The optical afterglow of long-duration GRB 071003 is among the brightest yet to be detected from any GRB, with R ≈ 12 mag in KAIT observations starting 42 s after the GRB trigger, including filtered detections during prompt emission. However, our high-S/N afterglow spectrum displays only extremely weak absorption lines at what we argue is the host redshift of z = 1.60435, in contrast to the three other, much stronger Mg II absorption systems observed at lower redshifts. Together with Keck adaptive optics observations, which fail to reveal a host galaxy coincident with the burst position, our observations suggest a halo progenitor and offer a cautionary tale about the use of Mg II for GRB redshift determination. We present early- through late-time observations spanning the electromagnetic spectrum, constrain the connection between the prompt emission and early variations in the light curve (we observe no correlation), and discuss possible origins for an unusual, marked rebrightening that occurs a few hours after the burst: likely either a late-time refreshed shock or a wide-angle secondary jet. Analysis of the late-time afterglow is most consistent with a wind environment, suggesting a massive star progenitor. Together with GRB 070125, this may indicate that a small but significant portion of star formation in the early universe occurred far outside what we consider a normal galactic disk.


This paper reports on the design and performance of a large diameter diaphragmless shock tube that has been recently developed in order to experimentally study various basic characteristics of the gas-dynamic laser (GDL). The main engineering element of the shock tube is a diaphragm-like sliding piston (in place of a rupturing diaphragm) by which normal shock waves are formed. The role of such a structure in generating repeatable shock waves is discussed. The shock tube performs in good accordance with the simple shock tube theory, as has been verified so far by experiments with some conventional lasing gases (gaseous mixtures of CO2 and N2 and those diluted with an excess of He) at shock wave Mach numbers ranging from 1 to 5. Recent results of the stagnation conditions achieved in the shock tube with application to GDL experiments are included as well.


The thesis contains projects at a national as well as a clinical level.On a national level a study is made of productivity in adult dental care in both its private and its public·sectors. By using the calculated productivity for the years 1975-1984 a variety of factors are tested for the ability to explain firstly the development of productivity in private dental care and in public dental care respectively, and secondly the differences in productivity between the two sectors.The productivity measures used are the number of patients treated per dentist hour and the dentist fee per dentist hour. The results show in the case of the first mentioned productivity measure a somewhat higher value for public dental care for all of the years studied. For the productivity measures, dentist's fee per dentist hour, private dental care shows a 20-30 percent higher productivity.Differences in the age structure of the patients and different treatment panoramas can explain a great many of the differences in productivity. However the question is why the treatment panoramas of the two sectors are so different, a difference that can scarcely be explained by differences in the patient population. There are grounds, therefore, for believing that the differences can be explained on the basis of differences in the activity goals of the two sectors.As a complement to the productivity studies outlined above the costs of treating a patient have also been compared. The results show considerably higher costs in public dental care, though the difference has been greatly reduced during the 80s due largely to a lower rate of increase in the overheads of dentists in the public sector over the last few years.The second study comprises a production economic study of 144 public dental care clinics in five counties in southern Sweden. The variation in productivity is tested on the basis of various explanatory factors using multiple regression analysis according to OLS. The regression models used were a linear function, an exponential function of the Cobb-Douglas type as well as a transcendental function of the type first formulated by Reinhardt in 1972. The results show that the high productivity clinic is smaller (1-2 dentists), has a larger staff of assistants, has fewer children and adolescents among its patients and shows higher productivity also in the case of the other productivity measure.The study also contains an estimation of the production function for the 144 clinics. A Cobb-Douglas production function is used as a regression mode. The results point to significant estimated coefficient values for all production factors. The coefficient values are, as could be expected, positive and between zero and one in size. The results are in agreement with most of the estimations obtained from previous studies.


In the Netherlands, a quality incentive is expected to ensue from improved collaboration between healthcare professionals. Whether this view is supported by sufficient evidence is, however, questionable. Therefore, the first study included in this thesis is a systematic review of studies on the effects of sharing and delegating diabetes care tasks. It became apparent that sharing and delegating care tasks can improve the process of care and glycaemic control. Sharing or delegating care, however, does hardly reduce patients' other cardiovascular risk factors. High quality diabetes care requires the systematic delivery of care and the objective measurement of performance against predetermined standards. Consequently, there is a need for an objective method to assess the quality of diabetes management in different care settings In the third chapter of this thesis, a quality of care summary score (range 0 to 40 points) has been used to evaluate the quality of diabetes care. After taking case-mix differences and clustering at practice level into account, it has become apparent that the overall quality of diabetes care in primary and secondary care is equal. However, as the mean summary scores were approximately 20 points, there is still room for improvement. Although clinical practice guidelines are considered effective tools to improve the quality of diabetes care, their implementation may be troublesome. It has been suggested that end-user involvement in the development and adaptation of national guidelines may increase uptake. A randomised controlled trial, however, did not find any additional effect from local adaptation. Hence, it remains questionable whether local adaptation will enhance guideline implementation. In the fourth chapter we present the results of an RCT on the effects of the implementation of a locally adapted guideline on the care for patients with type 2 diabetes. In the intervention group, nurse facilitators enhanced guideline implementation by analysing barriers to change, introducing structured care, training practice staff and giving performance feedback. In the control group, GPs were asked to continue the care for people with diabetes as usually. The results of this study clearly demonstrate that multifaceted implementation of a locally adapted shared care guidelines can improve the process of diabetes care but in the short term hardly changes the cardiovascular risks of people with type 2 diabetes. Clinical inertia and non adherence to treatment regimens are considered major barriers to better diabetes care. In the chapters five and six, we present the results of our studies on the effects of clinical inertia and patients' adherence on the outcomes of diabetes care. We used the baseline and follow-up data of the RCT mentioned previously. From these studies it has become apparent that especially clinical inertia is widespread. Both inertia and non-adherence to treatment regimens are related to the outcomes of diabetes care and represent important targets for quality improvement initiatives. When exploring the quality of diabetes care it is useful to distinguish structure, process and outcome measures. More and more patients' opinions and access to care have also been recognized to be important indicators of the quality of care. In light of the advantages and disadvantages of each of these measures, it is advisable to include in any system of quality assessment, a combination of different indicators. As there is growing evidence of a link between treatment intensification, patients' adherence to their treatment regimens and the outcomes of care, measures of clinical inertia and non-adherence should also be incorporated in future assessment systems. Based on these observations, a 16-item measure set has been proposed.


Background and aims: The quality of nurse-patient communication has significant effects on patient care outcomes. Therefore, education of communication skills (CSs) to nurses and nursing students can improve patient care outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of face-to-face education (FTFE) and virtual education (VE) on CSs among nursing students. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2021. Participants were 51 senior nursing students in their internship course in Shahrekord Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahrekord, Iran. They were recruited to the study through a census and were allocated to FTFE and VE groups through the Random Allocation Software. FTFE was provided in two sessions through the lecture and the question and answer methods, while VE was provided in a single online session through simulated multimedia content. Participants' CSs were assessed before and ten days after the study intervention through a 50-minute Objective Structured Clinical Examination with five consecutive stations on communication with elderly patient, communication with adolescent patient, communication with aggressive patient, communication with illiterate or non-communicative patient, and communication for consent. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software (v. 23.0) and through the independent sample t, paired-sample t, and chi-square tests and the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results: The posttest mean scores of CSs in both groups were significantly greater than their corresponding pretest values (P<0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the groups respecting the pretest and the posttest mean scores of CSs. The pretest mean score of the communication with elderly patient skill and the posttest mean score of the communication with aggressive patient skill had significant relationship with participants' place of residence and gender, respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion: VE is as effective as FTFE in significantly improving nursing students' CSs. Therefore, quality VE programs are recommended to fulfill the different educational needs of nursing students.


OBJECTIVE
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease that was first reported in Wuhan, China, and has subsequently spread worldwide. An association between increased venous thromboembolism in patients with pneumonia-related to COVID-19 has not yet been well described.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We aimed to illustrate cases of pulmonary thromboembolism in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome related to COVID-19 treated in our intensive care unit. The medical records of patients affected by COVID-19 with acute respiratory distress syndrome in our institute from 1/3/2020 to 31/3/2020 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS
Our center registered a high prevalence of thromboembolic events among 62 patients affected by acute respiratory distress syndrome related to COVID-19 despite a regular antithrombotic prophylaxis. Out of these, 32 patients were transferred to other hospitals, and 30 were treated in our center. Venous thromboembolism was registered in 12 (19.3%) cases. In particular, 11 diagnoses of pulmonary embolism and 1 diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis were formulated. We described a case series of venous thromboembolism in nine patients treated in our Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Main pulmonary arteries were always involved in these patients. None of them died.

CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, critically ill patients with ARDS related to COVID-19 may have an increased risk of VTE that could be a leading cause of mortality. These patients require a high index of clinical suspicion and an accurate diagnostic approach, in order to immediately start an appropriate anticoagulant treatment.


Abstract Indigenous chicken (IC) contributes significantly to the socio-economic development and nutritional requirements of rural and peri-urban households. Therefore, focusing on IC productivity remains crucial. Despite the IC potential, unimproved breeds are usually constrained by slow growth and maturity rate leading to low productivity. As an appropriate strategy to improve productivity, improved IC have been disseminated to smallholder IC farmers in Kenya. However, information on impact of improved IC breeds remained scanty thus necessitating this study. A total of 384 households were sampled using stratified random sampling procedure in Kakamega and Makueni. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data. Secondary data were accessed from Makueni and Kakamega livestock offices. Propensity score matching (PSM) econometric model was employed using STATA 13. Results from PSM estimates showed that the average egg production/hen/year of adopters was greater than for non-adopters. Education level, group membership, distance to the training point and non-farm activities positively and significantly influenced the impact of improved IC. On the other hand, gender of the household head negatively and significantly influenced adoption decision. Policies should target strengthening the IC farmer's access to frequent extension services. Moreover, formation of farmers groups is fundamental in enhancing information sharing on improved IC breeds. Further, policies should target more women in poultry production by developing programs in their favor.


