Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common devastating neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease. The precise molecular and cellular basis underlying PD still remains uncertain; however, accumulating evidence suggests that neuronal cell death is caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Over the previous two decades, more than 20 genes have been identified as the cause of and/or risk for PD. Because sporadic and familial forms of PD have many similarities in clinical and neuropathological features, common molecular pathways, such as aberrant mitochondrial and protein homeostasis, are likely to exist in both conditions. Of the various genes and proteins involved in PD, the versatile DnaJ/Hsp40 co-chaperones have attracted particular attention since several genes encoding this protein family have been successively identified as the cause of the familial forms of PD/Parkinsonism. In this review, we will introduce the current knowledge regarding the integratory and modulatory effect of DnaJ/Hsp40 in various cellular functions and argue how the failure of these proteins may initiate and/or facilitate of the disease.


Abstract. 3D LiDAR point cloud obtained from the laser scanner is too dense and contains millions of points with information. For such huge volume of data to be sorted, identified, validated and be used for prediction, data mining provides immense scope and has been used to achieve the same. Certain unique attributes were selected as an input for creating models through machine learning. Supervised models were thus built for prediction of classes through the available LiDAR data using random forest algorithm. The algorithm was chosen owing to its efficiency and accuracy over other data mining algorithms. The models created using random forest were then tested on an unclassified point cloud data of an urban area. The method shows promising results in terms of classification accuracy as overall accuracy of 91.71 % was achieved for pixel-based classification. The method also displays enhanced efficiency over common classification algorithms as the time taken to make predictions about the data is reduced considerably for a set of dense LiDAR data. This shows positive foresight of making use of data mining and machine learning to handle large volume of LiDAR data and can go a long way in augmenting efficient processing of LiDAR data.


The aim of this research study was to explore the experience of managers, and specifically engineers at a steel manufacturing company, of a brain-based coaching model. Coaching's origins can be traced back to a variety of fields including psychology, change management, training and adult learning. Many people argue that coaching is 'heart based' as opposed to being more analytical and scientific. This caused some confusion with the researcher. However, during his studies towards a Master's degree in Philosophy (MPhil) in Management Coaching, he was introduced to neuroscience and the role it has played in the emergence of a new field called brainbased coaching. The fact that one could scientifically explain why the brain needs coaching and that coaching can help the brain improve its functioning, appealed so much to the researcher that he wanted to expand his knowledge of the subject. Selecting a sample group that was made up only of engineers who had participated in a training programme with the focus on brain-based coaching, provided the perfect platform from where to study the phenomenon and to discover how the engineers, who are academically trained, are analytical and who, by their very nature, prefer scientific evidence-based research, perceive a brain-based coaching model. It was also important to try and establish what they believed the benefits and possible applications are of the model and whether they think it can be used to improve performance and lift motivation and engagement. The results were positive, but it revealed more; it explained how the experience created awareness and led to a change in behaviour and thinking – not just at work, but also in their personal lives. These findings provide more knowledge about the potential that a brain-based approach has for managers and leaders as a development tool. It also gives some comfort that we do not have to continue doing and thinking about things the way we have always done; we have a choice and this approach gives us an insight into how to exercise that choice.


Blood flow properties in the heart can be examined non invasively by means of Phase Contrast MRI (PC MRI), an imaging technique that provides not only morphology images but also velocity information. We present a novel feature combination for level set segmentation of the heart's cavities in multidirectional 4D PC MRI data. The challenge in performing the segmentation task successfully in this context is first of all the bad image quality, as compared to classical MRI. As generally in heart segmentation, the intra and inter subject variability of the heart has to be coped with as well. The central idea of our approach is to integrate a set of essentially differing sources of information into the segmentation process to make it capable of handling qualitatively bad and highly varying data. To the best of our knowledge our system is the first to concurrently incorporate a flow measure as well as a priori shape knowledge into a level set framework in addition to the commonly used edge and curvature information. The flow measure is derived from PC MRI velocity data. As shape knowledge we use a 3D shape of the respective cavity. We validated our system design by a series of qualitative performance tests. The combined use of shape knowledge and a flow measure increases segmentation quality compared to results obtained by using only one of those features. A first clinical study was performed on two 4D datasets, from which we segmented the left ventricle and atrium. The segmentation results were examined by an expert and judged suitable for use in clinical practice.


This article examines the relationship between humans and nature in Franz Grillparzer's Melusina (1823). In contrast to the hunting forest, the aristocracy's playground, untamed nature appears as a largely inaccessible and frequently hostile 'otherworld,' populated by mythological animals, such as the White Stag and the nymph, and comprised of topical places, such as the locus amoenus. Grillparzer uses nature elements integral to medieval tales of the Mahrtenehe and to early modern and romantic tales of Melusina—such as the hunting forest, the medieval wilder walt, as well as the locus amoenus and locus terribilis—to present his audience with a new view of nature. Most importantly, the nymph Melusina herself becomes the symbol and voice of untamed nature. Although impossible to control, nature can still become a victim of civilization. In the successful relationship between Raimund and Melusina Grillparzer demonstrates that the dichotomy between civilization and untamed nature can be overcome if humans accept nature on its own terms, much as the lover Raimund comes to accept Melusina. Raimund's changed view of Melusina is a reflection of the growing movement to value and protect the natural world and thus of the emerging Naturschutzbewegung in 19th century Germany and Austria. (DH; in German)


Executive Summary Worldwide, animal welfare investigations result in the discovery of commercial farming operations where large numbers of animals are suffering requiring quick and humane euthanasia. These events called "depopulation" operations are likely to be a traumatic experience for the personnel involved. In 2008, 13 Animal Welfare Investigation students voluntarily participated in a depopulation operation carried out by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA), performing manual euthanasia, involving a mass number of poultry (5000 chickens) conducted to mitigate current and future suffering. Questionnaire evaluation of the psychological and physical effects experienced as a result of participating in this depopulation operation was conducted. The majority of students had an experience where the euthanasia technique used did not effectively kill the chicken (77%). 62% indicated that having leather gloves, a broiler suit and a mask was helpful in detaching themselves from the situation. During the operation the following physical and emotional symptoms were experienced (moderateextreme); emotionally switched off (77%), anger (62%), sweating (53%), physical pain (53%), disgust (46%), extreme shaking (38%), grief (38%) and had difficulty eating lunch (38%). 69% did not find that the euthanasing of the birds become easier throughout the day. 85% now view chickens differently, however none regretted participating in the operation. The majority (88%) felt that the blame for the mass euthanasia lay with the farmer and that they were "helping the animals". During the first few days following the operation 62% experienced intrusive memories and flashbacks (moderate-extreme). Some students continued to experience emotional responses 4 months and 12 months post the operation however this was only in one or two cases.


This paper presents a mathematical expression of the chip junction temperature in terms of chip spatial location and size for effective thermal characterization of ball grid array (BGA) typed multichip modules (MCMs). It is created through the integration of the finite element (FE) analysis and the response surface methods (RSMs) that introduce an approximation of the chip junction temperature in the form of a global response surface. In place of FE simulations, the global response surface is then used to effectively characterize the thermal performance of MCMs, and facilitate the thermal management and the finding of the optimal thermal design of MCMs. To create a set of response data, a rigorous three-dimensional (3D) FE modeling of the MCM package is first established for thermal analysis. The surface loads of the FE model for the heat conduction problems are described by using existing heat transfer (HT) coefficient correlation models. The validity of the proposed FE modeling is substantiated by both the IR thermography-based thermal characterization (IRTTC) approach and the thermal test die measurement based on joint electron device engineering council (JEDEC) specification under a natural convection environment. The uncertainty of the specific power supply applied in the study and the thermal test die measurement is also analyzed. To demonstrate the proposed methodology, two types of MCM thermal design problems are fulfilled, each of which corresponds to a different chip layout. It turns out that the mathematical expression could not only effectively define the relation of the thermal performance and design parameters but also highlight their combinatorial effect.


Maximum power point tracking efficiency and dynamic performance of any maximum power point tracking algorithms play a vital role in grid-connected PV systems. This paper deals with an improved perturb and observe maximum power point tracking algorithm capable of enhancing the steady state and transient behavior. Selecting optimized perturbations parameters are achieved through analyzing the transient behavior of perturb and observe method. This algorithm is performed using an interface DC-DC boost converter. MATLAB/Simulink environment is used for simulating a 8.1 Kw grid-connected Photovoltaic systems and verified algorithm expected merits. Keywords—grid-connected PV systems; Maximum power point tracking; perturb and observe.


This reported work demonstrates the use of convex optimisation to localise the transverse magnetic B + 1 field in regions of interest for recently proposed multi-sectioned alternating impedance coils and the traditional transmission line coil. An approach based on different axial slices to identical radio frequency (RF) coils except upper stripline structure is investigated. Electromagnetic simulation results are compared for RF coils and discussed in detail at 7.0 T.


Methadone is a long-acting opioid medication that is used as maintenance therapy for heroin addiction. We present a case of a patient on methadone maintenance therapy for chronic back pain who developed neurological complications. The patient presented with mental status changes and choreiform movements. Workup revealed lesions involving the subcortical white matter and basal ganglia. Choreiform movements improved after the initiation of treatment with topiramate, clonazepam, and risperidone. This combination was chosen as several prior case reports published significant benefit and improvement in choreiform movements with the mentioned regimen.


