State-to-state arbitration provisions in bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have been little used — and rightly so — since the introduction of investor-state arbitration provisions in the same BITs. In a handful of cases, however, some states are seeking controversially to resurrect state-to-state arbitration. Most controversially, in Ecuador v. U.S., Ecuador initiated arbitration against the United States under the U.S.-Ecuador BIT to (re)arbitrate an issue that had arguably been determined against Ecuador in a separate prior arbitration between Ecuador and certain U.S. investors. This subversion of state-to-state arbitration and its attack on the finality of arbitral awards threatens to destabilize the investor-state arbitration regime. While many if not most BITs contain both state-to-state and investor-state arbitration provisions, the relationship between the two has been little studied. This paper's systematic analysis of recent cases brings to light the surprisingly unruly, almost dysfunctional relationship between the two arbitral regimes. As it turns out, whether state-to-state arbitration is permissible, or at least not prohibited, where investor-state arbitration is available turns awkwardly on a number of ill-fitting factors, including whether the actor initiating state-to-state arbitration is the host state or home state, and whether the investor has consented to investor-state arbitration. The paper argues for a reconception of the relationship between the two arbitral regimes by treating them as mutually exclusive, and to preclude state-to-state arbitration of any dispute that is properly resolved through investor-state arbitration. As reordered then, the relationship better reflects the purposive primacy of investor-state arbitration in investment dispute resolution, averts the risk of conflicting awards, and shields the dispute from entanglement with politics and diplomacy.


The acquisition and reinforcement of foundational anatomy knowledge is a fundamental aspect of the curriculum of future professionals in healthcare education, biomedical communication and dissemination. Higher educational institutions involved in medical, life sciences and veterinary training have endeavoured to implement motivating and engaging learning environments and these can include prosections and dissections of cadaveric material. Facilitating such learning environments can be often limited by legislation and economic challenges which can be challenging for some universities. Although the proposed environments usually support self-directed and collaborative learning, they can be cognitively challenging for students as the limited access to physical resources in facilities (e.g. cadavers in an anatomy laboratory). The challenges of adopting a blended learning approach with traditional teaching can become discouraging for the appreciation of spatial relationships between anatomical structures and the understanding of variability. Consequently, alternative pathways towards sustainable and innovative learning and teaching in medical, life sciences and related veterinary education need to be explored.

From a long standing strategic research-led partnership between the School of Simulation and Visualisation (SimVis) at the Glasgow School of Art, and the Anatomy Facility at the University of Glasgow, we have created a unique and innovative taught postgraduate degree, the MSc in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy. This degree combines training in interactive visualisation technologies with intensive full-body anatomical training, including cadaveric dissection.


Abstract The northeast edge of the Arabian Platform in the Oman Mountains is represented by the autochthonous unit that crops out in the two windows of Jabal Akhdar and Saih Hatat, beneath and in front of the Hawasina and Samail nappes. The Eo-Alpine orogenic cycle began in the Late Permian with extension on the margin of Gondwana and ended in the Campanian with the formation of a subduction-obduction-type mountain range, the Oman Mountains of the Late Cretaceous. During this cycle, long periods of stable shelf sedimentation were interrupted by tensional tectonic episodes, often accompanied by volcanism and subsidence of the platform, passing into the bathyal domain. Deposition during the Permian to Campanian occurred during five main sedimentary cycles. In the Late Permian (Murghabian), a widespread marine transgression covered the edge of Gondwana in a tensional setting. The 'Fusulinid Sea' transgression was followed by the deposition, lasting until the Triassic, of a thick regressive sequence, the Akhdar Group, which was terminated by emergence and weathering in a continental environment. The next sedimentary cycle, represented by the Sahtan Group, began in the Pliensbachian, when the Oman Mountains area formed an inner carbonate shelf, and ended in the early Tithonian. The entire margin of the platform was profoundly affected, in the late Tithonian, by extension, listric faulting and foundering into the bathyal domain, with deposition of the Kahmah Group (Maiolica-type deposits: calpionellid-bearing micrite), and rapid retreat of the continental slope by about 250 km. Renewed carbonate shelf deposition then prograded SSW-NNE across the foundered part, though this was still incomplete when the latest Aptian-Albian transgression took place. At the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary, the shelf underwent profound reorganization with the development of the Muti (intrashelf) Basin, in which the Aruma Group was deposited, and the Masqat-Musandam High which provided the detritus filling the Muti Basin on the continentward side and the Hawasina Basin on the oceanic side. Fragments from the advancing nappe were redeposited in the Muti Basin only from the Campanian on, and it was only during this period that a flysch trough became superimposed on part of the Muti Basin. The closure of the Muti Basin was affected with the emplacement of the nappes on the platform and the subsequent deposition of cover formations over both nappes and the autochthon from the late Maastrichtian onward.


This paper explores the determinants of pension funding in the public sector. We formulate and test several hypotheses about the determinants of public employer pension funding practices, using a new data set describing financial and other characteristics of state, local, and teacher plans. The data show that, on average, public sector pension plans were relatively well-funded during the late 1980s. There were, however, wide variations in funding practices in our sample. Our analysis of these variations suggests that past funding practice tends to be perpetuated, that unionized employers are less likely to fully fund future pension obligations, and that funding is sensitive to fiscal pressure.


Our recent studies have demonstrated that human immature dendritic cells (DCs) are able to directly and effectively mediate apoptotic killing against a wide array of cultured and freshly-isolated cancer cells without harming normal cells. In the present study, we demonstrate that this tumoricidal activity is mediated by multiple cytotoxic TNF family ligands. We determine that human immature DCs express on their cell surface four different cytotoxic TNF family ligands: TNF, lymphotoxin-α1β2, Fas ligand, and TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand; while cancer cells express the corresponding death receptors. Disruptions of interactions between the four ligands expressed on DCs and corresponding death-signaling receptors expressed on cancer cells using specific Abs or R:Fc fusion proteins block the cytotoxic activity of DCs directed against cancer cells. The novel findings suggest that DC killing of cancer cells is mediated by the concerted engagement of four TNF family ligands of DCs with corresponding death receptors of cancer cells. Overall, our data demonstrate that DCs are fully equipped for an efficient direct apoptotic killing of cancer cells and suggest that this mechanism may play a critical role in both afferent and efferent anti-tumor immunity.


In our work are found out the questions connected with the syncretism of poetry and prose in the Ukrainian literature of XVII – XVIII centuries, genesis of this phenomenon, its nature and forms of existence, and also its development. In dissertation is comprehended the phenomenon of syncretism of poetry and prose in the Ukrainian literature in the context of the baroque rhetorical tradition but in context of the world literature process and also is found out the theoretic-literary and historical-philosophic basis this phenomenon. The material of our work is the Ukrainian and Poland texts by Kyrylo Trankvilion-Stavrovetskyi, Isaya Kopnskyi, Vitalyi Dubenskyi, Ioanykij Galiatovskyi, Dmytro Tuptalo, Ivan Maksymovych, Lazar Baranovych, Ivan Ornovskyi, Stephan Iaworskyi, Manuylo Kozachynskyi, Lavrentiy Krshchonovych. The part of these texts hadn't been special research for our time. The object of research are Ukrainian didactic books ("Dioptra", "Alphavit dukhovnyi", "Perlo mnohotsinnoye", "Runo oroshennoye", "Theatron"), polemic treatises ("Nowa miara starey wiary…", "Mesiya pravdyvyi", "Znameniya pryshestviya antyhrysta", "Kamen viry") and panegyrics ("Redivivus phoenix. Lazarus Baranovich", "Pelnia niewbywai№cey chwaіy…", "Echo gіosu…", "Bogaty wirydarz…", "Augustijshej imperatrytsi Elisabethi Petrovni") XVII – XVIII centuries.
 Studying the didactic text we can distinguish single two tendencies that made our authors to connect poetry and prose in limits of the text.
At the first we must note that Ukrainian didactic literature had liturgy like example and, so that, tried to involve the verses in corps of prose didactic texts, imitating the liturgy songs ("Alphavit dukhovnyi" by Isaya Kopnskyi, "Perlo mnohotsinnoye" by Kyrylo Trankvilion-Stavrovetskyi). This fact testifies that verses hadn't identified like independent one that can be without prose or without music.
The second line we can connect with spread of baroque literal theories from the west, which in their warp had the doctrine about concept, which connected with intellect ability of authors ("Dioptra" by Vitalyi Dubenskyi, "Runo oroshennoye" by Dmytro Tuptalo, "Theatron" by Ivan Maksymovych). The verses gave in experiments more and give possibility to concentrate the attention of recipient on the main questions. Analyzed the polemic treatises we can say that verses fragment in that texts at the first used like "emotion" brighten of text. From one hand, verses were means by expression of emotion by the author, had forced out the brutal like means, with had been spread more before ("Nowa miara starey wiary…" by Lazar Baranovych, "Znameniya pryshestviya antyhrysta" by Stephan Iaworskyi; from another, – versus had been means of pressure upon emotion of recipient ("Mesiya pravdyvyi" by Ioanykij Galiatovskyi). Also the verses fragments used like means of didactic, for popularity the bible topics ("Kamen viry" by Stephan Iaworskyi, "Nowa miara starey wiary…" by Lazar Baranovych). Also, poetic fragments used like "book properties", that we can see in the text of the dedications and introductions ("Nowa miara starey wiary…", "Mesiya pravdyvyi", "Znameniya pryshestviya antyhrysta") but sometimes and in the texts of scientific books ("Kamen viry"). The versus introductions had aim to dispose the reader for according "ton", and in that way ensure according with topic and means of expression the frame of mind by recipient ("Nowa miara starey wiary…", "Mesiya pravdyvyi", "Znameniya pryshestviya antyhrysta").
After studding Ukrainian panegyrics we can say that syncretism poetry and prose in this genre had to causes. The first connected with influence of the sermon genre with for a long time had been single example of gratulation rhetoric in Ukrainian literature ("Redivivus phoenix. Lazarus Baranovich" by Lavrentiy Krshchonovych, "Pelnia niewbywai№cey chwaіy…" by Stephan Iaworskyi). The second phenomenon of syncretism of the poetry and prose can be connected with historical genre that foresees biography by understand people in limits of chronic ("Echo gіosu…" by Stephan Iaworskyi, "Bogaty wirydarz…" by Ivan Ornovskyi, "Augustijshej imperatrytsi Elisabethi Petrovni" by Manuylo Kozachynskyi).
At all we can say about phenomenon of syncretism of the poetry and prose in baroque age like reveal of rhetorical basis of the Ukrainian literature of XVII – XVIII centuries.


