This paper reviews three targeted transit subsidies applied in Latin America. The Vale Transporte scheme in Brazil is the oldest, having been introduced in 1985. Household survey data for 26 metropolitan areas were used to estimate the distributional impact of the Vale Transporte. The results indicate that this program is badly targeted to low-income individuals. In 19 of the 26 cities, this subsidy is regressive. The reason is that only formal sector workers are eligible for this benefit while many low-income individuals work in the informal sector in Brazil. In addition, since this subsidy is paid by employers it is reasonable to expect compensating equilibrium effects in wages or unemployment. We present evidence that suggests that this may have occurred with wages. In contrast, Bogota and Buenos Aires have implemented demand side means-tested subsidies during the last decade. In these cases, criteria from the general welfare system are used to determine eligibility and both have been implemented using smartcard payment technology. We review the available information on the design, operation, and distributional outcomes for each case. This review provides useful information for policymakers interested in the design and implementation of targeted transit subsidies.


: The software industry is dynamic and complex, so they need to use the knowledge to excel in a highly competitive market. Thus, the knowledge well managed brings the organization a sustainable and competitive advantage. Knowledge Management (KM) processes can avoid knowledge lost since they provide knowledge flow for the whole organization. These processes are supported by practices and tools promoting the creation, retention, and dissemination of the knowledge within the organizational environment. The objective of this study was to validate, through a proof of concept (POC), a questionnaire to investigate the processes, practices, and tools of KM in SME-Soft. The questionnaire was evaluated by fifty-one professionals and KM experts from the software industry. Our findings point out that the questionnaire is suitable for the software industry.


SIR-Dr. G. Payling Wright (November 23. p. 721) raises the inmportant problem of the effect of pregnancv on consumptive women, which is the subject of a clinical investigation now being made at this sanatorium. A maternity uinit is attached to one ofthe pulmonary wards, and LIp to the present time the effect of pregnancy on thirty-nine tuberculous women has been observed. Eighteen of these patients were under 25; the highest age of the remainder was 36. It was found that eleven patients were admitted with active and twentv-eight with quiescent disease; included among the latter were eleven patients admitted with an artificial pneutmothorax, and one who had had a successful total thoracoplasty. No adverse effect of pregnancy, labour, or puerperium was observed on any of the patients whose disease was quiescent. Of the eleven patients whose disease was aQLive on admission, three showed evidence of retrogression, in three others the disease became quiescent, and in five there was no change. Cases proposed for admission are reviewed in consultation between the tuberculosis officers of'the Essex Countv Council and Dr. Burton Wood, consultant physician for pulmonary tuberculosis. We are informed that there has been verv little rejection of cases, and that cases admitted represent a fair sample of pregnant tuberculous women. Our results, which do not at present include sufficient cases to justify final conclusions, will be the subject of a paper in due course, but we feel that this short preliminary note lends clinical support to Dr. Wright's statistical review.-We are, etc., R. C. COHEN. The Sanatorium, Braintree, Dec. 7. ALAN GRANT. M. C. WILKINSON.


There is strong evidence that in bargaining situations with asymmetric outside options people exhibit self-serving biases concerning their fairness judgements. Moreover psychological literature suggests that this can be a driving force of bargaining impasse. This paper extends the notion of inequity aversion to incorporate self-serving biases due to asymmetric outside options and analyses whether this leads to bargaining breakdown. I distinguish between sophisticated and naive agents, that is, those agents who understand their bias and those who do not. I find that breakdown in ultimatum bargaining results from naiveté of the proposers. JEL classification: A13, C7, D63


Seoul orthohantavirus (SEOV) is a rat-associated zoonotic pathogen with an almost worldwide distribution. In 2019, the first autochthonous human case of SEOV-induced hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome was reported in Germany, and a pet rat was identified as the source of the zoonotic infection. To further investigate the SEOV reservoir, additional rats from the patient and another owner, all of which were purchased from the same vendor, were tested. SEOV RNA and anti-SEOV antibodies were found in both of the patient's rats and in two of the three rats belonging to the other owner. The complete coding sequences of the small (S), medium (M), and large (L) segments obtained from one rat per owner exhibited a high sequence similarity to SEOV strains of breeder rat or human origin from the Netherlands, France, the USA, and Great Britain. Serological screening of 490 rats from breeding facilities and 563 wild rats from Germany (2007–2020) as well as 594 wild rats from the Netherlands (2013–2021) revealed 1 and 6 seropositive individuals, respectively. However, SEOV RNA was not detected in any of these animals. Increased surveillance of pet, breeder, and wild rats is needed to identify the origin of the SEOV strain in Europe and to develop measures to prevent transmission to the human population.


Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) are very popular because of their widespread usage. In MANET, each node has to co-operate with each other to perform functions in the network. However some nodes do not participate in routing and forwarding packets which are not destined to them, in order to save their energy. Such misbehaving nodes which try to get benefitted from other nodes but refusing to forward other nodes packets can severely degrade the performance of the whole network. In MANETs, detection of such misbehaving nodes is very important. In this survey, a detailed study of misbehaving nodes, their characteristics and their effects in various layers of the network are discussed. Moreover, various detection schemes which deal with misbehaving nodes are also considered in the discussion. This paper discusses the different schemes for misbehaving node detection in MANETs.


Background and aim Increasing numbers of children with marked upper Gastrointestinal (GI) dysmotility require home enteral tube feeding (HETF). We reviewed the need and outcome of medium/long-term jejunal feeding for problematic gastric HETF. Methods Retrospective cohort study (database and clinical note review) of use of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-J, transgastric gastrojejunostomy (GJ) tubes and surgical roux-en-Y jejunostomy (ReYJ) in a regional centre serving 1.25 million people. Nasojejunal feeding tubes had only short-term use as a guide to need for jejunal route. All children receiving HETF under 18 years of age during 1 January 2002 to 30 September 2010 were included. Results 795 children received HETF during the study period. 33 (4%) required medium/long-term jejunal feeding – PEG-J tube in 4, GJ tube in 25, initial surgical ReYJ in 4. 25 children had 71 GJ tubes placed endoscopically/radiologically. The one major complication was death following small bowel intussusception. 43 of 71 tubes were changed for minor complications, including burst balloons in 16 (37%), holes in the Y-port/tube in 10 (23%), and fungal infection in 4 (9%). Proximal tube migration was problematic with both GJ and PEG-J tubes. Of the 29 PEG-J or GJ tube fed children, 7 (24%) returned to gastric feeding, 5 (17%) died from underlying neurodisability and 8 (27%) continue with GJ/PEG-J, 2 awaiting formation of ReYJ. The remaining 9 (31%) needed long-term jejunal feeding and had a surgical ReYJ formed. 13 children had ReYJ formation, at a median (range) age of 3 years 4 months (7 months–17 years 10 months). 11 (85%) of these children have underlying neurodisability, and seven (53%) had previous fundoplication. In terms of outcomes, nine (69%) continue with only minor stoma infection and leakage, two (15%) died from underlying condition, one (8%) moved from region and one (8%) transitioned successfully to adult services. Conclusions Medium to long-term jejunal feeding via PEG-J or GJ tubes to children with severe GI dysmotility is used for problematic HETF, albeit with time-consuming practical challenges, particularly urgent tube changes. Surgical ReYJ formation provides a secure, relatively complication-free means of providing long-term jejunal feeding to these children.


Background: Malignant hyperthermia susceptibility (MHS) is a life-threatening, inherited disorder of muscle calcium metabolism, triggered by anesthetics and depolarizing muscle relaxants. An unselected cohort was screened for MHS mutations using exome sequencing. The aim of this study was to pilot a strategy for the RYR1 and CACNA1S genes. Methods: Exome sequencing was performed on 870 volunteers not ascertained for MHS. Variants in RYR1 and CACNA1S were annotated using an algorithm that filtered results based on mutation type, frequency, and information in mutation databases. Variants were scored on a six-point pathogenicity scale. Medical histories and pedigrees were reviewed for malignant hyperthermia and related disorders. Results: The authors identified 70 RYR1 and 53 CACNA1S variants among 870 exomes. Sixty-three RYR1 and 41 CACNA1S variants passed the quality and frequency metrics but the authors excluded synonymous variants. In RYR1, the authors identified 65 missense mutations, one nonsense, two that affected splicing, and one non–frameshift indel. In CACNA1S, 48 missense, one frameshift deletion, one splicing, and one non–frameshift indel were identified. RYR1 variants predicted to be pathogenic for MHS were found in three participants without medical or family histories of MHS. Numerous variants, previously described as pathogenic in mutation databases, were reclassified by the authors as being of unknown pathogenicity. Conclusions: Exome sequencing can identify asymptomatic patients at risk for MHS, although the interpretation of exome variants can be challenging. The use of exome sequencing in unselected cohorts is an important tool to understand the prevalence and penetrance of MHS, a critical challenge for the field.


Oceanographic and ice-mass-balance records are presented from two moorings deployed on landfast multiyear ice in the Wandel Sea (North Greenland) during June–August 2015. Here we show that the melting and drainage of > 1 m of snow from June 14 to July 14 created a double-diffusive vertical stratification which resulted in supercooling of water and enabled the formation of platelet crystals below the sea ice. Although the effect of supercooling, with temperatures up to 0.5 8 C below the freezing point, might be overestimated considerably in our records, this process led to the formation of (cid:2) 1.1–1.2 m-thick subice platelet layer. While warm water temperatures lead to the complete loss of this layer at one mooring site, the layer persisted through summer and became incorporated into the congelation ice at the second site. The warm water that melted out the platelet layer can be ascribed to two different sources: (1) in situ heating from solar radiation resulting in a temperature increase up to 0.8 8 C in late July and (2) advection of warm surface water (with temperatures up to 3–4 8 C) from the ice-free coastal regions in mid-August. The combination of processes causing the seasonal growth of a platelet layer and either its subsequent ablation or incorporation into congelation ice is discussed with respect to the ice-mass balance and stability of the landfast ice cover in the Wandel Sea. Furthermore, this study provides evidence for the formation of a platelet layer in the Arctic, a phenomenon that historically has only been observed in the Antarctic.


