No American president is more frequently associated with children's culture than Theodore Roosevelt for the simple reason that the omnipresent teddy bear is named after him. The story of how Roosevelt's name came to be associated with a toy stuffed animal has become a legend in the history of American toys. In 1 902, early in his presidency, Roosevelt spared the life of a bear during a hunting trip that he took in Mississippi. The Washington Star ran a cartoon depicting this act, and the cartoon was widely reprinted. The owner of a toyshop in Brooklyn came across this cartoon, and it inspired him to put a stuffed bear in his store window with a sign declaring it to be "Teddy's Bear." The name stuck, and teddy bears have been a fixture on the American toy scene ever since (O'Brien 78). Although Roosevelt never intended to lend his name to a children's plaything, it is fitting since he, like many of his contemporaries from the Progressive Era, had a very active interest in the literature and culture associated with children. As Ronald Cohen and other historians of childhood have noted, America witnessed a "widespread concern for and about childhood" (299) during the period between 1885 and 1915. Roosevelt's fascination with children's literature can be traced back to his own childhood. Born in 1858, Roosevelt grew up in an affluent family in New York City. For the most part, he was privately educated until he entered Harvard in 1876. He grew up in a house filled with books, and his parents made sure that he always had reading material readily available. As Roosevelt later recounted in his autobiography, "I was given the chance to read books that they thought I ought to read, but if I did not like them I was then given some other good book that I did like" (15). The stories that he read as a boy left a lasting impression on him. He wrote his autobiography when he was in his mid-50s, but he was able to write in considerable detail about the books that he read during his childhood. As a young boy, Roosevelt's favorite author was Mayne Reid, the author of numerous outdoor adventure books, such as The Boy Hunters: Adventures in Search of a White Buffalo. Although Roosevelt was very much a city boy, he liked reading Reid's action-packed stories set in the American wilderness (McCullough 115-16). Douglas Brinkley, the author of The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, argues that Roosevelt's life-long interest in the outdoors as well as his approach to writing about natural history stemmed from his childhood fascination with Reid's books. "Whenever Roosevelt wrote about the wilderness," Brinkley writes, "traces of Reid's hyper-romantic style are easily detectable. Although other naturalist writers captivated young Theodore's imagination . . . [Reid] remained his role model" (28). Roosevelt's childhood interest in natural history led him to read works of nonfiction as well as Reid's adventure stories. During his boyhood, Roosevelt's favorite nonfiction book about natural history was J. G. Wood's Homes without Hands: Being a Description of the Habitations of Animals, Classed According to Their Principle of Construction. Although not intended for children, this scientific book greatly appealed to Roosevelt and inspired him to write an essay about ants when he was just eight years old (Brinkley 28). In addition to giving him books, Roosevelt's parents provided him with a subscription to the children's magazine Our Young Folks, and he looked forward to getting every issue. In his autobiography, he wrote about how much he enjoyed this publication: "As a small boy I had Our Young Folks, which I then firmly believed to be the very best magazine in the world- a belief, I may add, which I have kept to this day unchanged, for I seriously doubt if any magazine for old or young has ever surpassed it" (15-16). Listening to stories was also part of Roosevelt's childhood experience. …


Peptides derived from HIV-1 transmembrane proteins have been extensively studied for antimicrobial activities, and they are known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). These AMPs have also been reported to potently combat the drug-resistant microbes. In this study, we demonstrated that peptide #6383 originated from HIV-1 MN strain membrane-spanning domain of gp41 was active (2-log reductions) at 100βg/mL (56.5βM) against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 10% and 50% human plasma-supplemented phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The activity was further enhanced (3-log reductions) in the presence of 5% human serum albumin (HSA) alone. All bactericidal activities were achieved within 6 hours. At 100μg/mL, the peptide showed only 13% toxicity against human erythrocytes. This peptide can serve as an attractive template for a design of a novel peptide antibiotic against drug-resistant bacteria. By sequence-specific engineering or modifications, we anticipated that the bactericidal activity and the reduced toxicity against human erythrocytes will be improved.


Electric power distribution systems can be found almost everywhere, from ship power systems to data centers. In many critical applications, there is need to maintain minimal operating capability under fault conditions. To carry out this goal it is necessary to develop energy distribution control techniques, which let implement a self-reconfigurable energy distribution system. This research project is looking at the implementation of a multi-agent system to develop a self-reconfigurable electric power distribution system. A simulation model composes by a multi-agent system developed with Java programming language, a simplified EPDS model implemented in Simulinktrade and a communication middleware between them is presented. The communication middleware is an application programming interface to exchange data between Simulinktrade models and multi-agent systems implemented in JADE platform using Java. Also, we present advantages and disadvantages of this process


The role of medicines in health systems is increasing day by day. The medicine supply chain is a part of the health system that if not properly addressed, the concept of health in that community is unlikely to experience significant growth. To fill gaps and available challenging in the medicine supply chain network (MSCN), in the present paper, efforts have been made to propose a location-production-distribution-transportation-inventory holding problem for a multi-echelon multi-product multi-period bi-objective MSCN network under production technology policy. To design the network, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model capable of minimizing the total costs of the network and the total time the transportation is developed. As the developed model was NP-hard, several meta-heuristic algorithms are used and two heuristic algorithms, namely, Improved Ant Colony Optimization (IACO) and Improved Harmony Search (IHS) algorithms are developed to solve the MSCN model in different problems. Then, some experiments were designed and solved by an optimization solver called GAMS (CPLEX) and the presented algorithms to validate the model and effectiveness of the presented algorithms. Comparison of the provided results by the presented algorithms and the exact solution is indicative of the high-quality efficiency and performance of the proposed algorithm to find a near-optimal solution within reasonable computational time. Hence, the results are compared with commercial solvers (GAMS) with the suggested algorithms in the small-sized problems and then the results of the proposed meta-heuristic algorithms with the heuristic methods are compared with each other in the large-sized problems. To tune and control the parameters of the proposed algorithms, the Taguchi method is utilized. To validate the proposed algorithms and the MSCN model, assessment metrics are used and a few sensitivity analyses are stated, respectively. The results demonstrate the high quality of the proposed IACO algorithm.


Despite increasing research on multinationals from emerging economies (EMNEs), our understanding of the antecedents of their international expansion is still limited. In this study, we seek to examine whether knowledge gained from operating in their complex and diverse domestic markets deter or aid the outward foreign direct investments of EMNEs. As family firms are dominant in emerging economies, we further explore how heterogeneity within family firms moderate this relationship. We conduct our investigations using a proprietary longitudinal dataset comprising 213 EMNEs from India featuring in the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 500 index covering a six-year period from 2007-08 to 2012-13, of which 175 were family EMNEs and find supporting evidence for our theoretical predictions.


Radiometric ground reflectance measurements were made on eight important plant species and two associated soil surface conditions on South Padre Island, Texas on three dates (July, September, and November). Plant species studied included beach croton ( Croton punctatus ), beach morningglory ( Ipomoea imperatii) , camphorweed ( Heterotheca subaxillaris ), partridge pea ( Chamaecrista fasciculata ), railroad vine (Ipomoea pes-capre), sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum), seacoast bluestem ( Schizachyrium scoparium ), and seaoats ( Uniola paniculata ). Reflectance measurements were made at the visible green (0.52-0.60 µm), visible red (0.63-0.69 µm), and near-infrared (0.76-0.90 µm) wavelengths. Reflectance values differed significantly (p = 0.05) among the plant species and soil surfaces at all three wavelengths and on all dates. Differences in reflectance among the plant species were attributed to variable foliage coloration, phenology, and vegetative density. Spectral differences between soil surfaces were attributed to their contrasting surface conditions (wet, dry). Color-infrared (CIR) aerial photographs obtained of study sites on three dates showed that many plant species could be differentiated. More plant species could be distinguished on the September photographs than on the other dates. Spectral measurements of several species were related to their image tonal responses on the CIR aerial photography. However, growth form, geometric shape, and textural image response of species were also important in their discrimination on aerial photos.


This research work represents a study of the design, analysis, and experimental study of a 1 kW variable pitch-straight blade vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) using natural fiber reinforced composite. Wind turbine which is an emerging technology is of great interest for researchers nowadays. The VAWT was chosen for this study because of its numerous advantages over horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). A new concept of variable pitch was implemented by the introduction of a pitching mechanism associated with the turbine blades which helps the blade to maximize the generation of torque and power. For this purpose, the straight blade H-rotor design was chosen. The analytical calculations were performed for variable pitch and the fixed pitch blade followed by the computer aided design modeling of the rotor exhibiting the variable pitching mechanism. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the blade at the azimuth position of 0–360 deg was performed and the CFD results were imported into static structural module of ansys for the finite element analysis of the blade. The blade was 3D-printed at a reduced scale and tested in a wind tunnel for aerodynamic properties including lift, drag, and aerodynamic forces. A comparison was done between the analytical, software, and experimental values. Furthermore, basalt fiber which is a natural fiber was used as the material for the turbine blade and analysis was performed to obtain high strength to weight ratio of the composite material. The structure was analyzed under the damage tolerance study to determine for how long the structure can bear damage. The experimental results showed a good agreement with the analytical and numerical values. The introduction of the variable pitching mechanism resulted in an increase in the cumulative torque as compared with the fixed pitching mechanism which in turn enhanced the resulting power.


Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and highly aggressive skin cancer with frequent viral etiology. Indeed, in about 80% of cases, there is an association with Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV); the expression of viral T antigens is crucial for growth of virus-positive tumor cells. Since artesunate—a drug used to treat malaria—has been reported to possess additional anti-tumor as well as anti-viral activity, we sought to evaluate pre-clinically the effect of artesunate on MCC. We found that artesunate repressed growth and survival of MCPyV-positive MCC cells in vitro. This effect was accompanied by reduced large T antigen (LT) expression. Notably, however, it was even more efficient than shRNA-mediated downregulation of LT expression. Interestingly, in one MCC cell line (WaGa), T antigen knockdown rendered cells less sensitive to artesunate, while for two other MCC cell lines, we could not substantiate such a relation. Mechanistically, artesunate predominantly induces ferroptosis in MCPyV-positive MCC cells since known ferroptosis-inhibitors like DFO, BAF-A1, Fer-1 and β-mercaptoethanol reduced artesunate-induced death. Finally, application of artesunate in xenotransplanted mice demonstrated that growth of established MCC tumors can be significantly suppressed in vivo. In conclusion, our results revealed a highly anti-proliferative effect of the approved and generally well-tolerated anti-malaria compound artesunate on MCPyV-positive MCC cells, suggesting its potential usage for MCC therapy.


Despite the low incidence of soft tissue sarcomas (STSs), hundreds of thousands of new STS cases are diagnosed annually worldwide, and approximately half of them eventually progress to advanced stages. Currently, chemotherapy is the first-line treatment for advanced STSs. There are difficulties in selecting appropriate drugs for multiline chemotherapy, or for combination treatment of different STS histological subtypes. In this study, we first comprehensively reviewed the efficacy of various chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of STSs, and then described the current status of sensitive drugs for different STS subtypes. anthracyclines are the most important systemic treatment for advanced STSs. Ifosfamide, trabectedin, gemcitabine, taxanes, dacarbazine, and eribulin exhibit certain activities in STSs. Vinca alkaloid agents (vindesine, vinblastine, vinorelbine, vincristine) have important therapeutic effects in specific STS subtypes, such as rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma family tumors, whereas their activity in other subtypes is weak. Other chemotherapeutic drugs (methotrexate, cisplatin, etoposide, pemetrexed) have weak efficacy in STSs and are rarely used. It is necessary to select specific second- or above-line chemotherapeutic drugs depending on the histological subtype. This review aims to provide a reference for the selection of chemotherapeutic drugs for multi-line therapy for patients with advanced STSs who have an increasingly long survival.


A novel method named WPTRBFN is presented in this paper. This method is based on radial basis function neural network (RBFN) with direct orthogonal signal correction (DOSC) and wavelet packet transform (WPT) as a pre-processing tool for the simultaneous differential pulse stripping voltammetric determination of Pb (II), Ni (II) and Cd (II). DOSC was applied to remove structured noise that is unrelated to the concentration variables. Wavelet packet representations of signals provide a local time–frequency description, thus in the wavelet packet domain, the quality of noise removal can be improved. Radial basis function network was applied for overcoming the convergence problem met in back propagation training and for facilitating nonlinear calculation. In this case, through optimization, the number of DOSC components, tolerance factor¿wavelet function, decomposition level, the number of hidden nodes and the width (σ) of RBFN for the DOSCWPTRBFN method were selected as 1, 0.001, Daubechies 4, 3, 8 and 0.7 respectively. The relative standard error of prediction (RSEP) for all components with DOSCWPTRBFN, WPTRBFN, and RBFN were 4.40%, 5.87% and 6.89% respectively. Experimental results showed the DOSCWPTRBFN method to be successful and better than others.


Do students learn better with material that is perceptually harderto-process? Previous research has been equivocal concerning this question. To clarify these discrepancies, the present study examined two potential boundary conditions to determine when disfluent text is, and is not, beneficial to learning. The two boundary conditions examined were: type of judgement of learning (JOLs) and testing expectancy. Boundary conditions were examined in separate Group (incidental aggregate JOLs vs. intentional aggregate JOLs vs. item-by-item JOLs) by Disfluency (Masked vs. Nonmasked) mixed ANOVAs. Results revealed that type of JOL did not moderate the disfluency effect, but testing expectancy did. These results bring forth questions pertaining to the utility of disfluency on learning.


The development of safe vectors for gene therapy requires fail-safe mechanisms to terminate therapy or remove genetically altered cells. The ideal "suicide switch" would be nonimmunogenic and nontoxic when uninduced and able to trigger cell death independent of tissue type or cell cycle stage. By using chemically induced dimerization, we have developed powerful death switches based on the cysteine proteases, caspase-1 ICE (interleukin-1beta converting enzyme) and caspase-3 YAMA. In both cases, aggregation of the target protein is achieved by a nontoxic lipid-permeable dimeric FK506 analog that binds to the attached FK506-binding proteins, FKBPs. We find that intracellular cross-linking of caspase-1 or caspase-3 is sufficient to trigger rapid apoptosis in a Bcl-xL-independent manner, suggesting that these conditional proapoptotic molecules can bypass intracellular checkpoint genes, such as Bcl-xL, that limit apoptosis. Because these chimeric molecules are derived from autologous proteins, they should be nonimmunogenic and thus ideal for long-lived gene therapy vectors. These properties should also make chemically induced apoptosis useful for developmental studies, for treating hyperproliferative disorders, and for developing animal models to a wide variety of diseases.


Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is often asymptomatic until an occurrence of severe liver disease. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted of a hospital-based case-series in 2014 on 741 consecutive HCV patients presented at the national referral center in Malaysia, a middleincome Southeast Asian country. Mean age at initial presentation was 48 years (SD =11.5; median = 49) with 541 (73%) males. Prior known exposure to HCV risk factors were intravenous drug use (n = 271/737) and blood product transfusion (n = 237/737). HCV-genotype distributions were G3 (37.1%), G1 (21.4%), G2 (0.3%), G4 (0.1%) and G6 (0.1%), with 41.0% untested. Cirrhosis and non-cirrhotic chronic infection was present in 44 [mean (SD) age = 52 (9) years and 56% (mean (SD) age = 44 (12) years] patients, respectively. Of the 327 cirrhotic patients, 36% and 14% had decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma respectively. Eighty percent patients were eligible for interferon treatment based on their stage of liver disease, but only 50% of the eligible patients received the treatment. Thus, HCV-infected patients at initial presentation to a tertiary care center in Malaysia reflected delayed presentation with a disproportionately high number of patients with liver cirrhotic. Improving access to clinical care and optimizing treatment with direct acting antiviral drug is essential to reduce the country's burden of hepatitis C.


Complex systems can be characterized by their level of order or disorder. An ordered system is related to the presence of system properties that are correlated with each other. For example, it has been found in crisis periods that the financial systems tend to be synchronized, and symmetry appears in financial assets' behavior. In retail, the collective purchasing behavior tends to be highly disorderly, with a diversity of correlation patterns appearing between the available market supply. In those cases, it is essential to understand the hierarchical structures underlying these systems. For the latter, community detection techniques have been developed to find similar behavior clusters according to some similarity measure. However, these techniques do not consider the inherent interactions between the multitude of system elements. This paper proposes and tests an approach that incorporates a hierarchical grouping process capable of dealing with complete weighted networks. Experiments show that the proposal is superior in terms of the ability to find minimal energy clusters. These minimum energy clusters are equivalent to system states (market baskets) with a higher probability of occurrence; therefore, they are interesting for marketing and promotion activities in retail environments.


The Lena River (Lena R.) heat flux affects the Laptev Sea hydrology. Published long-term estimates range from 14.0 to 15.7 EJ·a−1, based on data from Kyusyur, at the river outlet. A novel daily stream temperature (Tw) dataset was used to evaluate contemporary Lena R. heat flux, which is 16.4 ± 2.7 EJ·a−1 (2002–2011), confirming upward trends in both Tw and water runoff. Our field data from Kyusyur, however, reveal a significant negative bias, −0.8 °C in our observations, in observed Tw values from Kyusyur compared to the cross-section average Tw. Minor Lena R. tributaries discharge colder water during July–September, forming a cold jet affecting Kyusyur Tw data. Major Tw negative peaks mostly coincide with flood peaks on the Yeremeyka River, one of these tributaries. This negative bias was accounted for in our reassessment. Revised contemporary Lena R. heat flux is 17.6 ± 2.8 EJ·a−1 (2002–2011) and is constrained from above at 26.9 EJ·a−1 using data from Zhigansk, approximately 500 km upstream Kyusyur. Heat flux is controlled by stream temperature in June, during the freshet period, while from late July to mid-September, water runoff is a dominant factor.


Context Pancreatic lymphoma is a rare cause of pancreatic mass, accounting for 0.5% of all pancreatic neoplasms, frequently misdiagnosed as epithelial cancer thus leading to incorrect therapeutic management. In the last few years Endoscopic Ultrasound has emerged as the most cost-effective and safe procedure and it is now recognized as the first-line procedure in the management of solid and cystic pancreatic masses. However, endoscopic ultrasound -guided fine needle aspiration diagnosis of pancreatic lymphoma remains challenging for both endoscopists and pathologists. Case report Here we present an unusual case of secondary, pancreatic, nodular involvement in a patient who suffered from a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma 3 years earlier. To better characterize this radiological finding, an endoscopic ultrasound was performed, which showed in the uncinated process of the pancreas a hypoechoic mass measuring 17 mm in diameter. A fine needle aspiration was performed in order to rule out pancreatic involvement by the known lymphomatous disease. Both the direct smears and the cellblock sections displayed an abundant, scattered population composed by monomorphous large cells with round nuclei, with multiple nucleoli acting as lymphoid centroblasts. The immunocytochemistry analysis confirmed the cytological hypothesis showing expression of CD20 and CD79a and negativity for CD3 and cytokeratin AE1/AE3. Finally, a diagnosis of pancreatic B-cell lymphoma was achieved. Conclusion pancreatic malignant lymphomas are unusual, solid tumors categorized as nonepithelial neoplasms. Endoscopic ultrasound - fine needle aspiration appears a safe, useful and valuable diagnostic modality for diagnosing pancreatic lymphoma. Moreover an important role is played by the pathologist's expertise to achieve an accurate diagnosis.


