were linked at a causal level to disease centric principles of care which dominated the patient experience.
Public Health Model
• The users (both parents and children) experienced a well organised and coordinated service that is crossing health and education sectors.
• The lead school nurse has provided a vision for asthma management in school-aged children. This has led to the implementation of the school asthma strategy, and the ensuing impacts including growing awareness, prevention of hospital admissions, confidence in schools about asthma management and healthier children.
Primary Care Model
• GP practices are providing planned and routine management of chronic disease, tending to focus on single diseases treated in isolation. Care is geared to the needs of the uncomplicated stable patient.
• More complex cases tend to be escalated to secondary care where they may remain even after the patient has stabilised.
• Patients with multiple diagnoses continue to experience difficulty in accessing services or practice that is designed to provide a coherent response to the idiosyncratic range of diseases with which they present.
This is as true for secondary care as for primary care.
• While the QOF system has clearly been instrumental in developing and sustaining a primary care nursing model of CDM, it has also limited the scope of the model to single diseases recordable on a register, rather than focus on patient centred care needs.
Nurse Specialist Model
• The model works under a disease focused system underpinned by evidence based medicine exemplified by NICE guidelines and NSF's.
• The model follows a template drawn from medicine and sustainability is significantly dependent on the championship and protectionism offered by senior medical clinicians.
• A focus on self-management in LTCs gives particular impetus to nurse-led enablement of self-management.
• The shift of LTC services from secondary care to primary care has often not been accompanied by a shift in expertise.
Community Matron Model
• The community matron model was distinctive in that it had been implemented as a top down initiative.
• The model has been championed by the community matrons themselves, and the pressure to deliver observable results such as hospital admission reductions has been significant.
• This model was the only one that consistently resulted in open access (albeit not 24 hours) and first point of contact for patients for the management of their ongoing condition.
Survey Findings
Compared to patients from our case studies those within HODaR visited the GP, practice nurse or NHS walk-in centres more, but had less home visits from nurses or social services within the six weeks prior to survey. HODaR patients also took significantly more time off work and away from normal activities, and needed more care from friends/ relatives than patients from
our study within the last six weeks. The differences between the HODaR and case study patients in service use cannot easily be explained but it could be speculated when referring to the qualitative data that the case study patients are benefiting from nurse-led care.
Cost analysis –
The nurse costs per patient are at least ten times higher for community matrons conducting CDM than for nurses working in other CDM models. The pattern of service utilisation is consistent with the focus of the community matron role to provide intensive input to vulnerable patients.
Conclusions
Nurses are spearheading the kind of approaches at the heart of current health policies (Department of Health, 2008a). However, tensions in health policy and inherent contradictions in the context of health care delivery are hampering the implementation of CDM models and limiting the contribution nurses are able to make to CDM. These include:
? data systems that were incompatible and recorded patients as a disease entity
? QOF reinforced a disease centric approach
? practice based commissioning was resulting in increasing difficulties in cross health sector working in some sites
? the value of the public health model may not be captured in evaluation tools which focus on the individual patient experience.
Recommendations
Commissioners and providers
1. Disseminate new roles and innovations and articulate how the role or service fits and enhances existing provision.
2. Promote the role of the nurses in LTC management to patients and the wider community.
3. Actively engage with service users in shaping LTC services to meet patients' needs.
4. Improve the support and supervision for nurses working within new roles.
5. Develop training and skills of nurses working in the community to enable them to take a more central role in LTC management.
6. Develop organisations that are enabling of innovation and actively seek funding for initiatives that provide an environment where nurses can reach their potential in improving LTC services.
7. Work towards data systems that are compatible between sectors and groups of professionals. Explore ways of enabling patients to access data and information systems for test results and latest
information.
8. Promote horizontal as well as vertical integration of LTC services.
Practitioners
1. Increase awareness of patient identified needs through active engagement with the service user.
2. Work to develop appropriate measures of nursing outcomes in LTC management including not only bureaucratic and physiological outcomes, but patient-identified outcomes.
Implications of research findings
1. Investment should be made into changing patient perceptions about the traditional division of labour, the nurses' role and skills, and the expertise available in primary care for CDM.
2. Development and evaluation of patient accessible websites where patients can access a range of information, their latest test results and ways of interpreting these.
3. Long-term funding of prospective evaluations to enable identification of CDM outcomes.
4. Mapping of patient experience and patient satisfaction so that the conceptual differences between these two related ideas can be demonstrated.
5. Development of appropriate measures of patient experience that can be used as part of the quality outcome measures.
6. Cost evaluation/effectiveness studies carried out over time that includes national quality outcome indicators and valid measures of patient experience.
7. The importance of whole system working needs to be identified in the planning of services.
8. Research into the role of the health visitor in chronic disease management within a public health model.


Generation of tumor specific alloreactive CD4+ T cells is important to circumvent tumor tolerance. Here, we generate allorestricted peptide-specific CD4+ T cells by coculture of lymphocytes and autologous monocytes bearing allogeneic HLA-DR15 molecule associated with its restricted peptide. Binding of a dimeric HLA-DR15/IgG1-Fc fusion protein (the dimer) to HLA-DR15 negative (HLA-DR15-ve) monocytes made the monocytes coated with the allogeneic epitope. An increased proliferation of CD4+ T cells and induction of Th1 cells appeared after coculturing of HLA-DR15-ve lymphocytes and the autologous monocytes loaded with the dimer. The cocultural bulks showed an increased frequency of the specific dimer-stained CD4+ T cells and the expanded CD4+ T cells exhibited an elevated IFN-γ production in response to specific TCR ligand. Tumor rejection effects of the allorestricted E7-specific CD4+ T cells raised by the coculture were observed in nude mice challenged with human cervical cancer cell SiHa expressing both HLA-DR15 and E7 antigens, as the tumor avoidance and life span of the mice were improved after adoptive transfer of the CD4+ T cells. This study may help to develop strategies to separate graft-versus-leukemia or graft-versus-tumor reaction from graft-versus-host disease, and add to the pool of human high-avidity TCRs specific for tumor or virus antigens.


Abstract Pulmonary embolism is associated with variable risk of early mortality, ranging from less than 1% to more than 15%. Risk stratification, based on clinical variables and signs of right ventricular dysfunction, is crucial to decide the best management and treatment strategy. Home therapy may be an option for low-risk patients, whereas patients at intermediate risk need to be hospitalized and some of them, at intermediate high risk, may require more intensive monitoring to early detect signs of haemodynamic decompensation. The initial treatment is based on anticoagulants with rapid onset of action, either parenteral (heparin/fondaparinux) or oral (direct oral anticoagulants, DOACs). Thereafter, DOACs (or, if contraindicated, vitamin K antagonists) needs to be continued for at least 3 months. Beyond this period, an individual re-evaluation of the risk-to-benefit ratio of anticoagulation should be performed, based on several factors, including the type of index event, age, sex, D-dimer and residual venous obstruction. Possibly safer strategies can be offered to higher risk patients requiring extended duration of treatment, including the DOACs apixaban and rivaroxaban at reduced dose.


Introduction: Gifted and talented students are human assets. This study aims to compare educational barriers of this group of students compare to other students of Arak University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study carried out on 180 normal and 56 talented students in Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2011. Data were collected through questionnaire including items related to barriers of education, research, individual-family relationship, psycho-spritual needs and finding career. Results: The mean of total problem score in talented and normed student was 52.9±11.4 and 48.5±10.8 respectively. Results also showed that the mean score of educational, research and psycho-spritual difficulties between talented students and other student were significantly different (P<0/05). Conclusions: Support of academic authorities in all above mentioned fields would be helpful to improve the motivation of the gifted and talented students.


While commercial FCC riser reactor converts heavy hydrocarbon petroleum fractions into a slate of more usable products, mass transfer, momentum transfer, heat transfer, catalytic cracking reaction and phase transfer are entangled and occur simultaneously inside the riser reactor. Since the FCC process is in nature strong inter-coupled with multiphase flow hydrodynamics, in order to predict accurate behavior of the riser reactor, all these processes need to be comprehensive modeled. Unfortunately most of published literature focused too much on the FCC process itself without paying enough attention to significant influence on the cracking kinetics from multiphase flow hydrodynamic, such as local catalyst concentration, local catalyst velocity and even catalyst average size. The aim of this work is to develop a generic modeling approach which can fully incorporate multiphase flow hydrodynamics with FCC process. The emphasis of this model is to develop a framework to simultaneously simulate the multiphase flow hydrodynamics, cracking reaction and their inter-coupling characteristics in riser reactor. This modeling approach opens up a new dimension for making generic models suitable for the analysis and control studies of FCC units. Predictions of the model will compare with the yield pattern of industrial scale plant data reported in literatures.