We have previously shown that IL-4 is an essential mediator for the synthesis of human IgE in vitro. In this study we demonstrate that prior physical contact with T cells is required by B cells to synthesize IgE in response to IL-4. Both autologous and allogeneic freshly prepared T cells were consistently able to support IL-4-dependent IgE synthesis, provided that they were added to B cells together with, or before, the addition of IL-4. In addition, most CD4+, as well as a proportion of CD8+, PHA-induced T cell clones (TCC) established from two HLA-DR incompatible donors, supported, in the presence of exogenous IL-4, the synthesis of IgE in B cells from the majority of individuals tested including both donors of cloned T cells. An alloreactive TCC able to produce IL-4 in response to HLA-DR4+ B cells and to induce HLA-DR4+ B cells to synthesize IgE, acquired the ability to support IgE synthesis by B cells lacking the appropriate alloantigen provided that exogenous IL-4 was added. Although the ability of freshly prepared T cells to support IgE synthesis was consistently abrogated by fixation with paraformaldehyde (PF), such a treatment variably affected the IgE-inducing ability of TCC. Preactivation with anti-CD3 before treatment with PF maintained or even enhanced the ability of TCC to support IL-4-dependent IgE synthesis. More importantly, preactivation with anti-CD3, followed by fixation with PF, enabled TCC, apparently devoid of IgE-inducing activity in unfixed condition, to support IL-4-dependent IgE synthesis. Taken together these data suggest that at least two signals are involved in the triggering of human B cells to IgE production: the first is delivered by a T-B cell contact and the second by IL-4. The physical signal delivered by T cells does not necessarily consist of cognate interaction. Non-cognate contact-dependent induction of B cells to IgE synthesis in response to IL-4 appears to be related to molecule(s) distinct from the TCR/CD3 complex, but fully expressed on the membrane of TCR/CD3-activated T cells.


This article is devoted to the problem of the detection of overt or tacit collusion equilibrium in the context of the choice of the appropriate econometric method, a choice that is determined by the amount of information that the observer possesses. The author addresses this problem in two steps. First, to provide a theoretical background, he uses a collusion marker based on structural disturbances in a price process'; variance. Then, he applies a Markov switching model with switching in variance regimes. The author considers this method adequate and coherent with the problem structure and the research objective, and useful for assessing the functionality of the collusion marker he uses. He uses the model to examine the Indian cement industry in the period 1994-2009 and finds some objective indications of collusion and competition phases. These phases are confirmed by certain historical facts as well as by numerous research articles.


Abstract Objective To examine whether a worksite nutrition programme using a low-fat vegan diet could significantly improve nutritional intake. Design At two corporate sites of the Government Employees Insurance Company, employees who were either overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) and/or had type 2 diabetes participated in a 22-week worksite-based dietary intervention study. Setting At the intervention site, participants were asked to follow a low-fat vegan diet and participate in weekly group meetings that included instruction and group support (intervention group). At the control site, participants received no instruction (control group). At weeks 0 and 22, participants completed 3 d dietary records to assess energy and nutrient intake. Subjects A total of 109 participants (sixty-five intervention and forty-four control). Results In the intervention group, reported intake of total fat, trans fat, saturated fat and cholesterol decreased significantly (P ≤ 0·001), as did energy and protein (P = 0·01), and vitamin B12 (P = 0·002), compared with the control group. Intake (exclusive of any use of nutritional supplements) of carbohydrate, fibre, vitamin C, magnesium and potassium increased significantly (P ≤ 0·0001), as did that for β-carotene (P = 0·0004), total vitamin A activity (P = 0·004), vitamin K (P = 0·01) and sodium (P = 0·04) in the intervention group, compared with the control group. Conclusions The present study suggests that a worksite vegan nutrition programme increases intakes of protective nutrients, such as fibre, folate and vitamin C, and decreases intakes of total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol.


This study was aimed to determine the relationship between organizational tenure and employee's psychological empowerment in PT . Perkebunan Nusantara X (Persero). The tenure is the length of times that employers work in an instution, office, etc. Psychological empowerment is a manifestation of an empowerment process that includes four individual cognitions: meaning, self-determination, competence, and impact. The research was conducted to 92 employees who has direct supervisor . Data collection tools used was psychological empowerment questionnaire consisting 35 items. Analysis of the data was performed with the statistical techniques of correlation Pearson's product moment using SPSS 16.0 for windows. It is obtained that the correlation value between organization tenure and employee's psychological empowerment is 0.602 with p equal to 0.000. This indicates that there is a significant correlation between the organizational tenure and employees's psychological empowerment in PT . Perkebunan Nusantara X (Persero).


Accurate numerical solutions of the polarized cavity and semicontinuum models for excess electrons in polar media are derived. Part I presents the results of a numerical investigation of similar models for the surplus electron in crystalline solids. Here, the existence of a few analytical and numerical solutions affords an excellent check on the accuracy and efficiency of the presently-used finite-difference technique. In addition, the extent of amelioration produced in approximate variational treatments is disclosed. Some relevant theory is developed. In Part II the numerical technique is used in a thorough-going study of polarized cavity and semicontinuum models, within both the adiabatic and scf formulations, for the excess single-electron species. The considerable improvements effected on existing one-parameter variational approaches is demonstrated and several results are called into question. In particular the scf treatment of the polarized cavity model for the hydrated electron is shown to be inadequate. This refutes a recent, variationally-based claim to the contrary. In the realm of semicontinuum theories it is shown that the presently used parameterizations do, on accurate solution, no longer give concurrence with experimental data. While this could be renewed for any given observation by a more appropriate selection of variables, deviations will generally remain in the other predictions. It is shown to be unlikely that transitions to higher excited states contribute much to the observed band width, which the present treatments based on a single 1s-2p transition badly underestimate. Localized dielectron species form the subject of Part III. The numerical solution technique is carried through on similar levels of approximation in an attempt to resolve recent contradictory statements as to the dissociative stability of the ammoniated dielectron made by the alternative formulations of the semicontinuum model. The disparity remains. The introduction of a second solvation shell is effected in an attempt to reduce the computational differences of the models used, but to no avail. The adiabatic treatment prefers two singly-solvated species while an scf scheme favours a trapped dielectron. Absorption at doubly-charged sites is shown to be of doubtful importance in the observed spectrum. Clearly some major alterations in the present models are necessary. The contradiction has now been removed. More recent calculations have revealed that, within the semicontinuum model, the adiabatic approximation also favours stable dielectrons.


The impact of the March, 2012 LFTB media event on beef prices was estimated by using the Relative Price of a Substitute Good method applied to 50% and 90% lean beef trim and cull cow prices. Stationarity tests conclude both of the relative prices were cointegrated prior to the LFTB event. Preliminary results suggest the date of the price impact was April 7, 2012 with current estimates suggesting an 11-12% reduction in relative prices of 50% beef trim. Ongoing research is adding more recent data and additional assessments to assess robustness of initial findings.


In Reply .—Dr Goodlin is puzzled about the differing outcomes of the various analyses of the CPS data. Our placing the various disorders that cause birth asphyxia into a single category and grouping other risk factors into consolidated categories made it possible to identify the origin of a much higher percentage of CP cases than was possible in previous studies of the CPS data. Previous analyses isolated the origin of very few CP cases in explanatory models because the CPS had too few children in single category classifications to identify associations between most individual risk factors and CP. Most previous CPS investigators also used Apgar scores to identify asphyxiated neonates. Our study found that this use of Apgar scores misattributes to asphyxia many cases of CP that have a developmental origin. Dr Goodlin suggested that some infants who died in the CPS as the result of birth asphyxia would have survived with


We give a detailed account of a stationary impurity in an ideal Bose-Einstein condensate, which we call the ideal Bose polaron, at both zero and non-zero temperatures and arbitrary strength of the impurity-boson coupling.
The time evolution is solved exactly and it is found that, surprisingly, many of the features that have been predicted for the real BEC are already present in this simpler setting and can be understood analytically therein.
We obtain explicit formulae for the time evolution of the condensate wave function at $T=0$ and of the one-particle density matrix at $T>0$.
For negative scattering length, the system is found to thermalize even though the dynamics are perfectly coherent.
The time evolution and thermal values of the Tan contact are derived and compared to a recent experiment.
We find that contrary to the Fermi polaron, the contact is not bounded at unitarity as long as a condensate exists.
An explicit formula for the dynamical overlap at $T=0$ allows us to compute the rf spectrum which can be understood in detail by relating it to the two-body problem of one boson and the impurity.


Exotic willow trees, Salix babylonica L. and S. fragilis Benth., were severely defoliated in the Highveld Region of South Africa and in Lesotho during the summer of 1993/94 by larvae of the Holarctic tenthredinid sawfly Nernatus oligospilus Forster. This is the first record of Nematinae from southern Africa. A diagnosis is provided and distribution, biology and economic relevance are discussed. Natural enemies of the sawfly include the parasitoids Dibrachys sp. and Pteromalus sp. (Pteromalidae) and Pediobius sp. (Eulophidae) (Hymenoptera), and the predator Macrorhaphis sp. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Field surveys indicated that the indigenous willow, S. mucronata Thunb., is not attacked. A greenhouse trial demonstrated that the sawfly cannot breed on the economically important saIicaceous tree Populus deltoides Bart. ex Marsh.