Image segmentation is an important tool in several fields. One is medical image computing where the images are divided into regions based on tissue type and organ, which can further be used for visualization and diagnosis. Due to the large amount of data produced by modern imaging modalities such as CT and MRI, the process of manual or semi-automatic segmentation is time consuming, tedious and introduces bias by clinical experts. Recent advances in the field of deep learning has given rise to several fully automatic methods for robust segmentation on a large variety of segmentation tasks. In this thesis the use of a 3D convolutional neural network architecture is used on three different segmentation tasks is explored. These tasks are coronary artery segmentation, brain tumor segmentation and digital rock segmentation. Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in Europe. Diagnosis of the disease is today done by invasive methods, but research on using computational fluid dynamics to model the blood flow based on non-invasive imaging show great promise. In this thesis a method for fully automatic segmentation of the coronary arteries based on deep learning is proposed, implemented and evaluated on a dataset provided by St. Olavs Hospital. The dataset contains manual segmentations performed by a clinical expert. The proposed method uses two neural networks trained on aorta segmentation and coronary segmentation respectively and is able to segment the complete coronary artery tree in some test images, but fails to segment all branches in the rest of the images. For the brain tumor segmentation task a network is trained and evaluated on a dataset provided by the Norwegian National Advisory Unit for Ultrasound and Image Guided Therapy (USIGT). The results show that the deep learning method is able to produce good segmentations fully automatically. These segmentations do however inlcude some spurious responses. Digital Rocks technology is based on using high resolution 3D microscopy imaging to create models describing reservoir rock. A network was trained and evaluated on a digital rock dataset provided by FEI. The results show that the network is able to produce good segmentations fully automatically.


Water pollution due to waste effluents of textile industry is a seriously causing various health problems in humans. Water polluted with pathogenic bacteria, especially Escherichia coli (E. coli) and other microbes is due to the mixing of fecal material with drinking water, industrial and domestic sewage, pasture and agricultural runoff. Among the chemical pollutants, organic dyes due to toxic nature, are one of the major contaminates of industrial wastewater. Adequate sanitation services and drinking quality water would eliminate 200 million cases of diarrhea, which results 2.1 million less deaths caused by diarrheal disease due to E. coli each year. Nanotechnology provides an excellent platform over conventional treatment methods of water treatment and remediation from microorganisms and organic dyes. In current study, toxicity and carcinogenicity of the organic dyes have been studied as well as the remediation/inactivation of dyes and microorganism has been discussed. Remediation by biological, physical and chemical methods has been reviewed critically. A physical process like adsorption is cost effective, but can't degrade dyes. Biological methods were considered to be eco-friendly and cost effective. Microbiological degradation of dyes is cost effective, eco-friendly and alternative to the chemical reduction. Besides, certain enzymes especially horseradish peroxidase are used as versatile catalysts in a number of industrial processes. Moreover, this document has been prepared by gathering recent research works related to the dyes and microbial pollution elimination from water sources by using heterogeneous photocatalysts, metal nanoparticles catalysts, metal oxides and enzymes.


By the 1940s, the Municipal Council of Nairobi had enacted a host of By-Laws to control the presence of Africans, especially women, and had set up several agencies to implement them. Consequently, women street vendors were not only denied access to legal trade, but remained unwanted in the town except under very special circumstances. Nonetheless, pushed by their adversity, a number of them resorted to illegal hawking and demonstrated their resilience against the odds. However, as the hawkers' earnings subsidised the colonial low wage migrant labour system, it became difficult for the colonial administration in Nairobi to resolutely stamp out their activities, especially in Eastlands. Besides, by the end of the 1940s, the Council's fight against hawking had slackened owing to unsustainable expenses.

This paper examines the effect of colonial repression of African women street traders in Nairobi's Eastlands area in the 1940s. Using the Gender and Development (GAD) perspective along with data mainly from libraries, archives and oral sources, it interrogates the women's attractions to Nairobi and the logic behind their street trading activities. It also examines the colonial dynamics that exploited the attitudes and beliefs of African male elders to validate the colonial government's gender marginalisation policies against women, particularly the hawkers. The paper concludes that the gender-based constraints against African women traders notwithstanding, propelled by need, the women irrepressibly struggled to find space in the prosperous economy of Nairobi in the 1940s.

Keywords
Racism, gender discrimination, patriarchy, street trading, hawkers, licensing


The pathogenesis of hypertension is not fully understood; endothelin 1 (EDN1) is involved in developing essential hypertension. EDN1 can promote vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation or hypertrophy through autocrine and paracrine effects. Proliferating smooth muscle cells in the aorta are 'dedifferentiated' cells that cause increased arterial stiffness and remodeling. Male SHRs had higher aortic stiffness than normal control male WKY rats. Male SHR VSMCs expressed high levels of the EDN1 gene, but endothelial cells did not. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the molecular mechanism of enhanced EDN1 expression in SHR VSMCs. We identified POU2F2 and CEBPB as the main molecules that enhance EDN1 expression in male SHR VSMCs. A promoter activity analysis confirmed that the enhancer region of the Edn1 promoter in male SHR VSMCs was from −1309 to −1279 bp. POU2F2 and CEBPB exhibited an additive role in the enhancer region of the EdnET1 promoter. POU2F2 or CEBPB overexpression sufficiently increased EDN1 expression, and co-transfection with the CEBPB and POU2F2 expression plasmids had additive effects on the activity of the Edn1 promoter and EDN1 secretion level of male WKY VSMCs. In addition, the knockdown of POU2F2 also revealed that POU2F2 is necessary to enhance EDN1 expression in SHR VSMCs. The enhancer region of the Edn1 promoter is highly conserved in rats, mice, and humans. POU2F2 and CEBPB mRNA levels were significantly increased in remodeled human VMSCs. In conclusion, the novel regulation of POU2F2 and CEBPB in VSMCs will help us understand the pathogenesis of hypertension and support the development of future treatments for hypertension.


Given the availability of a force of atomic unification, a sharp interconnection between an antineutrino and a neutron must constitute an antineutrino hydrogen atom. This is one of two atoms that are of crucial value for constructing all of the remaining ones. We discuss a theory in
 which atomic orbit quantization around a nucleus is carried out with a flavor type dependence. Such an orbit quantized sequence principle leads to the splitting of the spectral lines of atoms in an external field, confirming the availability of a family structure in them. Thereby, it predicts
 the existence in nature of 63 189 isotope forms of 118 types of atomic systems. We derive the united equations that relate the masses in an atom to the radii of boson, lepton, and antineutrino orbits including the speeds, energies, and revolution periods of their particles. The estimates
 thus found express, for each of the five forms of uranium and the two types of hydrogen, the idea of an intraatomic force quantized by leptonic families. They unite all of connections necessary for the steadiness and completeness of an atom in a unified whole as a role of gravity in atomic
 construction. Therefore, a change in both the lifetime and radius of any of the structural particles within an atom originates from the orbit type dependence.


Cytoprotective prostaglandins (PGs) such as PGF2α are present in milk and can be absorbed intact from the gastrointestinal tract. Developmental differences in gastrointestinal PG metabolism in vivo have been previously reported. To evaluate the role of small intestinal tissue. detailed analysis of PG processing in vitro of small intestinal segments of suckling and weanling rats using everted sacs was performed. Sacs were incubated in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, pH 7.4, at 37°C. Bathing mucosal fluid contained [H]PGF2α. Proximal and middle intestinal segment everted sacs of suckling rats exhibited greater transfer of radioactivity in comparison with those of weanling rats. Whereas in suckling rats transfer of radioactivity decreased from proximal to distal regions of the intestine, no segmental differences were seen in weanlings. Maturational differences were also present in the capacity for PG catabolism. Suckling rat everted sacs had a greater proportion of radioactivity present as intact, unmetabolized PGF2α present in sac tissue and serosal fluid in all intestinal segments in comparison with those of weanling rats. Weanling everted sacs contained greater amounts of less polar metabolites. These results indicate that there are quantitative and qualitiative age-related differences in transfer and processing of exogenous PGF2α in small intestinal tissue of developing rats.


One of the world's leading agricultural economists, T.W. Schultz, recently published an estimate of the effect of the adoption of new techniques on the efficiency of United States' agriculture. Schultz estimated the average increase in efficiency at from 0.8 per cent to 1.35 per cent per annum over the period 1910 to 1950, the rate of increase being even higher in recent years. The statistics available do not permit a similar calculation for Australia. However, the systems of agriculture and the types of technical advances made in Australia and the United States are not dissimilar, and it is known that increases in the productivity of labour in the two countries are roughly equivalent, so that an assumption of an annual one per cent increase in the efficiency of Australian agriculture seems reasonable. On this basis, it can be calculated that the adoption of improved techniques is currently adding about L11 million per annum to the net va1ue of Australian rural production. If an increase in efficiency of one per cent per annum is actually being achieved, there can be litt1e doubt that the potential increase physically possible is greater than one per cent. The slow and incomplete adoption of improved techniques in primary industry leaves a very large gap between potential and actual performance. The size of this gap is a problem for speculation rather than calculation. However, to put the problem into perspective, it is suggested that if the rate of adoption of improved methods could be doubled (as no doubt it could), the net value of Australian agricultural production would increase by an extra L11 million per annum. These estimates illustrate the great importance of both agricultural research and of measures designed to encourage the adoption of the results of that research. They point broadly to the conclusion that government investment for these purposes will yield excellent dividends.