Studies conducted in Western countries document the special role of mother-infant face-to-face exchanges for early emotional development including social smiling. A few cross-cultural studies have shown that the Western pattern of face-to-face communication is absent in traditional rural cultures, without identifying other processes that promote emotional Co-regulation. The present study compared three different samples: Western middle-class families in Italy, rural traditional Nso farmer families in Cameroon, and West African sub-Saharan immigrant families in Italy using biweekly observations of 20 mother-infant dyads from each cultural context from age 4 to 12 weeks. Longitudinal sequential analysis of maternal and infant behaviors showed that from as early as 4 weeks, in Italian dyads maternal affectionate talking is linked with infant active attention to mother in sequences of face-to-face contact; this link fosters the subsequent emergence of infant smiling/cooing, and then sequences of positive feedback between infant and maternal emotional expressions that, by the 3rd month, dynamically stabilize. In contrast, for Cameroonian/Nso dyads over the 2nd and 3rd month, maternal motor stimulation marked by rhythmic vocalizing is linked with infant active attention to surroundings. The relatively few smiling/cooing actions of Nso babies at their mothers were answered mainly with tactile stimulation that did not foster the maintenance of face-to-face visual contact. Finally, West African immigrant dyads showed a combination of both face-to-face and sensorimotor coregulated exchanges observed in their new and native cultures. These findings suggest that emotional Co-regulation in early infancy can occur via multiple, culture-specific pathways that may be substantially different from the western pattern of face-to-face communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


Emerging embedded applications lack of a specific standard when they require floating-point arithmetic. In this situation they use the IEEE-754 standard or ad hoc variations of it. However, this standard was not designed for this purpose. This paper aims to open a debate to define a new extension of the standard to cover embedded applications. In this work, we only focus on the impact of not performing normalization. We show how eliminating the condition of normalized numbers, implementation costs can be dramatically reduced, at the expense of a moderate loss of accuracy. Several architectures to implement addition and multiplication for non-normalized numbers are proposed and analyzed. We show that a combined architecture (adder-multiplier) can halve the area and power consumption of its counterpart IEEE-754 architecture. This saving comes at the cost of reducing an average of about 10 dBs the Signal-to-Noise Ratio for the tested algorithms. We think these results should encourage researchers to perform further investigation in this issue.


A newly formed bond of organic carbamato–carbonato emerged upon bubbling CO2 in a low molecular weight chitosan hydrochloride oligosaccharide CS·HCl/DMSO binary mixture. The aforementioned bond was detected and confirmed using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, with two prominent peaks at 1551 cm−1 and 1709 cm−1 corresponding to ionic organic alkylcarbonate (RCO3−) and carbamate (RNH–CO2− NH3+–R), respectively. 1H–, 13C–, and 1H–15N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR experiments were also employed. According to 13C NMR, two newly emerged peaks at 157.4 ppm and 161.5 ppm attributed for the carbonyl carbon within the sequestered species RCO3− and RNH–CO2− NH3+–R, respectively. Upon CO2 bubbling, cross peaks obtained from 1H–15N HSQC at 84.7 and 6.8 ppm correlated to the ammonium counterpart chemical shift bound to the proton resonances. Volumetric uptake of CO2 was measured using an ATR-FTIR autoclave equipped with a silicon probe. The equilibrium sorption capacity was 0.6 and 0.2 bars through the formation of RCO3− and RNH–CO2− NH3+–R, respectively. Moreover, physisorption by the dried DMSO contributed to additional 0.4 bars. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations supported the occurrence of the suggested dual mechanisms and confirmed the formation of carbonate at C-6 of the glucosamine co-monomer. Moreover, CS·HCl/DMSO showed a slight impact on cell proliferation after 48 hours; this was a clear evidence of its non-toxicity. The biodegradation test revealed that a degradation of about 80% of CS·HCl/DMSO was achieved after 33 days; these results indicated that this method is suitable for green industry. CS·HCl/DMSO showed modest activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. In addition, CS·HCl/DMSO demonstrated a significant antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus in comparison with Fluconazole.


This paper examines leadership as a theme in works of visual art. It begins by identifying some key theoretical issues that arise in the artistic depiction of leadership, especially in comparison to the depiction of leadership through the verbal medium of literature. The paper builds on some earlier studies of the depiction of leadership in art by describing the challenges, limitations, and advantages of studying that depiction from the dual perspectives of art history and of leadership studies, and links the above issues to the analysis of leadership in specific works of art.


Background and objectives
Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain one of the groups with the highest HIV prevalence in the UK. The goal of this study is to help inform appropriate health policy by investigating the contribution to HIV transmission of various MSM subgroups and estimating the impacts of alternative HIV control measures. The future course of the epidemic is also projected.
Methods
Research questions were addressed through the use of rigorous data analysis and a partnership-based HIV transmission model that takes into account key MSM and HIV heterogeneities and intervention effects. The model was fitted and validated against the observed data and reported estimates of various types. Sensitivity analyses were conducted throughout the study to assess the effects of parameter uncertainty.
Results
Without additional interventions, the estimated 44,000 UK MSM living with HIV in 2013 could increase to around 52,000 men by the end of the decade, with around 2,400 new infections each year. The key group sustaining HIV transmission was the higher-sexual activity MSM aged below 35 years living with undiagnosed asymptomatic HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with 44% efficacy and 100% coverage would prevent approximately 10,000 cases (59% of total incidence) over 2014–2020. Simultaneously offering PrEP, expanding HIV testing, and initiating a test-and-treat programme in 25% of different target populations could save around 7,400 UK MSM from HIV. An extreme increase in unsafe sex and number of sexual partners would greatly reduce the incidence reduction but is unlikely to completely negate the prevention benefit.
Conclusion
Increasing HIV testing uptake should remain the core of the national HIV/AIDS strategy, but a combination of HIV prevention interventions are also necessary to enhance the overall performance of HIV control measures. Combining a program to expand HIV testing with other novel interventions, such as test-and-treat and PrEP, has a great potential to save thousands of UK MSM from HIV and become the key HIV prevention initiatives in the UK.


PURPOSE: Costs of productivity loss for the Federal Republic of Germany attributable to smoking in 1999 was to be determined. METHODS: Mortality and morbidity attributable to smoking is determined by a 0.5 % sample of the smoking behaviour of the German population (microcensus 1999) and the relative mortality risks of smokers (US-American cancer prevention study II). Tobacco smoke-associated cancer illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory tract diseases and illnesses of children under one year are considered. Calculation of the productivity-relevant consequences of smoking due to morbidity and mortality is effected according to the so-called human potential capital method. RESULTS: In Germany total of 607,393 working years were lost because of smoking in the year 1999. The costs of productivity loss are estimated at 14,480 billion euro. From this 4,525 billion euro are allotted to premature mortality, 5.759 billion euro to permanent disablement and 4.196 billion euro to temporary incapacitation for work. If the costs of productivity loss by smoking are referred to the gross national product (BSP) in the year 1999, an economical damage at a value of 0.74 % of BSPs results. This corresponds to a productivity loss of 379 euro per present or former smoker. The sensitivity analysis manifests that the inclusion of "non-marketable production" results in an immense rise productivity losses attributable to smoking. However, it should be noted that in times of mass unemployment the human capital method which is based on full employment does not measure the actual, but only the potential productivity loss cost. CONCLUSIONS: This partial disease cost study shows that immense economic productivity losses are associated with smoking. This loss of resources can justify a purposeful promotion of studies regarding cost effectiveness of anti-smoking therapeutic measures or preventive measures against smoking. But it should be considered that the use of the human potential capital method results in an overestimation of the actual productivity losses by smoking. In future the costs of productivity losses attributable to smoking should be determined by the friction cost method. With this procedure a more realistic estimation of productivity-relevant costs of smoking is possible.


University of Oregon firstname.lastname@example.com The purpose of this study was to use an appembedded survey to profile language learner demographics. A total of 3,759 efl language learners from primarily eight l1 backgrounds (French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Thai) responded to the survey embedded within a popular English grammar app. This app has over 500,000 downloads and over 100,000 active users. The results, significantly, showed respondents self-assessed their ability, overwhelmingly, as beginner or elementary. The data also highlighted differences in user segment size according to gender, age, and l1, as well as more nuanced patterns influenced by possible culture and gender roles. Finally, the survey data pointed towards likely areas of future demographic mobile assisted language learning (mall) growth. While presently there is very little concrete research on autonomous mobile language learning, due to the difficulty of gathering language app data from learners not tethered to a classroom or instructor, it is hoped that this research will provide a methodological foundation for more in-depth research into learner habits and preferences.


