Pyrenophora teres the causal organism of barley net blotch disease is responsible for substantial loss in crop yield with yield losses as high as 40% under favourable conditions. Current control measures are achieved using an integrated approach, combining chemical control, the use of resistant cultivars and crop hygiene practices. In this study several bacterial isolates from soils around Ireland were screened for their potential to act as biological control agents against this pathogen. In vitro and in vivo tests identified four bacterial isolates, namely; Pseudomonas fluorescens strain MKB100 and MKB156, Pseudomonas sp. MKB158 and MKB194 having the potential to reduce disease development compared to control test plants. There was a significant positive correlation between the effects o f P. teres alone, or in combination with Ps. fluorescens strain MKB100 or MKB156, Pseudomonas sp. MKB158 or Pseudomonas sp. MKB194 on net blotch disease development on seedling and detached leaf assays o f barley cultivars Lux and Tavern (r = 0.996 and 0.932, P <0.01, P < 0.05 respectively). Under glasshouse conditions, Ps. fluorescens MKB100 and MKB156 bacterial isolates reduced disease development in barley seedlings by 70 and 69%, respectively when compared to control plants. Pseudomonas fluorescens strains MKB100 and MKB156 significantly inhibited the development o f disease symptoms in the barley cultivar Lux under field conditions, with Ps. fluorescens MKB156 reducing the percentage diseased leaf area by 54% compared to P. teres inoculated control plants. Irrespective of bacterial isolate, bacterial application prefungal inoculation was generally more effective in reducing the AUDPC for net blotch disease than was application post-/*, teres inoculation. Future success o f these potential biological control agents will depend on their ability to consistently suppress net blotch under field conditions and on their ability to remain viable if integrated into V 1 t !s£'i ^ /■'M a disease control program. .#ini.O's -


In the assembly of a prespliceosome, U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) functions in pre-messenger RNA (mRNA) splicing together with splicing factors (SFs) 3a, SF3b, and several other proteins. The 17S but not the 12S form of U2 snRNP is active in splicing-complex formation. Here it is shown that the SF3a subunits correspond to three of the 17S U2 snRNP-specific polypeptides. SF3a interacts with U2 snRNP in the presence of SF3b to generate a structure similar to 17S U2 snRNP, which suggests a function for SF3a and SF3b in the incorporation of U2 snRNP into the spliceosome. Furthermore, the 60-kilodalton subunit of SF3a is related to the yeast splicing protein PRP9.


The timing of the seasonal activity of organisms is a tractable indicator of climate change. Many studies in North America have investigated the role of temperature on the onset date of phenological transitions in temperate deciduous trees and found that the onset of leafing and flowering in numerous species has occurred earlier in recent years, apparently in response to higher temperatures in winter and spring. Few studies have examined the climatic and biogeographic drivers of phenological responses in water‐limited ecosystems or explored interspecific variation in responses of phenological metrics other than the timing of onset, such as the periodicity or duration of phenological activity. This study used phenological observations of four species of Quercus contributed to the USA National Phenology Network database from 2009 to 2014 to investigate how responses to climate (temperature and precipitation) and geographic location (latitude, longitude and elevation) varied among two western North American species (Q. agrifolia and Q. lobata) and two eastern and central North American species (Q. alba and Q. rubra). Within years, in species in the western, water‐limited ecosystems, the phenological phases observed here (bud break, flowers or flower buds) tend to occur intermittently throughout the growing season, and each event is of longer duration than the same phenophases of the temperate‐zone species, rendering a single onset date an incomplete metric with which to track responsiveness or to compare species. By contrast, the eastern/central U.S. species were phenologically more responsive than the western species to spatial and temporal variation in winter, spring, and fall precipitation and maximum temperature. Synthesis. Within and between regions these congeners exhibited a diversity of responses to seasonal temperature and precipitation. This indicates that for predictive model development it is critical to understand how each underlying driver influences species that are adapted to different climatic regimes. These results underscore the value of studying a range of phenological metrics and species from a variety of ecosystems to better predict phenological responses to short‐term variation and to long‐term change in climate.


By the end of medical school at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) in 1969, I began my specialization in pediatrics. Immediately, my mentor, Professor Helmut Loeb led me into pediatric diabetes which was non-existent in Belgium. Forty years later, the diabetes clinic for children and adolescents at the University Children's Hospital Queen Fabiola in Brussels has the largest number of young patients in Belgium, social medical activities and clinical research, with the best protective glycated hemoglobin levels (proven in international comparisons from Hvidore Study Group on Childhood Diabetes) in relation to potentially invalidating complications in the short and long term. Nevertheless, this wasn't obvious, because to stay humanistic, the fight was very hard. Over four decades, hospital life changed: balkanisation of pediatrics at ULB and competition in the same field; overrun by administrative and political power at the expense of medical freedom; weakening of the medical status at university hospitals in order to dominate and break solidarity; emphasis of financial gain instead of better quality of care and treatment. Fortunately, despite all of these pitfalls, some doctors and administrators are still able to maintain non-profit quality care for all and in our interests as a whole. Moreover, Belgian Social Security has recognized pediatric diabetic centers and subsidizes the pluridisciplinary teams of which the standards have been fairly defined. If type 1 diabetes occurs in younger and younger children, the future of pediatric diabetology will also include type 2 diabetes whose rates are exponential in countries where "fast food" reigns along with little physical exercise. Belgium is about 10 years behind what's happening in the United States....


Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) is an established calcium-mobilizing messenger, which is well-known to activate Ca2+ signaling in many cell types. Contractile cardiomyocytes express hormone receptors that are coupled to the production of InsP3. Such cardioactive hormones, including endothelin, may have profound inotropic and arrhythmogenic actions, but it is unclear whether InsP3 underlies any of these effects. We have examined the expression and localization of InsP3 receptors (InsP3Rs), and the potential role of InsP3 in modulating cardiac excitation-contraction coupling (EC coupling). Stimulation of electrically-paced atrial and ventricular myocytes with a membrane-permeant InsP3 ester was found to evoke an increase in the amplitudes of action potential-evoked Ca2+ transients and to cause pro-arrhythmic diastolic Ca2+ transients. All the effects of the InsP3 ester could be blocked using a membrane-permeant antagonist of InsP3Rs (2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate; 2-APB). Furthermore, 2-APB blocked arrhythmias evoked by endothelin and delayed the onset of positive inotropic responses. Our data indicate that atrial and ventricular cardiomyocytes express functional InsP3Rs, and these channels have the potential to influence EC coupling.


Objectives: 2D bar coding is one of the methods to enable the health /medical data portability for prior and existing health care record system. Several field trial of PHR (Personal Health Record) project has been carried out in Japan. For standardize CTG digital record for PHR, we proposed MFER for CTG and data expression by 2D bar code (QR code). Methods: 1) Digital CTG recording signal was formatted adding a special profile header for MFER. 2) Two types of waveform data description format for MFER ware proposed, row data mode and compressed mode. 3) Row mode contained 2ch of FHR signals at 250msec and 1ch of tocogram signals at 1 sec whereas compressed mode contained FHR of 1 sec and tocogram of 2 sec. 4) QR code format v.15 (cell size 77 × 77) of error correction level M was applied for this trial. 5) Based on the MFER proposal, experimental system of CTG QR code generator and viewer was developed. ref: QR code http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/index-e.html MFER http://18.104.22.168/ikiw/index.php?en Results: Using level v15 format QR code, 600 bytes of data were encoded to one cell. One cell of QR code included 113 sec of recording. Using consecutive 16 QR cells could handle 30.2 min of serial CTG recording. Using iPad, QR coded CTG was successfully replayed. Conclusions: CTG recording format for EHR/PHR by MFER was proposed. Further study was required to confirm clinical feasibility, QR code format of CTG should be one of the cost beneficial way for PHR/EHR.


A cost-effective coordinate rotation digital computer (CORDIC) architecture is described for the computation of inverse kinematic position solution based on a functional decomposition of the closed-form joint equations. The functional decomposition shows a limited amount of parallelism with a large amount of sequentialism in the flow of computation and data dependencies and reveals the requirement for computing a large set of elementary operations: multiplications, additions, divisions, square roots, trigonometric functions and their inverse. However, these elementary operations, in general, cannot be efficiently computed in general-purpose uniprocessor computers. The CORDIC algorithms are the natural candidates for efficiently computing these elementary operations and the interconnection of these CORDIC processors to exploit the great potential of pipelining provides a better solution for computing the inverse kinematic position solution. The functional decomposition of the inverse kinematic position solution into a set of computational tasks can be represented as a directed task graph. The inclusion of input data modifies the task graph to an acyclic data dependency graph (ADDG). The nodes of the ADDG correspond to the computational modules, each of which can be realized by a CORDIC processor. The operands or data move along the edges, each of which connects a pair of nodes. Due to different paths and computation time for each CORDIC processor, operands may arrive at multi-input modules at different arrival time, causing a longer pipelined time. Delay buffers may be inserted at various paths to achieve a balanced ADDG. The optimal buffer assignment problem is reduced to an integer linear optimization problem which can be solved easily by computers. The realization of the balanced ADDG results in a maximum pipelined CORDIC architecture with a minimum number of delay buffer stages for the computation of inverse kinematic position solution.