Two configurations of double-pass erbium-doped fiber amplifiers with an embedded dispersion-compensating module are evaluated under changes of the input optical polarization. The first configuration employs the usual combination of a polarization-beam splitter and a Faraday rotator mirror (FRM), while the second is based on the use of two circulators. The amplifiers are characterized in terms of polarization-dependent gain, noise figure, and BER. It is demonstrated that the topology employing circulators show much improved performance compared to the configuration using the FRM.


This thesis studies (a) the reasoning of students, (b) teaching and learning in a laboratory course, and (c) the ideas of teachers about the structure of a theoretical course. These studies have been united by the concept of metacognition that can be understood globally as cognition on cognition. Reasoning about the content of a course is considered to be a metacognitive skill, the instruction in the lab course contains metacognitive hints and develops the metacognition of the students, and teachers have metacognitive knowledge about the domain. The thesis relates theoretical concepts from instructional science and psychology on the one hand with the practice of education on the other hand.


We studied the spectral behavior of a probe transmission in the presence of a counterpropagating pump beam for various laser polarizations and magnetic fields with and without the assistance of an additional repopulation laser beam. These parametric studies enabled us to distinctively extricate the influence of saturation, optical pumping, and resonant light pressure. The enhanced probe absorption resulting from the pump-beam-induced Zeeman substate dressing was maximized when the change in the resonance frequency was suitably compensated by the change in the Doppler shift arising from resonant light pressure. The possibility of tuning the laser frequency locked to saturation absorption spectroscopy was investigated and implemented to a laser cooling and trapping setup.


The onset, quality and duration of analgesia and side-effects of a single bolus dose of either epidural pethidine 50 mg or fentanyl 100 mcg, administered immediately post-delivery, were compared in a randomised, double-blind study of fifty-five women undergoing epidural caesarean section. The onset of effect was more rapid with fentanyl, a significantly larger number of women achieving complete pain relief fifteen minutes post-administration (P less than 0.05). The quality of analgesia was good in both groups and the quality and duration of effective analgesia not significantly different. The incidence and severity of side-effects were low, with no significant difference between groups. One patient in the pethidine group experienced early onset respiratory depression; however, she did not require active treatment. Epidural fentanyl 100 mcg appears to offer a small clinical advantage over pethidine 50 mg for intraoperative use during caesarean section.


In a chemical looping combustion (CLC) system, gasification kinetics of char holds immense importance being the rate-limiting reaction in the fuel reactor. This paper studied the gasification kinetics of char derived from Victorian brown coal (VBC) in a fluidized bed reactor which mimics the fuel reactor conditions of a chemical looping combustion process. Mass of char, char particle size, and gas flow conditions were optimized to ensure the gasification reaction free from mass transfer limitations. Effect of oxygen carrier (OC), hematite, being the bed material was also studied. The experiments were conducted in the temperature range of 800 °C–950 °C, which is a typical range for fuel reactor. The experimental results were modeled with the help of grain model (GM) and random pore model (RPM) to analyze the kinetic parameters. Activation energy was found to be around 177 kJ/mol in sand bed and 175.5 kJ/mol in the hematite bed. Reaction in hematite bed was found to be 42% faster on average compared with the reaction in a sand bed. Fastest total conversion of char took as low as 4.1 min in hematite bed at 950 °C. While catalytic effect of hematite was ruled out due to insignificant change in activation energy, it was concluded that increase in CO2 partial pressure at the vicinity of char particle enhanced the reaction rate in the case of hematite bed. This study has generated relevant information for the CLC of Victorian brown coal with hematite as the oxygen carrier.


Context. The third Fermi-LAT catalog (3FGL) presented the data of the first four years of observations from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope mission. There are 3034 sources, 1010 of which still remain unidentified. Identifying and classifying γ-ray emitters is of high significance with regard to studying high-energy astrophysics.
Aims. We demonstrate that optical polarimetry can be an advantageous and practical tool in the hunt for counterparts of the unidentified γ-ray sources (UGSs).
Methods. Using data from the RoboPol project, we validated that a significant fraction of active galactic nuclei (AGN) associated with 3FGL sources can be identified due to their high optical polarization exceeding that of the field stars. We performed an optical polarimetric survey within 3σ uncertainties of four unidentified 3FGL sources.
Results. We discovered a previously unknown extragalactic object within the positional uncertainty of 3FGL J0221.2+2518. We obtained its spectrum and measured a redshift of z = 0.0609 ± 0.0004. Using these measurements and archival data we demonstrate that this source is a candidate counterpart for 3FGL J0221.2+2518 and most probably is a composite object: a star-forming galaxy accompanied by AGN.
Conclusions. We conclude that polarimetry can be a powerful asset in the search for AGN candidate counterparts for unidentified Fermi sources. Future extensive polarimetric surveys at high Galactic latitudes (e.g., PASIPHAE) will allow the association of a significant fraction of currently unidentified γ-ray sources.


The study aimed at assessing problems and challenges facing the government in addressing the problem of street children in Tanzania. The specific objectives were to identify underlying factors leading to the persistence of the problem of street children, to find out problems and challenges facing the government in addressing it and to come out with alternative strategies to curb the problem. A descriptive cross-sectional research design (both quantitative and qualitative) methods was adopted to collect and analyze both primary and secondary data from respondents. Data from Street Children, Ward Executive Officers and Community Development Officers was collected through structured guided questionnaire while semi-structured interview was used to collect data from key informants. Secondary data was collected through review of documents. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version16.0 was used for quantitative data while thematic analysis was used for qualitative data analysis. The majority (78%) of respondents confirmed that poor government planning, ineffective policies and child legislations and weak laws as underlying factors to the problem while most of the respondents (76%) verified that, lack of political will, weak policies and legislations as challenges facing the government to address the problem. Furthermore, 80% of respondents suggested that review of child policy and legislations. Therefore, it can be concluded that, the government proved failure in identifying the root cause of the problem. Accordingly, the existing strategies are ineffective as merely addresses symptoms of the problem. Therefore, review of policies, laws, effective planning and enforcement of laws are fundamental to get rid of this problem. Conclusively, Social Workers should actively engage in advocacy and lobbying, policy analysis, public sensitization and further research to come out with sustainable solutions to the problem.


One of the main targets of the CMS experiment is to search for the Standard Model Higgs boson. The 4-lepton channel (from the Higgs decay h->ZZ->4l, l = e,mu) is one of the most promising. The analysis is based on the identification of two opposite-sign, same-flavor lepton pairs: leptons are required to be isolated and to come from the same primary vertex. The Higgs would be statistically revealed by the presence of a resonance peak in the 4-lepton invariant mass distribution.
The 4-lepton analysis at CMS is presented, spanning on its most important aspects: lepton identification, variables of isolation, impact parameter, kinematics, event selection, background control and statistical analysis of results.
The search leads to an evidence for a signal presence with a statistical significance of more than four standard deviations. The excess of data, with respect to the background-only predictions, indicates the presence of a new boson, with a mass of about 126 GeV/c2 , decaying to two Z bosons, whose characteristics are compatible with the SM Higgs ones.


