The effect was studied of partial defoliation (33% and 66%) on the sugar and acid accumulation and pH in grapes of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon. Although the total soluble sugar (TSS) in grapes of partially defoliated vines was significantly higher than that of non-defoliated vines in some cases, no significant differences were generally found. No significant differences in total titratable acidity (TT A) were found between treatments. The timing of defoliation had no effect on TSS in grapes, whereas TT A tended to be higher the earlier partial defoliation was commenced. In general, 33 % and 66% defoliated vines respectively produced approximately 33 % and 200% more TSS and TT A in the fruit per cm2 leaf area than non-defoliated vines. No significant differences between defoliation treatments were found on a per gram dry berry mass or per berry basis for glucose and fructose or tartaric and malic acid. However, 66% defoliated vines had significantly less soluble solids in berries per shoot, which was probably caused by a lower total berry mass per shoot. Although no significant differences in sugar composition could be found between defoliation treatments, tartaric acid levels tended to be higher and malic acid levels lower as a result of partial defoliation. Partial defoliation had no effect on the accumulation patterns of sugars and acids. Glucose dominated in berries at veraison, with fructose dominating at ripeness. The highest total tartaric and malic acid concentrations occurred at pea size. Malic acid content decreased rapidly from veraison, whereas the decrease in tartaric acid was not pronounced. Must pH was not affected by partial defoliation. The results seem to suggest that the general metabolism of vines was favourably changed by partial defoliation, mainly in terms of a more favourable source: sink ratio, more efficient photosynthesis, and an improved canopy microclimate.


Suburban development of Gwinnett County has surrounded many of the flood control watershed dams that were built in the mid-1900s. In many cases, the watersheds and downstream reaches have developed significantly since the time of construction. Development has changed the runoff characteristics of the watershed and many homes are now in the breach zones of these dams. The spillways of many of these dams cannot safely pass flood flows based on current design standards required by the State of Georgia Rules for Dam Safety or the NRCS design criteria for high hazard dams. The Yellow River Watershed Dam No. 14 (Y-14) is the first of the watershed dams to be upgraded in Gwinnett County. Y-14 was originally constructed in 1967 by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS – currently the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service or NRCS) to control drainage from a 3.1 square mile watershed. The structure has a 40 feet high embankment dam, a traditional SCS principal spillway structure with a riser tower and outlet pipe, and a 50 ft. wide earthen auxiliary spillway through a saddle on the left abutment. In 2003, the dam was upgraded to bring it into compliance with modern standards by constructing a new Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) Stepped Spillway on top of the embankment dam and decommissioning the original auxiliary spillway. This paper describes the evaluation of the original dam and the design of the upgrades to the dam.


We describe a new history mechanism based on experiences with the use of recorded interaction history in the Visual Knowledge Builder (VKB). Problems with the use of history in prior systems include difficulty in locating activity of interest in large tasks, the problem of history records being at a system activity level rather than a human activity level, and difficulty in supporting navigation and comprehension in the branching histories used to represent alternative directions. To support comprehension of the history, we describe automatic history clustering to group low-level system events into a more human-level representation of activity and the extraction of information for summarizing these groups of events. To further support navigation and comprehension of history, the mechanism includes multiple visualization techniques to match diverse uses of history. The new history mechanism is integrated into VKB 3.


Background Patients who are newly screened HIV positive by EIA are lost to follow-up due to complicated HIV testing procedures. Because this is the first step in care, it affects the entire continuum of care. This is a particular concern in rural China. Objective(s) To assess the routine HIV testing completeness and treatment initiation rates at 18 county-level general hospitals in rural Guangxi. Methods We reviewed original hospital HIV screening records. Investigators also engaged with hospital leaders and key personnel involved in HIV prevention activities to characterize in detail the routine care practices in place at each county. Results 699 newly screened HIV-positive patients between January 1 and June 30, 2013 across the 18 hospitals were included in the study. The proportion of confirmatory testing across the 18 hospitals ranged from 14% to 87% (mean of 43%), and the proportion of newly diagnosed individuals successfully initiated antiretroviral treatment across the hospitals ranged from 3% to 67% (mean of 23%). The average interval within hospitals for individuals to receive the Western Blot (WB) and CD4 test results from HIV positive screening (i.e. achieving testing completion) ranged from 14–116 days (mean of 41.7 days) across the hospitals. The shortest interval from receiving a positive EIA screening test result to receiving WB and CD4 testing and counseling was 0 day and the longest was 260 days. Conclusion The proportion of patients newly screened HIV positive that completed the necessary testing procedures for HIV confirmation and received ART was very low. Interventions are urgently needed to remove barriers so that HIV patients can have timely access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care in rural China.


Information security is a major domain of analysis for enhancing the security of sensitive detained business organizations. These days, attackers are advancing themselves by applying highly advanced technological solutions such as artificially intelligent malicious codes, advanced phishing methods and many others to acquire sensitive and critical data from businesses. This paper presents a novel model framework to analyze the requirements of information security for a more robust information system and its assets in organizations. The framework of this model is designed in such a fashion that both new and legacy organizations can adopt it to define the requirement of security that will ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of information systems and their components including sensitive domain business and private data that is critical to the organization. There are two different model frameworks which are proposed here. The first one provides specifications of the security requirements and the second provides for the audit of the access logs to capture any unethical practices and violations by internal users. The proposed model for security requirements provides the roadmap to analyze and build proper security requirements to secure business sensitive data. Stepwise processes which are needed to analyze and define security requirements are the key factors of this security model, as they help in clear definitions of security frameworks and infrastructure for an organization. The Audit Model provides the framework for defining information auditing requirements, thus enabling the capture of unethical and unauthorized access to the information system components of the organization. Keywords—Information security; network security; web security; confidentiality; integrity; availability; communication technology; information system; internet security; security framework introduction


SUMMARY: The number of micro-organisms present in soil located at a distance of 4 cm. from a 60Co-source 1 m. above ground declined considerably after 24 hr. of exposure. Respirometric determination showed no decrease in oxygen uptake at this time. The distance at which the effect of irradiation could be demonstrated increased with increasing duration of exposure; after 396 days a reduction of the oxygen uptake as well as of the number of microbes could be detected at a distance of more than 3 m. and at a depth of 10 cm. as well as at the surface.
There appeared to be no significant difference between the effects of chronic irradiation on spore-forming and on non-spore-forming bacteria, respectively.
The plot of microbial count showed a better fit to a double-logarithmic than to a semi-logarithmic diagram according to Lea's formula. Possible explanations of this fact are discussed.


Baranyiova E., A. Holub, M. Tyrlik: Behavioural Traits of Four Dog Breeds in Czech Households. Acta Vet. Brno 2007, 76: 627-634 Our study was aimed at the behavioral aspects of coexistence with people of four canine breeds in Czech households. From the original set of data in 305 earlier analyzed dogs we selected 89 animals, i.e. those concerning the four most numerous breeds, (34 Dachshunds, 16 Schnauzers, 23 German Shepherd Dogs and 16 Poodles), and compared their 85 behavioural traits and interactions with their household members. The results were evaluated using the chi-square test. Dogs belonging to these four breeds differed significantly in only 28 (32.9%) of the indicators under study. Except for a few German Shepherd Dogs all members of our group were considered to be companion animals and household members. They were no longer used as earth dogs or hunting, guarding/herding dogs. Breed characteristics were taken into consideration only exceptionally. People kept them for pleasure and not for their original skills, once carefully selected for and modified. On the contrary, these skills became undesirable in urban environment. Despite that, dog breeds are designated by their original functions and use, even though the anthropomorphic selection pressures continue. People want their dogs to adapt more and more to the intimate co-existence in rural and urban environments. Thus, canine behaviour is under massive selection pressures. Behaviour traits, questionnaire, Dachshunds, Schnauzers, German Shepherd Dogs, Poodles


Culture from the Slums explores the history of punk rock in East and West Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. These decades witnessed an explosion of alternative culture across divided Germany, and punk was a critical constituent of this movement. For young Germans at the time, punk appealed to those gravitating toward individual and cultural experimentation rooted in notions of authenticity—endeavors considered to be more "real" and "genuine." Adopting musical subculture from abroad and rearticulating the genre locally, punk gave individuals uncomfortable with their societies the opportunity to create alternative worlds. Examining how youths mobilized music to build alternative communities and identities during the Cold War, Culture from the Slums details how punk became the site of historical change during this era: in the West, concerning national identity, commercialism, and politicization; while in the East, over repression, resistance, and collaboration. But on either side of the Iron Curtain, punks' struggles for individuality and independence forced their societies to come to terms with their political, social, and aesthetic challenges, confrontations which pluralized both states, a surprising similarity connecting democratic, capitalist West Germany with socialist, authoritarian East Germany. In this manner, Culture from the Slums suggests that the ideas, practices, and communities which youths called into being transformed both German societies along more diverse and ultimately democratic lines. Using a wealth of previously untapped archival documentation, Culture from the Slums reorients German and European history during this period by integrating alternative culture and music subculture into broader narratives of postwar inquiry and explains how punk rock shaped divided Germany in the 1970s and 1980s.


