The transcriptomic and proteomic profile of MMR-deficient intestinal stem cells displays a unique set of genes with potential roles as biomarkers of cancer initiation and early progression. Lynch syndrome is the most common cause of hereditary colorectal cancer and is secondary to germline alterations in one of four DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. Here we aimed to provide novel insights into the initiation of MMR-deficient (MMRd) colorectal carcinogenesis by characterizing the expression profile of MMRd intestinal stem cells (ISC). A tissue-specific MMRd mouse model (Villin-Cre;Msh2LoxP/LoxP) was crossed with a reporter mouse (Lgr5-EGFP-IRES-creERT2) to trace and isolate ISCs (Lgr5+) using flow cytometry. Three different ISC genotypes (Msh2-KO, Msh2-HET, and Msh2-WT) were isolated and processed for mRNA-seq and mass spectrometry, followed by bioinformatic analyses to identify expression signatures of complete MMRd and haplo-insufficiency. These findings were validated using qRT-PCR, IHC, and whole transcriptomic sequencing in mouse tissues, organoids, and a cohort of human samples, including normal colorectal mucosa, premalignant lesions, and early-stage colorectal cancers from patients with Lynch syndrome and patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) as controls. Msh2-KO ISCs clustered together with differentiated intestinal epithelial cells from all genotypes. Gene-set enrichment analysis indicated inhibition of replication, cell-cycle progression, and the Wnt pathway and activation of epithelial signaling and immune reaction. An expression signature derived from MMRd ISCs successfully distinguished MMRd neoplastic lesions of patients with Lynch syndrome from FAP controls. SPP1 was specifically upregulated in MMRd ISCs and colocalized with LGR5 in Lynch syndrome colorectal premalignant lesions and tumors. These results show that expression signatures of MMRd ISC recapitulate the initial steps of Lynch syndrome carcinogenesis and have the potential to unveil novel biomarkers of early cancer initiation. Significance: The transcriptomic and proteomic profile of MMR-deficient intestinal stem cells displays a unique set of genes with potential roles as biomarkers of cancer initiation and early progression.


Background: Hematological malignancies of the lymphoid lineage such as multiple myeloma, lymphomas and lymphoid leukemia are a burden to the world especially in Tanzania; anaemia is one of the presenting symptoms of these conditions and is found in almost 100% of the patients at diagnosis. Of particular importance Immune Hemolytic Anemia (IHA) which has a poor response to treatment and subsequently poor prognosis when it is associated with lymphoid malignancies. The aim of this study is to determine the magnitude of immune hemolytic anemia in lymphoid malignancies in Tanzania Methods: This was a cross sectional study that recruited 86 patients with lymphoid malignancies attending both Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) and Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH). The clinical features were captured using a well-structured questionnaire. Laboratory results for Full Blood Count (FBC), reticulocytes count, total, indirect and direct bilirubin and Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) were retrieved from the laboratory reporting system. Additionally, a blood sample for the Direct Antiglobulin Test (DAT) was taken from all participants. This test was performed at the Central Pathology Laboratory (CPL) of MNH. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0) and Microsoft excel 2010. Data analysis was performed using South Texas Art Therapy Association (STATA 15.0). Results: IHA, indicated by a positive DAT, was found in 10% of patients with lymphoid malignancies. Analysis of DAT among patients never exposed to chemotherapy showed a prevalence of 22%. Among 9 IHA cases, 2 were CLL (Chronic Lymphoid Leukaemia), 2 were MM (Multiple Myeloma), 3 was NHL (Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma), 1 was HL (Hodgkin Lymphoma) and 1 SLL (Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma). All 9 cases had decompensated hemolytic anemia. Conclusion: IHA is a real complication of chronic lymphoid malignancies and DAT should be included in tests done during the course of management.


This response to Andrew Rehfeld's "Representation Rethought" (American Political Science Review 2009) takes up his criticisms of my "Rethinking Representation" (American Political Science Review 2003) to advance a more relational and systematic approach to representation. To this end, it suggests replacing the "trustee" concept of representation with a "selection model" based on the selection and replacement of "gyroscopic" representatives who are both relatively self-reliant in judgment and relatively nonresponsive to sanctions. It explores as well the interaction between representatives' (and constituents') perceptions of reality and their normative views of what the representative ought to represent. Building from the concept of surrogate representation and other features of legislative representation, it argues for investigating, both normatively and empirically, not only the characteristics of individual representatives emphasized by Rehfeld's analysis but also the representative–constituent relationship and the larger representative system, including both elected and nonelected representatives, inside and outside the legislature.


The legitimacy crisis of investment treaty arbitration is much discussed, often challenging the neutrality of that system as a whole. Besides concentrating on the direction in which cases are being decided, or in which the law is being interpreted, the neutrality of investment treaty arbitration as a system can also be discussed from the perspective of its foundations. This article looks at the arbitral use of the two basic ideals of investment treaty arbitration, namely the legalistic and teleological notions, in the formation of decisive arguments, in the particular context of jurisdictional decisions. It examines to what extent the two basic ideals in investment treaty arbitration are used in the formation of decisive arguments justifying pro-investor or pro-State interpretive outcomes in resolving jurisdictional issues. It is argued that the foundations of investment treaty arbitration induce arbitrators to opt for one of the two points of view in their work. Faced with an interpretive issue, they can observe it either in light of the fact that the rules, as they are, must have been consented to by the States parties to the investment treaty, or in light of the purpose of such rules to protect foreign investors. This shows that favouring one side over the other when facing difficult jurisdictional issues is not simply dependant on the arbitrators' personal attitudes. Their approaches might as well reflect the foundations of investment treaty arbitration, while legalistic and teleological decisive arguments seem to form never-ending excuses for favouring one party over the other.


Very recently, a variety of vision transformer architectures for dense prediction tasks have been proposed and they show that the design of spatial attention is critical to their success in these tasks. In this work, we revisit the design of the spatial attention and demonstrate that a carefully-devised yet simple spatial attention mechanism performs favourably against the state-of-the-art schemes. As a result, we propose two vision transformer architectures, namely, Twins-PCPVT and Twins-SVT. Our proposed architectures are highly-efficient and easy to implement, only involving matrix multiplications that are highly optimized in modern deep learning frameworks. More importantly, the proposed architectures achieve excellent performance on a wide range of visual tasks, including image level classification as well as dense detection and segmentation. The simplicity and strong performance suggest that our proposed architectures may serve as stronger backbones for many vision tasks. Our code is released at https://github.com/Meituan-AutoML/Twins .


