Purpose: To evaluate the safety and describe the pharmacokinetic profile of OSI-7904L, a novel liposomal thymidylate synthase inhibitor, in combination with cisplatin (CDDP) in adults with advanced solid tumors. Experimental Design: CDDP was administered as a 2-h intravenous infusion followed by OSI-7904L intravenously over 30 min, both given every 3 weeks. Doses of each drug were escalated in separate cohorts of patients. Five dose levels of CDDP/OSI-7904L were explored: 60/6, 60/9, 60/12, 60/7.5, and 75/7.5 mg/m2. Pharmacokinetic samples, baseline plasma homocysteine, and genotype polymorphisms were evaluated. Results: Twenty-seven patients were treated with 101 total courses of CDDP/OSI-7904L. Dose-limiting toxicity was observed in 2 patients in the CDDP/OSI-7904L 60/12 mg/m2 cohort. One patient experienced rash, stomatitis, dehydration, renal failure, hyperbilirubinemia, and fatal neutropenic sepsis, whereas the other patient experienced grade 3 nausea, vomiting, and ileus. Therefore, the CDDP/OSI-7904L 60/9 mg/m2 cohort was expanded, with 2 of 6 patients reporting significant fatigue. Other toxicities were mild or moderate. Intermediate dose levels of 60/7.5 and 75/7.5 mg/m2 were evaluated, and the latter was identified as the recommended dose for phase II studies. No major pharmacokinetic interactions between CDDP and OSI-7904L were observed. Three patients had partial responses (gastric adenocarcinoma and heavily pretreated breast cancer). There was no significant relationship between baseline homocysteine and toxicity. Conclusions: The recommended doses for CDDP and OSI-7904L administered once every 3 weeks are 75 and 7.5 mg/m2, respectively. Pharmacokinetic interaction between the agents was not apparent. Preliminary clinical activity was observed in breast and gastric cancer.


The implementation of regulations for protecting both humans and the environment from potential chemical health hazards, as well as the increase of global pressure for reducing, refining and replacing animal experiments promote the development and application of alternatives to in vivo developmental toxicity studies. Due to the complexity of the reproductive cycle, combined in vitro approaches, focusing on morphological, molecular and toxicokinetic parameters, could better define the developmental toxicity of chemicals. In this thesis, azoles, which are a group of chemicals with antifungal activity, are under investigation. These compounds show marked differences in developmental toxicity potency and similarities with retinoic acid (RA)- related teratogenicity. Chapter 1 of this thesis introduced information regarding the background of reproductive and developmental toxicology, including scientific concerns and the impact of past teratogenic outcomes on the society. For screening developmental teratogens, in vitro approaches have been proposed and successfully applied. Their combination may better mimic the in vivo embryo and, therefore, increase the accuracy in predicting possible developmental toxicants. Additional co-implementation of molecular approaches may give an insight in the mode of action underlying the observed effects. Azoles were selected in the present thesis due to evidence for possibly increasing developmental toxicity through dysregulating the balance of the RA pathways in the mammalian system. The chapter also described the objectives and outline of the research. In chapter 2, we examined the time- dependent developmental effects in rat embryos exposed in vitro to flusilazole (FLU), and their link to RA mediated pathways. To this end, we assessed the effects of 4-hour exposure of whole embryo culture (WEC) embryos to 300μM FLU during four developmental time windows (0-4, 4-8, 24-28 and 44-48 h), evaluated morphological parameters, as well as expression and localization of five genes directly or indirectly linked with the RA pathway. A stage- specific gene expression response of cultured rat embryos exposed to FLU was detected, which preceded the development of morphologically observable malformations. During all the tested time windows, the most pronounced effect was observed in the regulation of RA-related genes. Therefore, it was concluded that such biomarkers can be employed as useful tools for early detection of possible teratogenic properties of compounds that belong to the triazole- group or of compounds with a similar teratogenic mode of action. Chapter 3 provides mechanistic insight into the embryotoxicity of six azoles tested in the rat WEC. Here, we evaluated dose-dependent embryotoxicity of azoles in the rat WEC, calculating the concentration at which the total morphological score (TMS) is 10% decreased (ID10). For the azoles tested we compared the in vitro ID10 for embryotoxicity to the in vivo effective doses, while we also performed a comparative analysis for understanding the toxicological and pharmacological mode of action of azoles in the rat WEC at the level of the transcriptome. Functional analysis of differential gene expression after 4 hours exposure at the ID10 revealed regulation of the sterol biosynthesis pathway and embryonic development genes, dominated by genes in the RA pathway, albeit in a differential way. FLU, ketoconazole and triadimefon were the most potent compounds affecting the RA pathway, while in terms of regulation of sterol function, difenoconazole and ketoconazole showed the most pronounced effects. A similar analysis at the 24-hour time point indicated an additional time-dependent difference in the aforementioned pathways regulated by FLU. Strong in vivo embryotoxic azoles showed also an increased regulation of the RA pathway when tested in vitro. On the other hand, weak or non- embryotoxic azoles showed a non-significant effect on genes that belong in the RA pathway. These observations led us to the conclusion that the toxicological mode of action of azoles was mediated through the RA pathway. In summary, the rat WEC assay in combination with transcriptomics could add mechanistic insight into the embryotoxic potency ranking and functional efficacy of the tested compounds, showing Cyp26a1 and Cyp51 as leader biomarkers of the off- and on- target effects, respectively. Similarly to the previous chapter, in chapter 4, the potency ranking of the majority of the twelve tested azoles obtained based on the TMS in the WEC assay was in agreement with the in vivo potency ranking. Additionally, our expanded transcriptomics data, including gene specific responses of twelve azoles tested at their ID10 in the rat WEC for 4 hours, confirmed the observations of chapter 3 with another set of azoles. Potent embryotoxicants in both in vivo and in vitro assays caused more pronounced effects on the dysregulation of RA- mediated genes. Furthermore, azoles with more pronounced effects on the sterol biosynthesis mediated pathway were tested at a higher concentration, but with the same level of effect (ID10). Due to the increased concentration needed for reaching the same level of morphological effects and the absence of RA-mediated pathway regulation, these azoles were considered as more favourable candidates for clinical and agricultural use. Focusing on monitoring the fungicidal activity of azoles, we also detected an increased sensitivity of the expression of Msmo1, which is an enzyme participating in converting lanosterol for synthesizing cholesterol in the mammalian sterol biosynthesis, together with Cyp51and Nsdhl. This observation led us to the conclusion that Msmo1 could be a better biomarker of effect on the sterol biosynthesis pathway compared to the classical biomarker of this pathway, Cyp51, and this may be of use for further improvement of the assessment of fungicidal activity of azoles or chemicals with similar mode of action. Chapter 5 shows the value of combining toxico-dynamic and -kinetic in vitro approaches for embryotoxicity testing of azoles. We also report on the alterations in gene expression induced by azoles. Both the WEC assay and the embryonic stem cells test (EST) predicted the in vivo potency ranking of the twelve tested azoles with moderate accuracy. Combining these results with relative placental transfer rates (Papp values) as determined in the BeWo cell culture model, increased the predictability of both WEC and EST, with R2 values increasing from 0.51 to 0.87 and from 0.35 to 0.60, respectively. The comparison of these in vitro systems correlated well (R2 = 0.67), correctly identifying the strong and weak embryotoxicants. Evaluating specific gene responses related with the toxicological and fungicidal mode of action of the tested azoles in WEC and EST, we observed that the differential regulation of Dhrs3 and Msmo1 reached higher magnitudes in both systems compared to Cyp26a1 and Cyp51. Establishing sensitive biomarkers across all the in vitro systems for studying the underlying mechanism of action of chemicals, such as azoles, is valuable for comparing alternative in vitro models and for improving insight in the mechanism of developmental toxicity of chemicals. Chapter 6 of this thesis presented the general discussion and future perspectives on different topics raised based on the results obtained in the previously described experimental chapters. The results suggested that the combination of in vitro assays for screening the developmental toxicity of azoles may lead to predictions that are more accurate and in agreement with the in vivo observations. The addition of toxico-kinetics, which the BeWo placental transfer model offered, notably improved the correlations of in vivo and in vitro data. Furthermore, the co- implementation of transcriptomics and the identification of gene biomarkers revealed that despite the tested azoles were classified in the same chemical group, they might have a different mode of toxicological action. In conclusion, future combination of in vitro and in silico alternative approaches appear to be of advantage for screening and prioritizing chemical testing, in the process of assessing the consequences of chemical exposure for human health and the environment.


The aim of this article is to present the evolution of hop market during the period 2007-2014 in Romania. It is based on the statistical data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The indicators used for processing the data are the following: the total production, the cultivated areas of hop and the quantity of hop imported and exported. From the analysis of the results obtained we can observe a decrease of 69.51% in 2012 from the total production in comparison with 2007. In the last years of the period in study, from 2012 to 2014, it increased by 104.4%. However the inland production is insufficient for the local beer industry. Romania has to import vast amounts of hops to ensure the brewers requirements across the country.