The dynamic globularization behavior during hot working of Ti-6Al-4V alloy was investigated by high temperature torsion tests. The torsion tests were carried out to investigate microstructure evolution occurring during dynamic globularization in Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The torsion tests were performed under a wide range of temperatures and strain rates with true strain up to 2. The flow curves revealed that the amount of flow softening for the fine alpha-lamellae structure was higher than that for the coarse alpha-lamellae structure under the temperature of 900oC. The effects of hot deformation parameters and initial microstructures on the dynamic globularization were analyzed.


Abstract. Integrated lifetime radiation damage may cause spacecraft to become more susceptible to operational anomalies by changing material characteristics of electronic components. This study demonstrates and quantifies the impact of these effects by examining the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) satellite anomaly database. Energetic particle data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) is used to construct the total lifetime particle exposure a satellite has received at the epoch of an anomaly. These values are compared to the satellite's chronological age and the average exposure per year (calculated over two solar cycles.) The results show that many anomalies occur on satellites that have received a total lifetime high-energy particle exposure that is disproportionate to their age. In particular, 10.8% of all events occurred on satellites that received over two times more 20 to 40 MeV proton lifetime particle exposure than predicted using an average annual mean. This number inflates to 35.2% for 40 to 80 MeV protons and 33.7% for ≥2 MeV electrons. Overall, 73.5% of all anomalies occurred on a spacecraft that had experienced greater than two times the expected particle exposure for one of the eight particle populations used in this study. Simplistically, this means that the long term radiation background exposure matters, and that if the background radiation is elevated during the satellite's lifetime, the satellite is likely to experience more anomalies than satellites that have not been exposed to the elevated environment.


Data mining is the use of algorithms to extract the information and patterns derived by the knowledge discovery in databases process. Classification maps data into predefined groups or classes. It is often referred to as supervised learning because the classes are determined before examining the data. The feasibility and the benefits of the proposed approaches are demonstrated by the means of data mining applications like intrusion detection, direct marketing, and signature verification. A variety of techniques have been employed for analysis ranging from traditional statistical methods to data mining approaches. Bagging and boosting are two relatively new but popular methods for producing ensembles. In this work, bagging is evaluated on real and benchmark data sets of intrusion detection, direct marketing, and signature verification in conjunction with as the base learner. The proposed is superior to individual approach for data mining applications in terms of classification accuracy.


The article is devoted to the development of the foreign trade relations of the Russian Orthodox Church during the reign of Tsar Alexei Мikhailovich. Special attention is given to the specific forms of organization of the foreign trade operations. The authors argue that the foreign trade operations of the Church during the given period had influenced by the contradictions between the State and the Russian Orthodox Church.


A laser diode-pumped high-efficiency widely tunable Tm:YAP laser with excellent comprehensive properties is reported. The output power is stable at a given pump power. Under the absorbed pump power of 12.95 W, the maximum output power at 2,010 nm is 5.16 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 45.5%. The generated beam profile is close to the Gaussian TEM00 near the maximum pump power. Furthermore, the laser working wavelength can be continuously tuned through optimization from 1,894 to 2,066 nm, which is the widest tunable range for Tm:YAP lasers to date.


Based on the Petri net (PN) models of the flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs), this paper focuses on solving the scheduling problem of minimizing the total energy consumption of FMSs. In the view of different energy consumption rates of resources under different working statuses, two energy consumption functions are considered. The dynamic programming (DP) models of the scheduling problems based on PNs are established, where a reachable marking of a PN model, start processing time vector, route vector, and the transition sequence leading to the reachable marking from the initial one, is regarded as a state, and the Bellman equation is based on transition firing. For small-size scheduling problems, their optimal solutions can be obtained by the presented DP algorithm. However, it is difficult to solve larger-scale ones since the number of explored states increases exponentially with the problem size, which makes DP computationally infeasible. To obtain an optimal or suboptimal schedule in an acceptable time, modified DP (MDP) algorithm is proposed, in which fewer states are explored. In MDP, two ways are introduced through which only the most promising states are explored. One is keeping only one transition sequence for each marking through an evaluation function. Another is selecting the most promising states in each stage for further exploration through a heuristic function. To guarantee that the generated states are safe, a deadlock controller is applied in the recursion procedure of MDP. Experimental results on manufacturing systems and comparisons with existing works are provided to show the effectiveness of MDP. Note to Practitioners—This paper is motivated by the need of optimizing the energy consumption of manufacturing systems, considering the increasing energy cost and environmental concerns. Existing studies on energy optimization rarely focus on flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) which exhibit a high degree of resource sharing and route flexibility and can be highly adaptable to various production plans and goals. Scheduling becomes more challenging when facing deadlock-prone FMSs. This paper provides a method to solve this complex scheduling problem efficiently. In this paper, dynamic programming (DP) is formulated for it, and the optimal energy consumption schedules are found. Considering the computational burden of implementing DP in the scheduling of large-size FMSs, a novel scheduling method named modified DP (MDP) is proposed. Experimental tests on an FMS and a stamping system suggest that MDP can successfully find feasible solutions. Besides, it can be applied to other FMS scheduling problems and industrial cases, once their processing time of operations and energy consumption of resources per unit time are known.


PURPOSE
To determine the effects of age, gender, and ethnicity on the predicted aerobic power of youth as they age from 8 to 16 yr.

METHODS
The sample was a multicohort group of 2540 African Americans (N = 543) and Caucasians (N = 1997), 1279 (50.4%) girls and 1261 (49.6%) boys. Heights, weights, and sum of skin folds (triceps + subscapular) were measured. Aerobic power ((p)VO(2max)), expressed in relative (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) or absolute (L x min(-1)) terms, was predicted from a three-stage cycle ergometry test.

RESULTS
Quadratic mixed-model analysis indicated that boys had higher relative and absolute (p)VO(2max) than the girls (P = 0.0004). The African American subjects had a higher absolute (p)VO(2max) (L x min(-1)) than the Caucasians, but their relative (p)VO(2max) was lower than the Caucasians (P = 0.031). Finally, age had a significant effect on (p)VO(2max) (P = 0.0001). The absolute (p)VO(2max) of the girls increased 9%.yr(-1) until age 14; but their relative (p)VO(2max) declined approximately 1.2 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1) x yr(-1). The absolute (p)VO(2max) for the boys increased yearly by approximately 14% from ages 8 to 16 yr, but the relative (p)VO(2max) of the African American males was stable from ages 8 to 11, then dropped, and stabilized again between ages 12 and 16 yr. The relative (p)VO(2max) of the Caucasian boys declined from ages 8 to 10, but then increased slightly from age 12 to 16 yr. In addition, the interactions of age and gender, and age squared and gender were significant (P < 0.02).

CONCLUSION
These data indicate that although absolute (p)VO(2max) (L x min(-1)) increases from age 8 to 16 yr, relative (p)VO(2max) (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) declines. The decline appears to be related to increased fat mass. Similarly, the higher relative (p)VO(2max) (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)) of the Caucasian youth compared with the African American youth was related to lower weights and skin folds of the Caucasian youth.


A microscopic analysis of the morphology and ultrastructure of the digestive, salivary, and reproductive systems of adult Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) B type was conducted using light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. The internal anatomy of B. tabaci was found to be similar to that reported for Trialeurodes vaporariorum. In a microscopic analysis of the salivary glands, we have shown that each primary salivary gland is composed of at least 13 cells varying in morphology and staining differentially, while the accessory salivary glands are composed of four morphologically similar cells. We analyzed the course of the alimentary canal in B. tabaci, demonstrated the internal morphology of the organs, and clarified the location of the filter chamber relative to other organs in the whitefly. Our observations confirm that the pair of structures extending from the connecting chamber are caeca that may aid in fluid movement through the midgut and are not Malpighian tubules, as previously suggested. We confirm an earlier finding that the whitefly lacks Malpighian tubules, having instead specialized Malpighian‐like cells within the filter chamber at the juncture with the internal ileum. Finally, we provide the first scanning electron microscopic analysis showing the reproductive organs of B. tabaci. Our investigation provides clarified terminology for several components of the digestive and excretory system. We also provide drawings and micrographs that will aid future researchers in localizing the internal organs of B. tabaci. We expect our analysis to provide a valuable tool for studying B. tabaci / plant virus interactions and physiological and biological aspects of this insect. J. Morphol. 248:22–40, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Gambling disorder (GD) leads to impaired socioeconomical functioning and increased social costs. Although the research on GD has been rising over the years, approved treatment guidelines are currently not available. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on the pharmacological and psychosocial treatment of adults with GD, and to identify possible agreed-upon standards of care.

METHODS
MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Embase, and CINAHL electronic databases were searched up to April 2019 for systematic reviews on pharmacological, psychosocial, and combined treatment of adults with GD. Twenty-six studies were eventually included in this meta-review.

RESULTS
Studies reported promising results of opioid antagonists and mood stabilizers in reducing GD-related symptomatology. Lithium was particularly effective in subjects with comorbid bipolar disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was the most commonly used psychological intervention and reduced global severity, gambling frequency, and financial loss. Motivational interviewing (MI) seemed to improve several GD domains, alone or in combination with CBT. Self-help interventions (SHIs) showed some efficacy in promoting treatment-seeking, and in combination with other treatments.

