Previous studies have shown that after autonomic blockade by propranolol and atropine, the intrinsic rate and contractile function of the heart were related in patients with myocardial failure. In this study the intrinsic rate and ventricular contractile force were measured in dogs during acute heart failure produced by agents which impair myocardial energy syntinesis, to see whether these conditions reproduced the relationship found in naturally occurring myocardial disease in man. Anesthetized dogs, after propranolol and atropine, were either ventilated with 6% oxygen or given sodium cyanide, parachloromercuribenzoate, or dinitrophenol by intravenous infusion. Hypoxia and cyanide initially increased and then depressed both rate and contraction. Parachloromercuribenzoate depressed both. Dinitrophenol depressed only contraction. During hypoxia, cyanide, and parachloromercuribenzoate the percent changes in contractile force and intrinsic rate were linearly related (r=0.87) with slopes of 3.2, 2.7, and 3.3, respectively. These results together with previous data during pentobarbital and aminophylline were consistent with a single linear relationship between rate and contractility (r=0.89, slope 3.2). This resembled closely the relationship found previously in man. It is suggested that in both situations, this relationship may be determined by a dependence of rate and contractility on similar limited sources of energy.


Hermetic storage has provided a successful storage method for protection of commodities without fumigants or need for refrigeration for insect control and quality preservation of stored products. Hermetic storage is achieved in specially constructed plastic structures for the preservation of cereal grains and other commodities. Plastic structures suitable for long-term storage systems, as well as intermediate storage of grain have been developed and applied. These storage systems based on the hermetic principle were designed for (1) storage at the farmercooperative and small trader level with 10 - 1000 tonnes capacity for enclosing stacks termed Cocoons™, (2) small scale storage suitable for small portable containers of 60 kg to 2 tonnes called SuperGrainbags™ and (3) quality preservation, insect control and prevention of condensation during shipment of commodities in shipping containers known as TranSafeliners™. Hermetic storage is based on the principle of generation of an oxygendepleted, carbon dioxide-enriched interstitial atmosphere caused by the respiration of the living organisms in the ecological system of a sealed storage. A sufficiently low oxygen and elevated CO2, atmosphere is created through a natural metabolic process based on insect respiration and, in cases where the commodity has sufficiently high moisture, the respiration of the microorganisms within a sealed storage system. Applications for which hermetic technology has been most widely accepted are long-term storage of cereal grains, primarily rice, corn, barley, wheat and a variety of seeds to preserve germination potential and vigor and quality preservation of high-value commodities such as cocoa and coffee. Under field conditions in a cocoa bean storage facility in Makassar, Indonesia, a hermetically sealed flexible structure containing 6.7 tonnes of cocoa beans at an initial moisture content of 7.3% and relative humidity of 70% was monitored for oxygen concentration and quality parameters of the beans. The measurements showed a decrease in oxygen concentration to 0.3% after 5.5 days. No insects survived the oxygen depleted biogenerated atmosphere. Similar trials were carried out in Ghana by COCOBOD in which three stacks for hermetic storage and one stack each for conventional storage (without fumigation) and standard storage (with fumigation) were built for sampling and observation. At the sixth week of storage 100% mortality of insects was recorded in the Cocoon TM


Pakistan is the 15th largest producer of sugar in the world, 5th largest in terms of area under sugar cultivation and 60th in yield. The sugar industry is the 2nd largest agro based industry which comprises of 81 sugar mills. With this scenario, Pakistan has to import sugar which exposes it to the effects of shortage and rising prices in the world. The present sugar crisis has opened up new avenues for researcher to analyse the performance and efficiency of the firms in this sector. Total factor productivity plays a significant role in measuring the performance of a firm which ultimately affects the shareholder's value. This paper analyses the performance of sugar firms in Pakistan and estimate/calculate the Malmquist total factor productivity growth indices using non-parametric approach. TFP growth is further decomposed into technical, scale and managerial efficiency change using balanced panel data of 20 sugar firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange for the period 1998 to 2007. The results reflect a tormenting picture for the sugar industry. Overall sugar industry improved technological progress by 0.8 percent while managerial efficiency change put a negative effect on the productivity by a same percentage; as a result the overall total factor productivity during 1998-2007 remained almost static with a decline of 0.1 percent. The analysis of TFP and its sources in individual year for overall sugar industry also presents divergent trend. The research suggests that sugar industry is facing serious productivity growth problems where no increase is recorded in total factor productivity during 1998 to 2007. The sugar industry is lacking in terms of managerial efficiency which could be explained by a general reduction in the quality of managerial decision-making among the best practice firms . Regardless of the reason for this decline, it has potentially serious implications for the longer-term financial viability of these sugar firms. The pattern of TFP growth tends to be driven more by technical change (or technical progress) rather than improvements in technical efficiency.


Holographic data storage is a new optical technology which allows storing an important number of bits in a recording material. In this work, two different types of modulations, defocused binary intensity modulation and phase modulation, are compared to obtain which modulation could be the most suitable for holographic data storage. The best modulation would be the modulation with a homogeneous distribution of energy in the FT plane with no zero frequency peak.


Reproductive timing can affect an organism's production of offspring and its offspring's success, both of which contribute to its overall fitness. In seasonal environments, the timing of reproductive activity may be restricted to short periods of the year owing to numerous potential selective pressures such as variation in daylength, weather, food availability, predation, or competition. We documented the relationships between reproductive timing and individual reproductive success (total reproductive output and offspring success) in subalpine populations of five cavity-nesting solitary bee species. We also examined the relationships between bee reproductive success and environmental variables that are likely ultimate drivers of bee phenology in subalpine environments (i.e., seasonality of floral resource abundance and temperature). Over six years, we recorded solitary bee nesting timing, egg production, and offspring success using artificial nesting structures ("trap-nests") established at multiple study sites. We also quantified floral resources and recorded temperature throughout growing seasons. Bees nesting earlier in the season exhibited greater reproductive success. Reproductive output generally increased with floral abundance, although this relationship was weak and only significant for some bee species. Elevated temperatures were associated with increased nest construction rate, but not in greater reproductive output. These contrasting effects of temperature may have been driven by the negative relationship between temperature and bee longevity. Bees who nested for shorter durations of time (a proxy for longevity) produced fewer offspring, and individuals exhibiting the shortest nesting durations were also those that began nesting late in the season. Overall, bees who initiated nesting early and sustained activity for a long duration had the highest reproductive output. This work documents the relationship between reproductive phenology and fitness in wild insect populations and highlights the ways in which organisms can cope with the challenges of living in seasonal and highly variable environments.


A 49-year-old woman had purpura and thrombocytopenia not associated with drugs or identifiable underlying disease. The platelet survival was normal and the marrow showed a sharp reduction in megakaryocytes with preservation of other cell lines. There was no response to steroids or infusion of fresh frozen plasma. Lithium carbonate therapy similarly had no effect. Thrombopoietic activity was absent in serum and urine samples. Erythropoietin activity was normal. In vitro formation of granulocyte-macrophage colonies in soft agar was normal. The case represents a unique incidence of selective megakaryocytic hypoplasia, though to result from a failure in stem cell differentiation.


Abstract Nanodiscs (ND) are discoidal phospholipid bilayers stabilized by a pair of membrane-scaffolding proteins (MSP). The macromolecular composition and size of ND are ideal for structural and functional studies of membrane and membrane-associated proteins. In this work, we investigate the assembly of ND from a galactosylceramide and dioleoyl phosphatidylserine (PS) lipid mixture with two different MSP and at four MSP-to-lipid ratios. This lipid composition has been optimized for structural and biophysical studies of membrane-bound blood clotting factors that require Ca2+ ions for function. We have demonstrated that CaCl2 induces reversible stacking of the ND that depends on the ND size and Ca2+ concentrations. Our biophysical and electron microscopy (EM) studies show a predominant ND population of ~12 nm in diameter for both the ND assembled from MSP1D1 to lipids ratio of 1:40 and from MSP1E3D1-to-lipids ratio of 1:80. Approximately half of the ND population assembled at MSP1E3D1-to-lipids ratio of 1:150 has a diameter of ~16 nm. These larger ND form ordered stacks at 5-mm Ca2+ concentrations, as shown by cryo-EM. The number and length of the ND stacks increase with the increasing in Ca2+ concentration. Adding millimolar concentrations of EDTA reverses the stacking of the ND.


OBJECTIVE Acute exposure to chlorine causes lung damage, and recovery may proceed slowly for several weeks. The short term respiratory effects of acute chlorine inhalation during a swimming pool accident were examined. METHODS A total of 282 subjects (134 children, aged <14 years) inhaled hydrogen chloride and sodium hypochlorite during an accident caused by a malfunction of the water chlorinating system in a community pool in Rome in 1998. Most people received bronchodilators and cortisone at the emergency room; five children were admitted to hospital. A total of 260 subjects (92.2%) were interviewed about duration of exposure (<3, 3–5, >5 minutes), intensity of exposure (not at all or a little, a moderate amount, a lot), and respiratory symptoms. Lung function was measured in 184 people (82 children) after 15–30 days. The effects of exposure to chlorine were analysed through multiple linear regression, separately in adults and in children. RESULTS Acute respiratory symptoms occurred among 66.7% of adults and 71.6% of children. The incidences were highest among those who had chronic respiratory disease and had a longer duration of exposure. In about 30% of the subjects, respiratory symptoms persisted for 15–30 days after the accident. Lung function levels were lower in those who reported a high intensity of exposure than in those who reported low exposure, both in children and in adults (mean (95% confidence interval (95% CI)) differences in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1,) were −109 (−310 to 93) ml, and −275 (−510 to −40) ml, respectively). CONCLUSION Persistent symptoms and lung function impairment were found up to 1 month after the incident. Although community pool accidents happen rarely, the medical community needs to be alerted to the possible clinical and physiological sequelae, especially among susceptible people.