To fulfill the requirement of rapid access to huge amounts of uncompressed pixmap image data, a parallel image server architecture is proposed, based on arrays of intelligent disk nodes, with each disk node composed of one processor and one disk. It is shown how images can be partitioned into extents and efficiently distributed among available intelligent disk nodes. The image server's performance is analyzed according to various parameters such as the number of cooperating disk nodes, the sizes of image file extents, the available communication throughput, and the processing power of disk node and image server processors. Important image access speed improvements are obtained by image extent caching and image part extraction in disk nodes. With T800 transputer-based technology, a system composed of eight disk nodes offers access to three full-color 512*512 pixmap image parts per second (2.4 megabytes per second). For the same configuration but with the recently announced T9000 transputer, image access throughput is eight images per second (6.8 megabytes per second).<<ETX>>


Maps of the synapses made and neurotransmitters released by all neurons in model systems, such as Caenorhabditis elegans have left still unresolved how neural circuits integrate and respond to neurotransmitter signals. Using the egg-laying circuit of C. elegans as a model, we mapped which cells express each of the 26 neurotransmitter GPCRs of this organism and also genetically analyzed the functions of all 26 GPCRs. We found that individual neurons express many distinct receptors, epithelial cells often express neurotransmitter receptors, and receptors are often positioned to receive extrasynaptic signals. Receptor knockouts reveal few egg-laying defects under standard laboratory conditions, suggesting that the receptors function redundantly or regulate egg-laying only in specific conditions; however, increasing receptor signaling through overexpression more efficiently reveals receptor functions. This map of neurotransmitter GPCR expression and function in the egg-laying circuit provides a model for understanding GPCR signaling in other neural circuits. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neurotransmitters signal through GPCRs to modulate activity of neurons, and changes in such signaling can underlie conditions such as depression and Parkinson's disease. To determine how neurotransmitter GPCRs together help regulate function of a neural circuit, we analyzed the simple egg-laying circuit in the model organism C. elegans. We identified all the cells that express every neurotransmitter GPCR and genetically analyzed how each GPCR affects the behavior the circuit produces. We found that many neurotransmitter GPCRs are expressed in each neuron, that neurons also appear to use these receptors to communicate with other cell types, and that GPCRs appear to often act redundantly or only under specific conditions to regulate circuit function.


Aim. Previous studies have shown a higher sensitization rate to hazelnut in processing workers but no relation was found between the respiratory symptoms in workplace and hazelnut sensitization. Material and Method. To evaluate the association between the hazelnut sensitization and workplace-related respiratory complaints, hazelnut processing workers had undergone a questionnaire included work-related respiratory symptoms, smoking history, pulmonary function testing, and measurement of serum IgE antibodies against hazelnut. Results. This study consisted of 88 hazelnut processing workers (79 females and 9 males), aged 14–59 years (Mean ± SD: 33.8 ± 10.5 years). The mean working duration was 38.8 ± 36.6 months (min: 1–max: 180). Specific IgE against hazelnut allergens was positive in 14 of cases (17.1%). There was no significant difference between the cases with and without specific IgE against hazelnut allergens regarding respiratory symptoms, history of allergy, smoking status and spirometric values. Conclusion. 17.1% of the hazelnut processing workers were seropositive against hazelnut. Being sensitized to hazelnut was not found to be associated with work-related respiratory symptoms in this study. Further studies are needed in hazelnut workers respiratory health to search topics other than asthma.


Background and aims: Occupational accident is an unplanned and harmful event which occurs in workplace environments. Among various occupations and activities, large metal industries are the most hazardous industries in the world. This study was designed in one of the Arak metal industries in order to determine the incidence rate of occupational accidents as well as its risk factors. Method: Initially in an incidence study, 873 workers were followed historically to determine the number of accidents since 2005 to 2007. Then the cases were compared with a random sample of workers with no accident (251 workers) in a case control study. After data collection by a structured questionnaire, statistical analysis was conducted using chi-square test, t-test and logistic regression in SPSS software (V.16). Results: During these three years, 359 accidents had been occurred and the annual incidence rate of accident was equal to 137 per 1000 workers. There was a significant relationship between occurrence of accident and age, work experience, education level, height, and systolic blood pressure as well as shift work (p<0.05).The marital status and number of children were not significant risk factors. Moreover, unsafe practices was the first case of accident, age and educational level were remained in regression model as the most important predictors of incident of occupational accidents. Conclusion: Considering the high frequency rate of accidents and based on our findings, planning and implementation of safety training, modifying non-safe conditions, supplying workers with appropriate standard protective equipment and appropriate facilities are recommended.


Sex related differences have been noted in cardiovascular disease where females have a lower incidence of heart failure, and a higher rate of heart failure survival. On-the-other-hand, some studies have reported increased mortality in women compared with men. Recent data also suggest that women have an increased risk of death due to O 3 air pollution, which is in contrast to reports that short-term variations in gaseous pollutants are associated with an increase in hospitalization for cardiac disease that is not modified by gender. It has been speculated that because of the nature of the photochemical equilibrium of O 3 in the ambient environment and due to other confounding factors epidemiological investigations of the health effects of O 3 may be using O 3 as an exposure surrogate for other oxidants or co-pollutants, some of which may be interfering with response to O 3 . The present study in a controlled exposure protocol tested the hypothesis that female rats compared to male have decreased sensitivity to cardiac injury subsequent to O 3 exposure. Age matched male/female rats were exposed 8 hrs/day for 28 and 56 days to filtered air or 0.8 ppm O 3 . In order to assess the chronic effects to O 3 , in-vivo cardiac function was assessed, 24 hrs after termination of the O 3 exposure. Compared to female rats, LVDP values significantly decreased in O 3 exposed male rats. This enhanced attenuation of cardiac function in male animals was associated with increased myocardial TNF-alpha (TNF-α) levels and decreased myocardial activities of superoxidase dismutase (SOD). These novel findings suggest that decreased attenuation of cardiac function in O 3 exposed females compared to males exposed to similar conditions was associated with decreased inflammatory mediator production and decreased oxidative stress. Identifying the underlying factors for gender based variations in ozone response is very important to recognize at-risk groups who would benefit from preventive strategies. In addition identification of those at risk, their degree of sensitivity will assist with the cost-benefit analysis of "safe" exposure levels in the public health setting. The long-term goal of this study is in guiding regulatory policies for reduced environmental related health costs.


Cognitive behavioral therapy with children: A guide for the community practitioner by K. Manassis (see record 2009-01291-000). This book is a clearly written and concise guide for therapists who may have had some exposure to a manualized CBT program for children, but have had little formal training or supervision in CBT. While there is a heavy focus on anxiety and depression, the book is really about how CBT is applied in the real world. Therapists with limited experience of CBT should find the many checklists and modules for assisting anxious and/or depressed children very helpful. The author also provides numerous case examples and anecdotes, as well as references to the evidence base and helpful websites for materials. There are simple, how-to explanations about complicated topics, such as adapting treatment for young people with LD, ASD or serious health problems, and handling reluctant kids/families, which should help guide the novice CBT therapist towards a more nuanced practice.


The classic work of Chu and others has been extended to determine the minimum radiation Q for the TM case of electrically small antennas contained within a spheroid (prolate and oblate) with no energy stored inside. The results of numerical calculations have been used to give an analytic formula that can be used to determine the electrically small bound on Qr as a function of aspect ratio for prolate and oblate spheroids. These formulas have been used to develop a lower bound for antennas contained within a cylinder, and a comparison has been made to several practical antennas as a function of aspect ratio. An antenna suggested by Wheeler is shown to have the best (lowest), Qr of the antennas examined over a wide range of aspect ratios.


High surface area nanoporous powders of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have been prepared from molecular precursors to be used for hydrogen sequestration. The more promising samples were obtained using a precursor derived from trichloroborazine (TCB). The precursor was first reacted with ammonia at room temperature leading to the molecular complex Cl3B3N3H3, 6 NH3 which was heated up to 650 °C under ammonia and then up to 1000 °C under nitrogen, giving rise to a high reactive h-BN powder. This crude powder was stabilised by an annealing up to 1800 °C under nitrogen atmosphere leading to a very stable compound exhibiting a specific area of more than 300 m2·g-1 and presenting a very specific nanometric spherical texture. Some samples were doped with platinum (about 1 wt.%) to enhance the activity of pure h-BN using an original one step synthesis route starting from a mixture of BN and Pt precursors. Attempts to sequester hydrogen into these powders were made successfully at -196 °C under 10 MPa, but the stored amount was only about 0.3 wt.% and the platinum added BN powders did not lead to an enhancement of the storage capacity.