Structure and dynamical processes of vortex dislocations in a kind of wake-type flow are described clearly by vortex lines, which are directly constructed from data of three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of the flow evolution.


Although animal food products are important sources of dietary protein
in the diets of many African communities, questions are being raised
concerning the role of animal meats and other animal products in
chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases. This review of the
literature was, therefore, conducted to provide information on the role
of animal meats and their nutrients in cardiovascular diseases, with
reference to sub-Saharan Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, infectious
diseases are the current commonest cause of death, but cardiovascular
diseases are set to surpass them as the major cause of mortality and
morbidity. Although rare in the past, there are indications that
coronary heart disease will become a burden to the health care system
in sub-Saharan Africa. Diet is an important part of the control and
management of cardiovascular diseases as most risk factors including
diabetes mellitus, obesity, low-density lipoprotein and triacylglycerol
levels, alcohol and blood pressure are all connected to diet. Animal
meats can be significant sources of dietary saturated fatty acids and
cholesterol due to their considerable lipid content. Dietary saturated
fatty acids and cholesterol are significant influences on the
development and progression of atherosclerosis, a major type of
cardiovascular disease. Heart disease and high serum cholesterol also
increase the risk of stroke. Although dietary protein is considered to
be of minor importance in the aetiology of cardiovascular disease,
epidemiological studies have shown the consumption of animal protein to
be positively correlated with cardiovascular disease incidence, while
that of vegetable protein is negatively correlated with cardiovascular
disease mortality rates. Also, due to the higher content of cholesterol
in organ meats compared to skeletal muscles, it is recommended that
their dietary consumption be limited. It, therefore, seems beneficial
to reduce the dietary intake of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol
from meats and other high-fat, high-cholesterol animal foods, except
fatty fish, since it is established on the basis of documented
scientific evidence that reduction in serum cholesterol results in
reduction of coronary morbidity and mortality. This review, therefore,
recommends reduction in the intake of fatty red animal meat, while
promoting consumption of portion-controlled lean white meats such as
poultry, wild game and fatty fish. This can be achieved by integrating
these recommendations into food and nutritional policy practice in
Africa.


Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the single dose pharmaco-kinetics of lithium in Taiwanese/Chinese bipolar patients for future interracial comparisons. Method: Eight bipolar patients took 900 mg of lithium carbonate after overnight fasting. Blood samples of 5 mL were taken after 15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, 4 h, 7 h, 9 h, 15 h, 25 h and 31 h after dosing. The computer programs CSTRIP and PCNONLIN were used for pharmacokinetic analysis. Results: The pharmacokinetic parameters obtained were as follows: Cmax, 0.970 ± 0.170 (SD) mmoi/L; Tmax, 1.59 ± 0.78 h; AUC31 h = 548.9 ± 135.4 mmol.m/L; AUC = 722.6 ± 262.7 mmol.m/L; β-half-life = 16.3 ± 7.18 h; K-half-life = 0.613 ± 0.442 h; CIoral = 1.13 ± 0.39 mL/min/kg; Vd/F = 1.43 ± 0.387 L/kg. Most of the pharmacokinetic parameters were within the ranges reported in investigations of Caucasian subjects. Conclusions: This study showed that racial differences in lithium pharmacokinetics might not exist. We suggest that methodological designs, including method of blood sampling, measurement of lithium, and pharmacokinetic and statistical calculations, be standardised if future cross-ethnic comparisons are to be conducted.


In addition to supplying fuels to society, the oil industry is a globally-significant consumer of energy. Oil sector energetic productivity – measured as output energy per unit of energy consumed – is a major driver of both industry economics and environmental impacts. Increasing climate change concerns necessitate detailed analysis of the energetic productivity of the oil sector. Using an engineering-based life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, we analyze decades-long historical trends of upstream oil production energy return on investment (EROI) for twenty-five globally significant oil fields (>1 billion barrels recoverable). The net energy ratio (NER) and external energy ratio (EER) are used as two measures of oil field energetic productivity. We find that as depletion causes declines in oil output, the associated energy returns decline significantly, with some fields seeing NER declines exceeding 90%. This decrease is caused by reservoir exhaustion forcing increased energy costs in recovery and processing. Probabilistic simulation allows us to generalize from our dataset: over 25 years, this model predicts ∼40% and ∼20% declines in NER and EER medians, respectively. We also derive a general relationship for projecting evolving NER and EER trends. These results have implications for long-run climate/energy system modeling due to potential large increases in extraction energy as global oilfields age. These effects may result in significant underestimation of future energy demand in the global oil sector in long-run integrated assessment models. Lastly, we perform sensitivity analysis examining implications of model assumptions about electricity provision, flare management, and transport.


We investigated the mechanism of chemical reaction between Bi2O3 glass and water solution during milling. As a result, the frit condition affected discoloration with crystallization. After milling, there was a deposited layer on the frit surface. The layer was composed of leached ions, contaminates of metal oxides, and hydroxides. Bismate glass frit is reacted to the milling solution so that the frit surface is formed with a gel layer. In milling, contaminates contained in milling solution is contributed to the formation of deposed layer on frit surface.


We study the hadron-quark phase transition in the interior of neutron stars, and examine the influence of the nuclear equation of state on the phase transition and neutron star properties. The relativistic mean field theory with several parameter sets is used to construct the nuclear equation of state, while the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model is used for the description of the deconfined quark phase. Our results show that a harder nuclear equation of state leads to an earlier onset of a mixed phase of hadronic and quark matter. We find that a massive neutron star possesses a mixed phase core, but it is not dense enough to possess a pure quark core.


Spatio-temporal surveillance methods for detecting outbreaks of disease are fairly common in the literature with the SCAN statistic setting the benchmark. If the shape and size of the outbreaks are known in advance, then the SCAN statistic can be trained to efficiently detect these, however this is seldom true. Therefore, we want to devise plans that are efficient at detecting a number of outbreaks that vary in size and shape. This article examines plans which use the exponential weighted moving average statistic to build temporal memory into plans and tries to develop robust plans for detecting outbreaks of unknown shapes and sizes.