This essay explores the trans-Atlantic book trade through a case study on the publication of Walter Scott's Waverley novels. The Waverley novels were printed in Edinburgh but distributed mostly in London, where publishers from Philadelphia initially acquired them for reprinting and sale in the United States. Mathew Carey and his son Henry became Scott's most important American publishers by establishing a direct agreement with his Edinburgh publisher, Archibald Constable. Their agreement involved purchasing advance sheets of the novels before official publication. This essay demonstrates that the power and pressures of the London marketplace for books affected the transmission of the "American Copy" of the Waverley novels, and that the trans-Atlantic publication of Scott was a heated emotional business full of volatile misunderstandings between booksellers and startling anomalies in the printing process itself. This essay reconstructs this story, and it argues that the language of the book trade—as employed in written correspondence, public prints, and the Waverley novels themselves—must be closely analyzed to understand the challenges of provincial publishing in the period.


Many emerging broadband network technologies are dependent upon terrestrial based physical wiring to support megabit- and gigabit-per-second transmission rates. But the thirst for Internet connectivity and high performance remains unquenched. It cannot, and should not, be constrained by the physical wire. Wireless radio frequency (RF) mechanisms (such as general packet radio service, or GPRS) are becoming more popular for connecting mobile and fixed end users to the Internet, but they include performance and configuration limitations posed by technical, environmental, and geographic factors. An ideal solution would be a broadband wireless technology offering performance comparable to that of terrestrial links while supporting residential, corporate, and ISP network configurations and reaching just about anybody in the world, i.e., satellite communications.


Abstract Objective: Hyperthermia therapy (HT), heating tumors to 40–45 °C, is a known radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy sensitizer. The additional benefit of HT to RT for recurrent breast cancer has been proven in multiple randomized trials. However, published outcome after RT + HT varies widely. We performed a systematic review to investigate whether there is a relationship between achieved HT dose and clinical outcome and thermal toxicity for patients with recurrent breast cancer treated with RT + HT. Method: Four databases, EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane library and clinicaltrials.gov, were searched with the terms breast, radiotherapy, hyperthermia therapy and their synonyms. Final search was performed on 3 April 2019. Twenty-two articles were included in the systematic review, reporting on 2330 patients with breast cancer treated with RT + HT. Results: Thirty-two HT parameters were tested for a relationship with clinical outcome. In studies reporting a relationship, the relationship was significant for complete response in 10/15 studies, in 10/13 studies for duration of local control, in 2/2 studies for overall survival and in 7/11 studies for thermal toxicity. Patients who received high thermal dose had on average 34% (range 27%–53%) more complete responses than patients who received low thermal dose. Patients who achieved higher HT parameters had increased odds/probability on improved clinical outcome and on thermal toxicity. Conclusion: Temperature and thermal dose during HT had significant influence on complete response, duration of local control, overall survival and thermal toxicity of patients with recurrent breast cancer treated with RT + HT. Higher temperature and thermal dose improved outcome, while higher maximum temperature increased incidence of thermal toxicity.


BACKGROUND
Although in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) men are decision makers and control the household budget, their involvement in maternity care is limited. Reports from high-income countries indicate a beneficial effect of involving men in antenatal and delivery care on birth outcomes.

METHODS
We conducted a systematic review to assess whether similar effects are observed in LMICs. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, NCBI, PsycInfo and other relevant databases using a comprehensive search strategy to retrieve relevant articles. A total of 17 articles were included. Meta-analysis of extracted data was performed, using the generic inverse variance method where possible. All studies were conducted in South Asia and Africa.

RESULTS
We found that involving a male partner in antenatal care was associated with skilled birth attendance utilization (pooled OR 3.19 [95% CI 1.55 to 6.55]), having institutional delivery (OR 2.76 [95% CI 1.70 to 4.50]) and post-partum visit uptake (OR 2.13 [95% CI 1.45 to 3.13]). Mother's knowledge of danger signs and modern contraception utilization were also positively affected. However, it had no significant impact on the number of antenatal visits.

CONCLUSIONS
Male involvement in antenatal care had a positive impact on the uptake of maternal health services. Further research needs to investigate whether this translates into improved maternal and newborn health in developing countries.


1. We report the oculomotor behavior of human subjects who produce unusually high numbers (> 30%) of express saccades (latency range 85-135 ms) in the overlap saccade task, where express saccades are usually absent or small in number (< 15%). We refer to these subjects as "express saccade makers" (ES makers). 2. We tested the hypothesis that ES makers have difficulties in maintaining fixation and in suppressing unwanted saccades to a suddenly appearing peripheral target by comparing the performances of 10 ES makers and 10 control subjects in gap and overlap antisaccade tasks and in a memory-guided saccade task. 3. The ES makers produced between 35% and 95% incorrect saccades toward the stimulus (prosaccades) in the antisaccade tasks, compared with control subjects, who produced < 20%. Their correct antisaccades appeared to be normal. 4. We further tested the ability of ES makers to maintain fixation and to avoid reflexive saccades to the onset of a target in the memory-guided saccade task. ES makers tended to glance to the briefly presented cue in many trials (4 of them in 50-80% of the trials) instead of delaying the saccade until fixation point offset. Most of the inappropriate saccades had latencies in the range of express saccades. 5. These results can be associated with the finding of fixation related neurons in different cortical and subcortical brain regions (e.g., inferior-parietal and frontal cortex, basal ganglia, superior colliculus). The unusual number of express saccades made by the ES makers in the standard overlap and gap tasks, and their unwanted short-latency reflexive saccades to the target in the memory-guided saccade task, are reminiscent of the performance in these tasks of monkeys whose collicular fixation neurons were chemically deactivated. The collicular fixation neurons are probably the final common pathway in the control of active fixation, and are in mutual inhibitory relationship with the saccade cells. 6. The decreased saccadic control observed in the ES makers suggests that saccade execution in humans is also gated by a fixation system. These ES makers may have reduced voluntarily control over saccade generation as a result of a defect or poor development of their fixation system.


The optical response of the clean and di-hydrogenated Si(001) vicinal surface is experimentally investigated by two complementary optical techniques, reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy in normal incidence and surface differential reflectance spectroscopy in oblique incidence with s or p polarizations. The results are in good agreement with previous ab initio theoretical calculations. The components of the surface optical response tensor for polarization of light parallel and perpendicular to the dimers of silicon are determined from the experiments performed in s polarization. Moreover, it is shown that the component perpendicular to the surface is negligible and yields no specific effect in the p-polarization measurements.


Objective Only limited studies have evaluated the risk of non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (nsNSAIDs) and coxibs for lower gastrointestinal (GI) adverse outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate risks of lower GI adverse events associated with use of celecoxib, oral and parenteral nsNSAIDs. Design Retrospective case–crossover study. Setting Records of all patients aged ≥20 years hospitalised for lower GI adverse events (bleeding from small or large intestine, perforation, and complicated diverticular disease) in 2006 were retrieved using ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes from inpatient claims from the Taiwan National Health Insurance database. Interventions Case periods were defined for each patient as 1–30 days prior to hospital admission date and control period as 91–120 days prior to hospital admission date. The pharmacy prescription database was searched for NSAID use during case and control periods. Main outcome measures We calculated adjusted self-matched ORs and 95% CIs with a conditional logistic regression model to determine the associations between NSAID use and lower GI adverse outcomes. Results A total of 1297 patients hospitalised for lower GI adverse events were included. Celecoxib was associated with an adjusted OR of 2.33 (95% CI 0.97 to 5.59); the association became statistically significant (OR: 3.26, 95% CI 1.07 to 9.91) when a different control period (31–60 days) was applied. Both oral and parenteral nsNSAIDs significantly increased risk for lower GI adverse events (OR: 2.26, 95% CI 1.78 to 2.85 and OR: 5.64, 95% CI 3.24 to 9.82, respectively). Conclusions Oral and parenteral NSAIDs were associated with significantly increased risk for lower GI adverse events. Celecoxib also increased risk to a comparable extent, despite risk estimates being affected slightly by the control period chosen for comparison. The association of NSAIDs with specific lower GI adverse events and long-term complications requires further investigation.


Results on the correlation of structure and magnetic properties in ARMCO steels after mechanical treatment are reported in this paper. Samples have undergone plastic deformation by means of cold rolling and tensile stress in their as-bought state and after stress-relief process. Minor magnetic hysteresis measurements in 1 Hz have been performed in the as-bought, annealed and plastically deformed samples. X-ray diffraction, optical metallography and transmission electron microscopy have been employed to determine the microstructure of the samples. A clear decreasing monotonic dependence of the maximum differential permeability on applied stress and dislocation density has been observed.


The influence of diarylamino (Ar2N–) substituents on the oxidation potential of 3,7-bis(diarylamino)phenothiazines (Ar2N)2–PTZ (1a–f, a: carbazolyl; b: dihydrodibenzoazepinyl; c: dibenzoazepinyl; d: diphenylamino; e: phenothiazinyl; and f: phenoxazinyl) is investigated, where the Ar2N-substituent sequence a→f is aligned in the increasing order of their electron-donating ability. Interestingly, a different sequence of electron-donating ability for Ar2N-substituents was observed for the oxidation potentials of (Ar2N)2–PTZ: 1a (Eox1 = +0.35 V vs. Fc/Fc+) > 1f (+0.30 V) > 1e (+0.15 V) > 1d (−0.05 V) > 1c (−0.19 V) > 1b (−0.22 V). The observed sequence can be explained by the stereoelectronic effect of the Ar2N-substituents to stabilize (Ar2N)2–PTZ˙+. Clear-cut examples are observed in the crystal structure of 1c˙+ and 1e˙+, for which coplanar conformation is observed between the PTZ˙+-plane and the planes of the sp2-hybridized nitrogen atoms in Ar2N-substituents through a large conformational change during the oxidation process of (Ar2N)2–PTZ.