To improve the efficacy of gemcitabine (GEM) for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer via local hyperthermia potentiated via a multi‐functional nanoplatform permitting both in vivo heating and drug delivery is the goal of this study. Here, a chemohyperthermia approach to synergistically achieve high intra‐tumoral drug concentrations, while permitting concurrent hyperthermia for more effective tumor cell kill and growth inhibition, is proposed. Drug delivery and hyperthermia are achieved using a hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)‐grafted porous magnetic drug carrier that is MRI visible to permit in vivo visualization of the biodistribution. These synthesized magnetic drug carriers produce strong T2‐weighted image contrast and permit efficient heating using low‐magnetic‐field intensities. The thermomechanical response of HPC permits triggered GEM release confirmed during in vitro drug release studies. During in vitro studies, pancreatic cancer cell growth is significantly inhibited (≈82% reduction) with chemohyperthermia compared to chemotherapy or hyperthermia alone. Using PANC‐1 xenografts in nude mice, the delivery of injected GEM‐loaded magnetic carriers (GEM‐magnetic carriers) is visualized with both MRI and fluorescent imaging techniques. Chemohyperthermia with intra‐tumoral injections of GEM‐magnetic carriers (followed by heating) results in significant increases in apoptotic cell death compared to tumors treated with GEM‐magnetic carriers injections alone. Chemohyperthermia with GEM‐magnetic carriers offers the potential to significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy of GEM for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. In vivo delivery confirmation with non‐invasive imaging techniques could permit patient‐specific adjustments therapeutic regimens for improve longitudinal outcomes.


Research on the gender-wage gap shows equivocal evidence regarding its magnitude, which likely stems from the different wage-related variables researchers include in their calculations. To examine whether pay differentials solely based on gender exist, we focused on the earnings of top performing professionals within a specific occupation to rule out productivity-related explanations for the gender-wage gap. Specifically, we investigated the interaction of gender and age on the earnings of Hollywood top movie stars. The results reveal that the average earnings per film of female movie stars increase until the age of 34 but decrease rapidly thereafter. Male movie stars' average earnings per film reach the maximum at age 51 and remain stable after that.


The blood-brain barrier restricts the access of many compounds, including therapeutic agents, to the brain. Several human studies indicate that nasal administration of hydrophilic compounds, such as peptides, can bypass the blood-brain barrier. The aims of this thesis were to develop and refine models for this direct nose-to-brain transfer.In a mouse model, [3H]-dopamine was given as a unilateral nasal dose. The resulting radioactivity in the ipsilateral olfactory bulb was significantly higher than that in the contralateral bulb and peaked at 4 h. Tape section autoradiography showed that the radioactivity was concentrated in the olfactory nerve layer and the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb. The olfactory transfer of dopamine was also studied in vitro. At a lower donor concentration, the mucosal-to-serosal dopamine permeability was higher than the serosal-to-mucosal permeability, but at a higher concentration, the permeability coefficients were similar. Together, these results suggest that the olfactory transfer of dopamine has an active component.Olfactory transfer of fluorescein-labeled dextran through the epithelium and deeper tissues was studied in a rat model, which enabled visualization of the transfer using fluorescence microscopy. Although the epithelial transfer appeared to be mainly intracellular, transfer in the following deeper tissues was extracellular. Without altering the route of uptake, a gellan gum formulation enhanced the uptake of fluorescein dextran. The enhancing effect was considered likely to be the result of an increased residence time in the nasal cavity.In conclusion, dopamine and fluorescein-labeled dextran were identified as suitable model compounds for the study of olfactory drug transfer mechanisms and the influence of drug formulation. Two new in vitro models of olfactory transfer were compared. Also, a rat model, which enabled the visualization of the entire nose-to-brain transfer, was developed.


The city plays a major role in the dissemination of these technologies. Technological innovation is both the cause and effect of urban development, playing a decisive role in the structuring of cities but also representing a means of fulfilling emerging needs. Commonly defined as the transfer of scientific discoveries from one organisation to another for development and marketing purposes, the transfer of urban technologies to developing countries and the joint creation of adapted technologies have to respond to the major problems confronting the city's key players: public authorities, economic stakeholders and users. There are five particularly suitable areas for this transfer of technologies in the urban environment: water, energy, transport, sanitation and habitat.


Introduction. In [8], [9] R. Rautmann has given a systematic development of error estimates for the spectral Galerkin approximations of the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations (spectral in the sense that one chooses as basis functions the eigenfunctions of the Stokes operator). Error estimates are presented locally in time, valid on a finite interval determined by certain norms of the data. If one assumes the solution to be approximated is uniformly regular for / 3= 0, the method gives an error estimate which grows exponentially with time. Without further assumptions this is the best estimate that one can expect. However, as pointed out in [2] by J. G. Heywood, if one assumes, additionally, that the solution to be approximated is stable, then one obtains an error estimate which is uniform in time. Notice that the existence theory for the equations of viscous incompressible non-homogeneous fluids can be developed by Galerkin type approximation ([3], [5], [6]). Then one expects that some results in [2], [8], [9] hold for these equations. The paper deals with this problem. In §1 we give preliminaries. In §2 we consider error estimates in the L-norm and in the Dirichlet norm, locally in time. In §3 we consider a stability condition in the L-norm and obtain the best rate of convergence, uniform in time, for the spectral Galerkin approximations of the Navier-Stokes solution. We note that the problem of the best estimate was raised in [8 page 438]. In §4 we consider error estimates, uniform in time, for the solution of the equations of viscous incompressible non-homogeneous fluids.


The spectrometer sub-system of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) contains four channels which spectrally multiplex the incoming radiation. This incident radiation, spanning a wavelength range from 4.8 to 28.8μm is spectrally divided between the channels using sets of three dichroics combined in series along the optical trains. The four channels, with overlapping wavelengths 4.8-7.8, 7.4-11.9, 11.4-18.3 and 18.3-28.8μm, are in-turn each split into three wavelength ranges to provide the required resolving power with the available detector pixels. This splitting of the wavelengths within each channel is achieved using three separate sets of dichroics and diffraction gratings, mounted on two wheels. This paper describes the design of the dichroics together with a spectral performance model developed to simulate the system spectral throughput for each of the four channels of the MIRI instrument. Details of the spectral design, manufacture, testing and mounting of the dichroics are presented together with the opto-mechanical layout of the instrument.


We investigated the effect of postmatch cold-water immersion (CWI) on markers of muscle damage, neuromuscular fatigue, and perceptual responses within 72 h after a rugby match. Twenty-two professional male rugby players were randomized into CWI (10 °C/10 min; n = 11) or control (CON: 30 min seated; n = 11) groups. Activity profile from Global Positioning Satellite systems and postmatch rating of perceived exertion were measured to determined match load. Biochemical (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6), neuromuscular performance (squat (SJ) and countermovement jumps (CMJ), peak power output (PPO), rate of force development (RFD), stiffness, 10- and 30-m sprint time, and perceptual markers (soreness, perceived recovery) were obtained before and immediately after the match, and then at 30 min, 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h after the match. Magnitude-based inference and Cohen's effect size (ES) were used to analyze change over time and between groups. Thus, the higher/beneficial, similar/trivial, or lower/harmful differences were evaluated as follows: <1%, almost certainly not; 1% to 5%, very unlikely; 5% to 25%, unlikely; 25% to 75%, possible; 75% to 95%, likely; 95% to 99%, very likely; >99%, almost certainly. Changes were unclear for the match loads, sprint times, and perceptual markers between groups. Higher %ΔSJ at 24 h (very likely (ES = 0.75)) and in %ΔPPO_SJ at 48 h (likely (ES = 0.51)) were observed in CWI than in CON. Values in %ΔRDF_CMJ were higher immediately after (likely (ES = 0.83)), 30 min after (very likely (ES = 0.97)), and 24 h after the match (likely (ES = 0.93)) in CWI than in CON. Furthermore, %Δlog TNF-α were lower in the CWI group than in the CON group immediately after (almost certainly (ES = -0.76)), 24 h after (very likely (ES = -1.09)), and 72 h after the match (likely (ES = -0.51)), and in Δstiffness_SJ at 30 min after (likely (ES = -0.67)) and 48 h after the match (very likely (ES = -0.97)). Also, different within-groups effects throughout postmatch were reported. Implementing postmatch CWI-based strategies improved the recovery of markers of inflammation and fatigue in rugby players, despite no change in markers of speed or perceptual recovery.


Sequential and parallel image restoration algorithms and their implementations on neural networks are proposed in this paper. For images degraded by linear blur and contami- nated by additive white Gaussian noise, mimum a posteriori (MAP) estimation and regularization theory lead to the same high dimension convex optimization problem. The commonly adopted strategy (in using neural networks for image restoration) is to map the objective function of the optimization problem into the energy of a predefined network, taking advantage of its energy minimization properties. Departing from this approach, we propose neural implementations of iterative minimization algorithms which are first proved to converge. The developed schemes are based on modified Hopfield networks of graded elements, with both sequential and parallel updating schedules. An algorithm supported on a fully standard Hopfield network (binary elements and zero autoconnections) is also considered. Robustness with respect to finite numerical precision is studied, and examples with real images are presented.


Mass customization involves consumers in the design process by enabling them to customize a product through the use of a toolkit. The aim of this paper is to develop a profound understanding of constructing a solution space of mass customization toolkits and to examine the autonomy of the user in relation to the solution space. In this study a model is proposed that can be used to evaluate the solution space of mass customization toolkits. The model is based on target outcome and guidance and analyses toolkits by examining product attributes, mechanisms and choice in the solution space and guidance throughout the process of customization. The three main findings presented concern the emphasis of existing toolkits on customizing 'hard' product attributes, a strong focus on 'lower-level' product attributes, and the lack of uniqueness in the outcomes from current toolkits.