Aim. To study the changes of plasma levels of NT-proBNP and NT-proANP in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with various antiarrhythmic drugs. Material and methods. Patients with persistent AF (n=123) aged 39-83 years old were included into the study. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 included patients with arterial hypertension (n=61), group 2 - patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD; n=62). After sinus rhythm restoration the patients were divided into 4 subgroups. Patients of 1A subgroup used propafenone to maintain sinus rhythm during the next 6 months, while patients of 2A subgroup used amiodarone. Patients of 1B and 2B subgroups used bisoprolol to control ventricular rate. Plasma natriuretic peptide levels were evaluated in all patients during the first 3 days after the sinus rhythm restoration and 6 months after. Results. Increased levels of NT-proBNP and NT-proANP in the first days after the sinus rhythm restoration were found in patients of both groups and were associated with the episode of AF. After 6 months of treatment the reduction of NT-proBNP and NT-proANP levels was found in patients of 1A subgroup (NT-proBNP: from 160.5±15.2 pg/ml to 130.1±12.2 pg/ml; NT-proANP: from 15.3±6.4 nmol/L to 11.5±5.3 nmol/L, p<0.05 for both) and of 2A subgroup (NT-proBNP: from 180.2±12.7 to 120.6±10.9 pg/ml; NT-proANP: from 17.1±7.1 to 11.8±7.2 nmol/L, p<0.05 for both). NT-proBNP and NT-proANP levels were decreasing consistently both in hypertensive patients receiving propafenone and in IHD patients taking amiodarone. No significant changes in NT-proBNP and NT-proANP levels were found in patient of subgroups 1B and 2B during the follow-up. Conclusion. Increased plasma levels of NT-proBNP and NT-proANP were found in the first days after the restoration of sinus rhythm in patients with persistent AF, and after 6 months of sinus rhythm maintenance these levels reduced significantly.


The sulfidation of metallic silver nanoparticles (AgNP) observed in urban wastewater systems and in natural waters reduces their toxicity by several orders of magnitude. However, the reaction rate of this transformation is only poorly understood and the influence of humic acid (HA) on AgNP sulfidation has not been studied to date. We therefore investigate the sulfidation kinetics of AgNP reacted with bisulfide (HS−) in the absence and presence of HA and evaluate different kinetic models to describe the observed reaction kinetics. Citrate-stabilized AgNP of different sizes (20–200 nm) were reacted with an excess of HS− in the absence of HA as well as at HA concentrations ranging from 50 to 1000 mg L−1. The extent of AgNP sulfidation after the selected reaction times was determined by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The overall sulfidation rate increased with decreasing AgNP size and increasing HA concentration. The sulfidation rate of the AgNP was best described by a diffusion-limited solid state reaction model (parabolic rate law). The corresponding half-lives of the AgNP ranged from minutes to hours. The increase of the sulfidation rate with increasing HA concentration may be explained by the adsorption of HA onto the AgNP surface facilitating the access of HS− to the particle surface. The results from analytical transmission electron microscopy suggest that the AgNP were sulfidized asymmetrically in the absence of HA. In the presence of HA, the initially formed concentric core–shell Ag0–Ag2S structures developed into hollow Ag2S nanoparticles with increasing reaction time, possibly via the Kirkendall effect.


Abstract A passive seismology experiment was conducted across the main overdeepening of Storglaciären in the Tarfala valley, northern Sweden, to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of basal microseismic waveforms in relation to known dynamics of this small polythermal sub-arctic glacier. The high ablation rate made it difficult to keep geophones buried and well coupled to the glacier during the experiment and reduced the number of days of good-quality data collection. The characterization of typical and atypical waveforms showed that the dominant waveforms were from near-surface events such as crevassing. Waveforms resembling basal microseismic signals were very rare, and seldom observed on more than two seismic stations simultaneously. The analysis of waveforms, amplitudes and particle motions suggested a near-field origin for most events. Even though basal sliding is known to occur in the overdeepening, no convincing examples of basal waveforms were detected, suggesting basal microseismic signals are rare or difficult to detect beneath polythermal glaciers like Storglaciären. We discuss the reasons for failing to locate basal signals, consider the origin of common waveforms and make recommendations for setting up passive seismology experiments on glaciers with high ablation rates.


The demand for fossil fuels has increased dramatically in recent years. Coupled with the swift rise in crude oil prices, ever greater emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2 mean that the search for alternatives to fossile fuels based petrol and diesel is essential. The intensified use of natural gas represents an interesting medium-term alternative because, as well as offering a drastic reduction in fuel costs by more than 50%, it also allows a vehicle's CO2 emissions to be reduced by up to 20%, as compared to petrol.

Within the scope of the project "Lightweight load-bearing components demonstrated in the form of a gas tank", which is supported by the federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg, the german aerospace center's institute of vehicle concepts, along with 9 partners from research and industry, is developing a CNG-honeycomb-tank intended for storage of CNG or biogas. The tank is made of short-fibre – reinforced thermoplastic with local reinforcements of continuous fibres. Since it is made of multiple interconnected chambers, its shape can be changed to best fit into an existing installation space within the vehicle, leading to an increase in storage capacity of up to 50%. This increase in storage efficiency is combined with a lower price and weight than conventional CNG-storage systems.

As proof of the tank's capabilities a burst test will be conducted in accordance with regulation R 110, using a demonstrator-tank with 9 chambers. This test will presumably be conducted in fall of 2010.
The development of the new honeycomb-tank provides a technological advantage in the field of sustainable mobility, particularly because of the increase in storage capacity. The technologies developed during the course of this project can not only pave the way for future storage concepts for gaseous fuel but also make a contribution to extending the application of fibre-reinforced thermoplastic materials to load-bearing components in general.


Micro/nano-electromechanical resonator-based logic elements have emerged recently as an attractive potential alternative to semiconductor electronics. The next step for this technology platform to make it into practical applications and to build complex computing operations beyond the fundamental logic gates is to develop cascadable logic units. Such units should produce outputs that can be used as inputs for the next logic units. Despite the recent developments in electromechanical computing, this requirement has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate for the first time a conceptual framework for cascadable logic units. Cascadability is experimentally demonstrated through two case studies; one by cascading two OR logic gates. The other case is the universal NOR logic gate realized by cascading an OR and a NOT gate. The logic operations are performed by on-demand activation and deactivation of the second mode of vibration of a clamped-clamped microbeam resonator. We show that the demonstrated approach significantly lowers the complexity and number of microresonator-based logic functions compared to the CMOS-based counterparts, which improves energy efficiency. This can potentially lead toward the realization of a novel technology platform for an alternative computing paradigm.


Abstract Objective: This study assessed the process of leaving an abusive dating relationship utilizing a qualitative design. Methods: Participants included 123 college women in abusive dating relationships who participated at the beginning and end of a 10-week academic quarter. Results: Qualitative content analyses were used to analyze the transcribed responses to an open-ended question about women's leaving processes over the interim period. A variety of categories and themes emerged for women in different stages of the leaving process, consistent with the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Investment Model. Data also underscored women's lack of acknowledgment, minimization, and normalization of abuse. Conclusions: These data demonstrate the importance of dating violence intervention and prevention programming on college campuses and offer information that may be useful to college health providers who assist women in abusive dating relationships.


In this paper, we study torsional vibrations of cantilever beams undergoing moderately large oscillations within a quiescent viscous fluid. The structure is modeled as an Euler-Bernoulli beam, with thin rectangular cross section, under base excitation. The distributed hydrodynamic loading experienced by the vibrating structure is described through a complex-valued hydrodynamic function which incorporates added mass and fluid damping elicited by moderately large rotations. We conduct a parametric study on the two dimensional computational fluid dynamics of a pitching rigid lamina, representative of a generic beam cross section, to investigate the dependence of the hydrodynamic function on the governing flow parameters. As the frequency and amplitude of the oscillation increase, vortex shedding and convection phenomena increase, thus resulting into nonlinear hydrodynamic damping. We derive a handleable nonlinear correction to the classical hydrodynamic function developed for small amplitude torsional vibrations for use in a reduced order nonlinear modal model and we validate theoretical results against experimental findings.


: It is presented the analytical review of the effect of radiofrequency and microwave radiation on function on blood-brain barrier (BBB) in experimental animals. Analysis of referenced papers encompasses the issue of the relation of BBB changes on the power and temporal parameters, regimens of generation of acting radiation and its unevenness. Along with this the authors tried to generalize the cited works considering the marker, used in BBB studies, its molecular mass, to present the sensitivity of isolated brain structures under influence of microwaves to the permeability of several substances, their dependence on thermogeneity of acting levels as well as to draw attention to reversibility of detected changes.