The history of dances in Bangladesh reads almost like a history of the belief systems crisscrossing this deltaic plain, entrenched as these dances are within indigenous myths and philosophies. However, in the recent past, regional and global dance traditions have superseded indigenous dances by nearly erasing them from within mainstream, specifically urban, practice. Even a cursory interrogation confirms that the historical hierarchization of dance in Southasia1 has spurred this divide between the evaluation of present-day manifestations of dance within local cultural expressions and, on the other hand, the dominant genres of classical and contemporary artistic representations of dance. This highbrow, selective notion of dance from beyond the borders has led to a gradual decline and devaluation of traditional dance, especially within the non-subaltern social classes, resulting in its "invisibility" in those circles. Therein lies the "wickedness" of the problem. Borrowing from theoretical notions in the social sciences, a "wicked problem" is a puzzle. Furthermore, adverse sociopolitical circumstances of the indigenous heritageholding communities contribute to the endangerment and diminishment of their dances. At this juncture, a combination of research and practical action is the need of the hour (Nielsen). Action research, or ethnographic activism, can be a form of ethical praxis that can overcome historical bias and safeguard these dances.


In this paper, we present an approach that jointly infers the boundaries of tokens and their labels to construct dictionaries for Information Extraction. Our approach for joint-inference is based on graph propagation, and extends it in two novel ways. First, we extend the graph representation to capture ambiguities that occur during the token extraction phase. Second, we modify the labeling phase (i.e., label propagation) to utilize this new representation, allowing evidence from labeling to be used for token extraction. Our evaluation shows these extensions (and hence our approach) significantly improve the performance of the outcome dictionaries over pipeline-based approaches by preventing aggressive commitment. Our evaluation also shows that our extensions over a base graph-propagation framework improve the precision without hurting the recall.


Dust storms, observed in all seasons, are among the most momentous Mars atmosphere activities. The Entry-Descent-Landing (EDL) activity of a Martian landing mission is influenced by local atmospheric conditions, especially the dust storm activity probability. It is of great significance to know well the dust storm situation that China's first Mars mission (Tianwen-1) may encounter in EDL season in the Chryse landing area, one of the tentative landing areas. Firstly, based on four Martian years' Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Mars Daily Global Maps (MDGMs), 1172 dust storms were identified within Chryse's 1600 km radius ring with their shape parameters extracted, including center, range and area. Secondly, the daily mean dust storm probability was calculated binned by 1° of solar longitude in the Chryse landing area during EDL season. Dust storm activity frequency was closely interrelated with the seasonal ebb and flow of the arctic polar ice cap, consequently, most of dust storms occurring in either the cap's grow or the recession phase. The dust storm activity in the Chryse landing area mainly came from the northern polar cap region, Acidalia and Chryse, with some contribution from the southern hemisphere (Argyre and Bosporos) northward. Thirdly, we divided the Chryse landing area into many square grids of 0.5° and computed the average occurrence probability of dust storm in each grid during EDL season. The dust storm activity probability in space was also in-homogeneous, low in the west and south but high in the east and north, which was mainly affected by the origin and the path of dust storm sequence. Finally, according to the temporal and spatial probability of dust storm activity in the Chryse landing area during EDL season, we held that the preferred landing time of the Tianwen-1 mission in 2021 was in Ls=18°-65° and three preferred landing areas were selected with low dust storm probability.


The neurohumoral mechanisms behind the pain-suppressing effect of dorsal column stimulation (DCS) still remain obscure. Experimental observations have indicated an inhibitory role for serotonin and, under certain conditions, also for substance P (SP), on nociceptive transmission in the spinal cord. Furthermore, some observations suggest that these substances might be involved in the effect of DCS. The present series of experiments was undertaken to investigate whether serotonin and SP are released in the dorsal horn by DCS. Twenty-one adult cats, in some experiments anesthetized, in others decerebrated at the midcollicular level, were used. Microdialysis probes were implanted bilaterally in lumbar dorsal horns (L5-L7) and perfused with Krebs' solution. Dialysates were analyzed for serotonin by high-performance liquid chromatography or for SP by radioimmunoassay. DCS was applied at the thoracolumbar junction with current parameters similar to those used clinically in humans. DCS induced a significant release of serotonin in the dorsal horn of decerebrated animals (173 +/- 83% increase; mean +/- standard error; n = 4; P less than 0.01), whereas the levels of the metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were not significantly influenced. In contrast, no release of SP could be recorded in response to DCS in the decerebrated preparation, although peripheral nociceptive stimulation (pinch) and noxious electric dorsal root stimulation induced an elevation of the SP levels. However, in intact animals DCS provoked a marked SP release in the dorsal horn (190 +/- 92% increase; n = 7; P less than 0.01). The release of serotonin and SP after DCS may indicate that these substances participate in the mediation of the pain alleviating effect of DCS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


This paper analyzes and compares the existing policies and programs for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV existing in China and in the USA. The implementation of these is still imperfect and there needs to be improvements in the education (the spreading of information) and in the general health care system of China. Particular attention will be drawn to the existing barriers to the effective implementation of prevention of mother-to-child-transmission. The recommendations aim to solve similar barriers in both countries and some specifically dealing with problems in China. Since HIV infection in children is caused almost entirely by prenatal transmission, it is important that the governments, in partnership with civic society organizations, make all the necessary efforts to save the lives of their newborn citizens.


One hundred families of children under 5 years admitted to Cardiff Hospitals after accidentally ingesting poisons were compared with 100 control families matched for socioeconomic class and age and sex of the child. Questioning about five major stress factors (serious family illness, pregnancy, recent family moves, one parent away from home, anxiety or depression in one or both parents) disclosed significantly more stress in the affected families than in the controls. Thirty of the affected families had more than one major stress factor compared with four of the controls, while 63 of the controls had no major stress factor compared with 24 of the affected families (P less than 0.001). In only four of the affected families was there no stress factor. Fifteen children took poisons in homes other than their own. Unemployment was significantly more prevalent in the affected families than in the general population, though apart from this the socioeconomic backgrounds were similar. There were significantly more accidents and childhood poisonings in the parents and siblings of affected children than in the control families. In 25% of the cases poisoning was with Angiers Junior Aspirin.


The use of water pipes or hookahs to smoke tobacco formulations has gained great popularity among young people around the world, but the potential health hazards have not yet been adequately evaluated. The complexity of a multi component hookah apparatus, compared with cigarettes and cigars, makes it difficult to study under laboratory conditions. For this reason the detailed study of its components simplify the task. In this study the charcoal, which is traditionally used as the heat source, was analyzed for metal content before and after combustion. Sixteen different hookah charcoals were analyzed representing different compositions and manufacturing processes as well as different geographic origins. ICP-MS was used to measure 24 elements: Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, Th, U. The total concentration ranges of toxic elements in native (un-burned) charcoals were: arsenic 14.8–10 300 ng g−1, cadmium 3.3–2100 ng g−1, and lead 95.2–55 600 ng g−1. The mass-loss-corrected content of elements in combusted charcoals shows that most of the metals remain in the ash, with iron, cadmium and lead as exceptions. Because of the high content of arsenic in some samples an extraction and speciation method was developed to quantify four chemical forms of arsenic. Nitric acid, and phosphoric acid were evaluated as extractants used in a heating block, and ascorbic acid was used to minimize oxidation of inorganic As3+ to As5+. Anion exchange chromatography coupled to ICP-MS was used to carry out the separation and quantification of arsenic species. The best conditions in terms of extraction efficiencies and species conservation were 1.2 mol L−1 H3PO4, with 0.2 mol L−1 ascorbic acid. As5+ was the dominant arsenic species in charcoal. Concentrations ranged from 0.08–2.42 mg kg−1, for As3+ and 0.46–8.36 mg kg−1 for As5+. The results show high variation depending on the sample origin and composition. The possibility of volatile cadmium and lead contributions to the primary and second hand smoke by the charcoal are suggested and the high levels of arsenic suggest that for certain charcoals there may be more hazard from them than from the tobacco formulation.


We propose a novel chip in the polymer board interconnect method for packaging different kinds of chips on a wafer level, where conventional wire bonding may not be possible due to either space or mechanical constraints. High-step-coverage copper (Cu)-lateral interconnects formed over 100 µm thick Si chips by the electroplating method have been investigated for their microstructure and electrical characteristics, using the field emission scanning electron microscope and semiconductor parameter analyzer (Agilent, 4156C). The obtained coverage ratios (i.e. the layer thickness on the chip surface to the sidewall of the chip) for each formed layer, i.e. the tantalum barrier layer, Cu seed layer, SiO2 dielectric layer and electroplated Cu layer, were 3:1, 3:1, 1.5:1 and 1:1, respectively. The measured mean electrical resistances for 36 µm × 2000 µm and 58 µm × 2000 µm interconnect lines were respectively 31.1 and 24 mΩ, and the difference between measured and calculated resistance values was less than 5%. The good quality of as-fabricated Cu-lateral interconnects was evidenced from the observed low resistance values for isolated interconnects and the linear change in daisy chain resistance with the number of interconnects. More importantly, even at a high operating temperature of 150 °C, the resistance value of the Cu-lateral interconnect over the integrated chip was very close to that of the resistance value of interconnect on the plain wafer. The suitability of this technique in integrating various chips heterogeneously was validated from the no observed change in transistor behavior due to this technique. Since this is a CMOS compatible interconnection method between the polymer substrate and chip, it can readily be scaled up to the wafer level.


