Keratinocytes express la antigen (Ia) during cutaneous graft-vs-host disease (GVHD); it is, however, unclear whether this Ia is adsorbed from alloactivated donor lymphocytes or from Ia-bearing host Langerhans cells (LC), or whether it is actively synthesized by host keratinocytes. We therefore sought to determine the origin of keratinocyte Ia in a murine model of GVHD. Lethally irradiated C3H/He (H-2k) mice developed characteristic histopathologic changes of acute cutaneous GVHD 7 days after injection of BALB/c (H-2d) bone marrow and spleen cells, and expressed keratinocyte Ia of host (Iak) but not donor (Iad) origin in immunofluorescence studies. To determine whether the Ia was synthesized by keratinocytes or adsorbed from host LC, we investigated GVHD that was induced in chimeric mice. Parental strain A mice were made chimeric by lethal irradiation and reconstitution with (A X B)F1 bone marrow cells as follows: (BALB/c X C3H/He)F1 (H-2d,k) leads to C3H/He (H-2k), B6C3F1 (H-2b,k) leads to C57BL/6 (H-2b), and B6C3F1 (H-2b,k) leads to C3H/He (H-2k). After 3 mo, the LC in the skin of these chimeric mice were mainly of F1 haplotype. The chimeric mice were again lethally irradiated and injected with marrow and spleen cells from a third strain of mouse (C57BL/6, H-2b or BALB/c, H-2d) histoincompatible with both F1 parental strains. In the ensuing GVHD, the chimeric recipients only expressed keratinocyte Ia syngeneic to the original haplotype of the animal (strain A), despite the fact that the majority of their LC were derived from F1 marrow and expressed Ia of both F1 parental strain haplotypes (strains A and B). Together, these findings indicate that keratinocyte Ia in GVHD is synthesized by keratinocytes and is not derived from donor lymphocytes or adsorbed from host LC.


This article describes the main shortcomings of the statutory framework regulating Cabinet secrecy in Canada and proposes solutions to address them. The first shortcoming is the indeterminacy of the term "Cabinet confidence" pursuant to sections 39 of the Canada Evidence Act and 69 of the Access to Information Act. Consequently, the executive has broad discretion to delineate the scope of Cabinet immunity. The second shortcoming stems from the absence of meaningful oversight and review mechanisms to prevent and correct possible abuses of this immunity by the executive. Based on the rule of law principle and an analysis of best practices in similar jurisdictions, the author makes recommendations to more clearly circumscribe the scope of Cabinet immunity and to ensure that claims of immunity are subject to meaningful review by an independent and impartial body. To that end, he proposes a narrower immunity, based on a criterion of injury, that could be justified only following an in-depth examination of the public interest. In addition, the author underscores the importance of excluding from the scope of the immunity any factual and contextual information underpinning government decisions that have been made public. Finally, he recommends that judges and the Information Commissioner of Canada be granted the power to examine Cabinet confidences when there is a dispute concerning the validity of a claim of immunity, and that judges be granted the additional power to compel production of those confidences when it is in the public interest.


This dissertation explores the ontology of voice-based, digital social agents – such as Apple's Siri and Google Voice Search – from the perspective of users and non-users. Communication, Human-Machine Communication, Human-Computer Interaction, and Computer Science scholarship inform this study, including theories regarding presence and Goffman's (1959) "personal front," or impression formation. Drawing from the Chicago School and symbolic interactionism, this study proceeds from the epistemological position that people's understanding of their world is formed in and through communication. Research questions focused on people's conceptualizations of agents and artificial intelligence as well as how people come to see and understand themselves in light of these technologies. This is a qualitative study in which the author observed people's public interactions with technology and conducted 51 field interviews with adults regarding their use and understanding of digital social agents, AI, and themselves. From these findings emerge new insights into people's interpretations of voice-based artificial agents with implications for theories regarding presence, impression formation, and source orientation. Participants judge the usefulness of voice-based social agents against existing norms of human-machine communication. When assessing an agent, participants take into account the "artificial front" communicated by the agent in similar ways to how people assess a human's "personal front." Participants recognize both life-like, even human, and machine characteristics within agents to varying degrees. Many participants do not have a single image of what, or who, the agent may be but have multiple, sometimes conflicting, conceptualizations of the agent. Some participants also perceive themselves as being in the presence of a life-like entity. People's conceptualizations of agents are built through their communication with the application and hinge on both mode and message. Voice-based, AI applications provide participants with a new way of "sensing" computers: People speak with and hear agents instead of typing with them. Our understanding of the ontologies of agents and machines evolve as the senses we use to interact with machines shift from the haptic-visual to the oral-aural. We also evolve: We are now machine-speaking animals. This dissertation concludes by discussing new directions for human-machine communication research.


Teamwork between the social pedagogue and the class teacher is an important type of work which is beneficial for both the school and all the participants in the process. It consists of three stages: team planning, team teaching and team evaluation. To introduce teamwork in a primary school, the social pedagogue working as the school guiding service needs to be qualified for socio-pedagogical actions. In turn, these actions are important for teamwork with the form teacher and for other areas of their cooperation as well, particularly classwork. Teamwork between the social pedagogue and the class teacher can be important for exploring and changing the classroom climate.
The main purpose of the thesis was to examine teamwork between the social pedagogue and the class teacher in working towards a positive classroom climate. A qualitative analysis was used in the research to gain insight into: which areas of cooperation do the participants in this case study find important in creating a positive classroom climate; how could the social pedagogue and the form teacher expand their cooperation; how do they plan, implement and evaluate their teamwork; what issues do they encounter in the process; and how they identify the effects of socio-pedagogical workshops on the classroom climate. Moreover, the quantitative analysis of the results using the SPSS software and the statistical t-test for dependent samples mirrored the classroom climate among the pupils at the beginning and at the end of the school year.
According to the research results, the three teamwork participants believe that teamwork is important for creating a positive classroom climate and for other areas of their work. They performed team planning, team teaching and team evaluation. Two of the participants were in favour of another team evaluation at the end of the school year for which they ran out of time. As for the issues of teamwork, they are mainly organisational. The participants also noticed positive effects of socio-pedagogical workshops on classroom climate. The questionnaire results indicate that pupils find their classroom climate more positive at the end of the year than at the beginning.


In this paper we present experimental evidence showing that Buenos Aires Spanish differs from other Spanish varieties in the realization of pre-nuclear pitch accents and in the final fall in broad focus declarative utterances. Whereas other Spanish varieties have been described consistently as showing late peak alignments, Buenos Aires Spanish displays early peak alignments. The alignment pattern found in Buenos Aires broad focus declarative utterances is not totally foreign to Spanish: it is attested in a quite different function, i.e. to signal contrastive focus. In addition, Buenos Aires Spanish also seems to differ from other Spanish varieties in the realization of the intonation contour in utterance-final intonational phrases, where a pronounced tendency for down-stepped peaks is observed. We argue that these patterns, which emerged at the turn of the twentieth century, and coincided with the peak of Italian immigration, are due to a combination of direct and indirect transfer from Italian. As a result, two intonational systems that were typologically similar before contact took place (Hualde, 2002) became more similar after contact, in what can be interpreted as a case of convergence.


A 3D hierarchical Bi-doped CoP nanoflower electrocatalyst has been developed based on a MOF self-sacrifice strategy. 3% Bi/CoP delivers a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at low overpotentials of 122 mV in alkaline electrolyte and 150 mV in acidic electrolyte, respectively. DFT calculations demonstrate that Bi doping can synergistically optimize the binding free energy of H* on the CoP (202) facet and ultimately improve the HER performance.


The cationic polymerizations of isobutylene (IB) initiated by an H2O/AlCl3 system were carried out in a mixture of n-hexane/methylene dichloride of 60/40 v/v at −50 °C in the presence of various external electron pair donors (EDs), including methyl benzoate (MB), ethyl benzoate (EB), and methyl acrylate (MA). The effects of the concentrations of EDs ([ED]) and polymerization time on monomer conversion and kinetics of IB polymerization were also investigated. The complexes between AlCl3 and the esters were soluble in the polymerization system at −50 °C. The polymers with high molecular weights and relatively narrow molecular weight distributions were obtained in the presence of the EDs. The rate of polymerization decreased with increasing [ED]. The kinetic orders of the EDs were remarkably dependent on their chemical structure, steric hindrance from moieties, and concentration in the polymerization system. The reaction order of MB was determined to be around −1.3 when [MB] ≤ 0.40 mmol/L, whereas it was −12.9 when [MB] ≥ 0.40 mmol/L. The reaction order of EB was determined to be −1.36 when [EB] ≤ 0.41 mmol/L, whereas it was −3.36 when [EB] ≥ 0.41 mmol/L. The reaction order of MA was determined to be −1.85 when [MA] ≤ 0.48 mmol/L, whereas it was −16.7 when [MA] ≥ 0.48 mmol/L. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3053–3061, 2007


The development of contrast agents based on fluorescent nanoparticles with high brightness and stability is a key factor to improve the resolution and signal-to-noise ratio of current fluorescence imaging techniques. However, the design of bright fluorescent nanoparticles remains challenging due to fluorescence self-quenching at high concentrations. Developing bright nanoparticles showing FRET emission adds several advantages to the system, including an amplified Stokes shift, the possibility of ratiometric measurements, and of verifying the nanoparticle stability. Herein, we have developed Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based nanovesicles at different dye loadings and investigated them through complementary experimental techniques, including conventional fluorescence spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy supported by molecular dynamics calculations. We show that the optical properties can be modulated by dye loading at the nanoscopic level due to the dye's molecular diffusion in fluid-like membranes. This work shows the first proof of a FRET pair dye's dynamism in liquid-like membranes, resulting in optimized nanoprobes that are 120-fold brighter than QDot 605 and exhibit >80% FRET efficiency with vesicle-to-vesicle variations that are mostly below 10%.