Objectives A statute enacted in 2005 modified the legislative framework of the rights of terminally ill persons in France. Ten years after the EURONIC study, which described the self-reported practices of neonatal caregivers towards ethical decision-making, a new study was conducted to assess the impact of the new law in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and compare the results reported by EURONIC with current practices. Setting and design The study was carried out in the same two NICU as in the EURONIC qualitative study. A third centre was added to increase the sample size. From February to October 2007, 19 physicians and 17 nurses participated in semistructured interviews very similar to those for EURONIC. Content analysis identified the recurring themes emerging from the interviews. Results Compared with the EURONIC results, the caregivers reported that they pay greater attention to the views of parents and provided respectful support to the neonates when life-sustaining treatment is withdrawn. Active termination of life has become exceptional. The possibility of withdrawal of treatment, the administration of sedatives to control pain even at the risk of hastening death, the emphasis on sparing parents the burden of decision, and the relative ignorance of the law were very similar to the EURONIC findings. Conclusion Both the medical and the legal regulation of practices has allowed more dialogue with the parents and more humane care for dying newborns. A new European study is necessary to investigate the possible changes in practices and attitudes also in other countries.


This article purpose finds what is "the Wesleyan synthesis," and will also briefly revisit the much-discussed Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Wesley effectively combined in thought and practice these five elements, namely: (1) Divine sovereignty and human freedom, (2) Doctrine and experience, (3) Experience and structure, (4) Charismatic and institutional elements, and (5) Present and future salvation. This article argues that this synthesis is powerful, but also that it is biblical. In fact, the reason this synthesis is powerful is that it faithfully embodies the revealed truth of Scripture. The results of the Wesleyan synthesis are drawing three general conclusions. First, Wesley's theology was broader and more profound than has often been realized. Second, Wesley's theology can help us develop a biblical understanding of culture and culture change. Third, Wesley's theology is thus an open invitation to continue to develop a theology of church, mission, and culture that is profoundly biblical and sharply relevant to the present age.


The first part of this article theorises predatory governance in general and acmes some exceptions to the process. Subsequently, it reviews the characteristics of predatory governance literature in Africa and East Asia with emphasis on Uganda and Indonesia. The study shows how leaders utilise state resources and institutions for their self-interest and exclude the masses or tax payers who sustain such regimes. We show that, the extent to which regimes, influence policies on the general population politically or otherwise, creates inequality, poverty, unemployment, and bad governance. We, therefore, theorise that predatory governance is hinged on the idea that the state usually has limited capacity to protect citizen rights, the political and socio-economic spaces are usually controlled by the elites either through coercion, corruption or the use of violence. The impact of predatory governance and the developmental state as an approach for economic development has been discussed and we observe practical realities of vote-buying to win elections being a common practice in Uganda and Indonesia. In this understanding, both case scenarios portray an image of predatory behaviour. The study utilised secondary data to evaluate what predatory governance, its characteristics and impact. Findings show that predatory governance affects economic outcomes of a country, produces corruption, violence, nepotism, poverty, unemployment and shrinking democratic space and deficiencies to name but few.


4-1BB, a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) superfamily, is induced on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells upon engagement of the T cell receptor (TCR)/ CD3 complex with the antigen bound to MHC. 4-1BB plays an important role in transmitting costimulatory signal during T cell activation. However, 4-1BB-mediatded signal transduction pathways have remained elusive. We conducted the yeast two-hybrid screening to identify intracellular signaling molecules that associate with 4-1BB. A novel leucine-rich repeat (LRR)-containing protein, herein named LRR-1, was found to specifically interact with the cytoplasmic domain of 4-1BB. Overexpression of LRR-1 suppressed the activation of NF-KB induced by 4-1BB or TNF receptor-associated factor (TRAF) 2. In addition, LRR-1 down-regulated JNK1 activity was induced by 4-1BB. These results indicate that LRR-1 negatively regulates the 4-1BB-mediated signaling cascades which result in the activation of NF-kappaB and JNK1.


Precipitation samples have been gathered using recipients that differentiate the dry deposition of the humidity in three stations in Spain: one urban (Madrid) and two at base levels (San Pablo de los Montes and Granada). The study is centred on the components of an acid character, for which significant special variations of the sulphate and nitrate concentrations have been obtained. The levels, highest in Madrid and lowest in San Pablo, show the influence of the emitting focal points. A study of the seasonal variations in San Pablo show that the concentrations in summer are more than double than those in winter, probably due to the intervention of the photochemical formation processes of these contaminants. Also studies of humidity deposition are carried out, from which one can observe greater monthly values that are greater in Madrid than in other stations, in spite of having less rainfall. Likewise, episodes of "acid rain" and "red rain" are commented on.


A dynamical analysis is conducted on a representative volume element of a periodic continuous structure. It is proven that the internal part attached to the frame is not constrained to periodic propagation conditions according to a finite element formulation. Hence a periodic structure in 2-D plane with a dynamic absorber in each element can be well designed to block the propagation of elastic waves in specific frequency domains, known as band gap around prescribed frequencies. To overcome the limit of linear vibrating internal structures we introduce an inclusion with geometrical nonlinearities which exhibits a nonlinear localized oscillation since the excitation frequency falls in the neighborhood of one-third of the main resonance frequency, known as subharmonic resonance. A combined configuration is taken as an example including clamp-clamp beams in rectangular periodic frame. According to the band structures and derivation, the designed structure can filter out waves at frequencies lower than fundamental resonance frequency of internal structure, which means the mechanism based on subharmonic resonance may enhance the functions for mechanical wave filtering and further energy harvesting. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/133


Abstract Sign language test development is a relatively new field within sign linguistics, motivated by the practical need for assessment instruments to evaluate language development in different groups of learners (L1, L2). Due to the lack of research on the structure and acquisition of many sign languages, developing an assessment instrument poses methodological challenges to test developers. Existing sign language tests use information and communication technologies (ICT) to different degrees for test delivery, for example Web-based tests or an application that is installed locally on a computer's hard drive. In order to gain an overview of the state of the art with respect to the delivery of sign language tests and the advantages/disadvantages that test developers see in the usage of ICT related to sign language tests, an international survey was launched (N = 19). The survey was distributed using the online survey tool LimeSurvey. The results of this exploratory study provide a first overview of issues related to the usage of ICT for sign language test delivery and indicate that some issues are comparable to those faced by computer-/Web-delivered tests for spoken languages, whereas others are sign language specific. For the future more research is needed to explore the potentials and challenges of ICT for sign language test development.


BACKGROUND
There is still a lack of evidence focusing on primary care supply in developing countries where the educational achievement of primary care practitioners is relatively low.

OBJECTIVES
By using a nationally representative longitudinal and prospective cohort study, this study examined whether primary care supply, measured by the availability and the number of community health centres (CHCs), was associated with 4-year mortality risk among community-dwelling participants aged 45 and above in urban China.

METHODS
Using the 2011 and 2015 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS), we conducted a longitudinal mixed-level logistic analysis to study the impact of the availability and the number of CHC on 4-year follow-up mortality risk, after adjusting community- and individual-level covariates.

RESULTS
Individuals living in communities with CHC were 31% less likely to die during the 4-year follow-up (P < 0.05) conditional on community-level characteristics, including the basic facilities availability, population size and physical area, and individuals' socio-demographic and health characteristics and health behaviours. Also, an increased number of community-level CHC was shown to decrease residents' 4-year mortality risk significantly (odds ratio = 0.82, P < 0.05). Furthermore, the association was more pronounced among adults aged 65 and above.

CONCLUSION
This study provides additional evidence of the health-promoting effect of primary care supply among urban residents in China. Improving primary care coverage in China should be necessary to improve health care access, thus promoting population health.


This study investigates the effect of entrepreneurs' managerial competencies on the development of innovative start-up intentions among university students and examines the mediating roles of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and attitude toward start-ups. Data were collected from several universities in Iran that offer entrepreneurship courses. To analyse the relationship among the variables, a confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation modelling were applied. Results showed the significance of entrepreneurs' managerial competencies for the development of innovative start-up intentions through the mediating factors. The results also revealed that self-efficacy does not necessarily lead to innovative start-ups due to the important role of attitude.


This study examined the pulsatile presence of growth hormone (GH) in the plasma--which reflects its pulsatile release--of 8-week-old male sex-linked dwarf (dwdw) or normal-sized (Dwdw) chickens from a brown-egg layer strain reared on a control or on a 0.5 ppm triiodothyronine(T3)-supplemented diet. The overall GH mean, amplitude, and baseline levels of control dw chickens were significantly higher than those of control Dw chickens. No differences in peak length or peak frequency between genotypes were observed. Dietary T3 supplementation abolished the pulsatile GH release in both genotypes. T3 treatment depressed the mean GH levels of Dw but not of dw chickens.


Root system architecture determines many of the vital functions of a tree, e.g. stability of anchorage and resource uptake. The shoot:root ratio is determined through the allocation of resources. Studies on below-ground architectural elements in boreal mixed forests are relatively scarce despite the fact that knowledge on below-ground interactions and allocation changes in relation to stand developmental stage and soil fertility is needed both in ecological and silvicultural research. In this study, sixty tree root systems of three different tree species, Betula pendula, Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris, were excavated in five mixed forest stands in order to quantify differences between the species and sites in terms of rooting behaviour. Root architecture differed greatly between the species, implying different solutions for the functions of root systems. Half of the P. sylvestris had developed a taproot as a response to anchorage needs, while P. abies correspondingly had pronounced secondary growth of proximal roots. Betula pendula had the most extensive root system, illustrating the greater demand of deciduous trees for water. Betula pendula was also the most sensitive to soil fertility: it favoured exploration on the poorest site, as illustrated by the high total root length, whereas on the most fertile site its strategy was to efficiently exploit soil resources through increased branching intensity. The results obtained in this study provide basic knowledge on the architectural characteristics of boreal tree root systems for use by forestry professionals and modellers.