The process of apoptosis is associated with the inappropriate expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins, which has led to the proposal that the apoptotic pathway represents an abortive attempt to pass through the cell proliferation cycle. To investigate this hypothesis, we examined the expression of two proliferation‐associated antigens in apoptotic cells. Apoptotic bodies seen in a range of normal and pathological tissues are often positive for the Ki67 antigen, indicating that these cells were in the cell cycle during the period that they died. In contrast, spontaneous apoptosis of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes maintained in culture was not associated with the expression of either Ki67 or DNA polymerase α. In addition, apoptotic bodies in the pre‐menstrual endometrium did not express the Ki67 antigen. These results indicate that, contrary to previous suggestions, apoptosis does not always depend on cell cycle entry. The use of antibodies to Ki67 should be valuable in defining the association of apoptosis with proliferation in a wide range of cells and tissues.


The experimental model of acute gastritis such as water immersion restraint (WRS) stress-induced gastric injury is useful tool in examination of pathomechanism of acute gastritis. Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the maintenance of gastric barrier, however, the interaction between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and NO on gastric mucosal integrity has been little studied. The purpose of our present study was to explain the participation of ROS in healing of WRS-induced gastric lesions accelerated by NO. Experiments were carrying out on 120 male Wistar rats. To assess gastric blood flow (GBF) laser Doppler flowmeter was used and the number of gastric lesions was counted in each stomach. The colorimetric assays were used to determine gastric tissue level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), the products of lipid peroxidation by ROS, as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, the enzyme scavanger of ROS. We demonstrated that 3.5 h of WRS resulted in appearance of acute gastric lesions accompanied by a significant decrease of GBF. Biological effects of ROS were estimated by measuring tissue levels of MDA and 4-HNE, as well as the SOD activity. It was demonstrated that 3.5 h of WRS led to significant increase of mucosal levels of MDA and 4-HNE, and it was accompanied by a decrease of SOD activity. Pretreatment with NO-donors (SIN-1, SNAP, nitroglycerin, NO-ASA) resulted in reduction in gastric lesion number, increment of GBF, decrease of MDA and 4-HNE tissue level and increase of SOD activity. Suppression of ROS plays an important role in the action of NO-donors on healing of acute gastric lesions induced by 3.5 h of WRS. NO-donors caused an attenuation of lipid peroxidation as documented by a decrease of MDA and 4-HNE levels and enhancement of antioxidative properties as evidenced by an increase of SOD activity.


Transnational firms have rolled out new forms of private governance at the same time as the rise of new economic powerhouses like China has fomented growing inter-state tensions. This points to critical questions: how does inter-state competition shape private governance of transnational commodity chains and how does private governance shape inter-state rivalries? I explore these questions by tracing the construction and dissolution of sectoral hegemonic coalitions that govern commodity chains. Drawing on the case of cotton quality governance from 2000-2012, I argue that a coalition of the U.S. state and transnational merchants has reconstituted its sectoral hegemony to allow expanded accumulation and accommodate their main rival~China. The U.S. state created standards with Chinese characteristics, while transnational merchants made the authority structure of their institutions more inclusive. However, this reconstituted hegemony remains unstable. Facing continued regulatory competition from China, the U.S. state has constructed new forms of meta-governance that could facilitate a shift to Chinese-led sectoral hegemony but under U.S. oversight. Moreover, these sectoral hegemonic struggles compelled Western transnational merchants to fracture their long-standing relationship with the U.S. state in the hegemonic coalition in order to position their private institutions as geopolitically neutral and thus compatible with the hegemonic leadership of either the U.S. or Chinese states in the sector. By tracing struggles among coalitions of leading firms and states for hegemony over the institutions governing particular commodity chain sectors, we can shed light on possible trajectories within broader world-system level hegemonic struggles that at once constitute and are constituted by these sectoral dynamics.


We compared the use of fatty acid signature analysis with results from traditional faecal methods using milk samples and enemas concurrently collected from 8 female Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella foraging from Bird Island, South Georgia. The seals were serially sampled throughout the 1998/1999 breeding season, with collections taken after every foraging trip when pos- sible. The total lipid content of the milk increased throughout the season. A general linear model using 4 principal components showed that it was the point within the breeding season at which a milk sample was collected that had the biggest influence on its fatty acid composition. There were also sig- nificant differences in the milk composition of individual seals. However, the results of faecal analy- sis, which are themselves subject to potential biases, were not correlated with the relative amounts of individual fatty acids. It has been suggested that seasonal changes in the milk fatty acids, previously observed in the same population of seals, are a result of increased consumption of fish. We found no evidence of this in the faecal material and suggest that the seasonal variability may be a result of changes in the fatty acid composition of the seals' main prey (krill), or because of the changing needs of the developing pups. This study highlights the need for comprehensive testing of milk fatty acid signature analysis before the full potential of this technique can be realised.


During the five and one-third years between January 1936 and May 1, 1941 there were admitted to the Queensboro Contagious Pavilion 29 patients with encephalitis which followed acute contagious diseases of childhood. In the greatest number of these, 20 (69 per cent), the infection followed measles; in 4 (14 per cent), pertussis; in 4 (14 per cent), mumps, and in 1 (3 per cent), chickenpox. Of the 20 patients with encephalitis complicating measles, 16 (80 per cent) were admitted to the hospital within the period of less than three and one-half months from Jan. 29, 1941 through May 1, 1941. This period corresponded to one of increased incidence of measles. ETIOLOGY Inasmuch as an appreciable number of instances of measles are not reported, one can only speculate on the incidence of encephalitis as a complication of this disease. Neal 1 has stated that before epidemic encephalitis made its appearance in


Nurses are considered a large and important part of healthcare staff, their acceptance of new technologies for use in their field is hence important. The aim of the study reported in this research was to evaluate nurses' attitudes towards the use of information technology in their daily nursing practice. The research held was a quantitative/descriptive study, a questionnaire was obtained and edited to evaluate the acceptance of new technologies by nurses of numerous healthcare facilities, a hundred copies were distributed among nurses of multiple healthcare facilities. The results of this study indicate that nurses in Benghazi city regardless of their limited background on the new technologies have positive views on the use of information technology in their field of work and they show great acceptance to these technologies.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the concurrent validity of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) with the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP), and (b) explore the diagnostic accuracy of the DIBELS in predicting CTOPP performance using suggested and alternative cut-scores. Eighty-six students were administered the DIBELS and the CTOPP in the winter of their kindergarten year. Patterns of correlations between the two sets of measures were examined and decision accuracy studies conducted based on suggested cut-scores and cut-scores determined as a result of Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results showed moderate to strong correlations between the DIBELS and the CTOPP suggesting that both measure a similar construct. Analysis of decision accuracy indicated that using the author suggested cut-scores resulted in extremely high sensitivity; however, this was at the expense of an inordinate number of false positives. Follow-up analyses using adjusted cut-scores improved specificity and positive predictive power, reduced false positives, and increased the number of correct classifications sizably.


Application permissions at the core of Android security mechanism are the first leading transparent feature for users to assess any mobile application before download or installation and for experts to analyse any malware. Representing vast, dispersed permissions and achieving clarity is not a trivial matter. In this study, we first examined Android permissions, their groups and formal representations with the limitations. We also surveyed limited studies on clustering/visualization of permissions. We grouped 251 Android permissions into 12 clusters semantically and proposed a new visualization approach that looks more conventional to both end users and experts and helps comprehending permissions easily and quickly. We applied the proposed clustering and visualization on calculated discriminative malign permissions concept for malware analysis and demonstrated potential effectiveness of the approach. Our approach improves expressing and understanding of large number of mobile application permissions in a better context, provides more understanding and insight, and helps interpreting or inferring interesting patterns related to permissions for malware classification.


Addressing machines have been introduced as a formalism to construct models
of the pure, untyped lambda-calculus. We extend the syntax of their programs by
adding instructions for executing arithmetic operations on natural numbers, and
introduce a reflection principle allowing certain machines to access their own
address and perform recursive calls. We prove that the resulting extended
addressing machines naturally model a weak call-by-name PCF with explicit
substitutions. Finally, we show that they are also well-suited for representing
regular PCF programs (closed terms) computing natural numbers.


Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of potentially traumatic events (PTEs), posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and coping self-efficacy (CSE) on post-event job satisfaction. Methods: Repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess differences in the course of job satisfaction during 1 year between population-based samples of affected and nonaffected workers. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted with pre-event health, job satisfaction and insecurity, and postevent PTSS and CSE as predictors. Results: About 16% of the affected workers had probable PTSD. The course of job satisfaction between affected (n = 123) and nonaffected workers (n = 644) did not differ significantly. PTSS and CSE did not independently predict post-event satisfaction, in contrast to pre-event job satisfaction. Conclusion: Findings suggest that when needed social support is provided, concerns about the negative effects of potentially traumatic events on job satisfaction could be somewhat relaxed.


Abstract The replication crisis poses important challenges to modern science. Central to this challenge is re-establishing ground truths or the most fundamental theories that serve as the bedrock to a scientific community. However, the goal to identify hypotheses with the greatest support is non-trivial given the unprecedented rate of scientific publishing. In this era of high-volume science, the goal of this study is to sample from one research community within clinical neuroscience (traumatic brain injury) and track major trends that have shaped this literature over the past 50 years. To do so, we first conduct a decade-wise (1980–2019) network analysis to examine the scientific communities that shape this literature. To establish the robustness of our findings, we utilized searches from separate search engines (Web of Science; Semantic Scholar). As a second goal, we sought to determine the most highly cited hypotheses influencing the literature in each decade. In a third goal, we then searched for any papers referring to 'replication' or efforts to reproduce findings within our >50 000 paper dataset. From this search, 550 papers were analysed to determine the frequency and nature of formal replication studies over time. Finally, to maximize transparency, we provide a detailed procedure for the creation and analysis of our dataset, including a discussion of each of our major decision points, to facilitate similar efforts in other areas of neuroscience. We found that the unparalleled rate of scientific publishing within the brain injury literature combined with the scarcity of clear hypotheses in individual publications is a challenge to both evaluating accepted findings and determining paths forward to accelerate science. Additionally, while the conversation about reproducibility has increased over the past decade, the rate of published replication studies continues to be a negligible proportion of the research. Meta-science and computational methods offer the critical opportunity to assess the state of the science and illuminate pathways forward, but ultimately there is structural change needed in the brain injury literature and perhaps others.