In the transition from a state-led industrial to a market-driven post-industrial urban economy, China's planners are facing challenges in building sustainable living environment for the rapidly increasing and wealthier urban population.Citizens are the end-users of the sustainable city. Their preferences generate the market demands for real estate and transport, which are the basis to promote sustainable planning in the market. To achieve sustainability goals in China, planners need to adopt a more market-conscious approach and communicate with policymakers and other stakeholders to implement sustainable policies. The aim of this book is to support planners to engage in market-conscious planning by understanding the market demands for sustainable living and the market outcomes of sustainable planning interventions city wide. We stress three major challenges in the strive towards sustainable living in Chinese cities: green dwelling attributes, accessibility to activities by public transport, and the environmental quality in neighbourhoods. We chose the city of Nanjing China as our study area which is a typical Chinese city facing the three sustainable challenges. First, we assess the relative amenity value of accessibility and neighbourhood quality by integrating geographical theories and detailed spatial measures into a hedonic price model. Second, we employ a conjoint model to estimate the willingness to pay for green dwellings versus accessibility to metros and jobs and neighbourhood quality by different socio-economic groups in Nanjing, China. Third, we employ the means-end theory to test whether environmental awareness matters in green home-buying. Fourth, we use the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to analyse the extent to which developers and planners understand the valuation of green apartment attributes by residents. Fifth, we examine two different planning interventions which aim to improve the air quality in Nanjing – the extension of the metro system and the redevelopment of heavy industry sites – and presents a planning support methodology to simulate the effects of these interventions on the housing and land markets. Last but not least, we provide planners with a methodology for estimating green housing potential for various socio-economic groups in Nanjing, with reference to their green housing preferences and budgets. In general, we find that sustainable planning interventions have potentials to create monetary value for both investors and end-users. Such interventions will have a very widespread impact on the land market, well beyond the sites directly affected by the initial plan. Although there are significant geographical and cultural differences between China and the West, when coming up with sustainable living, people in the world share similar expectations and preferences. In building sustainable cities, the notion of health will play a pivotal role at this moment. And it is essential that affordability and subsidies are taken into account in building a healthy city. Our research also shows that the market for sustainability will not develop automatically. A bottom-up policy might be an alternative option to get support both from the market and society. This requires a collaboration of various actors including the planning bureau, the environmental bureau, the land-use bureau, the transportation bureau, developers, and residents.


In this research, a control system in the form of a syringe pump has been developed to control the volume and flow rate of a liquid or a solution. The syringe pump is fabricated by controlling the speed and pulse width modulation (PWM) of stepper motors based on the Arduino Uno microcontroller board. The tools used are a stepper motor as a syringe driver, the Arduino Uno as a controller, a four-digit seven-segment display and a keypad matrix as an input interface. The syringe pump works by pushing the injection pump whose speed has been adjusted to the flow rate. The speed of the flow rate and volume are obtained by setting the delay time of the stepper motor using PWM pins from the Arduino Uno. The syringe pump is observed to work in the flow rate range of 0.10–12.00 ml h–1. The system can be applied to medical settings as the control of volume and flow rate of drug fluids as well as with nanofibres using electrospinning technique.


This article continues a conversation with Hans Boersma on the role of Jesus Christ in the beatific vision enjoyed by the saints. In his book Seeing God, Boersma maintained that there is a Christological deficit in Thomas Aquinas's account of the beatific vision. In response I suggested that Aquinas held that Christ's beatific vision is forever the cause of that of the saints. In his reply to me, Boersma more or less accepted my conclusion, but claimed there was still a Christological deficit because Aquinas mentions the thesis only rarely. He then drew attention to a second, more important factor in the alleged deficit, namely, Aquinas's identification of the divine essence rather than Christ as the vision's object. The present article responds to both elements of the alleged deficit, arguing against Boersma on the basis of the Summa Theologiae's structure that there is no such deficit in Aquinas. While Boersma, after finding against Aquinas, moves in conclusion "towards a theophanic view of the beatific vision," in my own conclusion I sketch out an alternative, Thomist account of the relationship between the beatific vision and heavenly theophany.


A hibernoma is a rare benign tumor found in brown fat, compared to white fat, where most tumors arise. Hibernomas can usually be surgically removed without complication. Some genetic markers may exist for development of hibernomas, particularly genetic deformities occurring in genes situated on chromosome 11. In addition, different types of hibernomas tend to present based on the area of the body in which they form. Hibernomas are often undiagnosed unless they pose a particular problem to the patient, i.e. pain or pressure. Hibernomas can be surgically removed in order to relieve these symptoms, as seen in the case study for this report.


N-Nitrosamines (NAms) are suspected human carcinogens that have been identified as drinking water and wastewater pollutants. In this work, a sensitive screening/confirmation method was proposed for the determination of the most toxic NAms that can be found in water samples (N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosodibutylamine, N-nitrosomorpholine, N-nitrosopiperidine, and N-nitrosopyrrolidine). A sample volume of 250 mL was first preconcentrated in an automatic SPE unit and then the extract was concentrated to a final volume of 10 microL (providing a preconcentration factor of 25,000). Aliquots of the extract were subjected to a rapid screening process (1.6 min) by using a short capillary polar column (1.5 m length) and GC with nitrogen-phosphorous detection. In this way, the high number of samples to be tested routinely in a water laboratory is simplified due to a reduction in the analysis time. Thus, the screening method acts as a filter that indicates whether target analytes are present, above or below the cut-off level (3.8 or 10.4 ng/L), giving no false negatives at concentrations below the guide values for NAms in drinking water established by different countries. Positive samples (tap and swimming pool waters) were then confirmed by GC-MS detection.


In 2006, the government approved a national livestock policy based on the premise that the livestock industry has an important role to play in building a strong national economy and in the process, reducing inequalities among Tanzanians by increasing their incomes and employment opportunities. This report presents an analysis of rural livelihoods in Tanzania, with particular emphasis on the livestock sub-sector, smallholder farmers' living standards, and issues with access to productive assets. The report attempts to answer basic questions such as: to what extent is keeping livestock an activity of the relatively better off, and to what extent are poorer households able to engage?; how does the role of livestock vary with different levels of income and well-being?; how are livestock holding size and structure associated with differences in welfare, gender, and geography?; how important are input and output markets for small livestock keepers?; what form does this market participation take in practice, and to what extent?; and to what extent do the non-income services of livestock (for example, manure, draught power) benefit crop production? The study is based on data from the Tanzania national panel survey (NPS) collected by the national bureau of statistics (NBS) from October 2008 to October 2009 as part of the first wave of a nationally representative living standards survey. Data was collected using household, agricultural, and community questionnaires in which information was obtained at the individual, household, plot, and community level The report is organized as follows: section one gives background information; description of the data is presented in section two, in section three the authors analyze the composition of rural income, household endowment of human capital, and access to infrastructure and assets, in order to gain an understanding of the level of wellbeing in the rural space. A descriptive analysis of the characteristics of small rural livestock owners and their production practices is provided in section four, which highlights the heterogeneity of the households engaged in the livestock sector and presents evidence of the sector's importance to rural livelihoods in terms of both income and consumption. Section five concludes with a discussion of key results and their implications for policy and further analysis.


The hydrographic characteristics and current circulation in Terengganu and Pahang coastal waters were examined for their spatial and temporal variability based on the seasonal influence during the transition period (April 2014) and southwest monsoon (June and August, 2014). The results of this study demonstrated the presence of slightly cooler water during June and August, 2014 compared to April, 2014, which indicate the existence of coastal upwelling. Furthermore, the uplifting of isotherms towards the coast during the study trip was also a good evidence of upwelling. The current flow generated by the wind was the possible reason of the features. Furthermore, this study also makes the first attempt to observe the coupling effects between coastal upwelling and the phytoplankton biomass in Terengganu and Pahang coastal waters, which is still sparse. Interestingly, apart from the nutrient availability, the coastal upwelling was believed to influence the phytoplankton biomass at the study area.


This study extends and refines a previous model and provides estimates of the economic value of water shortages from shortfalls in Mexican deliveries to the U.S. In the process, we identify and evaluate a range of crop choices, appropriate irrigation technology use, water source substitution, and other mitigation strategies used by farmers to deal with water shortages. The effects of exogenous crop price and yield risk, as well as and other structural considerations are incorporated in deriving the marginal value of irrigation water for reference drought years. Results show that South Texas farmers react to risk by diversifying their crop mix, which in turn has implications for the imputed value of water and soil resources. The derived shadow price of water under 1998 conditions was larger than the average value of water used in previous estimates of damages from Mexican water treaty non-compliance. The higher estimated value of water and losses are driven in part by empirical evidence and the associated model conditions that producers are willing to pay high costs to protect their investment in orchards and perennial crops such as sugar cane and that hydrologic and institutional constraints severely limit access and transfers of water especially under shortage conditions. Assuming hypothetical Mexican inflows up to 500,000 ac-ft into the U.S. reservoirs in 1998, the shadow price of water at the farm gate would have declined from over $400 per ac-ft to below $100 per ac-ft.


The protein-binding assay developed by Brown, Albano, Ekins, Sgherzi & Tampion [(1971) Biochem. J. 121, 561-562] and Brown, Ekins & Albano [(1972) Adv. Cyclic Nucleotide Res. 2, 25-40] was modified by using precipitation with (NH4)2SO4 of the protein-cyclic AMP complex instead of adsorption of the free nucleotide on charcoal. The half-life of the protein-cyclic AMP complex obtained in the presence of charcoal was lower than that of the (NH4)2SO4-precipitated complex. In consequence, owing to the great stability of the precipitated protein-cyclic AMP complex, this method allows more accurate and reproducible determinations.


This thesis analyzes the politics of Kurdish children and youth in Gundogan neighborhood, a slum area in Adana, populated predominantly by the forcibly displaced Kurds. Through their everyday practices and subjective narratives, I explore the ways youth and children construct their subjectivities in urban space. Post-memory, the spatial order of the neighborhood and violence emerge as overall themes in the narratives and ethnographic research. I argue that memory of violence transmitted by the older family members has imminent role in the formation of political subjectivities of youth and children. Children and youth, most of whom were born in city space have a sense of belonging to the neighborhood. The appropriation of urban space is inevitably linked to the struggle and violence. The politics of youth and children opens up a space to rethink the concepts of struggle, freedom, and the political in Kurdish movement/politics as well as contemporary Turkey.