Circulation in Clifton Court Forebay (CCF) was simulated using the three-dimensional (3–D) hydrodynamic model UnTRIM. These numerical simulations were performed to provide a better understanding of circulation patterns, flow pathways, and residence time in Clifton Court Forebay in support of ongoing studies of pre-screen loss and fish facility efficiency for delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) at the California State Water Project (SWP) export facilities. The 3–D hydrodynamic model of CCF was validated through comparisons to observed water surface elevations inside CCF, and comparisons to observed drifter paths and velocity measurements collected by the U.S. Geological Survey as part of this study. Flow measurements collected near the radial gates for 2 days during relatively low inflows suggest that the Hills (1988) gate equations may over-estimate inflow by as much as 39% when the CCF radial gates are only partially opened. Several alternative approaches to improve the implementation of the radial gate flows in the UnTRIM model were evaluated. The resulting model accurately predicts water surface elevations and currents inside CCF over a range of wind and operating conditions. The validated model was used to predict residence time and other transport time scales for two 21-day simulation periods, one of very low daily SWP export pumping averaging 19.3 m3 s-1 and one for moderate daily SWP export pumping averaging 66.6 m3 s-1. The average transit time, indicating the time from entering CCF to reaching the fish facility, was estimated as 9.1 days for low export conditions and 4.3 days for moderate export conditions. These transport time scale estimates may be used to inform estimates of pre-screen losses inside CCF due to predation or other causes.


George VI Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, covering a total area of 25 000 km2. The northern ice front of George VI Ice Shelf presently marks the southernmost occurrence of recent ice-shelf retreat on the Antarctic Peninsula and according to some predictions the ice shelf is close to its thermal limit of stability. If these predictions are accurate and we are witnessing the first stages of retreat then it is critical that we take the opportunity to examine the ice shelf in its pre-collapse phase. This paper provides a review of the geological evolution, glaciology and interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere. We also discuss the present behaviour of the ice shelf, in the context of recent retreat of its northern and southern ice fronts, and outline several possible mechanisms for future ice shelf collapse. What emerges from this review is that the stability of George VI Ice Shelf is sensitive not only to the recent rapid regional atmospheric warming on the Antarctic Peninsula which has led to the gradual retreat of the northern and southern ice shelf fronts, but also to changes in ocean circulation, particularly intrusions of warm Upper Circumpolar Deep Water onto the continental shelf. It is likely that any future change in the stability of George VI Ice Shelf will involve a combined atmospheric and oceanic forcing.


The ray transference is central to the understanding of the first-order optical character of an optical system including the visual optical system of the eye.  It can be calculated for dioptric and catadioptric systems from a knowledge of curvatures, tilts and spacing of surfaces in the system provided the material between successive surfaces has a uniform index of refraction.  However the index of the natural lens of the eye is not uniform but varies with position.  There is a need, therefore, for a method of calculating the transference of systems containing such gradient-index elements.  As a first step this paper shows that the transference of elements in which the index varies radially can be obtained directly from published formulae.  The transferences of radial-gradient systems are examined.  Expressions are derived for several properties including the power, the front- and back-surface powers and the locations of the cardinal points.  Equations are obtained for rays through such systems and for the locations of images of object points through them.  Numerical examples are presented in the appen-dix. (S Afr Optom 2012 71(2) 57-63)


Groups associated with the design, operational, and training aspects of the International Space Station make extensive use of modeling and simulation tools. Users of these tools often need to access and manipulate large quantities of data associated with the station, ranging from design documents to wiring diagrams. Retrieving and manipulating this data directly within the simulation and modeling environment can provide substantial benefit to users. An approach for providing these kinds of data management services, including a database schema and class structure, is presented. Implementation details are also provided as a data management system is integrated into the Intelligent Virtual Station, a modeling and simulation tool developed by the NASA Ames Smart Systems Research Laboratory. One use of the Intelligent Virtual Station is generating station-related training procedures in a virtual environment, The data management component allows users to quickly and easily retrieve information related to objects on the station, enhancing their ability to generate accurate procedures. Users can associate new information with objects and have that information stored in a database.


were higher in both patient groups than in the controls but were isignificantly higher only in the non-toxic group (P<001). There was no significant difference in mean erythrocyte magnesium levels between the two patient groups. Diuretic therapy was documented in 33 of ithe patients; the mean plasma and erythrocyte magnesium levels in this group were 0-8 ± 007 and 2 275 ± 0-27 mmoil/l (1-6±0-14 and 4-55±0 54 mEq/l) respectively. Both measurements were significantly different from the contrl values, the plasma level being lower and the red cell level higher (P<0-005). Our results suggest that though diuretic therapy does cause a lowering of mean plasma magnesium levels (iby 64%) the reduction is only slight. This does not necessarily indicate an insignificant depletion of tissue stores, it merely reflects the inadequacy of sampling the plasma compartment. Erythrocyte measurements of magnesium, despite an approximately 3: 1 concentration ratio compared with plasnmga, are not appropriate for ithe detection of magnesium depletion since digoxin theraipy appeared to produce an increase in mean concentration of the ion, possibly by alterations in Na+/K+ ATPase activity in red cell membrnes. The absence of any correlation between plasa magnesium concentration and the incidence of digoxin toxicity suggest that the routine measurement of ithis ion is of little assistance in the detection of digoxin toxicity, the plasma digoxin assay ibeing of much greater value. However, plasma magnesium should be one of the measurements made in cases of equivo-cal digoxin toxicity complicated by an apparently normal plasma digoxin level. It has even been demonstrated recently2 that digitalis4nduced ventricula arrythmials can be albolished by magnesium chloride treatment in the presence of normal plasma magnesium levels.-We are, etc., DAVID W. HOLT ROY GOULDING Poisons Unit, Guy's Hospital, London S.E.1


This article examined the characterisation of Jojo in the ideational metafunction of Phiri's Ticklish Sensation. This was achieved by appealing tothe theoretical locale of transitivity model as espoused by Halliday (1966) in the theorisation of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Specifically, the study explored the characterisation of Jojo in the context of four research objectives, namely, to identify process-types attributed to Jojo; identify the transitivity patterns embedded in process-types attributed to Jojo; and to establish the stylistic significance of the identified transitivity patterns in the characterisation of Jojo. The study was mapped within the methodological frontiers of stylistics that foregrounded a quantitative and qualitative dimension to the research. Drawing from the nature of objectives, the research appealed to descriptive research design within which the qualitative approach complemented the quantitative approach. Within the qualitative and quantitative approaches, summative content analysis and descriptive statistics were used as methods for data analysis respectively. A diary and notebook were used as data collection aids because data were collected from published material namely the novel Ticklish Sensation. The data collection procedure proceeded as follows: having read the novel, characters were identified and the clauses embedding the identified characters were equally identified and isolated. The clauses associated to each character were later typed in Microsoft Excel according to process-types pending a transitivity analysis. Data analysis drew on Halliday (1971) and Simpson (2004)'s notions of transitivity profile and involved establishing the stylistic significance of the identified transitivity patterns in the characterisation of Jojo. Descriptive statistics was employed to support the qualitative discussion on characterisation of Jojo in Ticklish Sensation. The study revealed that Jojo is accorded Material Processes (MaPs), Mental Processes (MePs), Relational Processes (RePs), Verbal Processes (VePs) and Behavioural Processes (BePs) but denied Existential Processes (ExPs). The findings further indicated that Jojo is accorded a number of transitivity patterns such as use of Jojo as Actor in MaPs whose Goals are females; use of verbs of cognition, perception and affection in MePs; use of intensive RePs; and use of Quoted Verbiage in VePs. The findings revealed that the transitivity patterns attributed to Jojo are stylistically tailored to personify him as a character who is sex-obsessed, determined, sexually problematic, action-oriented and sexually undiplomatic. The implication arising from the findings is that transitivity patterns enhance characterisation. The study recommends that secondary school teachers, and college and university lecturers should apply the transitivity model as a tool in addressing characterisation in literary works.


An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of shade of three different baobab stands on the general biological productivity of millet and sorghum at Doba in northern Ghana in 2013. A purposive sampling technique was used to identify three natural baobab tree stands viz. Highly-clumped, moderately-clumped and isolated. Each stand type was replicated three times. The experimental plots were laid in two strata, consisting of large plots containing the three categories of baobab stands and subplots nested within the large plots containing the cereal food crops. Characteristics of the baobab trees, especially plant height and crown diameters were determined, whilst light intensities in plots were measured with the aid of hand-held light level sensor meters. Growth parameters and yield components of millet and sorghum were also assessed. The results showed that there were weak correlations among many aspects of productivity determinants and the height, crown spread and light intensity received in the three baobab stands.  However, in general, the light intensities received in both the east and the west cardinal points of the three baobab stands were significantly and positively correlated with millet plants height. Also, significant differences existed in millet plants dry weight at the western flanks of the trees, seed weight of millet at the eastern flanks of the trees, panicle weight of sorghum at both eastern and western flanks and seed weight of sorghum at the eastern flanks of the baobab trees.  Education of farmers to cultivate cereals at least two meters away from trunks of baobab trees whilst promoting growing of shade tolerant vegetables closer to the trunks of baobab trees could be recommended.  Keywords: Shading effect, baobab, millet, sorghum, productivity.


A great deal of scholarly attention has been devoted in recent years to the large-scale abandonment of new born babies in the European past, with special emphasis given to the staggering rates of infant mortality among the foundlings. For the most part, scholars have agreed with the foundling home officials of the past in assigning much of the blame for this excess mortality to the women who took in the foundlings as wetnurses and subsequently as foster mothers. This article takes issue with this view, based on an examination of the children abandoned at the foundling home of Bologna, Italy in the nineteenth century. Four cohorts of foundlings are examined - those abandoned in 1809-30, 1829-30, 1849-50, and 1869-70 (N=3615) - as we trace the changing pattern of infant and early childhood mortality. Longitudinal methods are used in examining the life course of these foundlings and the determinants of their mortality.