The effects of thickness, notch orientation and delamination cracks on the impact toughness of X70 pipeline steel are investigated experimentally by use of the instrumented Charpy impact tests at different temperatures. The couple effect of delamination cracks, thickness, notch orientation and temperature is discovered. The delamination cracks have certain direction, and their amount and size are related to the temperature and the specimen thickness. Though the delaminating orientations of T-S and T-L specimen are not same, the reasons for both T-S and T-L specimen delaminating are that the weak interfaces in the specimens are pulled apart by the stress perpendicular to them. The delamination cracks can improve the actual impact toughness of X70 pipeline steel both T-L and T-S specimens. The effect of delamination cracks on the actual impact toughness changes with the thickness and the temperature. The couple effect of wall thickness, defect orientation and working temperature of pipeline must be taken into account in safe assessment of pipeline.


The estimation of the correct binding mode and affinity of a ligand into a target protein using computational methods is challenging. However, docking can introduce poses from which the correct binding mode could be identified using other methods. Here, we analyzed the reliability of binding energy estimation using the molecular mechanics‐generalized Born surface area (MMGBSA) method without and with energy minimization to identify the likely ligand binding modes within docking results. MMGBSA workflow (a) outperformed docking in recognizing the correct binding modes of androgen receptor ligands and (b) improved the correlation coefficient of computational and experimental results of rescored docking poses to phosphodiesterase 4B. Combined with stability and atomic distance analysis, MMGBSA helped to (c) identify the binding modes and sites of metabolism of cytochrome P450 2A6 substrates. The standard deviation of estimated binding energy within one simulation was lowered by minimization in all three example cases. Minimization improved the identification of the correct binding modes of androgen receptor ligands. Although only three case studies are shown, the results are analogous and indicate that these behaviors could be generalized. Such identified binding modes could be further used, for example, with free energy perturbation methods to understand binding energetics more accurately.


OBJECTIVE
We review the general topic of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and our research utilizing transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) to improve cognition in chronic TBI using red/near-infrared (NIR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to deliver light to the head. tPBM improves mitochondrial function increasing oxygen consumption, production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and improving cellular energy stores. Nitric oxide is released from the cells increasing regional blood flow in the brain. Review of published studies: In our previously published study, 11 chronic TBI patients with closed-head TBI caused by different accidents (motor vehicle accident, sports-related, improvised explosive device blast injury) and exhibiting long-lasting cognitive dysfunction received 18 outpatient treatments (Monday, Wednesday, Friday for 6 weeks) starting at 10 months to 8 years post-TBI. LED therapy is nonthermal, painless, and noninvasive. An LED-based device classified as nonsignificant risk (FDA cleared) was used. Each LED cluster head (5.35 cm diameter, 500 mW, 22.2 mW/cm2) was applied for 9 min 45 sec (13 J/cm2) using 11 locations on the scalp: midline from front-to-back hairline and bilaterally on frontal, parietal, and temporal areas. Testing was performed before and after transcranial LED (tLED; at 1 week, 1 month, and at 2 months after the 18th treatment) and showed significant improvements in executive function and verbal memory. There were also fewer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms reported. Ongoing studies: Ongoing, current studies involve TBI patients who have been treated with tLED using either 26 J/cm2 per LED location on the head or treated with intranasal only (iLED) using red (633 nm) and NIR (810 nm) diodes placed into the nostrils. The NIR iLED is hypothesized to deliver photons to the hippocampus, and the red 633 nm iLED is believed to increase melatonin. Results have been similar to the previously published tLED study. Actigraphy sleep data showed increased time asleep (on average one additional hour per night) after the 18th tLED or iLED treatment. LED treatments may be performed in the home. Sham-controlled studies with veterans who have cognitive dysfunction from Gulf War Illness, blast TBI, and TBI/PTSD are currently ongoing.


Background: Polymorphonuclear elastase (PMN-E) is a neutrophilic marker that has been implicated in acute inflammatory responses. Objectives: To evaluate the accuracy of PMN-E in the diagnosis of complicated pyogenic effusions. Patients and Method: We studied 536 patients with pleural effusion of various etiologies. There were 125 pyogenic bacterial effusions (42 typical parapneumonic, 17 borderline complicated parapneumonic and 66 complicated parapneumonic or empyema), 83 tuberculous, 91 malignant, 42 paramalignant, 95 transudates, 28 miscellaneous and 72 effusions of unknown origin. Classic markers (pH, glucose, proteins, adenosine deaminase, LDH, leukocytes and differential count) and the PMN-E level were quantified in pleural fluid. The accuracy of PMN-E as an early marker in the diagnosis of complicated pyogenic infectious effusions was evaluated among pleural effusions that were not diagnosed with classic biochemical markers, radiological findings or Gram stain. Since results of pleural fluid culture and cytological examination are generally available after a 48-hour delay, they were not included as early markers in the initial diagnosis of pleural effusions. Results: Early diagnosis of complicated pyogenic bacterial effusions was achieved in only 48 of 66 cases with classic markers. Among those that were not diagnosed with these parameters, a pleural PMN-E value >3,500 µg/l discriminated between complicated and noncomplicated pyogenic bacterial effusions with a sensitivity of 67% and a specificity of 97%. Conclusions: PMN-E is useful in the early diagnosis and management of complicated pyogenic infectious effusions, which may be delayed with classic markers.


Hygroscopic materials can suffer variations in water content and temperature according to ambient air conditions. In the case of agricultural products, control the moisture and temperature is of paramount importance for the conservation of their quality and to avoid losses. In this context, the drying is one of the most widely used methods for this purpose. Various drying techniques are reported in the literature,in order to increasingly improve the final product quality and saving energy used. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze the latest advances in intermittent drying research from the standpoint of quality after-drying product and energy efficiency. The most applied modeling techniques are highlighted and considerations for its use are shown.


Abstract. This paper compares of snowpack accumulation and ablation, evapotranspiration, and water outflow from clearcut and forested plots within a high elevation (2900 m) mixed conifer forest at the Fraser Experimental Forest near Fraser, Colorado, USA. Also presented is a method for defining contributing area where outflow is measured from unbounded plots. Plots were monitored from 1980 to 1990 and again in 1993. The clearcut plot was harvested in late 1984. Evapotranspiration (ET) of the forested plot at zero discharge (ETo) was estimated at 426 mm while the ET was 500 mm at the mean precipitation of 596 mm. ET was dependent on precipitation with about 28% of precipitation input in excess of 426 mm contributing to increased ET, while the remainder contributed to increased outflow. During the six monitored post-harvest years, Peak Water Equivalent of the snowpack averaged 36% higher on the cut plot than on the control, and the mean discharge increased from 85 mm to 356 mm. Area estimates were obtained from the slopes of the regression of outflow on precipitation inputs. Hydrologic parameters corresponded closely to those previously determined at Fraser Experimental Forest using other methods, lending credence to the validity of the area estimates.


This non-article explores the limitations of applying brain science in "higher" disciplines. Many brain scientists believe that it is only a matter of time that everything human will be accounted for by the findings of brain science. Michael Polanyi in the nineteen-sixties and recently Michael Gazzaniga argued against such determinism. They say that while "lower-level" processes constrain "higher-level" ones, they cannot determine them. The human mind is an emergent process, and it cannot be predicted from brain structure anymore than traffic can be predicted from the structure of a car. I claim that in many instances, the application of brain science in psychology and literary studies merely re-states in brain-language what has already been said in psychology-language or literature-language. It can, however, be fruitfully applied when it refutes prevalent erroneous assumptions or resolves certain incongruities in the domain of "higher" disciplines.


The coccinellids Eriopis connexa (Germar), Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) and Olla v-nigrum (Mulsant) are important natural biological control agents. The purpose of this paper was to study the biology and create a fertility life table of these three coccinellid species. For the biology study, 50 insects/species were used and kept in groups of 10 in glass vials (2300cm3). For the three species studied, the viability of the total cycle varied from 45 to 50%. O. v-nigrum was the species which presented the longest oviposition period. However, H. axiridis demonstrated the best reproductive performance and ability of population growth in each generation. In conclusion, the use of commercially obtained pollen and A. kuenhiella eggs enables the development of coccinellids E. connexa, H. axyridis and O. v-nigrum under laboratory conditions, since the insects completed their biological cycle and originated adults with good reproductive performance.


Patterns of habitat use by spider crab juveniles, Maja brachydactyla , from two geographic areas on the NW coast of the Iberian Peninsula were studied through the analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope relations in muscle and hepatopancreas. Main potential preys of spider crab juveniles in rocky and sandy habitats and different organic matter sources in coastal food webs were also analysed. Isotopic ratios showed no difference between rocky and sandy habitats. The use of carapace colour and epibiosis as an indicator of habitat use was not supported by our data. These results suggest that movements between the two habitats are much more frequent than suggested in previous studies. In the coastal food web, two main trophic compartments were identified according to their organic matter source: one based on plankton and seaweeds (rocky habitats), and one based on sedimentary particulate organic matter (sandy bottoms). By means of the model of Phillips and Gregg (2003), it was found that juveniles of Maja brachydactyla from both habitats consumed approximately two thirds of the preys in rocky habitats and one third in sedimentary habitats. The results indicate that in exposed environments large juveniles spend most of the time on sedimentary bottoms, where they find more refuge, moving frequently to nearby rocky substrates to feed.