The basic hypothesis of this article focuses on the study of cutting tool wear with regard to the elimination of occurrence of poor-quality holes when drilling into new austenitic stainless steel. The problem of drilling holes with diameter D=3 to 10 mm resides in the fact that 20 to 30% of these holes do not comply with prescribed requested requirements. This article presents the results of experiments focusing on the study of the damage process in screw drills with diameter d=6.0 mm when drilling into new austenitic stainless steel X02Cr18Ni10MoTiN. This study also includes an analysis of accompanying phenomena in the cutting zone by measuring some selected parameters. The results of the experiments were compared with Cr18Ni8 steel and then verified when drilling holes into specific products.


Acoustics can be a complex issue, but HVAC acoustics can be successfully evaluated for many typical applications. How sound behaves in different conditions and environment is to be studied. Also a study of different rating methods has been established, which can be used in many applications. For many complex applications, we can combine the different rating methods to get the proper acoustical environments. Different methods to improve acoustics in rooms of new buildings and also to improve the performance of existing buildings can be learned.


This Article outlines and assesses changes to the tax and welfare system announced as part of Budget 2022. It first looks at the main taxation measures announced before turning to employment, education and social welfare supports. It then considers the effect of the package of measures as a whole on the incomes of households using representative survey data from the Survey of Incomes and Living Conditions run on SWITCH – the ESRI's tax and benefit microsimulation model – and ITSim – an indirect tax microsimulation model developed jointly by the ESRI and the Department of Finance. The Article concludes with some brief reflections on inflation forecasts and the policy-making process.


Since Pearson developed principal component analysis (PCA) in 1901, feature learning (or called representation learning) has been studied for more than 100 years. During this period, many "shallow" feature learning methods have been proposed based on various learning criteria and techniques, until the popular deep learning research in recent years. In this advanced review, we describe the historical profile of the shallow feature learning research and introduce the important developments of the deep learning models. Particularly, we survey the deep architectures with benefits from the optimization of their width and depth, as these models have achieved new records in many applications, such as image classification and object detection. Finally, several interesting directions of deep learning are presented and briefly discussed.


Generative adversarial networks (GANs) have gained considerable attention owing to their ability to reproduce images. However, they can recreate training images faithfully despite image degradation in the form of blur, noise, and compression, generating similarly degraded images. To solve this problem, the recently proposed noise robust GAN (NR-GAN) provides a partial solution by demonstrating the ability to learn a clean image generator directly from noisy images using a two-generator model comprising image and noise generators. However, its application is limited to noise, which is relatively easy to decompose owing to its additive and reversible characteristics, and its application to irreversible image degradation, in the form of blur, compression, and combination of all, remains a challenge. To address these problems, we propose blur, noise, and compression robust GAN (BNCR-GAN) that can learn a clean image generator directly from degraded images without knowledge of degradation parameters (e.g., blur kernel types, noise amounts, or quality factor values). Inspired by NR-GAN, BNCR-GAN uses a multiple-generator model composed of image, blur-kernel, noise, and quality-factor generators. However, in contrast to NR-GAN, to address irreversible characteristics, we introduce masking architectures adjusting degradation strength values in a data-driven manner using bypasses before and after degradation. Furthermore, to suppress uncertainty caused by the combination of blur, noise, and compression, we introduce adaptive consistency losses imposing consistency between irreversible degradation processes according to the degradation strengths. We demonstrate the effectiveness of BNCR-GAN through large-scale comparative studies on CIFAR-10 and a generality analysis on FFHQ. In addition, we demonstrate the applicability of BNCR-GAN in image restoration.


Plasmonic gold nanorods (AuNRs) coated with four different thickness silver shells (AuNR\Ags) were synthesized and tested for their efficiency in Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) signal enhancement for biomedical applications. Both AuNRs and AuNR\Ags were prepared using a modified seed-mediated method and then characterized using TEM, XPS and UV-vis spectroscopy. All four bimetallic nanorods used in our experiments started from gold nanorod (AuNR) cores (of 36 nm length and 12 nm diameter) which were coated with a 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 nm thick layer of silver. SERS spectra were obtained for each thickness of AuNR\Ag Raman agent using a Raman reporter – organic molecule p-aminothiophenol (PATP). Moreover, to confirm experimental findings a numerical model was built using COMSOL Multiphysics and solved for a single AuNR\Ag interaction with light on a silica substrate. The highest SERS signal at the incident wavelength of 784 nm, was observed for AuNR\Ags coated with a 1 nm thick silver shell. The numerical model confirmed experimental findings and predicted the highest near-field enhancement in the vicinity of nanoparticles on top of a silica substrate at 784 nm wavelength, for an AuNR\Ag with the same 1 nm silver shell thickness.


INTRODUCTIONThe aim of this article is to emphasize all eminent musicians who died of the consequences of neurosyphilis. All of them sexually contracted syphilis (Treponema pallidum) in their young age (except Smetana). Syphilis symptoms are clearly defined in eminent composers' pathographies (Schubert, Donizetti, Glinka, Schumann, Smetana, Wolf, Chabrier).1 Some of them passed through the secondary stage of syphilis which is defined by the progression of infection from the primary site. It is characterized by rash, headaches, fevers and cramps. Other composers were in the latent stage ofthe disease, which was activated later, a few years before their death. The following stages/symptoms of neurosyphilis are progressive paralysis, palsies, stroke, disturbances of coordination and speech, dementia and tabes dorsalis which prevented composers from work and ended their lifes quite dramaticaly. Every eminent nation, which is famous for music has its ownsyphilitic musician: Austria - Wolf, Italy - Donizetti, Spontini, Czech Republic - Smetana, France - Chabrier, England - Delius, Germany - Schumann, Hoffmann, Russia-Glinka. All composers lived in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. In the Twentieth century there were no noted cases of neurosyphilis among composers (except Abraham). Mercurial and arsenic compounds were very important and widely used as syphilis cures, but even more important in the treatment of syphilis were malaria fever and penicillin.1-3Composers ' pathographies - resultsGaspare Spontini (1774-1851) was an Italian composer and conductor. He was one of the five children of a poor family. The first part of his career was tied to Naples. Many of Spontini' s operas are lost, for some of them the dates and places of performances have not been accurately determined. Later he lived in Rome, Venice and Berlin. In June 1840 Spontini moved to Paris where he spent the last period of his life. Syphilitic disease of his brain progressed to methasyphilis. Five years prior to his death he had become deaf because of the effect the disease had on his acoustic nerve. Afterwards he developed severe mental illness - progressive paralysis - psychosis of syphilitic origin. By 1847 he had become feeble and deaf, and his activities were much curtailed. He returned to his birthplace Naples in 1850, where he was royally received. He died there on 24 January 1851, after an episode of intercurrent chest disease, pneumonia.1-6Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman (1776-1822) was a German writer, composer and conductor, more famous as a writer of fantastic stories, very important in the romantic period. He was very sensitive and inclined to depression. Hoffman was involved in numerous activities when he was young, studied law, but worked as a technician. As a musician he started as an organist and continued as a pedagogue and composer. He was very productive as a composer. He was the first ideologist of German romantic opera theatre, and particularly his last operas »Aurora« and »Undine« were romantic indeed. Near the end of his life he was obsessed with a hopeless love for a young pupil of his. Such kind of life led him to alcoholism and other complications related to alcohol abuse. He was infected with typhus and at the age of 32 contracted syphilis. Ten years later he suffered from the tertiary stage of syphilis (metha-syphilis, tabes dorsalis). He suffered from paraesthesia of lower limbs, with lancinating sharp pains. Finally, he developed progressive paralysis with dementia and died at the age of 56. The death stopped him in the middle of a quite fruitful creativity, nevertheless he could be considered as one of the most important representatives of romanticism.1-5,7Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) Italian composer, born in Bergamo. He was infected with syphilis at the age of 19. He probably infected his wife with syphilis and her pregnancies were complicated: she either gave birth too early, or the children were malformed and died very early after childbirth. …


Unlike the CytA toxin from native Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) crystals, the inclusions of cloned CytA produced by Bti IPS 78/11 in the presence of the 20 kDa 'helper' protein require a reducing agent in addition to a highly alkaline pH for complete solubilization. Activation of the solubilized CytA with a range of proteases produced 25-22 kDa products. SDS-PAGE analysis and N-terminal amino acid sequencing revealed that CytA was processed very similarly at both termini by proteinase K or by Anopheles or Culex gut extracts. Trypsin, by contrast, processed CytA predominantly at the N-terminus. In vitro cytolytic assays against Aedes aegypti cells, and haemolytic assays against rat erythrocytes, showed that CytA processed at both termini by proteinase K was the most active form. Thus CytA, like other Bt δ-endotoxins, is processed to a well-defined protease-resistant product and this processing enhances the toxicity in vitro and possibly in vivo.