Biological dosimetry based on cytogenetic markers such as dicentric chromosome (DC) and micronuclei (MN) is, until now, the most frequently used method to estimate the radiation dose in the radiological accident event. Another biomarker that recently gains popularity in biodosimetry is γH2AX. All these three assays are microscope-based biodosimetry techniques, and therefore need manual scoring to estimate the radiation dose. Unfortunately, the manual scoring of these assays is time-consuming and labor-intensive. In the case of a large-scale radiological accident when many people are exposed to radiation, it is very useful to use image processing and analysis in the scoring process to obtain a faster result. Several commercial systems or open-source image processing software packages already developed automated scoring of DC, MN, and γH2AX assays. This article describes how image processing and analysis were applied in automated biodosimetry based on the DC, MN, and γH2AX assays.


This paper compares the pressure drop profiles of both horizontal well producer and injector in a 5spot waterflood pattern. Dimensionless pressure distributions for each pattern were utilised. All computations were limited to conditions of unit mobility ratio; i.e., before water breakthrough condition. Results show that a normal 5-spot flood pattern, with a horizontal well producer, offers higher pressure drops, but early water breakthrough tendencies, than as an injector for the same reservoir and wellbore conditions. An inverted pattern, under the same conditions, produces clean oil for a longer time, before water breakthrough possibilities.


Infertility affects 1 in 20 men in reproductive age [1]. In an effort to identify key pathways and proteins involved in male fertility, a random mouse mutagenesis screen was carried out. In doing so, the O'Bryan lab identified a male sterile mouse line called Mot1. Mot1 homozygous mutants carry an A to G substitution point mutation in the Rab-like 2 (Rabl2) gene which affects two RABL2 isoforms (hereafter called Rabl2Mot/Mot) [2]. Mot1 homozygous male sterility was a result of reduced sperm production, shorter sperm tails and compromised sperm motility. This project aimed to characterise the biochemical mechanism of RABL2 function. Functional studies using unicellular organism have shown the role of RAB-like proteins in flagellum formation but the role of these proteins in mammals remain unknown [3,4]. Phylogenetic analyses conducted within our lab identified the RABL2 orthologues in all ciliated organisms and an absence of the orthologues in non-ciliated species suggesting it is associated with cilia development. RAB-like proteins are small GTPases within an uncharacterised clade of the RAS superfamily. Based on this we predicted they are able to switch between inactive and active states and are likely involved in protein delivery. We predicted in the active GTP-bound RABL2 would bind to a specific set of effector proteins and deliver them to the growing sperm tail that is the affected organelle in the Rabl2Mot/Mot animals. The Mot1 mutation disrupted effector proteins delivery and as such the Rabl2Mot/Mot males were sterile due to reduced levels of effector proteins in sperms. Further, RABL2 binds to intra-flagella transport (IFT) complex B component proteins which are important in cilia/flagella formation. In addition to the fertility phenotype, the Rabl2Mot/Mot animals develop juvenile onset steatosis and adult onset obesity. The weight gain in the Rabl2Mot/Mot animals is a result of increase in adiposity. Although Rabl2Mot/Mot animals have a normal food intake and are sensitive to exogenous leptin, they have insulin resistant, glucose intolerant and are less active than Rabl2WT/WT. Further investigations suggest that metabolic dysfunction is the consequence of primary hepatic dysfunction; specifically Rabl2Mot/Mot animals develop juvenile liver steatosis. They show an increase in pro-lipogenic genes expression and a reduced ability for fatty acid β oxidation which subsequently lead to lipid accumulation. The identified RABL2 putative effector proteins in liver showed enrichment in mitochondrial and peroxisomal proteins indicating RABL2 association in fatty acid metabolism. I hypothesise that RABL2 is involved in the organelle movement associated with microtubules within hepatocytes or it delivers effector proteins required for metabolism to organelles. Furthermore, Rabl2Mot/Mot animals develop age-dependent lung pathology from seven months. Rabl2Mot/Mot lungs were characterised with eosinophilic exudate lining the distal alveolar regions and emphysema. With increasing age, immune infiltrates became prominent. The progressive nature of this phenotype resembles the clinical features in primary ciliary dyskinesia. The data presented in this thesis demonstrates the role of RABL2 in male fertility, fatty acids metabolism and lung function. The co-pathologies presentation in the Rabl2Mot/Mot animals suggested RABL2 is essential for post-natal physiological development. The similar fertility and obesity phenotype in the Rabl2Mot/KO animals have confirmed the Mot1 phenotype is caused by the D73G mutation in Rabl2. 1. McLachlan RI, Mallidis C, Ma K, Bhasin S, de Kretser DM (1998) Genetic disorders and spermatogenesis. Reprod Fertil Dev 10: 97-104. 2. Kennedy CL, O'Connor AE, Sanchez-Partida LG, Holland MK, Goodnow CC, et al. (2005) A repository of ENU mutant mouse lines and their potential for male fertility research. Mol Hum Reprod 11: 871-880. 3. Qin H, Wang Z, Diener D, Rosenbaum J (2007) Intraflagellar transport protein 27 is a small G protein involved in cell-cycle control. Curr Biol 17: 193-202. 4. Silva DA, Huang X, Behal RH, Cole DG, Qin H (2011) The RABL5 homolog IFT22 regulates the cellular pool size and the amount of IFT particles partitioned to the flagellar compartment in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken).


Irreducible oil (IO) is researched as hydrodynamic system, consisting of separate types. IO of micro- and macrolevel, connate and conventionally mobile IO were defined. We identified that such technological factors as pressure gradient, wettability, surface tension, etc. effect IO significantly. Irreducible oil saturation (IOS) is one of the most important parameter characterizing development efficiency. Traditionally IOS was associated with formation microconstruction and considered through displacement efficiency using its relationship with filtration capacity properties of formation. IOS was considered as one of producing formation properties. Technology influence on final oil recovery used to be determined through volumetric efficiency. It was determined that conventionally mobile irreducible oil becomes movable under the critical pressure gradient to capillary pressure ratio. When the mobility threshold is reached the values of IOS depend on technological displacement condition. After achieving the second threshold value almost all conventionally mobile oil is withdrawn and only connate oil remains in formation. Present geo-technological models do not take the IOS influence of these factors into consideration. Therefore the dynamic models of IOS were developed with the attention paid on threshold mobility character, operating practices and mechanisms of IOS formations. Distribution research of IOS in croswell area was based on special hydrodynamic models. Results of investigation technology effect on IOS (e.g. well spacing system, pattern arrangement, disturbances and modernization of designed system) are presented. As shown, the compound anthropogenic heterogeneity of IOS is formed in crosswell area even for homogeneous formations. Depending on well spacing system IOS can be heterogeneous regarding displacement efficiency and phase permeability. We consider the possibility of additional IO recovery using intensive technologies (flow control, sidetracks, horizontal wells). Taking different well spacing systems, analysis of relative influence of formation microconstruction and of technological factors on IOS was given.


The gut–brain axis and the microbiome have recently acquired an important position in explaining a wide range of human behaviours and emotions. Researchers have typically presented developments in understandings of the microbiome as radical and new, offering huge potential for better understandings of our bodies and what it means to be human. Without refuting the value of this research, this article insists that, traditionally, doctors and patients acknowledged the complex interactions between their guts and emotions, although using alternative models often based on nerves or psychology. For example, nineteenthcentury doctors and patients would have been well acquainted with the idea that their stomachs and minds were somehow connected, and that this interaction could produce positive or negative physical and mental health impacts. To demonstrate this, this article offers a snapshot of medical and public thought on (what we currently call) the gut–brain axis in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, using Britain as a key case study due to the prevalence of gastric problems in that country. It commences by exploring how nineteenth-century doctors and patients took for granted the intimate relations between gut and mind and used their ideas on this to debate personal health, medical theory and social and political discourse. The article then moves on to argue that various medical sub-disciplines emerged (anatomy, physiology, surgery) that threatened to reduce the stomach to a physiologically complex organ but, in doing so, inadvertently began to erase ideas of a gut–mind connection. However, these new models proved unsatisfactory, allowing more holistic ideas of the body–mind relationship to continue to carry currency in twentieth-century psychological and medical thought. In the late century, pharmacological developments once again threatened to minimise the gut–brain axis, before it once again became popular in the early twenty-first century, now debated through a new language of microbiology. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 31 August 2018 Revised 18 October 2018 Accepted 25 October 2018


Upward of 70% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth experience some degree of parental rejection of their sexual identity, which is problematic in light of research documenting links between parental rejection and psychological difficulties in LGB youth. Additionally, emerging research suggests that ethnic minority LGB youth may be at greater risk to experience parental rejection than ethnic majority LGB youth. However, this research is inconclusive and has significant gaps. The current study is one of the first to include a multiethnic sample of LGB youth and their parents to investigate how ethnicity may be related to parental rejection. Specifically, the current study examined ethnic differences in parental rejection as well as in intrapersonal variables (i.e., homonegativity and traditional gender role beliefs), which are thought to be related both to ethnicity and parental rejection. Additionally, indirect effects of ethnicity on parental rejection through homonegativity and traditional gender role beliefs were examined. Participants included 90 parents (ages 32–63) and their 90 LGB children (ages 15–24). Fifty-nine percent of the sample were ethnic minority. Significant ethnic differences were found in parental rejection and homonegativity, but not in traditional gender role beliefs. Homonegativity was found to fully mediate the relation between ethnicity and parental rejection. These results provide important information on why ethnic minority parents, in general, may have a more difficult time accepting their LGB children than ethnic majority parents.