Aspects of the Affine Superalgebra sl(2|l) at Fractional Level Ph.D. Thesis by Gavin Balfour Johnstone, April 2001 In this thesis we study the affine superalgebra sl(2|l; C) at fractional levels of the form k = l/u-l,uєN\{l}. It is for these levels that admissible representations exist, which transform into each other under modular transformations. In the second chapter we review background material on conformal field theory, particularly the Wess-Zumino-Witten model and the connection with modular transformations. The superalgebra sl(2|l;C) is introduced, as is its affine version. The next chapter studies the modular transformation properties of sl(2|l;C) characters. We derive formulae for these transformations for all levels of the form K = 1/u-1,uєN\{1}. We also investigate some modular invariant combinations of characters and find two series of modular invariants, analogous to the A- and D-series of the classification of sl{2) modular invariants. In chapter 4 we turn to the study of fusion rules. We concentrate on the case k = -1/2. By considering the decoupling of singular vectors, we are able to find consistent fusion rules for this particular level. These fusion rules correspond to a modular invariant found in chapter 3. This study suggests that one may consistently define a conformal field theory based on sl(2|l;C) at fractional level.


: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and radioimmunoassays using antigen bound to plastic tubes or microcrystalline particles, were adapted for the indirect serological measurement of anti-schistosome antibodies. These alkaline phosphatase and 125I-labeled anti-immunoglobulin techniques were found to be highly quantitative and adaptable. Comparison showed them to be considerably more sensitive than the indirect hemagglutination and indirect fluorescent antibody techniques. Using adult S. mansoni freeze-thaw antigen, anti-schistosome antibodies were detected in sera from patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium. However, results in patients with schistosomiasis haematobium were generally intermediate between those of patients with schistosomiasis mansoni and normal, uninfected controls.


In the twenty-first century, many Americans are becoming increasingly disconnected from the heritage of place. Consequently, many American historic sites and house museums face persistently declining visitation rates. Numerous variables contribute to this trend, including prevailing methods of historical interpretation at historic sites. This thesis adopts the English landscape garden as a precedent and model to interpret American history in historic and cultural landscapes with Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia, serving as a case study. Finally, this study suggests how the Stratford Hall landscape might be conceived as a 21st-century landscape garden, and how such a strategy might offer one way to reengage Americans with historic sites.


During growth of Bacteroides succinogenes in a liquid medium with cellulose as the source of carbohydrate, greater than 80% of the carboxymethylcellulase (endo-β-1,4-glucanase), xylanase, and aryl-β-xylosidase and 50% of the aryl-β-glucosidase released from cells into the culture fluid. Less than 25% of the cellobiase activity was detected in the culture fluid. Approximately 50% of each of the released enzymes measured was associated with sedimentable subcellular membrane vesicles. The vesicles appeared to be released from the outer membrane of intact cells by bleb formation, primarily in pockets between the cells and the cellulose, although a few unattached cells with blebs were seen. Many vesicles were seen adhering to cellulose, and they were also seen free in the culture fluid. These data suggest that B. succinogenes releases hydrolytic enzymes in nonsedimentable and particulate forms during growth by a mechanism which has until now received little attention. Cellulose incubated in a porous nylon bag in the rumen was colonized by bacteria resembling B. succinogenes, and subcellular vesicles were seen penetrating channels and fractures in the cellulose. On this basis, it is suggested that B. succinogenes cells in the rumen contribute to an extracellular population of subcellular vesicles that possess cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic activities which probably enhance polymer digestion and provide a source of sugars for microbes lacking polymer-degrading activity, thereby contributing to a stable heterogeneous microbial population.


Objective: To determine the sub-specialization preferences among masters of medicine in ophthalmology in selected universities in Eastern Africa and barriers to sub-specialization. Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Method: An analysis of data obtained from 35 masters of medicine students in ophthalmology from six universities/teaching hospitals in three countries within Eastern Africa was done. Results: Approximately 69% of the respondents preferred to sub-specialize of whom 25% preferred anterior segment. Approximately 25% of those who were not willing to sub-specialize advanced inability to identify an appropriate sub-specialty area and wish to practice first as the major reasons in each case. Major benefits identified for sub-specialization were; increase their knowledge and skills (31.6%), better patient care (21.1%) and marketability of their services (26.4%). Approximately 27.8% of the respondents cited lack of support after practice(38.9%) as the major sub-specialization challenge. Over 33(94%) of the respondents said they were not aware of sponsorship opportunities. Majority of the respondents (58.3%) preferred training institutions with hands-on-training and demonstrated experience in the sub-specializations offered. Conclusion: Majority of the respondents were willing to sub-specialize and most of them preferred anterior segment. The main barrier to sub-specialization was inability to choose an area of sub-specialty. Lack of support after practice and opportunities for sub-specialization, were the major challenges to sub-specialization. Consequently, awareness and information on sub-specialization and sub-specialization opportunities need to be increased as most of these students have no adequate information on sub-specialization opportunities available.


Novel structural features have been shown by single-crystal x-ray diffraction (XRD) in ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{17}$ and ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Co}}_{17}$ intermetallic compounds. Some of these features are common characteristics of the two compounds, while others appear to be specific to the cobalt- or iron-based phase. It has been found that in both cases the suitable space group for the description of the rhombohedral ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{2}{M}_{17}(M=\mathrm{F}\mathrm{e},\mathrm{}\mathrm{Co})$ structure is $R3m$ and not the usually considered centrosymmetric $R3\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}m$ group. This results in a puckered arrangement of the M atoms in the $3d$-metal plane and in the nonsymmetric position of the two crystallographically independent Pr atoms with respect to the $3d$ metal atoms in the mixed $\mathrm{Pr}\ensuremath{-}M$ layer. The Pr-Fe compounds are always stoichiometric even in the presence of excess Pr in the starting nominal composition. The real structure is characterized by a very frequent occurrence of obverse-reverse twinning domains stacked along the c axis. The presence of multiple Pr sites and, as a consequence, of different contributions to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy is the key to explaining the occurrence of a double field-induced transition in the magnetization curve of ${\mathrm{Pr}}_{2}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{17}$ compounds. In contrast some excess Pr was found in the cobalt compounds. Two groups of samples having, respectively, low $(\ensuremath{\simeq}1%)$ and high $(\ensuremath{\simeq}5%)$ excess Pr and consequently different anisotropy field values were found, depending on the starting nominal composition. The origin of the differences observed in Fe and Co compounds is discussed.


Responses by management to an increasing range of human uses and impacts on marine ecosystems are a recent phenomenon. They are developing alongside traditional sectoral management of fisheries, shipping, and coastal land uses. Many regimes have been developed for approaching the tasks of integrating management of coastal and marine ecosystems. The role of marine protected areas and conservation agencies in such regimes is often a matter of contention. The application of International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) protected-area categories to marine ecosystems can cover the broadest range of management regimes, from strict nature reserves with no fishing or collecting to multiple, verifiably environmentally sustainable, levels of use and impact. Here, I address the roles that protected areas and other management categories can play in relation to the multiple scales and strategic objectives for management of marine ecosystems. I draw on experiences of planning, management, and community response to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to discuss the opportunities and challenges of using protected-area categories and other strategies in management for conservation and reasonable multiple use at the ecosystem scale.


Traditionally, the study of personality disorders had been based on psychoanalytic or behavioral models. Over the past two decades, there has been an emerging neuroscience model of borderline personality disorder (BPD) grounded in the concept of BPD as a condition in which dysfunctional neural circuits underlie its pathological dimensions, some of which include emotion dysregulation (broadly encompassing affective instability, negative affectivity, and hyperarousal), abnormal interpersonal functioning, and impulsive aggression. This article, initiated at a joint Columbia University- Cornell University Think Tank on BPD with representation from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, suggests how to advance research in BPD by studying the dimensions that underlie BPD in addition to studying the disorder as a unitary diagnostic entity. We suggest that linking the underlying neurobiological abnormalities to behavioral symptoms of the disorder can inform a research agenda to better understand BPD with its multiple presentations.


. It is well known that a function f ∈ C 1 ( R n ) whose restriction to every line in R n is real analytic must itself be real analytic. In this note we study whether this property of real analytic functions is also possessed by some other subclasses of C 1 functions. We prove that if f ∈ C 1 ( R n ) is ultradifferentiable corresponding to a sequence { M k } on every line in some 'uniform way', then f is ultradi(cid:11)erentiable corresponding to the sequence { M k } .


We describe a new hybrid particle filter that has two novel features: (1) it uses quasi-Monte Carlo samples rather than the conventional Monte Carlo sampling, and (2) it implements Bayes' rule exactly using smooth densities from the exponential family. Theory and numerical experiments over the last decade have shown that quasi-Monte Carlo sampling is vastly superior to Monte Carlo samples for certain high dimensional integrals, and we exploit this fact to reduce the computational complexity of our new particle filter. The main problem with conventional particle filters is the curse of dimensionality. We mitigate this issue by avoiding particle depletion, by implementing Bayes' rule exactly using smooth densities from the exponential family.


A new method based on a palladium-catalyzed tandem reaction for the fast construction of a dianthraceno[a,e]pentalene (DAP) framework is developed, which gave a series of dianthraceno[a,e]pentalenes with good functional group tolerance, and it should be highlighted that five C–C bonds were formed in one reaction. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of DAP derivatives were examined in detail. Interestingly, cross conjugation can be observed for DAPs substituted with electron-withdrawing substituents, which results in decreased optical bandgaps and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels. Because of the good absorption features, high fluorescence quantum yield and appropriate frontier energy levels, dianthraceno[a,e]pentalene with a p-((2-hexyldecyl)-2-cyanoacetate)phenyl group (DAP-PhCA) was utilized for solution-processed bulk-heterojunction solar cells, which delivered a power conversion efficiency of 2.05% with a high open-circuit voltage (Voc) value of 0.95 V.