Colonoscopy is the best screening choice for at-risk persons, because it offers prevention through the removal of preneoplastic lesions in addition to early detection. This study aims to report the participation rate of colonoscopy screening and examine its associated factors amongst Chinese first-degree relatives of people with colorectal cancer based on the health belief model (HBM). A cross-sectional study was conducted in Shenzhen, China from March to May 2019. Demographic characteristics, family history, variables derived from the HBM and colonoscopy screening behaviours were measured through online surveys as the independent variables of interest. A total of 186 online surveys were returned, with a final response rate of 57.0%. The participation rate of colonoscopy was 15.6%. Univariate analysis (independent t-test/chi-square test/Fisher test) was applied first to identify the candidate independent variables. Then, multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between independent variables and uptake of colonoscopy. Perceived barriers and cues to action were identified as factors associated with undergoing colonoscopy. The participation rate of colonoscopy in the study population was low. Health communication to promote colonoscopy screening for the Chinese at-risk population should include components in reducing barriers to colonoscopy tests, family history information and health professional recommendations on screening. Future studies with large sample size are suggested to examine perceived susceptibility, fatalism and other characteristics considering family history (treatment and outcome of patients) and their potential impacts on cancer screening behaviours for Chinese at-risk populations due to family history.


The article considers the possibilities of modeling based on which a model of the development of creative thinking primary school students in the process of extracurricular work is theoretically justified and developed, which has three components: the first component is the parts of creative thinking, namely: creative imagination, the ability to speak new and associative and figurative thinking. The second component is the methods of development creative thinking, within the scope of the study they were defined as: educational and developmental methods, motivational methods and creative and productive methods. The third component is pedagogical conditions for the development of creative thinking. Pedagogical conditions included: activation of creative activity, which is realized through the activation of thinking, creative imagination, observation of each student; giving the teacher freedom of action to demonstrate his creative abilities while performing tasks aimed at developing creativity; the introduction of game moments that motivate the creative activity of students, give an opportunity to be realized in a more favorable, psychologically positive atmosphere; the ability to create a sense of satisfaction and joy from success in students, the development of creativity; creation of an art space: a classroom, relaxation art corners, a hobby workshop, a gallery of student creativity; the use of innovative technologies in the process of extracurricular activities, for example, project activities.
It was determined that in accordance with the characterized pedagogical conditions, it is appropriate to use certain groups of methods: educational and developmental, aimed at identifying the creative potential of students and directing it to the formation of creativity structural components; motivational, which should interest students in the process of learning about the new, unknown, actualize knowledge bases, promote active creativity in the process of extracurricular activities; creative and productive, which summarize the mastered material, reflect the quality and level of specific knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the lessons; creative learning methods, which include those that are traditionally intuitive: brainstorming, empathy, etc.
It's confirmed that within the framework of the implementation of this model, the main task of the teacher is to manage the processes of creative search: creating a situation of creative activity of primary school students, developing their imagination, associative thinking, the ability to understand patterns, the desire to constantly improve, to solve more and more complex creative problems.


Under the conditions of the mode of production drifting towards extensive collaboration mode, the process capacity oriented to machining factory should be analyzed and estimated, which is the essential precondition for factory to decide whether to accept a piece of manufacturing order form. Based on the situation, with the production quality checking and analysis focused, a kind of process capacity analysis and estimation was brought forward for the collaborational machining factory under the mode of quality control. The model based on quality driven for the process capacity estimation was provided to solve the critical problem. And the network service system of process capacity estimation was established, by making full use of quality function analysis (QFD), similar procedure query and rough set theory combined with the character parameters such as work-part size tolerance, surface roughness, manufacturing time, cost and etc. Furthermore, some key enabling technologies were instigated in detail, including quality control technology oriented low volume customization and process capacity analysis technology based on rough set (RS) theory.


Summary: Naturally occurring methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus pyogenes isolated in hospitals in Britain, France and Denmark were studied. All strains belonged to a few closely related bacteriophage types and all behaved similarly in the presence of methicillin. The minimum inhibitory concentration of methicillin for the strains ranged from 5 to 100 μg./ml., but on ordinary nutrient agar growth in the presence of concentrations well below this was much less luxuriant than on control plates without antibiotic and tended to be confined to the site of heavy inoculum. Gramstained films from these cultures showed great irregularity in the size and staining of the cocci and many swollen forms were seen, suggesting that methicillin might be inhibiting cell wall synthesis without preventing multiplication. Further work showed that with addition of an excess of electrolytes (5% NaCl or 7·5% (NH4)2SO4) or decrease in agar concentration, growth in the presence of methicillin was almost equal to that on control plates. The addition of uracil to a partially defined medium had no significant effect. Initial incubation under anaerobic conditions also improved growth of these strains in the presence of methicillin.


Background/Objective: New nurse interns are known to eagerly anticipate their internship training year but often find themselves confronted with several obstacles during this period. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nurse interns' satisfaction and hospital as an educational environment. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 195 nursing students (or interns during the internship year) at the Albaha University, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences in 2017–2018. The hospitals that were encompassed in this study were King Fahad Hospital and Prince Meshari Hospital. The tools of study were divided into the following sections: sociodemographic and personal datasheet; Postgraduate Hospital as an Educational Environment Measure; and satisfaction scale. Results: According to the study results, the interns were highly satisfied. This finding illustrates a highly significant correlation between the overall satisfaction scale with role autonomy, perception of teaching, perception of social support, and the overall score of Postgraduate Hospital as an Educational Environment Measure. Furthermore, their satisfaction levels were found to be highly significantly correlated with average (P = 0.002) wherein about 43.08% and 21.54% denoted moderate and high levels of satisfaction, respectively. Pediatric intensive care units and neonatal intensive care units were reported to be the areas with the greatest satisfaction levels. Conclusion: The nurse interns were found to be highly satisfied, and the relationship of the hospital as an educational environment was reported as the most influential factor on their satisfaction during the internship training program.


The primary objectives of this study are to investigate the nature of the prevalent accounting standards in Palestine, their suitability to the Palestinian environment, and how to bridge the gap between them in order to enable Palestine to share the whole world the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This study used a stratified sample, which consisted of 82 subjects of both practitioners and academic groups in Palestine selected randomly from the population of accounting instructors in Palestinian universities, and professionals that included both the preparers and users of financial statements in the Palestinian environment mainly in the West Bank. Then, the researcher surveyed the views of the two groups to test the study's six hypotheses through distributing a questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the respondents thought that Palestine is, to some extent, qualified to replace the American standards by IFRS in the Palestinian environment. In addition, and as perceived by the two groups, there are no differences between the practitioners and academic pertaining to their readiness to accept IFRS in their jobs. However, the two groups agreed that there are some obstacles, that constitute a challenge to move towards IFRS. Despite this agreement, the two groups had different views regarding the nature of these obstacles, such as the required budget for the conversion and how Palestinians view the deficiencies of the regulators in setting international GAAP, if any. Additionally, there are no differences between the views of both the academic and practitioners in Palestine pertaining to the importance of the potential advantages that may be gained from the conversion to the IFRS. They also agreed on the principle that Palestinian universities should organize some training programs and workshops for the investors, corporate managers and other competent bodies to make IFRS clearer and more familiar to these key players in the Palestinian environment. The study has also showed that the absence of professional exams based on IFRS is one of the reasons for the lack of consensus on IFRS in Palestine. However, the two groups did not reach an agreement on the following two issues: the obligatory use of IFRS and which scenarios are the best to adopt to switch to IFRS in Palestine. Based on these findings, the study raised the points pertaining to the challenges that may encounter the move toward the IFRS in Palestine and provides some recommendations. These recommendations underlined the need for future studies, the review of the current accounting curricula, organizing workshops on how to implement IFRS in Palestine and preparing a welldefined schedule for the easy and smooth switch to IFRS. 1 Abu-Sharbeh: The Nature of Accounting Standards used in the Palestinian Financ Published by Arab Journals Platform, 2017 The Nature of Accounting ... Twfeeq Abu-Sharbeh 2 | Journal of the Arab American University. Volume (3). Number (1)/ 2017


Immunization with radiation-attenuated malaria sporozoites induces potent cellular immune responses, but the target antigens are unknown and have not previously been elicited by subunit vaccines prepared from the circumsporozoite (CS) protein. A method is described here for inducing protective cell-mediated immunity to sporozoites by immunization with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium transformed with the Plasmodium berghei CS gene. These transformants constitutively express CS antigens and, when used to immunize mice orally, colonize the liver, induce antigen-specific cell-mediated immunity, and protect mice against sporozoite challenge in the absence of antisporozoite antibodies. These data indicate that the CS protein contains T cell epitopes capable of inducing protective cell-mediated immunity, and emphasize the importance of proper antigen presentation in generating this response. Analogous, orally administered vaccines against human malaria might be feasible.


In a lexicalized grammar formalism such as Lexicalized Tree-Adjoining Grammar (LTAG), each lexical item is associated with at least one elementary structure (supertag) that localizes syntactic and semantic dependencies. Thus a parser for a lexicalized grammar must search a large set of supertags to choose the right ones to combine for the parse of the sentence. We present techniques for disambiguating supertags using local information such as lexical preference and local lexical dependencies. The similarity between LTAG and Dependency grammars is exploited in the dependency model of supertag dis-ambiguation. The performance results for various models of supertag disambiguation such as unigram, trigram and dependency-based models are presented.