Bacillary dysentery has long been a considerable health problem in southwest China, however, the quantitative relationship between anthropogenic and physical environmental factors and the disease is not fully understand. It is also not clear where exactly the bacillary dysentery risk is potentially high. Based on the result of hotspot analysis, we generated training samples to build a spatial distribution model. Univariate analyses, autocorrelation and multi-collinearity examinations and stepwise selection were then applied to screen the potential causative factors. Multiple logistic regressions were finally applied to quantify the effects of key factors. A bootstrapping strategy was adopted while fitting models. The model was evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), Kappa and independent validation samples. Hotspot counties were mainly mountainous lands in southwest China. Higher risk of bacillary dysentery was found associated with underdeveloped socio-economy, proximity to farmland or water bodies, higher environmental temperature, medium relative humidity and the distribution of the Tibeto-Burman ethnicity. A predictive risk map with high accuracy (88.19%) was generated. The high-risk areas are mainly located in the mountainous lands where the Tibeto-Burman people live, especially in the basins, river valleys or other flat places in the mountains with relatively lower elevation and a warmer climate. In the high-risk areas predicted by this study, improving the economic development, investment in health care and the construction of infrastructures for safe water supply, waste treatment and sewage disposal, and improving health related education could reduce the disease risk.


The vehicles that travel on Brazilian highways have changed a lot in the last decades, with an increase in the traffic load and in the amount of trucks. This fact is not exclusive to our country, so much that in order to assess the structural safety of bridges, there was a great development in bridge weigh-in-motion systems (B-WIM) the last decade, especially in developed countries. Moses, in 1979, was the first one to introduce the B-WIM concept. This work presents the results of a B-WIM system applied on a bridge over the Lambari river, located at BR 153 in Uruacu (Goias). The weigh-in-motion technique used is based on Moses' Algorithm, which obtains influence lines directly from traffic loads. Traffic characterization of that particular highway, as well as the effects introduced in the bridge structure and the experimental dynamic amplification factor are also discussed. At the end, it is concluded that the system used is capable of determining, with good precision, the axle spacing and the gross vehicle weight. Errors smaller than 3% were obtained when the acquired gross vehicle weight was compared to the one from static scale.


Objective To evaluate whether the implementation of the FAST-M complex intervention was feasible and improved the recognition and management of maternal sepsis in a low-resource setting. Design before-and-after Performance of selected process outcomes was compared between a 2-month baseline phase and 6-month intervention phase with compliance used as a proxy measure of feasibility. Main outcome result Compliance with vital sign recording and use of the FAST-M maternal sepsis bundle. Results Following implementation of the FAST-M intervention, women were more likely to have a complete set of vital signs taken on admission to the wards (0/163 [0%] versus 169/252 [67.1%], P < 0.001). Recognition of suspected maternal sepsis improved with more cases identified following the intervention (12/106 [11.3%] versus 107/166 [64.5%], P < 0.001). Sepsis management improved, with women more likely to receive all components of the FAST-M treatment bundle within 1 hour of recognition (0/12 [0%] versus 21/107 [19.6%], P = 0.091). In particular, women were more likely to receive antibiotics (3/12 [25.0%] versus 72/107 [67.3%], P = 0.004) within 1 hour of recognition of suspected sepsis. Conclusion Implementation of the FAST-M complex intervention was feasible and led to the improved recognition and management of suspected maternal sepsis in a low-resource setting such as Malawi. Tweetable Abstract Implementation of a sepsis care bundle for low-resources improved recognition & management of maternal sepsis.


Phase changes in Bacteroides fragilis, a member of the human colonic microbiota, mediate variations in a vast array of cell surface molecules, such as capsular polysaccharides and outer membrane proteins through DNA inversion. The results of the present study show that outer membrane vesicle (OMV) formation in this anaerobe is also controlled by DNA inversions at two distantly localized promoters, IVp-I and IVp-II that are associated with extracellular polysaccharide biosynthesis and the expression of outer membrane proteins. These promoter inversions are mediated by a single tyrosine recombinase encoded by BF2766 (orthologous to tsr19 in strain NCTC9343) in B. fragilis YCH46, which is located near IVp-I. A series of BF2766 mutants were constructed in which the two promoters were locked in different configurations (IVp-I/IVp-II = ON/ON, OFF/OFF, ON/OFF or OFF/ON). ON/ON B. fragilis mutants exhibited hypervesiculating, whereas the other mutants formed only a trace amount of OMVs. The hypervesiculating ON/ON mutants showed higher resistance to treatment with bile, LL-37, and human β-defensin 2. Incubation of wild-type cells with 5% bile increased the population of cells with the ON/ON genotype. These results indicate that B. fragilis regulates the formation of OMVs through DNA inversions at two distantly related promoter regions in response to membrane stress, although the mechanism underlying the interplay between the two regions controlled by the invertible promoters remains unknown.


Most of Africa's people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. These predominantly small‐scale farmers face many challenges, including food insecurity, rising poverty, and natural resource degradation. To increase the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of their farms, they need greater access to affordable yield‐enhancing inputs, including well‐adapted seeds and new methods for integrated soil fertility management, as well as to output markets where they can convert surplus production into cash. To address these needs, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). AGRA is now African led and is working within the context of the comprehensive agricultural development program established by Africa's leaders. From offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana, AGRA will support work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain to help millions of small‐scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger.


Prophages have important roles in virulence, antibiotic resistance and genome evolution in Staphylococcus aureus. Rapid growth in the number of sequenced S. aureus genomes allows for an investigation of prophage sequences in S. aureus at an unprecedented scale. We developed a computational pipeline to detect and analyze prophage sequences in nearly 10,011 S. aureus genomes, discovering thousands of putative prophage sequences with genes encoding virulence factors and antibiotic resistance. Importance Bacteriophages (phages) play key roles in bacterial evolution, governing abundance, adaptation and diversity of bacterial communities. Temperate phage can facilitate bacterial adaptation via transduction of novel genes. This study takes advantage of the unprecedented quantity of genomic sequencing in public repositories to analyze viral genes in 10,000 Staphylococcus aureus genomes. We found 196,727 prophage sequences, with an estimated total of 129,935 genes. We determined the function of these genes, identifying a large quantity of novel genes that benefit the host such as beta-lactamase, enterotoxins and cytotoxins. These results will inform studies of bacterial evolution and adaptation, by identifying the mechanism of horizontal transfer of genes that confer adaptive traits to bacteria, especially in the context of antibiotic resistance.


The thesis explores through composition the processes of listening, remembering, storing, and recalling music and the ephemeral nature of these same actions, recognising that musical experiences can never truly be preserved. To explore preservation and entropy in memory and music, the portfolio of works is guided by three research areas: multi-level systemisation in compositional methods; reflection on the experience of music itself; and integration of acoustic and electronic techniques. The research concepts draw from the fields of ecological psychoacoustics, music cognition, memory studies, history of music technology, and philosophy and aesthetics.The thesis consists of three volumes with accompanying supplemental materials. The first two volumes present a portfolio of original compositions, comprising sixteen works ranging from three to twenty minutes and from soloist to large string ensemble, including six electroacoustic pieces, with a combined duration of circa 100 minutes. Appendix One contains one piece, Artefacts for symphony orchestra, the composition of which provided the foundation for this project. The third volume is a commentary on the portfolio (c. 27,000 words), providing context for the works and their compositional processes in terms of conceptual and theoretical bases, academic context, musical techniques and analysis, employment of electronic technology, the influence of other composers and artists, and placement of my work within the field of composition.
The commentary is divided into five parts. Part One covers research concepts and context; Part Two examines structural use of systemisation and collage; Part Three outlines approaches to harmony; Part Four describes the use of electronics in the portfolio, connecting these techniques to the research concepts; Part Five presents a detailed description and analysis of three pieces that illustrate a synthesis of the methods explored over the course of composing the portfolio. The supplementary materials include recordings of the works and Max/MSP patches accompanying the electroacoustic works.


Beta-adrenergically-stimulated sweat rates determined by evaporimetry or by sweat bubble imaging are useful for measuring CFTR function because they provide a near-linear readout across almost the full range of CFTR function. They differentiate cystic fibrosis (CF) subjects from CF carriers and carriers from controls. However, evaporimetry, unlike bubble imaging, appears to be unable to detect improved levels of CFTR function in G551D subjects taking the CFTR modulator ivacaftor. Here, we quantify the sensitivity of evaporimetry and bubble imaging methods for assessing low levels of CFTR-dependent sweat rates. To establish sensitivity, we did dose-ranging studies using intradermally injected [cAMP]i–elevating cocktails. We reduced isoproterenol/aminophylline levels while maintaining a high level of atropine to block muscarinic elevation of [Ca2+]i. We stimulated the same sets of glands for both assays and recorded responses for 20 min. In response to a 3-log dilution of the stimulating cocktail (0.1%), bubble responses were detected in 12/12 tests (100%), with 49% ± 3% of glands secreting to produce an aggregate volume of 598 nl across the 12, 20-min tests. This was ~5% of the response to full cocktail. Evaporimetry detected responses in 3/12 (25%) tests with an aggregate secretion volume of 175 nl. After stimulation with a still more dilute cocktail (0.03%), bubble imaging detected 15 ± 13% of glands secreting at a rate ~0.9% of the response to full cocktail, while zero responding was seen with evaporimetry. The bubble imaging method detected secretion down to aggregate rates of <0.2 nl/(cm2·min), or ~1/30th of the average basal transepithelial water loss (TEWL) in the test subject of 4 g/m2·hr or 6.7 nl/(cm2·min). The increased sensitivity of bubble imaging may be required to detect small but physiologically important increases in secretion rates produced by CFTR modulators.