Plant secondary cell walls are deposited mostly in vascular tissues such as xylem vessels, tracheids, and fibers. These cell walls are composed of a complex matrix of compounds including cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Lignin functions primarily to maintain the structural and mechanical integrity of both the transport vessel and the entire plant itself. Since lignin has been identified as a major source of biomass for biofuels, regulation of secondary cell wall biosynthesis has been a topic of much recent investigation. Biosynthesis and patterning of lignin involves many developmental and environmental cues including evolutionarily conserved transcriptional regulatory modules and hormonal signals. Here, we investigate the role of the class I Knotted1-like-homeobox (KNOX) genes and gibberellic acid in the lignin biosynthetic pathway in a representative monocot and a representative eudicot. Knotted1 overexpressing mutant plants showed a reduction in lignin content in both maize and tobacco. Expression of four key lignin biosynthesis genes was analyzed and revealed that KNOX1 genes regulate at least two steps in the lignin biosynthesis pathway. The negative regulation of lignin both in a monocot and a eudicot by the maize Kn1 gene suggests that lignin biosynthesis may be preserved across large phylogenetic distances. The evolutionary implications of regulation of lignification across divergent species are discussed.


We present self-consistent calculations of the properties of ruthenium dioxide in its cubic structures. The calculations were performed within local density (LDA) and generalized gradient (GGA) approximations using the augmented plane wave plus local orbitals (APW + lo) method. The structural and electronic properties of both structures have been determined in details. A good agreement is found with other previous calculations and experimental data. We have also extended our study to the optical properties: The refractive index, extinction coefficient, reflectivity and both imaginary and real parts of dielectric function are well described. When exposed to a pressure of 13 GPa, the material distorts from the fluorite CaF2 type Fm3m structure to the modified-fluorite P a 3 − structure. This distortion affects the filling of the Ru-d orbitals in both structures and consequently the band structure energy gap that is necessary for many applications in industry. Our purpose is also to emphasis on the impact of the coordination polyhedron distortion resulting from the displacement of oxygen atoms (Jahn Teller effect) on the electron energies loss spectra (EELS) since the ability to 'fingerprint' different forms of the same element like the Ru-d orbitals is a strong advantage of EELS.


Mutation breeding is a powerful tool to provide novel trait in plants. However their applications in forestry are still limited. Acacia mangium is a major commercial plantation species in Indonesia and other Southeast Asia countries. Therefore, we were trying to improve its productivity. In 2008, 1200 A. mangium seeds had been irradiated by gamma ray 137Cs. There were 98 trees of M1 generations of 7 years old plantations that survive. Most of them are sterile with high clear bole and natural pruning, small branch with good growth angle,and almost straight cylindrical stem form. Based on growth performance, there were at least 29 M1 superior trees. During the observations, unexpected diversity in the bark colours with high and positive correlation to growth performance were discovered. Using microsatellite markers, the use of irradiations techniques provide surplus of heterozygosity with high value of Shannon's Information Index. Dendrogram showed that almost all of M1 generation formed separate cluster from M0 generation with 0.71 genetic distance .Key words: mutation breeding, Acacia mangium, microsatellite


(57.15%) or MA (55.63%) alone. The use of intralesional MA allows the total dose----and consequently the adverse effects----to be reduced. This treatment option yielded good results in our patient, although it should be noted that even though we used lower doses that would have been required with intramuscular MA, our patient still experienced adverse effects in the form of tachycardia, headache, and chest pain. The effects of treatment with itraconazole must also be taken into account. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of considering the possibility of cutaneous or visceral leishmaniasis in patients treated with anti-TNF drugs in Leishmania-endemic areas. We also recommend considering MA combined with cryotherapy as a more effective and less toxic option than intramuscular MA.


White balancing is a fundamental step in the image processing pipeline. The process involves estimating the chromaticity of the illuminant or light source and using the estimate to correct the image to remove any color cast. Given the importance of the problem, there has been much previous work on illuminant estimation. Recently, an approach based on ensembles of univariate regression trees that are fit using the squared-error loss function has been proposed and shown to give excellent performance. In this paper, we show that a simpler and more accurate ensemble model can be learned by (i) using multivariate regression trees to take into account that the chromaticity components of the illuminant are correlated and constrained, and (ii) fitting each tree by directly minimizing a loss function of interest---such as recovery angular error or reproduction angular error---rather than indirectly using the squared-error loss function as a surrogate. We show empirically that overall our method leads to improved performance on diverse image sets.


The measurement of thyrotropin (TSH) by a third-generation assay (functional sensitivity 0.01-0.02 mU/L) offers the single best test of assessing thyroid status and is more cost effective than measurement of thyroxine (T4) as a first-line test. However, in certain situations, e.g., nonthyroidal illness (NTI), secondary thyroid disease, early treatment of hyperthyroidism, early pregnancy, and heterophilic antibody interference, TSH alone may be misleading, and thyroid hormone measurements are also required. The author's laboratory has found that the measurement of TSH together with free thyroxine (by a nonanalogue method) offers the most speedy and effective first-line strategy for thyroid function testing. Abnormalities in thyroid function tests in euthyroid patients are most likely found in NTI and the elderly. For this reason, thyroid function tests (TFTs) should not be requested in elderly or hospitalized patients unless the presenting complaint is considered to be because of a thyroid problem.


Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide, with a wide spectrum of biologic behavior ranging from indolent low-risk disease to highly aggressive castration-resistant prostate cancer. Conventional imaging with computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and bone scintigraphy is limited for the detection of nodal disease and distant bone metastases. In addition, advances in the available therapeutic options, both localized and systemic, drive the requirement for precise diagnostic and prognostic tools to refine the individual therapeutic approach at various times in the management of patients with prostate cancer. Positron emission tomography (PET) has a rapidly evolving role in the assessment of prostate cancer, particularly in the scenario of biochemical relapse. Fluorine 18 (18F) fluorodeoxyglucose, the most widely available PET tracer, has limitations, particularly in indolent prostate cancer. In the past decade, several PET tracers with specific molecular targets have reached the clinical domain. These tracers include 18F-sodium fluoride, which is a bone-specific biomarker of osteoblastic activity; 18F-choline and carbon 11-choline, which are directed at cell membrane metabolism; gallium 68-prostate-specific membrane antigen ligands; and, more recently, an amino acid analog, 18F-fluciclovine (anti-1-amino-3-18F-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid; also known as FACBC), which is also directed at cell membrane turnover. The mechanisms of actions of the clinically available PET tracers are reviewed, as well as their role in the imaging of prostate cancer with reference to relevant guidelines and the technical and imaging pearls and pitfalls of these tracers. ©RSNA, 2017.


Drought is the one of the important factors that limit the productivity of rice in the fragile environments of South India. The existing modern varieties of rice do not perform well under drought stress conditions. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has used a number of techniques to develop drought tolerant (DT) rice varieties – conventional breeding, molecular breeding and genetic engineering. So far the most advanced varieties from DT programs – PMK 3, PMK 4, and RMD 1- were developed through conventional breeding and molecular breeding. The genetic engineering research program for DT is not active at present. DT varieties are based on crosses of land races and high yielding varieties with white slender grain quality. In this study we likely welfare effects generated by the adoption of DT varieties at the regional level. For this purpose a farm level survey was conducted among the 120 farm households in major drought prone districts of Tamil Nadu 2008 – 09. All the selected farmers were provided seeds of DT cultivars (PMK 3, PMK4, RMD 1) as a part of on-farm trials managed by TNAU Scientists. The farmers also grew land races and other HY cultivars of rice in their lands during the season. The results from the cost of cultivation and returns of DT, existing land races and HYVs indicate that the adoption of DT varieties would bring additional benefit to the farmers to the tune of 32.82 per cent despite increase cost of human labor and manures by 15 percent. There was a significant reduction in the cost of other input such as seed, chemical fertilizer and machine power. Reduction in cost and higher productivity together benefited the farmers as a result total returns and the net gain over 20 percent.


Crash box is a passive safety system placed on four wheeled vehicle, the purposes it to absorb the impact energy due to bumper no longer able hold the impact happened. There have been many studies done with the type of segment, so it needs development especially segment additional, and in this study of two segments of crash box is expected to absorb more energy, the additional of this segment purposes to increase the critical load so can be reduced the buckling. The method in this study used is ANSYS Workbench 14.5 finite element software. The variables used are the section type crash box geometry of circle, square, and hexagon, with cross section area of 1492 mm2, 1771 mm2, and 2045 mm2 and uniform height of 100 mm, the material used is aluminum AA 7003-T7. Simulation process begins when the impactor collision with speed 16 km/hour. From the research result is that moment inertia of the cross section area were able an important role in the absorption of impact energy, the cross section area 2045 mm2 were able to absorb the higher energy for each type of crash box, and the section of hexagon term that can absorb highest impact energy. Keywords: Crash Box, Simulation, Energy, Section, Two Segments


Ottertail Power Plant maintains a 350-acre artificial pond to provide cooling water to the boilers within their plant. Over the past several years, plant managers have witnessed frequent blooms of noxious algae, fish kills, fish stunting and odor problems within the pond and calcium carbonate build-up on structures within the plant. The objective of this project was to develop baseline data describing current physical, chemical and biological conditions within the cooling pond. Characteristics measured were water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, total hardness, nitrate and ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus, water transparency, chlorophyll a and total and relative abundance of phytoplankton. Water temperatures varied seasonally by site and temperatures were highest and most variable near the plant effluent structure. Total hardness (mean = 1699, range = 1250 to 2070 mg/L as CaCO3) and specific conductance (mean = 4315, range = 3151 to 5847 uS/cm) also varied seasonally and both were highest near the effluent structure. Total phosphorus concentrations (mean = 0.93, range = 0.32 to 2.16 mg/L) were two to five times higher than measured ammonia (mean = 0.44, range = 0.13 to 3.48 mg/L as N) and nitrate (mean = 0.31, range = 0.10 to 2.6) nitrogen combined. Chlorophyll a (mean = 33.7, range = 0 to 352.4 ug/L) and Secchi depth (mean = 64.7, range = 25 to 120 cm) were found to be highest during the winter months. Total phytoplankton cell counts averaged 31,088 cells/ml and ranged from 13,392 to 66,423 cells/ml. Diatoms, green algae and euglenophytes were found in greater abundance during the winter months (mean = 11,043, range = 0 to 43,101 cells/ml) while cyanobacteria predominated during the warmer summer months (mean = 11,030, range = 0 to 28,709 cells/ml) at all sites. Calcium carbonate precipitation appears to be a function of high primary production and high calcium concentrations during the months of December to February. High nutrient concentrations and low nitrogen to phosphorus ratios appear to favor cyanobacteria during the summer months. Results of this effort provide a baseline against which future changes can be measured within the cooling pond. Data collected from this effort will be used to guide cooling pond management.


