Designers and makers are increasingly interested in leveraging bio-based and bio-degradable 'do-it-yourself' (DIY) materials for sustainable prototyping. Their self-produced bioplastics possess compelling properties such as self-adhesion but have so far not been functionalized to create soft interactive devices, due to a lack of DIY techniques for the fabrication of functional electronic circuits and sensors. In this paper, we contribute a DIY approach for creating Interactive Bioplastics that is accessible to a wide audience, making use of easy-to-obtain bio-based raw materials and familiar tools. We present three types of conductive bioplastic materials and their formulation: sheets, pastes and foams. Our materials enable additive and subtractive fabrication of soft circuits and sensors. Furthermore, we demonstrate how these materials can substitute conventional prototyping materials, be combined with off-the-shelf electronics, and be fed into a sustainable material 'life-cycle' including disassembly, re-use, and re-melting of materials. A formal characterization of our conductors highlights that they are even on-par with commercially available carbon-based conductive pastes.


A sense for magnetism in humans and more broadly for nonphotic solar effects is not consciously perceived, even though the cosmos may have broad biospheric consequences. Associations are already documented for the human circulation and for mental and cellular functions with geoand interplanetary magnetism. We compare interval estimates of periods in view of the ever-present uncertainties, congruence assess corresponding periods by the presence or absence of overlap between the CIs (95% confidence intervals) of the paired periods, found by the nonlinearly extended cosinors in time series of geomagnetic indices, Kp, quasi-logarithmic local index of the 3-hourly range, its derivatives Cp and C9, on the one hand and on the other hand in separate data sets of systolic (S) and diastolic (D) blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) of 360 patients, each monitored ambulatorily (ABPM) for 24 hrs. Some circasemiseptan periods are shared by SBP, DBP and HR in female patients and further by C9 and Cp. Kp reveals a period of 4.31 days, with an even longer period found for SBP in men in the spectral region examined, the periods being picked because of their statistical significance in that spectral region. The gender differences in HR and SBP have their precedents in other regions of the circasemiseptan spectrum of these variables. The circaseptan coperiodisms between geomagnetic indices, Kp, Cp, C9 and cardiovascular system (SBP, DBP) in periodicity is clear for women patients only. The coperiodisms of HR with 10.7 C in 21 days period, and the circaseptan coperiodism again only of Kp with the BP were found.


The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal law that creates a separate, and less-protective, set of rules for child welfare cases, foster care cases, and adoption cases involving children who are either members of an Indian tribe or are "eligible" for tribal membership and have a biological parent who is a member. Critics of ICWA argue that this creates a race-based distinction in violation of equal protection mandates. Critics also contend that ICWA intrudes on state authority to manage their own child welfare laws, exceeding Congress's Commerce Clause authority and the Tenth Amendment.

Recent cases in federal and state court raise these and other important constitutional issues. In one case pending in the Ninth Circuit, a group of plaintiffs sought to challenge six separate provisions of ICWA on constitutional grounds; that case was dismissed for lack of standing, but a similar case in Texas federal court, was allowed to proceed. That case includes several state attorneys general as plaintiffs.

Meanwhile, courts in Arizona, California, Utah, and Ohio, have issued important rulings on how ICWA is to be applied--holding that ICWA applies even in private intra-family disputes that involve no government or private adoption agency, imposing a new deadline for acknowledging the paternity of an Indian child, and holding that a tribe lacks authority to intervene in an ICWA case after the termination of parental rights.

This article surveys these cases to provide an update on important legal controversies involving ICWA that must ultimately reach the Supreme Court.


Background: The effects of cytokines are modulated by soluble cytokine receptors (SCR) and receptor antagonists. Therefore, allergic disease may depend on altered proportions between cytokines, their SCR and receptor antagonists, rather than absolute changes in cytokine levels. Little is known about SCR in intermittent allergic rhinitis (IAR). Objective: To examine the concentrations of SCR, i.e. sIL-1R2, sIL-4R, sIL-6R and sTNFR1, as well as the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) in nasal fluids from allergen-challenged patients with IAR and healthy controls. Methods: 30 patients with birch- or grass-pollen-induced IAR and 30 healthy controls were studied. In the patients nasal fluids were obtained before as well as 1 and 6 h after allergen provocation. Results: Both symptom scores and rhinoscopic signs of rhinitis increased in the patients after allergen challenge. Comparisons between patients and controls showed that sIL-4R was lower in patients before and 1 and 6 h after provocation. IL-1Ra was lower before and 1 h after provocation. In addition, lower concentrations of sTNFR1 were found in patients after 1 h, while sIL-1R2 concentrations were higher after 1 h. Comparisons of patients before and after challenge showed that IL-1Ra and sTNFR1 decreased after 1 h, while sIL-1R2 increased. No significant differences were found compared to 6 h. sIL-6R did not significantly differ between the study groups. Conclusions: After allergen challenge, significant changes in the nasal fluid levels of IL-1Ra, sIL-1R2 and sTNFR1 were found. By contrast, sIL-4R remained at lower levels than in controls both before and after challenge. Since sIL-4R modulates IgE synthesis, this may play a role in the pathogenesis of IAR.


Background: The perspectives of researchers and patients regarding roles and responsibilities in stem cell research are rarely studied, but these could offer insights about responsible research conduct. Method: We have conducted a qualitative study consisting of focus groups with both early- (n = 7) and late-career stem cell researchers (n = 11) that are primarily based in Europe, and with Dutch patients with chronic lower back pain (n = 9). These focus groups have been analyzed thematically. Results: Four themes were identified: 1) roles and responsibilities in the laboratory, 2) responsibilities of and toward patients and the public, 3) the role of regulation and 4) structural hurdles for responsibility. Discussion: The results suggest that responsible research conduct could be improved by addressing grant application procedures, publication pressure and by providing support of dissemination activities for researchers. Conclusion: Responsibility in stem cell research could be enhanced by embracing open science initiatives and targeted training.


Although gonorrhoea has afflicted humans for centuries and the causative bacterium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, was identified over a century ago, gonorrhoea remains a global public health problem. Stepwise acquisition of genetic mutations has conferred gradually increasing resistance to multiple antibiotics, thus limiting their usage for presumptive therapy. Until recently cephalosporins have remained the foundation of treatment, but growing evidence suggests that resistance is emerging. Even as researchers work to understanding the genetic mutations required for cephalosporin resistance, it is clear that new treatment options are needed. This presents a challenge as the number of new systemic antimicrobials evaluated and approved each year by regulatory agencies has steadily fallen over the past 30 years. Currently one new antimicrobial is undergoing clinical study as a potential treatment of gonorrhoea. An alternative strategy is to repurpose older antibiotics by studying the efficacy of dual therapy combinations of existing antimicrobials. Ultimately new antimicrobial development is needed now, since the development process can take more than a decade. Detecting and responding to emergence of multidrug resistant gonorrhoea remains a challenge. Rapid detection of resistant infections is facilitated by local antimicrobial susceptibility testing, which requires live organisms isolated by culture. However, as the use of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) have expanded, the number of N. gonorrhoeae cultures performed by public health laboratories decreased rapidly and the capacity of laboratories to perform culture has declined. An alternative strategy is to develop molecular assays for detecting genetic mutations associated with resistance or susceptibility to specific antimicrobials to guide antibiotic selection by the clinician at the point of care. Even with this potential, molecular assays may not be able to supplant culture-based antimicrobial susceptibility testing for surveillance to detect novel resistance phenotypes and genotypes. Ultimately a gonococcal vaccine may be the most effective public health strategy.


Vegetable farming is one of the alternative sources of earning livelihood and becoming important agricultural practices for income generation and employment opportunities. This paper aims to analyze the constraints and opportunities of vegetable farmers in Kirtipur. Altogether 80 farm household survey were conducted in four major areas of Kirtipur. A total of 20 key informant interviews (KII) were also conducted to understand the perception of farm households on commercial vegetable farming. The result shows that around 94% of the total sampled farm households have leasehold farmland that has spread to different settlements of Kirtipur Municipality. Out of total leasehold farmers, 69% have written agreement with the landowner. The result also shows that the farmers cultivate vegetables in an average area of 5.67 ropani (2884.49m2). Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) are the primary vegetable products, whereas cauliflower (Brassica oleracea) and other green leafy vegetables are mostly cultivated as secondary vegetable products. Dug wells are the major sources of irrigation on vegetable farmland. Out of the total sampled farm households, about 42% of farmers are associated with farmers group and 37% have basic training on vegetable farming. Majority of farmers have savings from vegetable production and marketing. Despite few constraints like price fluctuation (81%) and high middleman margins (71%), vegetable farming in Kirtipur has many opportunities particularly being a major source income and livelihood (93%), self-employment generation (87%) and growing market demand (83%). The opportunities in commercial vegetable farming have continuously attracted the farmers in Kirtipur; however, the existing constraints has deprived farmers from their expected returns. Therefore, this paper recommends to portray possible options to promote opportunities and overcome the existing constraints to retain commercial vegetable farming as a sustainable source for farm households in Kirtipur.