In the fields of auto-control, the requirement for dependability and intelligence of the instrument is often to be considered seriously. Since the capability of the electronic sensor and affect of the ambient temperature, the high dependability and intelligence is a hard aim to be reached. And the error through normal methods to design may be very large. The intelligence is poor. The article introduces the project process of making an Intelligent Electric Mini-car with high dependability and intelligence: which is consisted of SCM (single-chip microcomputer) SPCE061A, multiple kinds of sensors and some modules to support. Base on the SCM SPCE061A, the mini-car can identify different voice, record & play, race intellectually by the order of voice, dodge the barriers automatically and measure the distance accurately while running at different speed by introducing the PWM and the HALL speed sensor. At the same time, it has radar of backing a car, GPS (Global Position System) and the ability to detect alcohol in a motorman. To enhance the function of the mini-car, radiogram, MTV and LED of kinds of color is added, too. With the information displayed on the LCD and the voice register, it is easier to communicate with the mini-car. With the separate of circuit of controlling and electromotor, the stability of the system has improved. It has made good use of power to adopt 3.3V for the switch circuit and high efficiency PWM. Under the control of the voice order, it also can detect the real time and temperature meticulously. The project is adopting intelligent sensor and new SCM, which combined the multiple kinds of new intelligent electronic device, not only to measure the data for the system accurately, but also to communicate with us. At last the actual data of speed and distance is given to prove the feasibility of the project.


Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases diagnosed in children today, and some minority populations constitute a much higher incidence of asthma than others. Many factors are known to play into the development of asthma, including genetics, smoking history, and psychosocial stress. Experiencing childhood racism may be one type of stressor that contributes to the development of asthma and poor asthma outcomes. This study aims to identify the effect of experienced racism on asthma outcomes in minority children. Methods: An exhaustive search of available medical literature was conducted using the databases MEDLINE – PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science. An age filter was applied in all databases encompassing children from birth to 21 years old. The key terms used were asthma and racism. Eligibility criteria included English language and human-only studies. Articles must also have included at least one measured asthma outcome and involved minority participants. Studies were assessed for quality using GRADE criteria. Results: The search produced 2 available studies that met search criteria, both being case-control studies. Although measuring different asthma outcomes, the studies suggested that African American children who report experiencing racism to any degree have a higher incidence of asthma, and are more likely to have poorly controlled asthma. Data on other minorities showed mixed results. The overall quality of evidence provided is low for asthma incidence and very low for poor asthma control. Conclusion: The data suggested that for African American children, those who reported experiencing racism were more likely to have asthma, more likely to have poorly controlled asthma, and had a higher bronchodilator (BDR) response. One study's data on other minority children showed mixed results, and different asthma phenotypes may also play a role in susceptibility. Further studies are needed, particularly cohort studies, to further determine the effects of racism on asthma in different minority populations, and to increase our confidence in the results. This may help us understand if additional screening is needed for children who may be at risk for asthma and poor asthma outcomes, and to help aid in treatment plans. Degree Type Capstone Project Degree Name Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies


The problem of mapping the interior of a Jordan polygon univalently by the Poisson integral of a step function was posed by T. Sheil-Small (1989). We describe a simple solution using "ear clipping" from computational geometry.


This article presents an overview of concepts related to identity and language learning, as well as empirical research on student's identity in SL, FL and AL classrooms published in recent years, focusing on the theoretical and methodological approaches that supported the studies. Besides a brief history of the concept of identity, it discusses the concept in light of poststructuralist theories. Moreover, the notions of investment and imagined communities, as proposed by Norton (2013, among others) are reviewed along with some empirical studies on identity and language learning. Finally, the paper presents suggestions for further research.


of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of M.C.M. Asset revaluation and future firm operating performance: evidence from New Zealand By: Y.H. Zhai The regulatory framework of many countries allows the upward revaluation of assets. Previous studies on the association of asset revaluation and future performance in Australia (Barth and Clinch, 1998), U.K. (Aboody, Barth and Kasznik, 1999) and Hong Kong (Jaggi and Tsui, 2001) have shown that upward asset revaluations are positively associated with the firm's operating performance, suggesting that asset revaluations are value relevant. This study extends the previous research by focusing on the New Zealand environment with recent data to examine the association of upward asset revaluation and future operating performance. There is no obvious evidence indicating that upward revaluations are associated with operating performance in New Zealand. Our market assessments show that current year asset revaluations are related to share prices and returns, but are not statistically significant.


Background: Hyperosmotic stress resulting from lumen contents is a big challenge to the normal function of the intestinal epithelium. Betaine is a potent organic osmolyte, but it is mostly studied in kidney. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the osmoprotectant role of betaine in intestinal epithelium of piglets and intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2 cells) under hyperosmotic condition.Results: The result showed that the osmolarity of intestinal chyme was much higher than that of plasma (P < 0.05), indicating a natural hyperosmotic environment of intestinal lumen and subsequently leading to hyperosmotic stress to intestinal epithelium. Meanwhile, hyperosmolarity corresponding to intestinal environment was simulated by 150 mmol/L NaCl in vitro and caused a significant decrease of cell viability (P < 0.05). It was found that betaine could remarkably decrease hyperosmolarity-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) of intestinal epithelium in vivo and vitro (P < 0.05) with the significant restoration of cell shrinkage (P < 0.05). Furthermore, since hyperosmolarity caused mitochondrial-related apoptosis with the remarkable increase of cleaved Caspase3, cleaved PARP-1, cytoplasm cytochrome c as well as obvious decrease of Bcl-2 in protein level (P < 0.05), betaine prevented mitochondria from membrane collapse and alleviated apoptosis (P < 0.05) in vivo and vitro. Meanwhile, it was also confirmed that betaine reduced hyperosmotic stress-induced apoptotic incidence in IPEC-J2 cells via fluorescence microscope and flow cytometry (P < 0.05). In addition, betaine supplementation significantly suppressed hyperosmotic stress-induced elevated expression of LC3 II and reduced expression of p62 (P < 0.05). indicating that betaine ameliorated autophagy of porcine intestinal epithelium caused by hyperosmolarity in vivo and vitro. Autophagic flux determined by mRFP-GFP-LC3B system in IPEC-J2 cells was in agreement with the result of western blotting as well (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Betaine could alleviate hyperosmotic stress-induced cell shrinkage, ROS accumulation as well as ameliorate subsequently apoptosis and autophagy in small intestinal epithelium of piglets and IPEC-J2 cells.


The article proposes a tool for managing money laundering risk based on the definition of the level of coherence of financial companies and credit unions, the application of which will contribute to introduction of a risk-based approach to anti-money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It was revealed that among the investigated during 2010-2017 financial corporations and credit unions there are financial conglomerates. This confirms the existence of close ties between them. Associated financial companies and credit unions may form or join networks that can be used for possible money laundering. It was established that the share of connected credit unions and financial companies corresponds to the principle of Pareto – 20:80. The proposed methodological support allowed selecting a large number of independent credit unions and financial companies. This will help to prevent the impact of the risk of connected individuals on the high ability of the borrower to fulfill their loan obligations and not to be involved in processes for money laundering using networks. Meanwhile, dedicated joint financial institutions belong to a high-risk group for controlling their financial operations to prevent the legalization of proceeds from crime.


We provide theoretical and empirical evidence that policy uncertainty can significantly affect firm level investment and entry decisions in the context of international trade. When market entry costs are sunk, policy uncertainty can create a real option value of waiting to enter foreign markets until conditions improve or uncertainty is resolved. Using a dynamic, heterogeneous firms model we show that: (i) investment and entry into export markets is reduced when trade policy is uncertain, and (ii) preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are valuable to exporters even if applied trade barriers are currently low or zero. We derive a structural equation that predicts how firm entry responds to changes in applied tariffs and a theory-based measure of policy uncertainty. Our novel approach using observable trade policies allows us to estimate the impact of policy uncertainty and quantify its aggregate implications. We apply this method to Portugal's accession to the European Community in 1986 using new firm-level trade data. We find that (i) the trade policy reform accounted for a large fraction of the observed Portuguese exporting firms' entry and sales upon accession (ii) the accession removed uncertainty about future preferences and (iii) this uncertainty channel accounted for a large fraction of the predicted growth. These results have broader implications for other PTAs and our approach can be applied to analyze other sources of policy uncertainty.


We examined the spatiotemporal changes of microbial communities in relation to hydrochemistry variation over time and space in an aquifer polluted by landfill leachate (Banisveld, The Netherlands). Sampling in 1998, 1999, and 2004 at the same time of the year revealed that the center of the pollution plume was hydrochemically rather stable, but its upper fringe moved to the surface over time, especially at distances greater than 40 m away from the landfill. Complex and spatiotemporal heterogeneous bacterial and eukaryotic communities were resolved using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S and 18S rRNA gene fragments. Large fluctuations were noted in the eukaryotic communities associated with strongly polluted and cleaner groundwater. The bacterial communities in strongly polluted samples were different from those in cleaner groundwater in 1998 and 1999, but no longer in 2004. The temporal variation in microbial communities was greater than the spatial variation: the 1998 bacteria communities in strongly polluted groundwater were more related to each other than to those recovered in 1999 and 2004. During the three sampling periods, the bacterial communities were more stable close to the landfill than at larger distances from the landfill. Overall, pollution appears to have only a minor influence on microbial communities. The considerable spatiotemporal variation in microbial community composition may contribute to better biodegradation of pollutants. Designing management strategies for natural attenuation of aquifer pollution will benefit from further long‐term, high‐density monitoring of changes in microbial communities, their diversity and physiological properties, in relation to changes in hydrochemistry.