As technologies for high throughput and high content screening continue to evolve, new platforms for quantitative cellular imaging will play an increasingly important role in identifying and profiling lead compounds. To gain insight into the effects of a compound on cell morphology or intracellular events, it is necessary to have quality images and the ability to enumerate thousands of data points for statistical relevance. Imaging flow cytometry combines many of the features of flow cytometry, microscopy and imaging as well as a number of unique characteristics. The result is an instrument capable of highly quantitative analysis of cellular behaviors such as receptor internalization, phagocytosis, cell-cell communication, apoptosis and nuclear translocation. This promising new technology and unique type of flow cytometry provides enhanced capabilities for highly multiplexed assays. Here, we review the capabilities of the ImageStream imaging cytometer and discuss several applications relevant to compound screening and profiling.


Nearly all children with femoral anteversion spontaneously remodel by age 8. Femoral derotational osteotomies are performed in older children with persistent excessive femoral anteversion when children or adolescents are limited in activities of daily living or sports. Procedures for correction of the anteversion vary, and no one procedure has been shown to be superior. Since 1997 the authors have corrected idiopathic excessive femoral anteversion thorough a diaphyseal osteotomy with fixation using a rigid intramedullary pediatric femoral nail. The purpose of this study was to describe the technique and results of this new technique. A retrospective study was conducted of all femoral derotational osteotomies performed with a pediatric femoral nail in 13 consecutive patients and 21 affected limbs. All patients complained preoperatively of frequent tripping during sports and activities of daily living. The mean preoperative rotation included internal rotation of 77 degrees and external rotation of 15 degrees. Standing AP radiographs of all patients were obtained at final follow-up. All patients were evaluated clinically and radiographically at a minimum of 1 year after surgery. All patients noted improvement in the ability to participate in activities without tripping. No patient limped at final follow-up. No intraoperative or postoperative complications occurred. Healing of the osteotomy was present at a mean of 6 weeks. All osteotomies healed in anatomic alignment. Mean final hip rotation included internal rotation of 40 degrees and external rotation of 57 degrees. No patient had substantial changes of valgus or femoral neck narrowing at final follow-up. Femoral derotational osteotomy with fixation using a small-diameter rigid intramedullary nail placed through the lateral aspect of the greater trochanter is a safe, accurate, and effective method of correcting excessive femoral anteversion in symptomatic children.


Control of the polymer surface chemistry is a crucial aspect of development of plastic microfluidic devices. When commercially available plastic substrates are used to fabricate microchannels, differences in the EOF mobility from plastic to plastic can be very high. Therefore, we have used polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) to alter the surface of microchannels fabricated in plastics. Optimal modification of the microchannel surfaces was obtained by coating the channels with alternating layers of poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and poly(styrene sulfonate). Polystyrene (PS) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) glycol (PETG) were chosen as substrate materials because of the significant differences in the polymer chemistries and in the EOF of channels fabricated in these two plastic materials. The efficacy of the surface modification has been evaluated using XPS and by measuring the EOF mobility. When microchannels prepared in both PS and PETG are modified with PEMs, they demonstrate very similar electroosmotic mobilities. The PEMs are easily fabricated and provide a means for controlling the flow direction and the electroosmotic mobility in the channels. The PEM-coated microchannels have excellent wettability, allowing facile filling of the channels. In addition, the PEMs produce reproducible results and are robust enough to withstand long-term storage.


Introduction:
 Surgical treatment of moyamoya disease in the adult population commonly employs direct revascularization, the superficial temporal artery to middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass. Pial synangiosis, a method of indirect revascularization, has been utilized in adult moyamoya patients when STA-MCA bypass is not technically feasible. Although the effectiveness of pial synangiosis has been well described in children, only limited reports have examined its role in adult moyamoya patients. Here we report on our experience with pial synangiosis revascularization for this population.

 Methods:
 We reviewed the clinical and radiographic records of all adult moyamoya patients (18 years of age or older), who underwent cerebral revascularization surgery using pial synangiosis at a single institution.

 Results:
 From 1985-2010, 66 procedures (6 unilateral, 30 bilateral) were performed on 36 adult moyamoya patients. The mean age at surgery was 28.3 (range: 19 - 51) and 30 were female. Thirty-one patients (86.1%) presented with either stroke or TIA and 3 (8.3%) with hemorrhage. Pre-operative Suzuki grade was III or higher in 50 hemispheres (75.7%) and 3 patients had prior treatments to the affected hemisphere before pial synangiosis surgery. Clinical follow-up was available for an average of 5.8 years (range 0.6-14.1 years), with 26 (72.2%) patients followed for longer than 2 years. Post-operative angiogram was available for 24 patients and 46 revascularized hemispheres, and 39 (84.8%) demonstrated good collateral formation (Matsushima grade A or B). Peri-operative complications included 3 strokes, 5 TIA's, and 2 seizures, and there was no stroke or hemorrhage during the follow-up period. One patient required additional revascularization surgery 8 months after pial synangiosis.

 Conclusions:
 Pial synangiosis is a safe, effective, and durable method of cerebral revascularization in adult moyamoya patients. Our data supports the utilization of pial synangiosis as a treatment option for moyamoya disease in adults, particularly when STA-MCA bypass is not technically feasible.


textabstractThis paper takes as its starting point the perspective that civil society participation in
governance—particularly policy processes such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
(PRSPs) and related policy developments—largely takes on a mere consultative rather than
a transformative role when initiated and driven by government or donors. In order to
understand attempts at changing this situation, the paper explores the experiences and
strategies of civil society organisations specifically linked to the Policy Forum network in
Tanzania in its objective to transform the consultative engagement to a more meaningful
re-politicised participatory engagement. The emerging factors and key findings indicate that
the following aspects require considerable attention: (1) engagement in both invited and
autonomous spaces to avoid co-optation; (2) strategic coalitions to avoid situations of
dominance and control; (3) representation informed by political responsibility; (4) frontstage
local engagement with back-stage international support; and (5) linking the macro and
micro policy considerations within larger political processes. These factors point to an
increasing awareness and strategic negotiation of the dynamics affecting civil society
participation in policy processes. Furthermore, they indicate that these dynamics need to be
continually assessed and evaluated within the changing political landscape so that civil
society is able to position itself more effectively to influence policy towards transforming
the structural conditions which perpetuate poverty.


Neuro-cognitive models of word learning propose a role for sleep in consolidating new words, yet evidence for sleep-associated memory benefits outside of experimental contexts is scarce. This study compared wakeand sleep-associated memory changes in data from Memrise, a publicly available language-learning app. Memory for foreign words and phrases remained very high in accuracy across a 7-12 hour delay, and there were no differences in forgetting between wake and sleep. However, learners were quicker to arrive at the correct translation after a period of sleep compared to wake. This sleep-associated benefit was seen for words but not phrases, and could not be fully accounted for by circadian differences in completion time. As such, we demonstrate that the behavioural benefits of sleep on vocabulary can be observed in real-world language learning, and discuss the promise for combining smallscale lab studies with naturally occurring datasets to understand learning outcomes.


Despite the protestations of its boss, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is an instrument for rationing health care. 1 2 Unfortunately, it's not a very good one. A government with spine would learn from the failings of NICE and move on to version 2. Perhaps this is a job for after the next election, whoever wins.

NICE, which covers only England and Wales, began in 1999 with three main functions. 1 3–5 Firstly, it appraises new technologies, including drugs, and decides which should be encouraged in the NHS and which should be held back. Its other functions are to produce or approve guidelines and to encourage quality improvement. The biggest push for NICE came from political disapproval of "postcode prescribing:" patients on opposite sides of the same street may receive or be denied treatment because they fall under different health authorities, each with different policies on which treatments they will fund.

NICE began with a blaze of publicity by deciding that zanamivir, a new drug for treating flu, would not be made available in the NHS. 6 7 Its decision was based on the lack of evidence that the drug was effective in older people and others most at risk of …


To promote the circular economy and resource efficiency in the construction industry, information on material flows and stocks is needed. The work presented describes a holistic and dynamic model for the determination of material flows and stocks in urban areas triggered by the construction of residential buildings. In addition to the classification of material stocks (raw material cadastre for residential buildings), it is of central interest to identify future waste streams in order to forecast potential secondary raw materials, determine recovery strategies and control mechanisms. Furthermore, the supply of exploitable fractions must be matched with demand to identify the degree of self-sufficiency of selected areas in order to reduce the use of primary resources and necessary transports. The model developed in this work is validated on the basis of the district of Munich / Freiham, one of the largest urban developments in Germany. In this case study it has been shown that under certain conditions a self-sufficient supply of steel (from 2036 onwards) and recycled aggregate for the production of recycled concrete (from 2031 onwards) for residential building construction can be achieved.


Small birch plants (Betula pendula Roth.) were grown at different rates of exponentially increasing nitrogen supply. This resulted in plants with different relative growth rates and different internal nitrogen concentrations. Within a nitrogen treatment, both of these variables remained constant with time.

Free amino acids were measured in leaves and roots of the seedlings at two different harvests. At greater nitrogen supply, higher concentrations of total amino acid nitrogen were found in roots and leaves. The ratio of amino acid nitrogen to total nitrogen was low albeit greater at higher nitrogen supply. Higher concentrations of amino acid nitrogen were mainly due to high concentrations of citrulline, glutamine, γ-aminobuitric acid and arginine.