: The present study is a part of a more comprehensive investigation of the spaceflight effects on ontogenesis of the Japanese quail. Reported are data about the effects of a 33-day immobilization on behavior, physiology and the reproductive function of these birds. As was revealed in the experiment, immobilization reduces the mass of the quail body and leads to a number of reversible disorders in the reproductive function including a sharp decrease in oviposition in females and disturbances in spermatogenesis in males.


The Critical Care Society of Southern Africa has recently become an associate member of the World Federation of Critical Care Nursing (WFCCN), and we now have a representative on that body's Council. The motivation was put forward by critical care nurses following a presentation by Professor Ged Williams, President of the WFCCN, at the annual Society conference in Durban. South Africa has a proud history of critical care nursing. The CCSSA has inspired critical care nursing leadership and development, by offering them a home within one of the largest medical organisations.


Due to the limited life of series-connected battery stack suffered from the imbalanced charging-discharging operation, the equalization management module has become the key part of a battery management system. To minimize the adverse effects caused by the performance inconsistency between individual battery cells, a battery equalization management module based on the super-capacitors was designed in this study. This module separated the imbalance status into three types, applied different control strategy according to the status, and balanced every sub-group respectively. Simulation and experimental results showed that not only the module made the battery pack charge and discharge balanced, but also the efficiency of equalization was improved.


This paper reports on a study of a community of university educators that investigated the introduction of mobile technologies into their learning and teaching. The study was conducted by a subgroup of that community. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, members of the community felt they needed to develop expertise in mobile learning so that they could incorporate it into their teaching. They studied their own learning, supported by a critical friend who evaluated the community's functioning and activities, providing valuable feedback. Activities of this group were informed by and focused on: development of awareness of the potential of mobile devices for learning; construction of action plans within the community; and implementation of these plans. They also included investigating best-practice approaches by interviewing experts in the field, exploring the literature on mobile learning and then initiating and testing some mobile learning pedagogies in the context of their own teacher education subjects. The community met regularly to discuss emerging issues and applications. The paper shares some of the findings gained from studying the community, and discusses the challenges and constraints that were experienced. The authors conclude with recommendations for professional learning communities aiming to learn about technology-mediated teaching practices.


Preeclampsia (PE) is a disorder of pregnancy that is characterised by hypertension and a significant amount of proteinuria beginning after 20 weeks of pregnancy. It is closely associated with high maternal morbidity, mortality, maternal organ dysfunction or foetal growth restriction. Therefore, it is necessary to identify early and novel diagnostic biomarkers of PE. In the present study, we performed a multi-step integrative bioinformatics analysis of microarray data for identifying hub genes as diagnostic biomarkers of PE. With the help of gene expression profiles of the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset GSE60438, a total of 268 dysregulated genes were identified including 131 up- and 137 down-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses of DEGs suggested that DEGs were significantly enriched in disease-related biological processes (BPs) such as hormone activity, immune response, steroid hormone biosynthesis, metabolic pathways, and other signalling pathways. Using the STRING database, we established a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network based on the above DEGs. Module analysis and identification of hub genes were performed to screen a total of 17 significant hub genes. The support vector machines (SVMs) model was used to predict the potential application of biomarkers in PE diagnosis with an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.958 in the training set and 0.834 in the test set, suggesting that this risk classifier has good discrimination between PE patients and control samples. Our results demonstrated that these 17 differentially expressed hub genes can be used as potential biomarkers for diagnosis of PE.


Respect and care for the disadvantaged are firmly embedded in Philo's interpretation of the Decalogue. In order to understand Philo's teaching on this point within its proper perspective, this study highlights the following aspects of his interpretation of the Decalogue. The Ten Commandments are intended as a means of education, healing and transformation of people and their communities; they guide people to live in harmony with nature, reason and one another; in practice, this means to learn how to turn away from foolish pride and to live in gentleness, fellowship, simplicity, and equality. Such education will render people sensitive to the needs of those affected by bad fortune and inspire them to reach out to them.


Abstract To investigate the excess hydrolysis of titanium alkoxides, TiO2 powders were fabricated from titanium tetraisopropoxide using 6∶1 and 100∶1 H2O/Ti (r) ratios. The powders were dried and fired at a range of temperatures (⩽800°C). Hydroxylation and organic content in powders were characterised using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), laser Raman microspectroscopy and elemental microanalysis; surface area and pore size distribution were evaluated using N2 gas adsorption; phase composition was analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and laser Raman microspectroscopy; and crystallite size was evaluated by XRD, TEM and SEM. Results showed near complete hydrolysis in a predominantly aqueous medium (r = 100), resulting in precipitated crystalline powders exhibiting brookite and anatase, which begin to transform to rutile below 500°C. The powders precipitated in a predominantly organic medium (r = 6) underwent partial hydrolysis, were highly porous and exhibited an amorphous structure, with the crystallisation of anatase occurring at ∼300°C and the transformation to rutile beginning at 500–600°C.


Thuja occidentalis Linn. (Cupressaceae) has been widely used for many ailments in the traditional system like hepatoprotection, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-arthritic, anti-microbial, anti-cancer etc. because of its medicinal properties. In the nineteenth century, Thuja was commonly used as an externally applied tincture or ointment for the treatment of warts, ringworm and thrush, and a local injection of the tincture was used for treating venereal warts. The present paper summarizes a concise detail about pharmacognostic, phytohemistry and bioactivities of T. occidentalis Linn.


million, an increase of $1 million or 28~~. In addition, funds will be provided by the Commonwealth Department of Health under Health Programmes Grants arrangements. This will total $1.5 million, making total Commonwealth funds available to Aboriginal medical and dental services of $6 million. What is pleasing from Dr Curtis' letter is a sense of commitment and sensitivity to the needs of Aboriginal communities. It is sad, however, that she should have been misled by propaganda which mis-stated the funding intentions of the Commonwealth in this area.


In the present study the influence of strain rate and temperature on the behaviour of two commercial aluminium alloys, 6063-T6 and 7030-T6, was investigated. Both alloys are high strength precipitation hardened alloys that are expected to have low strain rate and temperature sensitivity. Tensile tests were performed at room temperature at strain rates ranging from 10-4 to 102 s-1, and at -40°C and +60°C at strain rates of 10-4 and 10-1 s-1, due to equipment limitations. Both alloys showed low but positive strain rate sensitivity at all temperatures. Also the temperature sensitivity was low, showing negative values in all cases. The dependence of the flow stress on temperature was more pronounced than the strain rate dependence. The area reduction at fracture was higher in 6063 than 7030, although the uniform elongation was larger in 7030. 6063 showed almost no strain rate dependence of the ductility and a limited reduction with increased temperature. 7030 showed markedly increasing area reduction with increasing temperature and decreasing values with increasing strain rate. The energy absorption was higher in 7030 by a factor of approximately three.


The high legal realist period of the 1930s was not known for its criminal law scholarship, while until fairly recently, criminal law theory was not as well-developed as those fields that had faced a realist and post-realist critique. This Essay attempts to address these issues by describing in detail the criminal law scholarship of Thurman Arnold, a prominent realist whose best known academic writings were his mid-1930s monographs on the New Deal and resistance to it. Arnold's criminal law scholarship serves as a forgotten link between the classical doctrinal work that dominated midcentury legal academic work on criminal law and the more socially- and culturally-focused scholarship of recent decades. Reconsidering Arnold's sociological, doctrinal, and cultural analysis of criminal law, law enforcement, and the criminal trial informs our understanding of the history of criminal law scholarship, legal realism, and post-realist legal theory.


Magnetorheological elastomers are a new kind of MR materials, which consist of magnetizable particles and elastomers. Because of the controllable orheological properties, the materials show a widely prospect in engineering application. In this paper, the magnetic-induced modulus under shear-compression mode was studied. Based on the modulus, the relative MR effect and its influence factor were systematically analyzed. The results show that the relative MR effect will increase with the increasing volume fraction of magnetizable particles, the exterior magnetic field strength and compression strain, and decrease with the increasing shear strain and modulus of matrix. For the study of the relative MR effect, it will give useful advices for the design of MR materials and MR devices.


To encourage students to think of designing garments for special needs as part of a general designframework, a problem-solving approach that does not distinguish between functional apparel design and fashion design is presented. A model for assessing user needs and wants incorporates functional, expressive, and aesthetic (FEA) considerations. Examples of how the, framework has been used in design projects are presented Suggested uses for the FEA model are offered.