Objectives To assess associations between the launch of the National Dementia Strategy (NDS) and antipsychotic prescribing in long-term residential care (LTC) in England. Setting and participants Retrospective analysis of prescribing patterns in 616 LTC institutions (31 619 residents) following launch of the NDS, using information from electronic medicines management system. Primary and secondary outcome measures Antipsychotic prescribing point prevalence (PP) for all residents in a cross section of LTC settings over a 4-year period following NDS launch. Secondary outcomes included dosages, length of treatment and use of recommended second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) versus first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs). Associations between facility-level PP values and institutional characteristics, resident demographics were explored. Variations across geographical areas examined. Prescription net ingredient costs calculated. Results No statistically significant difference was observed in overall prescribing rates over the 4-year period (Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test p=0.60), and there was no significant shift towards newer SGAs (KS test p=0.32). Dosages were above the maximum indicated in only 1.3% of cases, but duration of prescribing was excessive in 69.7% of cases. Care homes in the highest prescribing quintile were more likely to be located in a deprived area (rate ratio (Q5/Q1) RR=5.89, 95% CI 4.35 to 7.99), registered for dementia (RR=3.38, 95% CI 3.06 to 3.73) and those in the lowest quintile were more likely to be served by a single general practitioner (GP) practice (RR=0.48; 95% CI 0.37 to 0.63); p<0.001 all. A sixfold variation in PP levels was observed between geographical areas. The average annual expenditure on antipsychotics was £65.6 per person resident (2012 prices). Conclusions The NDS in England was not associated with reduced PP levels or the types of antipsychotic prescribing in care homes. Further research is needed to explore why. Clear standards specifying recommended agents, dosages and length of treatment, together with routine monitoring and greater accountability for antipsychotic prescribing, may be required.


We show how splitting the ARToolkit in several functional components leads to an extension of its capabilities. We present how these ARToolkit components can be used to extend the functionality of the Toolkit to wide area indoor tracking. The marker detection gets reconfigured whenever the system's user comes near so-called transitional markers, resulting in the possibility of integrating several ARToolkit based applications within a single system. The cost of a wide area tracking infrastructure based on optical marker detection is very low, as only some markers have to be printed out and attached to known places. The ARToolkit provides all features necessary for this application, but has a limited number of markers that can be stored in and distinguished by the system at a given point in time. Wide area tracking usually requires many known features in the environment. Splitting the ARToolkit library in several components (image acquisition, marker detection and processing of the marker information) allows the realization of this wide area tracking scenario. Every component gets implemented in a separate process, communicating with each other using the DWARF system. As a result, the output of every component can be used by several others. To solve the problem of a limited number of markers we attach transitional markers at prominent places like entrance doors to buildings.


In order to improve the chemical resistance of epoxy resin and its toughness and corrosion resistance, in this paper, silicone modified epoxy resin was prepared with epoxy resin and two kinds of silicones, Dow Corning DC–3074 and Chenguang Z–1, as raw materials and dibutyltin dilaurate (DBTDL) as catalyst. The structure of the modified epoxy resin was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer and its performance was tested. The results showed that the epoxy resin modified by DC–3074 had better salt spray resistance compared with the Z–1. Therefore, the DC–3074 was selected as the epoxy resin E–51 modifier. The silicone modified resin was further synthesized with E–51 as the matrix resin, 12.5% DC–3074 silicone as the modifier, and 0.5% DBTDL as the catalyst. The obtained cured coatings showed good performance with the following results: product fineness of 20–25 μ m, solid content of more than 95%, surface drying time of 25 min, smooth appearance, hardness of 2 H, adhesion level of 0, and salt spray resistance time of 432 h. The prepared modified epoxy resin coating has good salt spray resistance and good application prospect.


One-dimensional chain structures of Bn(n=6-16) are calculated by employing a 6-311 G^* basis set.The present calculations show that all the chain structures of interest have local minima with large binding energy per atom and short bond length.It is also found that many previous reported structures of B6 and B7 clusters are saddle points and the one-dimensional chain structures are the corresponding ground-state structures of B6 and B7 clusters.


OBJECTIVE
Electroretinography (ERG) is used prior to cataract removal surgery to assess retinal function. We aimed to replicate and improve upon previous studies by performing a full ECVO protocol and by examining the retina post-surgery in all patients.

ANIMALS STUDIED
One hundred twenty-seven eyes from 67 dogs were included in the study.

PROCEDURES
A full ECVO protocol electroretinography, which includes extensive rod and cone analysis, was performed on all dogs presenting for cataract surgery.

RESULTS
Our main findings were that amplitudes, but not implicit times of rod responses decreased with advanced cataracts. Amplitudes of the single flash rod and rod flicker responses were significantly lower in eyes with mature cataracts, and the former also decreased in hypermature cataracts. Cone flicker amplitude responses were also significantly lower in eyes with mature and hypermature cataracts. However, mixed single flash rod-cone and cone responses, with the exception of the mixed rod-cone a-wave amplitude in eyes with hypermature cataracts, were unaffected by cataract stage. The b-wave amplitude of the scotopic, mixed rod-cone, and photopic cone responses were affected by age and decreased by an average of 2.9, 7.5, and 1.5 μV/year, retrospectively (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
Lower ERG amplitudes in canine cataract patients may result from aging or the presence of advanced cataracts and may not indicate the presence of retinal disease.


While normal epithelial cells are anchorage-dependent, cancer cells are anchorage-independent. To elucidate the mechanism underlying the anchorage-independence of cancer cells, we cultured detached cells in medium containing elastase. Detached human epidermal cancer cells (DJM-1) survived for at least 3 weeks and focal adhesion kinase was still phosphorylated. In contrast, most detached keratinocytes underwent rapid apoptosis and focal adhesion kinase was not phosphorylated while the cells were alive. Thus, discontinuation of the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase preceded cell death. Immunostaining showed laminin-5 expression on the surface of detached DJM-1 cells, but not on detached keratinocytes. Receptors for laminin-5 (i.e. integrins) were detected on both detached DJM-1 cells and keratinocytes. Laminins are secreted proteins, so we speculated that laminin-5 adhered to the surface of secreting DJM-1 cells via integrins and evoked activation of focal adhesion kinase, with the resultant signalling cascade promoting cellular survival. If this hypothesis is correct, cell surface expression of laminin-5 may be used to explain the characteristics of cancer, immortality, tumour formation, metastasis and angiogenesis.


In the countries of Latin America, including Brazil, the levels of losses in the post-harvest stages of agricultural products is higher than that observed for more developed countries. The present study estimated the impacts of reduction in post-harvest losses of agricultural products to levels observed in countries of high income. We calculated this reduction and, using the input-output matrix of Brazil, estimated the impacts that this drop in losses could have on the Brazilian economy. These impacts are due to the increase in the following services: processing, transportation and trade, which would be included in those products recovered. The reduction in post-harvest losses would imply an increase of R$ 9.8 billion in the value of agricultural production (in 2012 values). In addition, it can be seen that the direct, indirect and income effects of an increase in demand for services (processing, transport and trade) caused by the increase of supply, can raise the value of output of the economy in R$ 18 billion, the country's GDP in R$ 9.7 billion and generate more than 300,000 jobs. These results illustrate that, in view of the great importance of agricultural products for the Brazilian economy, the reduction in losses after harvest can generate substantial economic benefits for the country.


Physiochemical and rheological properties of asphalt binder are known to directly relate to asphalt pavement performance as it relates to fatigue and low temperature cracking. While other performance criteria such as rutting is also affected by binder properties, the latter is known to be also very sensitive to aggregate skeleton and mixture gradation. To enhance pavement performance, asphalt industry has commonly used various modifiers to improve binder rheological properties both before and after it is exposed to oxidative aging. Among those additives are polymers, ground tire rubber, as well as several organic and inorganic fillers. Inorganic fillers such as nano-clay and silica fume showed to be promising candidates to enhance asphalt rheology and aging behavior. Such enhancements are typically attributed to the presence of silicate platelet and silica particles. Accordingly, this paper investigates the merits of application of mesoporous silica nanoparticles in this paper referred to as nano-silica as an asphalt binder additive to enhance binder rheological properties and oxidative aging resistance. To do so, different percentages of nano-silica were added to neat asphalt binder. Asphalt binder was then exposed to short-term oxidative aging using a rolling thin film oven (RTFO). To study the distribution of nano-silica in binder as well as the change in the chemical, rheological, and morphological properties of asphalt binders due to the addition of nano-silica, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Superpave tests, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were conducted. It was found that introduction of nano-silica to asphalt binder can improve the rheological properties and oxidative aging resistance of asphalt binder.


This paper sets out to review literature on the efficacy of monitoring and evaluation in achieving project success in Kenya. Several studies have been carried out with an aim of determining the critical success factors (CSFs) which contribute to project success. The analysis of these studies shows a particular pattern of events. Some CSFs appears consistently in a number of studies. One such factor is the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) function. The researcher used literature review approach to analyze the factors related to M&E influencing project success. All the factors identified were grouped into four main categories which are: Strength of M&E team, monitoring approach adopted, political influence and project lifecycle stage. The study further identified management support as a mediating factor between M&E and the Project Success. A good M&E without management support is likely not to succeed.