Patents are used by legal entities to legally protect their inventions and represent a multi-billion dollar industry of licensing and litigation. In 2014, 326,033 patent applications were approved in the US alone -- a number that has doubled in the past 15 years and which makes prior art search a daunting, but necessary task in the patent application process. In this work, we seek to investigate the efficacy of prior art search strategies from the perspective of the inventor who wishes to assess the patentability of their ideas prior to writing a full application. While much of the literature inspired by the evaluation framework of the CLEF-IP competition has aimed to assist patent examiners in assessing prior art for complete patent applications, less of this work has focused on patent search with queries representing partial applications. In the (partial) patent search setting, a query is often much longer than in other standard IR tasks, e.g., the description section may contain hundreds or even thousands of words. While the length of such queries may suggest query reduction strategies to remove irrelevant terms, intentional obfuscation and general language used in patents suggests that it may help to expand queries with additionally relevant terms. To assess the trade-offs among all of these pre-application prior art search strategies, we comparatively evaluate a variety of partial application search and query reformulation methods. Among numerous findings, querying with a full description, perhaps in conjunction with generic (non-patent specific) query reduction methods, is recommended for best performance. However, we also find that querying with an abstract represents the best trade-off in terms of writing effort vs. retrieval efficacy (i.e., querying with the description sections only lead to marginal improvements) and that for such relatively short queries, generic query expansion methods help.


This volume aims at starting a debate on functions, role and relevance of states of mind in Chinese History and civilization. It focuses on an anthropological aspect of human experience, the affective world, as it is represented and evaluated in the various sources. A number of well-known specialists, ranging from the philosophical basic concepts to some fundamental questions about terminology, analyze literary, historical and judicial materials: this collection of essays presents different opinions, experiences and perspectives on the understanding of emotional and mental states in Chinese civilization, as well as about the difficulties met on the topic. A fascinating and useful reading for all those who are interested in humanities and in the history of mentality.


Multifunctional DLC, Diamond-like Carbon coatings have been extensively studied and recognized as a promising solution to avoid wear and friction problems. However, the effect of the environment on the tribological behaviour, in particular in the refrigeration industry, is little studied yet. The present work aims to study the influence of refrigerant gases (HFC134a and R600a) on the tribological behaviour of multifunctional CrN-Si rich Diamond-like Carbon coatings, in particular on the tribo-chemical reactions. Tribological behaviour was evaluated using constant and incremental load reciprocating sliding tests. The constant load tests were conducted to access the friction coefficient and wear rates of specimen and counter-bodies whereas the incremental load tests (increments of 2 N at 15 min. intervals) allowed the assessment of the scuffing resistance of the coatings. The scuffing resistance was defined as the work (N.m) at which the value of the friction coefficient first rose above 0.20 (lubricity effect). The characterization of wear scars (tribolayers) was performed by optical interferometry, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry associated with scanning electron microscopy, and micro Raman spectroscopy. It was verified a strong influence of the atmosphere via the formation of a tribolayer at the interface between body and counter body. This influence resulted in some disturbance of friction coefficient and contact resistance values. Tests performed in R600a atmosphere presented lower (36%) friction coefficient and lower (40%) scuffing resistance (surface durability) than those performed in HFC134a refrigerant gas. The observed differences were justified in terms of the tribo-chemical reaction between the multifunctional coating, the counter body and the refrigerant gases. Both results presented traces of Oxygen, but in the tests with HFC134a gas it was observed the presence of Fluorinated compounds in the tribo-layer. In the tests performed with R600a gas atmosphere it was found only carbon and Silicon, indicating different interactions of the environment. It is worth noting that these results can serve as a guide to the application: the low friction induced by the presence of R600a recommend it for applications where sustainability and energy saving are required while the use of HFC134a is recommended for applications requiring increased reliability (longer life).


This article reviews the usefulness of heparins in the management of patients with acute coronary syndromes. Low molecular weight heparins have a series of advantages over unfractionated heparins, and evidences show that they are more effective than placebo and equal to unfractionated heparin in diminishing the incidence of acute myocardial infarction or death. Evidences that the effectiveness of the low molecular weight heparins are superior is limited to enoxaparin and the most benefited group is the stratified one as high risk.


Antagonistic co‐evolution between hosts and parasites (reciprocal selection for resistance and infectivity) is hypothesized to play an important role in host range expansion by selecting for novel infectivity alleles, but tests are lacking. Here, we determine whether experimental co‐evolution between a bacterium (Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25) and a phage (SBW25Φ2) affects interstrain host range: the ability to infect different strains of P. fluorescens other than SBW25. We identified and tested a genetically and phenotypically diverse suite of co‐evolved phage variants of SBW25Φ2 against both sympatric and allopatric co‐evolving hosts (P. fluorescens SBW25) and a large set of other P. fluorescens strains. Although all co‐evolved phage had a greater host range than the ancestral phage and could differentially infect co‐evolved variants of P. fluorescens SBW25, none could infect any of the alternative P. fluorescens strains. Thus, parasite generalism at one genetic scale does not appear to affect generalism at other scales, suggesting fundamental genetic constraints on parasite adaptation for this virus.


Background: The purpose of this study is to explore the potential biological roles of miR-101-5p in the progression of non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Methods: The levels of miR-101-5p and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 6 (CXCL6) in NSCLC tissues and cells were detected using the quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) assay. Proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion assays were conducted using miR-101-5p-transfected NSCLC cells in vitro. The expression of CXCL6 was measured using immunofluorescence assay. Xenograft model and lung metastasis model were constructed to further reveal the precise roles of miR-101-5p in the lung metastasis and growth of NSCLC cells in vivo. Results: miR-101-5p was underregulated in NSCLC tissues when compared with that in the normal controls. The levels of miR-101-5p were lower in NSCLC cells (H1975, A549, HCC827 and H1650) than in non-tumorigenic human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). Overregulation of miR-101-5p restrained the aggressiveness phenotypes of NSCLC cells in vitro. Furthermore, overregulation of miR-101-5p reduced the tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis of NSCLC cells in vivo. CXCL6 was the target gene of miR-101-5p in NSCLC. The mRNA levels of CXCL6 were negatively associated with the levels of miR-101-5p in NSCLC tissues. Finally, the rescue experiments suggested that the inhibitory role of miR-101-5p was mediated by regulating the expression of CXCL6 in NSCLC. Conclusion: These findings indicated that overregulation of miR-101-5p restrained the progression of NSCLC cells by targeting CXCL6 and might function as a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.


The Gaussian mechanism (GM) represents a universally employed tool for achieving differential privacy (DP), and a large body of work has been devoted to its analysis. We argue that the three prevailing interpretations of the GM, namely $(\varepsilon, \delta)$-DP, f-DP and R\'enyi DP can be expressed by using a single parameter $\psi$, which we term the sensitivity index. $\psi$ uniquely characterises the GM and its properties by encapsulating its two fundamental quantities: the sensitivity of the query and the magnitude of the noise perturbation. With strong links to the ROC curve and the hypothesis-testing interpretation of DP, $\psi$ offers the practitioner a powerful method for interpreting, comparing and communicating the privacy guarantees of Gaussian mechanisms.


Autonomous vehicles will benefit from the ability to perform aggressive driving maneuvers in safety-critical situations where the full use of available tire-road friction is required. Unfortunately, vehicle steering dynamics become highly nonlinear and difficult to model near the limits of tire adhesion, making accurate control of these maneuvers difficult. One promising approach is to use iterative learning control (ILC) as a method of gradually determining the proper steering input for a transient driving maneuver by repeating the maneuver several times and using information from previous iterations to improve the reference tracking performance. This paper explores the viability of this concept by applying learning algorithms for multiple-lap path tracking of an autonomous race vehicle. Racing is an ideal scenario for iterative learning control because race cars drive the same sequence of turns while operating near the physical limits of tire-road friction. This creates a repeatable set of nonlinear vehicle dynamics and road conditions from lap to lap. Simulation results are used to design and test convergence of both a proportional-derivative (PD) and quadratically optimal (Q-ILC) iterative learning controller, and experimental results are presented on an Audi TTS race vehicle driving several laps around Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA at combined vehicle accelerations of up to 8 m/s2. Both control algorithms are able to correct transient path tracking errors and significantly improve the performance provided by a reference feedforward controller.