Greater leaf concentrations of amino acid nitrogen at higher nitrogen supply may be related lo increased concentrations in the xylem sap and/or may be indicative of small excesses of nitrogen with respect to current nitrogen usage in protein synthesis.


This paper examines some difficulties inherent in the process of integration of potentially divergent theoretical positions. It is noted that there is an increasing tendency toward integration of Jungian theory with various models from psychoanalysis and other scientific disciplines. This trend can be understood as relating to the larger post-modern current operating in the scientific and cultural communities. As an element of the Zeitgeist, theory integration can proceed with a lack of critical stance on the process itself. An argument is developed on theoretical grounds for urging caution in the implementation of theory integration. The integrative process is examined using dream material from D. W. Winnicott in conjunction with his review of Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Through this discussion, some implications are examined as to the viability of linking Jungian and developmental models.


This paper approaches youth identity from the
perspective of discursive psychology and focuses
on how young people construct and negotiate
their identities. Through the use of focus group
data with adolescents from a secondary school, the construction of youth identity was examined.
The management and allocation of blame by the
young people onto others was prevalent
throughout the analysis and three main themes
became apparent. Firstly the pressures of
teenage life exasperated by misunderstandings
by significant others, such as parents or teachers.
Secondly the importance of image within youth
identity and how the media portrayal of youth has
implications for the negotiation of their own
identities. Finally, the third theme considered how
constructions of identity are seen as a negotiation
between childhood and adulthood, with the young
person talking about themselves as being more
grown up than significant others give them due
credit for. This paper extends previous work on
identity by examining aspects of youth culture
that move away from deviant youngsters in
society (Hester, 1998) and those who do not
identify themselves within a specific youth subcultural
group (Widdicombe & Wooffitt, 1995).


Background TRACK-HD is a multi-national longitudinal observational study of Huntington Disease (HD). Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) utilises MRI technology to measure brain metabolites. Aims Using MRS we aimed to define patterns of change in specific metabolite concentrations that reflect disease onset or progression in brain regions affected in HD. Methods Age and gender-matched subjects from a single TRACK-HD site (Vancouver) were evaluated by MRS at four visits over 36 months. Early HD was defined as UHDRS-TFC Stage 1 or 2, Pre-manifest HD (Pre-HD) individuals scored <5 on UHDRS-TMS and controls were gene negative spouses or family members. The MRS protocol involved single voxel spectroscopy in the LEFT putamen using a 3T Philips Achieva MRI Scanners. Metabolites reported include: N-acetyl Aspartate (NAA) a marker of neuronal integrity; Creatine, a marker of brain energy metabolism; Choline, a marker for neuronal membrane turnover; Glutamate, a major CNS excitatory neurotransmitter; and Myo-inositol (mI), an astrocyte marker. MRS spectra were fit using the LCModel program, and metabolite concentrations were normalised to the unsuppressed water signal. Results At all time points, decreased putaminal NAA concentration was observed in Pre-HD and Early HD; the decrease in NAA concentration was independent of grey matter volume loss (putamen atrophy), showed longitudinal consistency, and correlated with motor performance at baseline. Putaminal mI concentration was increased in early HD at all time points. Additional findings for other metabolites will be presented. Conclusions We identify here a potentially useful role for MRS in measuring disease progression and disease onset in HD. These MRS measures are biologically relevant endpoints that should be further evaluated in large multi-site clinical trials.


This study aims to develop scientific treasures on the focus of educational political studies that are not yet familiar in Indonesia, especially regarding the politics of strengthening Islamic education institutions Era of the Minister of Religion K.H.A. Wahid Hasyim Indonesia that has never been studied by anyone, so this study becomes important to study. This study uses "Interest Groups Theory" which has been incorporated in The Politics of Education Association (PEA) as an analysis knife  so  that it is relevant to the context of the discussion. The method in this study uses the qualitative method "Library Research" with an educational political approach with historical style. Whereas in collecting  data  obtained  do  documentation  study and interview, and data analysis technique used by qualitative circular analysis technique by describing, classifying and combining. In this study there were two important findings. First, the emergence  of a  program of  strengthening  Islamic higher  education  institutions  in  Indonesia  on  the basis of the construction of internal and external factors was the existence of the "Balance Motive" praxis by using a rational and spiritual approach which was emphasized in the concept and practice, namely the balance between science and piety, between logic and  morality,  between religious and public education, both must complement each other which is confirmed through the political program of his   institutional   notion   which is establish  a "complete Islamic University and makes  PTAIN  a   modern  embryo of  civilization under the control of the Ministry Religion. The second finding, in practice, is the interaction pattern used by the era of the Minister of Religion of K.H. A. Wahid Hasyim in the process of strengthening Islamic higher education institutions in Indonesiaisan interaction pattern of "Accommodative Compromistic  Associative",  namely the  pattern of interaction that has an indication of "balanced" synthesis with secular groups, even training with the regime, in ways that are more adaptive and prioritize stability and interests all groups by reflecting competitive, compromise, cooperative and tassammuh and tawassuth processes to reduce conflict between groups with the aim of obtaining alternative solutions.


İstanbul, a city with over 14 million people, is invaded by its own inhabitants every day. With the maps in their minds that have the borders drawn by themselves, millions of vehicles, pedestrians, street animals are reaching from one point to another. During these changes, sometimes city fails to protect its original shape, yet sometimes manages to remain the patterns. Transformation of space is based on the economic and political backgrounds of the country and a new real-estate centered culture is forcibly applied. The isolating approach of politics is leaving traces on urban land. İstanbul, being a palimpsest city and a living organism, has been going through the most active phase of its history. But at the same time, lack of interest in urban esthetics and architecture has led many new problems. Individuals can only adopt and accept their social and physical environments as long as they're able to give a meaning to it. But the extremist operations reflect on the memory as ruptures, and this causes an unclear future perception and lack of sense of belonging. Tahtakale District which has going through social and physical changing phases is selected to be the case study area. Incidents of near past will be examined in a safety and gender perspective. For the inhabitants, urban land has become the crime scene for harassment; one of the main goals is to study how the change of mental maps will affect the future assumptions and individuals' behaviors as well as their sense of belonging.


Ontogenic scab resistance in apple leaves and fruits is a horizontal resistance against the plant pathogen Venturia inaequalis and is expressed as a decrease in disease symptoms and incidence with the ageing of the leaves. Several studies at the biochemical level tried to unveil the nature of this resistance; however, no conclusive results were reported. We decided therefore to investigate the genetic origin of this phenomenon by performing a full quantitative transcriptome sequencing and comparison of young (susceptible) and old (ontogenic resistant) leaves, infected or not with the pathogen. Two time points at 72 and 96 hours post-inoculation were chosen for RNA sampling and sequencing. Comparison between the different conditions (young and old leaves, inoculated or not) should allow the identification of differentially expressed genes which may represent different induced plant defence reactions leading to ontogenic resistance or may be the cause of a constitutive (uninoculated with the pathogen) shift toward resistance in old leaves. Differentially expressed genes were then characterised for their function by homology to A. thaliana and other plant genes, particularly looking for genes involved in pathways already suspected of appertaining to ontogenic resistance in apple or other hosts, or to plant defence mechanisms in general. In this work, five candidate genes putatively involved in the ontogenic resistance of apple were identified: a gene encoding an "enhanced disease susceptibility 1 protein" was found to be down-regulated in both uninoculated and inoculated old leaves at 96 hpi, while the other four genes encoding proteins (metallothionein3-like protein, lipoxygenase, lipid transfer protein, and a peroxidase 3) were found to be constitutively up-regulated in inoculated and uninoculated old leaves. The modulation of the five candidate genes has been validated using the real-time quantitative PCR. Thus, ontogenic resistance may be the result of the corresponding up- and down-regulation of these genes.


Purpose of review The extragonadal germ cell tumors (EGCTs) represent a unique entity, and as such require specialized management. This review article will discuss the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment modalities for EGCTs. Recent findings The anterior mediastinal germ cell tumors (GCTs) are the most common EGCT. These tumors originate in the anterior mediastinum without any testis primary. Mediastinal nonseminomatous GCTs carry a poor prognosis with 40–50% overall survival and should be treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy followed by surgical resection of the residual tumor. At Indiana University, we recommend etoposide (VP-16), ifosfamide and cisplatin (VIPx4) instead of bleomycin, etoposide and platinum (BEPx4) to prevent pulmonary complications, as these patients require extensive thoracic surgical resection. Patients who relapse have a dismal outcome with only 10% long-term survival. Our preferred treatment option is surgery for localized relapse; if surgery is not feasible, then high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant in an experienced center is a reasonable approach. Retroperitoneal GCT should be treated in a similar fashion to primary testis cancer. Summary The utilization of cisplatin-based chemotherapy is associated with the best chance of cure for EGCTs. This should be followed by surgical resection of residual tumor in nonseminomatous GCT.


In the context of the development of information society, innovating technologies contribute also to the development of training methods in sport. Mobile technologies are more and more used in enhancing athlete's performance. The paper aims at improving technical skills in judo trough movement analysis. To fulfill our goal we use a device composed of a capture camera and computer software. The instrument name is Signal Frame and it is produced by Sport Metrics - Valencia - Spain. We take into consideration the following parameters: acceleration, speed and power. We consider those parameters as being the most relevant in this sport. The software allows us also to watch the movement frame by frame so we are able to analyze the biomechanics of the movement. Our analysis is based on an experiment within which we used two groups: a control group who trains in a "classic" way and is evaluated at the beginning and at the end of the experiment and one who is also evaluated at the beginning and the end of the experiment but benefits in training of the computer movement analysis. One of the big benefits of this method is its objectivity. The coach can compare quantifiable data from one execution to the other. To evaluate the results, at the end of the experiment we compare the executions of the athletes, in the two groups; we do that by measuring the quantifiable data of the executions and from the executions of the fixed forms (Kata) and see if there is a significant improvement in performing the techniques. We expect increased efficiency in learning using mobile technologies.