People from five different ethnic groups share the territory that is Isiolo District, situated in northern Kenya. This article gives an account of the different groups' claims to land in this inter-ethnic setting, which is located in the border area of the vast drylands southeast of the Sahara. Presenting contemporary claims in a narrative form, the authors illustrate how these claims seek legitimacy through reference to historical processes, to first-comer status and to former governments' decisions, to citizenship dues, as well as to "tribal" group rights. Taking into account the fact that the broader constitutional, political and social contexts related to these narratives and claims are, at present, in a state of transition, the article seeks to situate the local people's perspectives and local land dynamics within broader discourses on land conflict and land policy reform in Africa. In this way, it also provides context for the series of new inter-ethnic clashes that took place in Isiolo District in 2011.


The promotion of Diabetes Self-Management (DSM) practices, education, and support is vital to improving the care and wellbeing of diabetic patients. Identifying factors that affect DSM behaviours may be useful to promote healthy living among these patients. The study assessed the determinants of DSM practices among Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients using a model-based social cognitive theory (SCT). This cross-sectional study comprised 420 (T2DM) patients who visited the Diabetic Clinic of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi-Ghana. Data was collected using self-structured questionnaires to obtain socio-demographic characteristics, T2DM-related knowledge, DSM practices, SCT constructs; beliefs in treatment effectiveness, level of self-efficacy, perceived family support, and healthcare provider-patient communication. Path analysis was used to determine direct and indirect effects of T2DM-related knowledge, perceived family support, and healthcare provider service on DSM practices with level of self-efficacy mediating the relationships, and beliefs in treatment effectiveness as moderators. The mean age of the participants was 53.1(SD = 11.4) years and the average disease duration of T2DM was 10 years. Most of the participants (65.5%) had high (>6.1mmol/L) fasting blood glucose (FBG) with an average of 6.93(SD = 2.41). The path analysis model revealed that age (p = 0.176), gender (p = 0.901), and duration of T2DM (p = 0.119) did not confound the relationships between the SCT constructs and DSM specified in the model. A significant direct positive effect of family and friends' support (Critical ratio (CR) = 5.279, p < 0.001) on DSM was observed. Self-efficacy was a significant mediator in this relationship (CR = 4.833, p < 0.001). There were significant conditional indirect effects (CIE) for knowledge of T2DM and family and friends' support at medium and high levels of belief in treatment effectiveness (p < 0.05) via level of self-efficacy on DSM practices. However, no evidence of moderated-mediation was observed for the exogenous variables on DSM. Diabetes-related knowledge of T2DM, family and friends' support, level of self-efficacy, and belief in treatment effectiveness are crucial in DSM practices among Ghanaian T2DM patients. It is incumbent to consider these factors when designing interventions to improve DSM adherence.


To study the effect of simian vacuolating virus 40 (SV40) on development and differentiation of dendritic cells (DC) from rhesus macaque, the peripheral blood-derived dendritic cells from rhesus monkey were pulsed with inactivated SV40 and infective SV40, respectively at the 5th day post DC cultivation. Expressions of CD1a, HLA-DR, CD86 and CD83 on the cell surface at the 7th, 9th day post DC cultivation were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM). The results showed that expressions of CD1a, HLA-DR, CD86 and CD83 on the cell surface in the inactivated SV40-pulsed experimental group were higher than those in the infective SV40-pulsed experimental group (P < 0.05). These cell surface molecules represented characteristic development and differentiation phase of DC. Down-regulation of expressions of these cell surface molecules indicated that infective SV40 might hamper differentiation and maturation of dendritic cells from rhesus monkey.


Only few studies have addressed the interindividual variation and tissue specificity of glucocorticoid (GC) sensitivity in healthy individuals, a phenomenon observed in pathological conditions. Alternative splicing of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) produces alpha and beta isoforms. GRbeta has dominant-negative effects on hormone-induced GRalpha effects, and an increased expression of the GRbeta has been associated with glucocorticoid resistance. We determined, using a simple, rapid, and accurate Real-Time PCR assay, the individual mRNAs expression of GRalpha and GRbeta in 26 normal subjects (mean+/-SE, age 30+/-6 years; 12 males and 14 females), in order to evaluate the role of these isoforms in glucocorticoid sensitivity in health. Glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was used as a housekeeper gene. GRalpha/GAPDH, GRbeta/GAPDH and GRalpha/GRbeta ratios showed a normal distribution. We observed a higher expression of GRalpha compared to GRbeta and an interindividual variability in the GRalpha, GRbeta, and GAPDH gene expressions in the young healthy population. In addition, no correlation was observed between GRalpha/GRbeta ratio and the dexamethasone (DEX) doses needed to suppress plasma cortisol, GRalpha/GRbeta ratio and the concentration of DEX that caused inhibition of Con-A stimulated cell proliferation, and GRalpha/GRbeta ratio and the affinity of GR (Kd) of each subject. Therefore, the variability of GC sensitivity observed in normal subjects can not be ascribed to the variation in the GRalpha and GRbeta expression.


The possibility of growing perovskite solar cells on flexible substrates can be seen as an exciting opportunity, allowing high throughput roll-to-roll manufacturing with a low embodied energy, and creating new applications in buildings, vehicles, portable electronics and internet-of-things based devices. Flexible perovskite solar cells have previously been developed on polymer substrates such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) which are vulnerable to the ingress of moisture. Here we report the development of flexible perovskite solar cells grown on a typical transparent front sheet which is generally used to encapsulate flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells. This type of substrate displays an ultra-low water vapor transmission rate and good UV blocking properties. Perovskite solar cells, grown on such flexible front sheets coated with a highly transparent conducting ZnO:Al (AZO) electrode and vacuum processed ZnO/C60 electron transport multilayer, yield 13.2% and 10.9% stabilized efficiencies for areas of 0.15 cm2 and 1.03 cm2, respectively. The substitution of an opaque rear contact with the transparent electrode enables the realization of flexible NIR-transparent perovskite solar cells with efficiencies above 12%. These devices display an average transmittance of 78% between 800 and 1000 nm and enable the development of 4-terminal polycrystalline all-thin-film flexible perovskite/CIGS tandem devices. In a first proof of concept 18.2% efficiency is obtained.


The objective of this research is to analyse the prevalence of physical intimate partner violence (IPV) in ten developing countries in four regions as identified by the Demographics and Health Survey (DHS): Sub-Saharan Africa with Mali and Nigeria; North Africa/West Asia with Egypt
 and Jordan; South and Southeast Asia with Cambodia, Pakistan and the Philippines; and Latin America and the Caribbean with Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Peru. These countries are all tested with one primary research question: whether witnessing physical IPV in family-of-origin is associated
 with women's experience of physical IPV in adulthood. Past research has shown reason to believe witnessing parental violence is a significant risk factor in IPV in many nations, but the influence of IPV in these developing countries has not been examined.The results indicate that
 having witnessed physical IPV in one's family-of-origin significantly increases the likelihood of experiencing later physical abuse, for respondents in all countries. By controlling for other factors, this finding provides robust support for the intergenerational transmission
 of violence theory, which explains the link between interparental aggression and physical IPV in subsequent relationships as a result of learned models of behaviour observed in childhood. Implications of this research for developing countries are also discussed.


Pyrocatalysis is an emerging advanced oxidation process for wastewater remediation with the potential for thermal energy harvesting and utilization. Although several studies explored the potential of new pyrocatalyst materials to degrade harmful organic water pollutants, the role of important material properties and electric poling procedures on the pyrocatalytic activity is still unclear. In this work, we investigate the interdependence between particle size, electric poling and pyrocatalytic activity of BaTiO3 powders with nominal particle sizes of 100, 200 and 500 nm by using the dichlorofluorescein redox assay. Depending on the particle size, the influence of surface area or phase composition on the pyrocatalytic activity predominates. Moreover, we demonstrate that poling of pyrocatalysts leads to a strong size-dependent increase of pyrocatalytic activity. This poling effect increases with particle size up to +247% and can be explained with size-dependent changes in phase composition and domain structure. Combining all results, the progression of the pyrocatalytic activity as a function of particle size was derived and a future strategy for maximizing the catalytic performance of pyrocatalysts was developed. This study greatly improves the understanding about the role of important material properties and electric poling on pyrocatalytic activity, thus enabling an effective catalyst design. With the help of highly active catalysts, the pyrocatalytic process can take the next step in its development into a new and energy-efficient advanced oxidation process for water remediation.


Objective: To provide an updated overview of critical pertussis to the pediatric critical care community and describe a study of critical pertussis recently undertaken. Setting: The six sites, seven hospitals of the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network, and 17 outside sites at academic medical centers with pediatric intensive care units. Results: Despite high coverage for childhood vaccination, pertussis causes substantial morbidity and mortality in US children, especially among infants. In pediatric intensive care units, Bordetella pertussis is a community-acquired pathogen associated with critical illness and death. The incidence of medical and developmental sequelae in critical pertussis survivors remains unknown, and the appropriate strategies for treatment and support remain unclear. The Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network Critical Pertussis Study has begun to evaluate critical pertussis in a prospective cohort. Conclusion: Research is urgently needed to provide an evidence base that might optimize management for critical pertussis, a serious, disabling, and too often fatal illness for U.S. children and those in the developing world.