During rainy season, people are often experiencing the effects of flood and spatial puddles of water which disturb their activities and inflict both moral and financial loss. Those experiences often result in a desperate urge to be free from flood and spatial puddles of water. Little do they know, that by doing so, it will lead to a drought in the future, because water from the flood and spatial puddles will not be absorbed deeper into the ground. People will also face a rapid land subsidence as a result of it. Urban eco-drainage is not only functioned to drain the surface water runoff, but also to manage the surface water runoff in order to minimize problems caused by spatial puddles of water, flood, and drought, as well as to be useful for environmental sustainability. Guidelines and researches on urban drainage performance evaluation have been written and conducted several times, but no guideline or handbook is yet to be written on how to evaluate an urban drainage system in an area, in terms of whether that drainage system is suitable with concept of eco-drainage system. The early stage on this research is focused on building a research question, which is to determine key factors that can be used to evaluate and measure an urban drainage system to meet the requirements of an urban eco-drainage concept. Based on the available researches and handbooks on evaluation of urban drainage system, a review was conducted to get all factors and indicators which are allegedly able to be used to measure suitability of urban drainage system with a concept of urban eco-drainage system. The key factors that allegedly can describe whether an urban drainage in an area has been built in accordance with ecological concept, are: (1) technical management, and (2) non-technical management. Technical management consists of five key factors, such as (1)infiltration system, (2) drainage channel system, (3) complementary building systems, (4) storage system and (5) water pump system. Non-technical management consists of two key factors, such as (1) government participation and (2) community role. There are alsoseveral aspects that need to be considered in non-technical management, such as institutional, regulation, financial, socio-cultural, and environmental. Key wordsurban eco-drainage, key factors, key indicators.


The purpose of this article is to study the implication of financial liberalization to the heavy reliance of firms to the indirect finance in Japanese experience. In order to analyze the goal of this article, we start to examine the causes of the main bank system in Japan before and the pre-war period. Then, this article discusses the impacts of financial liberalization to the to the heavy reliance on the indirect-financing for business firms in the light with Japan's financial market, particularly the main bank system. Finally, this article also discusses the implication of loose relationship of big firms and major banks (main bank system) to the recent financial condition in starting from the early of 1990s until now. This article discovered that financial liberalization, which started at the latter half of 1970s, has shaken the foundation of the main bank system. The major firms started to less dependent on the major banks and they issued the securities in domestic and international market. As a consequence, the SMBS still depend on the banks as their source of indirect financing. However, the competitiveness in the SMBS market turned to erode the bank profits that induced them to enter the risk activities, such as real estate. In addition, the bubble burst economy also triggered the boom in real estate. Naturally, as a nature of risk asset, loan to the real estate became the potential of bad loans that also was exacerbated the bubble burst in economy. Then, the financial crisis has revealed in 1990s


BACKGROUND
We aimed to develop a machine-learning model for predicting treatment response to radioiodine (131I) therapy and thyrotropin (TSH) suppression therapy in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) but without structural disease, based on pre-treatment information.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Overall, 597 and 326 patients with DTC but without structural disease were randomly assigned to "training" cohorts for predicting treatment response to 131I therapy and TSH suppression therapy, respectively. Six supervised algorithms, including Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest (RF), Neural Networks, Adaptive Boosting, and Gradient Boost, were used to predict effective response (ER) to 131I therapy and biochemical remission (BR) to TSH suppression therapy.

RESULTS
Stimulated and suppressed thyroglobulin (Tg) and radioiodine uptake before the current course of 131I therapy were mostly attributed to ER to 131I therapy, while thyroid remnant available on the post-therapeutic whole-body scan at the last course of 131I therapy and TSH were greatly contributed to Tg decline under TSH suppression therapy. RF showed the best performance among all models. The accuracy and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for segregating ER from non-ER during 131I therapy with RF were 81.3% and 0.896, respectively. The accuracy and AUC for predicting BR to TSH suppression therapy with RF were 78.7% and 0.857, respectively.

CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates that machine learning models, especially the RF algorithm are useful tools that may predict treatment response to 131I therapy and TSH suppression therapy in DTC patients without structural disease based on pre-treatment routine clinical variables and biochemical markers.


S-layer (glyco)-proteins (SLPs) form a nanostructured envelope that covers the surface of different prokaryotes and show immunomodulatory activity. Previously, we have demonstrated that the S-layer glycoprotein from probiotic Lactobacillus kefiri CIDCA 8348 (SLP-8348) is recognized by Mincle (macrophage inducible C-type lectin receptor), and its adjuvanticity depends on the integrity of its glycans. However, the glycan's structure has not been described so far. Herein, we analyze the glycosylation pattern of three SLPs, SLP-8348, SLP-8321, and SLP-5818, and explore how these patterns impact their recognition by C-type lectin receptors and the immunomodulatory effect of the L. kefiri SLPs on antigen-presenting cells. High-performance anion-exchange chromatography–pulse amperometric detector performed after β-elimination showed glucose as the major component in the O-glycans of the three SLPs; however, some differences in the length of hexose chains were observed. No N-glycosylation signals were detected in SLP-8348 and SLP-8321, but SLP-5818 was observed to have two sites carrying complex N-glycans based on a site-specific analysis and a glycomic workflow of the permethylated glycans. SLP-8348 was previously shown to enhance LPS-induced activation on both RAW264.7 macrophages and murine bone marrow–derived dendritic cells; we now show that SLP-8321 and SLP-5818 have a similar effect regardless of the differences in their glycosylation patterns. Studies performed with bone marrow–derived dendritic cells from C-type lectin receptor–deficient mice revealed that the immunostimulatory activity of SLP-8321 depends on its recognition by Mincle, whereas SLP-5818's effects are dependent on SignR3 (murine ortholog of human DC-SIGN). These findings encourage further investigation of both the potential application of these SLPs as new adjuvants and the protein glycosylation mechanisms in these bacteria.


Introduction Human α1-antitrypsin (hAAT) is a 394-amino acid long anti-inflammatory, neutrophil elastase inhibitor, which binds elastase via a sequence-specific molecular protrusion (reactive center loop, RCL; positions 357–366). hAAT formulations that lack protease inhibition were shown to maintain their anti-inflammatory activities, suggesting that some attributes of the molecule may reside in extra-RCL segments. Here, we compare the protease-inhibitory and anti-inflammatory profiles of an extra-RCL mutation (cys232pro) and two intra-RCL mutations (pro357cys, pro357ala), to naïve [wild-type (WT)] recombinant hAAT, in vitro, and in vivo. Methods His-tag recombinant point-mutated hAAT constructs were expressed in HEK-293F cells. Purified proteins were evaluated for elastase inhibition, and their anti-inflammatory activities were assessed using several cell-types: RAW264.7 cells, mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages, and primary peritoneal macrophages. The pharmacokinetics of the recombinant variants and their effect on LPS-induced peritonitis were determined in vivo. Results Compared to WT and to RCL-mutated hAAT variants, cys232pro exhibited superior anti-inflammatory activities, as well as a longer circulating half-life, despite all three mutated forms of hAAT lacking anti-elastase activity. TNFα expression and its proteolytic membranal shedding were differently affected by the variants; specifically, cys232pro and pro357cys altered supernatant and serum TNFα dynamics without suppressing transcription or shedding. Conclusion Our data suggest that the anti-inflammatory profile of hAAT extends beyond direct RCL regions. Such regions might be relevant for the elaboration of hAAT formulations, as well as hAAT-based drugs, with enhanced anti-inflammatory attributes.


grainy head (grh) genes encode a family of transcription factors conserved from fly to human. Drosophila grh is the founding member of this gene family and has multiple functions, including tracheal tube size control, epidermal barrier formation and reconstruction after wounding. To understand the underlying molecular mechanism of grh functions, we tried to isolate its direct targets and analyze their function. We identified ten grh targets by combining bioinformatics and genetics. Grh directly controls the expression of stitcher (stit), which encodes a Ret family receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), during both development and wound healing. Stit promotes actin cable assembly and induces extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation around the wound edges upon injury. Stit also activates barrier repair genes and its own expression at the wound sites in a Grh-dependent manner. This positive feedback loop ensures efficient epidermal wound repair. In addition, Grh regulates the expression of multiple genes involved in chitin biosynthesis or modification. Most of the genes are required for tracheal tube size control. Two of them, verm and serp, encode related putative luminal chitin deacetylases. The functional analysis of verm and serp identifies an important role of luminal chitin matrix modification in limiting tracheal tube elongation. Therefore, it is very likely that Grh controls tracheal tube size through regulating multiple targets involved in the assembly or modification of luminal chitin matrix. Grh also directly activates the epidermal expression of Peptidoglycan recognition protein LC (PGRP-LC) gene that is required for the induction of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) upon infection. Furthermore, ectopically expressing Grh is sufficient to induce AMP Cecropin A lacZ reporter (CecA-LacZ) in the embryonic epidermis. These results suggest a new function of Grh in the local immune responses in Drosophila barrier epithelia.


We describe an automated scene modeling system that consists of two components operating in an interleaved fashion: an incremental modeler and a sensor planner that analyzes the resulting model and computes the next sensor position. This planning component is target-driven and computes sensor positions using model information about the imaged surfaces and the unexplored space in a scene. The method is shape-independent and uses a continuous-space representation that preserves the accuracy of sensed data. It is able to completely acquire a scene by repeatedly planning sensor positions, utilizing a partial model to determine volumes of visibility for contiguous areas of unexplored scene. These visibility volumes are combined with sensor placement constraints to complete sets of occlusion-free sensor positions that are guaranteed to improve the quality of the model. We show results for acquisition of a scene that includes multiple, distinct objects with high occlusion.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a literacy tutoring program provided to K-5 children by graduate students enrolled in a reading methods course. Graduate students in this study were taught to implement literacy strategies through modeling and scaffolding of various activities in components of reading emphasized by the National Reading Panel (2000). The results of the study confirmed that the tutoring sessions were effective in increasing the skills of striving readers. The data from post-tests and graduate student reflections revealed that 100% of the children made substantial gains in their instructional reading levels and that graduate students' experience and training affected the growth in reading skills in a relatively short period of time.