The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), has proven to be a threat to native arthropod species in Haleakala National Park, Maui, HI, and is also a potential threat to the park's native flora. As it continues to expand its range, an effort has been undertaken to eradicate it, or at the least, control its spread. The 1st part of this effort focused on finding a bait carrier for subsequent toxicant-based control tests. A year-long bait preference test was implemented at each of the ant's 2 infestation sites in Haleakala National Park, in which 6 solid baits and 2 liquid baits were assessed for attractiveness and feasibility for large scale control. At both sites, a toxicant-free formulation of Maxforce, a protein-based granular bait made from ground silkworm, Bombyx mori (L.), pupae, and a 25% sugar water solution were the most attractive baits. Ants took more Maxforce (without toxicant) and sugar water than all other baits, including honey granules and a fish protein bait. Sugar water, however, is difficult to distribute over large natural areas. Maxforce was therefore concluded to be the best bait carrier for toxicant-based control at Haleakala National Park because of its attractiveness and its ease for large scale broadcast dispersal.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
In response to the dearth of information on cognitive health in older ethnic minorities, in the present study, we examined factors associated with self-rated cognitive health (SRCH) in older Korean Americans. Drawing from the World Health Organization's framework of social determinants of health, we examined how a broad spectrum of factors might influence the way in which older Korean Americans perceive and evaluate their own cognitive health.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Using data from the Study of Older Korean Americans (SOKA; N = 2,061, mean age = 73.2), a series of hierarchical linear regression models of SRCH was tested with sequential entry of predictors: (1) Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of cognitive status, (2) demographic variables, (3) physical and mental health status, (4) health behaviors, and (5) socio-cultural and community factors.

RESULTS
In addition to cognitive screening outcomes, each set of variables made a significant contribution to the predictive model of SRCH. Positive ratings of cognitive health were observed among older individuals with greater education, good physical and mental health, involvement in regular exercise, and socio-cultural resources (social networks, acculturation, and family solidarity).

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The SRCH of older adults goes beyond cognitive screening outcomes, suggesting a need to incorporate the various sources of social determinants when seeking to promote the cognitive health of older populations.


This study, with an eye toward the social psychology of diagnosis more generally, is an investigation of how clinicians diagnose children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Responding to Hacking's call for a Goffmanian mode of analysis to complement and balance the emphasis on large-scale transformations and discourses, we examine the narrative way in which clinicians provide evidence to support a diagnostic position. Using recordings and transcripts of clinical visits across two eras, our findings about the interaction order of the clinic show distinct story types and components that contribute to diagnostic narratives for ASD. These include stories about concrete "instantiations," stories that propose "tendencies," and "typifications" or generalizations regarding a specific child. This work contributes to interaction order theory, methodology, and other domains of social psychological research.


We have generated and characterized a monoclonal antibody (McA Tg-HYL) that recognizes sea urchin hyalin as evidenced by immunofluorescence staining of the hyaline layer (HL) and immunoblot staining of the hyalin protein band. On immunoblots of HL extracts only the hyalin protein reacted with McA Tg-HYL. Immunoprecipitates of radioactive proteins from embryos incubated with [35S]methionine yielded radioactive hyalin and 190, 140 and 105 x 10(3) Mr proteins associated with hyalin. McA Tg-HYL was generated against Tripneustes gratilla embryos but reacts with hyalin from the distantly related sea urchin species, Colobocentrotus atratus, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, Arbacia punctulata, Lytechinus variegatus and Lytechinus pictus. Developing embryos of the above-mentioned six species were treated with McA Tg-HYL and did not gastrulate or form arms. Observations of treated embryos revealed areas of separation of the hyaline layer from the underlying embryonic cells, suggesting that McA Tg-HYL was interfering with binding of the cells to the HL. Using the centrifugation-based adhesion assay of McClay et al. (Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 4975-4979, 1981), Fab' fragments of McA Tg-HYL were found to inhibit cell-hyalin binding. McA Tg-HYL did not inhibit hyalin gelation in vitro or the reaggregation of dissociated blastula cells. We postulate that McA Tg-HYL recognizes an evolutionarily conserved hyalin domain involved in cell-hyalin binding and required for normal epithelial folding.


Gastrointestinal and central function are intrinsically connected by the gut microbiota, an ecosystem that has co-evolved with the host to expand its biotransformational capabilities and interact with host physiological processes by means of its metabolic products. Abnormalities in this microbiota-gut-brain axis have emerged as a key component in the pathophysiology of depression, leading to more research attempting to understand the neuroactive potential of the products of gut microbial metabolism. This review explores the potential for the gut microbiota to contribute to depression and focuses on the role that microbially-derived molecules – neurotransmitters, short-chain fatty acids, indoles, bile acids, choline metabolites, lactate and vitamins – play in the context of emotional behavior. The future of gut-brain axis research lies is moving away from association, towards the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the gut bacteria and depressive behavior. We propose that direct and indirect mechanisms exist through which gut microbial metabolites affect depressive behavior: these include (i) direct stimulation of central receptors, (ii) peripheral stimulation of neural, endocrine, and immune mediators, and (iii) epigenetic regulation of histone acetylation and DNA methylation. Elucidating these mechanisms is essential to expand our understanding of the etiology of depression, and to develop new strategies to harness the beneficial psychotropic effects of these molecules. Overall, the review highlights the potential for dietary interventions to represent such novel therapeutic strategies for major depressive disorder.


CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a critical role in suppressing the development of autoimmune disease, in controlling potentially harmful inflammatory responses, and in maintaining immune homeostasis. Because severe injury triggers both excessive inflammation and suppressed adaptive immunity, we wished to test whether injury could influence Treg activity. Using a mouse burn injury model, we demonstrate that injury significantly enhances Treg function. This increase in Treg activity is apparent at 7 days after injury and is restricted to lymph node CD4+CD25+ T cells draining the injury site. Moreover, we show that this injury-induced increase in Treg activity is cell-contact dependent and is mediated in part by increased cell surface TGF-β1 expression. To test the in vivo significance of these findings, mice were depleted of CD4+CD25+ T cells before sham or burn injury and then were immunized to follow the development of T cell-dependent Ag-specific immune reactivity. We observed that injured mice, which normally demonstrate suppressed Th1-type immunity, showed normal Th1 responses when depleted of CD4+CD25+ T cells. Taken together, these observations suggest that injury can induce or amplify CD4+CD25+ Treg function and that CD4+CD25+ T cells contribute to the development of postinjury immune suppression.


This paper describes methods for implementing telephony services in SIP with fewer traditional feature interactions. A formal SDL model of SIP and its services has been derived from published SIP specifications for verification and validation. It is known that the SIP RFC describes only the protocol specification. The specifications of SIP services and additional service features are informal and can only be found in various IETF drafts. Nevertheless, the service designers are still faced with new feature interaction problems. These new feature interactions are unique to SIP because SIP has flexible signaling features, such as request forking and dynamic assignment of contact addresses, which have both cooperative and adversarial side effects on each other. This paper also describes an extension to the classical feature interaction taxonomy, which is used to associate the causes, effects/symptoms with the preventive measures of the new and traditional feature interactions. Finally, SIP services can be designed and implemented without certain feature interactions by following certain design rules which are based on the knowledge deduced from the verification.


ABSTRACT Antony, J.; Sandeep, K.P.; Aravind, R.; Panigrahi, A., and Balasubramanian, C.P., 2019. Growth, survival, and osmoregulation of Indian white shrimp Penaeus indicus juveniles reared in low salinity amended inland saline groundwater and seawater. In: Jithendran, K.P.; Saraswathy, R.; Balasubramanian, C.P.; Kumaraguru Vasagam, K.P.; Jayasankar, V.; Raghavan, R.; Alavandi, S.V., and Vijayan, K.K. (eds.), BRAQCON 2019: World Brackishwater Aquaculture Conference. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 86, pp. 21–31. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Growth, survival and osmoregulation of Indian white shrimp, Penaeus indicus juveniles were assessed in two water types' namely inland saline groundwater (ISGW) and seawater (SW). Raw ISGW is deficient in potassium (K+) and causes poor survival of shrimp. Amended ISGW (Na+/K+ ratio – 44:1; Mg2+/Ca2+ ratio – 1.8:1) of salinities 5, 10, and 15 ppt were artificially prepared by mixing of different salts in freshwater. The SW of salinities 5, 10, 15, and 27 ppt were prepared from oceanic water. Juvenile shrimp (∼0.069 g) were stocked to triplicate 120 L tanks (30 shrimp per tank) filled with amended ISGW and SW of different salinities and reared for 45 days (average water temperature, 26.7±0.1°C). All shrimp survived the experimental duration in SW of 10 ppt and amended ISGW of 10 and 15 ppt. Survival was significantly lower in SW of 5, 15 and 27 ppt (75.5–81.1%), and that in amended ISGW of 5 ppt (91.1%) was similar to other treatments. Final mean body weight of shrimp (1–1.2 g) and other growth parameters was not affected by water types and salinities. Serum osmolality was significantly lower for juveniles in amended ISGW of 5 and 10 ppt over those reared in SW of similar salinity. However, the osmoregulatory capacity of juveniles did not vary between amended ISGW and SW of identical salinities. Iso-osmotic point of shrimp in amended ISGW and SW were 793.8 (26.5 ppt) and 779.2 mOsmol Kg-1 (25.9 ppt) respectively. Tail muscle moisture content was significantly lower for shrimp in amended ISGW of 5 and 10 ppt, though hepatopancreas moisture contents did not vary between treatments. Penaeus indicus juveniles are efficient osmoregulators and exhibit typical euryhaline behaviour with identical growth parameters over a wide range of salinity. Data suggests that amended ISGW of Na+/K+ ratio ∼45:1 is suitable for P. indicus culture and commercial farming of the species is feasible at low and intermediate salinities.