The Porsolt swimming test, which was originally designed as an experimental model to screen potential antidepressants demands that rats be forced to swim for 15 min in a narrow cylinder. Twenty four hours later they are retested for 5 min during which they stay immobile for approximately 70% of the time. The present study showed that hypophysectomized animals, 14 days after operation, were unable to retain the acquired immobility. Subcutaneous glucocorticoid administration did not restore the retention of acquired immobility in contrast to our earlier finding with adrenalectomized animals. The deficit in responsiveness to glucocorticoids was eliminated when the hypophysectomized rats received ACTH-(4-10)s.c. (20 micrograms/rat) every other day. Chronic treatment with only the peptide did not improve the impaired retention of hypophysectomized rats and a single ACTH-(4-10) injection 1 day or 1 h prior to initial testing was also ineffective. We conclude that the neurotrophic peptide ACTH-(4-10) permits the expression of the glucocorticoid effect on retention of acquired immobility in the swimming test.


urpose. Using radiocardiopulmonography to evaluate the cardioprotective effectiveness of hypoxic preconditioning (HP) during myocardial revascularization under extracorporeal circulation (EC). Material and methods. A total of 63 patients (mean age of 52.8 ± 1.4 years) who underwent coronary bypass surgery (CABG) under EC condition were examined. All patients had chronic heart failure of NYHA class I-III. Patients were randomized into 2 groups: study group comprised 33 patients who received HP during CABG; comparison group comprised 30 patients. Patients of both groups were comparable in regard to clinical and intraoperative data. The preconditioning was performed as a single-cycle 10-minute hypoxemia session followed by 5-min period of reoxygenation before global ischemia. Radiocardiopulmonography with 99mТс-pertechnetate was performed before and 6-8 days after surgery with the calculation of the parameters of cardiopulmonary hemodynamics. Results. In the examined patients before CABG we observed a decrease in the mean values of the cardiac output (MO), cardiac index (HI), stroke index (SI) and circulation efficiency ratio (CER) as a consequence of a decrease in the pumping function of the heart, as well as an increase in the pulmonary circulation time (TPUL) due to both arterial and venous components, which indicated the development of pulmonary hypertension and venous congestion of the left heart. In the postoperative period, positive statistically significant change in most parameters of cardiopulmonary hemodynamics occurred as a result of successful myocardial revascularization in patients of both groups: the values of MO, SI, CER increased, and halfemptying period of the left and right ventricles and the value of TPUL decreased. It should be noted that the positive dynamics of these parameters was statistically more pronounced in the patients of the study group. Also, in contrast to the comparison group, the arterial component of circulation in the lungs and the half-emptying period of the right ventricle significantly decreased in patients with HP, which indicated a reduction in pulmonary hypertension and a regression of right ventricular failure. On day 2 after surgery blood levels of creatine-kinase (CK) and CK-MB were increased in patients of both groups. The mean level of CK-MB was significantly higher (by 33%) in the comparison group relative to the study group (p = 0.046825), and the relative index (RI = CK-MB/CK x 100) in the study group did not exceed 6%. This data suggested that HP increased the tolerance of the heart to the effects of "ischemia-reperfusion". Conclusion. Hypoxic preconditioning exerted cardioprotective activity in patients undergoing open-heart surgery under EC.


This paper examines the strategies for profiling the phonological word in Alemannic, applying the typology of syllable and word languages. The diagnostic criteria selected for assessing the relevance of the phonological word include syllable structure, phonotactic restrictions, and word-profiling processes. Following on from previous synchronic and diachronic analyses (Nübling/Schrambke 2004; Szczepaniak 2007), I will provide a detailed account of the phonological word in Old Alemannic and in modern Alemannic dialects, which include Upper-Rhine Alemannic, Swabian, and South Alemannic. It will be shown that the relevance of the phonological word gradually increased in Alemannic, as can be gleaned from processes such as unstressed vowel reduction, unstressed vowel deletion, and consonant epenthesis. While vowel reduction created strong asymmetries between stressed and unstressed syllables, unstressed vowel deletion and consonant epenthesis increased syllable complexity at word and morpheme boundaries. In addition, Swabian was found to contain more word-related features than Upper-Rhine Alemannic and South Alemannic. Thus, the typology of syllable and word languages contributes to a better understanding of language variation and change in Alemannic.


Abstract A series of bio-based hybrid thermosets composed of maleinated acrylated epoxidized palm oil (MAEPO) and vinyl ester resin (VE) were produced using free radical-induced crosslinking. The amount of petroleum-based resin which was replaced by bio-resin (MAEPO) was varied from 5 to 20 wt%. The structure of the polymer systems was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and dynamic mechanical analysis. The mechanical properties of the VE/MAEPO resins were studied using tensile, flexural and impact tests. The result obtained from structural analysis revealed that for the polymer hybrids with up to 20 wt% bio-resin content, there is good compatibility between MAEPO and VE as no phase separation was observed for these systems. The prepared eco-friendly bio-based thermosetting resins exhibit remarkable improvement in toughness parameters, such as ductility and impact strength, thereby showing potential for use in composites and nanocomposites applications.


Several silicic units of the Trans-Pecos volcanic field have outcrop and thin-section scale features of lava flows but areal extents and aspect ratios of ignimbrites. These voluminous rocks (up to hundreds of cubic kilometres per unit) are quartz trachytes to low-silica rhyolites (68% to 72%SiO 2 ). Lava flow features include flow banding and folding, elongated vesicles, and autobreccias and vitrophyres at the base and top of units. Pyroclastic flow features include sheetlike geometry, lateral extents up to 70 km, aspect ratios as low as 1:700, and areal extents up to 3000 km 2 . A few of these units are clearly rheomorphic ignimbrites, but others show no unambiguous evidence of a primary pyroclastic origin. Although no adequate explanation currently exists for the origin of the latter, we evaluate two end-member hypotheses: (1) they are ignimbrites in which extreme rheomorphism has obliterated primary internal features, and (2) they are highly viscous lavas with unusually high heat retention or effusion rates that allowed them to spread over great areas. Either origin requires a rock type and eruptive mechanism not commonly recognized.


Nowadays the problem of introduction of resort fees in the territory of the Russian Federation is most acute and relevant. Therefore, this article is devoted to theoretical and practical issues of charging a resort fee, which has been introduced on a pilot basis from January 1, 2018 in four Russian regions. The authors have studied and systematized the results of public opinion polls on the introduction of resort fees in Russia, and analyzed the Russians' attitude towards the initiative. The main methods of studying the problem were system and retrospective analysis, expert assessments and sociological measurement based on the Internet questionnaire survey and opinion polls. In the course of the research a special attention was given to study the practices of implementing resort fees in foreign countries. The authors, basing themselves on the analysis of Russian and international experience, adduce arguments for and against the collection of resort fees. The article also substantiates existing approaches of media promotion of social and civil initiatives used in the field of tourism and resort policy.


The bias of galaxies with respect to the underlying matter distribution has long been an obstacle to constraining cosmology from measurements of galaxy clustering. Recent advancements in quantifying bias have made it possible to model galaxy clustering from linear to strongly non-linear scales, creating unique methods through which to constrain cosmological parameters that are complementary to more standard, large-scale techniques. These advances are encapsulated in the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD), in which the bias of galaxies is described at the level of individual dark matter halos. For a given cosmological model, the parameters that specify the number of galaxies that reside in each halo can be constrained by measurements of the galaxy correlation function. With these HOD parameters, the given cosmology model can be tested through a number of other clustering measures that are more sensitive to the underlying dark matter distribution. The clustering measures I investigate in this thesis are mass-to-light ratios, redshift-space distortions, and galaxy void statistics. Mass-to-light ratios of galaxy clusters are uniquely suited to the halo occupation approach because the HOD can specify the number of galaxies in a halo as a function ii of luminosity. Galaxy bias directly influences the amount of light per unit mass in a cosmological model. I combine HOD models with observational measurements of cluster M/L ratios to test varying cosmologies. Using the HOD to model galaxy clustering in redshift-space allows one to combine data from small and large scales to break the degeneracies that govern the application of models based on linear theory alone. I use numerical simulations to calibrate a new analytic model and apply this model to observations of the redshift-space correlation function from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Galaxy voids prove to be insensitive to the details of halo occupation or the cosmological model assumed. This makes void statistics a sensitive test for the underlying assumption of the HOD, which states that galaxy occupation is a function of halo mass only, and not dependent on larger-scale environment. Quantifying the limits of this assumption are necessary for confidence in the constraints the HOD places on cosmology, and for testing our current picture of galaxy formation.


In this paper, we explore the socioeconomic factors that hinder religious freedom. In doing so, we model religious regulation as a function of several socioeconomic variables for 142 countries. We find that both social and economic factors hinder religious freedom. Interestingly, our results illustrate that Christianity exerts a negative effect and Islam a positive effect on regulation of religion. However, the practice of Buddhism/Hinduism wields no significant effect on religious control. We argue that governmental regulation of religion may be modified by a regime change or constitutional reform. It is plausible that a progressive government or a reformed constitution to advocate religious freedom. Even with the softening of governmental control, cultural prejudices hostile to newer or diverse religions could prevail for many years.