BACKGROUND
Childhood caries (tooth decay) consists of a form of tooth decay that affects the milk teeth (also known as baby or primary teeth) of children. This may range from tooth decay in a single tooth to rampant caries affecting all the teeth in the mouth. Primary teeth in young children are vital to their development and every effort should be made to retain these teeth for as long as is possible. Dental fillings or restorations have been used as an intervention to repair these damaged teeth. Oral health professionals need to make astute decisions about the type of restorative (filling) material they choose to best manage their patients with childhood caries. This decision is by no means an easy one as remarkable advances in dental restorative materials over the last 10 years has seen the introduction of a multitude of different filling materials claiming to provide the best performance in terms of durability, aesthetics, symptom relief, etc when placed in the mouth. This review sought to compare the different types of dental materials against each other for the same outcomes.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this review was to compare the outcomes (including pain relief, survival and aesthetics) for restorative materials used to treat caries in the primary dentition in children.  Additionally, the restoration of teeth was compared with extraction and no treatment.

SEARCH METHODS
Electronic searches of the following databases were undertaken: the Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register (up to January 2009); CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2009, Issue1); MEDLINE (1966 to January 2009); EMBASE (1996 to January 2009); SIGLE (1976 to 2004); and conference proceedings on early childhood caries, restorative materials for paediatric dentistry, and material sciences conferences for dental materials used for children's dentistry (1990 to 2008). The searches attempted to identify all relevant studies irrespective of language.Additionally, the reference lists from articles of eligible papers were searched, handsearching of key journals was undertaken, and personal communication with authors and manufacturers of dental materials was initiated to increase the pool of suitable trials (both published and unpublished) for inclusion into this review.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-randomised controlled trials with a minimum period of 6 months follow up were included. Both parallel group and split-mouth study designs were considered. The unit of randomisation could be the individual, group (school, school class, etc), tooth or tooth pair. Included studies had a drop-out rate of less than 30%. The eligible trials consisted of young children (children less than 12 years) with tooth decay involving at least one tooth in the primary dentition which was symptomatic or symptom free at the start of the study.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Data were independently extracted, in duplicate, by two review authors. Disagreements were resolved by consultation with a third review author. Authors were contacted for missing or unclear information regarding randomisation, allocation sequence, presentation of data, etc. A quality assessment of included trials was undertaken. The Cochrane Collaboration statistical guidelines were followed for data analysis.

MAIN RESULTS
Only three studies were included in this review. The Fuks 1999 study assessed the clinical performance of aesthetic crowns versus conventional stainless steel crowns in 11 children who had at least two mandibular primary molars that required a crown restoration. The outcomes assessed at 6 months included gingival health (odds ratio (OR) 0.3; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.01 to 8.32), restoration failure (OR 3.29; 95% CI 0.12 to 89.81), occlusion, proximal contact and marginal integrity. The odds ratios for occlusion, proximal contact and marginal integrity could not be estimated as no events were recorded at the 6-month evaluation. The Donly 1999 split-mouth study compared a resin-modified glass ionomer (Vitremer) with amalgam over a 36-month period. Forty pairs of Class II restorations were placed in 40 patients (21 males; 19 females; mean age 8 years +/- 1.17; age range 6 to 9 years). Although the study period was 3 years (36 months), only the 6- and 12-month results are reported due to the loss to follow up of patients being greater than 30% for the 24- and 36-month data. Marks 1999a recruited 30 patients (age range 4 to 9 years; mean age 6.7 years, standard deviation 2.3) with one pair of primary molars that required a Class II restoration. The materials tested were Dyract (compomer) and Tytin (amalgam). Loss to follow up at 24 and 36 months was 20% and 43% respectively. This meant that only the 24-month data were useable. For all of the outcomes compared in all three studies, there were no significant differences in clinical performance between the materials tested.No studies were found that compared restorations versus extractions or no treatment as an intervention in children with childhood caries.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
It was disappointing that only three trials that compared three different types of materials were suitable for inclusion into this review. There were no significant differences found in all three trials for all of the outcomes assessed. Well designed, randomised controlled trials comparing the different types of filling materials for similar outcomes are urgently needed in dentistry. There was insufficient evidence from the three included trials to make any recommendations about which filling material to use.


The paper models the behavior of an economy that accumulates capital stock and increases the life expectancy of their inhabitants at the same time. It is shown that as a country develops, it presents initially smaller growth rates on consumption and physical capital but larger expansions on life expectancy. Thus poor countries may initially catch-up on life expectancy rather than per capita income, producing divergence on income between poor and rich countries. It is also shown that economies with larger life expectancy should have larger income growth rates.


This is a reflection on the "Red Shirt" social movement in Thailand based on ethnographic research conducted in 2007-11. Under its umbrella organization, the National United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, the social movement generated a momentum never before seen in Thailand following the consequences of the 19 September 2006 coup d'état. The resistance and mass calls for democratic change came from the periphery, not the centre as in previous modern protests staged in the metropolis. At an ideological level, the movement is differentiated but united in its understanding of the conditions of modern history and the complexity of centre-summit dominance. Red Shirts have been engaged in an ongoing struggle against a social and political adversary with the overall objective, yet to be achieved, of bringing about broad democratic institutional changes at all levels. Taking to the barricades in April-May 2010, which led to the killing of many protestors, was a last resort for the masses frustrated by the distortion of history and obstruction of societal changes under the self-serving interests of the ruling royalists. How will this tragedy of recent times be narrated in standard histories is debatable, as a memory of the past, conscious or unconscious, is conditioned by the experience of the present. But at specific sites of memory (lieux de mémoire), there will be continuing conversations and, undoubtedly, little forgetting among the masses.


Injections of repeated, subdiabetogenic doses of streptozotocin to C57BL/KsJ mice induced a slowly developing hyperglycemia and pancreatic insulitis similar to that observed in human type I diabetes. It was found that the hyperglycemia could be normalized in these animals by the intrasplenic implantation of syngeneic islets. This could be achieved both 9 and 14 days after the first streptozotocin injection. At the first time point there was a severe insulitis in the pancreas of the recipient. When animals that had been cured by an intrasplenic islet implant were given three subdiabetogenic booster-doses of streptozotocin, they reverted to hyperglycemia. This suggests that cell-mediated immune reactions are of etiologic significance in this diabetes model, since mice made diabetic by a single large dose of streptozotocin and subsequently cured by islet transplantation remained unaffected by the booster-dose administration of streptozotocin. To test the hypothesis that the β-cell destruction induced by streptozotocin is the triggering mechanism for the insulitis process, syngeneic islets were implanted into the spleen after being exposed in vitro to a weak streptozotocin concentration. This treatment led to normoglycemia in only two of seven alloxan-di-abetic recipients. Streptozotocin-treated islets implanted into normoglycemic recipients were recovered intact in the spleens, and pancreatic islet morphology was not influenced by this treatment. The present data do not speak against ongoing attempts to cure human diabetics with islet cell transplantation despite the fact that islet lesions that may reflect immunologic mechanisms are encountered in type I diabetes.


Oi argues that the costs of monitoring employees rise with the value of the entrepreneur's time. One way of economizing on these monitoring costs is through the provision of on-the-job training for new employees. In this paper, we argue that differences in training by firm- and establishment-size arise from cost advantages for larger firms; specifically, large firms and establishments have economies of scale in the provision of formal training and greater opportunities for informal coworker training. A unique data set is employed to estimate the relation among employer size and the intensity, duration, and composition of various training measures. It is possible that these cost advantages, which lead to greater amounts of training for employees of large firms, may explain, in part, the wage rate–firm size differential.


The profile of poverty in Brazil has changed in recent decades, partially due to alterations in the reproduction and mortality standards of the population. During this same period, the designs of social policies, especially those for reducing poverty, have also undergone changes. It must be emphasized that the effectiveness of these policies depends on the type of poverty that is being dealt with. Destitution can be a permanent or temporary phenomenon, and this transient-chronic (T-C) composition may show a temporal trend. The objective of this paper is to analyze this trend as well as the temporal evolution of poverty rates in urban areas. The result may make it possible to predict future income and destitution. To this end, an Age-Period-Cohort (APC) model was applied to absolute and relative poverty measures and to the T-C composition, based on data from the PNADs between 1995 and 2003. The results indicate that the cohort-effect is more expressive than the period effect for the recent reduction in poverty rates, especially for the chronic component. In contrast, the transient component showed a relative temporal tendency to increase.


BACKGROUND
In Brazil, gastric cancer is the fourth most common malignancy among men and sixth among women. The cause is multivariate and the risks are well known. It has prognosis and treatment defined by the location and staging of the tumor and number of lymph nodes resected and involved.

AIM
The Brazilian Consensus on Gastric Cancer promoted by ABCG was designed with the intention to issue guidelines that can guide medical professionals to care for patients with this disease.

METHODS
Were summarized and answered 43 questions reflecting consensus or not on diagnosis and treatment that may be used as guidance for its multidisciplinary approach. The method involved three steps. Initially, 56 digestive surgeons and related medical specialties met to formulate the questions that were sent to participants for answers on scientific evidence and personal experience. Summaries were presented, discussed and voted in plenary in two other meetings. They covered 53 questions involving: diagnosis and staging (six questions); surgical treatment (35 questions); chemotherapy and radiotherapy (seven questions) and anatomopathology, immunohistochemistry and perspective (five questions). It was considered consensus agreement on more than 70% of the votes in each item.

RESULTS
All the answers were presented and voted upon, and in 42 there was consensus.

CONCLUSION
It could be developed consensus on most issues that come with the care of patients with gastric cancer and they can be transformed in guidelines.


Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence offers an intensive evaluation of how the smart city establishments are made at different scales through automated thinking headways, for instance, geospatial information, data examination, data portrayal, clever related things, and quick natural frameworks handiness. Progressing propels in electronic thinking attract us closer to making a persistent reproduced model of human-made and trademark structures, from urban regions to transportation establishments to utility frameworks. This continuous living model empowers us to all the bound to manage and improve these working structures, making them dynamically watchful. Keen Cities and Artificial Intelligence gives a multidisciplinary, joined procedure, using speculative and applied bits of information, for the evaluation of savvy city situations. This special issue shows how the mechanized and physical universes are associated inside this organic framework, and how nonstop data arrangement is changing the possibility of our urban as well as industrial condition. It gives a fresh sweeping perspective on the natural framework designing, advances, and parts that include the masterminding and execution of sharp city and industry establishments. This special issue also shows how the computerized and physical universes are connected inside this biological system, and how continuous information assortment is changing the idea of our urban and industry condition. It gives a crisp all-encompassing viewpoint on the biological system engineering, advances, and parts that involve the arranging and execution of keen city and industry foundations. After following double blind peer review for all the submitted manuscripts across the globe, and after the rigorous review process, revision and based on final recommendations of the reviewers and editorial team, finally 17 manuscripts have been accepted for publication.


The development of the Women's Super League (WSL) in English football, increased media coverage of the game, and an expansion of grassroots opportunities indicate a bright future for women and girls who want to play. Yet this vision must be tempered against compelling evidence of deep rooted and enduring gender inequalities within the game. This is the case for both players, and women who undertake non-playing roles, which is reflected in the relatively low numbers of women coaches and referees. Whilst The Football Association (The FA) has signalled addressing these inequalities as a key priority, critics argue that such efforts amount to superficial and limited efforts to support meaningful change. This paper departs from a concern with playing the game and responds to calls for more research to explore the experiences of women involved in football in non-playing roles. More specifically, it focuses on women coaches and referees, and addresses the following question: how do women in positions of power in football negotiate their place in what remains a distinctly male-dominated profession? In addressing this question, we take a theoretical position located at the nexus between radical and post-structural feminism, acknowledging the significance of structural power relations and individual agency in shaping daily lived social realities. Data were generated from interviews with 14 women coaches and 10 women referees. These interviews explored the structure and culture of the game and its impact on women's experiences of men's and women's competitive and grassroots football. Through a rigorous process of thematic analysis, three themes were identified: gendered entry into football careers; reinforcement of women's difference on the football field; and coping strategies for remaining in the game. Centralising the women's voices in this research highlights the insidious and persistent nature of gendered microaggressions, the sexism of football culture, and the ways in which these women negotiate this masculine terrain in their pursuit of being coaches and referees. "Andy Gray and Richard Keys hauled off air for sexist comments" (The Guardian, 24 January, 2011) "Crystal Palace Women goalkeeper accuses clubs of ignoring FA protocols after she was subjected to sexist abuse" (The Telegraph, 16 January, 2020) "Football manager demands ban on women referees" (The Guardian, 12 November, 2006) "Richard Scudamore sexism scandal intensifies as conspirator in sexist emails investigated by own law firm" (The Telegraph, 16 May, 2014) "Soccer chief's plan to boost women's game? Hotpants" (The Guardian, 16 January, 2004) "Women in Football survey a damning indictment of sexism in the workplace" (HRreview, 11 March, 2014) "Clattenburg criticised for claim female referees must pick career or children" (The Telegraph, 1 October, 2021)


A guide to print and electronic resources for students at the University of Derby on Occupational Therapy programmes of study. Databases etc.


E-mail is a powerful communication tool for marketers. Unfortunately, the efficacy of this tool is rapidly being eroded by spam. In response, one option now in play for legitimate marketers is to subscribe to services that charge postage for delivery of e-mail. This solution is consistent with economic theory and essentially amounts to a tax to reduce the supply of unwanted communications. However, it fails to harness the unique nature of the e-mail communication medium— namely, its "interactivity." A solution that utilizes the interactivity of the e-mail medium, but less commonly known, is bonded senders. It involves the posting of a bond with an intermediary that is forfeited if the recipient identifies the e-mail as an unwanted communication. Given the emergence of these two distinct pricing solutions, we ask: (1) What are the essential characteristics of each pricing solution? (2) Which pricing solution is superior? and (3) Is it sustainable without regulation? Our analytical findings reveal that the bonded senders solution dominates the postage stamp solution. Specifically, it allows marketers in more categories to participate and yields greater profit to each marketer. Surprisingly, despite offering these benefits to marketers, it also results in a lower amount of unwanted communications. Finally, incorporating the notion of rational expectations, we also find that only bonded senders emerge as a solution that is self-enforcing. Our analytical findings thus give pause to pure postage-type mechanisms but encourage investments in the bonded senders mechanism.


Greater uncertainty characterizes Australia's strategic environment. Power transitions in the Indo-Pacific test US primacy at a time when Australia as a major US alliance partner is encountering new asymmetric, society-centric threats from state and non-state actors in what is called the 'cognitive battlespace'. This is a different kind of warfare, utilizing information as military force. Threats take the form of direct manipulation of interconnected, information-rich environments. Securing the national interest from society-centric threats involving the 'weaponization of information', especially of social media and the global corporate platforms upon which they operate, poses considerable strategic, conceptual and technological challenges for Australia's civilian and military cyber-defence agencies. We begin by briefly reviewing the evolution of the strategic culture underpinning Australia's understanding and use of military force, arguing that it is shaped largely by historical insecurity borne from a deeply embedded social sense of isolation and an unquestioned strategic imperative to rely on alliances with 'great and powerful friends'. We give a brief account of Australia's 'last wars' which saw it deploy to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and note the evolving cyber-enabled changes to the battlefield. We then argue that the new cyber-threats target the domestic fabric of liberal democracies and market economies, posing risks to all military and civilian institutions as well as weakening citizens' belief in the values which underpin them. Finally, we examine Australia's evolving integration with US networked cyber capabilities, and legislative and bureaucratic reforms to counter foreign political interference campaigns, asking whether they are sufficient.


Conflict produces group solidarity in four phases: (1) an initial few days of shock and idiosyncratic individual reactions to attack; (2) one to two weeks of establishing standardized displays of solidarity symbols; (3) two to three months of high solidarity plateau; and (4) gradual decline toward normalcy in six to nine months. Solidarity is not uniform but is clustered in local groups supporting each other's symbolic behavior. Actual solidarity behaviors are performed by minorities of the population, while vague verbal claims to performance are made by large majorities. Commemorative rituals intermittently revive high emotional peaks; participants become ranked according to their closeness to a center of ritual attention. Events, places, and organizations claim importance by associating themselves with national solidarity rituals and especially by surrounding themselves with pragmatically ineffective security ritual. Conflicts arise over access to centers of ritual attention; clashes occur between pragmatists deritualizing security and security zealots attempting to keep up the level of emotional intensity. The solidarity plateau is also a hysteria zone; as a center of emotional attention, it attracts ancillary attacks unrelated to the original terrorists as well as alarms and hoaxes. In particular historical circumstances, it becomes a period of atrocities.


Hierarchically ordered porous materials have drawn intense attention owing to the drastically enlarged surface area, the defined multiscale porous structure, and the new route of introducing additional functionality. This class of materials present significant potential in the fields of molecular separation, catalysis, micro-reactors, tissue engineering, photonic bandgap (PBG) materials, and phononic bandgap materials. Binary colloidal crystal, a binary crystal structure formed by two sizes of colloidal particles, has proven to be an excellent template for fabricating hierarchically ordered porous materials. In this paper, we demonstrate the horizontal deposition method18 as a facile approach to the growth of bCCs19. The large-area bCCs were subsequently used as templates for forming hierarchical macroporous structures.


Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been used for more than 20 years as a minimally invasive treatment of tumor. It has been widely recognized by scholars. In the past 10 years, RFA of thyroid nodules has developed rapidly because of the application of moving-shot technique, solving the problem of the important structures around the thyroid. A number of studies have shown that among the current treatment methods for benign thyroid nodules, RFA has many prominent advantages over the others, such as being minimally invasive, effective, relatively safe, cosmetically satisfactory, and having lower recurrence and so forth. Obviously, however, how to select the RFA cases, not only to treat but also to identify them, was a key issue that concerned Bai et al. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the literature, the results of multicenter studies, and expert consensus, an RFA recommendation was published in 2012 by Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology (KSThR). In this publication, the indications for RFA of benign thyroid nodules included patients with nodule-related clinical problems: 1) symptoms of neck pain, dysphasia, foreign body sensation, discomfort, and cough; 2) cosmetic problems; and 3) autonomously functioning thyroid nodules causing problems related to thyrotoxicosis. Patients with nodules with a maximum diameter of 2 cm that continue to grow may be considered for thyroid RFA on the basis of symptoms and clinical concerns. The KSThR did not recommend thyroid RFA for follicular neoplasms or primary thyroid cancers because there is no evidence of treatment benefit. Before treatment, thyroid nodules should be confirmed as benign on at least 2 separate sonography-guided fine-needle aspirations and/or core needle biopsies. At present, the concerning issue is the risk of malignancy in symptomatic nodular goiter. Ucler et al and Lee et al showed that the accuracy of fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) was 64.1%–99.6%. The diagnosis of false-negative findings was mainly due to groups of small cancer cells in the nodules and small cancers invisible under sonography. The results of the 2 punctures of the nodules in different places at different times should be benign, to avoid the risk of malignancy. Furthermore, with combined elastography or contrast-enhanced sonography, the puncture point and results are more accurate. The operation for benign thyroid nodules is thyroidectomy, and the identification standard is intraoperative frozen pathology. Prades et al reported that the accuracy of frozen pathology was 90% and maybe the potential malignancy was emerged in "benign" nodules. Negro et al reported that postoperative pathology of symptomatic nodular goiter accidentally confirmed microcarcinoma in 5%; papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) was 96%, and there was the possibility of recurrence. With no difference from pathology, which determined the operation mode, FNAB was used for preoperative diagnosis in all minimally invasive treatments. Ito et al reported that there was no obvious growth and metastasis in the 8-year follow-up without treatment of 732 cases of PTMC. Yue et al reported that during the 3-month follow-up period, ablation appears to be a safe and effective technique for solitary T1N0M0 PTMC. Genetic testing had been used in the diagnosis of benign nodules undetermined by FNAB. Several molecular assays have been developed to detect the B-Raf proto-oncogene (BRAF) V600E mutation in fine-needle aspirates for the diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Musholt et al considered that mutations of RET/PTC, RAS, and PAX8/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR ) were predominantly associated with thyroid malignancy with varying frequency and had less impact on the clinical management. However, in the study of Song et al, BRAF mutations were the most common ones observed in PTCs, followed by RET/PTC rearrangements and RAS mutations, while follicular thyroid cancers were more likely to have RAS mutations or PAX8/PPAR rearrangements. Therefore, more extensive research is needed in genetic testing. In conclusion, we suggested that RFA would be used as the first-line treatment of benign thyroid nodules with strict indications chosen. Elastography, contrast-enhanced sonography, and genetic testing would be used to differentiate the benign and malignant lesions.


Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling is tightly regulated by protein allostery within the intracellular tyrosine kinase domains. Yet the molecular determinants of allosteric connectivity in tyrosine kinase domain are incompletely understood. By means of structural (X-ray and NMR) and functional characterization of pathogenic gain-of-function mutations affecting the FGF receptor (FGFR) tyrosine kinase domain, we elucidated a long-distance allosteric network composed of four interconnected sites termed the 'molecular brake', 'DFG latch', 'A-loop plug', and 'αC tether'. The first three sites repress the kinase from adopting an active conformation, whereas the αC tether promotes the active conformation. The skewed design of this four-site allosteric network imposes tight autoinhibition and accounts for the incomplete mimicry of the activated conformation by pathogenic mutations targeting a single site. Based on the structural similarity shared among RTKs, we propose that this allosteric model for FGFR kinases is applicable to other RTKs. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.21137.001


The Illinois basin provides an opportune setting for elucidating the roles of remnant evaporite brines and meteoric waters in the evolution of formation waters in an intracratonic sedimentary basin. Formation waters from carbonate reservoirs in the Upper Ordovician Galena Group have been analyzed geochemically to study the origin of their salinity, their chemical and isotopic evolution, and their relationship to paleohydrologic flow systems. Chloride/bromide ratios and CI/Br-Na/Br relations indicate that initial brine salinity resulted from subaerial evaporation of seawater rather than from halite dissolution. Subsequent subsurface dilution of the brines by meteoric waters is disclosed by δD-δ 18 O covariance; however, the remnant evaporite brine has not been completely expelled from these Ordovician strata. Galena formation waters have 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios that range from 0.708 17 (a value nearly equal to that of coeval seawater) to 0.710 43. This is the greatest range of Sr isotopic ratios found in waters from any stratigraphic unit in the basin. Two fluid mixing events are revealed in plots of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr vs. 1/Sr: introduction of 87 Sr-enriched fluids from a siliciclastic source, probably overlying Maquoketa shale, and a later event that only affected reservoir waters in the western shelf of the basin. General covariance between Sr and H-O isotopes suggests that the later event is related to meteoric water recharge. The point of intersection of the δD-δ 18 O trend with the meteoric water line implies that this mixing event involved Pleistocene glacial meltwater that recharged Galena reservoirs near outcrops along the western margin of the basin. Ordovician Galena formation waters are geochemically distinct from those in both Silurian-Devonian and Mississippian-Pennsylvanian strata, a distinction that has evidently been maintained by the overlying Maquoketa regional aquitard.


The purpose of this research was to test the extent to which variability in husbands' and wives' self-assessed financial risk can be attributed to variation in risk tolerance or observer bias resulting from measurement error. Using a sample of 188 well-educated married couples, scores from the Survey of Consumer Finances single risk-assessment item were used to evaluate the following null hypothesis: Husbands and wives do not agree on their level of financial risk tolerance. The hypothesis was tested using a percentage agreement test, a Kappa coefficient test, and a chi-square analysis. Findings led to a rejection of the null hypothesis. That is, couples exhibited general agreement in their assessment of financial risk tolerance, although the level of agreement was rather modest.


This study focuses on the sedimentary characteristics and the chronostratigraphy of Holocene massflow deposits recognized in a lake-fill sedimentary succession. These deposits in lake Ulvådalsvatnet, western Norway, are discrete, sharp-bounded units of sand-sized sediment, running from gravelly and graded to silt-rich, and characterized by low total carbon and water contents. They are rich in terrestrial macrogflora detritus, dark brown in colour, and interpreted as high-density turbidity current deposits attributed to subaerial debris flows that plunged into the lake. Thirty-three 14C AMS dates were derived from three cores, and though the ages are somewhat inconsistent (macroflora invariably younger than bulk sediment samples), they indicate a marked increase in debris-flow processes after c. 2200 cal. yr BP, considered to reflect increased occurrence of heavy rainstorms.


Nonlinear finite element analyses is carried out using the ANSYS11 program to predict the ultimate load for two different types of reinforced concrete continuous two-span deep beams. Results of comparing analytical with experimental data demonstrates the accuracy of the program. The effects of longitudinal reinforcement and web openings are studied and showed that the longitudinal reinforcement at top and middle region has little effect on the ultimate load, and the effect of web opening location has great effect on the ultimate load especially when the load path passes through the openings centerline. Web opening location also has great effect on values and distribution of shear and normal stresses especially at opening region.


We have recently reported the existence of binding sites in soybean membranes for a beta-glucan fraction derived from the fungal pathogen Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea, which may play a role in the elicitor-mediated phytoalexin response of this plant [Schmidt, W. E. & Ebel, J. (1987) Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 84, 4117-4121]. The specificity of beta-glucan binding to soybean membranes has now been investigated using a variety of competing polyglucans and oligoglucans of fungal origin. P. megasperma beta-glucan binding showed high apparent affinity for branched glucans with degrees of polymerization greater than 12. Binding affinity showed good correlation with elicitor activity as measured in a soybean cotyledon bioassay. Modification of the glucans at the reducing end with phenylalkylamine reagents had no effect on binding affinity. This characteristic was used to synthesize an oligoglucosyl tyramine derivative suitable for radioiodination. The 125I-glucan (15-30 Ci/mmol) provided higher sensitivity and lower detection limits for the binding assays while behaving in a manner identical to the [3H]glucan used previously. More accurate determinations of the Kd value for glucan binding indicated a higher affinity than previously shown (37 nM versus 200 nM). The 125I-glucan was used to provide the first reported evidence of specific binding of a fungal beta-glucan fraction in vivo to soybean protoplasts. The binding affinity to protoplasts proved identical to that found in microsomal fractions.


Background: Some herbal products could affect on salivary pH and prevention of dental caries. Tea consumption has inhibition effects on some oral bacteria. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of green and black tea on salivary pH. Material and Methods: In this double blinded cross-over trial, salivary samples of 50 healthy male students of Zahedan Faculty of Dentistry, aged 20-22 years old were collected for evaluation of salivary pH. All volunteers were asked to consume commercially black tea on the first day and then saliva samples were collected before drinking tea and immediately after drinking tea and 5 and 10 minutes after tea consumption. With replacing consumption of green tea, at the second day, saliva samples were collected again. Then the salivary pH was estimated with a digital pH-meter. Data were analyzed through independent t-test and paired samples t-test. Results: Mean salivary pH before and after green tea consumption were 7.15±0.05 and 7.56±0.09, respectively, which showed a remarkable difference (p<0.001). It was 7.14±0.05 and 7.51 ± 0.10, respectively, for black tea, with significant difference (p<0.0001). Mean salivary pH after green tea consumption was significantly higher than black tea (p= 0.006). Conclusion: Both green and black tea intake led to a significant rise in salivary pH, which was higher after green tea consumption compared to black tea. This study suggests the beneficial effects of drinking tea in providing an alkaline environment in oral cavity.

KEYWORDS
Black tea; Green tea; Saliva; pH.


Chemokines regulate hematopoiesis in part by influencing the proliferative status of myeloid progenitor cells (MPC). Human MCP-1/murine JE, a myelosuppressive chemokine, specifically binds C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2). Transgenic mice containing a targeted disruption in CCR2 that prevents expression of CCR2 mRNA and protein and have MPC that are insensitive to inhibition by MCP-1 and JE in vitro were assessed for potential abnormalities in growth of bone marrow (BM) and spleen MPC. MPC in both unseparated and c-kit+lin- populations of BM from CCR2-deficient (-/-) mice were in a greatly increased proliferation state compared with CCR2 littermate control (+/+) mice, an effect not apparent with progenitors from spleens of CCR2 (-/-) mice. Increased cycling status of CCR2 (-/-) BM MPC did not result in increased numbers of nucleated cells or MPC in BM or spleens of CCR2 (-/-) mice. Possible reasons for this apparent discrepancy were highlighted by flow cytometric analysis of c-kit+lin- BM cells and colony formation by MPC subjected to delayed addition of growth factors. The c-kit+lin- population of BM cells from CCR2 (-/-) mice had a significantly higher percentage of apoptotic cells than those from CCR2 (+/+) BM. However, elevated apoptosis was not associated with decreased numbers of c-kit+lin- cells. The increased percentage of apoptotic c-kit+lin- cells was due to elevated apoptosis within the c-kitdimlin-, but not the c-kitbrightlin-, subpopulations of cells. Consistent with enhanced apoptosis of phenotypically defined cells, MPC from CCR2 (-/-) BM and purified c-kit+lin- cells demonstrated decreased cell survival in vitro upon delayed addition of growth factors. The data suggest that signals received by CCR2 limit proliferation of progenitor cells in the BM, but also enhance survival of these cells.