CONTEXT
Vitamins B1 (thiamine), B3 (niacin), B6 (pyridoxine), and C (ascorbic acid) are vital for energy, carbohydrate, lipid, and amino acid metabolism and in the regulation of the cellular redox state. Some studies have associated low levels of water-soluble vitamins with metabolic syndrome and its various components.

AIMS
This study aims to determine the plasma concentrations of vitamins B1, B3, B6, and C in Nigerians with metabolic syndrome and in healthy controls.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN
One-hundred subjects with metabolic syndrome were recruited into the study. One-hundred controls were age - and sex-matched.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, concentrations of plasma glucose, lipid profile, and vitamins B1, B3, B6, and C were estimated.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.0.

RESULTS
The mean plasma vitamins B1, B3, B6, and C concentrations of subjects were significantly lower than that of controls (P = 0.001, 0.05, 0.045, 0.001 respectively). Fourteen percent and 32% of subjects had inadequate vitamins B1 and C status, respectively. Vitamin B6 was lower (P = 0.001) and vitamin C was higher (P = 0.012) in female than in male subjects.

CONCLUSIONS
Thiamine, niacin, pyridoxine, and ascorbic acid levels were lower in subjects than in controls. Pyridoxine was also lower and ascorbic acid was higher in female than in male subjects.


In this study, the conditions for wall thickness reduction in hollow sinking were obtained by tube drawing experiments in which the drawing speed ratio was controlled under three conditions (1.09, 1.11, and 1.14). These conditions have not been found in the history of hollow sinking. The results of the experiment and the theoretical formulas indicate that the geometric condition is obtained from the figure of the ratio of inner diameter to outer diameter after drawing against that ratio before drawing. Furthermore, the ratio of the inner diameter to the outer diameter after drawing must be above the constant wall thickness line derived from the cross-sectional change. To satisfy this geometric condition, the drawing speed ratio must be larger than the threshold value, which is obtained from the ratio of the inner diameter to the outer diameter before drawing, and the reduction of the die. However, the value of the back stress approaches that of the strength of the tube when the drawing speed ratio increases. A simple dynamical model shows that parameters other than the drawing speed ratio do not significantly decrease the back stress during drawing. Therefore, the drawing speed ratio should be set such that the tube does not break.


This paper describes the experiences of caregivers in a rural district in Zimbabwe, in caring for pregnant women within a context of changing antenatal care routines. Data were generated using individual interviews with 18 nurses and midwives. The caregivers experienced their working situation as stressful and frustrating due to high staff turnover, inconsistent policies, parallel programmes and limited resources, including time. They also faced difficulties when implementing some of the proposed changes. Furthermore, the caregivers had to deal with the pressure and resistance from the pregnant women, whose reasoning and rationale for using care appeared different from those of the health professionals. In light of the above, we stress the necessity for reflecting on and including the experiences and perspectives of caregivers and the users of care, as well as their contexts and realities, when implementing change.


Examined were 42 patients with aortal coarctation at the age of from 6 to 35 years. The differences in hemodynamics, microcirculation and oxygen regimen of tissues depending on the degree of aortal coarctation were revealed. To diagnose the degree of aortostenosis, it is suggested to use the transcutaneous monitoring of PO2 distally to the site of coarctation.


Based on the feasibility analysis of the chloride's released capability, a certain proportion of the chloride was added into the ordinary asphalt mixture to form a new chloride-stored asphalt mixture. The mixing proportion was determined and its pavement and anti-icing performance were analyzed. The research indicates that: the stored chloride has good releasability. The new asphalt mixture not only has better high temperature stability and low temperature anti-bending capability than the ordinary one, but could also remove the road ice effectively.


Over the past couple of decades, the cultural field formerly known as 'domestic', and later 'personal' photography has been remediated and transformed as part of the social web, with its convergence of personal expression, interpersonal communication and online social networks (most recently via platforms such as Flickr, Facebook and Twitter). Meanwhile, the digital storytelling movement (involving the workshop-based production of short autobiographical videos) from its beginnings in the mid-1990s relied heavily on the narrative power of the personal photograph, often sourced from family albums and later from online archives. This article addresses the new issues arising for the politics of self-representation and personal photography in the era of social media, focusing particularly on the consequences of online image-sharing. It discusses in detail the practices of selection, curation, manipulation and editing of personal photographic images among a group of activist-oriented queer digital storytellers who have in common a stated desire to share their personal stories in pursuit of social change and whose stories often aim to address both intimate and antagonistic publics.


The spectral quality of sunlight reaching plants remains a path for optimization in greenhouse cultivation. Quantum dots represent a novel, emission-tunable luminescent material for optimizing the sunlight spectrum in greenhouses with minimal intensity loss, ultimately enabling improved light use efficiency of plant growth without requiring electricity. In this study, greenhouse films containing CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots were utilized to absorb and convert ultraviolet and blue photons from sunlight to a photoluminescent emission centered at 600 nm. To analyze the effects of the quantum dot film spectrum on plant production, a 25-week tomato trial was conducted in Dutch glass greenhouses. Plants under the quantum dot film experienced a 14% reduction in overall daily light integral, resulting from perpendicular photosynthetically active radiation transmission of 85.3%, mainly due to reflection losses. Despite this reduction in intensity, the modified sunlight spectrum and light diffusion provided by the quantum dot film gave rise to 5.7% improved saleable production yield, nearly identical total fruiting biomass production, 23% higher light use efficiency (g/mol), 10% faster vegetative growth rate, and 36% reduced tomato waste compared to the control, which had no additional films. Based on this result, materials incorporating quantum dots show promise in enabling passive, electricity-free spectrum modification for improving crop production in greenhouse cultivation, but extensive controlled crop studies are needed to further validate their effectiveness.


This paper explores the origins of meaning in adventurous activities. Specifically, the paper reports on a study of 10 adventure climbers in the Scottish mountaineering community. The study explores how formative experiences have influenced engagement in adventure climbing. Work has been done on the phenomenology of adventure and how individuals interpret and find meaning in the activity—this paper goes a step further and asks where do these dispositions come from? Using Bourdieu's ideas of field, habitus and forms of capital to frame these experiences in the wider social environment, early experiences are identified that, for the subjects of this study, provide a framework for their later adoption of the 'adventure habitus'. Among these influences are mainstream education, adventure education in particular, as well as broader formative experiences relating to factors such as gender and class. In addition, the study suggests that accounts differ between males and females in terms of their attitudes and dispositions towards adventure. This may relate to their respective experiences as well as expanding opportunities for both males and females. However, while the 'adventure field' provides a context where women can develop transformative identities, these are nearly always subject to male validation.


Summary.  Although many studies of the impact of haemophilia on the quality of life were conducted, there is hardly any data on the social status of haemophiliacs. It was the aim of our study to obtain data on the social status of Austrian haemophiliacs and to compare these with an age‐ and sex‐matched reference population. Furthermore, we collected data on the quality of life of haemophilia patients. We conducted a case–control study in two Austrian haemophilia centres with 53 patients (mean age 36.7 ± 10.6 years) and 104 male controls (mean age 36.7 ± 11.1 years). Socio‐demographic data were collected using a standardized questionnaire and quality‐of‐life data using the SF‐36. More patients (56.6%) than controls (37.5%) were married (P = 0.023), whereas more controls (17.3%) than patients (3.8%) had a partner with whom they were not married (P = 0.016). The percentage having children was equivalent in both groups (47% and 41% respectively), but controls had more children (mean number 1.5 in patients and 2.1 in controls, P < 0.007). A greater number of patients was unemployed (34% of patients, 9% of controls, P < 0.001) as well as retired (23% and 4% respectively; P < 0.001). Patients had worse scores regarding physical functioning, role‐physical, bodily pain and general health (P < 0.001), whereas vitality, social functioning, role‐emotional and mental health were similar in both groups. Despite their disability, most of the Austrian haemophiliacs share a sound family environment. This suggests that they are highly capable of coping with their chronic disease and is indicated by good scores for role‐emotional and mental health.


Skyrmionic textures are being extensively investigated due to the occurrence of novel topological magnetic phenomena and their promising applications in a new generation of spintronic devices that take advantage of the robust topological stability of their spin structures. The development of practical devices relies on a detailed understanding of how skyrmionic structures can be formed, transferred, detected and annihilated. In this work, our considerations go beyond static skyrmions and theoretically show that the formation/annihilation of both skyrmions and antiskyrmions is enabled by the transient creation and propagation of topological singularities (magnetic monopole-like Bloch points). Critically, during the winding/unwinding of skyrmionic textures, our results predict that the Bloch-point propagation will give rise to an emergent electric field in a terahertz frequency range and with substantial amplitude. We also demonstrate ways for controlling Bloch-point dynamics, which directly enable the tuneability on both frequency and amplitude of this signal. Our studies provide a concept of directly exploiting topological singularities for terahertz skyrmion-based electronic devices.