It ain't no sin if you crack a few laws now and then, just so long as you don't break any. ~Mae West


PURPOSE This study evaluated the effect of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta2 and anti-TGF-beta2 antibody in a rodent model of posterior capsule opacification (PCO). METHODS An extracapsular lens extraction (ECLE) was performed in 72 Sprague-Dawley rats. At the end of the procedure, 10 microL TGF-beta2 (TGF-beta2-treated group), fetal calf serum (FCS)/phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; FCS/PBS-treated control group), a human monoclonal TGF-beta2 antibody (anti-TGF-beta2-treated group), or a null control IgG4 antibody (null antibody-treated control group) was injected into the capsule. Animals were killed 3 and 14 days postoperatively. Eyes were evaluated clinically prior to euthanatization, then enucleated and processed for light microscopy and immunohistochemistry afterward. PCO was evaluated clinically and histopathologically. Student's t-test and chi(2) were used to assess differences between groups. RESULTS There were no statistically significant clinical or histopathological differences in degree of PCO between the TGF-beta2- and FCS/PBS-treated groups at 3 and 14 days after ECLE. Nor were there differences between the anti-TGF-beta2- and the null antibody-treated groups, with the exception of the histopathology score for capsule wrinkling 3 days after ECLE (P = 0.02). alpha-Smooth-muscle actin staining was observed in the lens capsular bag only in areas where there was close contact with the iris. CONCLUSIONS No sustained effect of TGF-beta2 or anti-TGF-beta2 antibody on PCO was found in rodents at the dose and timing administered in this study. Iris cells may play a role in the process of epithelial mesenchymal transition linked to PCO.


The objective of this study is to quantify heat transfer direct cooling channel enhancements in single phase for optimal cooling. A device is created to mitigate hot spots in high voltage and high-power density electronics. This design study is for power modules with high heat fluxes specifically, SiC/Si-IGBT hybrid inverter systems requiring enhanced cooling. Experimental test for this heat sink device consists of flow loop tests through conventional hot plates with a first-generation heat sink device attached. This heat spreading device consists of an internal manifold design that is empirically correlated and simulated to help identify enhanced cooling techniques. Developing a framework of designing single nozzle manifolds to identify ideal angles of separation, nozzle chord lengths, and entrance/outlet region diameters for analysis of varying design layouts. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to create an effective process that offers optimal geometry configurations for jet impinging heat sink devices. The present analysis investigates and defines parameters to predict design behaviors for optimal thermal performance of a localized cooling heat spreading device.


Background: Soil contaminated with 4-chloronitrobenzene (4NCB) is resistant to microbial degradation due to the electron-withdrawing properties of the nitro and chloro groups in 4NCB. Currently, sufficient information is not available on how to use biostimulation strategies to enhance the bioremediation of 4NCB-contaminated soil.Results: In the present study, a novel strategy was developed by utilizing the synergistic effects of adding an organic reductant (ascorbic acid, VC) and an organic nitrogen source (peptone) to stimulate the biodegradation of 4NCB-contaminated soil. Using this strategy, the bioremediation of 1 g-4NCB/ kg-1 soil could be completed within 8 days in soil batch reactors. Furthermore, the study discovered two 4NCB cometabolic intermediates in the soil reactors added with peptone and VC, and for the first time, 4NCB was transformed to 4-chlorofromanilide.Conclusion: The proposed strategy is promising because it is highly efficient, easy to control and involves a non-toxic, environmentally friendly substrate/reductant.). Finally, this approach warrants future studies to extend its applications to soils contaminated with other nitroaromatic compounds.


Background and Aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disorder that involves central nervous system. Studies have showed that multiple sclerosis affects behavioral central auditory tests, such as masking release or masking level difference (MLD). The purpose of this study is to compare the masking level difference between multiple sclerosis patients and normal subjects. Methods: This cross sectional and non-interventional study was conducted on 32 multiple sclerosis patients aged between 20-50 years and 32 controls matched for age and gender in Faculty of Rehabilitation, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. masking level difference test was performed on each subject. Results: The mean masking level difference in the two groups was significantly different (p<0.01) however, gender did not prove to play a role in this difference. Conclusion: As part of the multiple sclerosis diagnosis panel, masking level difference test is an efficient modality for evaluation of hearing impairment and monitoring of rehabilitation progress.


BACKGROUND
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha has pleiotropic effects in cytokine-mediated inflammation underlying atherogenesis. Activation of this inflammatory process is assumed to be different in diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Previous studies in non-diabetic subjects showed no association between TNF-alpha -308G>A polymorphism and coronary artery disease.

METHODS
Vascular complications and cytokine serum concentrations were assessed as a function of the TNF-alpha -308G>A polymorphism in 76 diabetic patients on low-dose aspirin.

RESULTS
Of 76 adult diabetic patients, 18 (24%) carried the TNF-alpha -308A allele (17 AG, 1 AA) and 58 (76%) carried wild-type alleles (GG). Prevalence of macrovascular complications was 33% in TNF-alpha -308A allele carriers (AG+AA) and 78% in wild-type allele carriers (GG) (p<0.001). In contrast, prevalence of microvascular complications was 78% and 84%, respectively, and did not significantly differ between the study groups. TNF-alpha -308A allele carriers (AG+AA) compared to wild-type allele carriers (GG) had significantly lower median serum concentrations of hs-C-reactive protein (1.5 vs 2.9 mg/L, p=0.030), interleukin 1-beta (0.9 vs 1.2 ng/L, p=0.046), and interleukin-6 (3.6 vs 4.9 ng/L, p=0.023). In multiple regression analysis, the prevalence of macrovascular diabetic complications was significantly associated with TNF-alpha -308G>A polymorphism (p<0.001) and serum concentrations of HDL-cholesterol (p=0.007) while confounding effects of further variables were excluded.

CONCLUSION
TNF-alpha -308G>A polymorphism modulates cytokine serum concentrations and macrovascular complications in diabetic patients on aspirin. Diabetic carriers of the TNF-alpha -308A allele might benefit more from a prophylaxis with low dose aspirin than non-carriers.


Fan noise is one of the major sources of aircraft noise. This can be modelled by means of frequency and time domain CAA methods. Frequency domain methods based on the convected Helmholtz equation are widely used for noise propagation and radiation from turbofan intakes. However, these methods are unsuited to deal easily with turbofan exhaust noise and presently unable to solve large 3D (three-dimensional) problems at high frequencies. In this thesis the application of time-domain Discontinuous Galerkin Methods (DGM) for solving linearized Euler equations is investigated. The research is focused on large 3D problems with arbitrary mean flows. A commercially available DGM code, Actran DGM, is used. An automatic procedure has been developed to perform the DGM simulations for axisymmetric and 3D intake problems by providing simple control of all the parameters (flow, geometry, liners). Moreover, a new method for integrating source predictions obtained from CFD calculations for the fan stage of a turbofan engine with the DGM code to predict tonal noise radiation in the far field has been proposed, implemented and validated. The DGM is validated and benchmarked for intake and exhaust problems against analytical solutions and other numerical methods. The principal properties of the DGM are assessed, best practice is defined, and important issues which relate to the accuracy and stability of the liner model are identified. The accuracy and efficiency of the CFD/CAA coupling are investigated and results obtained are compared to rig test data. The influence of the 3D intake shapes and the mean flow distortion on the sound field is investigated for static rig and flight conditions by using the DGM approach. Moreover, it is shown that the mean flow distortion can have a significant effect on the sound attenuation by a liner.


T anatomical, morphometrical, histological and immunohistochemical studies of the major duodenal papilla were performed on the materials of 327 autopsy cases. The pancreatic heterotopia was revealed in 14,7% cases. This abnormality was associated with an existence of gallstone disease. More often the heterotopic pancreatic tissue was detected in the medial wall of the major duodenal papilla and its septum. Exocrine, complete and ductular histological variants of pancreatic heterotopia were revealed. The latter existed either as a morphological basis of papillary adenomas with cellular hyperplasia possessing smooth muscle immunophenotype, or as the result of atrophy and sclerosis of the exocrine heterotopic structures. K ey words: heterotopic pancreatic tissue; major duodenal papilla; papilla of Vater; morphology. Сетевой научно-практический журнал


The rising costs of clinical trials for medical devices in recent years has led to an increased interest in so-called in silico clinical trials, where simulation results are used to supplement or to replace those obtained from human patients. Here we present a framework for executing such a trial. This framework relies heavily on ideas already developed for model verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification. The framework uses results from an initial cohort of human patients as model validation data, recognizing that the best model credibility evidence usually comes from real patients. The validation exercise leads to an assessment of the model's suitability based on pre-defined acceptance criteria. If the model meets these criteria, then no additional human patients are required and the study endpoints that can be addressed using the model are met using the simulation results. Conversely, if the model is found to be inadequate, it is abandoned, and the clinical study continues using only human patients in a second cohort. Compared to other frameworks described in the literature based on Bayesian methods, this approach follows a strict model build-validate-predict structure. It can handle epistemic uncertainties in the model inputs, which is a common trait of models of biomedical systems. Another idea discussed here is that the outputs of engineering models rarely coincide with measures that are the basis for clinical endpoints. This manuscript discusses how the link between the model and clinical measure can be established during the trial.


Optical fiber array is a key component in the assembly of planar optical waveguide devices and enable greater channel counts than previously. However, assembling optical fiber array has been a challenge due to the stringent performance and reliability requirements posed by optical fiber communication applications. This paper investigates the causes of the failures involving the adhesive including: surface contamination, air entrapment, uneven curing, curing shrinkage; and thermal expansion coefficient mismatch.


Giant cell (temporal) arteritis (GCA) may be a cause of fever of unknown origin (FUO) in elderly patients. The development of secondary (reactive) amyloidosis is an unusual complication of the disease. We describe a 65-year-old male patient who was hospitalized in our hospital with FUO and was diagnosed as having GCA 5 years later. At that time, he also had a nephrotic syndrome and secondary amyloidosis (AAtype). He died due to end-stage renal failure. The probable explanation for the development of this rare complication might be the late diagnosis of this chronic inflammatory disease, which was left untreated for a long period of time.