Macros have a long-standing role in planning as a tool for representing repeating subsequences of operators. Macros are useful both for guiding search towards a solution and for representing plans compactly. In this paper we introduce automata plans which consist of hierarchies of finite state automata. Automata plans can be viewed as an extension of macros that enables parametrization and branching. We provide several examples of the utility of automata plans, and prove that automata plans are strictly more expressive than macro plans. We also prove that automata plans admit polynomial-time sequential access of the operators in the underlying "flat" plan, and identify a subset of automata plans that admit polynomial-time random access. Finally, we compare automata plans with other representations allowing polynomial-time sequential access.


The study of discourse techniques in African written literature not just limited to poetry is a crucial and important area of study in the fields of academic as literature is becoming more indigenized and localized to suit author's environment, language and culture and world view in multi-language society. The purpose of this study is to perform a detailed analysis of discourse techniques used in African poetry specifically examining the techniques used in two African literary works: Chants of Despair authored by Ngozi's Chuma Udeh (2010) and Omeile Vol. one authored by Asika Ikechukwu (2011). The study examines the use of language, proverbs, code mixing and code switching, and even nature names used. Furthermore, the findings will highlight some hidden and unfamiliar meaning as well as providing a clear-cut and detailed discussion of some of the discourse techniques that might enable individuals to understand and interpret the message in African poetry and other genres of literature. Generally, this study will provide techniques for analysis of some hidden thematic issues, critical and scholarly review of literature as well as paving way for future studies. Keywords: African, Discourse Techniques, Literature, Poet


The potential utilization of yellow pea flour and bread crumb blends was investigated to generate nutritionally-dense extruded products with superior physical and/or technofunctional properties. Yellow pea flour mixed with bread crumb at different ratios were processed using low-moisture twin-screw extrusion cooking conditions to examine the effect of blending ratios and feed moisture contents on physical (that is, radial expansion index, extrudate density, microstructure, texture, and color) and technofunctional (that is, emulsifying capacity, emulsifying stability, water solubility [WS], water binding capacity [WBC], oil binding capacity [OBC], and pasting) properties of the final products. Compared to the two feed materials alone, samples produced with yellow pea flour and bread crumb blends showed lower hardness and higher crispiness. Moisture content (12% to 18%) was found to significantly affect physical and technofunctional properties. With an increase in feed moisture content from 12% to 18%, the WBC of the extrudates increased while the WS decreased. Extrudates produced with higher feed moisture content, and higher yellow pea flour content had higher setback viscosity. Among all formulas and feed moisture contents studied, extrudates produced with 50% yellow pea flour and 50% bread crumb at 12% feed moisture content had the highest radial expansion and bigger cells with thinner cell walls. This study has shown that incorporation of yellow pea flour and bread crumb in extrusion cooking process could be used to develop nutritionally-dense foods with improved physical and technofunctional properties.


Microcosm studies were performed to evaluate the effect of solid surfaces, bacterial adhesive ability, and inoculum size on colonization success and persistence of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Xanthomonas maltophilia, each with a Tn5 insertion that conferred resistance to kanamycin and streptomycin. Two types of microcosms were used: (i) a simple system that was colonized by Aeromonas hydrophila and a coryneform and (ii) a complex system produced from lake water enrichment cultures. Simple microcosms contained 100 ml of peptone- and yeast extract-supplemented artificial lake water or 60 ml of peptone- and yeast extract-supplemented artificial lake water with 70 g of 3-mm glass beads. Complex microcosms contained 100 ml of lake water with no nutrient additions or 100 ml of lake water with 70 g of glass beads. The microcosms were incubated for 35 days at 20°C. In lake water enrichment microcosms, the presence of beads increased the abilities of P. fluorescens or X. maltophilia to colonize, but their numbers decreased with time in microcosms both with and without beads. The adhesiveness of the bacteria, measured in an in vitro assay, did not relate to colonization success. In simple microcosms, the inoculum size (10, 102, or 103) of P. fluorescens did not influence colonization success. However, in complex microcosms, an inoculum of 103 cells was insufficient to ensure colonization by P. fluorescens, while 106 cells resulted in colonization of liquid and beads. Simple microcosm studies, utilizing only a few species, were poor models for complex natural systems. In complex enrichment systems, colonization of surfaces resulted in higher numbers of organisms but did not noticeably promote persistence. Adhesiveness of a particular organism may be a relatively minor factor influencing its ability to colonize solid surfaces in complex natural environments.


The spectrum of the Laplace operator in a curved strip of constant width built along an infinite plane curve, subject to three different types of boundary conditions (Dirichlet, Neumann and a combination of these ones, respectively), is investigated. We prove that the essential spectrum as a set is stable under any curvature of the reference curve which vanishes at infinity and find various sufficient conditions which guarantee the existence of geometrically induced discrete spectrum. Furthermore, we derive a lower bound on the distance between the essential spectrum and the spectral threshold for locally curved strips. The paper is also intended as an overview of some new and old results on spectral properties of curved quantum waveguides.


The paper identifies the contemporaneous relationship between exchange rate policy and liability dollarization using three different definitions of dollarization. The presence of endogeneity makes the empirical identification elusive. We use identification through heteroskedasticity to solve the endogeneity problem in the present context (Rigobon, 2003). While we find that countries with high liability dollarization (external, public, or financial) tend to be more actively involved in exchange rate stabilization operations, we do not find evidence that floating, by itself, promotes de-dollarization.


Two spacecraft, gravity probe B (GP-B) and the satellite test of the equivalence principle (STEP), incorporating onboard liquid helium cryogenic systems are scheduled to fly around the turn of the century. Effective propulsion systems can be implemented for these spacecraft by directing the helium gas which boils off from the cryogenic systems in specific directions through a set of thrusters. Due to extensive development and testing work, the ultra low flow rate helium thrusters for such a propulsion system are now considered proven technology. This article is concerned with implementing these thrusters into an effective overall propulsion system. A thermodynamic model relating the temperature, pressure, and flow rate of the propulsion system is derived. Based on this model a controller is developed which regulates the liquid helium supply temperature and pressure by varying the net heliqm mass flow rate through the thrusters. We show how the net mass flow rate can be controlled independently from the desired output thrust. The manifold pressure upstream of the thrusters is shown to remain remarkably stable even with fairly large flow rate variations. Using the GP-B spacecraft as an example we conclude that it is feasible to build a liquid helium based propulsion system with a very stable supply temperature and pressure.


Author(s): Garrett, Matthew Clark | Advisor(s): Kornblum, Harley I | Abstract: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant primary brain tumor. Despite maximal therapy prognosis remains poor. In the preceding decade, histological methods of categorization have begun to give way to molecular and genetic methods. Most prominently, the IDH1 mutation, when found in glioblastoma correlates with a better prognosis than those glioblastomas in which the mutation is not found. It is not known why this correlation exists. The mutant IDH1 enzyme is able to reduce alpha-ketoglutarate to create extremely high levels of 2-hydroxyglutarate but the tumorigenic significance of this reaction is unknown. In this dissertation we use an extensive collection of IDH1mutant and IDH1wildtype patient-derived gliomaspheres to dissect genetic and metabolic differences that distinguish the IDH1mutant subgroup. We found that the IDH1mutant gliomas were readily identifiable by their slower growth and distinctive expression profile. However, pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of the IDH1mutant enzyme did not change this signature in fact it did not seem to have any effect on these cells other than to decrease the levels of 2-hydroxyglutarate. The expression profile of IDH1mutant cells showed a large set of down-regulated genes in comparison to IDH1wildtype cells. One of the few genes to be up-regulated was Olig2 which upon further study we revealed to be essential for growth and a regulator of other important genes such as Tet2. Further, Olig2 expression may be targetable by the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) class of drugs in particular valproic acid.When we subjected the expression profiles of IDH1mutant glioma cells to metabolic analysis we found that IDH1mutant cells were enriched for pathways involved in DNA repair following radiation while IDH1wildtype glioma cells were enriched for pathways involved in de novo DNA synthesis. Following these results we confirmed that IDH1mutant cells do show better recovery following radiation and IDH1wildtype cells show a greater utilization and dependence on the de novo pathway for DNA synthesis.Historically, glioblastoma has been defined based on histologic criteria and while two glioblastoma samples may contain two mutually exclusive lists of mutations they would be considered minor variants within the larger fairly homogenous class. It is now becoming clear constitute a distinct group of brain tumors with different characteristics, prognosis and response to therapy and thus need to studied separately from IDH1wildtype glioblastomas.


Inspired by the ancient Chinese proverb, "There's nothing you can own that can't be left out in the rain," this collection charts the journeys of the poet from 1947 to 1985. This book is unique among Gary Snyder's numerable works, and the poems contained here are as broad in style as the compilation is in timeframe. With a new introduction by the author, "Left Out in the Rain captures the evolution of the poet and the man. Readers will travel with Snyder from the American West to the Far East. From Berkeley to Kyoto, his imagery provides insight into the natural world as well as the human experience. With the span of a few words, Snyder can reveal a universe and then two pages later deftly handle a villanelle. Sensual, sardonic, meditative, epigrammatic, formalist -- whatever the tone or structure, these poems all bear the indelible stamp of a master. Always evocative, they remind us why Snyder is one of our most heralded and beloved contemporary poets.