Introduction
Most research into medical communication has been in a Western setting. Communication between non language concordant Health Care Workers (HCWs and patients adversely effects patient and staff satisfaction. To the best of our knowledge, no intervention studies have been conducted in Africa.
Objective
To determine whether teaching Xhosa language skills and cultural understanding to HCWs effects patient satisfaction, HCWs ability to communicate effectively with Xhosa-speaking patients and HCWs job satisfaction levels.
Design and setting
A before and after interventional study was performed at two Community Health Centers and a district hospital in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
Participants
Fifty four randomly selected patients (27 pre and 27 post intervention) assessed communication with HCWs and rated their satisfaction. Six non-Xhosa-speaking HCW participants completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires.
Intervention
HCWs completed a ten week basic language course comprising ten 120 minute interactive contact sessions developing basic Xhosa speaking and listening skills and cultural competence.
Outcome measures
Questionnaires used a Likert scale to rate degrees of agreement or disagreement with statements. Patients assessed communication with HCWs, quality of care and rated their satisfaction. HCW questions were grouped according to themes, including ability to communicate, job satisfaction and staff interpersonal relationships.
Results
Patient satisfaction showed significant improvements. Patients perceived HCWs to be more understanding, respectful and concerned, and to show better listening skills, after the intervention. Patients were better able to understand HCWs and their instructions.
HCWs ability to communicate improved and HCWs experienced decreased frustration levels.
Conclusions
Teaching language skills and cultural sensitivity to non Xhosa-speaking HCWs in South Africa improves ability to communicate, increases patient satisfaction and decreases misunderstandings and frustration.


Preoperative octreotide scintigraphy imaging has opened up a new era to approach recurrent medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). We describe the case of a 53-year-old woman who was diagnosed with recurrent MTC and elevated serum calcitonin level 2000 pg/mL. Preoperatively, Tc-99m HYNIC-TATE scintigraphy was used in identifying 2 focal abnormalities in the right upper cervical and left upper mediastinal regions, and a hand-held gamma probe was used intraoperatively to identify the hot areas. Six months after intraoperative dissection, serum calcitonin level and Tc-99m HYNICTATE scintigraphy were found normal. This case demonstrates the proper localization for recurrent MTC using Tc-99m HYNIC-TATE and a surgical gamma probe.


In Jones v. Mississippi, the Supreme Court adopted a narrow reading of its Eighth Amendment categorical bar on mandatory juvenile life-without-parole (JLWOP) sentences. Specifically, the Court rejected the Jones' claim that the Eighth Amendment categorical limit required a sentencing jury or judge make a finding of permanent incorrigibility—that the defendant is beyond hope of rehabilitation—as a prerequisite to imposing a JLWOP sentence.

In dicta, the Court suggested that Jones could have made an individual as-applied challenge to his sentence under the Eighth Amendment by claiming that his JLWOP sentence was disproportionate to the crime he committed. While the Court has used a narrow disproportionality standard in non-capital, non-JLWOP cases, it is not clear what standard would apply to individual as-applied Eighth Amendment challenges in capital and JLWOP cases. The Court customarily reviews such cases categorically under a heightened evolving standards of decency standard, which suggests that an individual as-applied challenge would also merit some heightened level of review.

Accordingly, this Article argues for the adoption of heightened standards of Eighth Amendment review for individual as-applied proportionality challenges in capital and JLWOP cases. Specifically, the Article advocates for the adoption of an intermediate level of review for JLWOP cases and a strict scrutiny level of review for capital cases. Further, the Article argues for a broadening of the kinds of sentences that receive heightened scrutiny under the Eighth Amendment, both for categorical challenges and for individual as-applied proportionality challenges.

Part One of the Article describes the Court's evolving standards of decency doctrine and Eighth Amendment's categorical limitations on capital and JLWOP sentences. In Part Two, the Article explains the other side of the application of the Eighth Amendment, the narrow disproportionality test the Court uses to evaluate as-applied challenges in individual non-capital, non-JLWOP cases. Part Three then argues for the adoption of heightened as-applied standards of review in individual capital and JLWOP cases as an application of the evolving standards of decency doctrine. Finally, Part IV sketches some possible extensions of the Eighth Amendment's evolving standards to other punishments and other classes of defendants.


Parental occupational exposures might affect childhood cancer in the offspring through genetic changes in the ovum or sperm or through transplacental carcinogenesis. The 24 published epidemiologic studies of this association have all used case-control designs, with controls generally selected from birth certificates or from general population sampling. Occupational exposures were inferred from job titles on birth certificates or through interviews. A large number of occupation-cancer associations have been reported, many of which were not addressed or not confirmed in other studies. Several associations have been found with consistency: paternal exposures in hydrocarbon-associated occupations, the petroleum and chemical industries, and especially paint exposures have been associated with brain cancer; paint exposures have also been linked to leukemias. Maternal exposures have received much less attention, but studies have yielded strongly suggestive results linking a variety of occupational exposures to leukemia and brain cancer. The primary limitations in this literature are the inaccuracy inherent in assigning exposure based on job title alone and imprecision due to limited study size. Although no etiologic associations have been firmly established by these studies, the public health concerns and suggestive data warrant continued research.


This paper presents the results from a qualitative study that examined how the transitions from service concepts through specification to implementation occur. Twelve people working in service organisations and service design agencies in Norway, were interviewed about their experience and opinions. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo10, and thematic analysis was applied to confirm the results from NVivo10. We found that there was a big communication gap between service concepts and implementation especially inside the service organisations. To bridge this gap, we propose two solutions: strengthening service design thinking inside the service organisations and having better methods and tools that support rigorous service specification. The results of the study can be useful to service organisations who wish to have deeper insight into the transition process, in addition to service designers and researchers to have a better understanding of the service design and development challenges inside service organisations.


The mechanisms by which triiodothyronine (T3) stimulates growth and maturation of growth-plate cartilage in vitro were studied by incubating embryonic chick pelvic cartilages in serum-free medium in the presence and absence of T3 for 3 days. To determine whether T3 might stimulate production of somatomedins by the cartilage, medium from cartilage incubated with and without T3 was assayed for somatomedin C (Sm-C) by radioimmunoassay. No difference in Sm-C content was found. However, cartilage incubated with T3 and increasing amounts of human Sm-C (0.5-20 ng/ml) weighed more and had greater amounts of glycosaminoglycan than cartilage incubated in the same concentrations of Sm-C without T3, suggesting that T3 enhances the growth effect of somatomedin. We added a monoclonal antibody to Sm-C (anti-Sm-C) to the organ culture to determine whether T3's stimulatory effect on cartilage growth could be blocked. The anti-Sm-C inhibited growth of cartilage incubated in medium alone and blocked the growth response to T3. By using alkaline phosphatase as a biochemical marker to follow maturation, we found that T3 stimulated a 57% increase in alkaline phosphatase activity above cartilage incubated in medium alone and that anti-Sm-C did not inhibit T3's stimulatory effect on alkaline phosphatase activity. We propose two different mechanisms by which T3 affects growth-plate cartilage: T3 promotes cartilage growth primarily through enhancing the effect of somatomedin, and T3 stimulates cartilage maturation possibly by accelerating the normal process of cartilage differentiation from proliferative to hypertrophic chondrocytes.


A 27-year-old woman presented with right spinal accessory juxtabulbar schwannoma, associated with hydrocephalus. The only specific clinical symptom was long-standing weakness of the right trapezius. C.T. scan evoked a cerebellar tumor, whilst the jugular foramen appeared normal. Vertebral angiography was not decisive. M.R.I. suggested an extra-axial tumor. Post-operative evolution was entirely favourable. Schwannomas of the 9th, 10th and 11th cranial nerves are generally located at the level of the jugular foramen but can also be observed along the extracranial path of these nerves. An intracranial paramedial, or so-called > localization is rare and is best diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging.


In this paper, we establish a theoretical comparison between the asymptotic mean-squared error of Double Q-learning and Q-learning. Our result builds upon an analysis for linear stochastic approximation based on Lyapunov equations and applies to both tabular setting and with linear function approximation, provided that the optimal policy is unique and the algorithms converge. We show that the asymptotic mean-squared error of Double Q-learning is exactly equal to that of Q-learning if Double Q-learning uses twice the learning rate of Q-learning and outputs the average of its two estimators. We also present some practical implications of this theoretical observation using simulations.