Galaxies with the mass of the Milky Way dominate the stellar mass density of the universe but it is uncertain how and when they were assembled. Here we study progenitors of these galaxies out to z = 2.5, using data from the 3D-HST and CANDELS Treasury surveys. We find that galaxies with present-day stellar masses of log (M) ≈ 10.7 built ∼90% of their stellar mass since z = 2.5, with most of the star formation occurring before z = 1. In marked contrast to the assembly history of massive elliptical galaxies, mass growth is not limited to large radii: the mass in the central 2 kpc of the galaxies increased by a factor of between z = 2.5 and z = 1. We therefore rule out simple models in which bulges were fully assembled at high redshift and disks gradually formed around them. Instead, bulges (and black holes) likely formed in lockstep with disks, through bar instabilities, migration, or other processes. We find that after z = 1 the growth in the central regions gradually stopped and the disk continued to be built up, consistent with recent studies of the gas distributions in z ∼ 1 galaxies and the properties of many spiral galaxies today.


While both postindustrial and emerging states face economic, cultural, and political changes, the constant of oppression remains. Economically and culturally marginalized groups continue to endure untold degrees of suffering. From a moral point of view, it is imperative that social scientists attend to the needs of the oppressed This paper examines the dynamics of oppression in postindustrial and emerging states from both a psychological and political perspective. The reality of oppression may be understood from various levels of analysis, from the macrolevel of global economic and political structures, to the microlevel of internalized psychological images of inferiority. A comprehensive analysis of oppression will emerge only from an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the political with the psychological. Otherwise, efforts to reduce conditions of oppression will be inhibited by limited perspectives that neglect either the internal or external domains. We explore some of the psychological mechanisms accounting for oppression, such as learned helplessness, internalization of hegemonic self-rejecting views, and obedience to authority. Some of the political mechanisms accounting for oppression in emerging countries include the oppressive structure of international financial systems and internal colonization. We conclude by outlining the process of conscientization necessary to overcome conditions of oppression at all levels of analysis.


Abstract This study examines how creative solutions to translation problems are negotiated and selected in 'poettrios' (teams consisting of a source poet, a target-language poet and a bilingual language mediator working from pre-prepared, literal translation drafts of poems), and compares creativity in this mode to that in solo poetry translating (Jones 2011). The interactions and outputs taken from real-time recordings, work-in-progress drafts and participant interviews from several poettrios translating original poems from English into Dutch and from Dutch into English in two workshops were coded and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results show that creativity in poetry translating is an eminently cognitive activity in which creative solutions typically emerge through the incremental contributions of the complementary expertises of the individual poettrio members, with occasional radical leaps. In this incremental scaffolding process, and similarly to solo translating, poettrios first consider non-creative options, then creative adjustments and, finally, creative transformations. Radical solutions are generally only accepted when a departure from the source-text surface meaning is deemed necessary to achieve the double aim of retaining the source poem's message while producing an acceptable poem in the target culture (Holmes 1988).


Medical prognosis is the prediction of the future course and outcome of a disease and an indication of the likelihood of recovery from that disease. Prognosis is important because it is used to guide the type and intensity of the medication administered to patients. Patients are usually concerned with how long they will survive after diagnosis. Survival analysis describes the analysis of data that corresponds to the time from when an individual enters a study until the occurrence of some particular event or end-point. It is concerned with the comparison of survival curves for different combinations of risk factors. Analytical methods that are transparent for the clinician's understanding and explain individual inferences need to be considered when dealing with medical data. This thesis describes a methodology for modelling survival by utilising the application of the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). A hybrid intelligent system which combines the fuzzy logic qualitative approach and adaptive neural network capabilities towards better performance. The ANFIS approach was applied in modelling survival of breast cancer based on patient groups derived from the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI). A comparison of the proposed method with the existing methods in the capability to predict the survival rate is presented. The use of a fuzzy inference system (FIS) in modelling survival is expected to offer the capability to deliver the process of turning data into knowledge that can be understood by people. The design of rules can be performed either by human experts or using appropriate iii approaches to build high quality FIS to represent the knowledge. In this thesis, represent an automatic generation of membership functions and rules from the data. Further, corresponding subsequent adjustments have been made to the model to give towards more satisfactory performance. The final premise and consequent parameters obtained are then used to predict the survival for each time interval. A framework for modelling survival with the application of fuzzy inference system and back-propagation neural network was developed and is described in this thesis. In this framework, a different way of partitioning the input space can be selected to define the membership functions for examples using expert knowledge, equaliser partitioning, fuzzy c-means or subtractive clustering techniques. Further, the rule base can be established by enumerating all possible combinations of membership functions of all inputs. After the initialisation of the fuzzy inference structure, the replication data (until time to event) will be subject to training using the gradient descent and nonnegative least square algorithm to estimate the conditional event probability. This framework is validated over a synthetic dataset and a novel dataset of patients following operative surgery of ovarian cancer. The proposed framework can be applied to estimate the hazard and survival curve between different prognostic factors and survival time with the explanation capabilities.


Background: Socioeconomically disadvantaged adults experience greater healthcare disparities and increased risk of depression compared to higher-income groups. Aim: To create a depression care model for disadvantaged adults utilizing service agencies, through a community–academic partnership. Methods: Using participatory research methods, an organizational needs assessment was performed to ascertain depression care needs, identify barriers to clients receiving treatment, and marshal resources. Interviews and surveys were conducted with community organizational leaders. Focus groups were conducted with clients who used the service agencies. Results: Interviews and surveys identified barriers including discontinuity of care and unmet basic needs for food, housing, health insurance and transportation. Focus groups enriched the understanding of barriers including lack of motivation to seek depression care, lack of social support and needed resources for the uninsured, underinsured and homeless. The findings were used to develop a depression care model combining depression management with motivational interviewing to evaluate and meet needs, and peer education to motivate and provide support. Conclusions: This partnership facilitated the development of a community-driven intervention that academic researchers acting alone could not realize. To provide depression care to socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, the intervention must include mitigating solutions to barriers.


In many sectors, companies model and optimize their business processes in order to better manage the external value that comes from these processes. Supporting the execution of corporate business processes with an optimal set of IT investments is crucial to a company's success. However, existing business process management (BPM) approaches do not integrate methods for evaluating and selecting efficient IT investments and traditional evaluation methods are often inadequate. This paper proposes an extension that aims at a more adequate valuation, allocation, and selection of IT investments with respect to the requirements of the given corporate business processes. Such an extension allows decision makers in process-oriented organizations to interactively determine and continually optimize IT investments. At the same time, the extension improves the decision makers' awareness of the efficiency of their investments and, thus, reduces the gap between technology and business by further completing the traditional BPM methodology. This paper implements such an approach in a decision support system and illustrates its application by means of an example.


Abstract The genus Aloe comprises over 400 species of flowering succulent plants. Aloe leaves are used in the treatment of asthma, gastrointestinal ulcers, cardiovascular disease, tumors, burns, and diabetes. They are rich in anthraquinones, such as aloin, aloe-emodin, chrysophanol, aloinoside A, and aloinoside B. The various species of Aloe show chemical and morphological similarity and diversity, which depend on the genotype and environmental conditions. In a continuity to our interest in the genus Aloe, this study targets the authentication of eight different Aloe species, Aloe vera (A1), Aloe arborescens (A2), Aloe eru (A3), Aloe grandidentata (A4), Aloe perfoliata (A5), Aloe brevifolia (A6), Aloe saponaria (A7), and Aloe ferox (A8), grown in Egypt by using the technique of random amplified polymorphic DNA. Twelve decamer primers were screened in amplification with genomic DNA extracted from all species, of which five primers yielded species-specific reproducible bands. Out of 156 loci detected, the polymorphic, monomorphic, and unique loci were 107, 26, and 23, respectively. Based on a dendrogram and similarity matrix, the eight Aloe species were differentiated from each other and showed more divergence. Aloe species prevailed similarity coefficients of 54–70 % by which they could be classified into three major groups. Thus, this technique may contribute to the identification of these Aloe species that have great morphological similarity in the Egyptian local markets.


I was impressed again that the South was still a rich area, rich in antiquities and still producing new sounds. Whatever there remained of creativity in our American folk tradition lay here, waiting for a careless and success-mad world to notice it. --Alan Lomax, 1960 The microphone never gets the same recognition as the breakdowns, ballads, and blues that it records. Yet with it, John and Alan Lomax preserved much of the South's musical diversity and created a national audience for traditional southern music. Between them the father-son team spent over fifty years recording southerners and their music in homes, churches, and fields. They carried their microphones over back roads, down rivers, and up hills, determined to collect the music in the places where it thrived, seeking what Alan Lomax called "music with the bark on." Their single-minded determination resulted in perhaps the most complete sonic maps of the South ever compiled, and made the microphone one of the region's most important instruments. John A. Lomax was born in 1867 near Goodman, Mississippi, into what he later described as "the upper crust of the `po' white trash'." In 1869 John's father, looked down upon by a brother who married money, and having little hope for advancement in an economy dominated by wealthy landowners, packed his family into a covered wagon and began the long journey to the wilds of Texas. The backbreaking labor required to work the farm held few attractions for young John. Using the proceeds from a wheat crop he tended, and from the sale of his beloved pony, he enrolled in Granbury College in 1887 to obtain a teaching certificate. A few years later he entered the University of Texas where he became increasingly interested in collecting the cowboy songs he had heard as a young farmhand. A year of graduate studies at Harvard brought John into contact with some of the nation's leading folksong scholars, who urged him to systematically collect the folksongs of the western range. By 1910 he was back in Texas, teaching at the state university and roaming cattle-country with pencil, paper, and book contract in hand. The governor derided the project as unfit for a member of the university faculty, and even some of the cowboys proved truculent. When John sang a ballad to demonstrate the kind of songs he was after, one cowpoke arose and said, "Only a damn fool would spend his time tryin' to set 'em down." Despite these obstacles John persisted, collecting from both whites and blacks. The material was published in 191 o under the title Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, and it carried a warm endorsement from Theodore Roosevelt. Despite the book's positive reception, John struggled to cobble together a career that joined his interest in folksong and the necessities of providing for a growing family. A political fracas cost him a job at the University of Texas, and a career as a bond salesman evaporated with the onset of the Great Depression. By 1932 he was out of work and desperate. At the very nadir of his crisis, however, he convinced Macmillan to offer him a book contract for a collection of American folksongs. It was then, he later remembered, that "I turned the corner to where a little light was shining." To supplement material that he and others had already gathered, John and his seventeen-year-old son, Alan, decided to make a journey through the South. Folk music's vitality lies in its relationship to labor, worship, and recreation, but the lack of portable recording equipment had prevented collectors from recording the music in its context. The result was an accumulation of more paper than sound. Musical transcriptions, printed lyrics, and articles in folklore journals failed to convey the kind of immediacy John and Alan were after. So they commissioned a custom-built, portable recorder that they could take into the field. In return for depositing the recordings in its newly created Archive of American Folksong, the Library of Congress agreed to finance the machine's construction. …