Unsupervised domain adaptive person re-identification aims at learning on an unlabeled target domain with only labeled data in source domain. Currently, the state-of-the-arts usually solve this problem by pseudo-label-based clustering and fine-tuning in target domain. However, the reason behind the noises of pseudo labels is not sufficiently explored, especially for the popular multi-branch models. We argue that the consistency between different feature spaces is the key to the pseudo labels' quality. Then a SElf-Consistent pseudo label RefinEmenT method, termed as SECRET, is proposed to improve consistency by mutually refining the pseudo labels generated from different feature spaces. The proposed SECRET gradually encourages the improvement of pseudo labels' quality during training process, which further leads to better cross-domain Re-ID performance. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets show the superiority of our method. Specifically, our method outperforms the state-of-the-arts by 6.3% in terms of mAP on the challenging dataset MSMT17. In the purely unsupervised setting, our method also surpasses existing works by a large margin. Code is available at https://github.com/LunarShen/SECRET.


Antibiotics are widely prescribed for patients with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) yet only a minority have a pneumonia which responds to antibiotic treatment. Unwarranted prescribing of antibiotics is associated with several problems aside from the financial implications of unnecessary treatment: increased incidence of hospital-acquired infections, including MRSA and Clostridium difficile and the problem of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the history and examination findings on antibiotic prescribing where LRTI is the principal diagnosis, and to explore the attitudes towards antibiotic prescribing through an understanding of the clinician and patient experience. A mixed methodology study of adult hospitalised patients was employed, with a case series for the quantitative arm and thematic analysis employed for the qualitative arm of the research. Data was collected from patients' medical notes using a coding matrix developed as part of a pilot study. Doctors were invited to participate in interviews to discuss the reasons for prescribing antibiotics in respiratory tract infection and a group of patients were interviewed for their views on antibiotics. 153 participants were enrolled into the quantitative arm and a further 10 in the qualitative arm. The data indicate that the diagnosis of LRTI and prescription of antibiotics is made on the recorded presence of a very small number of symptoms and signs, with 91% having shortness of breath, 77% having purulent sputum and 75% having a respiratory rate >20/minute. The parameters used to determine a bacterial cause for disease are often non-specific and can lead to inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Antibiotic use must be targeted to those in whom there is benefit. To enable clinicians to do this they require access to pathology and x ray and these must be supported by expert input. In addition, rapid, reliable diagnostic testing for bacterial infections can assist.


Two herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoproteins, gE and gI, have been shown to form a complex that binds the Fc domain of immunoglobulin G (IgG). We demonstrate that this complex is required for the binding of monomeric nonimmune IgG but that gE alone is sufficient for binding polymeric IgG in the form of IgG complexes. Evidence that gE but not gI is required for binding IgG complexes is as follows. IgG complexes bound equally well to cells infected with gI-negative mutants or with wild-type virus, whereas cells infected with gE-negative mutants did not bind IgG complexes. Furthermore, L cells transiently transfected to express gE bound IgG complexes. Additional evidence that gI fails to augment binding of IgG complexes comes from experiments in which the gI gene was inducibly expressed in cells after infection. Inducible gI expression failed to increase binding of IgG complexes to infected cells in comparison with cells not capable of inducible gI expression. In contrast, expression of both gE and gI was necessary for binding of monomeric IgG, as demonstrated by flow cytometry using cells infected with gE-negative and gI-negative mutants. These observations demonstrate that herpes simplex virus type 1 Fc receptors (FcRs) have different binding characteristics for monomeric IgG and IgG complexes. Furthermore, it appears that gE is the FcR for IgG complexes and that gE and gI form the FcR for monomeric IgG.


This review considers the pharmacology and indications for use of human albumin and synthetic colloids in general and transplantation surgery. The selection of a particular agent should be based on sound knowledge of their pharmacokinetic and pharmadynamic properties together with some consideration of cost. For correction of hypovolemia, human serum albumin solutions can adequately be replaced by present day colloids such as hydroxyethyl starch solutions. The duration of their effect in the intravascular space and their properties for plasma volume substitution or expansion are the main factors that will influence their selection. Albumin solutions, however, remain useful for treatment of all acute situations of hypovolemia accompanied by hypoalbuminemia during and after surgery.


Combatting chronic, lifestyle-related disease has become a healthcare priority in the developed world. The role personal responsibility should play in healthcare provision has growing pertinence given the growing significance of individual lifestyle choices for health. Media reporting focussing on the 'bad behaviour' of individuals suffering lifestyle-related disease, and policies aimed at encouraging 'responsibilisation' in healthcare highlight the importance of understanding the scope of responsibility ascriptions in this context. Research into the social determinants of health and psychological mechanisms of health behaviour could undermine some commonly held and tacit assumptions about the moral responsibility of agents for the sorts of lifestyles they adopt. I use Philip Petit's conception of freedom as 'fitness to be held responsible' to consider the significance of some of this evidence for assessing the moral responsibility of agents. I propose that, in some cases, factors outside the agent's control may influence behaviour in such a way as to undermine her freedom along the three dimensions described by Pettit: freedom of action; a sense of identification with one's actions; and whether one's social position renders one vulnerable to pressure from more powerful others.


The article uses Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 as a case study in the historical and cultural construction of the legitimacy of armed force. The discussion develops the concept of a 'moral economy of violence' which suggests that the legitimacy that state leaders and their publics take for granted in the use of military force is dependent on a variety of historically and culturally contingent beliefs and assumptions. In the case of the first Lebanon War, the key components of the Israeli moral economy of violence included faith in the technologically superior means by which the Israeli army conducted itself, a belief in the efficiency of military combat, and a widely held notion of Lebanon as an Oriental version of the lawless Wild West.


Full-waveform inversion (FWI) using the scattering integral (SI) approach is an explicit formulation of the inversion optimization problem. The inversion procedure is straightforward, and the dependence of the data residuals on the model parameters is clear. However, the biggest limitation associated with this approach is the huge computational cost in conventional exploration seismology applications. Modeling from each of the source and receiver locations is required to compute the update at every iteration, and that is prohibitively expensive, especially for 3D problems. To deal with this issue, we have developed a hybrid implementation of frequency-domain FWI, in which forward modeling is combined with ray tracing to compute the update. We use the sensitivity kernels computed from dynamic ray tracing to build the gradient. The data residual is still computed using finite-difference wavefield modeling. With ray theory, the Green's function can be approximated using a coarser grid compared to wave-equation modeling. Therefore, the memory requirements, as well as the computational cost, are reduced significantly. Considering that in transmission FWI long-to-intermediate wavelengths are updated during the early iterations, we obtain accurate inverted models. The inversion scheme captured the anomaly embedded in the homogeneous background medium. For more complex models, the hybrid inversion method helps in improving the initial model with little cost compared with conventional SI inversion approaches. The accuracy of the inversion results shows the effectiveness of the hybrid approach for 3D realistic problems.


Lukanova, N., Stefanova, K., & Stoykova-Grigorova, R. (2018). DMRT3 gene mutation and highly linked SNP in gaitedness horse breeds. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 24(4), 679–685 The DMRT3 mutation has had a major effect on the diversifi cation of the domestic horse, as the altered gait characteristics of a number of breeds, including this mutation. Doublesex and mab-3 related transcription factor 3 (DMRT3) gene shown that a mutation from cytosine (C) to adenine (A) has a major impact on harness racing performance of different breeds. The DMRT3 mutant allele (A) has been found in high frequency in gaited breeds and breeds bred for harness racing (trot or pace), while other horse breeds were homozygous for the wild-type allele (C). The heterozygous allele (CA) were found in horse breeds for harness racing and fourand fi ve-gaited breeds. Sequncing at SNP BIEC2-620109 resulted in detection of both heterozygous (CT) and homozygous genotypes (CC, TT). Mutation in DMRT3 has a major impact on gaitedness in horses and is presented at a high frequency in gaited breeds and in horses breed for harness racing. The aim of the study is to describe the effect of the DMRT3 gene mutation and higly linked SNP in different gaited and harness horse breeds.


Abstract In order to lead successful projects, coordinating the different business units of a company is compulsory. This paper proposes a framework to make companies' practices evolve toward a better alignment of the business units based on their processes, and illustrates it with project management and systems engineering processes. Indeed, all the different organization units intend to serve the common global objective to satisfy the customer needs, and need to closely collaborate during projects. However, work organization in companies often leads to barriers between these stakeholders, with the result of an incoherent decision-making that may compromise project execution. Therefore, the issue of processes alignment from different domains lies at the very heart of ongoing research topics and ranks first among economic and industrial concerns. This paper uses a qualitative approach to show how different business units' processes can be integrated and illustrate this framework by aligning the systems engineering and project management processes within a certain engineering project context. By using the proposed framework, different teams (or even different companies, in a context of distributed enterprise) can align their practices, while also making them evolve toward a better compliance with standards.