To improve the dynamic performance of developed micro-milling system, the servo parameters were adjusted and the PID values were optimized respectively by considering the different characteristics of the servo driver under the position, velocity and torque control modes. Then, the different effects of three control modes on the micro-milling system were comparatively analyzed by means of orthogonal test. A control mode with better dynamic performance was chosen properly for the micro-milling system. Given the acceleration of 30m/s2 and feed speed of 200mm/s, the positioning error of micro-milling system was less than 1μm.


Intellectuals are not in the habit of submitting their activities to sociological scrutiny — a scrutiny not only of the world in which they presume to act, but also of themselves as intellectuals and of the reasons (or social factors) that determine their actions. Thus the potential novelty of the project that follows: To establish the ends and means of a worldwide collective action by intellectuals, relying on the most realistic analysis possible of what intellectuals are and what they could be. At the risk of utopianism or irresponsibility, it must be emphasized that any ethical or political action by intellectuals will have to be grounded on a rigorous understanding of how the intellectual world operates.


Although there have recently been indications in U.K. educational policy and practice of a movement away from the dominance of economic capital and employability as primary goals of education and toward social capital with an emphasis on the affective domain and greater concerns with personal and social well-being, the prevailing instrumentalist and economistic function of learning still reigns supreme. Moreover, even though the neo-liberal hegemony and associated materialistic culture have been severely dented following the 2008 financial meltdown and current global economic recession, there are few signs of any marked trends away from selfish capitalism. This article suggests ways of foregrounding social capital through programs that incorporate "mindfulness"—non-judgmental present moment attention and awareness drawn from Buddhist traditions—as a means of rejuvenating the affective domain of learning concerned with emotions and values. The analysis will also address the recent challenge to what has been (mistakenly in my view) called a "therapeutic turn" in education claimed by critics who suggest that learning is or should be about intellectual-cognitive matters not feelings or emotional development. In the process, the links between mindfulness, the affective domain, and social engagement will be explored as ways of developing the social values that support community well-being and trust.


This paper uses the concept of strategic partnership to analyse the co-operation between Australia and Thailand in the peacekeeping operations in East Timor from 1999 to 2001. A strategic partnership in this paper does not focus on formal agreements between countries or exchange of visits between officials. Instead, a strategic partnership in this paper focuses on how two countries work together by sharing skills, information, resources and risks to advance their perceived mutual interests. This paper argues that before 1999, Australia and Thailand had shared the same stance on the incorporation of East Timor by Indonesia, as both countries supported Indonesia's action. After the East Timorese people voted for independence in the referendum conducted by the United Nations in 1999 and violence erupted, Australia and Thailand worked together in East Timor as strategic partners to restore peace and stability in the territory. Thailand's contributions helped legitimise Australia's leading roles in East Timor, because Thailand represented a substantial ASEAN component in the Australia-led International Force for East Timor (INTERFET), as Thailand provided the second largest number of troops and the Deputy Commander. Operationally, while Australia was mainly responsible for disarming militias in the western part of East Timor along the border with West Timor, Thailand's military officers demonstrated at least three skills which complemented the roles of Australian troops, namely: (1) the ability to get along with local people; (2) agricultural development; and (3) understanding of the way of life of the East Timorese.


In inductively coupled radio frequency (RF) plasmas a mode transition between a low-power mode with dominant capacitive coupling (E-mode) and a high-power mode with dominant inductive coupling (H-mode) has been frequently reported in the literature. We investigate this transition, which results in an increase of the light emission by up to two orders of magnitude. Furthermore we observe a hysteresis of this mode transition. Two major aspects of the transition are addressed in this paper. First we propose an explanation for the discontinuous character of the mode transition. The analysis is based on a simple, electrodynamic model of the inductive discharge. This analysis shows that a certain minimum maintenance RF coil current is required for the operation of an inductive discharge and that the skin effect of the RF field is essential for stable discharge operation. This point is supported by experimental observations. In the second part of the paper we present a simple, self-consistent analytic description of the discharge, which enables us to calculate the minimum maintenance RF coil current. The theoretical results are found to be in reasonable agreement with the measured minimum maintenance coil currents.


Routing is a process used to predict the temporal and spatial variations of a flood hydrograph as it moves through a river reach. The effects of storage and flow resistance within a river reach are reflected by changes in hydrograph shape and timing as the flood wave moves from upstream to downstream. Flood routing procedures may be classified as either hydrological or hydraulics. Hydrological methods use the principle of continuity and a relationship between discharge and temporary storage of excess volumes of water during the flood period. Hydraulic methods of routing involve the numerical solutions of the one dimensional Saint-Venant equations of gradually varied unsteady flow in open channels. In this study, firstly the developed hydraulic models were verified by field observations, secondly the posteriori investigation of channel bed slope, Manning's roughness coefficient, inflow hydrograph shape factor, time to peak, space step, time step, weighting factor, and the different terms of Saint-Venant equations were studied through the comprehensive numerical experiments. The results indicate that the effects of input parameter errors on the output results are more significant in special situations, such as lower values of Manning's roughness coefficient and/or a steeper bed slope on the characteristics of a design hydrograph, larger values of the skewness factor and/or time to peak on the channel characteristics, larger values of Manning's roughness coefficient and/or the bed slope on the space step, and lower values of Manning's roughness coefficient or a steeper bed slope on the time step and weighting factor.


An extremely flexible, motile, rod-shaped bacterium (0.3 to 0.35 by 8 to 12 μm) was isolated from samples of pond mud. The organism can readily move through media containing 1% (wt/vol) agar. Only subsurface, spreading growth occurs on media containing less than 1.5% (wt/vol) agar. In agar media, cells displayed serpentine-like motility and rapidly coiled and uncoiled into a variety of knot forms. The organism possesses a gram-negative type of cell envelope with a peptidoglycan layer containing muramic acid, glucosamine, glutamic acid, diaminopimelic acid, and alanine in a ratio of 1.0/1.0/1.0/1.0/2.0, respectively. The cells possess bacterial flagella which occur both in bipolar tufts (4 to 10 flagella per tuft) and, to a lesser extent, singly over the surface of the cell. The organism only grew aerobically. Among the substrates tested, lactate was the only major energy and carbon source used. Carbohydrates, fatty acids, and amino acids did not support growth. Casein hydrolysate, peptone, and NH4Cl were used as nitrogen sources. Although both vitamin mixtures and yeast extract stimulated growth, no vitamins were required for growth. Cell extracts contain high levels of tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme activities but only trace levels of glycolytic enzyme activities. The guanine-plus-cytosine content of the deoxyribonucleic acid of the organism is 65.8 mol% (strain PFR-1, buoyant density). For this organism, apparently previously undescribed, the name Serpens flexibilis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of S. flexibilis is PFR-1 (=ATCC 29606).


INTRODUCTION Pre-packaged administration ("pre-pack") has been described as: An arrangement under which the sale of all or part of a company's business or assets is negotiated with a purchaser prior to the appointment of an administrator, and the administrator effects the sale immediately on, or shortly after, his appointment. (1) Different policy justifications have been advanced to support pre-packs, including maximising returns, the saving of jobs and the rescue of viable businesses. The disenfranchisement of unsecured creditors does not sit comfortably with some of the policy considerations highlighted by the Cork Committee. (2) We have the benefit of: Professor Frisby's empirical research in the area; (3) existing black letter law including the recent rules on the payment of pre-pack fees; (4) the profession's adoption of Statement of Insolvency Practice 16 ("SIP 16") (5) which requires pre-pack administrators to give full disclosure of the reasons for, and the terms of, the pre-pack deal; judicial recognition of perceived problems with pre-packs; (6) and the views of a large number of academics and practitioners. (7) We also have some political input from the House of Commons Select Committee on Business and Enterprise,8 criticisms highlighted by the Office of Fair Trading, (9) some mostly critical media commentary (10) and the recent consultation carried out by the Insolvency Service on the future regulation of pre-packs ("the Consultation") (11) (as well as the earlier limited Insolvency Service consultation on payment of pre-pack administrators' fees (12)). Still there is no obvious answer as to when a pre-pack is appropriate (if ever). Although black letter lawyers and practitioners in the UK do not always see the practical use or relevance of legal theory, this is usually because any legal framework being analysed is already in place, and arguing for or against it from a theoretical point of view may be of limited, if any, practical use. In the case of pre-packs, there is, in effect, a blank canvas with which to work. There is little substantive law governing pre-packs per se. It is therefore a unique opportunity for policy makers to consider relevant legal theories in assisting the design of an appropriate legal framework. This article will examine pre-packs from a theoretical point of view in order to consider how some of the possible theories underpinning insolvency law might apply to pre-packs. It will consider in particular how theories such as those put forward by contractarians (emphasising wealth maximisation and the hypothetical creditors' bargain), communitarians, forum theorists and adherents to a multiple values approach could be applied to a pre-pack scenario and how such application might be used to inform policy in light of the recent Consultation. PERCEIVED PROBLEMS WITH PRE-PACKS Although a pre-pack "may offer the best chance for a business rescue, preserve goodwill and employment, maximise realisations and generally speed up the insolvency process", (13) it tends to create discontent within the ranks of a company's unsecured creditors. There is a general concern that the pre-pack administrator, in agreeing to the pre-pack in consultation with the company's management team (and usually its secured creditors), favours the interests of the managers and secured creditors ahead of the company's general creditors. The speed and secrecy of the operation often lead to a deal being executed about which the unsecured creditors know nothing, have no say in and which leaves them empty handed. There is often a suspicion that the consideration paid for the business may not have been maximised due to the absence of open marketing. Credit may have been incurred inappropriately prior to the pre-pack and this may not be fully investigated. SIP 16 requires that unsecured creditors receive better information than before, about why and how the pre-pack was executed, but they only receive this information after the pre-pack has been completed. …


For a general definition of depth in data analysis a differential-like calculus is constructed in which the location case (the framework of Tukey's median) plays a fundamental role similar to that of linear functions in the mathematical analysis. As an application, a lower bound for maximal regression depth is proved in the general multidimensional case—as conjectured by Rousseeuw and Hubert and others. This lower bound is demonstrated to have an impact on the breakdown point of the maximum depth estimator.