CONCLUSIONS
We found moderate evidence of effect for CBT, but weaker evidence for pharmacotherapy and SHIs. Results suggested some efficacy for MI in the short but not in the long term. It is likely that certain interventions might be more effective than others on specific features of GD. Further studies are needed to compare the efficacy and acceptability of individual and combined psychosocial and pharmacological interventions, to deliver patient-tailored treatments.


The information product designed and developed in this study primarily aims at "the qualitative analysis of production results" within a recipient company, using as the basis of analysis the steps required by the "statistical control of production quality, using the method of large selections" and, as a design support, the rules and concepts provided by object modeling. Specifying requirements: In designing the "quality control system for bearing production", the specified requirements are the following: ? the automatic calculation of technical-quality parameters; ? the graphic representation of the measured characteristics; ? determining the quality of a batch of products (bearings), by comparing the calculated parameters with parameters defined in a standardized manner in the Production Technical Norms or the Technical-Quality Parameter Charts; ? providing reports to substantiate conclusions and decisions. The main objectives are: 1. The quality control of production results; 2. The statistical analysis of experimental data (taken from measurements of the characteristics of the manufacturing process) by implementing the automated steps according to the procedures imposed by the method of large selections for the quality control of production results. Candidate objectives are: 1. Identifying the characteristics of experimental data in order to determine a "well-established distribution law" - in both the form and the parameters - for the measured characteristic; 2. The study of quality characteristics for data representation according to a well-established distribution law (the "normal distribution"); 3. determining the distribution form of the sampled data and identifying the salience characteristics thereof - by going through the following sequence of steps: a. an identification of the distribution form (normal) of the experimental data by the use of various forms of graphical representation: time graphic, statistic allotment card, diagram, histogram and the polygon; b. the implementation of tests checking the compliance of experimental distribution with the normal lawwe will use the mathematical and statistical support introduced with the "?2" test; c. a calculation of the normal distribution parameters (a type of distribution determined as a result of checking compliance through the "?2" test) in order to correctly notice the system characteristics and to determine the accuracy of data taken from the production process; we will calculate the "trendency parameters" - represented by "the average", "the median" and "the modulus" and "the diffusion parameters" - represented by "amplitude", "dispersion" and "square mean deviation"; 4. verifying the randomness of mesurement results, in order to identify the types of errors that impact the production process; we will propose to demonstrate (with a probability of 95%), the initial hypothesis according to which "the manufacturing technological process is affected only by random causes" - not by "production causes"; a. in order to determine the random distribution of the values noticed for the measured feature, we will implement the concepts proposed by the "Iterations test", taking into account the two criteria of analysis: the "number of iterations" and the "(maximum) length of an iteration"; 5. identifying and eliminating gross errors that negatively impact the production process, through the identification of values measured as "inconsistent" with the product manufacturing technical standards; a. in order to find aberrant measured values (and thus eliminate "scraps" - products with a non-compliant measurable characteristic), the "Romanovsky test" will be used for the study; b. optionally, for further verification of the results, we can also implement the statistical analysis support provided by the "Grubbs-Smirnov test"; 6. the rough estimate of parameters for the entire population, starting from the ones analyzed for a representative amount of measured results; a. we will complete the process of statistical control for the general population, by Hence, the analyst is more than a regular user of the automated control product, as, based on his/her expertise, (s)he establishes and updates the parameter tabular values issuing from statistical tests. These values are essential in the process of analysis, as, based on them, we determine the implementation result for each of the three analysis tests. Also, the analyst's primary role is to decide, after the execution of each iteration, on the direction in which the analysis will continue, or whether the current execution stage needs to be interrupted and the process resumed, whenever appropriate.


Single sided resistance spot welding (SSRSW) developed from resistance spot welding (RSW) is a feasible plan to join vehicle structure to closed-form tube and is increasingly used in automobile manufacturing. A ring spot weld can be formed between the two workpieces during this process. The weld strength is critical to the performance of vehicle. The mechanical property of the ring nugget, however, is lack of attention. In this study, a simulation model of workpieces with ring nugget for tensile-shear test was established and the stress and strain distributions around the weld were researched in detail. It was found that the maximum stress is generally concentrated at the out edge around the ring nugget. The failure region, however, may be in the heat affected zone (HAZ) instead of in the place of maximum stress, which should be judged by stress failure criteria (SFC) in the model. In addition, the tensile stress and shear stress on the surface of the lower sheet and upper tube were illustrated.


Time-triggered communication facilitates the construction of multi-component real-time systems whose components are in control of their temporal behavior. However, the interface of a time-triggered communication system has to be accessed with care, to avoid that the temporal independence of components gets lost. This paper shows two interfacing strategies, one for asynchonous interface access (in two variants, one being the new Rate-Bounded Non-Blocking Communication protocol) and one for time-aware, synchronized interface access, that allow components to maintain temporal independence. The paper describes and compares the interfacing strategies.


The Flow-Refueling Location Model (FRLM) locates a given number of refueling stations on a network to maximize the traffic flow among origin–destination pairs that can be refueled given the driving range of alternative-fuel vehicles. Traditionally, the FRLM has been formulated using a two-stage approach: the first stage generates combinations of locations capable of serving the round trip on each route, and then a mixed-integer programming approach is used to locate p facilities to maximize the flow refueled given the feasible combinations created in the first stage. Unfortunately, generating these combinations can be computationally burdensome and heuristics may be necessary to solve large-scale networks. This article presents a radically different mixed-binary-integer programming formulation that does not require pre-generation of feasible station combinations. Using several networks of different sizes, it is shown that the proposed model solves the FRLM to optimality as fast as or faster than currently utilized greedy and genetic heuristic algorithms. The ability to solve real-world problems in reasonable time using commercial math programming software offers flexibility for infrastructure providers to customize the FRLM to their particular fuel type and business model, which is demonstrated in the formulation of several FRLM extensions.


Increased transfer of particulate matter from continental shelves to the open ocean during glacials may have had a major impact on the biogeochemistry of the ocean. Here, we assess the response of the coupled oceanic cycles of oxygen, carbon, phosphorus, and iron to the input of particulate organic carbon and reactive phosphorus from shelves. We use a biogeochemical ocean model and specifically focus on the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). When compared to an interglacial reference run, our glacial scenario with shelf input shows major increases in ocean productivity and phosphorus burial, while mean deep-water oxygen concentrations decline. There is a downward expansion of the oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, while the extension of the OMZ in the Pacific is slightly reduced. Oxygen concentrations below 2000 m also decline but bottom waters do not become anoxic. The model simulations show when shelf input of particulate organic matter and particulate reactive P is considered, low oxygen areas in the glacial ocean expand, but concentrations are not low enough to generate wide scale changes in sediment biogeochemistry and sedimentary phosphorus recycling. Increased reactive phosphorus burial in the open ocean during the LGM in the model is related to dust input, notably over the southwest Atlantic and northwest Pacific, whereas input of material from shelves explains higher burial fluxes in continental slope and rise regions. Our model results are in qualitative agreement with available data and reproduce the strong spatial differences in the response of phosphorus burial to glacial-interglacial change. Our model results also highlight the need for additional sediment core records from all ocean basins to allow further insight into changes in phosphorus, carbon and oxygen dynamics in the ocean on glacial-interglacial timescales.


Rotating detonation engines (RDE) are characterized by a thermodynamic cycle with an efficiency gain up to 15% at medium pressure ratios with respect to systems based on the conventional Joule-Bryton cycle. Multiple turbine designs can be considered and this paper deals with the supersonic inlet configuration. After having reviewed the main design steps of an exemplary RDE supersonic turbine, the paper focuses on the considerable effects that endwall losses have on the performance of supersonic-inlet turbines and on the reasons why endwall contouring is strongly recommended for an efficient design. Parametric analyses, carried out by a novel in-house mean-line code validated against CFD, reveal that endwall friction losses contribute significantly to the overall stage loss. Endwall boundary layers also reduce the effective area, which can be critical for the self-starting capability of the supersonic channel. Therefore, a variable blade height geometry is necessary to extend the design space and guarantee a higher efficiency with respect to a constant-span configuration. The in-house CFD-based evolutionary shape optimization code was adapted to search for the optimal endwall shape for these unconventional machines. The optimal shape reduces shock losses and deviation angles and provides a significant gain in efficiency and work extraction. Finally, a novel technique is proposed to design the three-dimensional shape of the rotor based on the method of characteristics and tailored on the flow delivered by the stator.


Case management is generally seen as a way to provide efficient, cost-saving person-centred care for people with dementia by connecting together fragmented services, but the available evidence in favour of its merits is often considered inconclusive, unclear and sketchy. This discussion paper investigates the evidence of the benefit of case management for people with dementia and explores the complexity of the concept and the experiences of its implementation. It offers a comprehensive framework for conceptualising various types of case management and asks the question: who can be a case manager? Building on examples from three European countries it addresses the problem of the expansion and adoption of the case management method. It compares the conventional model of diffusion of innovation with the ideas of interessement and co-constitution and envisions a successful model of case management as a fluid technology that is both friendly and flexible, allowing it to adapt to different settings and systems.


Loss of immune control is suspected as a factor in many cancers, melanoma among them. In recent research, investigators for on 25 genes differing in melanoma patients from those in healthy patients, and most of these genes were interferon-stimulating. The findings could help streamline treatments, and also may point in a specific direction for additional cancer research.