The Regularity Lemma of Szemerédi is a fundamental tool in extremal graph theory with a wide range of applications in theoretical computer science. Partly as a recognition of his work on the Regularity Lemma, Endre Szemerédi has won the Abel Prize in 2012 for his outstanding achievement. In this thesis we present both practical and theoretical applications of the Regularity Lemma. The practical applications are concerning the important problem of data clustering, the theoretical applications are concerning the monochromatic vertex partition problem. In spite of its numerous applications to establish theoretical results, the Regularity Lemma has a drawback that it requires the graphs under consideration to be astronomically large, thus limiting its practical utility. As stated by Gowers, it has been "well beyond the realms of any practical applications" [28], the existing applications have been theoretical, mathematical. In the first part of the thesis, we propose to change this and we propose some modifications to the constructive versions of the Regularity Lemma. While this affects the generality of the result, it also makes it more useful for much smaller graphs. We call this result the practical regularity partitionCHAPTER 0. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv ing algorithm and the resulting clustering technique Regularity Clustering. This is the first integrated attempt in order to make the Regularity Lemma applicable in practice. We present results on applying regularity clustering on a number of benchmark data-sets and compare the results with k-means clustering and spectral clustering. Finally we demonstrate its application in Educational Data Mining to improve the student performance prediction. In the second part of the thesis, we study the monochromatic vertex partition problem. To begin we briefly review some related topics and several proof techniques that are central to our results, including the greedy and absorbing procedures. We also review some of the current best results before presenting ours, where the Regularity Lemma has played a critical role. Before concluding we discuss some future research directions that appear particularly promising based on our work.


Background and Aim: Nurses as the biggest group of caregivers provide patients with continuous caring services. The effect of these services on health care quality and also, patient's satisfaction is obvious. Regarding the key role nurse play in health care team, it is up to the manager to plan for improving nurse's knowledge and practical skills. Peer review process is seen as an approach of authority delegation by managers for nursing quality assurance. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of peer review process on quality of nurse's performance and patient satisfaction in cardiac care units in governmental hospitals located in the city Arak, Iran. Material and Method: This was a quasi-experimental study in which four cardiac units (CCU and PCCU) in two governmental hospitals in Arak city were selected as the study environment. The staff nurses of two units with higher number of nurses (n= 25) were selected as experimental group and the nurses of the other two units (n= 19) were selected as control group. The study tools were the quality of nurse's performance checklists and patient satisfaction questionnaire. Before intervention, checklists of quality of nurse performance were completed by co-researcher based on nursing care observations in every group. The patient satisfaction checklists (35 checklists) were completed by patients or by the interview. After the intervention (2 months duration) and supervision by the researcher without any intervention (1 months duration), the study tools were completed again for every group. Results: Both groups were similar in terms of their demographics (age, years of study, the level of living welfare, and…). Chi-square and paired t-test did not show any statistically significant difference between two groups, before and after the intervention. Also, there was not found any statistical significant relationship between nurse's demographic variables and their performance. There was a statistically significant relationship between patients' satisfaction and their age and level of living welfare in control group before the intervention and the same was true for patients' satisfaction and their level of living welfare in experimental group after the intervention. Mann-whitney U test showed a statistically significant difference for quality of nurse's performance between two groups after the intervention (P < 0.001). Also, there was a statistically significant difference in patient's satisfaction between two groups after the intervention (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the peer review process has effects on quality of nurse's performance and patient's satisfaction.


In this paper we consider an optimal control problem governed by a semilinear heat equation with bilinear control-state terms and subject to control and state constraints. The state constraints are of integral type, the integral being with respect to the space variable. The control is multidimensional. The cost functional is of a tracking type and contains a linear term in the control variables. We derive second order sufficient conditions relying on the Goh transform.


Objective: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) refers to cognitive changes that occur during the period of normal cognitive decline and very early dementia. We aimed to assess the efficacy of memantine used for the treatment of patients with aMCI. Methods: All patients were diagnosed as having aMCI according to the Petersen criteria and were assigned to one of three groups. Group 1 comprised patients who received memantine following examination (n=23), group 2 included patients who did not receive memantine treatment following examination (n=22), and group 3 was constituted by healthy age-matched volunteers (n=20). Following the examinations, neuropsychiatric tests from the Turquoise Alzheimer"s Study Group database used in dementia polyclinics were performed. Results: The mean age of patients was 66±7.04 years in group 1, 65.3±6.20 years in group 2, and 57.6±5.40 years in group 3. The most noticeable improvements in group 1 were seen in the Mini-Mental State Exam, Wechsler memory scale subtests, Blessed Dementia Rating Scale, and the Boston Naming Test (p<0.05). Treatment with memantine was associated with an improvement in Geriatric Dementia Scale scores over the 24week study period. Conclusion: These results suggest that memantine treatment in patients with aMCI acts to enhance cognitive functioning compared with no treatment. These findings suggest the need for a larger randomized placebo-controlled trial.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Inconsistent evidence has assessed the impact of air pollution exposure on children's growth trajectories. We investigated the role of 90-day average postnatal fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposures by estimating the magnitude of effects at different ages, and the change in child weight trajectory by categories of exposure. Methods: We obtained weight values from electronic health records at each hospital visit (males = 1859, females = 1601) from birth to 6 years old children recruited into the Boston-based Children's HealthWatch cohort (2009–2014). We applied mixed models, adjusting for individual and maternal confounders using (1) varying-coefficient models allowing for smooth non-linear interaction between age and PM2.5, (2) factor-smooth interaction between age and PM2.5 quartiles. Additionally, we stratified by sex and low birthweight (LBW) status (≤2500 g). Results: Using varying-coefficient models, we found that PM2.5 significantly modified the association between age and weight in males, with a positive association in children younger than 3 years and a negative association afterwards. In boys, for each 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 we found a 2.6% increase (95% confidence interval = 0.8, 4.6) in weight at 1 year of age and a −0.6% (95% confidence interval = −3.9, 2.9) at 5 years. We found similar but smaller changes in females, and no differences comparing growth trajectories across quartiles of PM2.5. Most of the effects were in LBW children and null for normal birthweight children. Conclusions: This study suggests that medium-term postnatal PM2.5 may modify weight trajectories nonlinearly in young children, and that LBW babies are more susceptible than normal-weight infants.


This paper describes two studies undertaken in Serbia and Finland concerning learning through multimedia design, through which (future) mathematics teachers developed HTML files comprising Java applets downloaded from the Internet. The paper also reports some findings of these studies, focusing on what could and what could not be easily achieved through this project. Some research findings concerning further research on multimedia teaching/learning are included.


BACKGROUND
Anaphylaxis is a potentially fatal condition requiring immediate resuscitation. Data regarding the epidemiology of anaphylaxis are limited and inconsistent. A reason for the variability was unavailability of a universally acceptable case definition till 2005. We reviewed cases using this new definition

AIM
To review the incidence, clinical presentation, cause and outcome of anaphylaxis at a tertiary-care centre in a low-income country.

DESIGN
Retrospective, case series

METHODS
Chart review of all patients discharged from Aga Khan University Hospital between January 1988 and December 2012 (24 years) with anaphylaxis definition as per second National Institute of Allergy and Infection disease/Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Symposium

RESULTS
Total of 129 cases were found with mean age of 41.6 years (SD 18.8). Majority of patients had cutaneous features (76.7%), followed by respiratory (68.9%), cardiac (64.3%) and gastrointestinal (20.9%) symptoms, respectively. About 22.4% of patients had positive history for allergens out of which 31% (n = 9) were exposed to the same allergens. The common causes identified for anaphylaxis were drugs (60.5%), food (16.3%) and intravenous contrast (10.9%), respectively. Only 22.5% of cases received epinephrine as a part of their initial management. In four patients (3.1%) the cause of death was attributed to anaphylaxis.

CONCLUSION
Anaphylaxis is a rare but life-threatening condition. Though cutaneous features are most common, their absence does not exclude the diagnosis. Drugs were the most common cause and epinephrine was not commonly used as first-line agent for its management.


The extension of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) sphere decoding from the narrowband case to wideband systems based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) requires the computation of a QR decomposition for each of the data-carrying OFDM tones. Since the number of data-carrying tones ranges from 48 (as in the IEEE 802.1 1 a/g standards) to 68 17 (as in the DVBT standard), the corresponding computational complexity will in general be significant. This paper presents two algorithrns for interpolation-based QR decomposition in MIMO-OFDM systems. An in-depth computational complexity analysis shows that the proposed algorithms, for a sufficiently high number of data-canying tones and small channel order, exhibit significantly smaller complexity than brute-force per-tone QR decomposition.


Late early^early middleMiocene (Burdigalian^Langhian) time on the island of Corsica (western Mediterranean) was characterized by a combination of (i) postcollisional structural inversion of the main boundary thrust system between the Alpine orogenic wedge and the foreland, (ii) eustatic sealevel rise and (iii) subsidence related to the development of the Ligurian-Provenc! al basin.These processes created the accommodation for a distinctive continental to shallow-marine sedimentary succession along narrow and elongated basins.Much of these deposits have been eroded and presently only a few scattered outcrop areas remain,most notably at Saint-Florent andFrancardo.The Burdigalian^Langhian sedimentary succession at Saint-Florent is composed of three distinguishing detrital components: (i) siliciclastic detritus derived from erosion of the nearby Alpine orogenic wedge, (ii) carbonate intrabasinal detritus (bioclasts of shallow-marine and pelagic organisms), and (iii) siliciclastic detritus derived fromHercynian-age foreland terraines.The basal deposits (Fium Albino Formation) are £uvial and composed of Alpine-derived detritus, with subordinate forelandderived volcanic detritus. All three detrital components are present in the middle portion of the succession (Torra andMonte Sant'Angelo Formations), which is characterized by thin transitional deposits evolving vertically into fully marine deposits, although the carbonate intrabasinal component is predominant.TheMonte Sant'Angelo Formation is characteristically dominated by the deposits of large gravel and sandwaves, possibly the result of current ampli¢cation in narrow seaways that developed between the foreland and the tectonically collapsing Alpine orogenic wedge.The laterally equivalent Saint-Florent conglomerate is composed of clasts derived from the late Permian Cinto volcanic districtwithin the foreland.The uppermost unit (Farinole Formation) is dominated by bioclasts of pelagic organisms.The Saint-Florent succession was deposited during the last phase of the counterclockwise rotation of the Corsica^Sardinia^Calabria continental block and the resulting development of the Provenc! al oceanic basin.The succession sits at the paleogeographic boundary between the Alpine orogenic wedge (to the east), its foreland (to the west), and the Ligurian-Provenc! al basin (to the northwest). Abrupt compositional changes in the succession resulted from the complex, varying interplay of post-collisional extensional tectonism, eustacy and competing drainage systems.