Stock Returns And The Weekend Effect In Canada The existence of the weekend effect has been proven through different studies by Cross [4], French [7], Gibbons and Hess [8], Coats [2], Lakonishok and Levi [16], Hindmarch, Jentsch, and Drew [11], Keim and Stambaugh [15], Jaffe and Westerfield [12, 13], Jenkins [14], Dyl and Maberly [5, 6], and Chamberlain, Cheung and Kwan [1]. French [7] proved the existence of the weekend effect by testing both the trading and the calendar time hypotheses. Gibbons and Hess [8] verified the negative near return for Monday. Lakonishok and Levi [16] asserted that the weekend effect was primarily explained by settlement procedures and check clearing delays. However, Dyl and Maberly [5, 6] did not support Gibbons' and Hess's hypothesis and stated that settlement procedures did not affect the weekly pattern of returns. Keim and Stambaugh [15] supported French's findings where the negative average Monday returns were statistically significant. Jaffe and Westerfield [12, 13], after examining the stock returns in four different countries, found that the weekend effect did exist in each of them. They also investigated the settlement procedures and denied that these explained the negative Monday return or the positive Friday returns. Chamberlain, Cheung and Kwan [1] confirmed that Monday mean returns were not only negative, but they were also significantly different from mean returns for the other days of the week. Other U.S. studies that attempted to find the causes of the weekend effect phenomenon, but with no meaningful success, were done by Rogalski [18], Cornell [3], Harris [9, 10], and Smirlock and Starks [19]. Also, Loo [17] tried that in Canada. The purpose of this paper is to determine the existence of the weekend effect in Canadian markets by studying this phenomenon over an extended period of time from the beginning of 1968 to March 1987. Both the trading time and the calendar time hypotheses would be tested. The trading time hypothesis states that stock returns are generated only during active trading, and, therefore, the expected returns should be the same for any given trading day. This hypothesis was tested and supported by French [7], Hindmarch, Jentsch, and Drew [11], and Keim and Stambaugh [15]. The calendar time hypothesis assumes that Monday returns represent a three-calendar-day investment while returns for other days of the week reflect a one-day investment. Therefore, Monday returns would be three times the mean return for any other day of the week. This hypothesis has been rejected by French [7], Lakonishok and Levi [16], and Hindmarch, Jentsch, and Drew [11]. Previous Canadian studies tested the weekend effect during shorter periods of time. Chamberlain, Cheung and Kwan [1] used 1976-1983 as the study test period. They also emphasized the close-to-open and open-to-close returns rather than close-to-close returns; the latter approach was generally the one used in most of the U.S. studies. Hindmarch, Jentsch, and Drew [11] used 1977-1981 as their test period and attempted to test a modified calendar time hypothesis in order to discover the actual causes of the weekend effect. They were looking for a possible relationship between institutional practices and the weekend effect. Also, Steve Loo [17] tried to develop a possible explanation of the weekend effect in order to develop profitable trading rules. The present study will focus on testing both the trading time and the calendar time hypotheses during a fairly long period of time, from January 1968 to March 1987. The test will also be extended to different subperiods: 1968-1971, 1973-1975, 1976-1981, and 1982-Mid-1987. The reason for using several subperiods to test the existence of the weekend effect is to detect whether such phenomena did prevail in the past as well as the present time with the same magnitude or whether it is merely something that has evolved primarily during recent years. …


This Essay examines the structure and functions of the new Northern Ireland Assembly within the context of the constitutional changes in the Britain and Ireland. Since its election in May 1997, the new Labour Government has been steadily putting in place key constitutional reforms. The changes were widely discussed, both internally while the party was in opposition and externally within the scholarly community. The Labour Government came to power on a manifesto that promised substantial constitutional reform with an emphasis on decentralization and participation. It is evident that the change of government had an impact on the process in Northern Ireland. In particular, the new Government has been willing to adopt a pragmatic approach to the process, and it is in a significantly more secure position than its predecessor. The pragmatism of new Labour has been mistakenly read by some as evidencing a lack of a unifying principle. Labour's approach, however, springs from modern trends in social democratic politics that stress the centrality of the enabling function of government. At the core of this new politics is a conception of autonomy in which the importance of participants reaching consensual outcomes in appropriate cases is accorded priority. This can be cynically cast as evasive or simply empty of content. It is suggested here that both readings are inaccurate. LEGALITY, LEGITIMACY, AND DEMOCRATIC RENEWAL: THE NEW ASSEMBLY IN CONTEXT


Introduction The impact of missing data (MD) on the validity of results, although often discussed, is not often investigated. Sensitivity analyses under different scenarios of non-ignorable MD are an attractive approach but they are rarely performed, probably due to lack of tools. Methods We propose an R function to perform multiple imputation based on the principle of mixture modelling, assuming that the variable of interest has different distributions according to the status missing / non-missing. We propose a 3-step strategy: Fit an imputation model assuming ignorable MD; Modify the imputation model by adding a parameter (expressed as the OR comparing the odds of the modality of interest among subjects with MD with those without MD for categorical variables; as the difference in expected values for continuous variables); Impute MD under the scenario thus specified. A sensitivity analysis was performed on data from HIV+ patients, to assess the robustness of the OR between mental health and self-reported viral load, including MD. We assumed that non-responders were more likely to have high viral load. Results Adjusted OR was reduced from 2.01 [1.21 to 3.35] to 1.75 [1.03 to 2.97]. Conclusions were robust to the explored scenarios reinforcing the confidence in results from the analysis assuming ignorable MD. Conclusion A sensitivity analysis is easy to perform using the proposed package SensMice. The impact of imposed variations in the imputation model on the overall results helps to assess their robustness. This is particularly interesting for self-reported characteristics when MD are highly suspected to be non-ignorable.