An attempt has been made in this research paper to evaluate the current status of Avifauna associated with Hygam wetland. For the purpose of present investigation, the study area was divided (i.e., Transect Method) into three study units of 100m² each, primarily on the basis of characteristics of vegetation and depth of water column. Visual censusmethod was used for the estimation of bird population. Visual counting was made with the help of high power field binocular (20x 50x) fromrespective vantage points. Observations weremade twice in amonth. Identification of birds was done with the help of identification keys. The results shows that the Haigam Wetland is particularly important for migratory spp and marsh land breeding spp. Out of 32 species of birds recorded fromHaigam wetland 13 spp were found to represent the residents, 9 spp were found to represent the summer migrants while as 10 spp represented the wintermigrant community . Densities of little bittern, water rail, common King Fisher are particularly high. Hygamlake ismajorwintering area formigratory ducks particularly the common teal, Northern PinTail, Eurasian Wigeon,Mallard, GadwallNorthern Shoveller, and Common Pochard. This lake is also extremely important breeding area for a variety of birds such as little bittern water rail, Indian moorhen, pheasant tailed jacana and whiskered tern. The wetland is also important for long distance migrants as a stopper site for feeding and resting. Threats to waterbirds and their habitats is observed and discussed. The key issues identified based on Observations and Assessments along with the Remedial measures to be followed to restore theWetland is also discussed elaborately.


Responses of a complex receptive field of visual cortex of the cat are determined by the energy of stimuli in the band pass of equivalent space frequency characteristic of the receptive field. This is a proof that the complex receptive fields are spatial frequency band pass filters.


The main objectives of this cruise were to elucidate whether climate change (mainly ocean acidification and warming, OAW) affects interacting species differently due to divergent physiological optima and ranges, expressed in thermal tolerance windows and associated performance capacities and phenologies of specific life stages. To determine the degree of the ongoing 'Atlantification' of the waters around (Western) Svalbard, we took sediment samples to analyse the benthic epi- and meiofauna. Further, we intended to obtain specimens of both Polar cod (B. saida) and Atlantic cod (G. morhua) in the Atlantic and polar waters around Svalbard, which were used in experiments on board and back at the Alfred Wegener Institute.
We left port in Trondheim in the morning of September 21st, heading North towards Svalbard. Due to severe storms in the Norwegian Sea, we had to travel close to the Norwegian shoreline and eventually seek shelter inside Vestfjorden/Lofoten Islands until September 25th. A second attempt to reach Bjornoya (Bear Island) on September 26th failed again due to weather, this time weathering off in Fugloysund/Troms (see figure 1 for cruise track). Around noon of September 28th, we finally reached the first scientific station at Bjornoya (HE519_1), where we deployed a CTD and two short bottom trawls (mainly Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, and haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and continued to the Southern tip of Svalbard to reach Hornsund in the morning of September 29th.
The first station at Svalbard was carried out in Hornsund (HE519_2), where a CTD and a multicorer was deployed, to sample the water column and first 30cm of sediment. Following this, we ran several juvenile fish trawls with fish lift at different depths from surface waters to close to the bottom, specifically aiming for flocks of juvenile fish under the surface, at the thermocline and above ground (water layers of interest derived from CTD and EK80 profiles). This daily sampling protocol was repeated at all other stations unless stated otherwise.
In Hornsund, the whole water body including bottom
waters were around 3°C and well mixed by the rough weather. The
dominant fish species throughout the water column was Atlantic
cod (Gadus morhua) and bottom waters only contained few polar
cod (Boreogadus saida). During the following night, we steamed to
North West Svalbard to sample a station north of Moffen Island
(HE519_3) on September 30th. Due to deteriorating weather
conditions, the fisheries protocol had to be reduced to angling of
50 Atlantic cod for population genetic studies. The overall weather
situation forbade to go further east and the stations planned for
Rijpfjorden and Hinlopenstreet had to be cancelled.
The day after, we sampled Raudfjorden (HE519_4, 5, 6), which
was under Atlantic influence at this time of the year (juv. Atlantic
cod, haddock and herring, Clupea harengus, only few remaining polar
cod). On October 2nd, we had to seek shelter in the
Krossfjorden/Kongsfjorden system, the stations envisaged for
Yermak plateau and the Hausgarten-transect had to be cancelled.
Krossfjorden (HE519_7) did not show any specific stratification
of its water column, yet at its northern tip the deep bottom waters
were still relatively cold (0.8°C) and we found several Polar cod
there. Due to its western exposure, Kongsfjorden (HE_519_8, 9,
10) was very well mixed with bottom temperatures >2°C and was
clearly dominated by Atlantic cod over the whole of its west-east
trajectory. In the afternoon of October 4th, we called at Ny Alesund
to load frozen samples and expedition material of the AWIPEV
summer campaign and transport them to AWI in Bremerhaven.
The next morning saw us stopping over shortly at Longyearbyen
for a medical appointment of a crew member, followed by a short
multicorer station in Isfjorden (HE519_11) on the way to Billefjorden the same day.
The last stations of the cruise were carried out in Billefjorden (HE519_12, 13) on October 5th and 6th. Due to its geographical position and relative shallow sill (30-40m), the water body was clearly structured into warmer surface waters (3-5°C) and the very cold bottom waters (-1,4°C), which were populated by Polar cod as the only fish species on the bottom. The surface waters contained flocks of young Atlantic cod and swarms of herring. In the evening of October 6th, the scientific program of cruise HE519 ended and we sailed back to Longyearbyen to bid three members of the scientific crew farewell on the morning of October 7th. The weather forecast once more did not look promising so we left Svalbard three days earlier than planned to sail home as close to shore as possible. After several delays due to seeking shelter under land along the Norwegian coast, we arrived in Bremerhaven 10 days later in the early morning of October 16th.
Thus ended a challenging research cruise, with relatively meagre results due to the extremely bad weather. Nonetheless, we were able to carry out about 50% of the planned station work, took a great amount of sediment cores and biological samples. In only nine days of station work, 2 bottom trawls, 9 multicorer placements, 11 CTD profiles and 16 pelagic fish trawls with fish lift could be realised. We brought more than 250 juvenile Polar cod back to the home institute in Bremerhaven alive.


The article describes that in light of al-Madinah al-Fâḍilah, al-Fârâbi idealized the relationship between state and its citizens based on ethical values. This is in order to create a society who recognize the truth and enforce it in the form of cooperation with the state to build mutual prosperity. According to al-Fârâbi, society is a pivotal element of the creation of state. Within nation-state realm, the members of society must positively demonstrate their contribution based on their respective capability. Al-Fârâbi called, in addition, for the existence of freedom (al-ḥurriyah) for all people. The task of a state leader is to provide his members guidance to justly stride on right path in accordance with religious doctrines and to prevent them from going astray from the initial objective of state creation, i.e. triumphing happiness within the world and the hereafter. Al-Fârâbi's political thought has great influence in the next development of the modern democracy. The article indicates that al-Fârâbi's concept of freedom has been subsequently reinterpreted by the next Muslim scholars emphasizing that the concept of freedom he deemed is not a borderless freedom.


SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) may provide cardiovascular (CV) benefit when added to GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) given the orthogonal mechanisms of action, although combined use is incompletely understood. Patients adding either SGLT2i or sulfonylureas to baseline GLP-1RA were identified within 3 U.S. datasets (2013-2018) and were 1:1 propensity score matched (PSM) adjusting for >95 baseline covariates. Primary outcomes were 1) a composite CV endpoint (comprised of myocardial infarction, stroke, or all-cause mortality) and 2) heart failure hospitalization. We estimated pooled hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Among 12,584 1:1 PSM pairs (mean [SD] age 58.3 [10.9]; male (48.2%)), there were 102 composite CV events (incidence rate per 1,000 person-years (IR) = 9.4) among SGLT2i initiators compared to 124 events (IR = 12.5) among sulfonylurea initiators, with an adjusted HR of 0.76 (95% CI: 0.59, 0.99), over a mean 10-month follow-up (Table). For the outcome of heart failure hospitalization, there were 141 (IR = 13.0) v 206 (IR = 20.8) events, with an adjusted HR of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.52, 0.80). Thus, adding SGLT2i to GLP-IRA therapy confers greater CV benefit compared to adding sulfonylureas, with a magnitude of risk reduction comparable to the benefit seen in CV outcome trials of SGLT2i vs. usual care in patients with minimal background GLP-IRA use. Disclosure C. Dave: None. S.C. Kim: Research Support; Self; AbbVie Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb. A. Goldfine: Employee; Self; Novartis AG. R. Glynn: Research Support; Self; Amarin Corporation, AstraZeneca, Kowa Research Institute, Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Pfizer Inc. E. Patorno: Other Relationship; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH.