Integrated water resources management (IWRM) is described as a holistic approach to manage water efficiently, equitably, and sustainably. This paper presents a case study where cooperative strategy building among diverse stakeholders (researchers, potato farmers, and government regulators) resulted in significant water conservation for the on-farm washing of potatoes on a large potato operation (31% reduction per unit of potatoes sold). Water was reduced by applying modified IWRM methods, including (i) goal setting, where common goals with all three parties were outlined; (ii) initial assessment, where farm water use was monitored in detail for one year; (iii) cooperative strategy building, where monitoring results were presented and potential water-use reduction strategies were brainstormed; (iv) implementation, where strategies were put into place on the farm; and (v) final assessment, where water use was monitored for a second year, after conservation strategies were in place, and the efficacy of the strategies was determined. This case study demonstrates the value of IWRM, through cooperation among researchers, farmers, and the regulators, for improving water management in agriculture.


This paper describes a design of adaptive liquid level control system using the concept of Multi Sensor Data Fusion (MSDF). Purpose of the work is to design a controller for accurately controlling the level of liquid in a process tank with liquid temperature changes. The proposed objective is obtained by i) implementing a MSDF framework using Pau's framework for measuring liquid level and temperature, ii) analyzing the behavior of actuator output for variation in liquid temperature, and iii) designing a suitable adaptive controller which will produce desired control action for controlling liquid level accurately using neural network algorithms. Outputs from sensors are fused to obtain the fluid level output and also relation of level transmitter output for change in temperature. This information is used by controller to train the neural network so as to tune the controller parameters (proportional gain, integral constant, and differential constant), to drive the actuator. Results obtained show that the system is able to control liquid level within range of 1.915% of set point even with variations in liquid temperature.


Severe mitral regurgitation is common and results in a poor prognosis in patients with either symptoms or severe ventricular dilatation. While mitral regurgitation has traditionally necessitated surgical repair or replacement, new transcatheter methods, such as the IntrepidTM transcatheter mitral valve replacement, has recently emerged. The Intrepid system is a circular, self-expanding, tri-leaflet bovine pericardial prosthesis housed within a nitinol frame. In early feasibility studies, the Intrepid prosthesis has been found to be effective for relief of mitral regurgitation and associated with functional improvement in the majority of survivors.


This paper introduces combining address space transformation strategy with lock strategy to maintain the consistency of both simple objects and complex objects in replicated CAD environments. This combination adapts AST strategy from group editor field to CAD environment, gurantees the high concurrency of the replicated architure, and provides relatively effective strategy to process complex objects. The combination process of AST and Lock strategy is also decribed in detail in the paper.


This paper deals with the reconstruction of the settlement history of West-Fivelingo, and is based on archaeological survey of settlement sites, combined with augering, and description and dating of finds. The settlements ean be divided in dwelling mounds and farmsteads. Analysis of finds shows that the first colonization took place around 600 BC, at first perhaps in the form of transhumance during the summer, but soon in th eform of permanent settlement. Peaks in population numbers are noticeable around 200 BC and in the Roman period. Declines are visible between 300-600 AD and 900-1100 AD, and are connected with the Duinkerke II and IIIA transgressions. During the Duinkerke II transgression a salt marsh developed in the estuary of the Fivel. After 600 AD this newly formed land was colonized. In the later Middle Ages dikes were constructed around the salt marshes. In this period the Wold area was reclaimed by monasteries and private people. After 1600 AD farms were constructed all over West-Fivelingo, and some dwelling mounds lost their population. Many of these uninhabited terps were subsequently quarried away, and are no longer visible.


Advanced engineering materials posses excellent properties such as high wear resistance, and inertness to corrosion and chemical reactions. Since these materials are usually hard, brittle, chemically inert, and electrically nonconductive, they pose serious machinability challenges. Micro ultrasonic machining (Micro USM) is an emerging method for the micromachining of hard and brittle materials without any thermal damage. This paper presents the results of micro ultrasonic machining using oil based abrasive slurry. Details of the in-house built experimental setup used to conduct the experiments are explained. The influence of process parameters such as slurry medium, slurry concentration, and abrasive particle size on the performance of micro USM are reported. It was noticed that the evidence of three body material removal mechanism is predominant for micro USM using oil based slurry. In general, the material removal rate increases with the increase in the abrasive particle size for both aqueous abrasive slurry and oil based abrasive slurry. Further, material removal rate is consistently higher for experiments conducted with aqueous abrasive slurry medium. On the other hand, it is noticed that the oil based slurry medium provides better surface finish. It is also noticed that the smaller abrasive grains provide better surface finish for both aqueous, and oil based abrasive slurry mediums. Role of slurry concentration is ambiguous, as no clear trend of its effect of on process performance is evident in the available experimental results.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Organic agriculture provides good quality products, the development of sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and economic efficiency. To develop a habit of consuming organic food, as is case with all habits, it is necessary to educate the younger population, so that they can become accustomed to the fact that organic food is a source of both human health and a healthy environment. Therefore, educational institutions should initiate actions in order to develop awareness of the importance of healthy and safe food (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) among youth. This action has already been carried out in some countries.


Abstract. Digitalization in schools requires a rethinking of teaching materials and methods in all subjects. This upheaval also concerns traditional print media, like school atlases used in geography classes. In this work, we examine the cartographic technological feasibility of extending a printed school atlas with digital content by augmented reality (AR). While previous research rather focused on topographic three-dimensional (3D) maps, our prototypical application for Android tablets complements map sheets of the Swiss World Atlas with thematically related data. We follow a natural marker approach using the AR engine Vuforia and the game engine Unity. We compare two workflows to insert geo-data, being correctly aligned with the map images, into the game engine. Next, the imported data are transformed into partly animated 3D visualizations, such as a dot distribution map, curved lines, pie chart billboards, stacked cuboids, extruded bars, and polygons. Additionally, we implemented legends, elements for temporal and thematic navigation, a screen capture function, and a touch-based feature query for the user interface. We evaluated our prototype in a usability experiment, which showed that secondary school students are as effective, interested, and sustainable with printed as with augmented maps when solving geographic tasks.Details and results of our work are published in this article: https://doi.org/10.3390/mti4020023 1. In this presentation, we will give an overview about the key findings and lessons learnt from the research project. 1 Schnürer, R., Dind, C., Schalcher, S., Tschudi, P., and Hurni, L.: Augmenting Printed School Atlases with Thematic 3D Maps, Multimodal Technologies Interact., 2020, 4, 23


That there exists a law of restitution concerned with reversing unjust enrichments is widely considered to be uncontroversial. However, the once orthodox view that unjust enrichment explains all instances of restitutionary liability is fast becoming a minority position. Indeed, the ability of 'unjust enrichment' to account for all restitutionary claims has been doubted by many of those who fought most strongly for its recognition as an independent head or source of liability, chief amongst these Professor Peter Birks. Because of this, while there is widespread acceptance that unjust enrichment plays some role within the law of restitution, there is considerable uncertainty as to what this exact role is, so much so that what is meant by unjust enrichment can be seen to be in doubt. Beginning with an examination of Birks' understanding of unjust enrichment and the classificatory scheme into which it slots, this article addresses the question of what role a conception of unjust enrichment can and should play in presenting and justifying the law of restitution.


The originality of this scientific study is in that it shows the importance of biographical research for a successful re-socialization of children/youth with difficult life experiences. It presents a qualitative research that was carried out recently and encompassed youth in difficult life situations, and it pleads for a pedagogical relationship based on individual biography and empowerment, resources and participative role of a young people in his/her own help-planning.


Abstract Context. Timing (mean birthdate) and synchrony (variance around that date) of births can influence survival of young and growth in ungulate populations. Some restored populations of ungulates may not adjust these life-history characteristics to environments of release sites until several years after release, which may influence success of reintroductions. Aims. We quantified timing and synchrony of births from 2005 to 2007 in four populations of reintroduced bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) occupying two ecoregions (Central Basin and Range and Wasatch and Uinta Mountains) in Utah, USA, to investigate whether bighorns would adjust these life-history characteristics to environmental conditions of the two ecoregions. We also compared timing and synchrony of births for bighorns in their source herd (Antelope Island) with bighorns in an ecologically similar release site (Stansbury Mountains) during 2006 and 2007. Methods. We relocated female bighorns to record birthdates of young, and observed groups of collared bighorns to quantify use of elevation by those ungulates. We also calculated the initiation, rate and timing of peak green-up by ecoregion, using the normalised difference vegetation index. Key results. We quantified 274 birthdates, and although only separated by 57 km, bighorn populations occupying the Central Basin and Range Mountains gave birth an average of 29 days earlier than did those on the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, which corresponded with the initiation of vegetation green-up. Additionally, bighorn sheep on the Stansbury Mountains (ecologically similar release site) gave birth at similar times as did bighorns on Antelope Island (source area). Conclusions. Populations of bighorn sheep that were reintroduced into adjacent ecoregions adjusted timing of births to environments and green-up of vegetation in restoration areas. Timing and synchrony of births for reintroduced bighorn sheep in an ecologically similar release site were the same as those of their source area. Implications. Consideration should be given to the adjustment of timing and synchrony of births when reintroducing bighorns, especially when animals are released into different ecoregions. Also, biologists should select release sites that are ecologically similar to source areas, thereby reducing potential negative effects of animals adjusting timing and synchrony of births to environmental conditions of restoration areas.