Study Design. A case report and clinical discussion. Objective. To describe an unique case of purulent discitis at C3–C4 and an anterior C1–C4 epidural abscess secondary to oxygen-ozone therapy for the herniated cervical discs. Summary of Background Data. Previously reported complications secondary to ozone therapy are rarely documented. No cases of pyogenic discitis with associated epidural abscess after oxygen-ozone therapy have been reported to date. To our knowledge, this is the first such case reported in literature. Methods. A 57-year-old female patient with nuchal stiffness was previously treated with ozone therapy at the discs of C3–C4, C4–C5, and C6–C7. Five days later, she presented with an attack of neck pain and fever followed by progressive quadriplegia with sudden onset of dyspnea and was referred to our hospital. On admission, physical examination revealed a temperature of 38.8°C, evident neck tenderness, marked global weakness (grade 1–2/5 MRC) in bilateral upper-limb, and a modest global weakness in bilateral lower-limb (grade 4/5 MRC). Laboratory findings showed a significantly elevated WCC, ESR, and CRP. Blood culture was negative. Enhanced-MR imaging demonstrated a purulent discitis at C3–C4 and a ventral C1–C4 epidural abscess with homogenous enhancement indicative of a solid phlegmonous granulation tissue. Results. We formulated a 3-stage treatment involving C1–C4 multilevel decompressive laminectomies, subtotal unilateral C3–C4 facetectomies, and tissue sampling for culture with application of a corset after surgery, followed by a delayed secondary posterior thorough drainage of epidural liquid pus using a suction-irrigation drainage, after the abscess had turned to a necrotic liquid abscess, on the basis of findings of enhanced-MR imaging, by 10-day duration of intravenously antibiotic therapy tailored to Streptococcus bovis isolated from infected tissue. Over the next few weeks, the patient made an excellent neurologic recovery. However, she did not consent to undergo further occipitocervical fusion until the follow-up MR imaging at 8 months demonstrated postlaminectomy kyphosis. After surgery, the patient remained clinically satisfactory in neurology without evidence of a recurrence of spinal infection. A slight improvement in the cervical spine curve was demonstrated in the follow-up radiograph at nearly 4-month postoccipitocervical fusion. Conclusion. This case report illustrates a rare but life-threatening complication of oxygen-ozone therapy for the cervical disc herniation. Infection is a common risk for any invasive spinal techniques involving puncture, so attention should be paid to the sterility during the procedures. A high index of suspicion along with reliance on enhanced-MRI is essential to diagnose the condition and institute appropriate treatment on an individual basis.


Over a concentration range of o-5-10 mug/cm-3, cytochalasin B caused a biphasic change in the electrophoretic mobility of disaggregated neural retina cells. An initial rise in anodal mobility at low concentrations of the drug was transformed into a reduction in the mobility below that of the control at a concentration of 10 mug/cm-3. The effect of cytochalasin B was found to be reversible by washing treated cells in cytochalasin B-free media. This was investigated at a concentration of cytochalasin at which the greatest difference existed between the mobilities of the control and experimental cell suspensions. Reaggregation of cell dispersions failed to show any significant difference in the rate of aggregation between cytochalasin B-treated cells and the control. Scanning electron microscopy of cells fixed while in suspension also showed little significant change in the surface morphology upon application of cytochalasin B. In high concentrations of the drug cells appeared somewhat smoother in outline, but no correlation was found between changes in surface morphology and the variations in cell electrophoretic mobility. It is concluded that the observed changes in electrophoretic mobility may be attributed to a binding of cytochalasin B to the cell membrane. This lends support to the hypothesis that the primary site of action of cytochalasin B may be the plasma membrane.


Introduction This paper examined the relationship between Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and current modern contraceptive use (MCU) among married women in Uganda. Methods We used the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) data, selecting a weighted sample of 1,307 married women from the domestic violence module. Chi-squared tests and multivariate complementary log-log (clog-log) regressions were used to examine the relationship between IPV and current MCU, controlling for women's socio-demographic factors. Results Significant predictors of current MCU (25.3%) among married women were: women's reported ability to ask a partner to use a condom, number of living children and wealth index. The odds of current MCU were higher among women who could ask their partners to use a condom (aOR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.26-2.78), had more than one child (aOR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.07,3.93) and were from better wealth indices for example the richest (aOR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.25-5.08). IPV was not associated with current MCU independently and after adjusting for women's socio-demographic factors. Conclusion In Uganda's context, IPV was not associated with current MCU. Interventions to promote MCU should enhance women's capacity to negotiate MCU within union and target women of lower socio-economic status.


This article highlights on the urgent need for staff training on new technologies, provision of adequate ICT infrastructure and staff attitudinal change trainings for effective implementation of new electronic based systems. The article is based on an empirical study carried out in Public Tertiary Institutions in Kenya to the extent of the implementation of Electronic Project Monitoring Information System (e-ProMIS) in the institution. The objective of the study was to establish the organizational internal context on the implementation of e-ProMIS, focusing on influence of staff capacity. The study adopted pragmatic paradigm using mixed mode approach and cross sectional research design with a target population of 460 members of staff from 35 public tertiary institutions in Kenya. A sample of 210 staff was selected using stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Data was collected using questionnaire with both open and structured items with Likert-type interval scale anchored on a five point scale. Descriptive statistics were computed for all variables using arithmetic mean and standard deviation. Statistical tools used for inferential statistic were Pearson's Product Moment Correlation (r), simple regression, multiple regression and stepwise regression (R2). F-tests were used to test hypotheses in the study. The results revealed that staff capacity had a statistically significant influence on implementation of e-ProMIS. The study confirmed the relevance of Diffusion of Innovation Theory, Theory of Structuration and Technology Acceptance Model in studying implementation of electronic based systems. The study highlights the need for staff training on new technologies, provision of adequate ICT infrastructure and staff attitudinal change trainings for effective implementation of new electronic based systems. The study offers direction to policy makers and practitioners. The study recommends further research to be conducted to establish the influence of monitoring and evaluation on implementation of e-government systems. Other e-government systems like e-procurement and e-tax also need to be studied.


Vietnam is coping with an alarming increase of injury morbidity and mortality. Injury data is an indispensable component for developing and implementing prevention policies and programs. Injury information in the health sector is obtained through a regular system. This surveillance system has been conducted since 2003 aimed to examine injury causes in community quarterly, 6-monthly, 9-monthly and annually. At grass root level, injury cases are recorded by volunteers and then gathered at communal health station. Next, a report on injury situation of the commune is sent to district preventive health centre. At this level, statistics is synthesised and submitted to the provincial preventive medicine centre. At last, Ministry of Health is responsible for collecting reports from 64 provinces nationwide. Statistics indicates that in the first half of 2009, there were 497 611 injury cases. Among that, the number of deaths was 3492 which accounted for 0.7% of total of injuries and dropped 0.3% in compare with 2008. The morbidity and mortality in age group of 20–60 were highest with 62.9% and 70.8%, respectively. Road traffic accidents were the predominant cause of injuries with 39% of total cases. The surveillance system provides a great amount of valuable data for injury interventions conducting and safe community developing. Now 100% provinces implement the system, whereas there were a negligible number of provinces done it in 2003. However, there are still some gaps in the system such as inadequate and incorrect information, lack of staff and equipments.