Former industrial suburbs, which are now the object of economic and functional transformations almost everywhere in Europe, are suitable testing grounds for implementing a more sustainable urban development� The case of the northern suburbs of Paris, which we will look at here, shows that there is no lack of political will or regulatory tools for imagining and planning this sustainable city. However, the social problems that affect these suburbs are a definite impediment to its realization�


Several studies have suggested that pre and/or postdiagnosis physical activity can reduce the risk of recurrence in breast cancer patients, however its effect according to follow-up time has not yet been investigated. We analyzed recurrence and mortality dynamics in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) from Australia and Canada. The combined Australian RCTs evaluated, at median follow-up of 8.3 years, an 8-month pragmatic exercise intervention in 337 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, while the Canadian RCT evaluated, at median follow-up of 7.4 years, supervised aerobic or resistance exercise during chemotherapy in 242 patients. For each RCT, the control arm consisted of patients undergoing usual care. We estimated the event dynamics by the discrete hazard function, through flexible regression of yearly conditional event probabilities with generalized additive models. In the considered RCTs, the recurrence and mortality risk of patients enrolled in the physical activity arm was stably reduced at medium/long term after five year of follow-up. In the Australian RCTs where patients were recruited by urban versus rural area, the latter group did not display benefit from physical activity. Estimated Odds Ratios (95% Confidence Intervals) for Disease Free Survival (DFS) in urban women were 0.63 (0.22-1.85); 0.27 (0.079-0.90); 0.11 (0.013-0.96) at the 3rd, 5th and 7th year of follow-up, respectively. For rural women, DFS patterns were overlapping with ORs approximating 1 at the different years of follow-up. Although not reaching statistical evidence, the estimates in the Canadian trial were in line with the results from the Australian urban women with ORs (95% CI) forDFS of 0.70 (0.33-1.50); 0.47 (0.19-1.18); 0.32 (0.077-1.29) at 3rd, 5th, 7th follow-up year, respectively. While we acknowledge that the analyzed RCTs were not designed for investigating disease recurrence over time, these results support the evidence that physical activity reduces the risk of developing medium/long-term metastases. Additional translational research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying these observations.


The concern with the role of failing and post-conflict states as incubators of transnational organized crime (TOC) was a recurrent theme in research in the 1990s. Because of deep-seated institutional failures, instability and impoverishment, weak states were considered as crime-facilitative environments, in which criminal organizations were provided with rewarding criminal opportunities and a high degree of immunity. The resilience of properly functioning states has often been taken for granted in mainstream accounts of TOC. Fragmented but nevertheless important empirical data provide evidence that TOC has established in many countries around the world irrespective of high levels of economic development and outstanding governance.

This dissertation studies the nexus between state features and TOC. In order to do so, a qualitative analysis of the formation of criminal opportunities within different types of states is offered. Two case studies, the Russian Federation (the North Caucasus region) and the United States (the US-Mexico border area) were selected for the analysis. Although the two states have encountered similar security problems such as those related to securing extended borders, fighting terrorism and TOC, they have experienced different patterns of relative success and failure circumscribed by their contrasting governance, economic and security capacities as well as different roles, perspectives and ambitions on global and regional agendas.

Based on the data collected from interviews with experts in Moscow and in Washington, D.C., the analysis of official reports, secondary literature and the mass media, the dissertation offers both the knowledge base on organized crime groups and specific criminal offences, as well as develops a comparative framework for the study of criminal opportunities in the context of poorly functioning and properly-performing states defined along Weberian categories of statehood.

The analysis of the data was performed to develop a typology of criminal opportunities for TOC. Three major categories are distinguished. Criminal opportunities of a-type are characteristic of poorly functioning states and presuppose a vicious downward spiral, in which deteriorating political, economic and security institutions as well as the presence of illicit armed groups and lawless zones generate unprecedented criminogenic opportunities such as in the case of the Russian Federation during the two large-scale wars in Chechnya and the post-conflict reconstruction years.

Criminal opportunities of b-type refer to situations, when policies adopted by developed democracies accidentally facilitate transnational criminal activities, thus, creating more lucrative criminal opportunities. Based on the analysis of criminal activities at the US-Mexico border, the dissertation argues that properly functioning states that endorse vastly penalizing security policies create the criminogenic environment that instigates more sophisticated and resourceful criminal strategies.

Finally, not only state qualities define criminal opportunities. The nature of the systemic environment is a crucial contributing factor to the formation of criminal opportunities of c-type. The findings suggest that TOC triumphs in the circumstances of criminogenic asymmetries constituted by systemic gaps between those states that are affluent and secure and those that are poor and ungoverned. Discrepancies between properly functioning states and zones of instability generate lucrative opportunities for the creation of black markets. This said, criminal opportunities may not only be produced by states but also by a particular composition of asymmetric relationships among states.

Although non-exclusive and often overlapping, the patterns of the formation of criminal opportunities studied in this dissertation are important as they provide greater detail about the concept of a criminal opportunity and shed light to the role of the state as target and a facilitator of TOC.


Background/Aims: Fluoxetine (Prozac) is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor currently used to treat depression and mood disorders. It has been widely studied clinically and preclinically, yet there is limited knowledge of its pharmacokinetics in nonhuman primates. Methods: The present study characterized the pharmacokinetics of fluoxetine and its active metabolite norfluoxetine in rhesus macaques following both acute (1, 3, 5.6 and 10 mg/kg) and chronic doses (5.6 and 10 mg/kg/day) via different routes of administration (intravenous, subcutaneous, intramuscular, and oral). Blood samples were collected at multiple time points following administration and analyzed using mass spectrometry. Results: Fluoxetine had a half-life of 11–16 h and norfluoxetine had a half-life of 21–29 h. Potentially functionally significant serum concentrations of norfluoxetine were present at 24 h even after a single administration of fluoxetine. Similar to observations in humans under steady state conditions, norfluoxetine accounted for the greater percentage of active drug in the blood stream. Conclusion: A daily dose of 10 mg/kg administered orally maintained serum concentrations in the human clinical range over the course of 6 weeks. Given the long half-lives of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine observed in this study, precautions should be taken when designing preclinical studies to prevent accumulation of drug serum concentrations.


Published to accompany a groundbreaking exhibition of film and video works at Tate Modern, Time Zones explores questions around the nature of time itself and the way it is perceived in modern culture. The international selection of artists featured in the publication, including Fikret Atay, Yael Bartana, Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij, Wolfgang Staehle, and Fiona Tan, all produce work that is essentially non-narrative, subtly critiquing our perception of 'hot' new technology and making the passage of time a central feature of their work. Essays by Tate curators Jessica Morgan and Gregor Muir will investigate the themes and offer insight into the individual artists included. Peter Osbourne, Sylviane Agachinski and Irit Rogoff contribute essays exploring our changing perceptions of time from a critical and philosophical viewpoint.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) who do not respond to first-line chemotherapy or those who relapse after obtaining a remission have a poor outcome with standard treatment. In an effort to obtain a high rate of responses we designed an intensive brief duration salvage chemotherapy regimen.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Forty-four consecutive patients with advanced follicular lymphoma were treated. Nine had primary refractory disease, 13 had achieved a partial remission, 16 were in untreated relapse or progression and six were in chemosensitive relapse. The IAPVP-16 regimen consists in ifosfamide 5 g/m(2) iv on day 1, etoposide 100 mg/m(2) iv on days 1-3, Ara-C 1.2 g/m(2)/12 hours iv on days 1-2 and methylprednisolone, 80 mg/m(2) iv on days 1-5. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was used from day 6 in 68 of 114 courses.

RESULTS
Eighteen patients (41%) achieved a complete remission and 17 (39%) a partial remission, for an overall response rate of 80%. There were no treatment-related deaths. All treatment courses were followed by severe neutropenia, and 66% also by severe thrombocytopenia, but there were no serious hemorrhagic events. Neutropenic fever occurred in 56% of the courses with only four severe infections. Non-hematologic toxicity was modest. Twenty-eight patients proceeded to a stem cell transplantation. After a median follow-up of 25 months (range 4-95), the median progression-free survival and overall survival are 32 and 58 months, respectively. The median PFS was 33 months for responders and 11 months for non-responders (p=0.05), while the median OS has not been reached in responders and is 23 months in non-responders (p=0.0005).

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
. The IAPVP-16 regimen is an effective and well tolerated treatment for advanced FL, allowing most eligible patients to proceed with significant tumor reduction to high-dose therapy and SCT.


Background Pathogenic variants of GNB5 encoding the β5 subunit of the guanine nucleotide-binding protein cause IDDCA syndrome, an autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorder associated with cognitive disability and cardiac arrhythmia, particularly severe bradycardia. Methods We used echocardiography and telemetric ECG recordings to investigate consequences of Gnb5 loss in mouse. Results We delineated a key role of Gnb5 in heart sinus conduction and showed that Gnb5-inhibitory signalling is essential for parasympathetic control of heart rate (HR) and maintenance of the sympathovagal balance. Gnb5−/− mice were smaller and had a smaller heart than Gnb5+/+ and Gnb5+/− , but exhibited better cardiac function. Lower autonomic nervous system modulation through diminished parasympathetic control and greater sympathetic regulation resulted in a higher baseline HR in Gnb5−/− mice. In contrast, Gnb5−/− mice exhibited profound bradycardia on treatment with carbachol, while sympathetic modulation of the cardiac stimulation was not altered. Concordantly, transcriptome study pinpointed altered expression of genes involved in cardiac muscle contractility in atria and ventricles of knocked-out mice. Homozygous Gnb5 loss resulted in significantly higher frequencies of sinus arrhythmias. Moreover, we described 13 affected individuals, increasing the IDDCA cohort to 44 patients. Conclusions Our data demonstrate that loss of negative regulation of the inhibitory G-protein signalling causes HR perturbations in Gnb5− /− mice, an effect mainly driven by impaired parasympathetic activity. We anticipate that unravelling the mechanism of Gnb5 signalling in the autonomic control of the heart will pave the way for future drug screening.