Monetary CAPS on Damages due to the Liability of Auditors for Audit Failures in Publicly Listed Companies. A Comparative Legal analysis between Common Law and Civil Law Regimes in countries, which have Capping Damage Awards of Auditors. Monetary CAPS on Damages due to the Liability of auditors for Audit Failures in Publicly Listed Companies. A Comparative Legal analysis between Common Law and Civil Law Regimes in the Limitation of Monetary Damage Awards a Court can hold an Auditor of a Publicly Listed Company Liable for or Capping Damage Awards of Auditors.2. Analysis of Audit Failure in Common Law and Civil Law Regimes 5What is Audit Failure? 6 Chronology Account of European Regulatory Action 8Audit failure in the United Kingdom (common law) 9Historical Analysis of the Auditor 9- Audit failure in the United States (common law) 11Auditor Misconduct and Corporate Scandals 14Audit Failure in France (civil law) 20The Civil Law Approach 21 The financial markets of Europe and the United States comprise the most reputable publicly listed companies in the world. The actions of the auditor resulted in a audit failure. What is an audit failure? Audit failure occurs when an auditor incorrectly issues an opinion that the annual report represents a publicly listed company's financial condition in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles globally as a result of its actions as auditors. In addition to the Directives, the latest Communication for the Commission to the Member States is a Recommendation for a limitation on auditor liability of auditor caps. This thesis will focus on the legal liability and the limitation of liability of auditors in large publicly listed companies by using the comparative legal approach in common and civil law regimes. The EU and the U.S. require public companies to disclose similar financial information requirements. which required the annual reports to give a true and fair view of the company's assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss was an EU accounting principle.European Regulatory ActionThe Financial Services Action Plan was a major step in a legal framework for auditors.The Recommendation states that auditors should be prohibited from carrying out a statutory audit one required by law - if the auditors have any relationship with their client that might compromise the auditor's independence. Prompt action is needed to ensure sustainable public confidence in financial markets. Dialogue between investors and auditors are also essential. The general objectives for any policy action are: Reduce the risk to capital markets that statutory auditors might no longer be available to audit listed companies; and encourage more auditors to audit listed companies. Subsequent to the Eight Company Law Directive on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidate accounts, The European Commission's study on auditor's liability regimes included the question , "Does Auditor liability impact on the quality of audits."The European Commission issued a Recommendation concerning the limitation of auditors' civil liability. Audit Failure in the United Kingdom (common law).In the UK, following the City Equitable Fire Insurance case where auditors escaped liability because of the articles of association, the 1929 Companies Act prohibited auditors from limiting their liability . The court also found that the auditor has no accountability or liability to third parties. Auditor Failure in the United States (common law).In America, the auditor was an accountant who served the company. Audit was viewed.Prompt action is needed to ensure sustainable public confidence in financial markets. Audit firms play a key role in ensuring the integrity of financial statements and the effectiveness of internal controls of public companies. Auditors review and certify the annual accounts of public listed companies. In the audit area, fearing the disappearance of another major accounting firm, the Committee Report recommends a cap on the liability of auditors. According to Professor Coffee, auditors financial misconduct has implications for design of legal controls to protect public shareholders. What is audit failure? Audit failure occurs when an auditor incorrectly issues an opinion, among other things, that the annual report represents a publicly listed company's financial condition in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The stakes of audit failure are enormous when only three large firms are competent to audit the vast majority of public enterprises. Duties and liabilities of auditors are based on company law and common law case law and not based on any type of securities regulations as in the U.S. The law of the state of incorporation and its state case governs corporate liabilities and duties under contractual liability. What would be the effect of introducing auditor liability limitation on industry concentration? Audit Failure in France.French law is based on the legal theory of justifiable reliance as a basis of liability for incorrect advice, such as the advice of an auditor in a large public company. In French law, liability for incorrect information will usually fall under contractual liability.The French law of articles 1282 and 1383 Code Civil is a general system of tort law. French law as a civil system lays down the principle that an audit failure causes liability in either contract or tort, as long as there is a legal causal link in the audit failure and the economic damages claimed. For the first time in history of the accounting and auditing profession, auditors are subject to public oversight. The U.S. may pursue the auditor cap or safe harbor rules for auditors. One could imagine a single European system of auditor liability and caps for those auditors who are working for large publicly listed companies. CESR, Report on the Current State of Integration of EU Financial Markets, Annual Reports (April 2005) Company Law and Corporate Governance Action Plan, IP/03/716 of May 21, 2003 COM 629 White Paper on Financial Services Policy 2005-2010 (2005) Financial Services Authority, Financial Risk Outlook (2005) FSA, Financial Risk Outlook 2006, p.97. Annual Report 2006, 46th. The Statutory Audit Directive replaces the Eighth Company Law Directive of 1984 (Directive 84/253/EC) and also amends the Fourth and Seventh Company Law Directives (Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC) by introducing additional EU rules on the audit of company accounts. GAO, Public Accounting Firms, Mandated study on consolidation and competition, Report to the Liability: Commission consults on possible reform of liability rules in the EU . Miles Gietzmann, Auditor Performance, Implicit Guarantees, and the Valuation of Legal Liability, International Journal of Auditing 1, 13-30 (1997) Competition and choice in the UK audit market. Steven L. Schwarcz2, Financial Information Failure and Lawyer Responsibility, 31 Journal of Corporation Law. William A. Gregory, Accounting Firm Consolidation: Selected Large Public Company Views on Audit Case Law in Chronological OrderThe French Civil Code in an audit failure which results in an economic loss to another person is a result of an auditor of a publicly listed company who misrepresents the annual report. damages. There is a division of negligent liability in French law. liability and liability for simple or gross negligence.


We introduce a study about 179 cases of Pilomatrixioma, registered in the archives from General Hospital "Vall d'Hebron" of Barcelona between 1972-1988. Tumour of pediatric presentation, about 502 of cases have been observed in young people under 20 years, being both sexes almost equally affected percentually. About 75% of cases appear a a a single tumour smaller than 15 mm of diameter. Multiple presentation is observed only in the 2.8 of cases. A bit more than the 50% of cases are located in the head and the neck, usually in the preauricular region. Next follow upper extremities (27%), lower extremities (11%), and the rest of the body (6.7%). Recidivation appear only in the 0.55% of cases.


TiO2 has displayed potential for improved catalytic activity using a newly designed morphological system. Herein, a new catalytic system of SiO2/ITO/TiO2 nanocone array structures with unbalanced RF sputtering deposition was developed and demonstrated for photoelectrocatalytic activity. The array structures were fabricated using a soft nanolithography technique with a SiO2 sphere-patterned polydimethylsiloxane stamp. TiO2 films were coated on the ITO-coated SiO2 nanocones using unbalanced RF magnetron sputtering with various external magnetic fields applied by a solenoid. The nanostructures were examined using scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction crystallography, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The photocurrent response in water splitting was found to be increased by 400% for TiO2 films on nano-patterned arrays, compared with that on a flat surface. An additional increase in photocatalytic activity was achieved via TiO2 film deposition with an external magnetic field of 6 mT. This dramatic enhancement was attributed to the surface active sites created by the additional applied magnetic field and the increased surface area of the nanocone arrays.


This study was undertaken to determine the mechanism of ketosis resistance, which is often observed among patients with growth-onset diabetes in the tropics. Lipolysis was tested in vivo in the ketosis-resistant patients with growth-onset diabetes by determining: (1) Plasma immunoreactive insulin (IRI), blood glucose, and serum free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations during tests with epinephrine, phentolamine and epinephrine, and propranolol and epinephrine in twenty-five patients; and (2) blood ketone bodies during epinephrine and propranolol and epinephrine tests in fifteen patients. The findings were compared with results obtained in a similar number of ketosis-prone subjects with growth-onset diabetes and twenty-two normal controls. The mean fasting plasma IRI levels were significantly lower in the ketosis-resistant diabetics than in the normal subjects, although the fasting blood glucose levels were three and one-half times greater in these diabetics than in the controls. There was no significant change in the glucose and IRI levels during the three tests. Fasting serum FFA levels were significantly lower in the ketosis-resistant than those in the ketosis-prone diabetics. No detectable serum FFA response was observed in the ketosisresistant patients during any of the three tests. Blood ketone levels were comparable with the values obtained in the normal controls, but were significantly lower than those in the ketosisprone patients. Blood ketones also did not change significantly during epinephrine and propranolol with epinephrine tests in the ketosis-resistant patients. These results are interpreted to indicate that the mobilization of FFA from the adipose tissue is inadequate in the growth-onset diabetics who are ketosis resistant. The tailure is attributed to insensitivity of the adrenergic receptor sites and/or unresponsiveness of the adenyl cyclase-cyclic AMP-lipase system in the adipose tissue of these young diabetics. The absence of ketonemia in these diabetics is attributable to an insufficient delivery of the substrate (FFA) from the adipose tissue to the liver.