Voltage source converter (VSC) based high voltage dc (HVDC) transmission is an attractive technique for large offshore wind power plants, especially when long cable transmission is required for connection to the onshore grid. New multi-MW wind turbines are likely to be equipped with full scale converters to meet the stringent grid code requirements. In such a scenario, the offshore grid is terminated to the power electronic converters on all the ends. This paper presents a control scheme for the synchronization and control of the grid side converters (GSC) of the wind turbine generators (WTG). Current limit control enables the GSC to sustain the fault currents during short circuits in the offshore wind collector system grid. However, power transmission is affected, and the fault has to be isolated. It can be resynchronized after the fault has been cleared and the breaker reclosed. Healthy WTG converters can remain connected. The scheme is demonstrated through PSCAD/EMTDC simulation.


Elections are not the only but arguably one of the most important pillars for the proper functioning of liberal democracies. Recent evidence across the globe shows that it is not straightforward to conduct them in a free and fair manner. One constant concern is the role of money in politics, more specifically, election campaign financing. Frequent scandals are proof of the difficulties encountered with current approaches to tackle the issue. Suggestions on how to overcome the problem exist but seem difficult to implement. With the help of blockchain technology we might be able to make a step forward. A separate crypto currency specifically designed to pay for costs of political campaigning and advertising could be introduced. Admittedly, at this stage, there are many open questions. However, under the assumption that blockchain technology is here to stay, it is an idea that deserves further exploration.


A review of literature revealed that the control of cigarette smoking could do more to improve health than any other single action in the field of preventive medicine. In Ontario, since 1989, both Public Health Units and Boards ofEducations have been mandated to provide educational studies related to tobacco use prevention. Even given this fact, there has been an increase in smoking behaviQurs at an earlier age and in females in particular. Smoking prevention progralns must use the most effective means to assist students to obtain the knowledge and skills required to remain or becom'e nonsmokers. In the Niagara Region, PAL smoking prevention programs are offered in some, but not all, schools. As a form of program evaluation, this research sought to determine if students who had PAL could answer correctly a greater number of smoking-related questions than students who did not have this program. Findings reported that students who had PAL in Grade 6 were able to correctly answer more knowledge-based questions (at a statistically significant level), could provide ways to refuse cigarettes at a greater rate, and were able to provide more reasons for remaining nonsmokers. Students who had smoking prevention programming re,ported smoking behavio'urs at a lower rate than those who did not receive this type of program.


This article explores the activities of George Soros and his charitable organization, Open Society Foundations (OSF), in advocating for the full decriminalization of the sex trade industry. Research finds that OSF spends only a small amount of money on grass roots "sex worker" groups around the world advocating for full decriminalization, but the foundation awards larger amounts of funds to large human rights groups whose reports and policies have a wider reach. OSF's rationale for full decriminalization fails to consider violence and coercion in the sex trade industry, misreads research, and does not include research from venues where full decriminalization of prostitution has occurred. Thus OSF and its grantees have created a partial view on prostitution that they advocate to the public. Those concerned with trafficking for sexual exploitation, violence, coercion, and abuse in prostitution should be cognizant of these strategies used by decriminalization advocates funded by OSF and be prepared to point out the unsupported assumptions and meet OSF's allegations with proven facts.


Background and Objectives Severe phantom limb pain after surgical amputation affects 50% to 67% of patients and is difficult to treat. Gabapentin is effective in several syndromes of neuropathic pain. Therefore, we evaluated its analgesic efficacy in phantom limb pain. Methods Patients attending a multidisciplinary pain clinic with phantom limb pain were enrolled into this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. Other anticonvulsant therapy was discontinued. Each treatment was 6 weeks separated by a 1-week washout period. Codeine/paracetamol was allowed as rescue analgesia. The daily dose of gabapentin was titrated in increments of 300 mg to 2,400 mg or the maximum tolerated dose. Patients were assessed at weekly intervals. The primary outcome measure was visual analog scale (VAS) pain intensity difference (PID) compared with baseline at the end of each treatment. Secondary measures were indices of sleep interference, depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression [HAD] scale), and activities of daily living (Bartel Index). Results Nineteen eligible patients (mean age, 56 years; range, 24 to 68 years; 16 men) were randomized, of whom 14 completed both arms of the study. Both placebo and gabapentin treatments resulted in reduced VAS scores compared with baseline. PID was significantly greater than placebo for gabapentin therapy at the end of the treatment (3.2 ± 2.1 v 1.6 ± 0.7, P = .03). There were no significant differences between placebo and gabapentin therapy in terms of the number of tablets of rescue medication required, sleep interference, HAD scale, or Bartel Index. The medication was well tolerated with few reports of adverse effects. Conclusions After 6 weeks, gabapentin monotherapy was better than placebo in relieving postamputation phantom limb pain. There were no significant differences in mood, sleep interference, or activities of daily living, but a type II error cannot be excluded for these variables.


This paper delves into the rationales as to why Indonesian migrant workers (mainly those who own private Korean language courses) like to use code mixing. They tend to add or insert Korean language either in Hangeul or its transliterated versions onto their social media posts, Facebook in particular. The fact that they are basically returned migrant workers with no formal background of Korean language education and the fact that they do this code (language) mixing so often has motivated the researcher to explore this phenomenon further. Online data gathering and online interviews with 4 respondents were conducted and 33 tokens of code-mixing and code switching were collected. This research attempts to reveal whether they want to show their particular identity as returned migrant workers who are different from the rest or they are simply a marketing gimmick for their business. The goal of the research is to determine the relationship between the use of the Korean language and the identities these returned migrant workers from Korea opt to project, the options being: identity as a returned migrant worker, identity as an owner of LPK (Korean Language Training Center), or other identities that can be revealed through this research.
The research indicates that despite the fact that there are equivalent words or phrases in Indonesian, they do code mixing to emphasize that Korean words are sometimes more appropriate in certain contexts to express something they feel or think. Second, they do code-mixing to show their closeness to Korea and their breadth of knowledge about Korea. Third, they do code mixing as a way to show their academic background. Hence, a special identity to perpetuate an image of themselves as a returned migrant worker who is now an entrepreneur managing Korean language institutions as well as being a teacher.


Introduction Active jobs, which are the combination of high job demand and high job control based on Karasek's Demand-Control model, have been found to be associated with better cognitive functioning by a couple of longitudinal studies. However, the evidence from Germany is still lacking. The purpose of our study is to analyse the associations of active jobs and cognitive functioning based on large German working population. Methods We used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (G-SOEP) Study with national representativeness. Two well-established cognitive tests (perceptual speed and word fluency) were applied in both 2006 and 2012. Psychosocial work conditions in terms of demand and control were measured in 2001. In total, longitudinal data from 1903 employees during follow-up 2001–2006, and from 1226 employees during follow-up 2001–2012 were available for current analyses. Multivariate linear regression was applied to examine longitudinal associations of psychosocial work conditions with cognitive functioning, adjusted for relevant covariates. Results Overall, in this study sample (mean age 42.24 years, ranged 18–64 at baseline), participants with active jobs in 2001 exhibited the highest cognitive performance in 2006 and in 2012 compared to participants with passive jobs (low demand and low control), after adjustment for demographics, socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviours, and health at baseline. Specifically, perceptual speed was higher 2.27 units (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.54 to 4.00) in 2006, and 1.96 units (95% CI: 0.77 to 3.16) in 2012; word fluency was higher 1.99 units (95% CI=0.27, 3.72) in 2006, and 3.55 units (95% CI: 1.15 to 5.95) in 2012. Conclusion This study demonstrates a protective effect of active jobs, defined as high demand and high control, on two aspects of cognitive functioning over an 11 year period. Further research is needed to determine the possible mechanisms and interventions, to maintain cognitive functions of employees.


Background: After the 2009 pandemic, a re-emergence of hemagglutinin type 1 and neuraminidase type 1 (H1N1) influenza cases has been noted in India recently. The number of swab-positive cases has increased in the year 2017 compared to yesteryears. Since the current circulating strain (A/Michigan/7/2009 [H1N1] pdm09) is different from previous pandemic strains, a look into the clinical profile is imperative. Aims: The aim is to study the clinical, biochemical, and radiological profile of H1N1 patients at initial presentation and its influence on the mode of treatment and outcome. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional record-based analysis of all confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza admitted at Lourdes Hospital, Kochi, Kerala, between 2015 and 2017. Confirmation of cases was done by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction of respiratory specimens at Manipal Centre for Virus Research. Results: A total of 76 confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza were detected during the study period of which 36 required Intensive Care Unit admission. Most patients were between 51 and 60 years (25%). The predominant presenting symptoms were fever (98.7%), dry cough (61.8%), breathlessness (53.9%), and the most common auscultatory finding being bilateral crepitations (64.47%). Around 32.89% of cases presented with bilateral lung infiltrates on X-ray. Sixty-nine of 76 patients (90.79%) survived the disease. Conclusions: Vaccination, early recognition of the disease, and prompt initiation of treatment seem to be the only way to reduce H1N1 disease progression and associated mortality. Patients with risk factors require additional attention as clinical course can be unpredictable. Pregnancy is associated with higher rate of complications. Early respiratory support helped in preventing progression to respiratory failure in most of our patients.


How does a policy of reacting to terrorist attacks with restrictions on free speech protections affect the likelihood of terrorism in the first place? In this article, I develop a dynamic model of an interaction between a security agency and a terrorist organization to study the dynamic consequences of adopting policies that curtail free speech protections and other rights when terror strikes. The article shows that in a world in which democratic governments respond to major terrorist attacks with restrictions on freedom of expression and other rights and liberties, such policies have perverse effects on the pre-attack incentives of terrorism prevention/occurrence, which can make a terrorist attack more likely. The analysis suggests that a commitment to respecting fundamental rights and liberties in times of duress can be security-beneficial: if liberal societies were to remain faithful to their fundamental values in the aftermath of terrorist attacks, such a strategy can decrease the probability of a terrorist attack in the first place.