Digital audio watermarking is mainly used for ownership protection of digital audio. In this research, an audio watermarking method is presented which can be adopted in real-time situations due to its high speed in both embedding and detecting stages. This approach has a higher payload in comparison with similar recent approaches. In the proposed algorithm, which uses a time-domain synchronization, to embed the watermark, the audio signal is first split into a number of blocks. Then the watermark is embedded into the FFT components of audio signal with greater magnitudes. Unlike common audio watermarking methods that use the 1-bit embedding approach, in the proposed scheme, a 2-bit embedding approach is presented which doubles the embedding payload compared to a number of similar works. The evaluation results on different audio signals demonstrate that the new scheme is faster and more transparent compared to its counterparts. The presented watermarking is found robust enough against the common attacks like additive noise, MP3 compression, low pass filtering, re-sampling and re-quantization. Using FPGA implementation/evaluation, the time complexities of the major parts of the proposed algorithm are reported.


In Indonesia, Melaleuca leucadendron Oil is only produced in several regions, including the District of Buru, Ambon, Seram, New Guinea, Java, and Borneo. This condition is a good opportunity to develop Agro Oil White Wood, White Wood Oil Agro-industry presence in the operations must be taken to ensure that producers are able to survive in a market situation that took place, so hopefully will create an effective and efficient market. This study aims to analyze the structure of eucalyptus oil agro-industry market. Determiningthe location of the research done by purposive (deliberately) that is in the Regency of Buru as the largest producer of eucalyptus plants in the Moluccas. Data analysis methods used were qualitative (descriptive) and quantitative analysis. Descriptive analysis is used in the determination of market structure include the degree of product differentiation, barriers to market entry, and the level of market knowledge and determination of market behavior including pricing policies, institutional system of market and marketing functions. The quantitative analysis used to determine the degree of market concentration that is measured market share. The results of this study indicate that the market structure of Melaleuca leucadendron Oil agro-industry in the regency of Buru including in markets characterized by monopolistic competition there are many sellers in the market with the same basic product but have been differentiated. From the results of existing research suggested that Melaleuca leucadendron Oil industry need to consider the market structure in determining the price. Melaleuca leucadendron Oil agro need to increase production and marketing activities by creating the uniqueness of the diversification of products so that manufacturers can increase revenue and avoid market saturation.


Adaptive antenna arrays can be used to improve the performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) wireless communications systems. The unique structure of OFDM suggests adaptation in the frequency domain after the FFT demodulation. A number of authors have looked at adaptive weighing schemes for individual and preformed groups of subcarrier frequency bins to achieve spatial diversity and thereby improve performance in strong interference and cochannel signal scenarios. In this paper two OFDM frequency domain weighting architectures, borrowed from the radar community, will be examined that address serious channel distortion and interference conditions that can disrupt the orthogonal subband nature of OFDM and degrade performance. The new algorithms exploit the induced correlation between subcarriers under these stressing conditions and can therefore improve performance.


The removal performance of nitrate using capacitive deionization (CDI) of activated carbon (AC)-based electrodes were studied. The AC electrode was prepared and the effect of cell voltage, flow rate and initial solution concentration on ion removal were investigated. Furthermore, the AC was modified with phosphoric acid (ACP) and the surface structure of AC and ACP were analyzed. The results showed that the specific surface area of AC increased by 10.71% after the modification. The mesopore ratio and micropore ratio increased by 14.69% and 24.06%, respectively. The optimal conditions of AC electrode was a voltage of 1.4 V and flow rate of 20 mL/min while the ACP electrode was a voltage of 1.4 V and flow rate of 10 mL/min. The electrosorption capacity of ACP electrode was improved and the unit of electrosorption load was high to 19.28 mg/L. For the AC or ACP electrode, the nitrate removal efficiency decreases with the increase in the initial feed solutions, but the unit electrosorption load gradually increased with the improvement of initial feed solutions9 concentration and the ACP electrode was superior to the AC electrode. Therefore, the ACP electrode would be suitable for the application of CDI on the nitrate removal.


Abstract We propose another positive illusion – overconfidence in the generalisability of one's theory – that fits with McKay & Dennett's (M&D's) criteria for adaptive misbeliefs. This illusion is pervasive in adult reasoning but we focus on its prevalence in children's developing theories. It is a strongly held conviction arising from normal functioning of the doxastic system that confers adaptive advantage on the individual.


Human-wildlife conflict is a growing concern issue. The overlapping of requirements of human and wildlife is a foremost cause of conflicts. The issue of crop depredation and subsequent conflicts arising between human-wildlife in recent times is a growing concern. The growing loss of habitats by land degradation is a major cause of increasing conflict between humans and wildlife in tropical region. As natural habitat of wildlife becomes more and more fragmented and they gets cramped into smaller pockets of suitable habitat, humans and wildlife are increasingly coming into contact and in conflict with each other. Due to expansion of ravines wildlife habitats as well as arable land is shrinking in semi-arid region of Chambal valley. Villages in lower Chambal valley reported crop and livestock depredation by wild carnivores including as nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra), wild boar (Sus scrofa), Indian gazelle (Gazella gazella), Indian porcupine (Hystrix indica), Sambar (Rusa unicolor). Conflicts are particularly serious, where rural people live in close association with protected areas. In the present study peasants' perception about encroachment of arable lands by wild-animals has been assessed. In all three surveyed villages 36.65% peasants reported wildanimal as a cause of low production. It is reported high (60% peasants) in the village inhabited nearby protected forest covers. Due to excess animal encroachment 45% peasants of all surveyed villages are reported to prevent growing some particular crops. About 84% peasant thinks wildanimal as one of the cause to stopped growing some particular crops, hence forced to bring a change in crop pattern. This paper discusses agricultural crop-raiding by locally overabundant populations of wild and the possible management strategies that can limit or reduce the conflict animal in a part of lower Chambal valley.


Stress induced leakage current is an important and quite possibly fundamental physically limiting problem in the scaling of metal-oxide-silicon integrated circuitry. We present evidence linking specific atomic scale defects to leakage currents in thermally grown silicon dioxide thin films on silicon. The defects identified are oxygen deficient silicon "dangling bond" centers. These centers have been identified through electron spin resonance measurements. We find a strong correspondence between the generation of an oxygen deficient silicon dangling bond defect in the oxide and the appearance of oxide leakage currents. We observe a strong correlation between the disappearance of these centers and the disappearance of leakage currents in relatively low temperature anneals (200/spl deg/C) in air. We also propose a model which provides an extremely straightforward explanation for the frequently reported close correspondence between the generation of stress induced leakage current and the generation of Si-SiO/sub 2/ interface states.


In Taxes on Knowledge in America, Randall P. Bezanson explores the extent to which the publication and distribution of current public information is effected by economic exactions. The book begins with a brief overview of the English history and experience with knowledge taxes, before turning to a discussion of knowledge taxes in America from colonial times to the present. In addition to covering traditional printed publications, Bezanson looks at recent developments in broadcast and cable telecommunications, devotes a chapter to the history of the postal system, and gleans insight from three benchmark Supreme Court decisions. Bezanson provocatively concludes that knowledge is common property and knowledge taxes should be measured by their impact on the diversity of ideas and availability of information throughout society.


It has been indicated that both egocentric and allocentric representation systems exist in parallel, and combine to support spatial navigation according to the task. Identifying the neuronal mechanisms and functional roles of the interactions between the two systems promises to provide new insights into the organization of human navigation network. Here we combined resting-state fMRI and behavioral tasks to investigate how the core structures of these systems (i.e., hippocampus and caudate) functionally interact, and further examined their behavioral relevance in navigation in healthy young adults (N = 190). We found a slightly positive connectivity between the hippocampus and caudate (especially in good navigators), suggesting an effective hippocampal-caudate cross talk, which may facilitate the functional integration of the two systems. Interestingly, the hippocampal-caudate interaction correlated with better self-reported navigation ability. Moreover, using an extra 3D pointing task in virtual reality, we found that individual's behavioral performance could be largely predicted by the hippocampal-caudate interactions. Overall, our study demonstrated the intrinsic interaction between two representation systems of the navigation network and its functional roles in behaviors, and further study on dynamic interaction would help us understand better their role in normal aging and psychiatric disorders.


The Moroccan salt basin is one of the remaining underexplored West African salt basins. The dimensions of this salt basin are about 100 km in average width and almost 1000 km in length along the Atlantic margin of Morocco (Figure 1). As opposed to the Aptian salt basins of the South Atlantic, in northwestern Africa the salt was deposited during the last stage of rifting, prior to continental breakup, in the Upper Triassic/Lower Jurassic (Hafid, 2000; Tari et al., 2003).


Flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a piping degradation mechanism resulting in the loss of material from the inside of the piping that subsequently thins the wall. The FAC that causes costly plant repairs and personal injuries is generally accelerated by the single-phase fluid or two-phase mixture, which seems to be a very serious problem found in most of the power plants these days. Based on the measured data of pipe thickness, FAC phenomenon strongly depends on the piping layout and local flow conditions. A three-dimensional two-phase model is proposed with the aim of simulating two-phase behaviors found in the pipe and investigating the impact of these local parameters on FAC damage. Through three-dimensional calculation, liquid droplet impingement was found to dominate the FAC damage occurring in high-steam-quality flow. A simplified parameter is proposed to express an indicator of this normal impingement force. The magnitude of this parameter can represent the severity location of the FAC damage. Compared with plant-measured data of the wear rate, the predicted locations of serious FAC are in good agreement qualitatively. In addition, the phenomenon that different piping layouts will induce different FAC locations can be accurately captured in the current mode.


Osteosarcomas, the most common malignant bone tumors, show a potent capacity for local invasion and pulmonary metastasis. Resveratrol (RESV), a phytochemical, exhibits multiple tumor-suppressing activities and has been tested in clinical trials. However, the antitumor activities of RESV in osteosarcomas are not yet completely defined. In osteosarcoma cells, we found that RESV inhibited the migration/invasion in vitro and lung metastasis in vivo by suppressing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2. We identified that RESV exhibited a transcriptional inhibitory effect on MMP-2 through reducing CREB-DNA-binding activity. Moreover, a microRNA (miR) analysis showed that miR-328 was predominantly upregulated after RESV treatment. Inhibition of miR-328 significantly relieved MMP-2 and motility suppression imposed by RESV treatment. Furthermore, ectopic miR-328 expression in highly invasive cells decreased MMP-2 expression and invasive abilities. Mechanistic investigations found that JNK and p38 MAPK signaling pathways were involved in RESV-regulated CREB-DNA-binding activity, miR328 expression, and cell motility. Clinical samples indicated inverse expression between MMP-2 and miR-328 in normal bone and osteosarcoma tissues. The inverse correlation of MMP-2 and miR-328 was also observed in tumor specimens, and MMP-2 expression was linked to tumor metastasis. Taken together, our results provide new insights into the role of RESV-induced molecular and epigenetic regulation in suppressing tumor metastasis.


An electrochemical sensor for the detection of insulin was fabricated, using the electrochemically deposited CCLP- Au NPs modified electrode. The morphology and structure of the CCLP- Au NPs are characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) studies. The building of the immunosensor was evaluated in each and every step by Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The electrochemical detection was based on the anti-insulin-HRP (Horseradish Peroxidase) bundled with Au NPs which binds to the immune complex and the response was observed using Hydro Quinone (HQ) and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in phosphate buffer electrolyte. From the results, the sensitivity range is from 50 to 556 pM/l and LOD is calculated as 2.14 pM/l (3σ/s). The developed immunoassay has the ability to insulin in human blood serum samples of healthy individuals.


Abstract
The local anaesthetic drug bupivacaine is known to produce a degeneration in mammalian muscle fibres which is followed by regeneration. In an attempt to define the site of action of this drug and the cell type responsible for the subsequent fibre regeneration, first lumbircal muscles of rats were exposed in vitro to concentrations of 10(-2), 5 X 10(-3), and 10(-3)M bupivacaine for periods ranging from 5 min to 3 h. An electron microscopic study of muscles exposed to 10(-2) and 5 X 10(-3)M bupivacaine revealed an initial supercontraction followed by evidence of severe and probably irreversible injury to plasma membrane, sarcoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Myonuclei showed signs of injury early, but satellite cells were found relatively resistant. The basal lamina remained intact throughout and myelinated axons did not suffer damage. However, both endothelial cells of capillaries and fibrocytes showed degenerative changes. Muscles exposed to 10(-3)M bupivacaine showed little change after incubation for 3 h. It is concluded that increased intracellular levels of Ca++ ions may play a part in the pathogenesis of muscle injury induced by bupivacaine and that their source may be the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The role of the satellite cell in the regeneration that follows this injury was not clearly established.


The goal of typed assembly language (TAL) is to provide a low-level, statically typed target language that is better suited than Java bytecodes for supporting a wide variety of source languages and a number of important optimizations. In previous work, we formalized idealized versions of TAL and proved important safety properties about them. In this paper, we present our progress in defining and implementing a realistic typed assembly language called TALx86. The TALx86 instructions comprise a relatively complete fragment of the Intel IA32 (32-bit 80x86 flat model) assembly language and are thus executable on processors such as the Intel Pentium. The type system for the language incorporates a number of advanced features necessary for safely compiling large programs to good code. To motivate the design of the type system, we demonstrate how various high-level language features are compiled to TALx86. For this purpose, we present a type-safe C-like language called Popcorn.


Abstract Inconsistent findings from prior research on the performance consequences of new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) origin led us to study the moderating effect of managerial discretion on the link between CEO outsiderness and firms' post-succession performance. Data from 75 CEO succession events from an emerging economy show that new CEO outsiderness, without managerial discretion context influences, has no direct impact on post-succession performance. Further, our findings emphasise the moderating impacts of managerial discretion, stemming from factors in a company's external and internal contingencies, which either strengthen or weaken the association between new CEO outsiderness and post-succession firm performance. It is found that market complexity, but not munificence, provides CEOs with more discretion in the Turkish context, thus strengthening the positive associations between CEO origin and firm performance. Firms inertia weakens both managerial discretion level and the association between CEO outsiderness and firm performance. The results show that internal corporate governance also matters. Finally, when a CEO assumes the dual role of both the chairman and the CEO, the link between CEO outsiderness and performance of the firm becomes stronger.


In this essay, the author provides a brief exposition of the work that Nancy Hartshock, Dorothy Smith, and Carol Gillgan have carried out in their respective fields with a view to establishing the relevance and legitimacy of women's experiences or standpoint or, alternatively, of women's voice, for the organization of academic and moral discourse. He then proceeds to critically assess the strategic value and possibility of attributing, as the aforementioned authors have done, fixed, cross-cultural characteristics to masculine and feminine identities. To accomplish this he invokes the work of Michel Foucault for whom the question of woman, like all questions of meaning, must e one of negotiating a path between always particularized, localized, specified, and, therefore, impure subject position, each one reflecting not only gender identities, but also heterogeneous and heteronomous intersections of gender, race, class, language, culture, that neither presuppose nor fix their constitutive subjects in place.


The collection of articles in this volume is dedicated to Ramzi Baalbaki of the American University of Beirut on the occasion of his 60th birthday. It provides an interesting glimpse into the early medieval and modern traditions related to the Arabic language, its grammar, historical development, and demonstrate its centrality to other fields of study such as qur'ānic studies, adab, folk literature, sufism, and poetry.


This paper provides a preliminary description of evaluative morphology in Italian Sign Language improving a previous study by Petitta, Di Renzo, and Chiari (2015). The analysis of both elicited and corpus data reveals that LIS employs both manual and nonmanual articulators to convey evaluative features. Specifically, dedicated non-manual markers for each evaluative value combine with manual strategies involving the production of adjectives to convey endearment and pejorative, or morphological operations to encode diminutive and augmentative features: (i) manual sequential evaluation: the evaluative feature is conveyed through size and shape specifiers following the sign for the noun and displaying a modified articulation depending on the feature involved; (ii) manual simultaneous evaluation: the manual sign for the noun is modified in its articulation (restricted for the diminutive, enlarged for the augmentative). Overall, the morphological constructions detected fit the typological classification proposed for sign languages as languages exhibiting agglutinative morphology (Schuit 2007), while sharing the abstract properties identified for evaluative morphology in spoken languages, regardless of the different modality employed.


Since the beginning of the quest of hypercomplex numbers in the late eighteenth century, many hypercomplex number systems have been proposed but none of them succeeded in extending the concept of complex numbers to higher dimensions. This paper provides a definitive solution to this problem by defining the truly hypercomplex numbers of dimension N greater than or equal to 3. The secret lies in the definition of the multiplicative law and its properties. This law is based on spherical and hyperspherical coordinates. These numbers which I call spherical and hyperspherical hypercomplex numbers define Abelian groups over addition and multiplication. Nevertheless, the multiplicative law generally does not distribute over addition, thus the set of these numbers equipped with addition and multiplication does not form a mathematical field. However, such numbers are expected to have a tremendous utility in mathematics and in science in general.


Selection of pigs for increased meat production or improved meat quality changes muscle mass and muscle composition. This will be related to transcriptome expression profile changes in muscle tissue, generating inter-individual differences. This study investigated the differentially expressed genes in the transcriptome profiles of the longissimus muscle of 75 Large White-Duroc cross sows and castrates. The use of a common reference design enabled to investigate the inter-individual transcriptome expression profile differences between the animals as compared with the means of all animals. The aim of the study was to identify the biological processes related to these inter-individual differences. It was expected that these processes underlie the selection effects. In total, 908 transcripts were differentially expressed. Among them, 762 were mainly downregulated and 146 were mainly upregulated. Gene Ontology and Pathways analyses indicated that the differentially expressed genes belong to three groups of processes involved in protein synthesis and amino acid-protein metabolism, energy metabolism and muscle-specific structure and activity processes. Comparing the functional biological analysis results with previously reported data suggested that the protein synthesis, energy metabolism and muscle-specific structure would contribute to meat production and the meat quality.