Abstract Although domestic carnivores are frequently considered a threat to wildlife inside and around urban areas, little is known about the incursions of these animals from urban areas to the surrounding habitats. To explore this, we sampled carnivores in wooded areas surrounding four villages located in the mountains north of Madrid by using 40 camera-trapping stations. They were distributed at regular distances within a perpendicular transect distributed from 10 to 2000 m from the urban border. The results suggest that the incidence of domestic carnivores (cats and dogs) was constrained to <400 m from the urban border, and that the presence of domestic carnivores did not interfere with the distribution of wild carnivores (foxes, beech martens, badgers, genets, etc.), which show random distribution patterns around villages. This means that overpredation at the village edges could mainly be due to the effect of domestic animals and not to that of wild carnivores attracted to urban areas.


The paper presents analysis of the relationship between the way of pouring AlSi7Mg alloy into moulds and misrun formation in the castings made with lost-wax casting method, with the use of gypsum mass. The casting moulds have been filled with liquid metal with three various methods (using gravity force, centrifugal force, and vacuum). Estimation of the quality of the obtained castings (i.e. the degree of mould filling) allowed to assess the effectiveness of particular methods of filling the moulds used for production of small-module castings. In result, it was found that the highest mould filling degree is achieved with the use of vacuum technology.


We have developed a new integrated probabilistic method for cellular function prediction by using microarray gene expression profiles, in conjunction with predicted protein-protein interactions and annotations of known proteins through an integrative statistical model. Our approach is based on a novel assessment for the relationship between correlation of two genes' expression profiles and their functional relationship in terms of the gene ontology (GO) hierarchy. We applied the method for function predictions of hypothetical genes in Arabidopsis. We have also extended our computational method using Dijkstra's algorithm to identify the components and topology of a pathway, and we applied it for predicting the signaling pathway of phosphatidic acid as a second messenger in Arabidopsis.


Purpose We sought to analyze the visual outcome and systemic prognostic factors for diabetic vitrectomy and predicted outcomes using these factors. Methods This was a multicenter electronic medical records (EMRs) review study of 1504 eyes with type 2 diabetes that underwent vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy at 6 university hospitals. Demographics, laboratory results, intra-operative findings, and visual acuity (VA) values were analyzed and correlated with visual outcomes at 1 year after the vitrectomy. Prediction models for visual outcomes were obtained using machine learning. Results At 1 year, VA was 1.0 logarithm of minimal angle resolution (logMAR) or greater (poor visual outcome group) in 456 eyes (30%). Baseline visual acuity, duration of diabetes treatment, tractional membrane, silicone oil tamponade, smoking, and vitreous hemorrhage correlated with logMAR VA at 1 year (r = 0.450, −0.159, 0.221, 0.280, 0.067, and −0.105; all P ≤ 0.036). An ensemble decision tree model trained using all variables generated accuracy, specificity, F1 score (the harmonic means of which precision and sensitivity), and receiver-operating characteristic curve area under curve values of 0.77, 0.66, 0.85, and 0.84 for the prediction of poor visual outcomes at 1 year after vitrectomy. Conclusions Visual outcome after diabetic vitrectomy is associated with pre- and intra-operative findings and systemic factors. Poor visual outcome after diabetic vitrectomy was predictable using clinical factors. Intensive care in patients who are predicted to result in poor vision may limit vision loss resulting from type 2 diabetes. Translational Relevance This study demonstrates that a real world EMR big data could predict outcome after diabetic vitrectomy using clinical factors.


Abstract. This paper studies the effect of microlens front-face angle on the performance of an optical system consisting of a planar-graded refractive index (GRIN) lens pair facing each other separated by a free-space region. The planar silica microlens pairs are designed to facilitate low-loss optical signal propagation in the free-space region between the opposing optical waveguides. The planar lens is fabricated from a 38-μm-thick fluorine-doped silica layer on a silicon substrate. It has a parabolic refractive index profile in the vertical direction, which is achieved by controlled fluorine incorporation in the silica film to collimate the optical beam in the vertical direction. Horizontal beam collimation is achieved by incorporating a horizontal curvature at the front face of the lens defined by deep oxide etch. A generalized 3×3 ABCDGH transformation matrix method has been derived to compute the coupling efficiency of such microlens pairs to take front-face angles that may be present due to fabrication variations or limitations and possible input/output optical fiber offset/tilt into considerations. Pairs of such planar GRIN lens with various free-space propagation distances between them ranging from 75 to 2500  μm and with front-face angles of 1.5 deg, 2 deg, and 4 deg have been fabricated and characterized. Beam propagation method simulations have been carried out to substantiate the theoretical and experimental results. The results indicate that the optical loss is reasonably low up to 1.5 deg of front-face angles and increases significantly with further increase in the front-face angle. Analysis shows that for a given system with specific microlens front-face angle, the optical loss can be significantly reduced by properly compensating the vertical position of the input and output fibers.


Gastric leiomyomas, though the commonest benign tumour of the stomach, can mimic a carcinoma both clinically and also upon histopathological examination (1). This can lead to needless anxiety for the patient, possibly a diagnostic dilemma for the physician, and even a source of embarrassment for the pathologist. The clinical features are notorious for their varied spectrum, and limited endoscopic biopsy may often be non-diagnostic or even erroneous, thus compounding the diagnostic challenge (2). We present a case to illustrate some of these facts.


Background: Postoperative pain is defined as pain of any degree after initiation of endodontic treatment either intra-appointment or post-obturation and is considered an undesirable occurrence for both patient and dentist. It was suggested that bacterial injury is probably the major cause of pain. Intra-canal medicaments are widely used to kill any bacteria surviving after instrumentation and irrigation. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of double antibiotic paste versus calcium hydroxide used as intra-canal medication in reducing postoperative pain. Methods: 36 patients with single rooted necrotic premolars with apical periodontitis were randomly assigned into two groups according to the intra-canal medication used: calcium hydroxide group (CH) and double antibiotic paste group (DAP). Preoperative pain was recorded using numerical rating scale. After isolation, access cavity was performed followed by chemico-mechanical preparation using rotary Race files with 2.5% sodium hypochlorite irrigation. Subsequently, intra-canal medication was placed and postoperative pain was recorded at 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between both groups. Both groups resulted in an increase in median pain value from preoperative to 6 hours postoperative, followed by gradual decrease from 6 hours to 12, 24, 48 hours postoperatively with statistically significant difference. When comparing both groups, DAP group showed lower postoperative pain values than CH group at 12 and 24 hours, but this was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The use of intra-canal medication in necrotic teeth with apical periodontitis was efficient in reducing postoperative pain regardless of type of intra-canal medication used. Trial registration: PACTR201605001482394 (Date: 22nd February 2016).


In an effort to meet an ever increasing demand for more accurate and realistic integrated photonics simulations, we have developed a multidimensional, nonlinear finite difference time domain (NL-FDTD) Maxwell's equations solver. The NL-FDTD approach and its application to the modeling of the interaction of an ultrashort, optical pulsed Gaussian beam with a Kerr nonlinear material will be described. Typical examples from our studies of pulsed-beam self-focusing, the scattering of a pulsed-beam from a linear-nonlinear interface, and pulsed-beam propagation in nonlinear waveguides will be discussed


This paper examines the optimal allocation of several inputs in the context of seawater desalination by reverse osmosis (RO) as a source of municipal (or commercial or industrial) water. A cost-minimization model is developed, a production function is estimated, and sensitivity analyses are conducted using the optimization model to investigate the effect of environmental conditions and economic factors on the optimal input portfolio and the cost of operating a modeled seawater desalination facility. The objectives of this paper are to better understand the effect on the seawater desalination facility's costs and input portfolio from changes in water quality, membrane lifespan, daily operations schedule, and energy prices. Findings include that lower total facility costs are associated with warm-weather water quality parameters, longer membrane life, and mid-range daily operations schedule (14.265 hours/day). Under most conditions, an interruptible power supply regime reduces facility costs. Exceptions include when the interruptible power supply regime implies significant reductions in operating hours and the associated reduction in energy price is very small.


Normal-hearing adults have no difficulty in recognising consonants accurately, even
in moderately adverse listening conditions. By contrast, users of multichannel
cochlear implants have difficulty with the accurate perception of consonants, even in
good listening conditions. Cochlear implant users are known to show systematic
deficits in recognition of consonant features, with perception of the place feature,
which relies on spectral information, being worst. These deficits may be attributed
both to signal distortions introduced by the processing of the implants and to other
factors, in particular the spectrotemporal distortions which occur at the interface
between electrode array and auditory nervous system, including cross-channel
interaction. The objective of the work reported here was to attempt to partial out the
relative contribution of these different factors to consonant recognition. This was
achieved by comparing cochlear implant users' perceptual errors, analysed in terms of
information transmission, with errors made by normal-hearing subjects listening to
acoustic models of implant processing, in various conditions.
Two initial experiments were undertaken to develop and refine an acoustic model of
the Nucleus 24 cochlear implant. Findings from these two experiments informed the
design of the main acoustic model experiment, which was undertaken in parallel with
a further experiment involving users of the Nucleus 24 device. In both experiments,
subjects listened to nonsense syllables with and without the addition of stationary
background noise, in three different configurations of implant processing parameters.
Additionally, in the acoustic model experiment, a simulation of cross-channel spread
of excitation, or "channel interaction", was varied. Results showed that acoustic
model experiments were predictive of the pattern of consonant feature transmission in
cochlear implant users with better baseline consonant recognition scores. Deficits in
consonant recognition in this subgroup could be explained by the loss of
phonemically relevant acoustic information in speech due to the nature of cochlear
implant processing, while channel interaction appeared to play a smaller role in
accounting for problems in consonant recognition. The work also evaluated the effect
of changes in channel number and stimulation rate and failed to find any changes in
consonant recognition as these parameters were varied. The lack of a stimulation rate
effect was consistent with acoustic measurements of the temporal modulation transfer
function of the processor, which showed almost no change across stimulation rates.