Abstract In the present study the economic, political and institutional sources of budgets deficits are analyzed for two regions South Asia and ASEAN countries for the period 1984 to 2010. The results reveal that high income, rising inflation and large budget to GDP ratio are associated with budget instability, where as a strong inertia in budget deficit volatility exists. The exposure of more external shocks make the budget deficit more volatile, however, countries with high population growth have less volatile budget deficits. The results indicate that high level of political stability and democracy and improvement in social and economic condition reduces the budget deficit volatility. High corruption and low institutional quality lead to more fluctuations in the budget deficit. The results suggest that political and institutional factors have a direct impact on fiscal instability beyond the economic reasons to effect fluctuations. The results of the current study leads to important implication that by improving the quality of institutions, creating situations for economic stability and moving towards democratic regimes would ensure more stable fiscal deficits and resultantly positive effect on the long term economic growth


Justice campaigns and pressure groups against miscarriages of justice represent an important counter discourse against justice in error and can further support reform to the criminal justice system. Some campaigns have succeeded in contributing to change in criminal justice legislation and in raising public awareness of miscarriage of justice in England and Wales. As a response to wrongful conviction a frequent decision taken by appellants and their families is to set up a campaign against miscarriage of justice in order to engage in extra-judicial activities that dispute the conviction and sentence. The core aim of this study is to examine the personal, interpersonal, social and organisational dynamics of participants campaigning against miscarriage of justice. The issues covered include the early experiences of campaigners and the strategies and tactics of resistance used during campaigns.
The study will further examine pressure group politics and examine political dimensions including issues of democracy and decision-making within groups. The study draws on miscarriage of justice, victimology, pressure group and media discourses and has employed a multi-method approach to data collection including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and the analysis of documentary evidence. The study identifies a complex interplay of factors contributing to campaigns against miscarriage of justice. Campaigns provide primary and secondary victims of miscarriage of justice with the support to sustain the appellant's fight against wrongful conviction. Additionally, campaigns can stimulate the activism of campaigners and contribute to extending their protest against other areas of perceived injustice. In short this study examines the intimate relationship between victimisation and mobilisation.


ABSTRACT Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) invade and disrupt melanoma cells and their clinical roles remain controversial. In this study, we aimed to determine the clinical significance of the TILs status in cutaneous melanoma patients (CMPs). Of 750 CMPs enrolled into this study 486 (64.8%) had lesions with TILs. The patients with TILs more likely had nodular histology, presence of histological regression, and absence of regional lymph node involvement. However, its presence was not associated with outcome. In conclusion, presence of TILs may be only an independent predictor for absence of nodal involvement but it is not associated with recurrence and survival in CMPs.


By 2005 all healthcare organizations in Europe will be required to take part in a quality evaluation scheme and to collect data about the quality of their service. Hospitals and doctors will need to prove they are safe--quality is no longer assumed. These were the predictions of a recent workshop of Nordic quality experts. The pressures to assess quality are increasing, and there are many assessment, certification, accreditation and measurement schemes in use. Which is best? What evidence is there that any have been effective? How should a hospital or region introduce such a scheme? There are many proponents for different schemes, and an increasing amount of experience to help answer these questions, but little research. This paper provides an overview for non-specialists of the different quality evaluation and indicator schemes for inspection and improvement. It draws on the experiences of quality specialists and leaders in each Nordic country who have applied the schemes in public hospitals and healthcare services. How a scheme is introduced and used may be more important than which particular scheme is chosen. This is one conclusion of the Nordic workshop. Other conclusions are that there is a need for clinicians to be involved, a need to balance simplicity and low cost with scientific validity and credibility with clinicians, and a need for research into different schemes to discover their costs and benefits in healthcare.


A spheroidal coordinate based T matrix formalism is developed for the description of elastic wave scattering from a collection of obstacles embedded in a homogeneous, unbounded medium. The development of the spheroidal formalism for the scattering from a single obstacle is a refinement of the earlier work of Hackman (1984), a discussion of the extension of this approach to a many inclusion system is a generalization of Lim and Hackman (1992). Calculations are presented for the elastic wave scattering from (single) prolate spheroidal and finite cylindrical objects. The single inclusion calculations presented have bearing on a study of anechoic mechanisms in composite materials presented earlier (Lim and Hackman, 1990).


Primary neocortical sensory areas act as central hubs, distributing afferent information to numerous cortical and subcortical structures. However, it remains unclear whether each downstream target receives distinct versions of sensory information. We used in vivo calcium imaging combined with retrograde tracing to monitor visual response properties of three distinct subpopulations of projection neurons in primary visual cortex. While there is overlap across the groups, on average corticotectal (CT) cells exhibit lower contrast thresholds and broader tuning for orientation and spatial frequency in comparison to corticostriatal (CS) cells, while corticocortical (CC) cells have intermediate properties. Noise correlational analyses support the hypothesis that CT cells integrate information across diverse layer 5 populations, whereas CS and CC cells form more selectively interconnected groups. Overall, our findings demonstrate the existence of functional subnetworks within layer 5 that may differentially route visual information to behaviorally relevant downstream targets.


ment in only eight patients (2%). Three have already died within 6 months, of unrelated causes, and five remain well, so far. We strive not to leave stents in on a permanent basis, believing that most patients can be managed effectively by expert endoscopy, radiology, and surgery, including adjuvant techniques such as shock wave lithotripsy. Stenting is useful for a few weeks or months during which the patient's health and options can be reviewed. The King's group are rightly cautious in their recommendations. Stenting has not yet been shown to be a good permanent method for managing difficult stones, and should be used very sparingly. PB COTTON Duke University Medical Center, Box 3341, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA


The membrane-destabilizing effect of the peptide melittin on phosphatidylcholine membranes is modulated by the presence of cholesterol. This investigation shows that inclusion of 40 mol % cholesterol in 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine or 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine liposomes reduces melittin's affinity for the membrane. It is significant that the presence of cholesterol does not increase the amount of membrane-associated melittin needed to cause maximum leakage from, or major structural rearrangements of, the liposomes. Furthermore, comparison of microscopy and leakage data suggests that melittin-induced leakage occurs via different mechanisms in the cholesterol-free and cholesterol-supplemented systems. In the absence of cholesterol, leakage of carboxyfluorescein takes place from intact liposomes in a manner compatible with the presence of small melittin-induced pores. In the presence of cholesterol, on the other hand, adsorption of the peptide causes complete membrane disruption and the formation of long-lived open-bilayer structures. Moreover, in the case of cholesterol-supplemented systems, melittin induces pronounced liposome aggregation. Cryotransmission electron microscopy was used, together with ellipsometry, circular dichroism, turbidity, and leakage measurements, to investigate the effects of melittin on phosphatidylcholine membranes in the absence and presence of cholesterol. The melittin partitioning behavior in the membrane systems was estimated by means of steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy measurements.


Flow cytometry (FC) has been used extensively for monitoring human blood cell populat~ons and it would be useful if this technology could be applied to the analysis of prawn haemocytes. This paper shows that the Cell-Dyn 3000 flow cytometer can distinguish haemocyte types from Penaeus monodon and then describes the range of haemocyte counts within normal prawns. The total haemocyte count was 23.3 X 106 cells ml-' using a haemocytometer and 21.0 X 106 cells ml-' with the FC. With light microscopy, nongranular, small-granular and large-granular haemocytes were 82.7 + 14, 15.6 17, and 1.7 5 2% respectively of the cell types, whilst with FC, the proportions were 82.6 * 17, 14.5 * 15, and 2.9 * 3 % respectively. Neither age. weight, carapace length nor population source had any significant effect (p > 0.05) on total or differential haemocyte counts. However, sex had a significant effect (p < 0.05) and once sexual dimorphism, as measured by total length, had occurred in the prawn population, females showed increased nongranular haemocyte counts (F= 4.56, df = 1.39, p < 0.05) and, consequently, total haemocyte counts (F = 4.60, df = 1,39, p < 0.05). The third sequential bleeding of prawns (0.1 m1 of haemolymph bleed-') produced a significant decrease in total haemocyte numbers with proportional increases m granular haemocytes.


The influence of the volume fraction of plasmonic nanoparticles on the efficiency of the Tamm-plasmon-polariton-based organic solar cell is investigated in the framework of temporal coupled mode theory and confirmed by the transfer matrix method. It is shown that, unlike a conventional plasmonic solar cell, in which the efficiency is directly proportional to the volume fraction of nanoparticles in the photosensitive layer, the efficiency of the proposed solar cell reaches the highest value at low volume fractions. This effect is explained by the fact that at these volume fractions, the critical coupling condition of the incident field with the Tamm plasmon polariton is fulfilled. Thus, for the incoming radiation range of 350 to 500 nm, a maximal cell efficiency of 28% is achieved with a volume fraction of nanoparticles equal to 10%. Additionally, the optical properties of the photosensitive layer are compared for the cases of determining its complex refractive index by effective medium theory and the S-parameter retrieval method. A good agreement between the results is demonstrated, which encourages the use of the effective medium theory for preliminary calculations.