Polypills have been proven to improve the patient compliance to multi-drug treatment. However it is still poorly understood when the drugs of a polypill formulation are manufactured as a mixture. The formations of co-amorphous mixtures are one of the possible results of blending multiple drugs in a single process. This project investigated the co-amorphous mixtures of two model drugs, felodipine and paracetamol prepared by melt-cool method. The rationale of the model drug selections is based on the high interaction potentials (hydrogen bonding) between the two drugs as both contain hydrogen donors and acceptor groups. Three molar ratios of the co-amorphous systems of paracetamol and felodipine (P-F) were prepared and their physical stabilities were studied using SEM, DSC, ATR-FTIR and PXRD. It was noted that there is no clear intermolecular interaction between felodipine and paracetamol was identified. Higher paracetamol content led to poorer physical stability of the co-amorphous system which also led to hindered release of paracetamol. The dissolution rates of felodipine from the co-amorphous systems showed no significant improvement in comparison to crystalline felodipine indicating the rapid recrystallization of felodipine during the dissolution process. However the linear nearly zero order release of paracetamol indicated the entrapment of paracetamol in the recrystallized felodipine lattice. This confirmed the formation of co-amorphous mixture without specific hydrogen bonding between the two species. Soluplus was used as the polymeric excipient with an attempt to further improve the physical stability of the co-amorphous systems. The stability of P-F 1:1 loaded Soluplus HME extrudates showed significant improvement than the co-amorphous sample. However no significant dissolution enhancement was observed. This could be partially attributed to the use of the extrudates in the rod form instead of power form in the dissolution tests. Controlled release of paracetamol and poor dissolution of felodipine were obtained from the HME samples indicating the poor solubility enhancement capability of Soluplus in this formulation. The results of this project provided further understanding of the behaviour of co-amorphous system which non-specific interactions.


Summary Although thrust belts at present-day subduction zones are sub-parallel to such zones, several ancient thrust belts dip in the opposite direction to the inferred dip of the contemporaneous subduction zone. Gravity spreading, gravity sliding or compressional stresses transmitted from the subduction zone are unlikely causes of such thrust belts. The driving force is attributed instead to the hydrostatic head of a fluid-like rock welt. If the welt is hot—as in a granitic/metamorphic belt—foreland thrusts may form. The emplacement stresses are similar in magnitude to those of gravity spreading, but the thrust wedge need not be weak. The essential requirements of a thrust belt created by a fluid welt are a downhill surface slope in the direction of thrust transport and weak decollement horizon(s). In the Mesozoic foreland thrust belts of western North America, the volume of rock pushed onto the foreland is comparable to the volume of the batholiths in the orogenic core and to the volume of new material added by subduction to the overriding American Plate. After collision with another continent or an island arc the recognition of thrust belts emplaced by fluid welts is more difficult, particularly when ophiolites are present.


Objective: To evaluate the bond strength of different repair treatments for composite resin to aged Y-TZP ceramics.  Material and Methods: Zirconia blocks were cut into smaller specimens, sintered according to manufacturer's recommendations (final dimensions of 4×4×3 mm), and randomly allocated into nine groups (n=15) according to the surface treatment and presence/absence of aging of the substrate (subjected to low-temperature degradation - LTD), as follows: without LTD (Control: without treatment; TBS: tribochemical silica coating + silane + adhesive); with LTD (Control-LTD: without treatment; TBS-LTD: TBS with hydrothermal degradation; MoS-LTD: Monobond S + adhesive; MoP-LTD: Monobond Plus + adhesive; MZP-LTD: Metal/Zirconia Primer + adhesive; USB-LTD: Single Bond Universal; AP-LTD: Alloy primer + adhesive). LTD was simulated in an autoclave (134 °C, 2 bar, 5 h). The ceramic blocks were embedded in PVC cylinders with a self-curing acrylic resin; each surface treatment protocol was performed; a composite resin cylinder (Æ: 3.25 mm and height: 3 mm) was then build-up using split metallic matrices. All the specimens were aged (thermocycling + storage in water for 90 days) and subjected to the shear bond strength test using a universal testing machine (1 mm/min). The failure mode was classified into four types: adhesive, composite resin cohesive fracture, ceramic cohesive fracture, and mixed. The bond strength values were subjected to Mann–Whitney test. Results: Only air-abraded samples (TBS and TBS–LTD) survived thermocycling. More than 80% of the samples of the other groups presented pre-test failures. TBS groups presented higher values of bond strength (3.94) compared to TBS-LTD (0.96). The predominant type of failure for the surviving samples were adhesive. Conclusion: Air particle abrasion is mandatory to improve the bond strength of the Y-TZP substrate; an aged substrate presents an even more unfavorable scenario for adhesion.Keywords Dental prosthesis repair; Hydrothermal degradation; Zirconia; Shear bond strength; Sandblasting.


The present study was an evaluation of the effectiveness of Deadly Choices™ community events for improving participants' short-term knowledge of chronic disease and risk factors, and increasing community engagement with local health services. Surveys were completed directly before and after participating in health education activities (pre and post surveys, respectively) assessing knowledge of chronic diseases and risk factors at three Deadly Choices community events and four National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) events in south-east Queensland where Deadly Choices health education activities took place. An audit trail was conducted at two Deadly Choices community events in Brisbane to identify the proportion of participants who undertook a health screen at the event who then followed up for a Medicare-funded health check (MBS item 715) or other appointment at an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clinic in the local area within 2 months. Results were compared with a sample of participants who attended one Deadly Choices community event but did not complete a health screen. There were 472 community members who completed a pre and post survey. All knowledge scores significantly improved between baseline and follow up. Although based on a small sample, the audit trail results suggest individuals who participated in a health screen at the community day were approximately twice as likely to go back to a clinic to receive a full health check or have an alternative appointment compared with attendees who did not participate in a screen. Community events that include opportunities for health education and health screening are an effective strategy to improve chronic disease health literacy skills and appear to have the potential to increase community engagement with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services.


An original model is presented for the simulation of the energy loss of negatively charged hadrons. It calculates the stopping power by regarding the target atoms as an ensemble of quantum harmonic oscillators; this approach allows to account for charge dependent effects in the stopping power, which are relevant at energies below a few MeV. The resulting antiproton stopping powers for different elements are shown to be in satisfactory agreement with experimental data. The model described in this paper is implemented in the Low Energy Electromagnetic package of the Geant4 Toolkit; it represents a significant improvement for the accurate simulation of low energy negative hadrons with respect to previously available models.


Abstract. Excess export of nitrate to streams affects ecosystem structure and functions and has been an environmental issue attracting world-wide attention. The dynamics of catchment-scale solute export from diffuse nitrate sources can be explained by the activation and deactivation of dominant flow paths, as solute attenuation (including the degradation of nitrate) is linked to the age composition of outflow. Previous data driven studies suggested that catchment topographic slope has strong impacts on the age composition of streamflow and consequently on in-stream solute concentrations. However, the impacts have not been systematically assessed in terms of solute concentration levels and variation, particularly in humid catchments with strong seasonality in meteorological forcing. To fill this gap, we modeled the groundwater flow and nitrate transport for a cross-section of a small agricultural catchment in Central Germany. We used the fully coupled surface and subsurface numerical simulator HydroGeoSphere to model groundwater and overland flow as well as nitrate concentrations. We computed the water ages using numerical tracer experiments. To represent various topographic slopes, we additionally simulated ten synthetic cross-sections generated by modifying the mean slope from the real-world scenario while preserving the land surface micro-topography. Results suggest a three-class response of in-stream nitrate concentrations to topographic slope, from class 1 (slope > 1:60), via class 2 (1:100 < slope < 1:60), to class 3 (slope < 1:100). Flatter landscapes tend to produce higher in-stream nitrate concentrations within class 1 or class 3, however, not within class 2. Young streamflow fractions and nitrate concentrations decrease sharply when flatter landscapes are not able to maintain fast preferential discharge paths (e.g. seepage). The variation of in-stream concentrations, controlled by degradation variability rather than by nitrate source variability, shows a similar three-class response. Our results improve the understanding of nitrate export in response to topographic slope in temperate humid climates, with important implications for the management of stream water quality.


With more than 25 centuries of efforts to resolve its mysteries, the pulmonary circulation continues to inspire and humble researchers, frustrate clinicians, and scare patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Its mysteries lie in lost manuscripts written in the 12th-century Syria; within the pages of one of the rarest books in history written in 1531 by an author burned alive with his books, condemned by the Inquisition; within a publication from a young urologist self-experimenting 30 years before he received the Nobel prize…What kind of disease is this one that in the age of planning missions to Mars, no medical therapy can save its victims? It is certainly a disease that deserves our respect. The objective of this compendium is to present the state of the art in PAH, but mostly emphasize its future, discussing several evolving theories on its pathogenesis. Its objective is also to comprehensively summarize our current clinical approach to the disease, with patients in mind. In addition to researchers, clinicians, health professionals, students, and residents, its target audience includes patients: the patients who suffer, desperate for answers, and the patients who, one way or another, not only participate in but also fund our research through their taxes and donations. In the age of instant and easy information dissemination, many patients are already quite informed when they visit a specialist. How do we describe the cutting-edge developments in this complex disease to the informed patient? It is not easy, but most would agree that only the expert who really understands his/her subject is able to describe it in lay terms and pass its main messages.