The early prediction of intractability is a major challenge in epileptology. Some prognostic factors have been pointed out, most of which simply underlined that partial epilepsy is more difficult to control than idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). Indeed, the main predictors are the presence of a brain lesion demonstrated by neuroimaging or suggested by a neurological deficit or a developmental delay, as well as electroclinical evidence of non idiopathic partial epilepsy. Little is known about the relationship between the location of the epileptogenic area and the chance of being seizure-free in patients with partial epilepsy. Some data suggest that temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is more difficult to control than other partial epilepsies, but this might only reflect the prognostic impact of hippocampal sclerosis. Indeed, several studies have shown that the majority of patients with MRI evidence of hippocampal sclerosis develop refractory epilepsy. This observation also applies to patients with malformation of cortical development (MCD). The response to the first AED is another early predictor of refractory epilepsy. At the time of diagnosis, several prognostic factors are available to predict drug resistance, but further studies are still needed to better delineate the specific role of each of these factors, and to offer a more accurate prediction of long term seizure outcome.


: The results from cytologic, colposcopic, and histologic studies in 376 patients are analyzed and compared to previous reports. Cytologic results correlated within 1 degree of the histologic diagnosis in only 67% of cases. Colposcopic impression correlated with the final histologic diagnosis in 78% of cases. Directed biopsies were exceedingly accurate (99.3%) when the entire transformation zone was visualized. When the entire zone was not visualized, 7 cases of invasive carcinoma were discovered among 59 cone biopsies. It is concluded that cytology should be used only as a screening tool and colposcopy as a directional aid in obtaining biopsies and defining the need for endocervical curettage. When the entire zone is visualized, directed biopsies are dependable and cone biopsies may be avoided. When the upper zone is not visualized and the endocervical canal is involved by significant dysplasia or carcinoma in situ as diagnosed by directed biopsies and/or endocervical curettage, cone biopsy is mandatory prior to definite therapy.


Abstract Cyber security cooperation should be a natural area of cooperation between India and the United States for a number of reasons; both countries are democracies, with similar values and economic systems, and both have also been severely affected by threats emanating from cyberspace. The structural complementarities between the two economies, especially in the services sector, which is a major user of cyber networks provides further motive for the two countries to cooperate in this sector. Despite this strategic fit, there has been very little in the nature of cooperation, either bilaterally or multilaterally. In fact, both countries seem to have embarked on the futile exercise of securing their respective corners of cyber space in this shapeless and formless domain. Cyberspace would be better served if the two countries utilised their respective leadership positions to work pro-actively towards a cyberspace that is open, global and secure.


To evaluate the monophyly of subtribe Pleurothallidinae (Epidendreae: Orchidaceae) and the component genera and to reveal evolutionary relationships and trends, we sequenced the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) and 5.8s gene for 185 taxa. In addition, to improve the overall assessments along the spine of the topology, we added plastid sequences from rnatK, the trnL intron, and the trnL-F intergenic spacer for a representative subset of those taxa in the ITS study. All results were highly congruent, and so we then combined the sequence data from all three data sets in a separate analysis of 58 representative taxa. There is strong support in most analyses for the monophyly of Pleurothallidinae and in some for inclusion of Dilomilis and Neocognauxia of Laeliinae. Although most genera in the nine clades identified in the analyses are monophyletic, all data sets are highly congruent in revealing the polyphyly of Pleurothallis and its constitutent subgenera as presently understood. The high degree of homoplasy in morphological characters, especially floral characters, limits their usefulness in phylogenetic reconstruction of the subtribe.


INTRODUCTION
It is today well recognised that preterm infants are at risk of neurodevelopmental impairments later in life. The preterm brain is exposed to different stimuli that may affect its normal development. Develoment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers the possibility of monitoring normal brain development and pathology in the preterm brain. The most frequent lesions are germinal matrix/intraventricular haemorrhages, periventricular hemorrhagic infarction and periventricular leukomalacia. Other changes especially in the white matter, less well known from ultrasound studies, can be depicted with MRI. Furthermore, quantitative MRI techniques have demonstrated differences between the normal appearing preterm brain at term-equivalent age and the brain of term-born infants.

CONCLUSION
These studies confirm that the immature brain may develop differently in the extra uterine environment. Future studies with these techniques will improve our knowledge of the effects of prematurity on long term brain development.


Heterotopic ossification (HO) is the formation of bone at extraskeletal sites. Over 60% of amputees injured by improvised explosive devices in the recent conflict in Afghanistan have developed HO, resulting in functional impairment. It is hypothesised that a key aetiological factor is the blast wave; however, other environmental and medical risk factors, which the casualties have been exposed to, have also been postulated. The suicide terrorist bombings in London in 2005 resulted in many blast-related casualties, many of whom were managed by the Royal London Hospital. This cohort of severely injured patients whose injuries also included trauma-related amputations shared some, but not all, of the risk factors identified in the military population. We reviewed these patients, in particular to assess the presence or absence of military-established risk factors for the formation of HO in these casualties.


This paper describes the architecture, functionality, and design of HDVO-a high definition video co-processor from Philips Semiconductors. The coprocessor design is modular and functionally complete, and is intended to be a part of and function as the primary picture/video composition hardware in any media-processor chip targeted at Digital Television (DTV) applications. Essentially a screen-refresh engine, HDVO can mix multiple video and graphics planes and is capable of scaling vertically and horizontally pictures of the highest resolution (1920/spl times/1080) specified in the DTV standard prescribed by the United States Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). HDVO can efficiently process all (eighteen) ATSC video formats, including video generation for picture-in-picture display, and is currently being wed as an on-chip video coprocessor in the TM-2700 digital television chip. TM-8700 is the second generation of an architectural family of programmable multimedia processors from Philips Semiconductors and it not only supports all ATSC formats, from standard-definition to wide-angle high-definition video, but has also the power to handle High-Definition Television (HDTV) video and audio source decoding (high-level MPEG-2, AC-3 and ProLogic audio, closed captioning, etc.) as well as the flexibility to process advanced interactive services.


Much of the existing literature on Indian cricket identifies the game's inherently political dimension and attributes the pre-eminence of cricket in the Indian imagination to a set of complex and contradictory processes that parallel the emergence of an 'Indian' nation. Yet until the early 1980s, while cricket was popular, hockey was the 'national game' and soccer was equally popular in large parts of the country. From the 1980s onwards cricket assumed centre-stage, not necessarily stemming, as many have written, from some peculiar Indian affiliation for the game, but inextricably linked with the expansion of Indian television and a confluence of other factors: the creation of a large middle class, economic reforms, the politics of identity, the birth of the satellite television industry and broader trends in globalization. This essay maps the growth of Indian television to draw out these linkages and demonstrate the central role of television in making cricket integral to modern notions of Indian identity.


Digenetic eucotylids of the Paratanaisia genus are widely reported parasites of the avian renal system. The infection, commonly reported in free-living and zoo-housed birds, is described for the first time in a domiciled bird, a cockatiel kept as pet bird with free access to the yard outdoors. The bird was received at Veterinary Hospital, where clinical and radiographic evaluations suggested a case of heavy-metal poisoning. Although the bird received supportive care and a chelating agent, it died the next day. The necropsy showed friable kidneys and congestion of blood vessels in structures such as the skin, proventriculus, brain, and skullcap. The histopathological evaluation of the kidneys revealed multifocal hemorrhages, commonly found in cases of heavy-metal poisoning. Parasitic structures similar to those of the digenean trematodes Paratanaisia spp. were also observed inside dilated collecting ducts, which presented epithelial cell flattening and vacuolization. There was compression of adjacent tissue and discrete fibrotic areas. In the presence of intermediate hosts in the yard, the synanthropic nature of some wild free-living birds could make them a source of trematodes infection and dissemination for pet birds. Conversely, the infected cockatiel could also have served as a reservoir and carrier of trematodes to wild free-living birds.


The authors present data on a comparative study of the effect of pyromecaine, cocaine and pontocaine during a number of otorhinolaryngeal operations. A device was developed for objective evaluation of anesthesia, which graphically records the extent and duration of anesthesia in patients. Pyromecaine was used during 420 operations and manipulations in 397 patients with diseases of the nose and nasal accessory sinuses aged from 14 to 82 years. The control group consisted of 200 patients subjected to the same operations with the use of cocaine and pontocaine. Data on algography and observations of the general condition in patients showed that 2% pyromecaine solution caused good anesthetic effect in 91%, satisfactory anesthetic effect in 8%, and unsatisfactory anesthetic effect in 1% patients. On the grounds of the conducted clinical studies the authors concluded that pyromecaine approaches pontocaine in respect to the extent and duration of its effect and exceeds cocaine by 2-2.5 times. They recommend pyromecaine for certain otorhinolaryngeal operations.


The Duffy gene has been shown not to be split by introns, even in its 5' untranslated region, and to be expressed not only in erythroid but in postcapillary venule endothelium of almost every organ in the body. To further investigate the transcriptional start position in erythroid and postcapillary venule endothelium, we performed 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (5'-RACE). While every positive clone of 5'-RACE encoded the identical sequence of previously identified cDNA downstream from nucleotide 203, the upstream sequences were different. The upstream sequences corresponded to the sequence from nucleotide -279 to -308/-357 in erythroblasts and from -279 to -355/-383 in lung and were regarded as comprising a novel exon. This novel exon encoded seven residues initiated with a methionine, linked to nucleotide 203 in-frame and in agreement with the GT-AG splicing rule. The major erythroid transcriptional start position was identified in human erythroleukemia cells by primer extension and in bone marrow by ribonuclease protection analysis at 34 bases upstream from the first ATG codon. Distinctively, in lung and kidney, the transcription was started at 82 bases upstream from the ATG. Both Northern blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction followed by Southern analysis indicated a predominance of the novel spliced form of mRNA of about 50- to 200-fold comparing with the unspliced form, in every studied organ and erythroid lineage cells. The spliced form of cDNA has been transfected into a human erythroleukemic cell line, K562, and the expressed protein reacted with Duffy-specific murine monoclonal antibody Fy6. These studies indicate that the product from the spliced form of mRNA is the major product of the Duffy gene in the erythroid lineage and postcapillary venule endothelium.