In this work, we demonstrate for the first time, a solution-processed MoS2 (n)–CuO (p) piezotronic diode on a flexible paper substrate for an enhanced broadband photodetector and active analog frequency modulator by application of external mechanical strain. There are no reports on solution-processed large area fabrication of MoS2-based heterojunctions wherein the external mechanical strain modulates the transport properties at the device level which can be further utilized at the circuit level for frequency modulation. When external strain is applied, because of the non-centrosymmetric structure of MoS2, the piezopotential induced adjusts the band structure at the junction and broadens the depletion region, which decreases the depletion capacitance of the diode. The widening of the depletion region improves the separation of photo-generated carriers and enhances the performance of the diode under both visible and NIR illumination. The fabricated piezotronic diode exhibited higher responsivity towards visible light illumination when compared to NIR illumination. The responsivity of the fabricated piezotronic diode increased by 69.7% under 2% strain. Such a versatile technique for fabrication of a diode and its utilization at both the device and circuit levels is a major step ahead in flexible and wearable electronics with applications ranging from digital, to analog, and optoelectronics.


Attitudes and behaviors requires in change that occur in the organization. It because motivated of employees to maintain their position and membership in a certain organization. In addition attitudes and behaviors is the important management to accept change for successful in organization change. Hence, the main objective of this research is to identify factor of change effect attitudes and behaviors among staff at Bank Rakyat Jalan Hang Tuah Malacca. Besides, researcher also identifies the main factor which effect attitudes and behaviors. The factors are technology change, culture change and environment change. Researcher used questionnaire as a main instrumental in data collection method. Next, data that been collected will be analyzed through using The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 18.0. In general, the results of this research showed that technology change is the most influence rather than culture and environment change toward attitudes and behaviors among staff at Bank Rakyat Jalan Hang Tuah Malacca.


In the present study, the bound states of the electrons in spherical quantum dots of A3 B5-type semiconductors are studied in the framework of the three-band Kane model. An analytical expression for the bound states has been found that takes into account the non-parabolicity of the spectrum. The system considered in this study consists of two concentric spheres with GaAs in the inner part and InAs in the outer part. The spherical potential barrier in the inner part of the sphere equals - V. The numerical results are given for the spherical heterostructure of InAs/GaAs. Unlike the parabolic model, in the frame of the Kane ones, the existence of intervals of ground state in InAs/GaAs quantum dots is investigated according to the values of spherical potential.


Real-time games often require a combination of long-term and short-term planning as well as interleaved planning and execution. In our previous work, we introduced a hybrid planning and execution approach, in which high-level strategical planning is performed by a Hierarchical Task Network Planner and micro-management is done through Monte Carlo Tree Search. We use evaluation functions that represent weighted sums of selected game features as an interface between the two hierarchy levels.In this work, we present a way of automatically evolving the weights of these evaluation functions in order to improve the efficiency of the execution of high-level tasks. We compare the agent using the evolved evaluation functions with the one using manually created evaluation functions against state-of-theart controllers in the Real Time Strategy game environment microRTS.


Active Network Management (ANM) enables a microgrid to optimally dispatch the active/reactive power of its Renewable Distributed Generation (RDG) and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) units in real time. Thus, a microgrid with high penetration of RDGs can handle their uncertainties and variabilities to achieve the stable operation using ANM. However, the actual power flow in the line connecting the main grid and microgrid may deviate significantly from the day-ahead bids if the bids are determined without consideration of the real-time adjustment through ANM, which will lead to a substantial imbalance cost. Therefore, this study proposes a formulation for obtaining an optimal bidding which reflects the change of power flow in the connecting line by real-time adjustment using ANM. The proposed formulation maximizes the expected profit of the microgrid considering various network and physical constraints. The effectiveness of the proposed bidding strategy is verified through the simulations with a 33-bus test microgrid. The simulation results show that the proposed bidding strategy improves the expected operating profit by reducing the imbalance cost to a greater degree compared to the basic bidding strategy without consideration of ANM.


This paper uses quasi-experimental evidence to understand how changes in asylum policy affect the number of asylum-seekers. We look specifically at a sudden, regulatory change in the Swedish reception of Syrian asylum-seekers. The change took place in September 2013 and implied that all Syrian asylum-seekers would be granted permanent instead of temporary residence permits. Using high-frequency data and an interrupted time-series set-up, we study the extent to which this change caused more Syrian citizens to apply for asylum in Sweden. The paper provides several new insights: Our estimates show a clear increase in the number of asylum applications in Sweden after the policy change. The increase had implications for the distribution of Syrian asylum-seekers in Europe, but only in the short term. Also, the change caused a shift in the share of adult men arriving without a household member, and consequently in the share of refugees applying for family reunification.


In a recent article, Cass Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule argue that capital punishment is morally required if it will deter more killings than it inflicts. They claim that the state's duty is to minimize the incidence of murder, and that recent deterrence research shows that state executions, even if deemed murders themselves, can do so. If these findings are true, they argue, the state is morally obligated to undertake such life-life tradeoffs. The logic of Sunstein and Vermeule's argument justifies not only state executions, but any state-perpetrated injustice that promises to reduce the incidence of similar injustices overall, as the authors acknowledge in a comment about torture. Recently such lesser evil arguments have indeed been invoked to justify state torture, detention without trial, and other human rights violations. In this essay, I identify problems that are common to all of these arguments, as illustrated by the well-developed example Sunstein and Vermeule have provided. My aim is to demonstrate that, however valid the lesser evil approach may be in some domains, it fails when invoked to defend state violations of the right to life and other fundamental human rights.


The rising incidence of remote work practices over the last decades has introduced radical changes in organizational practices for managing people. Such environments indeed often lead to challenges that are difficult for both employees and managers to overcome. These difficulties are mostly linked to the management of distance, particularly prominent in remote work – physical, temporal, or cultural distances especially. Although several organizational theories have been used to suggest solutions to these specific issues, little attention has been paid so far to philosophical literature; in this research, we use the work of French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze, to develop a meaningful framework to analyze the management of distance in remote work contexts. This allows us to reconsider and question traditional theories with regard to remote work and global distributed teams, by stressing out manifestations that are significant of the emergence of these specific environments such as the cultural deterritorialization or the formation of more subtle but powerful modalities of control.


Introduction: Brain abscess is caused by inflammation and collection of infected material, coming from local or remote infectious sources, within the brain tissue. The infection may also be introduced via a breach in the skull following head trauma or surgical procedures. Brain abscess may also be associated with congenital heart disease in the young children. Here we would like to describe a case of brain abscess secondary to seemingly trivial head injury. Case presentation: A 12 years old boy presented with left forehead and periorbital swelling for one week with fever, vomiting and headache. Parents added the history of confusion. No history of seizures or LOC was recorded. There was history of minor scalp trauma to the forehead 10 days prior. Examination reveals a febrile child with GCS of 13. Rest of systemic examination was unremarkable. Local examination showed warm tender fluctuant swelling. CT examination was ordered and it revealed, frontal subgaleal collection involving the frontal sinus and extending into intracranial portion. He was admitted for decompressive craniotomy and evacuation of intracranial empyema. The patient's condition improved gradually and was discharged with full recovery after 15 days post-admission. Discussion: Minor scalp trauma serving route of intracranial infection is a rare complication documented in the literature. Detailed history is important as patient or family may not remember it.


Japanese national health insurance provides universal coverage. This system necessarily entails a subsidy that dramatically raises the demand for medical services. In the face of the increased demand, the government suppresses costs by suppressing prices. Through biographical and income data on more than 4,000 Tokyo physicians, I explore the effect of this price suppression on the allocation of talent and the development of expertise. Crucially, this national health insurance does not cover services—like elective cosmetic surgery—deemed medically superfluous. Facing price caps in the covered sector but competitive prices in these "superfluous" sectors, the most talented doctors disproportionately shift into the "superfluous" sectors and there invest heavily in their expertise: cosmetic surgeons are more likely than other doctors (more likely even than noncosmetic plastic surgeons) to have attended a more selective medical school, to have served on a medical school faculty, to be board certified, and to earn high incomes.


This paper studies the relationship between NBA players' salaries and their performance on the basketball court. In other industries executive compensation has been found to have a weak yet significant link to company performance. We find a positive and significant relationship between an NBA player's salary and a player's points per game and rebounds per game for 1997‐98 basketball season. These results may be improved by considering qualitative factors and including more years of data.