This paper presents numerical solutions and idealized analytical solutions of axisymmetric, f-plane models of the tropical cyclone boundary layer. In the numerical model, the boundary layer radial and tangential flow is forced by a specified pressure field, which can also be interpreted as a specified gradient balanced tangential wind field vgr(r) or vorticity fieldgr(r). When the specified �gr(r) field is changed from one that is radially concentrated in the inner core to one that is radially spread, the quasi-steady-state boundary layer flow transitions from a single eyewall shock-like structure to a double eyewall shock-like structure. To better understand these structures, analytical solutions are presented for two simplified versions of the model. In the simplified analytical models, which do not include horizontal diffusion, the u(@u/@r) term in the radial equation of motion and the u(f + (@v/@r) + (v/r)) term in the tangential equation of motion produce discontinuities in the radial and tangential wind, with associated singularities in the boundary layer pumping and the boundary layer vorticity. In the numerical model, which does include horizontal diffusion, the radial and tangential wind structures are not true discontinuities, but are shock-like, with wind changes of 20 or 30 m s 1 over a radial distance of a few kilometers. When double shocks form, the outer shock can control the strength of the in- ner shock, an effect that likely plays an important role in concentric eyewall cycles.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether infusion of xylazine (XYL) and ketamine (KET) for 30 minutes after isoflurane administration in horses would result in improved quality of recovery from anesthesia, without detrimental cardiopulmonary changes.

STUDY DESIGN
Randomized, blinded experimental trial.

ANIMALS
Seven healthy adult horses aged 6.4 +/- 1.9 years and weighing 506 +/- 30 kg.

METHODS
Horses were anesthetized twice, at least 1 week apart. On both occasions, anesthesia was induced by the administration of XYL, diazepam, and KET, and maintained with isoflurane for approximately 90 minutes, the last 60 minutes of which were under steady-state conditions (1.2 times the minimum alveolar concentration isoflurane). On one occasion, horses were allowed to recover from isoflurane anesthesia, while on the other, XYL and KET were infused for 30 minutes after termination of isoflurane administration. Heart rate, respiratory rate, arterial blood pressure, pH, and blood-gases were measured and recorded at set intervals during steady-state isoflurane anesthesia and XYL-KET infusion. Recovery events were timed and subjectively scored by one nonblinded and two blinded observers. Data were analyzed using a restricted maximum likelihood-based mixed effect model repeated measures analysis.

RESULTS
Infusion of XYL and KET resulted in longer recovery times, but there was no significant improvement in recovery quality score.

CONCLUSIONS
Under the conditions of this study, infusion of XYL and KET does not positively influence recovery from isoflurane anesthesia in horses.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
This study does not support the routine use of XYL and KET infusions in horses during the transition from isoflurane anesthesia to recovery.


Blastocystis spp. is a ubiquitous, globally distributed intestinal parasite infecting human especially in children. The prevalence ranges from 30% to 50% in developing countries, while a lower rate exists in developed countries. Several studies have implicated human to human, zoonotic and waterborne transmissions by Blastocystis spp. which highlighting fecal-oral as the major route of transmission. Blastocystis spp. can cause variety of clinical signs and symptoms including diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting and also suspected to be associated to irritable bowel syndrome. Because of its possible impact in public health with controversial pathogenic potential, we reinforced the picture of Blastocystis spp. prevalence and its association with other possible risk factors and clinical signs and symptoms among Orang Asli school children in Sekolah Kebangsaan Penderas, Pahang. A cross-sectional study has been conducted in Temerloh, Pahang between March 2014 and July 2015. A total of 89 stool samples involved 47 boys and 42 girls were collected. Blastocystis spp. was examined microscopically by using Wheatley's trichrome stain of all stool samples. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics as well as the clinical signs and symptoms were collected by using pretested questionnaire. A Pearson's Chi-square was used to identify the possible risk factors and clinical signs and symptoms for blastocystosis. The overall prevalence rate of Blastocystis spp. among Orang Asli school children was 37.1% (33/89). The infection of Blastocystis spp. was found higher among boys (40.4%) as compared to girls (33.3%), even though the analysis showed statistically not significant (p = 0.489). Likewise, the present findings also documented that those who aged >11 years have high risk of getting Blastocystis spp. infection compared to their counterparts (39.5% vs. 34.8%). The present study found that there was no risk factor that could be associated with blastocystosis. However, drinking untreated water, presence of domestic pets, and low personal hygiene may be suggested as possible risk factors linked to this parasite. No significant different was associated between Blastocystis spp. infection and diarrhea (p = 0.349) and other gastrointestinal symptoms (p = 0.992). Therefore, public health education program need to be organized in order to enhance their personal hygiene and cleanliness. Moreover, screening for Blastocystis spp. contamination is suggested as part of water quality assessment. Samples from animal and water should also be collected to disclose this circumstance. More specific and sensitive method such as polymerase chain reaction should be performed in order to identify Blastocystis spp. up to subtype level.


Political parties in Western democracies have undergone major processes of transformation in the past decades. With the ending of the ´mass parties' and the formation of the ´catch-all' party, parties find themselves now confronted with a crisis to their representative role and struggle to combat declining membership numbers, growing perceptions of alienation towards party politics, and a re-orientation of people´s political participation towards other forms of organizing and expressing political opinions. Moreover, these processes are embedded in a context of the web 2.0 and where social media is providing new ways of communication, sharing, informing and connecting. Although social media offers a profound range of how political parties may be able to counteract the problems of increasing disenchantment with party politics, decline in party members and re-strengthening their ties with voters, parties appear to not fully deploy their opportunities for winning back the support and interest of voters, especially the young generations. The purpose of this study is to examine the development of political parties in a new digital setting and describe the ways in which political parties make use of social media in campaigning to particularly address young people. In their fighting against growing decline in membership numbers and political support, it will be claimed that political parties need to redefine their strategies for attracting the youth's political interest and for mobilizing this particular group of young voters. Especially since young people tend to inhabit a more self-evident handling and perception of digital media, parties should aim to use these channels more efficiently to provide attractive ways for young voters to participate and express their political interest. By examining the eight Swedish parliamentary parties' usage Facebook as a social network channel, it will be analyzed how they currently address the young voters or the youth more generally, and in particular which topics political parties publish on social media in order to link with young people.


This study focuses on college-student travel-patterns, both domestically and internationally. The findings show that there are significant differences in travel patterns, based on three independent variables studied: a student's gender, a student's class year, and a student's home origin. The study uses the student body at a major college in the Northeast of the United States, and provides a detailed analysis of the students' previous travel patterns, and how they differ by the aforementioned independent variables. Domestic travel and international travel are separately analyzed. Marketing implications are discussed. The study also offers a possible template for studying these relationships at additional colleges and universities, and at other venues, both within the U.S. and outside of the U.S.


A new type of small magnetic rotary encoder is presented. The device detects the magnetic field of a permanent magnet attached to the end of the rotating shaft using complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) magnetic sensors [magnetic field effect transistor (MAGFET) arrays] set in a square arrangement. The sensor array is integrated onto a CMOS chip along with angle-detection circuits, leading to the realization of a compact, cost-effective rotary encoder. A prototype sensor chip with dimensions of 4.3/spl times/4.3 mm/sup 2/ is shown to provide error as low as 3.5/spl deg/ without offset calibration and 0.36/spl deg/ with offset calibration, based on an angle calculation method with mean square estimation. This result shows that the CMOS rotary encoder can achieve resolution of 10 bits/rotation at the cost of calibration.


This study aims to explore parents and treatment personnels experiences of the Marte meo methodat a family treatment home. Three retrospective interviews were made with parents whoexperienced Marte meo treatment, as well as four interviews with treatment personnel. The purposeof the Marte meo method is to develop the interaction between parent and child. Previous resultsfrom studies show that treatment with the Marte meo method could provide positive effects to theparent child relationship. The results in this study have been analyzed by using parts of attachmenttheory, the salutogenic perspective and the term intersubjectivity. The parents in this study all statethat Marte meo treatment strengthened them in their role as a parent. The treatment personnel statethat they have seen positive changes in families living at the family treatment home whoparticipated in Marte meo treatment.


This paper describes the origins, development and characteristics of the school of urban morphological thought that is grounded in the work of M.R.G. Conzen. After considering the early influences of Schlüter and Geisler, attention is given to the concepts Conzen developed, such as the burgage cycle, the fringe belt, the morphological frame and the morphological region. In the second half of the paper three examples of current research that builds on foundations laid by Conzen are illustrated: namely, micromorphology, the relationship between morphological periods and the typological process, and the link between decision-taking and urban form.


Over the past few years, interest in bioenergy has boomed with higher oil prices and concerns about energy security, farm incomes, and mitigation of climate change. In the same time, there is significant interest in international agricultural and forestry based greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. However, bioenergy and climate policies are being formulated largely independent of one another. Understanding the interaction between these potentially competing policy objectives is valuable for identifying possible constraints that one policy might be placing on the other, as well as potential complementarities. Using a general equilibrium framework, this study assesses the effects of bioenergy expansion on sectoral, regional and global GHG emissions mitigation potential.