Humbled by the complexity of PAH and its challenges, we need to focus on what drives all of us fighting this disease. In addition to our patients, it is scientific curiosity: PAH …


Introduction: The prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) is increasing in urban as well as rural areas in India especially during the last decade due to adoption of smoking habits. Tobacco smoking is currently ranked fourth world-wide in contributing to mortality. The increased risk of atherothrombotic vascular events seen in smokers could be due to increased serum homocysteine and abnormal lipid profiles. Aim: To study serum homocysteine and lipid profile in smokers and non-smokers with coronary heart disease below 40 years age. Materials and Method: A total of 90 men all having CHD and below 40 years were included in the study. They were divided into two groups of 45 each. All patients with history of cigarette smoking were included in test group and the non-smokers were included in control group. Serum of test and control groups was estimated for homocysteine and lipid profile in addition to other routine investigations. Results: Age 36-40 years was the most common age with history of CHD. The body mass index was almost same for both the groups. The mean values of serum homocysteine in smokers with CHD was significantly raised (P<0.001) than the control group of non-smokers. Total cholesterol and LDL in smokers were also significantly elevated (<0.05) when compared with nonsmokers. Conclusion: Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for CHD and serum homocysteine levels can act as "Potential Biochemical Markers" for early detection of CHD.


CCl4 causes liver necrosis in a dose-dependent manner in vivo. However, we found that primary rat hepatocytes in culture were killed after a 2 hr incubation with carbon tetrachloride gas at CCl4 partial pressures above a threshold between 45 and 54 mmHg. Below this threshold concentration no increase in hepatocyte death was observed. We sought to explain the very abrupt CCl4 concentration threshold for hepatocyte death. Two inhibitors of cytochrome P450 2E1, cimetidine and diallyl sulfide, inhibited lipid peroxidation as measured by production of isoprostanes, but did not reduce hepatocyte death from CCl4. At 37 degrees, CCl4 accelerated the mitochondrial permeability transition in vitro, at a threshold CCl4 concentration similar to that which caused hepatocyte death. Phospholipase A2 inhibitors, mepacrine and 4-bromophenacyl bromide, inhibited the increase in mitochondrial permeability, but did not inhibit hepatocyte death caused by CCl4. Rat liver microsomal lipids were used to make liposomes loaded with Ponceau Red (FW 760.6). No leakage of Ponceau red was found at CCl4 concentrations greater than the threshold for cell death. However, CCl4 caused acceleration of liposome fusion, over the CCl4 concentration range spanning the threshold for hepatocyte death. Early hepatocyte death in cell culture is independent of metabolism of CCl4, and may be related to direct effects of CCl4 on intracellular membranes.


Serotonergic-related compounds often facilitate aggression in various animals, including crayfish. However to date, studies have seldom shown the mechanism by which serotonergicrelated compounds alter aggressive behavior. It is assumed that serotonin changes the neurochemistry of those injected. In our study, we have attempted to report an observable mechanism by examining the communication system of crayfish. Crayfish use urine to communicate aggressive status, thus we analyzed the frequency of urine release from those injected with serotonergic-related compounds. For each trial, two size-matched crayfish, within 5% body weight, were allowed to interact after injection with serotonin, an agonist, an antagonist, or vehicle control. The concentration of all drugs was 3mM at a delivery dosage of 0.1ml/g. Aggressive interactions were recorded under black light to illuminate a fluorescein dye that was added to all injections. Urine release and aggressive behaviors were then analyzed.


Shocks emanating from the global pandemic continue to reshape the macroeconomic landscape—dimming national growth prospects, prolonging widespread financial distress among households, firms, and governments and heightening uncertainty. Using a small-scale New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model for the Philippines, we examine the model's sensitivity to COVID-19 datapoints or extreme observations. Relative to estimates during the base period (2002Q1 to 2019Q4), the inclusion of extreme datapoints worsens the model's log data density progressively, from the consideration of the first quarter of 2020 to the full sample – an indication that shock propagation mechanisms associated with COVID–19 and other natural disasters should be integrated into the model. Even with the inclusion of said extreme observations, however, the model's parameters are identified, provided identification schemes are evaluated at posterior median estimates. Judging from the sets of parameter estimates relative to the base sample, the effects of extreme observations are found to be non–uniform, especially the size of the shocks. But there are other parameters, notably those that are embedded in the Taylor rule, which are relatively as stable as some household related parameters. These results imply that the size of standard errors for demand, supply, and monetary policy shocks adjust to partially capture the impact of extreme datapoints.


The analysis of some edible vegetable oils available in the Cape Coast metropolis in Ghana has been carried out by physical and chemical methods quality determination and comparative analysis. The parameters investigated were the specific gravity, refractive index, iodine value, saponification value, acid value, free fatty acid content, percentage impurity. The specific gravities of the oils ranged from 0.9096 to 0.9984 whilst the refractive indexes were from 1.445 to 1.507. The saponification value ranged from 187 for 'Werewere to 244 for coconut while the iodine values varied from 9.5 for coconut to 135 for safflower. The other parameters were from 0.187 for soyabean oil to 6.89 for 'Werewere oil for the acid values and between 0 to 6% for the free fatty acid of the oil samples. The trans- fatty acid contents of the oils were also investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic method by the determination of the transmittance ratios of the absorbances at 966 cm -1 in the infrared spectra of the oils. The trans-fatty acid contents ranged from minimum of 0% for olive oil to a maximum of 6% in Werewere oil. The results indicated that the oils were of good quality and that the amounts of transfatty acid were not appreciably high to pose any health risk to consumers.


Background: More than 95% of all countries worldwide reported infections with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 described as coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, most countries put physical distancing measures (e.g., closing of public, cultural, and educational institutions) in place to decelerate the infection rate. Consequently, dental education at universities worldwide is strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study was done to know the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on dental education. Materials and Methods: A self-designed, structured, online questionnaire of 22 close-ended questions was generated and distributed among the undergraduates and postgraduate dental students in Bangalore city. A total of 450 forms were sent through online by messages, WhatsApp, and emails. Online consent was obtained before participation in the study and it was mandatory to answer all questions. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics, and significant proportions were available. The level of significance was considered as P ≤≤≤ 5. Results: The study showed that in this pandemic, 73.4% of the students feel e-learning as a boon for learning dental students, but 87.1% of students feel classroom lectures are more interactive compared to online lectures. About 12.4% of the students felt difficult to access the Internet for online classes, whereas 87.6% of students had access. Students feel understanding clinical procedures is difficult through e-learning; hence, 83.6% of students search web for better understanding. Almost 92.5% of the students feel they are lacking clinical experience due to online classes. Conclusion: COVID-19 has definitely affected the world; similarly, it has affected the clinical practice of dental students in dental schools. As education continues through e-learning, still, few students are deprived of education due to access to the Internet.


Electronic thermography (ET) has the potential to be a nonionizing, noninvasive, low-cost diagnostic alternative for evaluating temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders. This study was designed to evaluate the use of ET as a diagnostic aid in the assessment of patients with acute TMJ pain. Computer measurements made using facial thermography were able to distinguish normal patient populations from symptomatic patients with acute TMJ pain. Additional studies are needed before thermographic diagnosis of TMJ disorders will be clinically accepted.


Nearest-neighbor analysis (NNA) adjusts for spatially correlated residuals, with the goal of increasing precision. The magnitude of the block x treatment interaction mean square is commonly used to evaluate the predsion of the NNA model. An alternative method of evaluating the precision of the NNA and classical unadjusted (UNADJ) randomized complete block (RCB) analysis would be to use the pooled variance between duplicate treatments within each block. We defined pure error as variation between plots that are treated alike within a block. Within each location, each genotype was randomly assigned to two plots within each block of an RCB design. The pure error of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] genotypes was evaluated at eight locations. Our objective was to compare the block x treatment and pure error mean squares for yield, physiological maturity, and plant height to determine whether the NNA or UNADJ analysis reduces intrablock variation. The NNA analysis always decreased the magnitude of the block x treatment interaction mean squares, compared with the UNADJ analysis. In some comparisons, the pure error mean square of the NNA analysis was significantly smaller than the pure error of the UNADJ analysis. The magnitude of the block x treatment mean square is not useful for comparing the relative precision of these two analyses. When the pure error mean square was used to measure precision, the NNA was at least as precise as the UNADJ analysis.


The 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid catalog of Listeria denitrificans CIP 55134T was determined. The results confirmed previous evidence that this organism is not a member of the genus Listeria. Whereas L. monocytogenes is a member of the Bacillus-Clostridium subdivision of gram-positive bacteria, L. denitrificans is phylogenetically related to members of one of the several subbranches of the actinomycetes subdivision, defined by the genera Actinomycetes, Arthrobacter, Micrococcus, Cellulomonas, Stomatococcus, and Promicromonospora and allied taxa. The low similarity coefficients found between L. denitrificans and these genera, together with previously described chemotaxonomic properties, indicate that this species should be transferred to a new genus, Jonesia gen. nov., as Jonesia denitrificans comb. nov.