Background: Prosthetic clinics in the United States must attain accreditation in order to receive reimbursement from Medicare. The accreditation process requires clinics to establish and implement performance management plans and quality improvement activities. This report describes the experience of seven prosthetic clinics in collecting patient-reported outcome data and using it to improve quality of services. Objectives: To describe the experience of prosthetic clinics implementing outcome monitoring and quality improvement activities as part of routine patient care. Study design: Qualitative, ethnographic design. Methods: Clinics incorporated the Orthotics Prosthetics Users' Survey into routine care for patients aged 18 years and older who received a new lower limb prosthesis or socket. Orthotics Prosthetics Users' Survey measures lower extremity functional status, quality of life, and satisfaction with device and services. Clinics selected Orthotics Prosthetics Users' Survey-derived indicators on which to implement quality improvement action plans. Results: Seven clinics participated, but only three were able to sustain data collection. Two clinics initiated quality improvement activities focused on improving declining satisfaction or functional scores. Conclusions: Quality improvement activities based on patient-reported outcomes require a high degree of organizational commitment and support. External facilitation can support clinics' quality improvement activities. Clinical relevance This project illustrates the challenges of sustaining quality improvement activities using patient-reported outcome data in prosthetic clinics.


Recently coarse-grained reconfigurable architectures (CGRAs) have drawn increasing attention due to their efficiency and flexibility. While many CGRAs have demonstrated impressive performance improvements, the effectiveness of CGRA platforms ultimately hinges on the compiler. Existing CGRA compilers do not model the details of the CGRA architecture, due to which they are, i) unable to map applications, even though a mapping exists, and ii) use too many PEs to map an application. In this paper, we model several CGRA details in our compiler and develop a graph mapping based approach (SPKM) for mapping applications onto CGRAs. On randomly generated graphs our technique can map on average 4.5times more applications than the previous approaches, while using fewer CGRA rows 62% times, without any penalty in mapping time. We observe similar results on a suite of benchmarks collected from Livermore Loops, Multimedia and DSPStone benchmarks.


In India, where the economy is mainly base on agriculture and the climatic conditions are isotropic and are not able to make full use of agricultural resources. The main reason is the lack of rains and scarifies of land reservoir water and overused of fertilizers so we need to control these parameters. This system made wireless sensor network for monitoring agricultural environments for various factors such as NPK, temperature and humidity along with other factors can be of significance. By using pH sensors we get the information about the soil and analyze the acid level of the soil. By which we can apply fertilizer to the place where it needs, also we can avoid over fertilization of the crops. We used humidity sensor to sense the weather. By this the farmer can get idea about the climate. If there is any chance for rainfall; the farmer need not irrigate the crop field. This Seminar reports the design and development of a smart wireless sensor network (WSN) for an agricultural environment. Monitoring agricultural environments for various factors such as Nitrates, Zink, Potassium, Phosphorus, Humidity and Temperature along with other factors can be of significance. The ability to document and detail changes in parameters of interest has become increasingly valuable. Investigations were performed for a remote monitoring system using WiFi, where the wireless sensor nodes are based on WSN802G modules. These nodes send data wirelessly to a central server, which collects the data, stores it and allows it to be analyzed and displayed as needed.


This thesis analyzes the nature of State intervention in agricultural commodity markets in the Indian province of Kerala in the period 1960-80. Attributing the lack of dynamism in the agrarian sector to market imperfections, the Government of Kerala has intervened both directly through departmentally run institutions and indirectly through public sector corporations. The failure of both these institutional devices encouraged the government to adopt marketing co-operatives as the preferred instruments of market intervention. Co-operatives with their decentralised, democratic structures are, in theory, capable of combining autonomous decision-making capacity with accountability to farmer members. The Government of Kerala believed that this institutional mechanism would aggregate the interests of peasants and thereby transform them into powerful market agents. We, however, argue that the nature of the interest group process, both within the organisation and in the larger polity, significantly, distorts policy outcomes. First, the nature of the intervention - the deployment of massive financial resources, the top-down approach with its commitment to the achievement of quantitative targets and the capital intensity of many of the projects-afford opportunities to powerful groups such as professional politicians and State bureaucrats to maximise their own interests. Second, groups within the organisation such as farmer-politicians with their proximity to decision-makers and trade unions with their links to political leaders are able to divert an increasing share of the organisation's resources to themselves. In the process, farmers, in whose name these policies are initiated, experience negative consequences. The above hypothesis is tested by analysing the implementation of Operation Flood-India's dairy development programme. Operation Flood (OF) was launched by the Government of India with the avowed aim of increasing farm incomes through an institutional framework( the Anand Pattern Co-operative of Gujarat) in which farmers would have control over their own resources. This research, however, finds that owing to interest group processes, the programme has produced sub-optimal results in Kerala. Producer prices have remained stagnant, while production costs have soared. Farmers have responded by restricting supplies, which has led to massive shortages in the market. Meanwhile the fiscal foundations of the organisations have been undermined, as powerful groups appropriated an increasing share of the organisations' resources. An intervention intended to optimise benefits for farmers, in fact, resulted in the dominant interest groups within the polity maximising their benefits.


Background: Child sexual abuse is highly prevalent in India, both among boys and girls; however, few studies have studied sexual abuse of male children. The present case report highlights the challenges of diagnosis and management of a young boy who presented with marked hyperactivity and sexual acting out behaviors subsequent to his repeated exposure to pornography. Clinical Description: H, a 5-year-old boy, presented with a 2 month history of hyperactivity, poor concentration, inappropriate touching, and self-stimulation. H also displayed sexual knowledge beyond that of what would be expected of his age and developmental level. The Child Sexual Behavior Inventory was administered that showed an unusually high score on the (sexual abuse specific items, sexual behaviors that are atypical for child's age and gender). Management and Outcome: The use of therapeutic interventions such as building a therapeutic relationship, environmental change, family counseling, and nondirective play therapy helped in remitting most of the child's behavioral difficulties. Conclusions: Parents need to be active participants in the digital lives of their children and exercise controls on what they view online. Since pediatricians are often the first points of contact for a child with aberrant behaviors, they need to be aware of the law on the protection of children against sexual offenses and the range of types of sexual offenses against children.


Background There is increasing support for the hypothesis that gonadal steroids involved in the regulation of the human menstrual cycle modulate γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neuronal function. This study tests the hypothesis that cortical GABA neuronal function, reflected in brain GABA concentrations, fluctuates across the menstrual cycle in healthy women and those with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and that a menstrual cycle phase–dependent abnormality in brain GABA concentrations in women diagnosed as having PMDD would reflect altered central response to circulating gonadal and neuroactive steroids. Methods Fourteen healthy menstruating women and 9 women diagnosed as having PMDD were recruited from a women's behavioral health research program located at a university-based medical center. The women underwent serial proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic measurements of occipital cortex GABA levels across the menstrual cycle (primary outcome measure) and had blood drawn for gonadal hormone and neurosteroid levels determined on each scan day (secondary outcome measure). Results There was a significant group × phase interaction with most of the finding explained by the reduction in cortical GABA levels during the follicular phase in those with PMDD compared with healthy controls. Cortical GABA levels declined across the menstrual cycle in healthy women, whereas women with PMDD experienced an increase in cortical GABA levels from the follicular phase to the mid luteal and late luteal phases. Significant between-group differences in the relationship between hormones and GABA were observed for estradiol, progesterone, and allopregnanolone. Conclusions These data strongly suggest that the GABAergic system is substantially modulated by menstrual cycle phase in healthy women and those with PMDD. Furthermore, they raise the possibility of disturbances in cortical GABA neuronal function and modulation by neuroactive steroids as potentially important contributors to the pathogenesis of PMDD.


Reliable equations were offered to predict leaf area for Trigonella foenum. Lamina width, length and leaf area were measured without destroying plant to develop the models. All equations produced for leaf area were derived as affected by leaf length and leaf width. As a result of ANOVA and multi-regression analysis, it was found that there was close relationship between actual and predicted growth parameters. The produced leaf area prediction models in the present study are LA= (a) + (b x L) + (c x W) where LA is leaf area, W is leaf width, L is leaf length and a, b, c are co-efficiencies. R 2 values and standard errors were found to be significant at the p<0.001 significance


This article examines exchange rate-based stabilization in an economy that has been badly destroyed by war or other calamities. The article does this in the context of post-civil war Lebanon. Both Iraq and Afghanistan are prime candidates for such a policy. This article first demonstrates the validity of the theory and empirical regularities (initial boom followed by an economic contraction) in the case of Lebanon and argues for the suitability of such programs for war-ravaged economies. It then empirically highlights the role played by the credibility of policy makers in the success or failure of the program and the resulting dynamics of economic variables. The article concludes that the success depends on a political environment that engenders credible policy.