This study was conducted to observe the influence of oxygen to fuel ratio[O2/H2 ratio] of HVOF(High Velocity Oxygen Fuel) process on the amorphous formation and coating properties of NiTiZrSiSn bulk amorphous alloy. The bulk amorphous feedstock was prepared by inert gas atomization. Amorphous contents were followed by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC). Microstructural characterization was done by scanning electron microscope(SEM) and x-ray diffraction(XRD). Mechanical properties were obtained by Vickers microhardness testing and pin on disk wear testing. A maximum 72% amorphous phase could be obtained with an optimum O2/H2 ratio. High amorphous content resulted in a low friction coefficient and weight loss than high oxide content coating and fully crystallized coating.


In a chapter dealing with self-management, Adams offers a pot pourri of techniques that takes in increasing self-awareness, exercise, nutrition, yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation, acupuncture, and bio-feedback. In another chapter, influenced by Ellis's system of rationalemotive therapy, Hopson outlines a programme for personal re-evatuation. Ellis's therapy is 'concerned with directing the client to examine the basis for his belief systems, and to realise that the way anything affects him in this world depends not on the 'real' world but his construction of it' (p. 13G). In fact. the authors pay little attention to the impact of the real world,


The hypothesis of the reciprocal determination of obesity and depression (OD) epidemics, contrasts with the anecdotal wisdom of a person being 'jolly and fat', and calls for a better understanding of any underpinning socio-environmental determinants. This paper deals with the influence of socio-environmental factors (mainly social and personal interactions) in explaining the empirical association between OD. We draw upon a unique representative health survey from Spain; a country with a growing prevalence of both OD. We use instrumental variable methods to deal with reverse OD association and the existence of omitted confounding variables as common predictors. We find that in explaining the OD association, socio-environmental factors and especially family interactions appear to play a key intermediate effect rather than socio-economic position. Finally, we find evidence of the significant gender differences and a particular effect of health-related lifestyles behind the OD association.


The clinical use of doxorubicin (DOX) is limited by a dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether voluntary exercise training would confer protection against DOX cardiotoxicity in the isolated perfused rat heart. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to standard holding cages or cages with running wheels for 8 wk. Twenty-four hours after the sedentary (SED) or voluntary exercise (VEX) running period, rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium, and hearts were isolated and perfused with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit (KH) buffer at a constant flow of 15 ml/min. After a 20-min stabilization period, hearts were paced at 300 beats per minute and perfused with KH buffer containing 10 microM DOX for 60 min. A set of control hearts from SED and VEX rats were perfused under identical conditions without DOX for the same period. DOX perfusion led to significant decreases in left ventricular developed pressure, +dP/dt, and -dP/dt, and significant increases in LV lipid peroxidation in sedentary rats compared with non-DOX controls (P < 0.05). Prior voluntary exercise training attenuated these DOX-induced effects and was associated with a significant increase (78%, P < 0.05) in heat shock protein (HSP72), but not mitochondrial isoform of SOD (MnSOD) or CuZnSOD protein expression in the hearts of wheel-run animals. These data indicate that chronic physical activity may provide resistance against the cardiac dysfunction and oxidative damage associated with DOX exposure and provide novel evidence of HSP72 induction in the heart after voluntary exercise.


We consider a marginal distribution genetic model based on crossover of sequences of genes and provide relations between the associated infinite population genetic system and the neural networks. A lower bound on population size is exhibited stating that the behaviour of the finite population system, in case of sufficiently large sizes, can be approximated by the behaviour of the corresponding infinite population system. The attractors (with binary components) of the infinite population genetic system are characterized as equilibrium points of a discrete (neural network) system that can be considered as a variant of a Hopfieldpsilas network; it is shown that the fitness is a Lyapunov function for the variant of the discrete Hopfieldpsilas net. Our main result can be summarized by stating that the relation between marginal distribution genetic systems and neural nets is much more general than that already shown elsewhere for other simpler models.


In recent years near-field microwave nondestructive testing and evaluation techniques have shown great promise for evaluating different properties of cement-based structures. An important issue regarding the inspection of these structures is the ability to determine the presence and evaluate the content of chloride in them. Chlorides can be introduced in these structures in many different ways including when salts are present in their mixing water. Consequently, for this investigation, two sets of 8"/spl times/8"/spl times/8" (203 mm) cubic mortar specimens were prepared each with a water-to-cement (w/c) ratio of 0.5 and 0.6, respectively, and both sets with sand-to-cement ratios of (s/c) of 1.5. Four specimens were produced for each set with different salt (NaCl) contents added to the mixing water, producing salt-to-cement (NaCl/c) ratios of 0.0, 1, 2 and 3%, respectively. For the purpose of compressive strength measurement, cylindrical specimens of these mortar specimens were also prepared and tested for their compressive strength. Microwave reflection properties of these specimens were measured at S-band (2.6-3.95 GHz) and X-band (8.2-12.4 GHz), employing open-ended rectangular waveguide probes. It is shown that the magnitude of reflection coefficient is a useful parameter for detecting different chloride levels in these specimens. Moreover, the influence of chloride on the curing properties (i.e. setting time) and the compressive strength of these specimens are subsequently shown to be well correlated to the measured magnitude of reflection coefficient of these specimens at S-band. It is also shown that this correlation is unambiguous as a function of w/c which possesses significant practical ramifications.


A novel method is introduced which enables the use of a tunable narrowband antenna within a wide frequency range. The resulting antenna is able to operate in multifrequency bands simultaneously. In addition, the number of frequency bands and their center frequencies can be changed dynamically. A time domain simulation is provided using a simple circuit model for two simultaneous frequency bands. A tunable antenna is designed and tested for two simultaneous frequency bands as well.


Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a versatile material with numerous applications in many fields of industry and science. The extent of applications, ranging from approved contact materials in the food industry to monitors for respiration and heart-rate in medicine, drives the research and development by the materials science community. The largest limiting factor when using PVDF in applications where its piezo- and pyroelectricity is important, is the amount of the highly polar crystalline β-phase in the material. PVDF is polymorphic and usually crystallizes from melt or solution into the non-polar α-phase, which is of little use in piezoelectric applications. Many studies have therefore aimed at increasing the amount of the β-phase crystal structure in the material. Cold drawing of α-phase PVDF, poling in high electric fields, copolymerization with trifluoroethylene, and inclusion of different types of additives to PVDF have been studied using both experimental and computational techniques. This review presents the current status and understanding of these processes, and summarizes results from previous stud- ies. © Global Scientific Publishers 2015.


An earth sensor for determining the orientation of a space vehicle with respect to the earth with a mean time to failure of 29 years, far higher reliability than former sensors, is being developed. The sensor uses a new approach of detecting the earth. This method requires no moving parts and only about ten per cent of the electronic parts required by existing earth sensors. The far infrared radiation from the earth is imaged on temperature sensitive elements which absorb infrared radiation and are heated by it. The sensor uses the difference in temperature between elements to determine the offset angle.


PIN55 VALIDATING LIKERT-TYPE MEASURES USING NONPARAMETRIC AND PARAMETRIC ITEM RESPONSE THEORY Lin HW, Pickard AS, Karabatsos G, Mahady GB, Crawford SY, Popovich NG China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA OBJECTIVES: Item response theory (IRT) is one of measurement models used for evaluation of the quality of rating scale measures in health outcomes research. Kernel regression on item response theory (KIRT) is a nonparametric IRT alternative to common approaches derived from the classical test theory and parametric IRT (e.g., Rasch) models. The objectives of this study were to identify and compare the agreement and discrepancy in item quality assessment using nonparametric and parametric IRT. METHODS: KIRT and Rasch approaches were utilized to examine psychometric properties towards Likert-type measures assessing pharmacists' performance of patient counseling in general (PC-G) and counseling on herbs and dietary supplements (PC-HDS), in a large-scale validation study. Agreement and discrepancy of item performance assessment were examined based on the underlying attributes of models, corresponding analysis techniques and assessment criteria (e.g., examining violations of unidimentional psychometric theory assumptions for KIRT, examining the undesired discrepancy between observed and model expected values for Rasch model). RESULTS: Seven out of 10 PC-G items (70%) and six out of seven PC-HDS items (86%) were good quality items based on both approaches. Two good quality items in the KIRT model did not fi t the Rasch model well (i.e., outfi t ZSTD "d "n"b 2"n), whereas the three good fi tting items in the Rasch model were recognized as poor quality items in the KIRT model (violated monotonicity or local independence). CONCLUSIONS: There was fair amount of agreement between the two approaches with retrospect to validate performance measures. The discrepancy of two approaches resulted from the differences between corresponding measurement models and the pre-specifi ed criteria for quality assessment. In particular, the KIRT tended to identify poor quality items that didn't intuitively match unidimentional psychometric properties, but the Rasch approach tended to identify poor quality items which might belong to a second construct.