We have determined that one reason for diminished PEPCK activity during endotoxemia is the inhibition of glucocorticoid action in hepatic cells. Since glucocorticoid and glucagon hormones act cooperatively to regulate the expression of PEPCK mRNA, we examined whether endotoxin also inhibits the action of glucagon to induce this enzyme. Treated mice were injected intraperitoneally with endotoxin and glucose after a 24 hr fast and given ad libitum access to food and water. Control mice received the same amount of glucose and access to food and water. All mice were given intravenous injections of glucagon for 3 consecutive hours before euthanasia. Blood was analyzed for glucose concentrations, and the liver was assayed for PEPCK activity. Refeeding control mice after a 24 hr fast increased plasma glucose levels to 173 +/- 14 mg/dL and decreased PEPCK activity to 20.6 +/- 2.0 units/mg liver. Subsequent administration of exogenous glucagon further increased plasma glucose to 224 +/- 17 mg/dL and hepatic PEPCK to 31.4 +/- 1.4 units/mg liver. Refeeding endotoxin-treated mice after a 24 hr fast slightly increased plasma glucose levels to 75 +/- 4 mg/dL but had no effect on PEPCK activity. Subsequent glucagon administration had no effect on plasma glucose levels (75 +/- 1.0 mg/dL) or hepatic PEPCK activities (18.8 +/- 5.0 units/mg liver). Therefore, glucagon action to increase liver PEPCK activity and plasma glucose levels was inhibited in endotoxin-treated mice.


We consider new baseball data from Statcast which includes launch angle, launch velocity, and hit distance for batted balls in Major League Baseball during the 2015, and 2016 seasons. Using logistic regression, we train two models on 2015 data to get the probability that a player will get a hit on each of their 2015 at-bats. For each player we sum these predictions and divide by their total at bats to predict their 2016 batting average. We then use linear regression, which expresses 2016 actual batting averages as a linear combination of 2016 Statcast predictions and 2016 PECOTA predictions. When using this procedure to obtain 2017 predictions, we find that the combined prediction performs better than PECOTA. This information may be used to make better predictions of batting averages for future seasons.


Previously our group found that asthma hospitalization rates in zip code-defined communities of New York City correlate with higher proportions of low income and minority populations in a community. We showed that low-income minority communities have 21 times higher asthma hospitalization rates than more affluent communities in New York. In this work we investigate the relation between asthma burdens, in terms of prevalence and hospitalization rates, and ambient levels of these air pollutants in NYC. Asthma prevalence was determined in schools within each zip code using a parent-response survey. We classified NYC zip codes in three different categories taking into account their asthma burdens: High, Medium or Low. Four zip code areas (study areas) were selected in order to carry out the air pollution exposure comparison: two from high, one from medium and one from low. We compared 1999 to 2003 pollution data from air monitoring stations (AMS) operated by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), and located within a 1.5 mile radius of our study areas defined by zip codes. Asthma prevalence among the schools ranged from 7.79% to 36.2%. Prevalence correlated with socioeconomic measures in the study populations. There were no statistically significant differences in PM2.5 and ozone levels between study areas, as measured by the AMS that could explain the asthma burdens disparities in our study areas. We concluded that race/ethnicity and the median household income of the community were strong predictors of asthma prevalence. No differences were detected in the levels of PM2.5 and ozone in these communities, which suggests similar exposure. It is possible that the air pollution data provided by the NYSDEC Air Monitoring Network does not represent an accurate assessment of exposure to ambient levels of the air pollutants studied.


INTRODUCTION
Dialysis-induced oxidative stress is one of the mechanisms of atherosclerotic changes. Heparin, used in hemodialysis, is an anticoagulant drug with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. This study was planned in order to evaluate the antioxidant effects of heparin and dalteparin (low-molecular weight heparin).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-two patients underwent 3 hemodialysis sessions with 48-hour intervals. They underwent hemodialysis with heparin, with a bolus dose of 1000 U followed by 1000 U/h during the procedure. The second hemodialysis was done using hypertonic saline solution instead of heparin, and the third, using dalteparin, 4000 U, infused during hemodialysis. Before and after each dialysis session, we measured serum levels of total blood cholesterol, triglyceride, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterols and oxidized low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, in addition to total antioxidant capacity and paraoxonase 1 activity.

RESULTS
Serum concentrations of triglyceride, cholesterol, and oxidized low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, as well as paraoxonase activity and total antioxidant capacity equally increased after the three hemodialysis sessions. Heparin and daltepain increased total antioxidant capacity, but they did not change the ratio of paraoxonase 1 to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol after hemodialysis. No significant differences were found through the study between the two heparin products in their antioxidant activities.

CONCLUSIONS
Regarding these findings and considering higher price and less availability of dalteparin in comparison to conventional heparin, we recommend using conventional heparin during hemodialysis as the anticoagulant-antioxidant agent.


This study aims to delve into consumers' willingness to buy food through social networks, as there are few existing studies addressing the use of social marketing within the food sector, and with a special focus on foods from animal origin. Due to the nature of the topic, qualitative research has been used in this study and social networks were chosen to spread the survey. Participants completed two free-listing tasks related to types of food they would/would not buy on social networks, with further analysis performed by triangulation. The analysis suggests the most important food categories where the use of social media could be of great value for agro-food businesses. Some significant findings that emerge from this study are that consumers would be willing to buy a wide range of food and beverages, among which stand out the preserved food, legumes, rice, pasta, jam, honey, sugar etc. The results should be considered as preliminary and subject to further confirmation with a representative sample of the population due to the qualitative character of the study and the non-probability convenience sampling used. The study might open new possibilities for food businesses, especially for SMEs, to develop a new electronic shopping channel enabling them to increase sale levels of these products and, therefore, increase profitability and reduce costs.


Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurs through complex mixtures. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has established standard reference materials (SRMs) for selected PAH mixtures that are composed of carcinogenic, noncarcinogenic, and weakly carcinogenic compounds, such as those derived from coal tar (SRM 1597), atmospheric particulate matter (SRM 1649), and diesel particulate matter (SRM 1650). To study the effects of PAHs with different carcinogenic potential in complex mixtures, and to investigate the metabolic activation of noncarcinogenic and weakly carcinogenic PAHs to DNA‐binding derivatives, artificial mixtures (1597H, 1649H, and 1650H) were prepared in the laboratory. These artificial mixtures contained the same relative ratios of noncarcinogenic and weakly carcinogenic PAHs present in SRM 1597, SRM 1649, and SRM 1650. The human mammary carcinoma‐derived cell line MCF‐7 was treated with these artificial mixtures and analyzed for PAH‐DNA adduct formation and the induction of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes. We found that the artificial mixtures formed lower but detectable levels of DNA adducts 24 and 48 hr after treatment than benzo[a]pyrene. Induction of CYP enzyme activity was measured by the ethoxyresorufin‐O‐deethylase assay, and the expression of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 was confirmed by immunoblots. Both noncarcinogenic and weakly carcinogenic PAHs present in the artificial mixtures have the ability to induce CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 in MCF‐7 cells and contribute to DNA binding. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the noncarcinogenic and weakly carcinogenic PAHs present in environmental mixtures in assessing the potential risk associated with human exposure. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 44:99–107, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Examining multimedia program allocation in distributed multimedia-on-demand systems lets us consider how best to provide programs at will from geographically scattered servers. Each user is associated with a local server but can transparently access any program located at any server. The authors consider user demand for various programs, storage limitations of the multimedia servers, and costs of storing and transporting the programs.


Time domain simulations are used extensively to assess the availability of turret moored terminals for offloading operations. The availability analysis provides a key input when assessing the economical viability of a project. In this context, it was deemed important to perform a benchmark study. Three programs have been used: AQWA-DRIFT - an ANSYS product maintained by Century Dynamics and used at SBM, LIFSIM and aNySIM both developed in MARIN. Five environments including wind, waves and current have been selected one of which with all components in-line and the remaining four with oblique wind and current. Simulations have been performed with identical input for the three programs. Results are compared statistically, but also in the time domain. Lessons learned will be discussed and areas of improvement identified.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


SUMMARY. Despite recent advances in antimicrobial chemotherapy and burn wound management, infection continues to be an important problem in burns. Honey is the most famous rediscovered remedy that is used to treat infected wounds and promote healing. The present study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of bee honey on organisms isolated from infected burns in comparison to the antibiotics used in treatment of burn infection, and to evaluate the effects produced when bee honey is added to antibiotic discs. Thirty patients with burn infection were selected for this study. The collected specimens were cultured on blood agar plates. The isolated colonies were identified by different methods. The isolated organisms were inoculated onto Muller-Hinton agar. Each agar plate was divided by a marker pen into two halves - in one half the antibiotic discs were plated while on the opposite side each antibiotic disc, immersed in honey, was plated opposite to the same antibiotic disc. At the centre of the agar, a sterile filter paper disc immersed in honey was applied. The most frequently isolated organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa, representing 53.3% of the isolates. The mean inhibition zones (in mm) produced by honey (18.2 ± 2.5 mm) when applied to isolated gram-negative bacteria were significantly higher than amoxicillin/clavulinic acid, sulbactam/ampicillin, and ceftriaxone (p 1 = 0.005 for each). When honey was added to the antibiotic discs there was highly significant increased sensitivity of isolated gramnegative bacteria compared with each of the antibiotic discs alone and with honey alone. The susceptibility of isolated staphylococci revealed the synergistic effect of added honey to the antibiotic discs tested. The antimicrobial effect of honey (18.7 ± 2.2 mm) was significantly higher than antibiotics - ciprofloxacin, sulbactam/ampicillin, ceftriaxone, and vancomycin (p 1 ≤ 0.05 for each). After the addition of honey to the tested antibiotic discs there were highly significant increased inhibition zones of antibiotic mixed with honey compared with antibiotic alone - ciprofloxacin, vancomycin, and methicillin (p 3 ≤ 0.001 for each). Also, the increase was significant compared with antibiotics alone - imipenem, amoxicillin/clavulinic acid, and ceftriaxone (p 3 ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, honey had more inhibitory effect (85.7%) on isolated gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp., Klebsiella) than commonly used antibiotics, while it had an inhibitory effect on all methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (100%) compared with antibiotics used. A synergistic effect of honey was observed when it was added to antibiotics for gramnegative bacteria and also for coagulase-positive staphylococci.