This paper analyses the contribution that public real estate management (from here PREM), can provide to the enhancement of LGs performance and to the creation of public value for the community.More in details, the research will focus on a specific segment of public property portfolio, the so called "social housing", for addressing the main issues arising in the management of this segment of assets; moreover, the research wants to highlight the connection between public property management and sustainability of an LG.The paper is structured as follows: the first section describes the scope of the research; the second section provides the theoretical framework in which the research fits; the third section analyses actual issues, criticisms and trends perceived in the field of "social housing". The renewed interested on this topic arise the claim for a new welfare system that involves both public and private sector. More in details, a private support to the implementation and improvement of public strategies it is required in order to fully meet citizens' expectations and to conceive social value. The last section presents a case study analysis of some "social housing programs" launched within Italian Local Governments. The analysis confirms the importance that property management strategies assume for LGs. Furthermore, it emerges that social housing programs - structured to provide/ enhance the empowerment of social conditions and sustainability of a community - are "key factors". Their implementation requires a greater efforts from public managers, whose mission and vision has to be orientated towards the creation and consolidation of social value and urban development.


ABSTRACT This paper shows that income distribution can change dramatically during the business cycle. This finding contrasts with the widespread belief that income distribution changes slowly in the absence of wars and revolutions. Macroeconomics explains in good measure short-run variations in income distribution: inequality varies cyclically, and it increases with inflation and unemployment. Furthermore, at least in Brazil, the minimum wage legislation does not contribute to a better income distribution. There is also evidence that populist policies which lead to real appreciation cannot be justified as supporting the poor. Thus, the best way to help the poor is demonstrably not through the manipulation of prices and wages, but probably through macro stability and a transparent tax-transfer system.


This article is based on the analysis of 259 titles of articles selected from four American sociological journals (the American Journal of Sociology, Social Forces, the American Sociological Review and Social Problems), over a period of 60 years (1940–2000). These titles contain key words such as age(s), generation(s), life cycle and life course, as well as a group of words that identify the purpose of each specific article. The lexical analysis of the data gathered in this way allows us to observe how various orientations, themes and objects of research are encoded in the titles. Comparing how each of these terms is used shows the way in which sociological reasoning has integrated different perspectives on individual and social temporalities. We have established that each of the four different perspectives considered refers to an exclusive lexical repertoire, to themes of differentiated research that belong to a specific historical period.


Gastrointestinal cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. Detection of early neoplastic lesions in gastrointestinal tract is essential for cure, because prognosis and survival are related to the size and stage of malignant lesions. Endoscopic screening and treatment of polyps could prevent approximately 80% of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, white‐light endoscopy is an imperfect technology since miss rates of up to 25% have been reported and polyps without malignant potential were treated without benefit but with additional costs and risks to the patient. There are several known "human" predictors of an inadequate colonoscopy. These include patient characteristics such as poor bowel preparation, female gender, or inpatient status. Skills of the endoscopists are also an important issue. Therefore, a variety of advanced technologies has been attempted to overcome these issues. These new endoscopic imaging techniques allow a more precise classification of mucosal alterations with selection of patients for invasive therapy or surveillance. Further, molecular and functional imaging techniques could identify novel targets for therapies and new prospects to access response to therapies. However, at the "end of the day" a better endoscopic approach for CRC screening and surveillance depends on a good bowel preparation, a trained endoscopist spending sufficient time on a detailed examination together with an advanced endoscope. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Drawing on the ways that art history, art theory, and art criticism have used affect theory, I ask how an affective approach can align the undergraduate classroom art critique with the historical definition of aesthetics, or aesthesis, and create a space for sense and feeling. The first chapter reviews literature in the field and demonstrates the perceived benefits and drawbacks of current critique models. In the second chapter, I consider how affect has the potential to disrupt traditional approaches to critique in order to assist in rethinking stated goals, disrupt power dynamics in the classroom, and generate transformative knowledge. In the last chapter, I examine affect in relationship to sensory knowledge, and discuss how critique can engage the full spectrum of the senses, and create a space for students to experience art as embodied ritual, with potential to move them in a transformative way. Summary for Lay Audience This research examines current approaches to the critique in the undergraduate classroom. Specifically, I use theories about how feelings (affect) and the senses (sensory and embodied knowledge) are used in art history, art criticism, and curatorial studies. I draw from this theory in order to disrupt traditional critique approaches in the studio art


There are two main characteristics of cushioning materials that are required to design a robust cushioning system for the protection of critical element against enviro-mechanical hazards: the attenuation of shocks as a function of the static load and the vibration transmissibility. The effect of a shock on a hypothetical critical element is normally evaluated by the Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) whereas the Frequency Response Function (FRF) performs similar function in relation to vibrations. This paper is concerned with the latter. Cushioning materials are generally nonlinear and, together with the interacting mass, form a nonlinear dynamic system. This paper shows how the Reverse Multiple Input-Single-Output (R-MISO) method can be used to describe the nonlinear characteristics of cushioning systems by generating a series of FRF terms. However, this creates ambiguity in relation to the effect of transmitted vibration on the critical element. This paper proposes to resolve this, by analogy to the SRS, through a numerical calculation of the Vibration Response Spectrum (VRS) for a hypothetical critical element, using as the excitation of the critical element either experimental cushion response data or data synthesised via R-MISO FRFs. Values of the VRS are defined as the ratio of acceleration rms of the critical element to the rms of the cushion excitation, although other descriptors of critical element's exertion can also be considered. The VRS can be considered as the true transmissibility. It is shown that the R-MISO method is superior over the Single Input-Single-Output (SISO) method in determining the transmissibility of polystyrene cushions. Since the cushion system is nonlinear, the excitation of the linear critical element will in general be non-Gaussian, although this paper has shown that it is near- Gaussian in the vicinity of cushion resonance. A chosen hypothetical critical element can be linear or, if its characteristics is known in advance, nonlinear. Results presented in this paper demonstrate how the R-MISO and the VRS can be used to determine the dynamic characteristics of EPS as a nonlinear cushioning material.


This study attempts to characterize vocoids, i.e. vowels and semivowels, as a unified class of segments. In order to do so, it investigates the main phenomena concerning the quantitative distribution of these sounds, namely syllabic alternation, length alternations, deletion and insertion. Such phenomena are best analyzed by making reference to prosodic structure, and syllable structure in particular. Therefore, both frameworks adopted in this thesis take into consideration this type of representation. The main approach, which I refer to generally as Derivational Theory (DT), is based on the notion that surface phonetic forms are derived from underlying forms through a series of structural changes taking place at different levels of representation. This model is contrasted with the recently introduced (Prince and Smolensky 1993) Optimality Theory (OT), an output-oriented paradigm based on the parallel evaluation of candidate forms by means of universal but violable constraints. This thesis shows that OT offers some valuable insights into the phenomena under analysis, although there are areas in which it requires integration with derivational tools. This study also makes specific reference to two languages: Ammani Arabic and Standard Italian. These diverge in their treatment of vocoids, but clear general trends may be detected which have also been found in other languages.


SUMMARY Most commercial almond cultivars are self-incompatible and flowering occurs in early spring when weather conditions are often unfavourable for pollinator flight. Thus, inadequate cross-pollination frequently limits almond yield. We evaluated the effect of pollen dispensers (inserts), fixed onto honey bee hives, on almond fruit set and yield in orchards differing in planting design, i.e. varying in the arrangement and proximity of the main cultivar and pollinizers. Pollen dispensers did not increase fruit-set percentage and yield in the 1: 1: 1 planting design in which (a), pollinizer rows were planted on either side of the main cultivar rows; and (b), bloom overlap was good between the pollinizers (cv. Carmel and Monterey) and the main cultivar Nonpareil. In contrast, pollen dispensers increased fruit-set percentage and yield in the 1: 2: 1 (one pollinizer row: two Nonpareil rows: one pollinizer row) planting design in which the branches of the two Nonpareil rows facing each other were more distant from effective pollinizers, and bloom overlap between Nonpareil and one of its pollinizers (Mission) was suboptimal. The increase in fruit set and yield, attributable to the use of pollen dispensers occurred primarily on Nonpareil branches facing the adjacent Nonpareil row. The impact of pollen dispensers was significant at 50 m but not at 150 m from the hive. Although pollen dispensers have been used for more than 60 years, this is the first large-scale study with replication, conducted under commercial conditions that demonstrates their benefit when cross-pollination is limited.


Abstract Background A few studies have evaluated the impact of clinical trial results on practice in paediatric cardiology. The Infant Single Ventricle (ISV) Trial results published in 2010 did not support routine use of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril in infants with single-ventricle physiology. We sought to assess the influence of these findings on clinical practice. Methods A web-based survey was distributed via e-mail to over 2000 paediatric cardiologists, intensivists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and cardiac advance practice nurses during three distribution periods. The results were analysed using McNemar's test for paired data and Fisher's exact test. Results The response rate was 31.5% (69% cardiologists and 65% with >10 years of experience). Among respondents familiar with trial results, 74% reported current practice consistent with trial findings versus 48% before trial publication (p<0.001); 19% used angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor in this population "almost always" versus 36% in the past (p<0.001), and 72% reported a change in management or improved confidence in treatment decisions involving this therapy based on the trial results. Respondents familiar with trial results (78%) were marginally more likely to practise consistent with the trial results than those unfamiliar (74 versus 67%, p=0.16). Among all respondents, 28% reported less frequent use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor over the last 3 years. Conclusions Within 5 years of publication, the majority of respondents was familiar with the Infant Single Ventricle Trial results and reported less frequent use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor in single-ventricle infants; however, 28% reported not adjusting their clinical decisions based on the trial's findings.