Open-set fine-grained retrieval is an emerging challenge that requires an extra capability to retrieve unknown subcategories during evaluation. However, current works focus on close-set visual concepts, where all the subcategories are pre-defined, and make it hard to capture discriminative knowledge from unknown subcategories, consequently failing to handle unknown subcategories in open-world scenarios. In this work, we propose a novel Prompting vision-Language Evaluator (PLEor) framework based on the recently introduced contrastive language-image pretraining (CLIP) model, for open-set fine-grained retrieval. PLEor could leverage pre-trained CLIP model to infer the discrepancies encompassing both pre-defined and unknown subcategories, called category-specific discrepancies, and transfer them to the backbone network trained in the close-set scenarios. To make pre-trained CLIP model sensitive to category-specific discrepancies, we design a dual prompt scheme to learn a vision prompt specifying the categoryspecific discrepancies, and turn random vectors with category names in a text prompt into category-specific discrepancy descriptions. Moreover, a vision-language evaluator is proposed to semantically align the vision and text prompts based on CLIP model, and reinforce each other. In addition, we propose an open-set knowledge transfer to transfer the category-specific discrepancies into the backbone network using knowledge distillation mechanism. Quantitative and qualitative experiments show that our PLEor achieves promising performance on open-set fine-grained datasets.


he twenty-first century presents a hostile face to millions of children in every
African country. Firstly, this thesis examines the response of Scripture Union
Zimbabwe (SUZ) to the growing problem of street children. Taking Zimbabwe as a
case study, empirical research was conducted in its four major cities of Harare,
Bulawayo, Mutare and Masvingo. Since SUZ does not operate a street youth project
in Harare, the capital city, StreetsAhead (SA), a long established Non-Faith based
street youth project in Harare was included to paint a more holistic picture of the
street children situation in the country. Secondly, the thesis reveals that street children
experience untold suffering in their families and when they try to seek refuge on the
streets, their plight is exacerbated by some of those who purport to help them. Thirdly
the thesis explores the challenges and lessons learnt by SUZ and SA in their work
with street children. It further proposes some Christian basis for street children work,
in the hope of provoking further debate. Jesus' words in Luke 18: 16 continue to
challenge all those who are involved in shaping the future of nations by nurturing
eternal values in children. Within the context of this Christian principle, street
children are presented as the poor, who because of their poverty become more
vulnerable, making them dependent upon God's protection. Therefore, those involved
with children's wellbeing should view them `as fragile creatures of God who need to
be both safeguarded and reformed, ' primarily within the family context. Thus the
child's future and very existence are of great concern. Lastly, further avenues of
development in the field are explored, focusing on the importance of family
environment, vocational skills training and employment creation, thereby empowering
children to own the intervention and preventive programmes implemented as a means
of finding a permanent and sustainable solution to this problem.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
All culture systems exploring the early (pre-CFU) hematopoietic compartment are generally complex, time-consuming and unsuitable for routine application. The aim of our study was to develop a stroma-free culture system to quantify early bone marrow (BM) myeloid progenitor cells.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Low density, progenitor cell enriched BM cells underwent a double cytotoxic treatment with CD38 and CD33 monoclonal antibodies + rabbit complement, which depleted 99% of CFU-GM and BFU-E. Then they were cultured, both in agar and in limiting-dilution liquid culture, in the presence of 5637 cell line supernatant (containing GM-CSF, G-CSF and interleukin 1 ), stem cell factor (SCF) and interleukin 3 (IL3).

RESULTS
The largest number (median 14.9 on 1x10(5) cells) and size (>50,000 cells) of myelomonocytic cell clones from CD33Eth /CD38Eth progenitors was reached after 3-4 weeks of liquid culture. SCF, but not IL3, was essential for that growth. The frequency of CD33-/ CD38- progenitors grown in liquid culture was approximately three times greater than the LTC-IC frequency in the same cell suspension. An average 93% of CD33-/CD38- progenitors displayed HLA-DR antigens and 43% generated secondary CFU-GM. In the BM of 9/10 patients, previously exposed to chemotherapy, CD33-/CD38- progenitor frequency was quite low (median 0.9 on 1x10(5) cells), in spite of normal cellularity and morphology and sustained disease remission.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
CD33-/CD38- progenitors can be grown and quantified in a stroma-free culture system in a relatively short time. The test can reveal long-lasting, subclinical BM damage induced by chemotherapy and could also be valuable for estimating the amount of early myeloid progenitors for transplantation purposes.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the joint and collective contributions of student and teacher factors to observed variance in reports of conflict and closeness in first and second grade teacher-student relationships (STR). This study uses two data sets previously collected from elementary schools in the greater Pittsburgh area, to examine the association between child and teacher factors with the relationship qualities of closeness and conflict in early elementary teacher child relationships. Children from each sample were followed from 1st to 2nd grade (N=96 and N=44 respectively), and data were collected from parents and teachers, as well as through direct observation in each academic year. Parents reported on child externalizing behavior using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1981), and sociability using the Buss and Plomin Emotionality Activity Level and Sociability Inventory (EAS) (Buss & Plomin, 1984). Teachers reported on the quality of their relationship each participating student using the Student Teacher Relationship Survey (STRS) (Pianta, 2001). Additionally, observations were made of teacher classroom behavior using the Arnett Caregiver interaction scale. Child externalizing behavior and teacher sensitivity, detachment and punitiveness were tested for association with 1st and 2nd grade teacher reported conflict. Child sociability and teacher sensitivity, detachment and punitiveness were tested for association with 1st and 2nd grade teacher reported closeness. These factors were also used to predict change in teacher student relationship quality between 1st and 2nd grades. Results showed student externalizing behavior to be positively associated with contemporaneous relationship conflict, and teacher detachment and punitiveness to be associated inversely with contemporaneous closeness. Teacher sensitivity and student externalizing behavior interacted when predicting change in relationship conflict. Teacher sensitivity and change in teacher sensitivity both predicted change in relationship closeness. These results both replicate and extend the body of existing research on teacher student relationship quality. The association of child externalizing behavior to relationship conflict was replicated, although the observed effect size was significantly different from previous findings. The contribution of teacher classroom behavior to the prediction of variance in relationship closeness is unique to this study. Additionally, the prediction of change in relationship quality using student and teacher factors, as well as the joint contribution of each, is an extension of existing research. Results are discussed in terms of functional avoidance by the teacher and the student of difficult behaviors exhibited by each other. Implications for early elementary teacher training and preparation are also discussed.


Objective: To explore the biological effects of ray cartilage extract (RCE) on human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and its mechanism. Methods: MCF-7 cells were treated with RCE of different concentrations for different durations, and then MCF-7 cell proliferation was evaluated with MTT test, cell cycle was detected with flow cytometer and the protein levels of cyclin D1 and p21 were determined with Western blot. Results: MTT test indicated that MCF-7 cell proliferation was inhibited by RCE with an optimal inhibiting concentration of 10 μmol/L and an optimal action time of 48 h. Flow cytometer displayed that with the time prolongation of RCE action, the cells in S phase were significantly increased, but the cells in G2/M phase were significantly decreased; and MCF-7 apoptosis significantly increased as compared with blank control group (all P<0.05). Western blot found that with the time prolongation of RCE action, the level of cyclin D1 was significantly decreased, but the level of p21 was significantly increased as compared with blank control group (all P<0.05). Conclusion: RCE inhibits MCF-7 cell proliferation via arresting MCF- 7 cell transformation from S phase to G2 phase. This may be associated with regulating the expressions of cyclin D1 and p21. RCE may be used as a drug for treatment of breast cancer in the future.


Abstract EDITOR'S NOTE: This is 1 of 12 papers prepared by participants attending the workshop "Risk Assessment in European River Basins–State of the Art and Future Challenges" held in Liepzig, Germany on 12–14 November 2007. The meeting was organized within the framework of the European Commission's Coordination Action RISKBASE program. The objective of RISKBASE is to review and synthesize the outcome of European Commission FP4–FP6 projects, and other major initiatives, related to integrated risk assessment–based management of the water/sediment/soil environment at the river basin scale. Over the past century, the potential for aquatic species to expand their ranges in Europe has been enhanced both as a result of the construction of new canals and because of increased international trade. A complex network of inland waterways now connects some previously isolated catchments in southern (Caspian, Azov, Black, Mediterranean seas) and northern (Baltic, North, Wadden, White seas) Europe, and these waterways act as corridors for nonnative species invasions. We have developed a conceptual risk assessment model for invasive alien species introductions via European inland waterways, with specific protocols that focus on the development of environmental indicators within the socioeconomic context of the driving forces–pressures–state–impact–response framework. The risk assessment protocols and water quality indicators on alien species were tested for selected ecosystems within 3 main European invasion corridors, and these can be recommended for application as part of the Common Implementation Strategy of the European Commission Water Framework Directive, which aims to provide a holistic risk-based management of European river basins. The conceptual structure of the online Risk Assessment Toolkit for aquatic invasive alien species is provided and includes 3 main interlinked components: online risk assessment protocols, an early warning system, and an information transmitter for risk communication to end users.