The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has caused a serious worldwide problem in infection treatment in recent years. One of the pathogens is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections. Alternative strategies and novel sources of antimicrobials to solve antibiotic resistance problems are urgently needed. In this study, we explored the potential of two broad-spectrum bacteriocins, garvicin KS and micrococcin P1, in skin infection treatments. ABSTRACT The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has caused a serious worldwide problem in infection treatment in recent years. One of the pathogens is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a major cause of skin and soft tissue infections. Alternative strategies and novel sources of antimicrobials to solve antibiotic resistance problems are urgently needed. In this study, we explored the potential of two broad-spectrum bacteriocins, garvicin KS and micrococcin P1, in skin infection treatments. The two bacteriocins acted synergistically with each other and with penicillin G in killing MRSA in vitro. The MICs of the antimicrobials in the three-component mixture were 40 ng/ml for micrococcin P1 and 2 μg/ml for garvicin KS and penicillin G, which were 62, 16, and at least 1,250 times lower than their MICs when assessed individually. To assess its therapeutic potential further, we challenged the three-component formulation in a murine skin infection model with the multidrug-resistant luciferase-tagged MRSA Xen31, a strain derived from the clinical isolate S. aureus ATCC 33591. Using the tagged-luciferase activity as a reporter for the presence of Xen31 in wounds, we demonstrated that the three-component formulation was efficient in eradicating the pathogen from treated wounds. Furthermore, compared to Fucidin cream, which is an antibiotic commonly used in skin infection treatments, our formulation was also superior in terms of preventing resistance development.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Paclitaxel-containing devices (PTXDs) significantly reduce reintervention in patients with symptomatic femoropopliteal peripheral artery disease. A recent aggregate-data meta-analysis reported increased late mortality in patients with peripheral artery disease treated with PTXDs. We performed an individual patient data meta-analysis to evaluate mortality. Methods: Manufacturers of US Food and Drug Administration–approved and commercially available devices in the United States provided deidentified individual patient data for independent analysis. Cox proportional hazards 1-stage meta-analysis models using intention-to-treat methods were used for the primary analysis. A secondary analysis of recovered missing vital status data was performed. The impact of control crossover to PTXDs, cause-specific mortality, and drug dose mortality were assessed. Results: A total of 2185 subjects and 386 deaths from 8 PTXD trials with 4-year median follow-up were identified. The primary analysis indicated a 38% (95% CI, 6% to 80%) increased relative mortality risk, corresponding to 4.6% absolute increase, at 5 years associated with PTXD use. Control and treatment arm loss to follow-up and withdrawal were 24% and 23%, respectively. With inclusion of recovered vital status data, the excess relative mortality risk was 27% (95% CI, 3%–58%). This observation was consistent across various scenarios, including as-treated analyses, with no evidence of increased risk over time with PTXDs. Mortality risk tended to be increased for all major causes of death. There were no subgroup differences. No drug dose–mortality association was identified. Conclusions: This individual patient data meta-analysis, based on the most complete available data set of mortality events from PTXD randomized controlled trials, identified an absolute 4.6% increased mortality risk associated with PTXD use.


Traditionally, undergraduate metamorphic petrology focuses on topics including classification of metamorphic rocks, texture and fabric of metamorphic rocks, and the variation of mineral assemblages as a function of temperature, pressure and rock composition (see, for example, the table of contents in the 2001 textbook by John Winter). Consequently, metamorphic geology can easily become a relatively boring fact-memorising subject. Obviously, factual knowledge is important but, as we will show in this presentation, putting them in context related to concepts/themes (Figure 1) will make the learning experience more efficient and in particular more fun for both the student and the lecturer. Metamorphic geology at James Cook University is taught in two undergraduate subjects of six weeks each. Both subjects have "Understanding crustal evolution using pressure-temperature paths" as the main theme (e.g., Spear, 1995). Each subject includes two 50-minute lecture periods and one three-hour practical session per week. The introductory metamorphic geology subject introduces the basic concepts: controlling factors (pressure, temperature, fluid), geotherms and pressure-temperature paths, mineral assemblages and metamorphic reactions (Figure 1). The concepts are explained in lectures and during the practicals using examples and exercises. Specific teaching material was written for both subjects, which is updated every year using feedback from the students. The advanced metamorphic geology subject is entirely structured around a practical case study in which the students have the task to reconstruct the uplift history of a granulite-facies metamorphic terrain. The methods used in this practical are largely based on the concepts already introduced in the introductory metamorphic geology subject. The practical includes petrography (identification of mineral reactions), construction of Thompson AFM diagrams and Fe-Mg KD diagrams, calculation of pressure and temperature conditions and retrograde pressure-temperature paths. The results are presented in an article-format report. The feedback from students to this approach has generally been positive. In particular the complete integration of lectures and the case study has been well received by the students.


In this work we present numerical results of the far field intensity distributions obtained for a Gaussian beam after crossing a thin nonlinear nonlocal material that exhibit nonlinear refraction and absorption. The distributions are obtained for different positions along the Z axis and different signs of the nonlinear absorption. The results demonstrate that the far field intensity patterns obtained for strong nonlocal media are more affected by the presence of the nonlinear absorption than weak nonlocal media.


This paper tackles the Big Mother, Ushtar, and her embodiment in old thinking and Arab imagination in the form of a flower and al-Uiza. The paper has monitored her white face in Jahili poetry at a time when it was fertile land for sex and entertainment. At another time, her face was black and a godess of war, death and destruction. The researcher relied on ancient inscriptions and old texts and compared them with what classical Arabic has preserved of them. In so doing, Arabic has safeguarded noble heritage. Poetry texts were evidence of this. The researcher also offered an interpretation of poetic images, tribal Jahili rituals which nurtured their roots. He also deep rooted the most precious of Jahili values and ideals; woman, wine, Knighthood, and linked them with their religious origins associated with the Big Mother. The woman became a symbol for the flower as she was a symbol for the sun. This clearly shows the difference in between the religion of the South Arabs and that of the North Arabs and their overlapping later on, which was supported by historical studies.


This study evaluated the caries risk profile of patients with severe intellectual disabilities (IDs) who received dental treatment under general anesthesia. One hundred and two patients with ID [ID group, mean age (SD); 23.8(9.3)] and 100 healthy patients without ID [NID group, mean age (SD); 23.19(3.3)] were included. Medication, disability type, oral hygiene maintenance, and cooperation of the patients were investigated. Dietary habits, plaque index, mutans streptococci counts, fluoride availability, and salivary buffering were scored and analyzed using the Cariogram. The mean chance of avoiding caries (SD) was 28.1(20.4) in the ID group and 54.7(18.4) in the NID group. The ID group had significantly higher numbers of decayed and missing teeth, but fewer filled teeth than the NID group (p < .05). Significant disparities existed in the distributions of all caries-related factors except for mutans streptococci counts between the two groups (p < .05). The low chance to avoid future caries in ID patients was closely associated with insufficient oral hygiene maintenance (p < .05). Fluoride availability was strongly associated with the chance of avoiding caries in the ID group. Dental patients with severe ID exhibited a higher risk of developing caries than normal patients. Among several caries-related factors, insufficient oral hygiene maintenance and low fluoride availability most contributed to the high risk.


Chemokines and chemokine receptors have been implicated in inflammatory cell recruitment and angiogenesis underlying the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (ra) and other inflammatory rheumatic diseases. numerous CXC, CC, C and CX3C chemokines and their receptors have been detected in the arthritic synovium and numerous strategies, including biologics, peptide and other small molecule inhibitors of chemokines and their receptors have given promising results in preclinical studies performed in animal models of arthritis. However, most recent human ra trials using antibodies and synthetic compounds have failed. reasons for negative results of these ra trials include overlapping actions of multiple chemokines, dose-dependency, both antagonistic and agonistic effects of chemokines, chemokine degradation by proteases, as well as effects of anti-inflammatory, regulatory cells. recent studies have suggested that CCr1 may still be a good target and previous trials may have failed because of the need of sustained CCr1 occupancy throughout the treatment. therefore, modulation of receptor occupancy may be a feasible option to increase the efficacy of chemokine receptor targeting.


This research is interest in increasing the strength of spot welding joint for thin commercial Aluminum by adding casting component to the welding zone in the form of powder. Those components are copper, manganese and magnesium which are added in a different percentages it appear that the strength of the spot welding has been improved by (14.5%) when adding(0.4 grams of magnesium),(0.1 grams of manganese ) and (0.4 gram of copper). The powder is added in the welding zone boundary after made a single hole with a depth of (0.375mm) and a diameter of (1mm) in the center of spot welding point. To increase the welding strength, five holes have been made with the same above dimensions through the welding zone boundary. The percentages of additive used after reparation the reduction of Aluminum powder. The value of shearing strength increase with a percentage of (27.3%) as comparing with those without additive. Also, heat treatment has been done, which gave a redaction in the strength of spot welding. It has been observed that the increase in the temperature of heat treatment result in decreasing in the spot strength. Welding and cooling environment have an effect on the strength of welded specimen. Hence, air welding environment gives a good welding strength.