The cost of homelessness to society and to the individual is difficult to measure, which in turn makes it difficult to formulate and evaluate meaningful policy change to address rising homelessness and housing deprivation. This report reviews the international literature on quantifying the cost of homelessness, with a view to identifying methodologies (and the appropriate data) that may be useful in a New Zealand (NZ) context. A recent report based on 2013 Census data estimated 41,705 people in NZ were severely housing deprived (Amore, 2016). Since 2006, the proportion of the population identified as homeless has increased from 0.8% to 1%. Several factors may have contributed to this increase – these potentially include the 2008/09 global financial crisis and housing shortages in both Christchurch and Auckland, leading to rising house and rental prices in recent years. There are two components to this study. First, the relevant international literature is reviewed, with a focus on the different methods and measures used when quantifying the economic cost of homelessness. Second, we investigate the availability of data necessary for constructing an appropriate cost measure in NZ, as well as assess what data would be required when evaluating an intervention in this space. A total of 30 international studies on the cost of homelessness are reviewed. There were two types of studies – those that calculate the cost of homelessness to society; and economic evaluation studies that investigate the cost effectiveness of interventions. It was clear early in the review that there are various definitions of homelessness in the literature, making comparison across the studies difficult at times. Broadly speaking, definitions of homelessness fit across the following categories: Housing situation; temporal situation (eg chronic or temporary);social approach (such as primary, secondary or tertiary homelessness); and demographic group (such as youth, families). The definition provided by Statistics NZ is one we recommend adopting when assessing the cost of homelessness in NZ and it includes those in living situations "where people have no other options to acquire safe secure housing: are without shelter, in temporary accommodation, sharing accommodation with a household, or living in uninhabitable housing" (Statistics NZ, 2009, p.6). Based on our survey of the literature we recommend that the average cost per homeless person in NZ be constructed based on their health, corrections, and government benefits usage – an integrated cost of homelessness approach focusing on the direct costs to institutional providers of support. As for the data scoping exercise within this report (part two), we propose (for the most part) following Amore et al's (2013) methodology with respect to identifying homeless individuals in the Census. After which, given the newly available linked administrative data (Integrated Data Infrastructure) available from Statistics NZ, we have identified the key data sources and variables that should be linked with the Census, utilizing individuals' unique identifier. This will allow both the economic cost of homelessness to be constructed, as well as permit cost/benefit analyses of intervention programs – both of which aid in growing the empirical evidence regarding the economic impact of this social issue.


Background:  In the Netherlands, most of the academic curricula for teacher training in religious education (RE) focus on shortfalls of students, like a lack of knowledge about the plurality of worldviews and the diversity in interpretations of the Christian tradition. In our research project, the focus is not on the students, but on the university professors and lecturers who teach the subject of RE: professors and lecturers who train and educate students to teach RE. Aim:  The main aim of the project was to gain a better insight into the inherent complexity of the professionalism of academics, that is, their own positionality in the plurality of the Roman Catholic traditions they adhere to in relation to their capabilities and commitment to the current curriculum – the 'old' one – and the new curriculum to be developed, in the context of the Dutch plural society. Setting:  Respondents in this research were university professors and lecturers of the Teacher Training Institute of Tilburg University, located at Utrecht, the Netherlands. Methods:  For this investigation, we used a research instrument based on the dialogical self theory and its self confrontation method for organisations to gain insight into professionals' own and their colleagues' positionality regarding teaching RE. Results:  Preliminary results show that the self confrontation method for organisations has shown itself to be a challenging instrument to invite academics involved in the process of data construction and data analysis. Conclusion:  Based on these results, we recommend to include the research population in a validation process to increase the sustainability of the results and to maximise engagement in the implementation phase of the new curriculum.


The subject of professional training has become increasingly important in a rapidly changing global economy. All organizations, regardless of their nature, face the challenges of next millennium. Searching for answers to the challenges of the next millennium, attention must be paid to educational processes and programs. Numerous trade union organizations are addressing the professional training needs of their member by joining forces with academia. This paper focuses on the partnership between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and Penn State Altoona. The paper begins with a discussion related to the importance of professional training and development and what is being done by trade unions, in general, to meet the training needs of their members. Many trade unions outsource a certain percentage of their training and development activities for their members. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is an example of such an organization. The paper describes the training function of IBEW which includes the electrical apprenticeship programs conducted in-house and the continuing education & training activities outsourced to external sources. Next, the paper describes the partnership between IBEW and Penn State Altoona to develop and conduct customized training programs for IBEW members. Problems confronting the training & development partnership between IBEW and Penn State Altoona are discussed. Finally, the recommendations are made for an improvement in the above-mentioned training & development partnership.


Background— This study assessed functional performance, calf muscle characteristics, peripheral nerve function, and quality of life in asymptomatic persons with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Methods and Results— PAD participants (n=465) had an ankle brachial index <0.90. Non-PAD participants (n=292) had an ankle brachial index of 0.90 to 1.30. PAD participants were categorized into leg symptom groups including intermittent claudication (n=215) and always asymptomatic (participants who never experienced exertional leg pain, even during the 6-minute walk; n=72). Calf muscle was measured with computed tomography. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, race, ankle brachial index, comorbidities, and other confounders. Compared with participants with intermittent claudication, always asymptomatic PAD participants had smaller calf muscle area (4935 versus 5592 mm2; P<0.001), higher calf muscle percent fat (16.10% versus 9.45%; P<0.001), poorer 6-minute walk performance (966 versus 1129 ft; P=0.0002), slower usual-paced walking speed (P=0.0019), slower fast-paced walking speed (P<0.001), and a poorer Short-Form 36 Physical Functioning score (P=0.016). Compared with an age-matched, sedentary, non-PAD cohort, always asymptomatic PAD participants had smaller calf muscle area (5061 versus 5895 mm2; P=0.009), poorer 6-minute walk performance (1126 versus 1452 ft; P<0.001), and poorer Walking Impairment Questionnaire speed scores (40.87 versus 57.78; P=0.001). Conclusions— Persons with PAD who never experience exertional leg symptoms have poorer functional performance, poorer quality of life, and more adverse calf muscle characteristics compared with persons with intermittent claudication and a sedentary, asymptomatic, age-matched group of non-PAD persons.


The idea that services can be provided for young children within their families in a seamless way that serves the interests of children and families simultaneously is problematic. A theoretical flaw underpinning the ideal of integrated services is that families are assumed to be homogenous units. This article explores competing goals for children and families by examining data from the evaluation of three Early Excellence Centres in the north of England piloted by the Department for Education and Employment from 1999 to 2002. The article recommends that extended childcare services should be clearly targeted to the needs of the child-within-the-family, thereby providing a clear theoretical foundation for re-conceptualising joined-up services. © 2006 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2006 National Children's Bureau.


Abstract Eighty-one patients with ovarian germ cell malignancies (immature teratoma 29, dysgerminoma 26, endodermal sinus tumors 15, mixed germ cell tumor 8, other 3) seen or consulted on at Yale University over a 15 year period are presented. Initial therapy was successful in 70 of 81 (86.4%) patients and 75 (92.6%) are currently alive and disease free. Early stage dysgerminomas may be safely treated with surgery whereas advanced disease is exquisitely sensitive to vincristine, actinomycin D, and cyclophosphamide (VAC) therapy. Early stage immature teratoma is uniformly successfully treated with short-term VAC whereas advanced disease requires longer treatment. Early stage endodermal sinus tumor (EST) and mixed germ cell tumors may be effectively treated with VAC or platinum-based therapy but advanced disease should be treated with paltinum-based regimens. Serial alpha fetoprotein assays should determine duration of therapy in tumors containing EST elements. Conservative surgery to preserve reproductive function is appropriate for all patients with early stage ovarian germ cell malignancies and selected patients with advanced disease.


Nonlinear light generation in quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) has the potential to extend the operating wavelength of these devices outside the limits imposed by the fundamental properties of the materials of choice. The giant nonlinear susceptibilities of resonant intersubband transitions have been studied intensively both theoretically and experimentally over the past twenty years. However, the practical applications have been limited by the lack of efficient laser pumping and of convenient phase matching techniques. The first obstacle was overcome by monolithically integrating the nonlinear intersubband transitions within the active region of a quantum cascade (QC) laser. Sum-frequency and second-harmonic (SH) generation were the first nonlinear processes observed in QCLs. The optimization of the second-harmonic generation in InGaAs/InAlAs QCLs will be discussed in detail. The second challenge for achieving high efficiency nonlinear power conversion is the phase-matching of the fundamental and nonlinear light. We have developed a technique for modal phase-matching that takes advantage of the flexibility in the design of the QCL waveguide. An additional degree of freedom for tuning into exact phase-matching conditions is provided by the dependence of the refractive indices on the laser ridge width. Record nonlinear power of 2 mW at 4.45 mm was achieved using an InP top-cladding waveguide and high-reflectance coating on the laser back facet. Reaching the milliwatt power range is significant as such power levels are sufficient for trace gas point sensors using mid-infrared light sources. The practical limitations of the phase-matching method will be evaluated and the experimental results will be compared with theoretical predictions.