The protein film adsorbed on joint prosthesis material affects tribological property. It is expected that optimum protein film structure could improve friction and wear of joint prosthesis materials. Therefore, it is important to understand and to clarify the effect of protein film on tribological property. In the rubbing combination of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and CoCrMo alloy, the adsorption behavior of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and its effect on frictional property during friction were investigated by using electrochemical method. Friction force and electric potential were measured under open circuit potential (OCP) condition, but friction force and electric current were measured under −0.2 V applied potential condition. Under OCP condition, adsorbed BSA was peeled off at first rubbing, after that BSA re-adsorbed on surface under shear force condition. BSA adsorbed film reconstructed by shear force was sustained during rubbing. It is considered that the conformation of adsorbed BSA under shear stress was changed from that of static adsorption, because readsorbed BSA molecule did not show exfoliation from metal surface, which means that adsorption strength was increased from static adsorption. Under applied potential condition where wear performance of BSA film is expected to be evaluated, BSA showed the desorption at first rubbing, and gradual decrease in desorption amount. Therefore, it is confirmed that BSA film on metal surface under rubbing condition is reconstructed during rubbing. The adsorbed film formed during rubbing is stable and has an optimally-adapted structure for shear force and can sustain its property during rubbing.


Objectives Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterised by tissue fibrosis and vasculopathy with defective angiogenesis. Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) plays a major role in tissue fibrosis, including downregulation of caveolin-1 (Cav-1); however, its role in defective angiogenesis is less clear. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), a major antiangiogenic factor, is abundantly secreted by SSc fibroblasts. Here, we investigated the effect of TGF-β and Cav-1 on PEDF expression and the role of PEDF in the ability of SSc fibroblasts to modulate angiogenesis. Methods PEDF and Cav-1 expression in fibroblasts and endothelial cells were evaluated by means of immunohistochemistry on human and mouse skin biopsies. PEDF and Cav-1 were silenced in cultured SSc and control fibroblasts using lentiviral short-hairpin RNAs. Organotypic fibroblast–endothelial cell co-cultures and matrigel assays were employed to assess angiogenesis. Results PEDF is highly expressed in myofibroblasts and reticular fibroblasts with low Cav-1 expression in SSc skin biopsies, and it is induced by TGF-β in vitro. SSc fibroblasts suppress angiogenesis in an organotypic model. This model is reproduced by silencing Cav-1 in normal dermal fibroblasts. Conversely, silencing PEDF in SSc fibroblasts rescues their antiangiogenic phenotype. Consistently, transgenic mice with TGF-β receptor hyperactivation show lower Cav-1 and higher PEDF expression levels in skin biopsies accompanied by reduced blood vessel density. Conclusions Our data reveal a new pathway by which TGF-β suppresses angiogenesis in SSc, through decreased fibroblast Cav-1 expression and subsequent PEDF secretion. This pathway may present a promising target for new therapeutic interventions in SSc.


A mathematical model for the soil-water characteristic curve is proposed in the light of bounding surface plasticity. The main drying and wetting curves are taken as the asymptotes of the scanning curves, and only one additional parameter is introduced to simulate such scanning curves. To pave to the way for the application of the proposed model, the governing equation of unsaturated seepage problems and the finite element formulations are derived. A FEM program incorporating the SWCC model is then developed and used to study the hydraulic behaviour of an earth dam undergoes a repeated change of reservoir level. Numerical results confirm the possibility and necessity of using such a hysteresis model in unsaturated seepage problems.


The Australian Curriculum positions literacy as a general capability to be taught across all subject areas. While schools may design agreements and policies to formalise the position of literacy as a whole-school priority, there is relatively limited research guiding the structure and content of these planning documents. We contend that reading engagement should have an important place in such planning documentation, despite the Australian Curriculum's relative silence on this aspect of literacy learning, as it is a valuable facet of literacy promotion, with research strongly supportive of the relationship between reading skills and will. We conducted a content analysis to determine if available whole-school literacy policy plans, agreements and policies were supportive of fostering reading engagement at school, and the extent to which they fostered home and school partnerships around reading engagement. Mirroring absences in the curriculum, we found that few schools promoted reading engagement strategies as a whole-school priority, and where strategies did feature, these varied widely.


The determinants of Residential Rental Values (RRVs) have been analysed differently by housing researchers across the globe. This paper scrutinises the perception of stakeholders in Accra's housing market in order to identify and conceptualise commonalities and differences in variables that determine RRVs. It adopts relative importance index to rank 38 different variables that determine RRVs. Using the stratified sampling technique, the population of experts and stakeholders with knowledge in the rental market space were identified and categorised into six distinct strata. The sample frame was drawn from landlords; tenants; real estate agents; academic staff from real estate departments in universities; valuation and estate surveyors; and a group labelled as 'others'. Purposive sampling was then used to identify respondents within each stratum. The findings suggest that electricity and piped water connection, type of house, property condition and number of bedrooms are the most significant determinants of RRVs in Accra. Contrariwise, the least significant variables include storeroom availability, proximity to recreational facilities, proximity to place of worship, landscape quality and number of storeys. This study contextualises RRVs by identifying variables that reflect characteristics of the rental housing market in Accra. This paper serves as a guide in understanding rental market dynamics in a typical African city where access to data remains a challenge.


Investment in irrigation infrastructure and technologies, particularly those that reduce on-farm water use have become a major focus of government programs both at a State and Commonwealth level. Particular attention has been given to increasing the uptake of water "saving" technologies among irrigators. The design of programs capable of achieving government objectives at least cost requires an understanding of farm level investment decisions. In this context, the influence of uncertainty on decisions to invest in irrigation technology and infrastructure is examined. The potential for uncertainty to influence investment decisions via strategies to manage risk is demonstrated using the method of real options valuation. The approach is applied to case studies of investment in evaporation mitigation technologies. It is shown that there are circumstances where uncertainty surrounding the value of water savings is significant enough to influence the decision to invest in water saving technologies. The results also demonstrate that where uncertainty exists, rates of subsidy to encourage faster uptake of these technologies need to be higher than those indicated by traditional NPV analysis. This is further exacerbated when irrigators are required to relinquish water entitlements in return for the subsidy.


During a cruise of R/V METEOR in December 2012 the oceanic sources and emissions of various halogenated trace gases and their mixing ratios in the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) were investigated above the Peruvian upwelling. This study presents novel observations of the three very short lived substances (VSLSs) – bromoform, dibromomethane and methyl iodide – together with high-resolution meteorological measurements, Lagrangian transport and source–loss calculations. Oceanic emissions of bromoform and dibromomethane were relatively low compared to other upwelling regions, while those for methyl iodide were very high. Radiosonde launches during the cruise revealed a low, stable MABL and a distinct trade inversion above acting as strong barriers for convection and vertical transport of trace gases in this region. Observed atmospheric VSLS abundances, sea surface temperature, relative humidity and MABL height correlated well during the cruise. We used a simple source–loss estimate to quantify the contribution of oceanic emissions along the cruise track to the observed atmospheric concentrations. This analysis showed that averaged, instantaneous emissions could not support the observed atmospheric mixing ratios of VSLSs and that the marine background abundances below the trade inversion were significantly influenced by advection of regional sources. Adding to this background, the observed maximum emissions of halocarbons in the coastal upwelling could explain the high atmospheric VSLS concentrations in combination with their accumulation under the distinct MABL and trade inversions. Stronger emissions along the nearshore coastline likely added to the elevated abundances under the steady atmospheric conditions. This study underscores the importance of oceanic upwelling and trade wind systems on the atmospheric distribution of marine VSLS emissions.


Gabapentin and pregabalin, commonly known as gabapentinoids, have been widely used globally. This paper highlights the serious breathing problems due to using gabapentin and pregabalin which was warned by the United States Food and Drug Administration on December, 2019. In this article, we tried to recommend suggestions for controlling these adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Safety reports of gabapentin and pregabalin should be obtained from concerned manufacturers and reviewed for respiratory depression effects. There should be strict prescription monitoring and drug use evaluation studies. Concurrent use of gabapentin and pregabalin with other respiratory depressants such as opioids should be strictly monitored. Educating patients can help in the early detection of ADRs due to gabapentin and pregabalin. Anecdotal reports on these medications should be encouraged.


Near-term quantum hardware can support two-qubit operations only on the qubits that can interact with each other. Therefore, to execute an arbitrary quantum circuit on the hardware, compilers have to first perform the task of qubit routing, i.e., to transform the quantum circuit either by inserting additional SWAP gates or by reversing existing CNOT gates to satisfy the connectivity constraints of the target topology. The depth of the transformed quantum circuits is minimized by utilizing the Monte Carlo tree search (MCTS) to perform qubit routing by making it both construct each action and search over the space of all actions. It is aided in performing these tasks by a Graph neural network that evaluates the value function and action probabilities for each state. Along with this, we propose a new method of adding mutex-lock like variables in our state representation which helps factor in the parallelization of the scheduled operations, thereby pruning the depth of the output circuit. Overall, our procedure (referred to as QRoute) performs qubit routing in a hardware agnostic manner, and it outperforms other available qubit routing implementations on various circuit benchmarks.


This guide lists books, websites, videos and databases covering job listings, how to write resumes and cover letters, prepare for interviews, career guidance, salary negotiation and much more!