Previous studies have shown that renal function in type 2 diabetes correlates better with tubular changes than with glomerular pathology. Since advanced glycation end products (AGEs; AGE-albumin) and in particular carboxymethyllysine (CML) are known to play a central role in diabetic nephropathy, we studied the activation of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) in tubular epithelial cells in vivo and in vitro by AGE-albumin and CML. Urine samples from healthy control subjects (n = 50) and type 2 diabetic patients (n = 100) were collected and tested for excretion of CML and the presence of proximal tubular epithelial cells (pTECs). CML excretion was significantly higher in diabetic patients than in healthy control subjects (P < 0.0001) and correlated with the degree of albuminuria (r = 0.7, P < 0.0001), while there was no correlation between CML excretion and HbA(1c) (r = 0.03, P = 0.76). Urine sediments from 20 of 100 patients contained pTECs, evidenced by cytokeratin 18 positivity, while healthy control subjects (n = 50) showed none (P < 0.0001). Activated NF-kappaB could be detected in the nuclear region of excreted pTECs in 8 of 20 patients with pTECs in the urine sediment (40%). Five of eight NF-kappaBp65 antigen-positive cells stained positive for interleukin-6 (IL-6) antigen (62%), while only one of the NF-kappaB-negative cells showed IL-6 positivity. pTECs in the urine sediment correlated positively with albuminuria (r = 0.57, P < 0.0001) and CML excretion (r = 0.55, P < 0.0001). Immunohistochemistry in diabetic rat kidneys and a human diabetic kidney confirmed strong expression of NF-kappaB in tubular cells. To further prove an AGE/CML-induced NF-kappaB activation in pTECs, NF-kappaB activation was studied in cultured human pTECs by electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) and Western blot. Stimulation of NF-kappaB binding activity was dose dependent and was one-half maximal at 250 nmol/l AGE-albumin or CML and time dependent at a maximum of activation after 4 days. Functional relevance of the observed NF-kappaB activation was demonstrated in pTECs transfected with a NF-kappaB-driven luciferase reporter plasmid and was associated with an increased release of IL-6 into the supernatant. The AGE- and CML-dependent activation of NF-kappaBp65 and NF-kappaB-dependent IL-6 expression could be inhibited using the soluble form of the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) (soluble RAGE [sRAGE]), RAGE-specific antibody, or the antioxidant thioctic acid. In addition transcriptional activity and IL-6 release from transfected cells could be inhibited by overexpression of the NF-kappaB-specific inhibitor kappaBalpha. The findings that excreted pTECs demonstrate activated NF-kappaB and IL-6 antigen and that AGE-albumin and CML lead to a perpetuated activation of NF-kappaB in vitro infer that a perpetuated increase in proinflammtory gene products, such as IL-6, plays a role in damaging the renal tubule.


This paper presents a new approach to the system identification of a two input multivariable system. In a similar manner to that used for the single-input/single-output system, the multi-input multi-output system response may be obtained directly from measured input output frequency responses. An investigation of compact multifrequency data measurement signals, which have been extensively catalogued by the authors, has provided compact multifrequency ternary and quaternary input signals that have uncorrelated spectra. They are powerful multisymbol, multilevel computer generated measurement signals whose signal power is concentrated in either two or three dominant harmonics. As the signals, which are given in this paper, have six, seven or eight symbols in their measurement codes, it is ensured that both the computation time for the frequency estimates and the experimental time are minimized. Two multifrequency quaternary signals with uncorrelated spectra are used to identify a simulated distillation column. It is shown that the cross coupling terms between the measurement channels may be removed by these digital measurement signals with the same number of symbols but different measurement codes.


The Late Ordovician (Hirnantian) glaciation is examined through the North Gondwana record. This domain extended from southern high palaeo-latitudes (southeastern Mauritania, Niger) to northern lower palaeo-latitudes (Morocco, Turkey) and covered a more than 4000 km-wide section perpendicular to ice-flow lines. A major mid-Hirnantian deglaciation event subdividing the Hirnantian glaciation in two first-order cycles is recognised. As best illustrated by the glacial record in western Libya, each cycle comprises 2-3 glacial phases separated by ice-front retreats several hundreds kilometres to the south. From ice-proximal to ice-distal regions, the number of glacial surfaces differentiates (i) a continental interior with post-glacial reworking of the glacial surfaces), (ii) a glaciated continental shelf that is subdivided into inner (1-2 surfaces), middle (2-5 surfaces) and outer (a single surface related to the glacial maximum) glaciated shelves, and (iii) the non-glaciated shelf. Ice-stream-generated glacial troughs, 50-200 km in width, cross-cut these domains. These troughs are zones of preferential glacial erosion and subsequent sediment accumulation. A glacial deposi-tional sequence, bounded by two glacial erosion surfaces, records one glacial phase. The position either within or outside a glacial trough controls the stratigraphic architecture of a glacial sequence. Glaciomarine outwash diamictites are developed at or near the maximum position of the ice-front. During ice-sheet recession, and in an ice-stream-generated trough, a relatively thin sediment cover blankets the foredeepened erosion surface. An initial rapid ice-sheet withdrawal is inferred. Marine-terminating ice fronts then evolve later into more slowly retreating, land-terminating ice fronts. In adjacent inter-stream areas where a more gradual ice-sheet recession occurred, fluvio-glacial deposits prevailed. The progradation of a delta-shelf system, coeval with fluvial aggradation, that may be locally interrupted by a period of isostatic rebound, characterises the late glacial retreat to interglacial conditions. This model should facilitate the sequence stratigraphic interpretation of Late Ordovician glacial deposits and other ancient glacial successions.


Laser capture microdissection-polymerase chain reaction (LCM-PCR) supported by p16 was used for the first time to demonstrate human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in histologically specific penile lesions, which were as follows: squamous hyperplasia (12 lesions, 10 patients), flat lesions (12 lesions, 5 patients), condylomas (26 lesions, 7 patients), penile intraepithelial neoplasia (PeIN) (115 lesions, 43 patients), and invasive squamous cell carcinomas (26 lesions, 26 patients). HPV was detected by whole-tissue section and LCM-PCR. LCM proved to be more precise than whole-tissue section in assigning individual genotypes to specific lesions. HPV was negative or very infrequent in squamous hyperplasia, differentiated PeIN, and low-grade keratinizing variants of carcinomas. HPV was strongly associated with condylomas, warty/basaloid PeIN, adjacent flat lesions, and warty/basaloid carcinomas. A single HPV genotype was found in each lesion. Some condylomas and flat lesions, especially those with atypia, were preferentially associated with high-risk HPV. Unlike invasive carcinoma, in which few genotypes of HPV were involved, there were 18 HPV genotypes in PeIN, usually HPV 16 in basaloid PeIN but marked HPV heterogeneity in warty PeIN (11 different genotypes). Variable and multiple HPV genotypes were found in multicentric PeIN, whereas unicentric PeIN was usually related to a single genotype. There was a correspondence among HPV genotypes in invasive and associated PeIN. p16 was positive in the majority of HPV-positive lesions except condylomas containing LR-HPV. p16 was usually negative in squamous hyperplasia, differentiated PeIN, and low-grade keratinizing variants of squamous cell carcinomas. In summary, we demonstrated that LCM-PCR was a superior research technique for investigating HPV genotypes in intraepithelial lesions. A significant finding was the heterogeneity of HPV genotypes in PeIN and the differential association of HPV genotypes with subtypes of PeIN. The presence of atypia and high-risk HPV in condylomas and adjacent flat lesions suggests a precursor role, and the correspondence of HPV genotypes in invasive carcinomas and associated PeIN indicates a causal relation. Data presented support the bimodal hypothesis of penile cancer carcinogenesis in HPV-driven and non-HPV-driven carcinomas and justify the current WHO pathologic classification of PeIN in special subtypes.


Primary ovarian cancer induces the formation of the premetastatic niche by mobilizing neutrophils to the omentum through the PNAd + blood vessels before the appearance of cancer cells. In response to cancer-de-rived factors, neutrophils are activated and release NETs. Consequently, these NETs promote dissemination of ovarian cancer cells to the omentum by trapping them at this site.


In recent years a number of institutions, in particular non-governmental organizations, have brought their attention to bear on the plight of people displaced within national borders. Prompted by their interest in the protection of human rights, and in keeping with the charitable nature of their work, they have focused the international spotlight on the situation of those who leave their homes in a context marked by political violence. The international community has thus been made aware of two things simultaneously: first, that countries affected by internal armed conflicts have a large number of displaced persons, and second, that armed clashes often result in large-scale population movements. The displacement of minority communities can even become a deliberate policy.


Polyphenol is a valuable compound found in plants. Unfortunately, it is quite sensitive to heat, light and oxygen in the air. This is a disadvantage making the storage of these compounds for longer periods of time difficult. However, this problem can be overcome by encapsulation with carrier agents as maltodextrin, gum arabic, modified starch, etc. The efficiency of maltodextrin (MD, DE16-19) and gum arabic (GA) on spray drying of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. root extract was investigated. The incorporation of gum arabic to the extract had the total polyphenol content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (AC) higher than maltodextrin. The obtained powders from gum arabic and maltodextrin were analyzed for encapsulation yield, moisture content, color parameters, total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, bulk density, wettability, hygroscopicity, water solubility index, particle size and microstructure. The results showed the types of carrier agents which significantly affected the physicochemical properties of powders produced by spray drying.