Bioinformatics is a recent and emerging discipline which aims at studying
biological problems through computational approaches. Most branches of
bioinformatics such as Genomics, Proteomics and Molecular Dynamics are
particularly computationally intensive, requiring huge amount of
computational resources for running algorithms of everincreasing
complexity over data of everincreasing
size.
In the search for computational power, the EGEE Grid platform, world's
largest community of interconnected clusters load balanced as a whole,
seems particularly promising and is considered the new hope for satisfying
the everincreasing
computational requirements of bioinformatics, as well as
physics and other computational sciences.
The EGEE platform, however, is rather new and not yet free of problems. In
addition, specific requirements of bioinformatics need to be addressed in
order to use this new platform effectively for bioinformatics tasks.
In my three years' Ph.D. work I addressed numerous aspects of this Grid
platform, with particular attention to those needed by the bioinformatics
domain.
I hence created three major frameworks, Vnas, GridDBManager and
SETest, plus an additional smaller standalone solution, to enhance the
support for bioinformatics applications in the Grid environment and to
reduce the effort needed to create new applications, additionally addressing
numerous existing Grid issues and performing a series of optimizations.
The Vnas framework is an advanced system for the submission and
monitoring of Grid jobs that provides an abstraction with reliability over the
Grid platform. In addition, Vnas greatly simplifies the development of new
Grid applications by providing a callback system to simplify the creation of
arbitrarily complex multistage
computational pipelines and provides an
abstracted virtual sandbox which bypasses Grid limitations. Vnas also
reduces the usage of Grid bandwidth and storage resources by
transparently detecting equality of virtual sandbox files based on content,
across different submissions, even when performed by different users.
BGBlast, evolution of the earlier project GridBlast, now provides a Grid
Database Manager (GridDBManager) component for managing and
automatically updating biological flatfile
databases in the Grid environment.
GridDBManager sports very novel features such as an adaptive replication
algorithm that constantly optimizes the number of replicas of the managed
databases in the Grid environment, balancing between response times
(performances) and storage costs according to a programmed cost formula.
GridDBManager also provides a very optimized automated management for
older versions of the databases based on reverse delta files, which reduces
the storage costs required to keep such older versions available in the Grid
environment by two orders of magnitude.
The SETest framework provides a way to the user to test and
regressiontest
Python applications completely scattered with side effects
(this is a common case with Grid computational pipelines), which could not
easily be tested using the more standard methods of unit testing or test
cases. The technique is based on a new concept of datasets containing
invocations and results of filtered calls. The framework hence significantly
accelerates the development of new applications and computational
pipelines for the Grid environment, and the efforts required for maintenance.
An analysis of the impact of these solutions will be provided in this thesis.
This Ph.D. work originated various publications in journals and conference
proceedings as reported in the Appendix. Also, I orally presented my work
at numerous international conferences related to Grid and bioinformatics.


We calculate the electric-field-induced spin splittings in wide slightly asymmetric modulation-doped quantum wells. When spin subbands are anticrossing we demonstrate two-step spin flips as the in-plane wave vector along the [11] direction is increased by 0.002 nm-1. At the beginning of this interval the y-component flips, at the end the x-component. Simultaneously the energy separation stays roughly constant below 1 μeV and the wave functions are interchanged. A bias change of about 1 meV is sufficient to move the Fermi level from below to above the anticrossing region.


In grinding process, chatter vibrations known as self-excited vibrations, become increasingly problematic and must be avoided. Firstly, experimental measurements of chatter vibrations in a numerical control (NC) grinding machine tool are introduced for the case of a special alloy workpiece being carried on. Then, frequency spectra of chatter vibrations are analyzed. The wavelet package transform technique is used to describe original chatter signals in the term of scaled energy of frequency bands. At last, fractal dimensions of the reconstructed signals in consecutive frequency bands of chatter vibrations are calculated. These results are helpful for understanding of the nonlinearity of chatter vibrations.


A new series of tetrasubstituted thiophene analogues (4a-4f, 5a-5f and 8a-8i) were designed incorporating the pharmacophoric features of COX-1 (as in fenamates), 5-LOX and the p38 MAP kinase inhibitors. The designed series was synthesized by nucleophilic addition of aryl/aroylisothiocyanate and enamine (2) yielding the addition product l-(α-Carbomethoxy-β-aminothiocrotonoyl)-aryl/aroyl amines (3/7); which on reaction with substituted phenacyl bromides gave the targeted tetrasubstituted thiophene esters (4a-4f / 8a-8i). The tetrasubstituted thiophenes esters (4a-4f ) on hydrolysis with one equivalent of potassium hydroxide solution in methanol at room temperature gave corresponding acids (5a-5f ). All the targeted compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity in carrageenin-induced rat hind paw oedema model at the doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg body weight using standard drugs mefanamic acid and ibuprofen. The compounds (4c, 4e, 4f, 5f, 8a- 8i) which gave reasonable protection to the inflamed paw, eliciting good or moderate comparable anti-inflammatory activity were selected for investigating their analgesic activity using acetic acid induced writhing response test in albino mice at 10 mg/kg dose using standard drug ibuprofen and in order to arrive at possible mechanism of their anti-inflammatory activity, in vitro antioxidant nitric oxide radical scavenging assay at the concentrations of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 μg/mL were performed using standard drug ascorbic acid.


All emergency medicine practitioners will have experienced the results of increased demand and exit block on our EDs. Crowded departments have made practising hallway/corridor-based medicine a daily occurrence. We already know that length of stay in hospital and mortality rates increase with crowding and that working in these conditions1 suggests patients are receiving substandard management. Certainly, there is the loss of privacy which all healthcare systems have gone to great lengths to protect and on which much of our medical teaching is premised.

Stoklosa et al 2 describe two distinct non-private clinical encounters, one where the patient was seen and assessed in a hallway and the other when the patient was seen along with a companion. Both which are said to impinge on the physician's assessment of the patient. At closer reading, the premise of the survey is to determine if the assessing physician believes that their practice is changed by the presence of other individuals accompanying the patient. The setting of the encounter is then looked at as an additional factor, rather than in isolation.

The survey demonstrates a belief that physicians feel they alter the way they take histories from and carry out physical examination of patients with a companion. A significant proportion of these physicians also believed that their assessment of patients was affected by the patient being in a hallway, and that their change of practice when assessing patients in non-private settings resulted in diagnostic errors and delay.2

Effective communication is key for the doctor–patient dyad and good quality care. Communication skills teaching has more significance in the medical curriculum today. However, there is a difference between taught communication skills in a protected environment and those learnt over time and many encounters, with an understanding of the barriers that affect our communication. This is …


Congenital anomalous coronary artery origins are rare, with a prevalence of 0.24-1.6%. Common configurations include left circumflex arising from the right coronary (RCA), left main coronary arising from the right coronary sinus and independent ostia for the left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex. One rare configuration that is not well described is the LAD arising from the RCA. A 68-year-old patient presented with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, underwent coronary artery bypass grafting and was found to have a patent LAD arising from the RCA. In patients presenting with coronary artery disease and anomalous coronary anatomy, careful preoperative planning and intraoperative attention to patient anatomy is essential in identifying high-risk coronary anomalies and providing the correct and optimal treatments for these patients.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To describe common practices and shared meanings of sleep-wake disturbances in individuals with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) before treatment and evaluate their preexisting sleep disturbances.

RESEARCH APPROACH
Open-ended interviews of patients newly diagnosed with lung cancer.

SETTING
A Veterans Administration hospital and a comprehensive cancer center in the northeastern United States.

PARTICIPANTS
26 patients newly diagnosed with NSCLC who chose chemotherapy treatment.

METHODOLOGIC APPROACH
Interpretive phenomenology based on Heideggarian hermeneutics.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Meaning of diagnosis on life experiences and sleep practices.

FINDINGS
Participants described four related themes: (a) the diagnosis as devastating yet not surprising, (b) treatment as hope for more time, (c) keeping life normal, and (d) sleep patterns as long lived.

CONCLUSIONS
Although participants did not complain about sleep difficulties, they described a history of sleep disturbances and poor sleep hygiene. Participants focused their trust on the treatment, giving them more time to follow their priorities and ignoring the effects of sleep deprivation on their quality of life.

INTERPRETATION
Healthcare professionals may design interventions to encourage keeping life as normal as possible, focusing on improving sleep, which may ultimately prolong patients' lives.


The objective of this study was to assess the impact of hillslope length on Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) streamflow predictions in large basins using three methods for hillslope length calculation (the SWAT method, L1; a 3D analysis method, L2; a constant value, L3) combined with two DEMs (pixel size of 25 and 100 m), for a total of six DEML configurations that were tested in the Upper Danube (132000 km2). The delineation of subbasins and HRUs were kept unchanged in all configurations, thus isolating the DEM impact on streamflow from that of subbasins delineation. The configurations were independently calibrated in 98 gauged stations located in headwater subbasins (period 1995 ~ 2006), and validated in 150 gauged stations (period 1995 ~ 2009). The analysis of streamflow prediction was extended to its components (surface runoff, lateral flow and baseflow) using performance criteria and residual analysis, and the comparison of different components of water yield was pursued. Calibration and validation showed that all configurations simulated monthly streamflow acceptably (PBIAS < 25% for more than 70% of 150 gauged stations). DEM pixel size had negligible effect of streamflow and its components. The default hillslope length (L1) resulted in large overestimations of lateral flow. L2 resulted in the best performance as well as L3 method. Given that L2 method takes into account the topographic convergence of flow, the configuration of DEM100 and L2 is recommended for SWAT application in large basins in order to obtain reliable streamflow predictions.