A series of 1,1'-dicinnamoylferrocenes were converted to the corresponding [3]ferrocenophane diols (4a-e) in a stereoselective manner by using samarium diiodide to effect the intramolecular coupling reaction, aldol reaction, and reduction in one-pot operation. The major reaction pathway might be derived from a samarium chelated transition state (I(A)()) having the moieties of s-cis enone and (Z)-enolate. A solid-state structure of such [3]ferrocenophane diol product showed that the cyclopentadienyl groups were in an eclipsed orientation and slightly tilted.


The human gut microbiome plays an important role in human health. In order to investigate changes in metabolic activity associated with dysbiotic microbiomes, we retrieved strain-level relative abundances from metagenomics data from a cohort of pediatric Crohn's Disease patients with and without dysbiosis, and healthy control children to construct a personalized microbiome model for each sample using the AGORA resource of genome-scale gut microbial reconstructions. Subsequently, we systematically profiled each individual microbiome by predicting the quantitative biosynthesis potential for all secreted metabolites as well as the strain-level contributions to each metabolite in each individual microbiome. The predicted fecal metabolomes and strain-metabolite contributions of microbiomes from patients with dysbiosis were distinct from healthy controls and patients without dysbiosis. Finally, we validated the predicted amino acid production profiles against fecal metabolomic measurements. Taken together, we presented an efficient, scalable, tractable computational approach to systematically interrogate the metabolic potential of individual microbiomes.


Recently, some span-based methods have achieved encouraging performances for joint aspect-sentiment analysis, which first extract aspects (aspect extraction) by detecting aspect boundaries and then classify the span-level sentiments (sentiment classification). However, most existing approaches either sequentially extract task-specific features, leading to insufficient feature interactions, or they encode aspect features and sentiment features in a parallel manner, implying that feature representation in each task is largely independent of each other except for input sharing. Both of them ignore the internal correlations between the aspect extraction and sentiment classification. To solve this problem, we novelly propose a hierarchical interactive network (HI-ASA) to model two-way interactions between two tasks appropriately, where the hierarchical interactions involve two steps: shallow-level interaction and deep-level interaction. First, we utilize cross-stitch mechanism to combine the different task-specific features selectively as the input to ensure proper two-way interactions. Second, the mutual information technique is applied to mutually constrain learning between two tasks in the output layer, thus the aspect input and the sentiment input are capable of encoding features of the other task via backpropagation. Extensive experiments on three real-world datasets demonstrate HI-ASA's superiority over baselines.


This paper reviews the major findings of studies evaluating the efficacy and secondary prevention aspects of the cognitive-behavior therapies (CBT) for depression. Currently, CBT includes well-developed systems of several psychotherapy/behavior therapy in both individual and group modalities. These approaches have been shown to be efficacious, when comparable to any standard treatment, with unipolar, non-psychotic depressions. They remain untested in bipolar disorders. The paper addresses both values of combined treatments, and the limitations of these approaches. As the Beck, Rush, Shaw and Emery (1979) approach to CBT has been shown in seven studies to lower relapse and recurrence rates, these important findings are emphasized. The paper is placed in the context of the literature of psychosocial factors in the onset, maintenance and recurrence of the depressive disorders.


Fast and accurate face perception is critical for successful human social interactions. Face perception declines with age both in behavioural and neural responses, although we do not yet understand why. Here, we tested the hypothesis that early brain mechanisms involved with face information processing are delayed in older participants. Using face detection - the most basic task for social interaction – we sampled visual information from faces (vs. noise) and reconstructed the features (mainly, the left eye) associated with detection behaviour in young (20-36 years) and older (60-86 years) adults. We then compared behavioural results to neural representations of face features revealed with simultaneously recorded EEG on the N170, an event-related potential associated with visual categorization. Whereas the right hemisphere N170 latency and amplitude represented the left eye in young participants, it was mostly amplitude that represented the eye with a 40 ms delay in older adults. Our results demonstrate that face processing speed declines in ageing with a delay in the early stages that process the visual information important for behaviour.


A two-dimensional (2-D) model that describes mass transport between non equilibrium gas and liquid phases of a binary non polar mixture in a closed system of fixed volume and temperature is presented. Diffusion, convective mass transport due to compressibility and non ideality, and the motion of the interface upon evaporation and dissolution are accounted. Natural convection in both phases is incorporated, which allows to study the effect of density increase in the liquid phase from gas dissolution. The Peng-Robinson equation of state is used to calculate the densities and the fugacities needed to find the interfacial composition consistent with local chemical equilibrium. The results obtained with a one-dimensional model was compared to our 2-D results, showing that natural convection influences the mixing time drastically. In the liquid bulk phase, convective flux is much higher than diffusive flux. Across the interface, diffusive flux is, however, the dominating flux, which allows accurate measurement of diffusion coefficients at high pressure in 2-D domains. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012


Background: Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase-1 (PRPS-1; EC 184.108.40.206) is the widely distributed in the human tissues and serves as a regulative key enzyme for purine metabolism, whereas Xanthine Oxidoreductase (XOR; EC 220.127.116.11) is the enzyme responsible for the catabolism of purine nucleotides and might by feed-back mechanism coordinate this entire biochemical pathway. We proposed activation of PRPS-1 and simultaneous inhibition of XOR might initiate regenerative processes after stroke.
Methods: We used hydrogen peroxide intracranial injection (3%) as the model for ROS generation phase of stroke development. XOR activity was measured by evaluation of uric acid formation. PRPS-1 was measured by the kit (Novocib, France). Blood Brain Barrier integrity was evaluated by utility of Evans Blue. KI-67 was used for detection of cells proliferation. ANOVA one-way analysis was used for evaluation of statistical significance of the results. Pearson coefficient was calculated for delineation of the correlation of XOR and PRPS-1 dynamic changes of activities.
Results: PRPS-1 activity after stroke in rats was stimulated by phosphates (control; 1.9145 ± 0.0400 vs phosphates treatment 6.6304 ± 0.0500 vs allopurinol treatment 1.6921 ± 0.0359, p<0.05). In phosphate treated group in comparison with the control XOR activity was lower (control; blank - 0.6406 ± 0.0378; substrate - 0.8513 ± 0.1527; phosphate treatment group blank - 0.2500 ± 7.5758e-3 vs substrate 0.3314 ± 0.0625; allopurinol treated group: blank - 0.5549 ± 8.1301e-3 vs substrate 0.5786 ± 0.017). Ki-67 incorporation was more pronounced in phosphate treated group in comparison with the control. BBB disruption was less in experimental vs control groups.
Conclusion: Phosphates are proposed to be used as the post stroke regenerative agents.