Meeting power and performance requirement is a challenging task in high speed ALUs. Supply voltage scaling is promising because it reduces both switching and active power but it also degrades robustness. Recently, researchers have proposed novel design technique for linear time complexity adders that maintain high yield and high clock frequency even at scaled supply voltage. The idea is based on the fact that the critical paths of arithmetic units are exercised rarely. The technique (a) predicts the set of critical paths, (b) reduces the supply voltage to operate non-critical paths at rated frequency, and; (c) avoids possible delay failures in the critical paths by dynamically stretching the clock period (to say, two-cycles assuming all standard operations are single-cycle), when they are activated. This allows circuits to operate at scaled supply with minimal performance degradation. The off-critical paths operate in single clock cycle while critical paths are operated in stretched clock period. Different classes of adders may benefit differently using such technique. For example, ripple carry adders can reap the benefits more effectively than say, tree adders (balanced paths). However, logic modification may ease the application of supply voltage scaling. In this paper, we explore various arithmetic units for possible use in high speed, high yield ALU design at scaled supply voltage with variable latency operation. We demonstrate that careful logic optimization of the existing arithmetic units indeed make them further suitable for supply voltage scaling with tolerable area overhead Simulation results on different adder and multiplier topologies in BPTM 70nm technology show 18-60% extra improvement in power with only 2-8% increase in die-area at iso-yield We also extend our studies to design low power and high yield multipliers. These optimized low power datapath units can be used to construct low power and robust ALU that can operate at high clock frequency with minimal performance degradation due to occasional clock stretching.


Objective: To calculate the best possible estimates for age specific life expectancy (LE) and anticipated age at the time of death (AAD) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) compared with the general population in the UK. These may be of greater value to patients than standardised mortality ratios (SMRs), which are usually reported in studies on mortality in PD. Methods: A literature review identified articles with data on age stratified life expectancy or SMRs to calculate estimations of LE using the Gompertz function and data on mortality and LE in the UK from the Office of National Statistics and Actuarial Department for the year 2003. Results: Two UK studies and four from Western Europe were used to estimate LE and AAD for patients with PD from SMRs. The mean LEs of patients with PD compared with the general population were: 38 (SD 5) years for onset between 25 and 39 years compared with 49 (SD 5) years; 21 (SD 5) years for onset between 40 and 64 years compared with 31 (SD 7) years; and 5 (SD 4) years for onset age ⩾65 years compared with 9 (SD 5) years. The average AAD of patients with PD with onset between 25 and 39 years was 71 (SD 3) years and considerably lower than that of the general population (82 (SD 2) years). The difference between average AAD for older individuals with PD (onset ⩾65 years) and the general population was smaller, with an AAD of approximately 88 (SD 7) years compared with 91 (SD 5) years. Conclusions: The calculations showed that LE and AAD in PD are reduced for all onset ages but this reduction is greatest in individuals with a young onset. While the results are average estimates, these can provide useful indications of LE and AAD.


This article interrogates the emerging modes of civic engagement connected to the mobile camera-phone, and the ways in which they require us to rethink what it is to bear witness to brutality in the age of fundamentally camera-mediated mass self-publication. I argue that the camera-phone permits entirely new performative rituals of bearing witness, such as dissenting bodies en masse recording their own repression and, via wireless global communication networks, effectively mobilizing this footage as graphic testimony in a bid to produce feelings of political solidarity. Critically, the performance of what I elect to call 'citizen camera-witnessing', as exemplified by contemporary street opposition movements including those in Burma, Iran, Egypt, Libya and Syria, derives its potency from the ways it reactivates the idea of martyrdom: that is, from its distinct claim to truth in the name of afflicted people who put their bodies on the line to record the injustice of oppression.


While outdoor physical activity has been shown to promote health and well-being,1 ,2 exercising in environments with high levels of air pollution can increase the risk of health problems ranging from asthma attacks to heart or lung pathologies.3 ,4 The interaction of these two phenomena is of specific significance in China, where outdoor physical activity has been a traditional practice but where rapid industrialisation has led to major degradation of the environment. This situation raises the spectre of an emergent major public health crisis in the most populous country in the world.

There is clear and compelling evidence that regular physical activity produces substantial physical and mental health benefits, including improved health-related quality of life and decreased risk of premature morbidity and mortality.1 ,5 ,6 However, it is important to note that in contrast to the commodification of exercise in many western industrialised nations, where exercise for health is often carried out in indoor facilities such as fitness centres, the physical and mental health benefits of physical activity can be achieved outdoors in settings such as community green spaces, parks and trails.1 ,2 Therefore, public health policies designed to encourage participation in physical activity should focus on outdoor settings for promoting public health and improving overall quality of life,5–8 because outdoors settings can accommodate a much larger scale population involvement at substantially lower costs than can physical activity in indoor facilities.

In China, cultural norms, history and public policy have presaged this logistical reality, with a significant portion of the population, especially in the older demographic, exercising daily in outdoor settings such as parks, village squares and along streets, through leisure walking, jogging, dancing, bicycling or Tai Ji Quan.9–11 Studies in China have shown a positive association between traditional …


Stasis thrombi, radiolabeled with Tc-99m sulfur colloid, were produced in six dogs by the injection of human thrombin into isolated jugular vein segments. After release of the thrombi, scintigraphic images demonstrated 16 pulmonary emboli containing Tc-99m. Autologous platelets labeled by the In-111 oxine method were injected. Sequential images demonstrated platelet accumulation in 14 of the 16 emboli within 1 hr. The emboli were recovered at autopsy and their activity assayed. The mean uptake of In-111-labeled platelets was 1.1% dose/g of embolus, and the mean embolus-to-blood ratio was 16. Our results demonstrate that fresh pulmonary emboli in dogs can be detected by imaging with In-111-labeled platelets, and suggest that radiolabeled platelets may provide a simple, noninvasive method for the direct visualization of pulmonary emboli in patients.


This guide provides print, electronic, and internet sources of information that may be useful in researching sociology topics. We encourage you to seek assistance from the library staff for if you have questions or need further help. This guide provides print, electronic, and internet sources of information that may be useful in researching sociology topics. We encourage you to seek assistance from the library staff for if you have questions or need further help.


We take advantage of a semianalytic model with a state-of-art implementation of the formation of the intracluster light (ICL) to study the mass distribution of the ICL in galaxy groups and clusters, at different redshifts. We assume the ICL to follow a Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) profile with a different concentration, linked to that of the dark matter by the relation cICL = γ cDM, where the parameter γ is set to reproduce the observed relation between the stellar mass in the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) and ICL in the innermost 100 kpc and the halo mass (M*100 − M500) at z = 0. The model is then tested against several theoretical and observational results, from the present time to z ∼ 1.5. Our analysis shows that the fraction of stellar mass in the BCG and ICL within the innermost 100 kpc is an increasing function of redshift, parameter γ, and a decreasing function of the halo mass. The value of γ required to match the observed M*100 − M500 is γ = 3 at z = 0, but there are indications that it might be a function of redshift and halo mass. This result indicates that the distribution of the ICL is more concentrated than the dark matter one, but less concentrated than previously found by other studies. We suggest that a modified version of the NFW is a good description of the distribution of the diffuse light in groups and clusters, which makes the ICL a reliable tracer of the dark matter, in good agreement with recent observational findings.


As the saying goes, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is." Networking research has a wealth of good papers on both sides of the theory-practice divide. However, many practical papers stop short of having a sharp problem formulation or a rigorously considered solution, and many theory papers overlook or assume away some key aspect of the system they intend to model. Still, every so often, a paper comes along that nails a practical question with just the right bit of theory. When that happens, it's a thing of beauty. These are my ten favorite examples. In some cases, I mention survey papers that cover an entire body of work, or a journal paper that presents a more mature overview of one or more conference papers, rather than single out an individual research result. (As an aside, I think good survey papers are a wonderful contribution to the community, and wish more people invested the considerable time and energy required to write them


Detection of 'anomalies', empirical regularities that are inexplicable within a preeminent or accepted paradigm, is a key aspect of the operation of scientific endeavour. The dominant theories of financial economics, those deriving from the CAPMI APT literature, hold that there should not exist persistent differences in the returns to assets across calendar frequencies. An extensive review of the literature reveals that in a wide variety of assets and markets there is evidence that returns differ according to the calendar frequency, in particular across days of the week and months of the year and around recurrent holidays. However, this review also reveals considerable room for increased methodological and statistical sophistication. In particular, the nature and extent of the data indicate that techniques based on robust regression, non-parametric statistics and Bayesian inference are more appropriate than the predominantly OLS based approaches displayed in the literature. Papers that adopt these more sophisticated approaches generally find much weaker evidence for such calendar anomalies. In essence, the Irish Stock Exchange operated free from exchange controls and in a broadly homogenous monetary and economic environment from 1988 to 1998. Daily returns from 1988 to 1998, on official equity indices, and from 1993 to 1998 on equal and value weighted equity indices, are examined. The evidence is that even when more sophisticated and appropriate techniques are used there is still some evidence for a daily pattern in the returns to these indices. However this pattern is dissimilar to that found elsewhere, consisting of a midweek positive peak as opposed to the more commonly found low returns at the start of the week and higher returns on Friday. This pattern is not a function of the settlement system, does not appear to be related to the pattern of either microeconomic (firm-specific) or macroeconomic infonnation releases, nor does it appear to be a function of endogenous news generation. Previous international research indicates a January peak in returns, while previous research on the Irish market had also fOlUld an April peak. While the investigation here of the monthly pattern of returns confinns, in a statistically and methodologically robust manner, the January peak no evidence is found of an April peak. Examination of the return pattern around exchange ho lidays indicates that, in common with other markets referenced in the literature, there is a rise in returns before a holiday. However, on decomposition into local and international components we find that although the local effect is strong this effect is negative, which is a major point of departure from previous research findings.


challenges inherent in energy policy form an increasingly large proportion of the great issues of global governance. These energy challenges reflect numerous transnational market or governance failures, and their solutions are likely to require a number of global components that can support or constrain national energy policy. Governing energy globally requires approaches that can simultaneously cope with three realities: the highly fragmented and conflictual nature of the current inter-state system's efforts to govern energy; the diversity of institutions and actors relevant to energy; and the dominance of national processes of energy decision making that are not effectively integrated into global institutions.