Since adenosine receptors were identified and cloned, their roles in animals and humans have been extensively studied. Because pharmacological tools have limitations, we have used mice in which adenosine receptors have been deleted to further study their roles under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Caffeine exerts its effects mainly via blockade of A1 and A2A adenosine receptors. In this thesis, the physiological roles of these receptors have been explored using in vivo and ex vivo models of heart physiology in mice with genetically modified expression of A1R and A2AR. The possible role of A1R in cardiac protection due to by preconditioning was also studied, and the action of caffeine explored. When A1R and/or A2AR genes were knocked out or down little compensatory adaptation was observed in the other adenosine receptors or related genes and proteins, which facilitates the use of genetically modified mice to study the roles of the specific receptors. We show a critically important role of A1R in the cardiac protection following in vivo ischemic preconditioning and in tolerance to ischemia. The cardioprotective effect induced by ischemic preconditioning was A1R gene dose-dependent in vivo: the protective effect was enhanced by overexpression of A1R but eliminated by knockout of A1R; a reduced protection was seen in partially A1R-deleted hearts. The tolerance to ischemia was significantly reduced in isolated A1R knockout hearts. We also examined physiological roles of adenosine receptors. Compared to WT, HR increased in male A1R KO mice, but deceased in A2AR KO mice. The HR difference was eliminated by administration of -blocker, indicating that the modulatory effect of alteration of A1R and A2AR on HR is exerted via sympathetic tone. Interestingly, the HR of A1R-A2AR dKO and A1R-A2AR dHz mice was lower than that of WT mice, suggesting that the contribution of A1R and A2AR to HR modulation is not equal. Injection of caffeine in a low dose increased HR in WT mice. Its stimulatory effect was reduced in mice lacking A1R and eliminated in mice lacking the A2AR, suggesting both A1R and A2AR contribute to HR stimulation by caffeine, where A2AR is more critical than A1R. High dose caffeine decreased HR in all mouse genotypes, which clearly indicates that the depressant effect of caffeine is A1R and A2AR independent. Long-term caffeine treatment and partial deletion of A1R and A2AR genes decreased HR. Both A1R and A2AR were involved in modulation of body temperature and oxygen consumption, an effect which was sex-dependent, and altered by caffeine. Locomotor activity was slightly higher in female (but not male) A1R KO mice, and lower in mice lacking A2AR than in their WT controls, suggesting that A2AR may be more important than A1R in regulating locomotion. Caffeine stimulated locomotion dose-dependently. This effect was eliminated in mice lacking A2AR and markedly reduced in the other genotypes. Long-term caffeine treatment increased locomotion in a sex-dependent manner, but not in mice lacking A2AR, indicating that caffeine modulates locomotion mainly via blockade of the A2AR. Deleting one of the copies of both the A1R and A2AR genes increased activity, thus resembling long-term caffeine treatment. The response to caffeine was blunted in A1R-A2AR dHz mice, again resembling long-term caffeine use. Hence in some respects A1R-A2AR dHz mice are similar to long-term caffeine treated mice. In summary, A1R plays a critical role in cardiac protection. Physiologically both A1R and A2AR contribute to modulation of HR, body temperature, locomotor activity, and oxygen consumption in a sex-dependent manner. Caffeine modulates these effects by partially blocking A1R and A2AR, and A2AR may be more important than A1R. Deletion of one copy of both A1R and A2AR genes mimics the long-term caffeine effect, at least in some aspects. Both A1R and A2AR contribute to the development of tolerance to caffeine. Thus, adenosine plays both physiological and pathophysiological roles.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Laparoscopic surgery is well known as having a long and variable learning curve. In fact, successive generations of surgeons were able to reduce their operative time and plateau their learning curves. This raises the question as to how early in medical education we can integrate laparoscopic skills. In this study, we are trying to demonstrate the effect of age on acquiring new laparoscopic skills.

METHODS
Thirty-two trainees at various educational levels and ages were recruited to our study. Trainees were divided into four age groups with eight persons in each group. Senior high school students, undergraduate college students, medical students, and junior surgery residents comprised the first, second, third, and the fourth groups, respectively. The trainees performed nine inanimate laparoscopic tasks in the laparoscopic training box and repeated each task five times. The time needed for each trial was recorded, and the results were statistically analyzed.

RESULTS
The youngest group of trainees showed the largest improvement in performance time, followed by the second and third groups. The most senior group showed the least improvement.

CONCLUSION
These preliminary data suggest that younger trainees are faster to acquire new laparoscopic skills than the older persons. This finding suggests a potential benefit from earlier integration of laparoscopic skills in medical education.


Abstract : The long-term goal of this project is to developing a seamless weather and climate prediction system that has capability to predict accurately both weather phenomena such as tropical cyclones (TC) and other extreme weather events and longer climate-scale phenomena such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and the El Nino- Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Organized moist convections in the tropical atmosphere have their origins at space scale of less than 10 km, and they play a key role in the initiation and maintenance of mesoscale weather events such as super cloud clusters and large-scale phenomena such as MJO. The Navy is in urgent need to develop such a global high resolution model that has a proper dynamic core and physics packages and is capable of representing realistically convection and clouds across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales and suitable for prediction of extreme events in regional and global scales.


This paper addresses the conceptual and practical difficulties in interdisciplinary cooperation between the natural sciences and the social sciences. The perspective taken is that of Rural Development Sociology of the Social Sciences group of Wageningen University and Research Center. It is proposed to use the term transdisciplinarity in order to better express the fact that the outcomes of integrated projects definitely move beyond any of the disciplines involved. But they can also be sub-optimal from a mono-sectoral or mono-disciplinary point of view. Coastal area development and watershed management are used as examples. In Wageningen, international education is directly related to transdisciplinary research, especially within the social sciences.


A method for quantifying thinning intensity in experimental trials in even aged stands is proposed. The method (ICN) is based on Assmann's theory and assesses thinning intensity in terms of percentage of basal area to be removed. According to the proposed method, maximum stand basal area of an even-aged stand is expressed in terms of its dominant height. The ICN index was used to quantify thinning intensity in an objective and replicable manner in experimental comparisons among different thinning intensities in black pine reforestations in Tuscany (Italy).


Dexamethasone Suppression Test SIR: I refer to the review article by Braddock on the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) (Journal, April 1986, 148, 363—374),with particular respect to nonspecific factors which might affect non suppression. I feel the omission of the effects of caffeine merits updating. Uhde et al (1985) studied 22 normal volunteers and depressed patients (diagnostic criteria not speci fled). The DST consisted of dexamethasone 1 mg at I 1 pm and a 4 pm cortisol sample. Analysis was by radioimmunoassay. All subjects were given a single blind placebo controlled challenge of 480 mg caf feine (equivalent to about 4 cups of filtered coffee) between 2 and 2.30 pm. Caffeine was found to increase the mean post-dexamethasone cortisol value from 2.3 to 5.3 @sg/dl(P<0.OOl). For both volun teers and patients, when using the 5.0 jsg/dl standard cut-off point, non-suppression occurred in 14% on placebo and 36% on caffeine. This dose of caffeine is not unusual when compared to the average daily consumption (Gilbert et al, 1976), and indeed in psychiatric patient populations more caffeine may be used (Galliano, 1982). In addition, depressed patients in particular may actually increase con sumption of caffeine as a result of their illness (Greden et al, 1978; Neil et al, 1978). Caffeine there fore should be added as an additional non-specific factor which might affect non-suppression. MALCOLMBRUCE Is Hysteria (Conversion Reaction) Still Alive? SIR: The article by Shalev and Munitz entitled Conversion Without Hysteria: A Case Report and Review of Literature brings out the controversy which exists around the diagnosis of hysteria (Journal, February 1986, 481, 198—203). My experience in a psychiatric hospital in India in a semi-urban area is that there is a well defined group of patients who can be given a diagnosis of hysteria. We have described the clinical features of such a group of 276 patients (Subramaniam et a!, 1980). Similar patients are very common in most of the psychiatry clinics in India. The following are the common clinical features: presence of physical symptoms, more often monosymptomatic, in motor or sensory system without any organic basis; pre morbid hysterical personality traits; age of onset of symptoms before 20 years; more among females; dramatisation of symptoms with belle indifference; presence of some unconscious conflict not necess arily sexual in nature and complete recovery with psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. Any physical symptom in the absence of an organic basis should not be considered hysterical. If this is established, it is likely that hysteria or conversion reaction will continue in spite of the obituaries pronounced on it by Slater and others. ABRAHAM VERGHESE Christian Medical College Vellore, India


This publication explores the presence of the shared heritage and interdependence of poetry composed around the theme of wine in diverse literary traditions of the Islamic world. The specialist contributions discuss multiple aspects of the literary polyphony of wine in the pre-modern Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu literatures during the first millennium of the Islamic era. Presenting these together and in dialogue with one another, the volume offers a comparative perspective on a long, varied, but singularly mutual tradition. It traces how this poetry develops, flourishes and matures across linguistic and geographic, confessional and social, aesthetic and artistic boundaries within the regions of the religiously and culturally diverse Islamic world, from al-Andalūs to India.


Background Insufficient research is a major impediment to growth, development and advancement of health in Africa. Africa produces less than 1% of global research output. Meanwhile, African countries face some of the toughest challenges worldwide, most of which can only be tackled through robust and efficient research. Addressing the barriers to conducting research in Africa is a step towards improving research capacity and output. This study aimed to identify the key challenges affecting research practice and output in Africa; and to highlight priority areas for improvement. Methods A cross-sectional survey was administered through an online questionnaire, including participants from six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Participants included research professionals, research students, research groups and academics. Results A total of 424 participants responded to this survey. The ability to conduct and produce high-quality research was seen to be influenced by multiple factors, most of which were related to the research environment in African countries. Priority areas for improvement included providing more training, raising awareness on the importance of research in Africa, encouraging governments to commit to research and increasing collaboration between researchers in Africa. Conclusion The conditions under which research is done in Africa are severely flawed and do not encourage engagement in research, or continuity of research activity. African governments need to develop initiatives that accelerate and support research and research-based education in Africa, in order to build a solid foundation for research, increase research capacity, and enable institutions to provide valuable training and develop sustainable research opportunities in Africa.