OBJECTIVE
The study compared use of specialty outpatient mental services among children ages six and seven and children ages eight through 12 and investigated predictors of differences in the patterns of service use by age.

METHODS
Eligible children were first-time patients of clinics participating in the Longitudinal Assessment of Manic Symptoms who were between ages six and 12 and who were English speaking. Children who screened positive for symptoms of mania (N=1,124) were invited to participate, and families of 621 (55%) children consented. A matched sample of 86 children without a positive screen for mania also participated. Baseline interviews assessed sociodemographic characteristics of the child and family and the child's functioning, diagnoses, and use of services.

RESULTS
Of the 707 children, 30% were younger, and 50% used multiple types of specialty outpatient services. Younger children were more likely to be male, have Medicaid insurance, and have two parents with mental health problems. Use of multiple types of services was related to study site, high depression scores, fewer minor health issues, and fewer stressful life events among younger children and with parental stress, primary diagnosis, poor functioning, and not living with both parents among older children. Younger children were much more likely than older children to have used services before age six.

CONCLUSIONS
Younger children showed very early use of multiple types of services for mental health problems and a pattern of persistent impairment despite long-standing use of services. These data argue strongly for focusing on emotional and behavioral issues among young children.


A technique for obtaining native (uncrossed illumination/image polarizations) and induced (crossed illumination/image polarization) using a significant amount of evanescent energy is described for a solid immersion lens (SIL) microscope. Characteristics of native and induced polarization images for different object structures and materials are studied in detail. Experiments are conducted with a NA = 1.48 at λ = 550 nm microscope. Near-field images are simulated and analyzed with an RCWT approach. Contrast curve versus object spatial frequency calculations are compared with experimental measurements. Dependencies of contrast versus source polarization angles and air gap for native and induced polarization image profiles are evaluated. By using the relationship between induced polarization and topographical structure, an induced polarization image of an alternating phase shift mask (PSM) is converted into a topographical image, which shows very good agreement with atomic force microscope (AFM) measurement. Images of other material structures include a dielectric grating, chrome-on-glass grating, silicon CPU structure, BD-R and BD-ROM.


OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the presence of insulin antibodies (IAs) may preclude the optimization of metabolic control during pregnancy and affect outcome in women with IDDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS IAs were measured by radiobinding assay in 44 women with IDDM referred to the Diabetes and Pregnancy Outpatients' Clinic during 46 pregnancies. Age, duration of IDDM, metabolic control (HbA1c, mean pre- and postprandial capillary blood glucose, frequency of hypo- or hyperglycemia), insulin requirement at 1st and 3rd trimester of pregnancy, BM1, and weight gain were recorded. Neonatal variables such as gestational age, weight, length, and the presence at birth of either hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, or jaundice requiring phototherapy were also considered. RESULTS IAs correlated positively with insulin requirement (P < 0.05) and negatively with HbA1c at term (P < 0.01). Patients with IA levels ≥ 40% insulin binding (8 of 46) had a higher insulin requirement and lower preprandial capillary blood glucose at the beginning of pregnancy but not at term (P < 0.005), whereas they had lower HbA1c at term than did patients with low IA levels (P < 0.01). IA levels decreased slightly at term (P = 0.007). IA levels ≥ 40% were not associated with a higher rate of hypo- or hyperglycemic episodes or with diabetic complications or thyreopathy. No correlation was found between LA levels and any of the neonatal variables considered. CONCLUSIONS The presence of IAs does not preclude optimization of metabolic control during pregnancy and is compatible with a favourable outcome.


The single-family home neighbourhoods that were built in West Germany in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s will be increasingly affected by future socio-demographic changes. Today, the above-average length of occupancy by owners and the rise in life expectancy are leading to the increased over-ageing of the populations in these residential areas. The generational change means that a constantly growing number of these homes are being put up for sale and encountering a changing and regionally differentiated housing market. Regionally diverse shrinking and ageing of the population will decrease the potential demand for single-family homes in coming years. In addition, social change will lead to qualitative changes in demand. The pluralisation of living arrangements and residential preferences can be expressed in the changed household structures and the geographic shift in housing demand in favour of more dense urban areas. Therefore, residential areas in peripheral regions with unfavourable demographic and economic conditions are particularly at risk. At the local level, winners and losers will emerge among the existing residential neighbourhoods of suburban or rural municipalities. Disadvantages such as unfavourable characteristics of a certain location and construction or energy efficiency shortcomings, as well as image perception, can combine to create serious problems. In the worst case, homes are at risk of a loss in value, neglect, vacancy and dilapidation – developments that have, to date, been largely unknown in Germany's single-family home sector. The question for areas with at-risk homes is how the looming change in owner generations, not to mention the structural and infrastructural transformation processes, can be managed. This article, based on the results of a research project conducted by the Wustenrot Foundation, examines the general demographic and socio-economic causes of this development and characterises the present situation in selected case studies. We also address questions about handling these problems and identify initial considerations about possible municipal interventions in the revitalisation of single-family home neighbourhoods. In addition, the article presents a strategic framework for action and a number of possible municipal provisions.


Abstract The objective of this paper is to demonstrate an approach to characterize the spatial variability in ambient air concentrations using mobile platform measurements. This approach may be useful for air toxics assessments in Environmental Justice applications, epidemiological studies, and environmental health risk assessments. In this study, we developed and applied a method to characterize air toxics concentrations in urban areas using results of the recently conducted field study in Wilmington, DE. Mobile measurements were collected over a 4-×4-km area of downtown Wilmington for three components: formalde-hyde (representative of volatile organic compounds and also photochemically reactive pollutants), aerosol size distribution (representing fine particulate matter), and water-soluble hexavalent chromium (representative of toxic metals). These measurements were used to construct spatial and temporal distributions of air toxics in the area that show a very strong temporal variability, both diurnally and seasonally. An analysis of spatial variability indicates that all pollutants varied significantly by location, which suggests potential impact of local sources. From the comparison with measurements at the central monitoring site, we conclude that formaldehyde and fine particulates show a positive correlation with temperature, which could also be the reason that photochemically generated formaldehyde and fine particulates over the study area correlate well with the fine particulate matter measured at the central site.


This thesis is concerned with the liquid-liquid extraction and separation of Y, Ce, La, binary mixtures, and ternary mixtures as well as synthesis of novel amide ligands for
the extraction of rare earth elements.

Chapter I is the general introduction of the practical process and applications of solvent extraction and its theory. It describes systems involving compound formation,
ion-association and solvation as well as solvent loading capacity, dispersion and coalescence. The aims of this thesis are also presented.

Chapter 2 presents an introduction to yttrium chemistry and recent developments in yttrium extraction chemistry. It describes the relevant factors affecting the liquidliquid
extraction process to determine the optimum conditions for yttriurn extraction from sulfate liquor. These factors include TiOA concentration, contact time, pH value, temperature, aqueous phase composition, diluent and construct of McCabe-Thiele diagram. In addition, the synergistic effect of using TBP, TOPO and D2EHPA and the optimum conditions for the stripping process are deten-nined.

Chapter 3 contains introduction to cerium chemistry and recent developments in cerium extraction chemistry. The optimum conditions for solvent extraction of cenum(III) from a sulfate medium, and synergistic effects using TOPO and D2EHPA on the extraction process are studied. Also, the relevant factors affecting cerium(Ill) stripping efficiency are determined.

Chapter 4 presents a brief introduction to lanthanum and recent developments in lanthanum extraction chemistry. The optimum conditions for solvent extraction of lanthanum from sulfate media, with synergistic effects using TOPO, D2EHPA and TBP are described. In addition, the suitable conditions for the lanthanum stripping process are determined.

Chapter 5 contains the principles of separation and liquid-liquid extraction of binary (Y/La) and ternary (Nd-La-Y) element systems. The optimum conditions for the separation of both systems were investigated.

Chapter 6 describes the synthesis and characterization of several novel piperazine and piperidine amide ligands. These ligands have good extraction ability for both light and heavy rare earth elements. The optimum conditions for solvent extraction of yttnum and cerium(III) using these ligands were studied. The chapter also, contains the
experimental procedures and characterising data for ligand synthesis in this thesis.


Many state-of-the-art hyperparameter optimization (HPO) algorithms rely on model-based optimizers that learn surrogate models of the target function to guide the search. Gaussian processes are the de facto surrogate model due to their ability to capture uncertainty but they make strong assumptions about the observation noise, which might not be warranted in practice. In this work, we propose to leverage conformalized quantile regression which makes minimal assumptions about the observation noise and, as a result, models the target function in a more realistic and robust fashion which translates to quicker HPO convergence on empirical benchmarks. To apply our method in a multi-fidelity setting, we propose a simple, yet effective, technique that aggregates observed results across different resource levels and outperforms conventional methods across many empirical tasks.