An interregional, large-scale linear programming model is used to evaluate the economic impact of the energy crisis on U.S. agricultural production. The study examines the changes in crop production under energy minimization, an energy shortage, high energy prices, and high agricultural exports accompanied by high energy prices. Results indicate that reduced supplies or higher prices for energy will have important impacts on commodity prices, irrigated agriculture, and on rural communities.


In order to study more thoroughly the refractive and structural changes associated with lid-suture myopia, five tree shrews were raised for approximately 16 weeks with monocular visual experience produced by lid closure. Four animals raised with normal laboratory visual experience served as a control group. Compared to the paired open eye, lid-sutured eyes were myopic (-12.1 +/- 6.3 diopters by retinoscopy), corneas were flatter (0.26 +/- 0.18 mm radius increase by photokeratometry) and axial lengths were greater (0.32 +/- 0.17 mm longer by A-scan ultrasonography). The axial length increase was due to elongation of the vitreous chamber (0.38 +/- 0.19 mm longer by A-scan ultrasonography). The open eyes of experimental animals were not significantly different than the normal eyes of control animals. Two of these treatment effects, namely, refractive state changes and axial length increases, were demonstrated with independent techniques: streak retinoscopy was compared to coincidence optometry, and A-scan ultrasound was compared to axial measurements of photographs of frozen, sectioned eyes. The three main ocular effects of eyelid closure were stable over three measurement sessions completed within a 4 week period. Additional refractive and A-scan measurements taken 7.5 months later showed no significant changes. Optical modelling showed that the observed myopia of the lid-sutured eye is consistent with the observed elongation of the vitreous chamber coupled with the flattened cornea although other changes could not be ruled out. We conclude that an axial myopia is produced reliably in tree shrews by raising them with eyelid closure and that the measurement techniques used in this study have sufficient resolution to study the development of myopia in this species.


This paper explores rural Brazilians' interpretations of and ethical reflections on political clientelism. Brazilian elites often regard the people of the dry hinterland (sertanejos) as lazy, politically apathetic, and prone to corrupting democratic elections through the sale of their votes. Here I argue that the sertanejos living in the northeastern state of Piauí practice a form of clientelism that entails an ethical distinction between degraded vote buying and morally upright electoral transactions with politicians. For the sertanejos of Piauí's interior, ethical electoral transactions do not corrupt democratic elections; they reverse the moral damage that elections themselves cause. Elections refigure socially embedded persons as numerical individuals destined to be added together as equal quanta of generic value. Ethical transactions reconstitute the voter's socially embedded personhood after the election has passed. However, rather than vindicating clientelism, this analysis draws attention to the social inequalities that prevent some people from practicing the ethical forms of political exchange. It therefore builds toward a standpoint for critiquing political clientelism that does not reproduce liberal idealizations of democratic citizenship.


Retinoscopy has, over the years, become increasingly accepted as a valuable technique. Most refractionists employ it regularly, each putting more or less emphasis on it according to the scheme of refraction he follows. Even the arguments concerning the name of the process have died away and, in this country, voices are rarely lifted to point out the fallacy of the term "retinoscopy" and to advance some more rational name such as "skiascopy" or "korescopy." Once more usage has triumphed over purism. In view of the great expenditure of time and effort made daily by refractionists plying retinoscopes, it is surprising that so little is written on the subject. Duke-Elder 1 characteristically gives an excellent presentation of the subject and indicates quite clearly the reasons for the alterations in speed of the reflex. He does not, however, set forth the equations which would allow one to calculate the speed. I shall


A randomized controlled trial was performed to study the effect of various teaching techniques on students performing sacroiliac motion palpation tests. This trial assessed the interexaminer reliability of interns in their final year at a chiropractic college, and compared their results prior to and following 1 year of clinical experience. The study also compared the intra- and interexaminer reliability of experienced clinicians. The results were analyzed via the Kappa coefficient. Kappa values for interns ranged from 0.00 to 0.30, with no significant differences noted at the end of 1 year of clinical experience. The interexaminer reliability of experienced clinicians was 0.00 to 0.167, whereas their intraexaminer reliability ranged from 0.15 to 1.00. These results question the role of experience in improving clinical accuracy between examiners performing sacroiliac motion palpation. Results analyzed for intraexaminer agreement were moderate to almost perfect. We conclude that experience does not play a significant role in the diagnostic test analyzed, but rather that clinicians may establish their own criteria by which to determine the standards of a given test.


In Brazilian medical education and in the general teaching of bioethics in Brazil, there is a recurrent debate about the best way to teach ethics and/or bioethics, and even about whether it is possible to do so. In part this is due to the growing concern in society about the necessity of physicians to be both technically and morally competent. The teaching of bioethics is distinguished from medical ethics in that it focuses on the rights and duties of the doctor and also by its multiand inter-disciplinary characteristics. The aim of the present study was to identify whether bioethics as a specific discipline is included in the curriculum of Brazilian undergraduate medical courses, and if so, how it is taught and what are its contents. The study found that the number of dedicated bioethics classes in medical courses has increased, and that the most frequently addressed issues are: an introduction to bioethics and principles of bioethics, the physician-patient relationship, abortion and euthanasia.


An imatinib controlled release film-forming system (FFS) was developed based on the drug ion-pair and newly designed oligomeric ionic liquids (OILs) for the topical therapy of cutaneous melanoma, which avoided the systemic side-effect of oral administration and maintained a long local therapy effect. The OILs significantly improved the drug release capacity about 1.5-fold, and the formability and stability of FFSs (verified by AFM/PLM). The in vivo anti-tumor efficacy studies in melanoma tumor bearing mice showed that compared with the oral capsules, the topical application of the optimized imatinib FFS significantly (p < 0.01) increased tumor inhibition rate (67.54 ± 2.72%) and the amount of apoptotic cells. As confirmed by FT-IR and NMR, the partial protonation of OILs were demonstrated to have high hydrogen bond forming capacity, thus showing low polarity and good biocompatibility. More importantly, based on ^13C-NMR study, OILs demonstrated higher hydrogen bond forming capacity, and formed bridge between drug ion-pair (O–H of counter-ion) and PVA (O–H), increased the molecular mobility of PVA, thus maintaining a long drug release capacity. Therefore, an imatinib FFS was developed with good therapeutic effect and the effect of drug ion-pair and OILs on increasing the drug skin retention and controlled release of imatinib FFS for topical therapy was clarified at the molecular level, which provided a safe and effective way for the treatment of cutaneous melanoma. Graphical Abstract


Evaluation of multiple community-based approaches to improve Latinas' breast cancer (BC) screening utilization has resulted in inconsistent findings. Factors contributing to this variation include heterogeneity in approaches (e.g., types of conceptual frameworks) and study quality (e.g., lack of measurement of spillover effects). This pilot study sought to clarify which approach may be most effective by evaluating the relative efficacy of two conceptual approaches using an area-level design with 145 Latinas nonadherent to U.S. Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF) BC screening guidelines. Each study arm included identical intervention format and duration (e.g., three group-based sessions, logistic assistance (LA) via five monthly calls and referral to free/low-cost screening programs). However, study content differed. While educate+LA addressed participants' BC prevention and screening behavior, empower+LA addressed participants' and their social networks' BC screening. After adjusting for age, insurance status, and baseline mammography intention, when compared with educate+LA participants, empower+LA participants were more likely to report obtaining mammograms, engaging more individuals about BC, initiating BC conversations in public settings, and discussing mammography specifically. Our study has important implications regarding the utility of evaluating behavioral interventions overall in terms of behavioral and spillover network effects.


In this paper, to improve the transmission ratio discontinuity problem during the gear shift process in the multi-gear fixed step ratio transmission of the tractors, a hydro-mechanical continuously variable transmission (HMCVT) for tractors is developed, which is composed of a single planetary gear differential train, a hydraulic transmission system consisted of the variable displacement pump (PV) and the fixed displacement motor (MF) and a multi-gear fixed step ratio transmission. Its stepless-speed-regulating characteristic, smooth range shifting condition and transmission efficiency are analyzed. The analytical results show that the tractors assembled with HMCVT can gain wide speed range and high transmission efficiency. There are eight high efficiency pure mechanical gears in the whole speed range, which is benefit to improve power and economic capabilities of vehicles.


Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been termed a "coronary disease equivalent", yet data suggest that only those DM subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS) are at increased coronary risk. Using data from the Dallas Heart Study, a large, probability-based population study, we assessed the individual and joint associations between MetS, DM and atherosclerosis, defined as coronary artery calcium (CAC) detected by electron-beam computerised tomography (EBCT) and abdominal aortic plaque (AAP) detected by magnetic resonance imaging. Among 2,735 participants, the median age was 44 years; 1,863 (68%) were non-white; 1,509 (55%) were women; 697 (25.5%) had MetS without DM; 53 (1.9%) had DM without MetS; and 246 (9.0%) had both DM and MetS. The prevalence of CAC increased from those with neither MetS nor DM (16.6%) to MetS only (24.0%) to DM only (30.2%) to both MetS and DM (44.7%) (ptrend <0.0001). The prevalence of CAC was higher in those with both DM and MetS versus either alone (p<0.0001). After adjustment, MetS and DM were each independently associated with CAC (odds ratio [OR] 1.4, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.1–1.8; OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3–2.5, respectively). Compared with the group without DM or MetS, those with both MetS and DM had the most CAC (adjusted OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.6–3.2). All analyses of AAP yielded qualitatively similar results. In conclusion, both MetS and DM are independently associated with an increased prevalence of atherosclerosis, with the highest observed prevalence in subjects with both DM and MetS.


Composite face sheets were prepared in order to attach with the Nomex® core honeycomb structure for the manufacturing of composite sandwich panels for aero space applications. Nano reinforcements including carbon nano tubes (CNTs) and nano diamonds (NDs) were reinforced in the epoxy matrix along with carbon fibers to fabricate composite face sheets. The micro-nano composites were characterized mechanically and micro structurally by tensile testing and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Uniform dispersion of both the nano-fillers was ensured by microscopic techniques. It was found that a uniform dispersion and distribution of nano reinforcement led to an increase in the mechanical performance of the composites.


Infertility is a dramatic and frequent side effect in women who are undergoing chemotherapy. Actual strategies are mainly focused on oocyte cryopreservation, but this is not always a suitable option. Considering the key role that granulosa cells play in follicle life, we studied whether thyroid hormone 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T(3)) protects rat ovarian granulosa cells from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. To this aim, a cell line was established from fresh isolated rat granulosa cells and named rGROV. Cells were exposed to paclitaxel (PTX) and T(3), and apoptosis, cell viability, and cell cycle distribution were analyzed under different conditions. First, the integrity of the steroidogenic pathway was demonstrated, and the presence of thyroid receptors, transporters, and deiodinases was confirmed by quantitative PCR. Cells were then exposed to PTX alone or contemporary to T(3). MTT and TUNEL assays revealed that while there was a relevant percentage of dying cells when exposed to PTX (40-60%), the percentage was sensibly reduced (20-30%) in favor of living cells if T(3) was present. Cell cycle analysis showed that cells exposed to PTX alone were first collected in G2 and then died by apoptosis; on the other hand, the T(3) granted the cells to cycle regularly and survive PTX insult. In addition, western blot and FCM analyses confirmed that caspases activation, casp 3 and Bax, were downregulated by T(3) and that Bcl2 and cyclins A and B together with cdk1 were upregulated by T(3). In conclusion, we demonstrated that thyroid hormone T(3) can counteract the lethal effect of taxol on granulosa cells.


Description/Abstract Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are reshaping many industries, often by reshaping how information is shared. Information intensive industries, by their nature, show the greatest impacts due to ICTs that enable information sharing and the bypassing of traditional information intermediaries. However, while the effects and uses of ICT are often associated with organizations (and industries), their use occurs at the individual level. In other words, it is changes to individual work related to the use of ICTs that reshape both organization and industry structures, and vice versa. To explore the relationships between individual uses of ICT and changes to organization and industry structures, we examined the residential real estate industry. Real estate is a revelatory industry for the study of ICT uses because it is information-intensive and realtors are information intermediaries between buyers and sellers. As agents, buyers and sellers increase their uses of ICT, they also change how they approach their daily work. We use structuration theory to provide an analytic perspective within this setting. Data reveal historical structures of this industry guiding the day-to-day work of agents, buyers and sellers. Many of these structures are embodied in a set of explicit contracts that reify existing structures and legitimize realtors' actions. However, the increasing uses of ICT are simultaneously altering industry structures by subverting some of the realtors' control over information while also reinforcing the existing contract-based structures. This structurational perspective and our findings help to explain why information intermediaries persist when technology-based perspectives would suggest their disappearance.


Intense convection (updrafts exceeding 10 m s−1) plays an essential role in severe weather and Earth's energy balance. Despite its importance, how the global pattern of intense convection changes in response to warmed climates remains unclear, as simulations from traditional climate models are too coarse to simulate intense convection. Here we use a kilometer‐scale global storm resolving model (GSRM) and conduct year‐long simulations of a control run, forced by analyzed sea surface temperature (SST), and one with a 4 K increase in SST. Comparisons show that the increased SST enhances the frequency of intense convection globally with large spatial and seasonal variations. Changes in the spatial pattern of intense convection are associated with changes in planetary circulation. Increases in the intense convection frequency do not necessarily reflect increases in convective available potential energy. The GSRM results are also compared with previously published traditional climate model projections.


The commercial nano-sized TiO2 powder (P25) was immobilized on foamed waste-glass substrates by using the plasma spraying technology. The immobilized TiO2 coatings were applied to treat both the green tide and the red tide under illumination of an UV light. Their photocatalytic characterizations were evaluated as functions of the number of residual algae, transmission as well as pH value with illumination time. It was found that the plasma sprayed nano-TiO2 coatings on foamed waste-glass show a higher photocatalytic activity, which was effective to treat the green tide and the red tide.


Soybean lectin was purified from seeds of Glycine max L.Merrill SA88. Poly(hydroxypropyl methacrylate-glycidyl methacrylate) [poly(HPMA-GMA)] beads were used as an affinity matrix and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (GalNAc) was used as an affinity ligand. Soybean lectin adsorption with GalNAc attached poly(HPMA-GMA) beads from soybean lectin solution (in phosphate buffered saline) was 5.0 mg/g. Maximum adsorption capacity for soybean lectin from the soy flour extract was 26.0 mg/g. Elution of soybean lectin from adsorbent was accomplished by 0.5M galactose solution. Purity of soybean lectin was determined by SDS-PAGE. It was observed that soybean lectin could be repeatedly adsorbed and desorbed with GalNAc-attached poly(HPMA-GMA) beads. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009


This paper reports the findings of a study identifying the experiences of gay and lesbian adopters and foster-carers in England and Wales. Qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty-four lesbians and gay men who had undertaken any part of the adoption or fostering application process since the implementation of the Adoption and Children Act of 2002. The study suggests that, whilst increasing numbers of lesbians and gay men are accessing fostering and adoption services, gender and sexuality are still problematic areas of contestation within this context. As a result, participants were required to present themselves to assessing professionals in distinct ways, in order to be recognised as 'legitimate' in their applications. Using the concept of 'displaying family', this paper illustrates the ways in which sexuality can complicate such displays, as they fall outside prevailing cultural and familial scripts. However, taking an intersectional perspective, this paper will also demonstrate that this was dependent upon the complex subjectivities of each participant. Finally, it will analyse what this means for the assessment of gay and lesbian adopters and foster-carers, and how social workers can respond to both individual identities and diverse family forms.