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The multi-ethnic tension among the three main ethnics in Malaysia has a great impact on tolerance and political unity. The Bumiputera Policy gives privileges to the Malay ethnicity, which further strains this issue, dividing the nation. Recognising this, the government introduced the 1Malaysia Policy as a possible solution to mitigate this issue to promote equality and attaining unity in diversity. This ultimate purpose is to integrate Malaysians to cooperate in a mutually respectful manner, towards the development of Malaysia.  The inevitable consequences of short sighted government policy, development and westernisation in Malaysia have negatively affected the cultural uniqueness of the three main ethnic communities. In domestic architecture, terraced houses have been a direct translation of western terraced housing. The influences from the West have diverted Malaysia's sense of Asian culture. The objective of this study is to support the aims of this current 1Malaysia Policy, by finding a solution to terraced housing, through the design of the 1Malaysia Home.  This thesis looks at an adaptable home for multi-cultural families to live and practise their unique cultures in a multi-ethnic community. The implementation of this design, is through research on case studies of the respective traditional houses of Malaysia's three main ethnic groups. The main design consideration of this flexible home is through a negotiated spatial organisation, in regards to the aims of the theories that informed the traditional houses.  This study further explores the cluster design of terraced housing in a multi-ethnic neighbourhood community. The traditional programmes of shop house and other multi-cultural activities in Malaysia are reinstated for a common sense of belonging in the neighbourhood, which ultimately preserves Malaysia's unique Asian culture and supports its international branding as 'Malaysia Truly Asia'.


In recent years, the reduction of noise and vibrations caused by the road or internal components of vehicles have been a significant factor in the satisfaction and comfort of the occupants of cars. Therefore, to minimize these vibrations, the dynamic behaviour of the components of the vehicle should be considered in detail to reduce their level by setting useful parameters on structures. Nowadays, the conceptual model method can be regarded as a suitable alternative to the fundamental sophisticated computational techniques in measuring the vibration of vehicle components. Accordingly, the advanced finite element (FE) model examined for the subframe structure under the vehicle engine, and its conceptual model is developed by the one-dimensional beam elements to justify the dynamic behaviour of the subframe. The results of the experiments in the laboratory as well as the advanced subframe model are adapted, and the integrity of the natural frequencies and the mode shapes at low frequencies represented comprehensively. The result of the subframe concept model compared to the experimental model and computer-aided-engineering (CAE) model showed that the modal assurance criterion (MAC) is above 0.75 for the first four mode shapes of subframe structure and is above 0.9 for first and fourth mode shapes, and also the error percentage of natural frequency is lower than 8%. Therefore, for the analysis of the subframe performance in noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) domain, the presented model could be considered in the conceptual phase design to reduce the solution time significantly.


Here we investigate the molecular mechanisms that govern the targeting of G-protein α subunits to the plasma membrane. For this purpose, we used Gi1α as a model dually acylated G-protein. We fused full-length Gi1α or its extreme NH2-terminal domain (residues 1–32 or 1–122) to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and analyzed the subcellular localization of these fusion proteins. We show that the first 32 amino acids of Gi1α are sufficient to target GFP to caveolin-enriched domains of the plasma membrane in vivo, as demonstrated by co-fractionation and co-immunoprecipitation with caveolin-1. Interestingly, when dual acylation of this 32-amino acid domain was blocked by specific point mutations (G2A or C3S), the resulting GFP fusion proteins were localized to the cytoplasm and excluded from caveolin-rich regions. The myristoylated but nonpalmitoylated (C3S) chimera only partially partitioned into caveolin-containing fractions. However, both nonacylated GFP fusions (G2A and C3S) no longer co-immunoprecipitated with caveolin-1. Taken together, these results indicate that lipid modification of the NH2-terminal of Gi1α is essential for targeting to its correct destination and interaction with caveolin-1. Also, a caveolin-1 mutant lacking all three palmitoylation sites (C133S, C143S, and C156S) was unable to co-immunoprecipitate these dually acylated GFP-G-protein fusions. Thus, dual acylation of the NH2-terminal domain of Gi1α and palmitoylation of caveolin-1 are both required to stabilize and perhaps regulate this reciprocal interaction at the plasma membrane in vivo. Our results provide the first demonstration of a functional role for caveolin-1 palmitoylation in its interaction with signaling molecules.


Myofascial pain is considered a type of muscular TMD, being common in patients with musculoskeletal pain associated with active or latent trigger points. Among the therapeutic options, there are low-intensity laser therapy and dry needling. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of these two therapies in the masseter muscles of patients with myofascial pain. Ten patients diagnosed with myofascial pain, with or without limitation of mouth opening, were randomly divided into two groups for treatment with low intensity laser therapy (G1) (n = 5) or dry needling (G2) (n = 5). The pain symptomatology and the mouth opening measurement were evaluated weekly before the start of treatment, and one week after the final treatment. The comparison between G1 and G2 in relation to the improvement in mouth opening was not statistically significant (p> 0.05). However, dry needling (G2) has shown numerically to be more effective than laser therapy in a shorter period comparing initial and final mouth opening. Regarding the pain symptomatology, both therapies were effective comparing the initial and final evaluations of patients with myofascial pain (p <0.05).


Background and objective: Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a chronic progressive disease with an extremely high mortality rate and is a complication of COVID-19. Inhalable microspheres have been increasingly used in the treatment of lung diseases such as PF in recent years. Compared to the direct inhalation of drugs, a larger particle size is required to ensure the sustained release of microspheres. However, the clinical symptoms of PF may lead to the easier deposition of microspheres in the upper respiratory tract. There- fore, it is necessary to understand the effects of PF on the deposition of microspheres in the respiratory tract. Methods: In this study, airway models with different degrees of PF in humans and mice were established, and the transport and deposition of microspheres in the airway were simulated using computational fluid dynamics. Results: The simulation results showed that PF increases microsphere deposition in the upper respiratory tract and decreases bronchial deposition in both humans and mice. Porous microspheres with low density can ensure deposition in the lower respiratory tract and larger particle size. In healthy and PF humans, porous microspheres of 10 μm with densities of 700 and 400 kg/m ³ were deposited most in the bronchi. Unlike in humans, microspheres larger than 4 μm are completely deposited in the upper respiratory tract of mice owing to their high inhalation velocity. For healthy and PF mice, microspheres of 6 μm with densities of and 100 kg/m ³ are recommended. Conclusions: The results showed that with the exacerbation of PF, it is more difficult for microsphere particles to deposit in the subsequent airway. In addition, there were significant differences in the de- position patterns among the different species. Therefore, it is necessary to process specific microspheres from different individuals. Our study can guide the processing of microspheres and achieve differentiated drug delivery in different subjects to maximize therapeutic effects.


Purposes: To characterize the response of Al2O3:C optically stimulated luminescencedetectors (OSLDs) to 6 MV x‐ray beams and to determine the optimal bleaching method that would allow the re‐use of the OSLDs. Methods: OSLDs were exposed to a 6 MV x‐ray linac beam in the dose range from 50 mGy–10 Gy. Readouts were performed with a commercial OSLD reader (microStarTM, Landauer Inc.). For 50 mGy and 100 mGy doses, OSLDs were readout using the reader's low‐dose mode, which provides higher stimulation power compared to the high‐dose mode. All other readouts were performed using the high‐dose mode. The OSLD response to dose, bleaching time and repeated readouts (depletion) were determined. Bleaching of the OSL signal was performed using a 250 W halogen lamp with two Methods: (a) direct exposure to light; and (b) exposure using a long‐pass optical filter to block wavelengths shorter than 495 nm. Results: The OSLD dose‐response was linear for the investigated dose range. After 100 readouts, the OSL signal was depleted by (24.5 ± 0.7) % and (3.16 ± 0.07) % with a depletion rate of (0.251 ± 0.002) and (0.023 ± 0.002) %/readout for low‐ and high‐dose modes, respectively. After a 5 min bleaching time, (85.1 ± 1.4) and (70.5 ± 2.0) % reductions in the OSL signal for all doses was attained using methods (a) and (b), respectively. After a 100 min bleaching time, (99.5 ± 0.2) % reduction was attained. Conclusions: We observed linearity of the OSLD's dose response for the investigated dose range. A 100 min bleaching time was sufficient to bleach 99.5 % of the OSL signal for both bleaching methods. The depletion rate using the low‐dose mode is 11 times higher than using the high‐dose mode. for the high‐dose mode of the reader, the depletion rate is independent on dose.


This paper analyses a decade of water sector reforms in Mexico with the specific purpose of drawing useful lessons for Indian water policy. Particularly after 1992, Mexico has implemented serious, comprehensive and far-reaching water sector reforms that required the government to create a new legal framework; restructure existing water administration; promote and support a plurality of new autonomous and quasi-autonomous water institutions; modify incentives in water use to different user groups; and struggle with a vast complex of unresolved operational issues in implementing the reforms. Mexico may not be a model for India but Mexico's experience does suggest that changing the way a nation manages its water resources necessitates far-reaching changes in administration, institutional structure, law and operating rules, incentives and power structures, and above all consistent commitment to the reform process.


Abstract. The objective of this study was to test whether the weight of selected arm and leg muscles and breast muscles may be used as an indicator of the content of lean meat and skin, including subcutaneous and abdominal fat, in the carcasses of broiler chickens. The experimental materials comprised 40 Ross 308 chicks aged 42 days (sex ratio 1 : 1). A total of 17 muscles were dissected from the right wing and the right leg. The right and left breast muscles were also dissected. Coefficients of simple correlation between the weight of individual muscles and selected slaughter quality parameters were calculated. The highest correlation was found between the lean meat content of a carcass and the weight of the right and left breast muscles (r=0.81 and 0.82 respectively), m. gastrocnemius mediale (r=0.81) and m. peroneus superficialis (r=0.73). The prediction of the weight of skin and fat in the carcasses of broilers based on the weight of single muscles may be unreliable due to low and non-significant values of correlation coefficients (r from 0.04 to 0.29). The weight of this tissue component was significantly correlated (r=0.42) with breast muscle weight only.