Purpose: Preclinical models demonstrate synergistic antitumor activity with combination blockade of mTOR and IGF-1R signaling. We aimed to determine the safety, tolerability, and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of the combination of figitumumab, a fully human IgG2 anti-insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) monoclonal antibody (Pfizer) and the mTOR inhibitor, everolimus (Novartis). Pharmacokinetics and preliminary antitumor effects of the combination were evaluated. Experimental Design: Phase I trial in patients with advanced sarcomas and other solid tumors. Initial cohort combined full phase 2 dose figitumumab (20 mg/kg IV every 21 days) with full dose everolimus (10 mg orally once daily). Intercohort dose de-escalation was planned for unacceptable toxicities. Dose modifications were allowed beyond cycle 1. Results: No DLTs were observed in the initial cohort during cycle one, therefore full dose figitumumab and everolimus was declared the RP2D. In total, 21 patients were enrolled on study. Most toxicities were grade 1 or 2, and were similar to reported toxicities of the single agents. Mucositis was the most frequently observed grade 3 toxicity. Median time on study was 104 days (range 17–300). Of 18 patients evaluable for response, best response was partial response in 1 patient with malignant solitary fibrous tumor and, stable disease in 15 patients. There were no apparent pharmacokinetic interactions between everolimus and figitumumab. Conclusions: Combination figitumumab plus everolimus at full doses appears safe and well tolerated with no unexpected toxicities. Dose reductions in everolimus may be required after prolonged drug administration. This regimen exhibits interesting antitumor activity warranting further investigation. Clin Cancer Res; 17(4); 1–9. ©2010 AACR.


Repeated nucleotide sequences fitting the motif TGTTTGAAAAACTGA have been found in the Mycoplasma bovis genome. The tetradecamer sequences are also in spacer regions of rRNA operons of some species of Mollicutes. The sequences look like the DNA sites recognized by topoisomerase I from Tetrahymena pyriformis. Imperfect copies of the sequences are known to be in genomes of viruses, lower and higher eukaryotes.


An observing system simulation experiment is used to test and compare objective and subjective estimates of sensitivity of a forecast aspect to the initial condition (IC) fields for a case of rapidly developing cyclogenesis over the Western Mediterranean during 19–22 December 1979. The ability of sensitivity estimation methods to provide helpful guidance about where an improvement in the IC can lead to the largest forecast error reduction is particularly important to ascertain in order to guide adaptive observation campaigns. Synthetic soundings from a 15-km reference simulation are added to an initially poor 60-km control simulation over the sensitive areas as determined by the combination of the given sensitivity estimate and a simple analysis error estimate. The ability of each sensitivity estimation method to produce an improved simulation of the cyclone is assessed. Results show that while the sensitivity estimates perform similarly, with no significant differences among them, the subjective method yields the best overall targeting guidance. In contrast, the adjoint estimate provides the least accurate targeting guidance for this particular case and analysis error estimate. This suggests that subjective sensitivity estimation methods are able to compete with or even improve upon the objective estimation method for this case of cyclogenesis over the Western Mediterranean.


AREVA Solar has designed, constructed and demonstrated the first successful Once Through Solar Steam Generator (SSG) to deliver superheated steam without intermediate heat transfer fluids. Deployed at the Kimberlina Solar Thermal Power Station, SSG4 represents the state of the art for solar steam production, for stand-alone power generation and augmentation of fossil fueled steam cycles. The ASME Section I boiler was designed, constructed, stamped and commissioned during 2010, and includes a novel Model Predictive Control system capable of maintaining any two of three steam conditions (flow, pressure, temperature) under varying solar input. During field trials in September 2010, exit steam conditions were maintained at 60 +/− 3 bar and 370 +/− 20C during steady and transient conditions, while steam flow consistently exceeded predictions. In a "lights-out" test, simulating complete instantaneous cloud cover, SSG4 had sufficient thermal inertia to supply more than 18 minutes of superheated steam. AREVA Solar's SSGs incorporate a 400m long tube bundle within an elevated insulated cavity receiver, onto which sunlight is concentrated by reflectors. The multi-pass tube bundle arranges superheater tubes in the high flux regions, and economizer/evaporator tubes in lower flux regions. This assures sufficient heat flux to sustain superheated steam temperatures throughout the operating day, and also reduces the average bundle temperature to reduce radiant heat losses. Boiler tubes were prepared in AREVA Solar's factory to improve their absorption of solar energy and reduce radiant heat losses. The inverted cavity maintains a stagnant air layer between the tube bundle and a glass cover below the boiler tube supports, to reduce convective heat loss. SSG4 was designed for a Maximum Allowable Working Pressure of 105 bara , and a Maximum Mean Wall Temperature of 482C in the superheater section. AREVA Solar is the first Concentrated Solar Power provider with an ASME "S" Stamp and National Board authorization. Following the initial trials at 370C, the SSG is expected to operate at 450C superheated steam temperature. This paper describes the design, construction, commissioning, and testing of the Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) SSG4.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


In countries with high standard of living, lowered risk of infectious diseases is parallel to increased incidence of autoimmune diseases. One of the autoimmune disorders, multiple sclerosis, affects genetically susceptible individuals. Genetic susceptibility is supposed to interact with lifestyle and environmental factors in developing autoim‐ munity in MS. From this point of view, epigenetics provides the bridge between the external environment and the internal genetic system. In MS, environmental burden can modulate gene expression by epigenetic modification of chromatin components, microRNAs or by subtle changes in DNA methylation. Our paper focuses on describ‐ ing the epigenetic mechanisms linking environmental factors with pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. We summarise current knowledge about the role of over-nutrition and obesity as epigenetic factors in multiple sclerosis.


Background: Nutritional supplements refer to a product ingested to increase the nutritional content of a normal diet, to fill a dietary need and/or presumed deficiency. The usage and popularity of nutritional supplements, however, raises concerns from a health benefit and risk perspective. In South Africa, there is currently no adequate regulatory framework of enforcement for nutritional supplement products and undeclared constituents by the statutory body, the Medicines Control Council (MCC). Education awareness programmes by organisations that should take consumer protection and the general public health and wellness as a right, needs to be improved. Objectives: To investigate the attitudes toward nutritional supplements by adult gym users from commercial gymnasiums in the Johannesburg North region of South Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative design, using a selfadministered questionnaire was applied to 364 recruited study participants who attended commercial gymnasiums in Johannesburg North. Results: One hundred and fifty users (41%) claimed that they 'always' read the information about the nutritional values, benefits, and side effects of the supplements on the labels prior to use. Three hundred and three users (83%) indicated that the number of users of nutritional supplements in gymnasiums is on the increase. Two hundred and seventy-three (75%) of main information sources for nutritional supplements may be found on the internet, while 292 (80%) indicated the need for gymnasiums to provide educational programmes pertaining to nutritional supplement consumption. Conclusion: Gymnasium users are aware of the increase in nutritional supplement use in commercial gymnasiums. Many of the users were unaware of the potential mislabelling and health concerns regarding these supplements. Therefore there is a need for improved nutritional supplement education programmes and diligence at multiple levels.


This study utilizes the 2017-2018 Civil Rights Data Collection to explore referrals to law enforcement of public high school students with intersectional identities (racial/ethnic, gender, dis/ability status). We ran negative binomial regressions via Stata 17.0 to predict risk by intersectional identities and utilized covariates including psychological supports, counselors, social workers, security guards, law enforcement officers, Title I status, and school size. Results indicate that school-based law enforcement officers predicted higher law enforcement referrals for Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan Native male students with and without disabilities. Psychological supports, however, predicted lower law enforcement referrals for Black males and American Indian/Alaskan Native male students with and without dis/abilities. As the nation addresses systemic racism in the public school system, the experiences of students with intersecting identities must be better understood.


SIR, For 12 months we have been using high speed Polaroid print film for 'instant' recording of fluorescein angiography and feel this might be of interest to your readers. The main problem with using conventional film to record fluorescein angiography is that there is an inevitable delay while the film is developed. In our experience, even with an automatic film processor, this can lead to delay in assessment and treatment of patients. The use of direct positive Polaroid film for fluorescein angiography has been described by Jonasson,' but this method requires a special kit for development and takes several minutes of processing time. We have found that Polaroid print film, used with a conventional Polaroid print film back, is an inexpensive means of producing 'instant' recording of fluorescein angiography. The film that we have used is 612 Polaroid print film, which has a film speed of 20)00 ASA and is sold commercially for recording oscilloscope traces. It is designed to be sensitive particularly to blue-green and yellow light, making it ideal for recording fluorescein angiography. We have used it with the Zeiss fundus camera in the Polaroid back, and it requires a processing time of 30 seconds, depending on the room temperature, after which the film is normally peeled apart. The print requires to be coated with a protective chemical, which is provided with the film. The quality of the resulting photographs is acceptable for assessment of patients and is useful in situations where immediate recording of the angiogram is necessary (Fig. 1). We have used it to assess patients requiring urgent laser


Heart rate monitoring at home is a useful metric for assessing health e.g. of the elderly or patients in post-operative recovery. Although non-contact heart rate monitoring has been widely explored, typically using a static, wall-mounted device, measurements are limited to a single room and sensitive to user orientation and position. In this work, we propose mBeats, a robot mounted millimeter wave (mmWave) radar system that provide periodic heart rate measurements under different user poses, without interfering in a users daily activities. mBeats contains a mmWave servoing module that adaptively adjusts the sensor angle to the best reflection pro le. Furthermore, mBeats features a deep neural network predictor, which can estimate heart rate from the lower leg and additionally provides estimation uncertainty. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate accurate and robust operation of mBeats in a range of scenarios. We believe by integrating mobility and adaptability, mBeats can empower many down-stream healthcare applications at home, such as palliative care, post-operative rehabilitation and telemedicine.