In light of increasing globalization, firms tend to move business functions to strategic regions around the globe to access and secure natural or human resources and benefit from potential agglomeration externalities. Moving business functions to specific locations is often a credible and visible strategic commitment that stimulates the firm's generic strategy. Therefore, it is an important concept for strategic management, which needs to be tightly aligned to the firm's corporate strategy. The formulation of a location- based strategy is built of consistent decisions about where and when to move specific business functions. The tradeoffs of these decisions are complex, interrelated, and dynamic. In order to teach and train location-based strategy formulation in an engaging, hands-on activity, this article describes the concept, learning outcomes, and architecture of a business simulation software program for moving specific firm functions to selected regions. It simulates an organizational lifecycle and agglomeration externalities such as knowledge spillovers resulting from labor pooling and specialized suppliers. The simulation is designed as a competitive group exercise for a course about location-based strategies in advanced business or management studies to engage students in a risk-free environment.


and discussion. That this publication has been delayed for two years is a pity, but in no wayseriously dates its contents because progress in this field is made slowly. The coverage is wide and includes an original study of the blood supply of the spinal cord (Romanis), a review on contemporary views on cord physiology (Simpson), which is a tantalising trailer making the reader want to know more, and a brief account of the social, psychological and mechanical aspects of rehabilitation. Under surgical management, urological problems are extensivelydealt with by several authors and there is a useful account of the plastic surgeon's contribution to the problem of bedsores, which should not of course arise if all surgeons and nurses were as aware as they should be of the needs of paraplegic patients in the early stages after injury. Phillip Harris, to whom credit is due as editor of this book, stresses the very limited place of laminectomy in the early days after injury, and no one on this side of the Atlantic would dispute this. More controversial is the place of internal fixation of unstable spinal fractures and a highlight of the symposium was the confrontation of Guttman and Holdsworth. They agreed much more than their disciples would imagine. Thus Holdsworth recommends fixation only for certain unstable thoracolumbar fractures and Guttman had only 35 of such cases among 344 acute injuries admitted to his unit. As 60 per cent of these improved without internal fixation, Holdsworth will have to show that he can better this figure: unfortunately he does not quote any figures to support his thesis. The book is well produced but it would have been nice to know the origin of the historical treatment depicted on the dust cover.


Controversies involving fund management may be the next frontier of public pension litigation. Recent scandals involving fraud, bribery, and corruption of public pension officials and other third parties have drawn the public eye toward the management of retirement assets. Individual and entity custodians, including pension boards of trustees, are charged with making investment and other decisions relating to pension funds. Unlike private pensions, there is no federal oversight of asset managers or others in control of retirement funds. Yet these funds hold more than three trillion dollars in assets. Until now, the guardians of these monies have operated almost invisibly in the background of the public pension crisis. This Article advances the retirement reform debate by looking more closely at the fiduciary relationship that exists between trustees and beneficiaries involving public sector employee pension funds. It offers a singular view from historic equity. The Article aims to see how equity in the medieval world relates to the modern pension problem. From that viewpoint, it evaluates what the fiduciary relation means, or should mean, in the changing legal environment of public retirement systems. The main objective is to raise issues involving fiduciary law and public pensions that have been undervalued or ignored. Based upon fiduciary law's ancestry in equity, the Article offers guidance in assigning and defining obligations and associated remedies in the government pension situation. It contemplates the equitable dimension of the public pension problem, analyzes circumstances where fiduciary violations may arise, and suggests possible outcomes. It also comments on deficiencies in current law. Overall, the Article provides a deeper perspective of the fiduciary principle and corresponding doctrine in the context of government retirement systems.


Using fully self consistent methods, we study spin transport in realistic, fabricable experimental spin valve systems consisting of two magnetic layers, a superconducting layer, and a spacer normal layer between the ferromagnets. Our methods ensure that the proper relations between spin current gradients and spin transfer torques are satisfied. We present results as a function of geometrical parameters, interfacial barrier values, misalignment angle between the ferromagnets, and bias voltage. Our main results are for the spin current and spin accumulation as functions of position within the spin valve structure. We see precession of the spin current about the exchange fields within the ferromagnets, and penetration of the spin current into the superconductor for biases greater than the critical bias, defined in the text. The spin accumulation exhibits oscillating behavior in the normal metal, with a strong dependence on the physical parameters both as to the structure and formation of the peaks. We also study the bias dependence of the spatially averaged spin transfer torque and spin accumulation. We examine the critical bias effect of these quantities, and their dependence on the physical parameters. Our results are predictive of the outcome of future experiments, as they take into account imperfect interfaces and a realistic geometry.


Induction motor loads are considered as the main dynamic load in distribution networks. The aim of this paper is to propose a method to identify and model induction motor loads based on the data from Phasor Measurement Point (PMU). In this method, the active power-voltage transfer function is extracted from PMUs data, and the location of zero and pole of this transfer function can be employed to identify and model the induction motor loads. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated by simulation results.


The dependence of light intensities of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) on the distance of emission zone to metal cathode is investigated numerically. The investigation is based on the half-space optical model that accounts for optical interference effects of metal cathode. We find that light intensities of OLEDs are functions of the distance of emission zone from the metal cathode because of the effect of interference of the metal cathode.This interference leads to an optimal location of emission zone in OLEDs for the maximum of light intensities.Optimal locations of emission zone are numerically shown in various emitting colour OLEDs with different metalcathodes and these results are expected to give insight into the preparation of high efficiency full colour or white light OLEDs.


Featuring contributions from 17 environmental experts, this text offers guidelines for planning and executing an environmental programme, and suggests how to deal with legal, regulatory, training, legislative, financial and public relations issues surrounding environmental management. The authors argue that effective business management practices are an integral part of any comprehensive environmental management programme. This text takes the field of environmental management beyond the technical and regulatory boundaries of enviromental compliance and suggests why corporations today can no longer afford to let the plethora of federal, state, and local government regulations dictate their business practices. The text focuses on the daily decision-making activities that affect a company's environmental status and provides methods for applying the management skills needed to take charge of a company's environmental fate. These include: minimizing environmental liability and reducing corporate exposure, managing risk through compliance programmes, managing an environmental programme, understanding the regulatory process, exploiting industry organizations and making financial decisions.


Differentiation therapy focuses on the development and use of specific agents designed to selectively engage the process of terminal differentiation, leading to the eventual elimination of tumorigenic cells and rebalance of normal cellular homeostasis. Extensive in vitro study of the molecular mechanism involved during drug-induced maturation has allowed the realization and application of a differentiation-based therapy to the clinic. Rationalization of this mode of therapy has included the combined use of differentiation agents with low-dose chemotherapy to lessen adverse cytotoxicity and to enhance the efficacy of differentiation agents, allowing some success in their application to conditions resistant to conventional therapy. This review discusses some biological principles that underlie the concept of a differentiation therapy and compares the in vitro and in vivo effectiveness of the two differentiation agents, in particular retinoic acid (RA) and hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA). It also evaluates the prospects for differentiation therapy as an effective strategy in the treatment and management of malignancy.


Food poisoning caused by toxic mushrooms, such as species in the Amanita genus, occurs frequently around the world. To properly treat these patients, it is important to rapidly and accurately identify the causal species. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry is a rapid technique that has been used in medical laboratories for the past three decades to identify bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi.Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-Tof MS) is a rapid method used for the past three decades to identify microorganisms. In this study, we created and internally validated a MALDI-Tof MS reference database comprising 15 Amanita species frequently encountered in France, and we challenged this database with 38 Amanita specimens from four French locations, using a free online application for MALDI-ToF spectra identifications.Assessment of the database showed that mass spectra can be obtained by analyzing any portion of a carpophore and that all portions enabled identification of the carpophore at the species level. Most carpophores were correctly identified using our database, with the exception of specimens from the Vaginatae section. Decay tests also demonstrated that decayed portions (like those found in the kitchen garbage can) of Amanita phalloides mushrooms could be properly identified using MALDI-ToF MS.Our findings provide important insight for toxicology laboratories that often rely on DNA sequencing to identify meal leftovers implicated in food poisoning. In future developments, this technique could also be used to detect counterfeit mushrooms by including other genera in the reference database.

LAY SUMMARY
MALDI-ToF MS is a powerful identification tool for microorganisms. We demonstrate that the technique can be applied to Amanita specimens. This will prevent food intoxications as a rapid and definite identification can be obtained, and it can also be used for food remnants.


This paper uses an incremental matrix expansion approach to derive asymptotic eigenvalue distributions (a.e.d.s) of sums and products of large random matrices. We show that the result can be derived directly as a consequence of two common assumptions, and matches the results obtained from using - and -transforms in free probability theory. We also give a direct derivation of the a.e.d. of the sum of certain random matrices which are not free. This is used to determine the asymptotic signal-to-interference-ratio of a multiuser code-division multiple-access (CDMA) system with a minimum mean-square error linear receiver.


Abstract. Water substantially affects nearly all physical, chemical and biological processes on the Earth. Recent Mars observations as well as laboratory investigations suggest that water is a key factor of current physical and chemical processes on the Martian surface, e.g. rheological phenomena. Therefore it is of particular interest to get information about the liquid-like state of water on Martian analogue soils for temperatures below 0 °C. To this end, a parallel plate capacitor has been developed to obtain isothermal dielectric spectra of fine-grained soils in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 1.1 MHz at Martian-like temperatures down to −70 °C. Two Martian analogue soils have been investigated: a Ca-bentonite (specific surface of 237 m2 g−1, up to 9.4% w / w gravimetric water content) and JSC Mars 1, a volcanic ash (specific surface of 146 m2 g−1, up to 7.4% w / w). Three soil-specific relaxation processes are observed in the investigated frequency–temperature range: two weak high-frequency processes (bound or hydrated water as well as ice) and a strong low-frequency process due to counter-ion relaxation and the Maxwell–Wagner effect. To characterize the dielectric relaxation behaviour, a generalized fractional dielectric relaxation model was applied assuming three active relaxation processes with relaxation time of the ith process modelled with an Eyring equation. The real part of effective complex soil permittivity at 350 kHz was used to determine ice and liquid-like water content by means of the Birchak or CRIM equation. There are evidence that bentonite down to −70 °C has a liquid-like water content of 1.17 monolayers and JSC Mars 1 a liquid-like water content of 1.96 monolayers.