There is concern that exposure to the air pollutant ozone may adversely affect respiratory function. Ozone is formed photochemically by the action of sunlight on pre-cursor pollutants and peak concentrations usually occur during spells of hot sunny weather in summer. There is also evidence that summer thunderstorms may exacerbate asthma. In order to investigate the possible effects of ozone and summer weather conditions on asthma a panel of 29 patients was recruited from outpatients from a hospital asthma clinic in Norfolk. Daily morning peak-flow measurements (pre-medication) were analysed for June, July and August 1994. For each subject the daily measurements were expressed as the percentage of their best peak-flow and the average for the whole panel was then calculated. Daily ozone measurements from the national air pollution monitoring site at Sibton and data on weather conditions in Norwich were also collected. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the association between daily peak flow, ozone and a number of weather variables, including the occurrence of thunderstorms, with lags of up to 5 days. A significant positive association (p<0.001) was found between peak flow and temperature over the previous 3 days. Peak flow was significantly negatively associated with the number of days with thunder in the previous 5 days (p=<0.001), the number of days with poor ozone (at or above 90 ppb) in the last 3 days (p<0.001) and the number of days with rain in the last 4 days (p<0.001). These 4 variables explained 48% of the variance in daily peak flow. The model estimate is that each day of poor ozone is associated with a change in peak flow (as % of best) of -1.07 (95% c.i. -1.52, -0.63) and each day with thunder -0.70 (95% c.i. -0.98, -0.43). During the summer period studied there was therefore evidence of small, but statistically significant adverse effects of ozone, thunderstorms and wet weather on the respiratory function of asthmatics in Norfolk.


We investigated rituximab maintenance therapy in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (n=662) or follicular lymphoma grade 3b (n=21) in first complete remission. Patients were randomized to rituximab maintenance (n=338) or observation (n=345). At a median follow-up of 45 months, the event-free survival rate (the primary endpoint) at 3 years was 80.1% for rituximab maintenance versus 76.5% for observation. This difference was not statistically significant for the intent-to-treat population (likelihood ratio P=0.0670). The hazard ratio by treatment arm was 0.79 (95% confidence interval 0.57–1.08; P=0.1433). The secondary endpoint, progression-free survival was also not met for the whole statistical model (likelihood ratio P=0.3646). Of note, rituximab maintenance was superior to observation when treatment arms only were compared (hazard ratio: 0.62; 95% confidence interval 0.43–0.90; P=0.0120). Overall survival remained unchanged (92.0 versus 90.3%). In subgroup analysis male patients benefited from rituximab maintenance with regards to both event-free survival (84.1% versus 74.4%) (hazard ratio: 0.58; 95% confidence interval 0.36–0.94; P=0.0267) and progression-free survival (89.0% versus 77.6%) (hazard ratio: 0.45; 95% confidence interval 0.25–0.79; P=0.0058). Women had more grade 3/4 adverse events (P=0.0297) and infections (P=0.0341). Men with a low International Prognostic Index treated with rituximab had the best outcome. In summary, rituximab maintenance in first remission after R-CHOP-like treatment did not prolong event-free, progression-free or overall survival of patients with aggressive B-non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The significantly better outcome of men warrants further studies prior to the routine use of rituximab maintenance in men with low International Prognostic Index. This trial is registered under EUDRACT #2005-005187-90 and www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00400478.


Political justification figures prominently in contemporary political theory, notably in models of deliberative democracy. This article articulates and defends the essential role of partisanship in this process. Four dimensions of justification are examined in detail: the constituency to which political justifications are offered, the circumstances in which they are developed, the ways in which they are made inclusive, and the ways in which they are made persuasive. In each case, the role of partisanship is probed and affirmed. Partisanship, we conclude, is indispensable to the kind of political justification needed to make the exercise of collective authority responsive to normative concerns.


Activation of invariant natural killer T lymphocytes (iNKT cells) by α-galactosylceramide (α-GC) elicits a range of pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory immune responses. We report the synthesis and characterization of a series of α-GC analogues with acyl chains of varying length and a terminal benzophenone. These bound efficiently to the glycolipid antigen presenting protein CD1d, and upon photoactivation formed stable CD1d-glycolipid covalent conjugates. Conjugates of benzophenone α-GCs with soluble or cell-bound CD1d proteins retained potent iNKT cell activating properties, with biologic effects that were modulated by acyl chain length and the resulting affinities of conjugates for iNKT cell antigen receptors. Analysis by mass spectrometry identified a unique covalent attachment site for the glycolipid ligands in the hydrophobic ligand binding pocket of CD1d. The creation of covalent conjugates of CD1d with α-GC provides a new tool for probing the biology of glycolipid antigen presentation, as well as opportunities for developing effective immunotherapeutics.


We performed a retrospective record review of patients who received large lobar remnant ablation after surgery for well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma including 30 with papillary carcinoma, 14 with follicular carcinoma, and 6 with Hürthle cell carcinoma. We compared these 50 patients to a group of patients who underwent total or near-total thyroidectomy for well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma. The ablation group was treated with single outpatient doses of 29.9 mCi (131)I to prepare for whole-body radioiodine scanning. Subsequent serum thyrotropin (TSH) concentration during thyroid hormone withdrawal was greater than 25 microU/mL in 94% of patients. The mean TSH in this population (76 microU/mL) was not statistically different from a group of 50 patients who underwent total or near-total thyroidectomy (mean, TSH 71 microU/ml p = 0.84). Twenty-four hour radioiodine uptake post-29.9 mCi (131)I ablation was less than 1% in 80% of patients. The mean radioiodine uptake (0.8%) in the lobe ablation population was significantly lower than in patients treated with total thyroidectomy (mean, 2.4%, p < 0.001). There was minimal morbidity after 29.9 mCi (131)I ablation of large lobar remnants. Outpatient 29.9 mCi (131)I ablation is a safe, effective, and less costly alternative to completion thyroidectomy in selected patients. Although we included patients with both papillary and follicular carcinoma in our review, we recommend this method for patients with minimally invasive follicular carcinoma requiring whole body scanning, even with large postsurgical remnants in place.


- Nowadays, computer-based communications are at the threshold of making life easier for everyone in the world; from sharing information, to communicating with each other, to exchanging electronic documents, and to checking bank balances and paying bills. Nonetheless, information security is an essential factor, which must be taken into consideration to ensure secure communications. There are significant interests in security approaches that aim to protect information and digital data, since the growing increase in uses of the internet and multimedia, have raised the interests in image steganography in order to secure and protect them. In this paper, a detailed literature review on a variety of different methods, algorithms, and schemes in image steganography is conducted in order to analyses and investigate them. In addition, this research summarized a comparative literature review for these researches and presented into a table, which involves a research name, broad domain, research methodology, advantages, disadvantages, and the evaluation method.


Land ownership dispute which happened in Pasuruan Residence between Marine Army with Society at Alas Tlogo caused four people died in the incident. The conflict started from 3.569,205 hectare land dispute which came from the history of land mastery which was claimed as Marine Army ownership. The dispute was a continuous conflict since colonial age which was still had no resolution. Agraria reform was not run well, since caused conflict till now. It grew violence case which caused the loss of properties and lifes.
The research considered problems as: (1) How was the history of the land ownership and authorities of Alas Tlogo village Lekok Sub-District Pasuruan Residence? (2) what proves owed by the disputed parties? (3) How juridical analysis about the prove of land ownership at Alas Tlogo Village Lekok Sub-District Pasuruan Residence?
The research used juridical empiric approach. Data collection technique came from interview with respondent / samples from Marine Army and Alas Tlogo Villagers population and direct observation to the location, that was at The Practice Center of Marine Army – Grati Pasuruan. Then the research analyzed in descriptive way.
In field, the writer took two samples of Marine Army and three samples of Alas Tlogo Villagers. The cause factor of land dispute was various violence which was done by Marine Army like shooting, force moving, burning, robbing, etc.
There could be concluded that the dispute started in 1960 which hadn't finished yet. The writer suggest Marine Army to get peaceful solution. The land should be released in formal law and certification should be done by paying attention to the villagers who claimed their rights for the land.


Nivolumab is a fully human IgG4 monoclonal antibody that blocks the binding of the programmed cell death receptor-1 protein (PD-1) to its endogenous ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2. The inhibition of these interactions has demonstrated to enhance T-cell response and thus cell-mediated immune responses against tumour cells.
In Europe, nivolumab is under accelerated assessment for the first- and second-line treatment of advanced (unresectable or metastatic) melanoma. In the US, the drug was approved under accelerated approval by the FDA in December 2014 for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with disease progression following ipilimumab therapy and, if BRAF V600 mutation-positive, a BRAF inhibitor.
In an interim analysis of data from CheckMate 066, a phase III trial which had compared nivolumab to dacarbazine in patients without BRAF mutations, nivolumab showed a survival benefit compared to dacarbazine. Median PFS was extended by 2.9 months with nivolumab in comparison to dacarbazine, and the OS rate after one year was 73% vs. 42%. At the interim analysis, median OS and the duration of response with nivolumab had not been reached yet, as response was durable over the (short) follow-up period.
Adverse events (AEs) were very common in both groups, but treatment-related AEs of grade 3 or 4 were more frequent in the dacarbazine group (18%) than in patients treated with nivolumab (12%). Also more patients with dacarbazine discontinued therapy due to AEs (dacarbazine 12% vs. nivolumab 7%).
Even though cost estimates are not yet available, costs comparable to those of ipilimumab can be expected. Since its administration in combination with other agents can be expected in patients with melanoma, and due to nivolumab being under investigation also for common types of cancer (such as non-small cell lung cancer), the initial pricing is of utmost importance.


Contemporary film theory is noted for its sturm und drang, though in the case of the soundtrack, incompatible attitudes and methods are found mostly below the surface where theoretical presuppositions are ruled by unpredictable melodic contours and accents. This article provides a comprehensive overview of philosophical issues concerning audition. It aims to orient a diverse array of sound theories in relation to a set of core issues involving perceptual processing, language, and mind. The article sounds out various cognitive frameworks, where each type of frame projects a favored description and explanation of sonic phenomena. It argues that what is heard in a sound depends on how one listens, and with what purpose.