Experiments were conducted in Florida from 1998 through 2000 to evaluate trifloxysulfuron-sodium applied POST for weed control in cotton. The addition of 0.25% (v/v) nonionic surfactant (NIS) to trifloxysulfuron-sodium, regardless of rate, increased sicklepod control 10 to 50% 6 and 19 wk after planting (WAP). All trifloxysulfuron-sodium treatments controlled Florida beggarweed and redweed 70 to 100% 6 and 19 WAP. Pitted morningglory was controlled 68 to 100% by trifloxysulfuron-sodium treatments; however, control was higher for treatments that contained 0.25% v/v NIS. Trifloxysulfuron-sodium provided poor control of smallflower morningglory. A sequential application of fluometuron PRE followed by trifloxysulfuron-sodium POST provided better control of smallflower morningglory than trifloxysulfuron-sodium alone 19 WAP. Cotton treated with trifloxysulfuron-sodium yielded higher than the nontreated check and early POST treatments that included 0.25% v/v NIS yielded approximately 20% higher than non-NIS treatments. Trifloxysulfuron-sodium applied POST provided season-long control of Florida beggarweed, pitted morningglory, redweed, and sicklepod with the addition of 0.25% v/v NIS but did not control smallflower morningglory in cotton. Nomenclature: Fluometuron; trifloxysulfuron-sodium; Florida beggarweed, Desmodium tortuosum (Sw.) DC. #3 DEDTO; pitted morningglory, Ipomoea lacunosa L. # IPOLA; redweed, Melochia corchorifolia # MEOCO; sicklepod, Senna obtusifolia L. # CASOB; smallflower morningglory, Jacquemontia tamnifolia (L.) Griseb. # IAQTA; cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. Additional index words: CGA-362622, adjuvant, timing. Abbreviations: ALS, acetolactate synthase; EPOST, early postemergence; fb, followed by; NIS, nonionic surfactant; WAP, wk after planting; WAT, wk after treatment.


Hypothyroidism is a clinical entity resulting from deficiency of thyroid hormones or, more rarely, from their impaired activity at tissue level. It is a common condition, with a prevalence of 1.9 per cent in women, and the prevalence increases with age. Hypothyroidism may be congenital or acquired, primary or secondary, chronic or transient. Primary hypothyroidism is caused by disease or treatment which destroys the thyroid gland or interferes with thyroid hormone biosynthesis. Autoimmune thyroiditis is the predominant cause of primary hypothyroidism in countries such as Sweden where severe iodine deficiency is non-existent. Another cause of primary hypothyroidism, chronic or transient, is previous radio-iodine or surgical treatment of hypothyroidism. In secondary or central hypothyroidism, which is very rare, there is a lack of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) or TSH activity, due to a pituitary or hypothalamic cause. The clinical features of hypothyroidism are dependent on the patient's age, the presence of other disease, and the rate at which hypothyroidism develops. As thyroid hormones are universal determinants of organ function, there may be a multiplicity of symptoms. Particularly in the elderly, the clinical features may be atypical, and the diagnosis easily missed. First line tests for hypothyroidism are analyses of the concentrations of free thyroxine (T4) and TSH in serum. In primary hypothyroidism, the serum content of T4 is low and that of TSH high. In central hypothyroidism, the serum content of T4 is low and that of TSH generally low or normal, though slightly increased levels of biologically inactive TSH may also occur. Subclinical hypothyroidism is characterised by a normal serum level of T4, an increased level of TSH, and the absence of clinical symptoms. When a diagnosis of chronic hypothyroidism is confirmed, treatment with laevothyroxine is started, the initial dose being adjusted to the age and general condition of the patient, and the duration and severity of hypothyroidism. As a rule, full thyroxine replacement therapy should bring the serum TSH level into the normal range. In central hypothyroidism, laevothyroxine treatment is similar, but pituitary function must be evaluated and, if necessary, corticosteroid replacement be instituted before laevothyroxine treatment is started.


Background We present our experience in the treatment of patients with isthmic or degenerative spondylolisthesis, by means of a posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) and instrumented posterolateral fusion (IPLF), and we compare them with those published in the literature. We analyse whether there exists any statistical association between the clinical characteristics of the patient, radiological characteristics of the disease and our surgical technique, with the complications and the clinical-radiological prognosis of the cases. Method We designed a prospective study. A total of 36 cases were operated. The patients included were 14 men and 22 women, with an average age of 57.17±27.32 years. Our technique consists of PLIF+IPLF, using local bone for the fusion. The clinical results were evaluated with the Visual Analogical Scale (VAS) and the Kirkaldy-Willis criteria. The radiological evaluation followed the Bratingan (PLIF) and Lenke (IPLF) methodology. A total of 42 variables were statistically analysed by means of SPSS18. We used the Paired Student's T-test, logistic regression and Pearson's Chi-square-test. Results The spondylolisthesis was isthmic in 15 cases and degenerative in 21 cases. The postoperative evaluations had excellent or good results in 94.5% (n=34), with a statistically significant improvement in the back pain and sciatica (p<0.01). The rate of circumferential fusion reached was approximately 92 %.We had 13.88% of transitory morbility and 0% of mortality associated with our technique. A greater age, degree of listhesis or length of illness before the intervention, weakly correlated with worse clinical results (p< -0.2). In our series, the logistical regression showed that the clinical characteristics of the patient, radiological characteristics of the lesion and our surgical technique were not associated with greater postoperative complications. Conclusion Although a higher level of training is necessary, we believe that the described technique is a very effective decision in cases of spondylolisthesis, isthmic or degenerative, refractory to conservative treatment, for the obtaining the best clinical results and rates of fusion, with similar risks to those of the other published techniques. Our statistical analysis could contribute to improve outcomes after surgery. keywords: Spondylolisthesis, instrumented posterolateral fusion, posterior lumbar interbody fusion, spinal fusion, cages Volume 9 Article 22 doi: 10.14444/2022


The primary purpose of the study is to forecast the exchange rate of Indian Rupees against the US Dollar by combining the three univariate time series models i.e., ARMA/ARIMA, exponential smoothing model, Naïve and one non-linear multivariate model i.e., NARDL. For this purpose, the authors choose the monthly data of exchange rate and macro-economic fundamentals i.e., trade balance, federal reserves, money supply, GDP, inflation rate and interest rate over the period from January 2011 to December 2020. The data from January 2020 to December 2020 are held back for the purpose of in-sample forecasting. By applying all the models individually and combinedly, the NARDL model out performs other individual and combined models with the least MAPE value of 0.6653. It is the evidence that the Indian Rupee may forecast through non-linear analysis of macro- economic fundamentals rather than single univariate models. The findings will be beneficial for the policy makers, FOREX market, traders, tourists and other financial markets.