Oxidative stress and LDL modification (oxLDL) are early pro-atherogenic events. OxLDL binds β2GPI producing immunogenic oxLDL/β2GPI complexes. Antibodies to these complexes have been associated with arterial thrombosis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Circulating oxLDL/β2GPI complexes, IgG and IgM antibodies to these complexes were measured by ELISA in 30 SLE patients asymptomatic for cardiovascular disease (mean age 31 years) and 27 age/sex matched healthy controls. Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured by ultrasound in all patients and controls. Forty-seven percent of SLE presented plaques (median IMT of 0.65 ± 0.12 mm) while only 7% of the controls had plaques (median IMT of 0.50 ± 0.04 mm, P < 0.001). Median optical density (OD450nm) for oxLDL/β2GPI complexes in SLE was 0.244 ± 0.07, higher than controls (0.174 ± 0.09, P < 0.001). Median OD for IgG anti-oxLDL/β2GPI antibodies was also higher in SLE (0.297 ± 0.26) compared to controls (0.194 ± 0.07, P < 0.001) while the median OD for IgM antibodies in SLE (0.444 ± 0.46) was not different than controls (0.326 ± 0.22, P = 0.267). There was no correlation between IMT and oxLDL/β2GPI complexes, IgG or IgM antibodies, possibly reflecting the complex interrelationship between these serologic elements and tissue factors in the arterial wall. These results support the hypothesis that oxLDL/β2GPI complexes and IgG (not IgM) anti-oxLDL/β2GPI antibodies contribute to the development of autoimmune-mediated atherosclerosis


One method by which to identify fundamental biological processes that may contribute to age-related disease and disability, instead of disease-specific processes, is to construct endophenotypes comprising linear combinations of physiological measures. Applying factor analyses methods to phenotypic data (2006-2009) on 28 traits representing 5 domains (cognitive, cardiovascular, metabolic, physical, and pulmonary) from 4,472 US and Danish individuals in 574 pedigrees from the Long Life Family Study (United States and Denmark), we constructed endophenotypes and assessed their relationship with mortality. The most dominant endophenotype primarily reflected the physical activity and pulmonary domains, was heritable, was significantly associated with mortality, and attenuated the association of age with mortality by 24.1%. Using data (1997-1998) on 1,794 Health, Aging and Body Composition Study participants from Memphis, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we obtained strikingly similar endophenotypes and relationships to mortality. We also reproduced the endophenotype constructs, especially the dominant physical activity and pulmonary endophenotype, within demographic subpopulations of these 2 cohorts. Thus, this endophenotype construct may represent an underlying phenotype related to aging. Additional genetic studies of this endophenotype may help identify genetic variants or networks that contribute to the aging process.


This paper studies a robust maritime inventory routing problem with time windows and stochastic travel times. One of the novelties of the problem is that the length and placement of the time windows are also decision variables. Such problems arise in the design and negotiation of long-term delivery contracts with customers who require on-time deliveries of high-value goods throughout the year. We formulate the problem as a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer program and propose a two-phase solution approach that considers a sample set of disruptions as well as their recovery solutions. In the first phase, we introduce two planning strategies to generate robust routes in which time buffers are spread among deliveries and consecutive deliveries at a port are separated by at least some minimum number of periods. In the second phase, we propose a multi-scenario construction heuristic to obtain good feasible solutions. Computational results reveal that our integrated solution procedure with judicious placement of time buffers and committed time windows leads to robust solutions that are less vulnerable to unplanned disruptions and have lower expected costs.


Introduces the notion of a dynamic expert system. Shows that by restarting a static expert system periodically it is possible to cope with dynamic environments. This quasi‐static approach to dynamics is suitable if the environment is changing slowly enough in comparison with the inference engine operation and the user reaction time. Implementation of this scheme in "pure" shell meets no difficulties. However, in practice some problems may occur due to the side‐effects in rules and attached procedures. These problems and their relation to classical AI issues are considered in detail. The system was applied to the task of seismology forecast, which contains dynamical factors of both a precise and a heuristic nature. The resulting dynamic expert system never stops, occasionally interrogating the user if it suspects that some of the previously entered data are obsolete. In this sense the computer system behaves as a "live creature".


The complex EAS installation of the Tien Shan mountain cosmic ray station which is situated at a height of 3340 m above sea level includes the scintillation and Cherenkov detectors of charged shower particles, an ionization calorimeter and a set of neutron detectors for registering the hadronic component of the shower, and a number of underground detectors of the penetrative EAS component. Now it is intended to expand this installation with a promising method for detecting the radio-emission generated by the particles of the developing shower. The facility for radio-emission detection consists of a three crossed dipole antennae, one being set vertically, and another two – mutually perpendicularly in a horizontal plane, all of them being connected to a three-channel radio-frequency amplifier of German production. By the passage of an extensive air shower, which is defined by a scintillation shower detector system, the output signal of antenna amplifier is digitized by a fast multichannel DT5720 ADC of Italian production, and kept within computer memory. The further analysis of the detected signal anticipates its operation according to a special algorithm and a search for the pulse of radio-emission from the shower. A functional test of the radio-installation is made with artificial signals which imitate those of the shower, and with the use of a N1996A type wave analyzer of Agilent Technologies production. We present preliminary results on the registration of extensive air shower emission at the Tien Shan installation which were collected during test measurements held in Summer 2016.


Sub-micrometer spherical particles can be synthesized by irradiating particles in a liquid with a pulsed laser (pulse width: 10 ns). In this method, all of the laser energy is supposed to be spent on particle heating because nanosecond heating is far faster than particle cooling. To study the cooling effect, sub-micrometer spherical particles are fabricated by using a pulsed laser with longer pulse widths (50 and 70 ns). From the increase in the laser-fluence threshold for sub-micrometer spherical particle formation with increasing pulse width, it is concluded that the particles dissipate heat to the surrounding liquid, even during several tens of nanoseconds of heating. A particle heating-cooling model considering the cooling effect is developed to estimate the particle temperature during laser irradiation. This model suggests that the liquid surrounding the particles evaporates, and the generated vapor films suppress heat dissipation from the particles, resulting in efficient heating and melting of the particles in the liquid. In the case of small particle sizes and large pulse widths, the particles dissipate heat to the liquid without forming such vapor films.


The authors carries out as study in São Carlos SP (Brazil) in order to evaluate the food supplementary program; which has been running in the Municipal Health Centre, since 1985. This program is regarded as one of the under nutrition control measures. It was reviewed the notes of all children, under five years followed in the Municipal Health Centres. Using some specific criteria, 163 children were included in this study. They were divided in subgroups according to the type of nutritional Supplementation. It was observed that nutritional supplementation had not been able to modify the nutritional figure, as an isolated undernutrition control measures.


This thesis reports the findings of a research project on the quality of participatory youth research, as well as the development of a quality framework related to the method. Participatory youth research involves young people as researchers. The method has been applied in the Netherlands since the 1990s on an increasingly regular basis. Stakeholders initiated discussions about the quality of the research method, however, no quality framework has been in place for the purpose of evaluating participatory youth research, while the diversity of its goals and the methods that had been developed has made the formulation of clear quality criteria difficult. Still, the development of a quality framework is important because participatory youth research often becomes young peoples' first experience of participation, because ethical issues play a role and because policy decisions can be made based on research results. In order to gain insight into the quality of participatory youth research, a concept quality framework has been developed and subsequently been applied to case studies. Seven cases, from the period between 1996 and 2006, have been researched and have been analysed vertically (as per case) and horizontally (as per quality aspect). These analyses have indicated that the existence of different goals and the implicit strategies used to position participatory youth research have led to varying expectations amongst those involved. As a result, different criteria have been used to judge the quality of participatory youth research and objectives have not been achieved from the perspective of those involved, precisely due to the involvement of young people. The contradiction in goals has been called the participatory youth research paradigm-split. The conclusion has been reached that it is important to identify a clear theoretical base according to which participatory youth research can be evaluated. Dewey's pragmatic, action theoretical perspective offers this. In his works, Dewey developed ideas on knowledge creation and research, enabling the integration of knowledge-, influence- and education objectives. The application of the action theoretical perspective both in theory and in practice has illustrated the way in which pivotal concepts of the action theoretical perspective - concepts such as 'democratic knowledge creation' , 'growth' and 'warranted assertions' – can be identified in a participatory youth research performed on young people and financial liabilities. This application has also provided information about the design of a participatory youth research quality framework from an action theoretical perspective. The quality framework and tools to determine quality have subsequently been developed. The first tool is a list of points of interest for the benefit of participatory youth researchers and policymakers. The list can also be used to evaluate participatory youth research. The aim of the second tool, the participatory youth research statement, has been to communicate with young people. It is flexible in design and aims to bring across the message in words and through actions. Thirdly, the participatory youth research evaluation list offers young participants the opportunity to evaluate participatory youth research.