OBJECTIVE
This study is aimed to evaluate the expression of phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) in normal kidney and clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), also to evaluate the correlation between PGAM1 expression and clinicopathological features in CCRCC.

METHODS
PGAM1 expression was detected in 80 cases of normal kidney and 192 cases of CCRCC by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Meanwhile, PGAM1 expression measured in 8 cases of CCRCC and matched normal kidney tissues by Western blot. Then, the correlation between PGAM1 expression and clinicalpathological features was analyzed in CCRCC.

RESULTS
IHC results exhibited that the high-expression rate of PGAM1 in CCRCC tissues was 45.8%, which was significantly higher than those in normal kidney tissues (32.5%, P=0.044). Meanwhile, PGAM1 expression in CCRCC was significantly greater compared with those in normal kidney by Western blot. Moreover, PGAM1 expression was significantly associated with age, tumor size and T stage in CCRCC.

CONCLUSION
PGAM1 is highly expressed in CCRCC and correlated with clinicalpathological features, which may contribute to tumor formation and progression.


Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has been a major cause of concern in recent years. The term CSEC is used to describe the various activities exploiting children for sexual purposes and includes trafficking of children, child pornography, child prostitution and sex tourism. The sexual exploitation implies that the child is not only sexually abused but that it has a value on a market which includes demand and supply. In the current political debate the demand side is often addressed to sex tourists, (mainly men) from the western world who travel to poorer countries- so called supply countries- to sexually abuse children. A First World Congress on CSEC was held in Stockholm 1996, hosted by the Swedish government. The meeting brought together 122 governments and several non governmental and governmental organisations (NGOs and GOs) in order to try to identify the nature and extent of the CSEC in the world and to find strategies to eradicate the problems. Two non-binding documents were adopted&semic the Stockholm Declaration and the Agenda for Action, which set out concrete and time bound goals in the struggle to combat the phenomenon. The governments committed themselves to elaborate their national plans of action by the end of year 2000. A Second World Congress was held in Yokohama, Japan 2001 to view progress in implementing by states the goals set forth in Stockholm and to strengthen international cooperation. On the Stockholm meeting 1996 there was a broad consensus that since CSEC is a cross boarding phenomenon, the only way to combat the phenomenon is through enhanced cooperation between countries. Since the Stockholm Conference1996, several political actions and activities have been carried out through out the world&semic new international legal instruments have rapidly been created aiming to strengthen the protection of children, new laws have been passed in several countries enabling to prosecute its citizens for sexual crimes committed against children abroad, thus demonstrating that the international community takes a clear action against the problem. The international community does play a vital role by rapidly adopting conventions and standards, showing that the problems are taken seriously. The important, difficult and interesting part is to turn these provisions into concrete measures at a national level. This thesis deals with two parts of the CSEC&semic child prostitution and sex tourism. Brazil has claimed to be the second country in the world, after Thailand, with the highest number of children in prostitution. The country has also a reputation for attracting a great amount of sex tourists from the western world. Therefore Brazil represents a supply country in this thesis. Since a few years Swedish citizens (residents) have the possibility to travel as charter tourists to the Northeast region of Brazil, where the population is particularly poor and the problem of child prostitution is said to be most severe in the country. As it happens that Swedish nationals are travelling abroad committing sexual crimes against foreign children, Sweden will represent a demand country. Given the concept of demand and supply and international cooperation I raise the over arching questions: To what extent does Brazil as a supply country legally and through other means protect and prevent its children from prostitution? How does Sweden, representing a demand country, protect the Brazilian minors from being sexually abused or exploited by Swedish nationals? In terms of international cooperation, how can the responsibility of the countries be defined? When it comes to defining the responsibility for the exploitation, it is Brazilian minors who enter prostitution or fall victims of sexual exploitation. There are always fundamental structural problems within every country that generate child prostitution. In the case of Brazil, poverty, underdevelopment, inequitable socio-economic structure, dysfunctional families, corruption, lack of education, urban-rural migration, gender discrimination and irresponsible adult behaviour are all contributing factors to create an environment where the Brazilian minors are likely to be vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Therefore it is in the first place the Brazilian government and the Brazilian people who have to find strategies to solve the problem, according to the nature and extent of how the problem appears in Brazil, not in Asia or other parts of the world. The problem of international sex tourism becomes in this sense not the biggest challenge, even if must be dealt with. Sustainable tourism includes awareness of the economic inequality between rich and poor countries or regions and the responsibility which accompanies this consciousness. Sweden can contribute to the protection of the Brazilian children by continue to increase this awareness and by informing on the criminal nature of sexual offences against children in Brazil. Extra territorial prosecution is as a valuable tool among others to prevent sex tourism. Sweden has already this possibility. However, even if it is possible to carry out extra territorial prosecutions, there is a broad consensus that the trial of any crime committed abroad shall at first hand be held in the country where the crime is committed, since it is foremost a responsibility of that country to bring the offences to justice. It might be easy to get trapped in the belief that it becomes a responsibility of Sweden to take care of what Brazil does not care for or does not prioritise.. In addition there are several difficulties connected to such a prosecution. The current suggestion of abolishing the double criminality requirement for serious sexual crimes committed against children abroad, will generally not facilitate the process. However, due to the Brazilian and Swedish legislation in combination, such a change gives the result that a Swedish offender could when having sexually violated a Brazilian child be brought to justice in a Swedish court room. Without such a change this would at date under some specific circumstances probably not be possible.


Across the United States, health care organizations are in pursuit of achieving the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's (IHI) Triple Aim Initiative: reducing per capita expenditure, improving the health of populations, and increasing the quality of care provided. Unlike other industries, health care consumers are less informed about the services being provided. However, like other industries, convenience is a characteristic that all patients factor in when managing their care. One of the major goals of telemedicine is to enhance the delivery of health care to geographically disadvantaged and medically underserved populations, thereby providing an improved quality of care while decreasing costs. The purpose of this essay is to show the capabilities that telemedicine can provide, its public health importance, how it benefits both patients and providers, obstacles to overcome, and why it is not being used to its full potential today. Additionally, this essay will introduce University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and how UPMC's Department of Medicine is addressing telemedicine with a look into one specific program – Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy.


The Qur'an and Old and New Testaments have in common some twenty prophetic figures. As a text, the Qur'an engages with members of these earlier scriptural communities both in its direct address to 'Benī Isrāʾīl' (the Children of Israel) and in the way it recounts the stories of their prophets. For their part, these earlier scriptures tend to present their accounts of these prophets in more detail than the Qur'an. As such, early Muslims would often consult Jewish and Christian converts to Islam for elucidation of the Qur'an's core presentation. From this narration process emerged an exegetical genre called Isrāʾīlīāt. While long established in Muslim tradition, this exegetical genre has been a source of serious contention between scholars throughout the ages. Surveying almost a dozen works produced by the Arabic-speaking academy, this paper explores contemporary Arab scholarship on the use of Isrāʾīlīāt for interpreting the Qurʾan. It focuses on scholars' attitudes towards this exegetical genre and what – if any – role they see it having in interpreting the Qurʾan.


Height-related threat effects on the sensori-motor control of posture has been broadly studied; however, the effect on eye-movements during stance are less known. Kugler et al. (2014) showed that subjects susceptible to fear of heights have a more restricted gaze behavior when standing on heights compared to controls. Thus, we hypothesized that individuals will demonstrate less exploratory gaze behaviour when standing on high compared to low heights. Subjects (n=4, 1 female) were asked to stand facing towards a blank canvas for 5 minutes at 0.80 m above ground (away from the edge; Low) and 3.2 m above ground (at the edge; High) on a hydraulic lift (order counter-balanced across subjects). Eye movements were measured with the Dikablis eye tracker, and 6 QR code markers were used to define a fixed area for analysis (10.9 m2). Calibration trials (1 min) were performed after each condition to correct for offsets (along the horizontal and vertical axes) and normalize the subject's eye-level. The average standard deviation of gaze patterns along the horizontal direction was comparable; 36.9 cm in Low versus 31.3 cm in High. In contrast, the average standard deviation along the vertical direction was much smaller at Low (56.9 cm) versus High (122.5 cm). Contrary to past findings that subjects fearful of height freeze their gaze to the horizon (Kugler et al. 2014), these results indicate that individuals employ a more exploratory eye-movement pattern when standing on high heights.Acknowledgments: Acknowledgement: Funded by NSERC


Dinka is a Western Nilotic language within the Nilo-Saharan family. There are over two million speakers (Gordon 2005). The Dinkas live along the banks of the White Nile and its tributaries in Southern Sudan. There are also communities elsewhere within Sudan, in particular in the capital Khartoum, and abroad. Cows play a key role in the Dinka economy, and also in the sociocultural system. Four major dialect areas are commonly distinguished: Padang, Rek, Agar, and Bor. The variety of Dinka represented here – Luanyjang or, as in Roettger & Roettger (1989), Luac – is part of the Rek dialect group. The term Luanyjang 'Luac Dinka' refers in the first place to a section within the Dinka ethnic group, and by extension also to their variety of the Dinka language. The main Luanyjang town is Wuncuei, located about 170 kilometers east of the city of Wau. Luanyjang has around 15000 speakers according to Ethnologue (Gordon 2005), although the current number is likely to be much higher.


We present accurate full-wave analysis of deformed nanowires using a rigorous simulation environment based on the multilevel fast multipole algorithm. Single nanowires as well as their arrays are deformed randomly in order to understand the effects of deformations to scattering characteristics of these structures. Results of hundreds of simulations are considered for statistically meaningful analysis of deformation effects. We show that deformations significantly enhance the forward-scattering abilities of single and arrays of nanowires, while the enhancement factor of an array depends on the number of elements.