Proteins are some of the most versatile and studied macromolecules with extensive biomedical applications. The natural and biological origin of proteins offer such materials several advantages over their synthetic counterparts, such as innate bioactivity, recognition by cells and reduced immunogenic potential. Furthermore, proteins can be easily functionalized by altering their primary amino acid sequence and can often be further self-assembled into higher order structures either spontaneously or under specific environmental conditions. This review will feature the recent advances in protein-based biomaterials in the delivery of therapeutic cargo such as small molecules, genetic material, proteins, and cells. First, we will discuss the ways in which secondary structural motifs, the building blocks of more complex proteins, have unique properties that enable them to be useful for therapeutic delivery. Next, supramolecular assemblies, such as fibers, nanoparticles, and hydrogels, made from these building blocks that are engineered to behave in a cohesive manner, are discussed. Finally, we will cover additional modifications to protein materials that impart environmental responsiveness to materials. This includes the emerging field of protein molecular robots, and relatedly, protein-based theranostic materials that combine therapeutic potential with modern imaging modalities, including near-infrared fluorescence spectroscopy, single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography, positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound/photoacoustic imaging.


At present, many studies focusing the steady-state behaviour of the UPFC, mainly in radial systems, have been carried out. However, there is a little literature examining its effect and interaction with the network. The present paper initially shows a brief analysis of both the series injected voltage and the shunt reactive current, which is based upon the dq-coordinates. Thereafter, the UPFC capability for controlling the transmittable power flow in a transmission line, where it has been implemented, and its simultaneous effect and control over an inflexible parallel line, are analysed. The simulations performed ratify the UPFC capability in increasing and modifying the power flow through a specific route. The EMTP program constituted the main tool for most of the results shown along the work.


Abstract. The errors and uncertainties associated with gap-filling algorithms of
water, carbon, and energy fluxes data have always been one of the main
challenges of the global network of microclimatological tower sites that use the eddy covariance (EC) technique. To address these concerns and find more efficient gap-filling algorithms, we reviewed eight algorithms to estimate missing values of environmental drivers and nine algorithms for
the three major fluxes typically found in EC time series. We then examined
the algorithms' performance for different gap-filling scenarios utilising
the data from five EC towers during 2013. This research's objectives were (a) to evaluate the impact of the gap lengths on the performance of each
algorithm and (b) to compare the performance of traditional and new
gap-filling techniques for the EC data, for fluxes, and separately for their corresponding meteorological drivers. The algorithms' performance was
evaluated by generating nine gap windows with different lengths, ranging
from a day to 365 d. In each scenario, a gap period was chosen randomly,
and the data were removed from the dataset accordingly. After running each
scenario, a variety of statistical metrics were used to evaluate the
algorithms' performance. The algorithms showed different levels of
sensitivity to the gap lengths; the Prophet Forecast Model (FBP) revealed
the most sensitivity, whilst the performance of artificial neural networks (ANNs), for instance, did not vary as much by changing the gap length. The algorithms' performance generally decreased with increasing the gap length, yet the differences were not significant for windows smaller than 30 d. No significant differences between the algorithms were recognised for the meteorological and environmental drivers. However, the linear algorithms showed slight superiority over those of machine learning (ML), except the random forest (RF) algorithm estimating the ground heat flux (root mean square errors – RMSEs – of 28.91 and 33.92 for RF and classic linear regression – CLR, respectively). However, for the major fluxes, ML algorithms and the MDS showed superiority over the other algorithms. Even though ANNs, random forest (RF), and eXtreme Gradient Boost (XGB) showed comparable performance in gap-filling of the major fluxes, RF provided more consistent results with slightly less bias against the other ML algorithms. The results indicated no single algorithm that outperforms in all situations, but the RF is a potential alternative for the MDS and ANNs as regards flux gap-filling.


Diminutive marvels of artistry and fine craftsmanship, portrait miniatures reveal a wealth of information within their small frames. They can tell tales of cultural history and biography, of people and their passions, of evolving tastes in jewelry, fashion, hairstyles, and the decorative arts. Unlike many other genres, miniatures have a tradition in which amateurs and professionals have operated in parallel and women artists have flourished as professionals. This richly illustrated book presents approximately 180 portrait miniatures selected from the holdings of the Cincinnati Art Museum, the largest and most diverse collection of its kind in North America. The book stresses the continuity of stylistic tradition across Europe and America as well as the vitality of the portrait miniature format through more than four centuries. A detailed catalogue entry, as well as a concise artist biography, appears for each object. Essays examine various aspects of miniature painting, of the depiction of costume in miniatures, and of the allied art of hair work.


Brain anatomy and physiology support the human ability to navigate a complex space of perceptions and actions. To maneuver across an ever-changing landscape of mental states, the brain invokes cognitive control – a set of dynamic processes that engage and disengage different sets of brain regions to modulate attention, switch between tasks, and inhibit prepotent responses. Current theory suggests that cooperative and competitive interactions between brain areas may mediate processes of network reorganization that support transitions between dynamical states. In this study, we used a quantitative approach to identify distinct topological states of functional interactions and examine how their expression relates to cognitive control processes and behavior. In particular, we acquired fMRI BOLD signal in twenty–eight healthy subjects as they performed two cognitive control tasks – a local-global perception switching task using Navon figures and a Stroop interference task – each with low cognitive control demand and high cognitive control demand conditions. Based on these data, we constructed dynamic functional brain networks and used a parts-based network decomposition technique called non-negative matrix factorization to identify putative cognitive control subgraphs whose temporal expression captured key dynamical states involved in control processes. Our results demonstrate that the temporal expression of these functional subgraphs reflect cognitive demands and are associated with individual differences in task-based performance. These findings offer insight into how coordinated changes in the cooperative and competitive roles of distributed brain networks map trajectories between cognitively demanding brain states.