Training information for law library staff for the update to Windows 10 and office 2016. Microsoft is ending support for Windows 7 on Jan.14, 2020. Training for Windows 10


Appropriate attenuation correction is important for accurate quantification of SUVs in PET. Patient respiratory motion can introduce a spatial mismatch between respiration-gated PET and CT, reducing quantitative accuracy. In this study, the effect of a patient-specific breathing–instructed CT protocol on the spatial alignment between CT and amplitude-based optimal respiration-gated PET images was investigated. Methods: 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging was performed on 20 patients. In addition to the standard low-dose free-breathing CT, breath-hold CT was performed. The amplitude limits of the respiration-gated PET were used to instruct patients to hold their breath during CT acquisition at a similar amplitude level. Spatial mismatch was quantified using the position differences between the lung–liver transition in PET and CT images, the distance between PET and CT lesions' centroids, and the amount of overlap as indicated by the Jaccard similarity coefficient. Furthermore, the effect on attenuation correction was quantified by measuring SUVs, metabolic tumor volume, and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) of lung lesions. Results: All patients found the breathing instructions feasible; however, 4 patients had trouble complying with the instructions. In total, 18 patients were included. The average distance between the lung–liver transition between PET and CT was significantly reduced for breath-hold CT (1.7 ± 2.1 mm), compared with standard CT (5.6 ± 7.3 mm) (P = 0.049). Furthermore, the mean distance between the lesions' centroids on PET and CT was significantly smaller for breath-hold CT (3.6 ± 2.0 mm) than for standard CT (5.5 ± 6.5 mm) (P = 0.040). Quantification of lung lesion SUV was significantly affected, with a higher SUVmean when breath-hold CT (6.3 ± 3.9 g/cm3) was used for image reconstruction than for standard CT (6.1 ± 3.8 g/cm3) (P = 0.044). Though metabolic tumor volume was not significantly different, TLG reached statistical significance. Conclusion: Optimal respiration-gated PET in combination with patient-specific breathing–instructed CT results in an improved alignment between PET and CT images and shows an increased SUVmean and TLG. Even though the effects are small, a more accurate SUV and TLG determination is of importance for a more stable PET quantification, which is relevant for radiotherapy planning and therapy response monitoring.


The mosquitoes Anopheles arabiensis ma An. gambiae s. s. are two sibling species that are the most efficient vectors of malaria across Africa. Although they occursympatrically over much of the continent, An. arabiensis predominates in hotter and drier conditions whilst An. gambiae s. s. is more abundant in wetter conditions. This study explored the physiological and behavioural factors responsible for the different spatial and temporal distributions of these species. In the laboratory adult An.arabiensis exhibit a three-fold longer survival than Art. gambiae s.s. at high temperatures and low humidity. Moreover An. arabiensis is tolerant of high temperatures that are actively avoided by An. gambiae S.S. This behavioural response to high temperatures was also observed in adult populations of both species in the field տ The Gambia. The interspecific difference observed in survival rates is not apparent in the 24 hour activity levels. Neither species could sustain periods of activity at temperatures above 30 c. An. arabiensis loses water at a proportionately lower rate at 40 c and 30%RH, and contained a disproportionately greater reserve of accessible water, namely haemolymph, than An. gambiae ร.ร. Although heat-shocked groups of both species expressed higher levels of heat shock proteins when compared to control groups, this did not relate to improved knock-down resistance. There were less obvious differences between the species in the larval stage. In the laboratory An. arabiensis larvae exhibited a greater survival to adulthood at 35 c than An, gambiae ร.ร., when reared separately and together. However, in the field An. arabieหsis did not dominate the hottest breeding sites in The Gambia in the dry season. Larvae of both species dived away from 40 c water surface temperatures, though for short periods only. It is argued that a better tolerance of hot and drying resting conditions in An. Arabiensis may result in longer-term improvements in survival rates compared to An. Gambiae S.S.


To be placed above the Reach of Deceit is to be placed above the Rank of a human Being Henry Fielding, A Clear State of the Case of Elizabeth Canning, 1753 Throughout his literary and legal careers, Fielding was concerned with the difficulties of reading and judging character accurately. He saw society as being rife with deceptive and duplicitous individuals and articulated his concerns in his writing, offering various advices to his readers. This thesis examines Fielding's changing approaches to characterization and his proposed methods for judging character. There is a strong tradition within Fielding criticism, particularly prevalent in the mid-twentieth century, of seeing Fielding's characters as 'essential', that is to say, innate and unchanging: the product of his theory of 'Conservation of Character'. As such, his characters are often deemed easy-to-read and lacking fully-determined internal lives. Since the mid-1990s, however, critics have begun to argue that his characters are more dynamic than first supposed. While critics have noted the role of judgement in Fielding's novels, it has not yet been explored in depth in his plays. With some notable exceptions, few studies have explored the interrelation between his novels and plays in a sustained way. I argue that Fielding examines questions of discerning character in both his plays and his novels, and that the early plays are essential for understanding the concepts which are central to his theory of judgement. This thesis contributes to studies of Fielding in three ways: by intervening in long-standing discussions of Fielding's 7 characterization; by analysing themes of good nature, perception and gossip which develop from his early dramatic work into the better-known novels; and by exploring its relationship to wider ideas about character in the eighteenth-century theatre and novel. Beginning with his plays, I consider Fielding's presentation of the judgement of character in a range of his works from 1728-1753. I suggest that the early plays gave Fielding the space in which to experiment with the presentation of character and his relationship to his audience. His novels build upon concepts first introduced in the plays, such as good nature, perception and gossip, which he suggests are key to perceiving character. Fielding encourages his audiences and readers to engage with character as a process of discovery (as it is in life), but does not punish or mock them when they make mistakes. In doing so, he gives his audiences and readers indulgences he could ill afford in his magisterial career: time for judgement and the luxury of occasionally being proved wrong.


ABSTRACT Islamic clerics and scholars constitute one of the community actors affected by the Boko Haram crisis in northern Nigeria. This group is also one that is most familiar with the essential doctrinal elements required to deconstruct the narrative pushed by Boko Haram in a crisis where ideology represents a vital aspect. While not undermining the bearing which socio-economic and political issues have on the crisis, this paper frames the focus to emphasise the long-term battle where Islamic clerics are involved in winning hearts and minds. Drawing upon fieldwork conducted in Sokoto State and Borno State, this paper highlights the influential role of clerics in communal mobilisation and resistance against Boko Haram. It is suggested that a deeper integration of this community actor into the broader counter-insurgency struggle in northern Nigeria would be beneficial.


Background Lidocaine is an antiarrythmicum used as an anticonvulsant for neonatal seizures, also during therpeutic hypothermia following (perinatal) asphyxia. Hypothermia may affect the efficacy, safety and dosing of lidocaine in these patients. Objective To study the efficacy and safety of lidocaine in newborns with perinatal asphyxia during moderate hypothermia, and to develop an effective and safe dosing regimen. Methods Hypothermic newborns with perinatal asphyxia and lidocaine for seizure control were included. Efficacy was studied using continuous amplitude-integrated electroencephalography. Safety was assessed using continuous cardiac monitoring. An optimal dosing regimen was developed with simulations using data from a pharmacokinetic model. Plasma samples were collected during hypothermia on consecutive mornings. Results A total of 22 hypothermic and 26 historical normothermic asphyxiated newborns with lidocaine were included. A response of 91% on epileptiform activity on the amplitude-integrated EEG was observed for lidocaine add-on therapy. No relationship between lidocaine or MEGX plasma concentrations and heart frequency could be identified. None of the newborns experienced cardiac arrythmias. Hypothermia reduced lidocaine clearance by 24% compared with normothermia. A novel dosing regimen was developed an initial bolus loading dose of 2 mg/kg, for patients with body weight 2.0–2.5 kg followed by consecutive continuous infusions of 6 mg/kg/h (for 3.5 h), 3 mg/kg/h (for 12 h), 1.5 mg/kg/h (for 12 h), or for patients with bodyweights 2.5–4.5 kg 7 mg/kg/h (for 3.5 h), 3.5 mg/kg/h (for 12 h), 1.75 mg/kg/h (for 12 h), before stopping. Conclusions Lidocaine can be assumed to be an effective antiepileptic drug during hypothermia in asphyxiated neonates.


Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs and post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by pairing with target. There has been emerging evidence showing the association of aberrantly expressed circulating miRNAs in the serum with the pathogenesis or progression of diseases including cancer and autoimmune disease. Although a number of circulating miRNAs associated with inflammation have been identified, the roles of them in patients with FMF and the underlying mechanism remain to be elucidated. Objectives The aim of this study was to identify a serum miRNAs profile and potential biomarkers in FMF and clarify their gene targets for understanding the pathogenesis of autoinflammatory diseases. Methods We performed miRNA microarray in the serum from FMF in attack and in remission. We subsequently examined the expression of miRNAs that varied before and after the attack in macrophages derived from THP-1 cells stimulated with toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands. Macrophages derived from THP-1 cells transfected with pre-miRNA and anti-miRNA were stimulated with TLR ligands for 24 hours. We collected the supernatants for the quantification of inflammatory cytokine production. To identify the target genes, we overexpressed its miRNA and performed Agilent expression microarray. Transfection with reporter construct and pre-miRNA and anti-miRNA was performed to confirm suppression of target mRNA. Results We found that miR-204–3p was greatly decreased in the serum from FMF patients in attack. In vitro study, the expression of miR-204–3p was suppressed by LPS stimulation in macrophages derived from THP-1 cells. Inhibition of miR-204–3p significantly induced the production of TLR4-related cytokines whereas overexpression of miR-204–3p inhibited their production. Bioinformatic analysis showed that miR-204–3p is predicted to target genes implicated in TLR pathway through regulation of PIK3 signaling. Reporter assay revealed that miR-204–3p directly suppressed the luciferase activity of 3'UTR of PIK3CG reporter construct. Conclusions These data suggest that serum miR-204–3p has a potential as a useful biomarker among patients with FMF and that miR-204–3p plays a critical role as a suppressor to regulate the production of TLR4 related cytokines by targeting PIK3 signaling pathway. Disclosure of Interest None declared