We estimated the lift and thrust of the proto-wings of the dinosaur Caudipteryx, a close relative of birds, using both theoretical and experimental approaches. Our experiments utilized a newly reconstructed flapping wing mechanism in accordance to the fossil specimens of Caudipteryx. To ensure that this reconstructed mechanism could adequately simulate the realistic flapping movements, we investigated the relationships among the flapping angle, twisting angle, and stretching angle of the wing mechanism that was driven by a DC motor. We also used two sensors to measure the lift and thrust forces generated by the flapping movements of the reconstructed wing. Our experiment indicated that both the lift and thrust forces produced by the wings were small but increased at higher flapping frequencies. This study not only contributes to current understanding of the origin of avian flight but also usefully informs the ongoing development of bionic flapping robots.


Wind measurements are fundamental inputs for wind resource assessment and the performance of wind farms. Common approaches for wind energy yield assessment are based on (1) observational data from surface station networks and (2) high-resolution computational fluid dynamic or mesoscale models. In this letter, we investigate the potential of applying a high-resolution nested mesoscale model, Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS), to predict low-level wind characteristics for wind farm domains. The model results are compared to scanning coherent Doppler lidar and tower measurements for a wind energy development. This letter focuses on the magnitude of difference between observations and simulations used for wind energy assessment. The results highlight the challenge for straight-forward application of mesoscale models, even well-established models with a relatively fine resolution on the inner nest (333 m), to produce wind predictions of sufficient fidelity and accuracy appropriate for resource assessment or operational support for individual wind farms. While many of the average wind flow features are captured by the model, their detailed spatial and temporal evolution may be improved through tighter integration with local sensor data.


Density functional theory (DFT) with non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism and HSPICE simulator have been used to analyse the effect of elemental oxygen atom passivation on the structural, electronic and transport properties of Graphene Nanoribbons (GNRs). The analysis of delay, power dissipation, crosstalk effect, stability and frequency analysis has also been performed to understand its interconnect application. The present study includes all the possible morphologies of zigzag and armchair edge states of GNRs with oxygen and hydrogen passivation. The structural stability of GNRs, analysed in terms of binding energy $(E_{binding})$ observed that the Zigzag graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR) with both edge oxygen passivated, is the most stable configuration, where stability of the configuration increases with Oxygen concentration. Further, frotextm the bandstructure and density-of-states calculations, it has been observed that considered 6 atom wide and hydrogen passivated Armchair GNR (AGNR) is semiconducting in nature, whereas, with same width hydrogen passivated ZGNR is metallic. On the other hand, passivation of AGNR with increasing concentration of oxygen form them to metallic in nature. Based on the enhanced metallicity and increment in fermi velocity due to passivation of GNRs with oxygen, these structures may be a potential candidate for interconnects. Their computed electron transport properties, dynamical parameters, delay, power delay product and crosstalk induced delay confirms that the zigzag GNR with both the edges passivated with oxygen (O-ZGNR-O) can be considered as best contender for interconnect application due to its remarkable electrical and thermal transport in comparison to other GNR's. The O-ZGNR-O shows lowest value of kinetic inductance and quantum capacitance of. 01032H/m and 2.21 nF/m respectively with higher stability and higher immunity to crosstalk effect in comparison to other proposed GNRs, which is required for nanoscale interconnects. The relative stability of GNRs have been analyzed in terms of nyquist plot with different interconnect lengths. The results suggest that O-ZGNR-O have lowest delay and power dissipation with higher stability, hence defends its application for interconnect application.


Intelligent machining systems enable to adapt to the changes of manufacturing environment such as orders, disturbances happening in the system. In machining system, machine tools play an important role to have the products with high quality, low cost and high productivity. The paper presents a new concept of intelligent machining system, namely Autonomous Machining System- AMS. Biology inspired technologies are applied to the machine tools for equipping these machines with biological characteristics such as self-diagnostic, self-recovery, and cooperation. With these advanced characteristics, AMS has ability to adapt to changes on the shop floor.


Linepipes installed in permafrost ground or seismic region, where larger strains can be expected by ground movement, are required to have sufficient strain capacity in order to prevent local buckling or girth weld fracture. On the other hand, strain capacity of linepipes usually degreases with increasing strength, and this is one of the reasons for preventing wider use of high-grade linepipe for high strain application. Furthermore, external coating is necessary for corrosion resistance of pipe, but coating heat can cause strain-aged hardening, which results in increased yield strength and Y/T. Therefore, there is a strong demand for developing high strength linepipe for a high strain application with resistance to strain-aged hardening. Extensive studies to develop Grade X100 high strain linepipe have been conducted. One of the key technologies for improving strain capacity is dual-phase microstructural control. Steel plate with the microstructure including bainite and dispersed martensite-austenite constituent (MA) can be obtained by applying accelerated cooling followed by heat treatment online process (HOP). HOP is the induction heating process that enables rapid heating of the steel plates. Variety of microstructural control, such as fine carbide precipitation and MA formation, can be utilized by this newly developed heating process. One of the significant features of the HOP process is to improve resistance to strain-aged hardening. Increase in yield strength by coating can be minimized even for the Grade X100 linepipe. Trial production of X100 high strain linepipe with the size of 36″ OD and 15mm WT was conducted by applying the HOP process. Microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of developed X100 linepipe are introduced in this paper. In order to evaluate compressive strain capacity of the developed pipe, full-scale pipe bending test was carried out by using the trial X100 high strain linepipe after external coating. Full scale bending test of developed X100 linepipe demonstrated sufficient compressive strain capacity even after external coating.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Fifty years ago, only a quarter of infants born with congenital heart disease (CHD) survived beyond the first year of life. It has been estimated that 80% to 85% of patients can expect to reach adulthood. Today, there are close to 1 million adults living with CHD in the United States alone. Since its introduction, the Fontan operation has become established as the dominant surgical repair in patients with univentricular heart physiology. Long-term morbidity associated with this procedure is being more commonly appreciated and liver complications have become more frequently apparent. Hepatologist awareness and familiarity in managing this population alongside the CHD specialist is important for the care of these patients. This dual perspective can provide comprehensive integrated care.


Hypoxia-induced release of cysteinyl leukotriene from pulmonary macrophages has been considered an important mechanism mediating hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in the immature circulation. However, studies leading to this conclusion blocked hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction by relatively nonspecific LT antagonists. We have evaluated this hypothesis further by separate measurement of the hemodynamic effects of leukotriene D4 (LTD4) and hypoxia before and after administration of the highly specific leukotriene D4/E4 antagonist LY 171883 (LY). Anesthetized, open-chest newborn piglets were exposed to LTD4 0.1-3 micrograms/kg IV, or to hypoxia (12% 02 + 88% N2, for 3 min) prior and subsequent to LY 30 mg/kg IV (n = 7) or saline vehicle (n = 5). LTD4 administration before LY caused a 37% - 446% increase in pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) (p less than 0.05). With LTD4 mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) rose 14% - 69% (p less than 0.05), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) rose 18% - 160% (p less than 0.05) and systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) increased 88% - 100% (p less than 0.05). Cardiac index (CI) and left ventricular shortening fraction (LVSF) fell only at peak LTD4 dose (92 +/- 7 to 49 +/- 8 ml/kg/min, 12 +/- 1 to 6 +/- 1%, both p less than 0.05). Hypoxia produced a 69% rise in PAP and a 122% increase in PVRI, both p less than 0.01. LY abolished LTD4-induced changes in PVRI, PAP, LVEDP, CI, SVRI, and LVSF, but had no effect on the hypoxic rise in PAP and PVRI. Thus, doses of LY which completely inhibited the substantial circulatory actions of LTD4 failed to alter hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. The results suggest that acute hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in newborn piglets is not attenuated by selective LTD4/E4 receptor antagonism.


We examined 170 museum specimens of the southern African gekkonid lizard Homopholis wahlbergii, to quantify sexual dimorphism, male and female reproductive cycles and diet. The largest male and female we recorded were 116 and 119 mm snout–vent length (SVL) respectively. We compared SVL, tail length, head length, head width and eye diameter and found no evidence of sexual dimorphism in any of these characters. The smallest female with thickened muscular oviducts and follicles, indicating sexual maturity, was 59 mm SVL, but the smallest female we found with fully developed eggs was 85mmSVL. Virtually all females larger than 59 mm appeared to be in some stage of reproduction, suggesting that females reproduce every year once they reach sexual maturity. Egg size ranged from 17–19mm long. Egg size was not correlated with maternal SVL. We found adult females with ready-to-lay eggs during the warmer months of the year, but not during winter and spring. The smallest sexually mature male was 72 mm SVL. Virtually all males larger than this size displayed at least semi-turgid testes and most adult male testes were at least semi-turgid for much of the year. The only significant decrease in testicular activity was in mid-winter (June–August), thus, spermatogenesis is closely tied to female follicular development and ovulation. Velvet geckos are largely insectivorous (92%) and feed on a broad spectrum of prey. Their diet was dominated both numerically (34%) and volumetrically (22%) by beetles. Lepidoptera were the next most important prey category, suggesting that they exploit both terrestrial and flying invertebrates. They are unusual among lizards because they feed on millipedes. Males and females had very similar diets which may be explained by their lack of sexual dimorphism, although females tended to eat a greater volume of prey. Interestingly, less than half (37%) of the lizards examined contained prey items, suggesting that most individuals were not in positive energy balance. We also found evidence of prey size selection as a function of gape size, such that larger geckos took advantage of larger prey items.