Information security and cybersecurity management play a key role in modern enterprises. There is a plethora of standards, frameworks, and tools, ISO 27000 and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework being two relevant families of international Information Security Management Standards (ISMSs). Globally, these standards are implemented by dedicated tools to collect and further analyze the information security auditing that is carried out in an enterprise. The overall goal of the auditing is to evaluate and mitigate the information security risk. The risk assessment is grounded by auditing processes, which examine and assess a list of predefined controls in a wide variety of subjects regarding cybersecurity and information security. For each control, a checklist of actions is applied and a set of corrective measures is proposed, in order to mitigate the flaws and to increase the level of compliance with the standard being used. The auditing process can apply different ISMSs in the same time frame. However, as these processes are time-consuming, involve on-site interventions, and imply specialized consulting teams, the methodology usually adopted by enterprises consists of applying a single ISMS and its existing tools and frameworks. This strategy brings overall less flexibility and diversity to the auditing process and, consequently, to the assessment results of the audited enterprise. In a broad sense, the auditing needs of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are different from large companies and do not fit with all the existing ISMSs' frameworks, that is a set of controls of a particular ISMS is not suitable to be applied in an auditing process, in an SME. In this paper, we propose a generic and client-centered web-integrated cybersecurity auditing information system. The proposed system can be widely used in a myriad of auditing processes, as it is flexible and it can load a set of predefined controls' checklist assessment and their corresponding mitigation tasks' list. It was designed to meet both SMEs' and large enterprises' requirements and stores auditing and intervention-related data in a relational database. The information system was tested within an ISO 27001:2013 information security auditing project, in which fifty SMEs participated. The overall architecture and design are depicted and the global results are detailed in this paper.


We present systematic calculations for the single-walled zigzag (n,0) carbon nanotubes containing the substitutional impurity atom B/N using the ab initio density- functional theory. It is found that the formation energies of the single-walled zigzag carbon nanotubes with substitutional impurity atom B/N depend on the tube diameters as well as the electric properties, and show periodic features. The nature of these periodic features has been revealed, which results from the different bonding structures of the perfect zigzag carbon tubes with different diameters, rather than the defects (substitutional impurity atom B/N) in the zigzag tubes


There are three main options for the treatment of gallstone disease, namely open cholecystectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. An economic evaluation of these was undertaken. Because the three options have serious but different effects upon the quality of life (QoL) the study design was a cost utility analysis (CUA). In such a design the output of each intervention is measured in quality adjusted life years (QALYs) or healthy year equivalents (HYEs). Measurement of these require the construction of valid health state scenarios. The objective of the present paper is to describe these scenarios and the issues arising from this. Other results and issues from the project are present in Street (1993), Cook and Richardson (1993), and Cook, Richardson and Street (1993a; 1993b). In the paper a variety of methodological issues are discussed that are associated with the construction of the health state scenarios. First, an issue overlooked in the literature to date is that health state values change with the underlying perspective or value basis adopted by the researcher. This has typically been an ex post perspective in which the quality of life actually experienced is measured at a point in time. The alternative is an ex ante perspective in which the patient's anticipated outcome and considerations of risk aversion become relevant. Secondly (and to a greater or lesser extent in common with most economic analyses in the health sector) the patient experience cannot be inferred from the clinical outcome and, at present, the long run clinical consequences of the various treatments are uncertain. Thirdly, in the absence of a universally accepted method for constructing health states scenarios the conversion of qualitative and survey QoL information into scenarios appropriate for cost utility analysis remains problematic. The paper outlines the three treatment options for gallstone disease. It describes the patient experience as obtained from interviews and a postal questionnaires and how the final health state descriptions were derived from this. It is concluded that there is a need for a general instrument which in the context of life and quality of life judgements about resource allocations itself is cost effective, as well as valid and sensitive to changes in quality of life factors across a wide range of diseases.


ABSTRACT The soil microbial biomass is largely responsible for the transformation of organic matter and the associated mineralization of important nutrients that regulate plant productivity. While the controls on soil microbial biomass and activity in temperate ecosystems have been well investigated, there is a paucity of such information from tropical rain forest ecosystems. Hence, we used a natural soil gradient (nutrient-poor oxisols and nutrient-rich mollisols) to investigate seasonal changes in the size and activity of the soil microbial community in two primary tropical rain forest sites in southwestern Costa Rica. In a nutrient-poor oxisol, microbial biomass ranged from 952 μg/g in the dry season (February) to 1967 μg/g in the wet season (June). The greater microbial biomass estimates corresponded to greater rates of microbial activity in the oxisol forest; however, the active fraction of the soil microbial biomass remained consistently low, regardless of soil C availability. In addition, while there was very little seasonal variability in microbial C:N ratios, we found extreme variations in seasonal microbial C:P ratios, with the highest microbial C:P ratio occurring when microbial biomass C was at a maximum. Our results suggest the importance of P availability in regulating soil microbial processes and that decomposition during the wet season (of litter accumulated in the previous dry season) may play an important role in driving seasonal changes in microbial biomass and activity.


Traditional demand models assume that consumers are perfectly informed about product characteristics, including price. However, this assumption may be too strong. Unannounced sales are a common supermarket practice. As we show, retailers frequently change position in the price rankings, thus making it unlikely that consumers are aware of all deals offered in each period. Further empirical evidence on consumer behavior is also consistent with a model with price information frictions. We develop such a model for horizontally differentiated products and structurally estimate the search cost distribution. The results show that in equilibrium, consumers observe a very limited number of prices before making a purchase decision, which implies that imperfect information is indeed important and that local market power is potentially high. We also show that a full information demand model yields severely biased price elasticities.


This article analyses three different cases of assisted marine restoration in Europe to understand how governance and legal aspects enable or constrain marine restoration in practice. The aim of this article is to enhance understanding of the enabling and constraining conditions of the governance of marine ecological restoration. To understand the governance of marine restoration, we use the concepts of governance arrangement and institutionalization. A marine restoration governance arrangement consists of different coalitions of public and private actors, who—through their different ways of conceptualizing and understanding the problem (discourses)—try to influence and design the marine restoration activities and initiatives, the managing of often shared, limited resources, and defining rules of the game (on different levels). Institutionalization refers to the production and reproduction of governance arrangements. This article gives insight in the governance arrangements of three cases: artificial habitat as in the Rigs‐to‐Reefs debate, in the context of North Sea oil and gas decommissioning, and restoration of key sedimentary and hard natural habitats of the fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) and red coral (Corallium rubrum) cases in the Mediterranean. The analysis shows how discourses shape the arrangements that currently govern the decommissioning of obsolete oil and gas structures in the North Sea, and the protection and management of two emblematic and endangered species in the Mediterranean. Based on the analysis we formulated enabling and constraining conditions for the institutionalization of "active restoration" governance arrangements, resulting in recommendations for how to strengthen restoration in policies and legislation.


Official estimates of households' real assets are not available in Italy. Earlier research that reconstructed this component of wealth overlooked the components related to the activities of producer households. This paper presents a method for obtaining a valuation of the components of the real assets related to households business activities. Using this new methodology, the value of households' real assets was found to be euro 4,936 billion in 2005. The bulk of these assets consisted of dwellings (euro 3,887 billion) while nearly 20 per cent consisted of assets belonging to producer households. The macro estimates of real wealth were then compared with the Bank of Italy's SHIW (Survey on Households' Income and Wealth) data available for 2004. The comparison with the macroeconomic estimates shows that the survey can estimate them with a fair degree of accuracy. For 2004 the sample estimates were equal to about 88 per cent of the macro estimates. The "rate of overlap" was particularly high for dwellings (93 per cent), the stock of capital, inventories and goodwill (89 per cent) and valuables (81 per cent). By contrast, the SHIW estimates were less able to capture the property component linked to the activities of producer households. In fact land and non-residential buildings had rates of overlap of 63 and 52 per cent respectively.


DFT (B3LYP)/6-31G calculations have been performed on the electronic structure of glucosamine and its salts. Net atomic charges, bond length, dipole moment and total energy of glucosamine and its salts were compared in order to explore the finer details of these molecules. Comparison shows that redistribution of charges on glucosamine sulphate is over larger range (- 1.413 to 1.413) as compared to glucosamine and its other salts, which favours the experimental results of pharmacokinetic studies, that glucosamine sulphate is better preferred to osteoarthritis than any of the salt of glucosamine. Further comparison of total energy from the ADMP calculations with DFT (B3LYP) at 6- 31G level explains the stability and high reactivity of glucosamine sulphate.


Within a longterm project from 1991 to 1996 investigations on the use of constructed wetlands for pollution control in rural areas will be carried out especially regarding the rather strict limiting values for nutrient elimination. The actual discussion is also relevant for very small systems applied to single households. Three reed bed systems - one vertical flow, single stage; one vertical flow double stage (parallel and in-series operation possible); one horizontal flow, double stage - have been constructed in 1991 regarding all the new experiences on optimizing this technology. Some results of inlet and outlet sampling and from sampling points within the bed, of tracer experiments and microbiological and virological testing are presented. In addition a short review on the installation costs is given. In general the experiences of one year of operation seem to prove the opportunity to meet the tightened limits by waste water treatment in constructed wetlands.