3-Mercaptopicolinae (3-MP) blocks gluconeogenesis from lactate, pyruvate, alanine, and other substrates through its inhibition of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Nevertheless, we observed increased glycogenesis, net glucose uptake, and glucose-6-P levels in livers perfused with glucose in the presence of 3-MP. In perfusions with 20 mM dihydroxyacetone, increased glycogenesis and decreased glucose production were observed with 3-MP. These metabolic effects suggested additional site(s) of action of 3-MP. Further studies showed that 3-MP inhibits glucose-6-P phosphohydrolase activity of intact liver microsomes. Several compounds with structural similarities to 3-MP (2-mercaptonicotinic acid, picolinic acid, cysteine, reduced glutathione, nicotinic acid, quinolinic acid, tryptophan, and pyridine) were tested for their effect on glucose-6-P phosphohydrolase activity. Two of these compounds, 2-mercaptonicotinic acid and picolinic acid, were found to inhibit. In perfusions including 7.5 mM fructose, the addition of 3-MP, 2-mercaptonicotinic acid, or picolinic acid increased glycogenesis, decreased glucose production, and increased hepatic glucose-6-P concentrations. These observations indicate that the inhibition of glucose-6-P phosphohydrolase may play a role in enhanced glycogenesis from glucose, dihydroxyacetone, and fructose in isolated livers from 48-h fasted rats perfused with 3-MP or certain sulfhydryl-containing and sulfhydryl-devoid analogs.


ABSTRACT Capsule: This study documents evidence of interglacial refugia during the Last Interglacial for birds in the Mediterranean region, and emphasizes the importance of the Last Interglacial on the geographic distribution and genetic structure of Mediterranean species. Aims: We focused on the historical biogeography of the subalpine warbler complex: Subalpine Warbler Sylvia cantillans and Moltoni's Warbler Sylvia subalpina; we tested if this Mediterranean bird complex shared a similar demographic fate as the present-day widespread species in the temperate zones of Europe, through the late Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles. Methods: An ecological niche model was developed to predict the geographic distribution of the subalpine warblers under the past (the Last Interglacial and the Last Glacial Maximum) and the present bioclimatic conditions. Additionally, Bayesian Skyline Plot analysis was used to assess effective population size changes over the history of the subalpine warbler complex. Results: During the Last Glacial Maximum, the subalpine warblers almost reached their current distribution in the Mediterranean region; yet, unlike the widespread temperate bird species, they survived the Last Interglacial in allopatric refugia in the Mediterranean region. Conclusion: A unique biogeographic pattern was revealed, indicating the importance of the Last Interglacial on current distributional patterns and demographic histories of common bird species in the Mediterranean region. This study suggests that Mediterranean biogeography is far more complex than previously assumed, and so deserves further study and more attention.


Good health care delivery is one of the most essential social services and is the lifeline of a country's infrastructural development. Since most of Nigeria's disease burden is due to preventable diseases, the emerging ICTs have a significant role to play in a country's health care delivery industry. This research offers a distinctive perspective on the applications of ICTs in seven university teaching hospitals in Nigeria, with a focus on the University College Hospital, Ibadan. A research model that was proposed with its associations was tested using both qualitative and quantitative data collected from health workers (including those in training) and the clients/patients they serve.

For the first time, the perspectives of the beneficiaries of ICTs' usage in the health sector, apart from the health workers (i.e., the patients/clients), were considered. Hitherto, the few research studies and findings that are available in this area in Nigeria and other developing countries was focused only on the users of the ICTs, i.e., the health workers. The data presented here found evidence that health professionals were highly aware of the on-going trends in the adoption of ICTs and their applications for use in communication in the health sector, but the potential benefits of ICTs in the health sector have not been fully exploited by the Nigerian teaching hospitals that were studied. The study also found that there are many barriers to the implementation of e-health solutions in Nigeria, and that these barriers cause delays or hinder their use. The Nigerian health sector is compromised with a lack of infrastructure, services and expertise, limited resources, low literacy levels and professional associations. In addition to these inherent problems, shortcomings in the knowledge and skills of patients and health professionals in using ICT solutions present other challenges. Some of these obstacles pertain to ICT itself and, with time, they will be alleviated, while others relate to the challenges that ICT poses for health care organizations. This calls on different stakeholders to fully implement and mainstream ICT applications in the health sector so as to make them a reality, and not a myth, in promoting the access to, and the quality of, health services. ICTs and their applications offer the foundation for information sharing and exchange. In Nigeria, the journey is likely to be a lengthy one, with numerous obstacles, many of which are unique to health care settings that must be surmounted.

However, policy makers should realize that ICTs are not only necessary in the health sector for a well-adjusted society, but the lack thereof may render such a society obsolete.

The study also notes that the adoption of ICTs in an organization and/or in a society can be driven by many factors. Since the diffusion of innovation requires an understanding of people, hardware, software, communication networks and data resources that collect, transform and disseminate information, it has been suggested that theories from information systems are well suited to explain such aspects of the diffusion and adoption phenomena. This work has therefore proposed a hybrid of Rogers' (1995) Diffusion of Innovation Model and Venkatash et al.'s (2003) Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Both theories provide important insights into the factors influencing technology transfer in developing countries, and this has been demonstrated by the findings of this research study.


Recently, a new view into the molecular mechanisms of phosphate homeostasis and secondary hyperparathyroidism pathogenesis has been proposed, with Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 (FGF-23) as a novel player in the field. Enhanced serum FGF-23 levels cause a reduction in serum phosphate, together with calcitriol suppression and consequent hyperparathyroidism. In contrast, reduced serum FGF-23 levels are associated with hyperphosphatemia, higher calcitriol levels and parathyroid hormone (PTH) suppression. In addition, there are different FGF-23 actions that need investigation. In clinical practice, increased knowledge of mineral metabolism disorders alterations in chronic kidney disease (CKD) may be used to improve diagnostics and select future treatments. The discovery of FGF23 represents a novel factor in the pathogenesis of phosphate handling and secondary hyperparathyroidism in cardiovascular, bone and renal disease.


: In the review modern data on a role of various humoral factors (neuromediators, hormones, adipocytokines etc.) in regulation of appetite, food consumption and obesity are presented. The special attention is paid to the role of histamine and histamine receptors of H3-type in processes of regulation of a food intake. Interaction of various humoral factors is discussed at obesity and other alimentary-dependent diseases.


This study investigates the relationship between dividend policy and return on assets, return on equity and growth in assets. The study relies on companies quoted at the Nairobi stock Exchange to bring out the relationship between dividend policy and return on assets, return on equity and growth in assets. The analysis reveals that companies like Limuru Tea Co. ltd,Brooke Bond, ICDC Investment, BAT Kenya and NIC Bank have maintained a very high dividend payout ratio throughout the period of study. Some companies also paid out dividends from the previous years profits like Kapchorua Tea Company in 1994. Certain companies did not payout any dividends throughout the period of study, such as Kenya orchards ltd. The additional findings are that, (i) The relationship between dividend payout and return on equity is not significant. However in 1998 the relationship was found to be significant. (ii) The relationship between dividend payout ratios and return on assets reveals that return on assets is significant. A possible interpretation is that manager's look at return on assets in determining dividend payout ratios. (ii) The relationship between average growth in assets and dividend payout ratio is not significant. However in 1995 the relationship was significant. From the findings the dividend payout ratios, return on assets, return on equity and growth in assets have been decreasing over the period of study which may suggest that managers are not necessarily using retained earnings to generate greater returns for shareholders.


Management and organization literature has extensively noticed the crucial role that improvisation assumes in organizations, both as a learning process (Miner, Bassoff & Moorman, 2001), a creative process (Fisher & Amabile, 2008), a capability (Vera & Crossan, 2005), and a personal disposition (Hmielesky & Corbett, 2006; 2008). My dissertation aims to contribute to the existing literature on improvisation, addressing two general research questions: 1) How does improvisation unfold at an individual level? 2) What are the potential antecedents and consequences of individual proclivity to improvise? This dissertation is based on a mixed methodology that allowed me to deal with these two general research questions and enabled a constant interaction between the theoretical framework and the empirical results. The selected empirical field is haute cuisine and the respondents are the executive chefs of the restaurants awarded by Michelin Guide in 2010 in Italy.
The qualitative section of the dissertation is based on the analysis of 26 inductive case studies and offers a multifaceted contribution. First, I describe how improvisation works both as a learning and creative process. Second, I introduce a new categorization of individual improvisational scenarios (demanded creative improvisation, problem solving improvisation, and pure creative improvisation). Third, I describe the differences between improvisation and other creative processes detected in the field (experimentation, brainstorming, trial and error through analytical procedure, trial and error, and imagination).
The quantitative inquiry is founded on a Structural Equation Model, which allowed me to test simultaneously the relationships between proclivity to improvise and its antecedents and consequences. In particular, using a newly developed scale to measure individual proclivity to improvise, I test the positive influence of industry experience, self-efficacy, and age on proclivity to improvise and the negative impact of proclivity to improvise on outcome deviation. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of the results are discussed.


Two samples of fatally injured male drivers were retrospectively compared with a normative population on 18 measures of personal and social adjustment by means of the Katz Adjustment Scales, a device for assessing the behavioral characteristics of persons through interviews with knowledgeable informants. Results obtained from the first sample were essentially replicated in the second, and suggest that fatalities in male drivers, on the average, are seen by informants as having been significantly more belligerent, negative, verbally expansive, hyperactive, and displaying more psychopathology than comparable normative males. Prior existence and prominence of these traits among the cases studied was supported by Department of Motor Vehicles records indicating a high incidence of traffic violations and by excessive blood alcohol levels at autopsy in the majority. The lack of association in these samples between the behavioral traits implicated and either age or blood alcohol level at autopsy suggests the conclusion that whether young or old, drinking or nondrinking, the socially obstreperous driver is at increased risk of becoming a fatality.