Basement rocks exposed in the Acatlan Complex of the Mixteca terrane in southern Mexico record two tectonothermal events: (1) a Devonian–Mississippian (ca. 365–318 Ma) event, recording extrusion and exhumation of high-pressure rocks; and (2) an Early to Middle Permian (ca. 289–263 Ma) event, involving N-S dextral shearing, transtensional deformation, and local S-vergent thrusting in a magmatic arc environment. We document an additional, regionally significant, tectonothermal event during the Middle to Late Triassic recorded by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar step-heating laser-probe ages ranging from ca. 239 and 219 Ma (≡ cooling from ca. 525 °C to 300 °C) for amphibole, muscovite, and biotite from: (1) the Carboniferous Amarillo unit, consisting of medium-grade, metasedimentary rocks intruded by mafic dikes; and (2) the Pennsylvanian–Middle Permian, low-grade, clastic-calcareous, arc-related Tecomate Formation. U-Pb laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) data yield an age of 339 ± 6 Ma for the youngest population of detrital zircon grains in the Amarillo unit. Lithogeochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic data for the Amarillo unit dikes are very similar to those of other Carboniferous meta-igneous rocks in the eastern and southwestern part of the Acatlan Complex, displaying affinities transitional between mid-ocean-ridge basalt (MORB) and continental tholeiites, and initial ɛ Nd ( t = 339 Ma) values from -6.6 to +6.4, indicating both depleted and enriched mantle sources, as well as variable contamination by continental crust or by subduction-derived fluids. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar cooling ages coincide with an apparent hiatus in magmatic activity in southern Mexico, which is inferred to record a change from steep to flat subduction.


The synthesis and characterization of a series of heterocyclic compounds 2a-2d based on 1,3,4-oxadiazole/ thiadiazole, furan and thiophene units are reported. The thermal behaviors of these compounds were investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivative 2b exhibited enantiotropic smectic C and A mesophases with wide temperature range and good thermal stability, while all of the other compounds did not show liquid crystalline behaviors. The results indicate that 1,3,4-thiadiazole-based compounds are more beneficial to form stable mesophases than the corresponding 1,3,4-oxadiazole analogues, and the compounds with a central furan unit as the rigid core may result in the loss of the meosgenic behaviors due to the non-linear molecular structure.


to a decline in blood pressure? Furthermore, an exciting study in amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice found that noradrenaline depletion results in microglia dysfunction together with an increase in extracellular β-amyloid deposition, which can be rescued pharmacologically. It remains to be seen whether this finding can be translated into noradrenaline-based therapies for patients with dementia (for example noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors). Conceivably, the neuroprotective effects of noradrenaline may even extend beyond a single cellular mechanism or disease entity. Understanding the alterations in central noradrenaline signalling preceding overt dementia may create a powerful new window of opportunity for identifying both preclinical dementia stages and developing novel treatments targeting the locus coeruleus circuitry.


The acquisition of machinery used in timber harvesting depends on high financial investment, which im plies the need for assessments that allow defining more precisely, what is the machine or the whole more recommended for streamlining the operation. This study aimed to technically and economically evaluating the performance of a harvester in Eucalyptus forest harvest first cut. The technique analysis included a time and movements, productivity, efficiency operational and mechanical availability. The economic analysis included the parameters operational cost, harvesting cost and energy consumption. The results obtained from the technological-economic parameters evidenced that of Diameter at Breast Height directly influen ced the productivity of harvester. Consequently the lower costs of forest harvest were obtained for the compartments with wider diameter trees.


Gynotroches axillaris is the only species of Gynotroches from Rhizophoraceae family. Sequential extraction of powdered leaves of Gynotroches axillaris using petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol afforded three extracts with percentage yield 4.6%, 1.6% and 15% respectively. Fractionation and purification of petroleum ether extract yielded triterpene ester, β-amyrin palmitate as the major compound, and two fatty acids, palmitic acid and myristic acid. The methanol extract yielded two flavonoids assigned as quercetin-3-O-L-rhamnoside and catechin. The structures were determined by MS, IR and NMR (1D and 2D). The tyrosinase inhibition assay of petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol extracts and the pure compounds were screened against tyrosinase enzyme. The inhibition percentage (I%) of methanol extract against tyrosinase enzyme was stronger than the other extracts with I% values 68.4%. Quercetin-3-O-L-rhamnoside (59%) was found to be the highest in the tyrosinase inhibition activity compared to standard Kojic acid (83%), whereas catechin and β-amyrin palmitate were inactive.


Many studies have investigated the effects of information technology (IT) in achieving organizational performance. However, despite substantial IT investments, organizations often fail to improve organizational performance using IT. This failure could be the result of a lack of Business-IT alignment. Recently , scholars and practitioners have adopted a complexity science approach to better address the many interwoven IT, organizational and environmental turbulence challenges. These efforts resulted in the emergence of the complexity-based concept of co-evolutionary IS/IT-alignment (COISA). COISA involves "the series of coevolutionary moves that makes IT aligned over time." However, the notion of COISA remains conceptual, and further operationalization in preparation for more empirical evidence seems appropriate. Therefore, this study aims to provide further clarification on the conceptualization of COISA in turbulent environments. We conducted a structured literature review using a theoretical foundation of Complex Adaptive Systems theory. In this effort, we developed a COISA model composed of five continuous alignment processes characterized by co-evolutionary moves toward alignment , situated in two organizational contexts. This model provides a basis for further empirical research on COISA.


O-Acyl sugars, trichome-specific metabolites, function as direct defenses against native pathogens and herbivores of a wild tobacco. O-Acyl sugars (O-AS) are abundant trichome-specific metabolites that function as indirect defenses against herbivores of the wild tobacco Nicotiana attenuata; whether they also function as generalized direct defenses against herbivores and pathogens remains unknown. We characterized natural variation in O-AS among 26 accessions and examined their influence on two native fungal pathogens, Fusarium brachygibbosum U4 and Alternaria sp. U10, and the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta. At least 15 different O-AS structures belonging to three classes were found in N. attenuata leaves. A 3-fold quantitative variation in total leaf O-AS was found among the natural accessions. Experiments with natural accessions and crosses between high- and low-O-AS accessions revealed that total O-AS levels were associated with resistance against herbivores and pathogens. Removing O-AS from the leaf surface increased M. sexta growth rate and plant fungal susceptibility. O-AS supplementation in artificial diets and germination medium reduced M. sexta growth and fungal spore germination, respectively. Finally, silencing the expression of a putative branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase E1 β-subunit-encoding gene (NaBCKDE1B) in the trichomes reduced total leaf O-AS by 20% to 30% and increased susceptibility to Fusarium pathogens. We conclude that O-AS function as direct defenses to protect plants from attack by both native pathogenic fungi and a specialist herbivore and infer that their diversification is likely shaped by the functional interactions among these biotic stresses.


This paper discusses the numerical efficiencies of the combination of formulation and solution of a variety of system modeling methods derived from the graph-theoretic analysis approach for engineering systems. A general formulation method is used for the discussion of the traditional models (branch, chord, nodal and mixed nodal tableaux), and attention is then turned to general hybrid modeling methods and to their possible reductions. The overall approach to assessment of numerical efficiency of the direct formation models stems from representation of a system in terms of the complete tableau model.


capable of producing both superoxide and hydrogen peroxide with the reintroduction of the blood supply.5 Dr Murrel and his colleagues have found that the xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol is of benefit in Depuytren's contracture.6 Although this trial was uncontrolled we have been unable to find reports of spontaneous resolution in published reports. It would be of interest to establish whether allopurinol supresses the destructive consequences of inflammatory tenosynovitis associated with rheumatoid disease.


The objective of this study was to identify the practice of innovation in primary healthcare in the second-largest county, by population, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The methodology employed case studies of multiple units of analysis, where various studies were simultaneously conducted. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were carried out with the directors of basic health clinics, followed by content analysis, beginning with the construction of a system of categories based on the literature. Fifty-six innovations in total were identified: Eighteen were innovations of products (goods and/or services), fifteen in processes, eleven in marketing, and twelve were organizational innovations. Studies that focus on and highlight innovation in primary healthcare facilitate changes, improvements, and alternatives in the form of services provided to the population, serving as a basis for the formulation of public health policy. Finally, we also highlight the limitations and opportunities of future research.


© 2016 selection and editorial material, Richard Bolden, Morgen Witzel and Nigel Linacre; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved.John Lawler and Jeff Gold argue that we confuse leaders with leadership. The consequent focus on the development of individual leaders creates a paradox of distortion. They offer what they call the leader's conundrum, which describes the process whereby senior leaders seek to control events and in so doing suffer a loss of control. Combining practice and theory, John Lawler brings his experience of helping business leaders plan and implement team alignment during points of transition, while Jeff Gold is Professor of Organisational Learning at Leeds Beckett University and has written extensively in this field.


Abstract Ferrihydrite samples were collected from a thermal spring and a cold stream in the Landmannalaugar region of Iceland. Chemical and spectroscopic analyses have been performed on the air-dried and fine-grained fractions of these samples. The ferrihydrite from the cold stream is a pure sample, containing small amounts of Ca, P and Si. The ferrihydrite from the thermal spring is a less pure sample, containing larger amounts of amorphous Si and P with some of the Si incorporated in the ferrihydrite structure. The spectral character of these Icelandic ferrihydrites is compared with those of synthetic ferrihydrites and other iron oxide/oxyhydroxide minerals. Ferrihydrite is characterized by a broad Fe3+ excitation band near 10 900 cm−1 (c. 0.92 μm), a strong Fe-O vibrational feature near 475 cm−1 (c. 21 μm), and multiple bands due to H2O and OH. Highly pure ferrihydrite has a pair of spectral bands near 1400 and 1500 cm−1 (c. 7 μm). Natural ferrihydrites frequently exhibit an extra band near 950–1050 cm−1 (c. 10 μm) that is attributed to Si-O bonds. Hydrothermal springs may have been present at one time on Mars in association with volcanic activity. Ferrihydrite formation in such an environment may have contributed to the ferric oxide-rich surface material on Mars.