The Herpetologists' League is pleased to recognize the following student members for their winning research proposals in the 2021 E.E. Williams Research Grant competition. Behavior.—Anna Tipton, Georgia College and State University, ''An integrated approach for evaluating the effects of landscape features on spatial strategies and activity patterns in snakes: Case study with timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) and roadways.'' Conservation.—Erin Allison, West Liberty University, ''Evaluating the effectiveness of conservation messaging strategies in increasing positive human perceptions of rattlesnakes.'' Ecology.—Grascen Shidemantle, Binghamton University, ''Impact of light at night on larval amphibian pigmentation and predator-prey interactions.'' Evolution & Diversity.—Valeria Ramı́rez-Castañeda, University of California, Berkeley, ''Multiple toxin-resistance mechanisms in response to complex chemical defenses.'' Physiology & Functional Morphology.—Helen Plylar, Utah State University, ''Neural crest involvement in peripheral growth of the trigeminal nerve and development of the pit organs in Antaresia childreni.''


: A retrospective study of 316 patients (173 men, 143 women; mean age 39 [17-87] years) who had taken antiepileptics (phenytoin, phenobarbital, carbamazepine, valproic acid) for at least six months, was carried out to assess the biochemical and haematological changes in relation to the drug used, the therapeutic programme and the drug serum levels. The most frequent change was isolated elevation of gamma-GT (9-89% of cases depending on the drug), followed by elevation of alkaline phosphatase (16-44%). Increases in the transaminases GOT (4-13%) and GPT (4-19%) were infrequent and minor. Changes in the blood picture were very infrequent and never more than minimal. Correlation between all these changes and serum drug levels was poor (r less than 0.15). Correlations between drug serum level and dose were found in the case of phenobarbital (r = 0.6) and valproic acid (r = 0.5). There was hence no evidence of any clear connection between the biochemical findings and the serum concentrations of antiepileptic drugs or their-dosage. The results indicate that undue importance has previously been attached to routine checks of biochemical parameters; abnormal biochemical findings by themselves are not usually enough to necessitate changes in treatment. Determination of biochemical and haematological parameters is necessary only if there are clinical grounds for it such as suspicion of side effects, the occurrence of epileptic attacks despite therapy, or change from one drug to another.


The aim of this study was to develop a new discriminatory method for MRSA SCCmec typing based on multiplex PCR-based reverse line-blot hybridization (mPCR/RLB) assay to enable rapid identification and classification of MRSA SCCmec types in a clinical laboratory. Forty-five primer sets and 49 probes were designed and tested in uniplex PCR (uPCR) and mPCR/RLB. Probes were compared in silico to 14 whole-genome sequences and 18 partial SCCmec gene sequences of Staphylococcus aureus and complete genome and partial SCCmec genes of seven non-MRSA strains, including meticillin-susceptible S. aureus and meticillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci. The method was tested on a set of 42 well-characterized reference MRSA strains. It identified all five epidemiologically relevant SCCmec types and 26 subtypes, including established and new subtypes of SCCmec III, IV (eight subtypes each) and V (three subtypes). The discriminatory power of mPCR/RLB SCCmec typing was similar to that of MLST and spa typing (Simpson indices of diversity of 0.916, 0.926 and 0.882, respectively; differences not statistically significant). The application of mPCR/RLB hybridization assay to MRSA SCCmec typing can improve the specificity, discriminatory power and throughput of the typing procedure. The detection of up to 43 mPCR products in a single hybridization assay transforms MRSA SCCmec typing from passive epidemiological library typing into a potential tool for near-real-time infection control surveillance and tracking of MRSA transmission in hospitals.


Eggplants (Solanum melongena) is known for its weak root system and for the particular sensitivity towards different stressors such as heat, water stress, nutritional stress. Therefore, is extremely important to obtain eggplants seedlings with balanced growth and development, but especially with a strong root system and increased capacity of adaptation to different conditions of stress. This paper presents the results of some researches related to foliar bioactive substance treatment of eggplants seedling with Spraygard 1%, Razormin 0.1% and BAC Foliar Spray 0.3%. The treatments were performed in two distinct stages of development: at one, respectively three weeks after the seedlings transplantation. Analysis of the acquired data indicated that 0.1% Razormin treatment showed the best results in obtaining of eggplants seedlings with a strong roots systems and a good development. These results are supported by physiological and biochemical processes, which were intensely expressed at the plants in this experimental variant. Also good results in terms of quality seedlings were obtained when treated with BAC Foliar Spray 0.3% and in the case of simple application of adjuvant Spraygard 1%.


A tournament is a simultaneous n-player game that is built on a two-player game g. We generalize Arad and Rubinstein's model assuming that every player meets each of his opponents twice to play a (possibly) asymmetric game g in alternating roles (using sports terminology, once "at home" and once "away"). The winner of the tournament is the player who attains the highest total score, which is given by the sum of the payoffs that he gets in all the matches he plays. We explore the relationship between the equilibria of the tournament and the equilibria of the game g. We prove that limit points of equilibria of tournaments as the number of players goes to infinity are equilibria of g. Such a refinement criterion is satisfied by strict equilibria. Being able to analyze arbitrary two-player games allows us to study meaningful economic applications that are not symmetric, such as the ultimatum game.


Very few techniques have been proposed for estimating traffic matrices in the context of Internet traffic. Our work on POP-to-POP traffic matrices (TM) makes two contributions. The primary contribution is the outcome of a detailed comparative evaluation of the three existing techniques. We evaluate these methods with respect to the estimation errors yielded, sensitivity to prior information required and sensitivity to the statistical assumptions they make. We study the impact of characteristics such as path length and the amount of link sharing on the estimation errors. Using actual data from a Tier-1 backbone, we assess the validity of the typical assumptions needed by the TM estimation techniques. The secondary contribution of our work is the proposal of a new direction for TM estimation based on using choice models to model POP fanouts. These models allow us to overcome some of the problems of existing methods because they can incorporate additional data and information about POPs and they enable us to make a fundamentally different kind of modeling assumption. We validate this approach by illustrating that our modeling assumption matches actual Internet data well. Using two initial simple models we provide a proof of concept showing that the incorporation of knowledge of POP features (such as total incoming bytes, number of customers, etc.) can reduce estimation errors. Our proposed approach can be used in conjunction with existing or future methods in that it can be used to generate good priors that serve as inputs to statistical inference techniques.


BACKGROUND
Morningness and eveningness preference (chronotype), an endogenous component of the circadian clock could play a key role in a worker's ability for adjusting to shift work. Morning types are those individuals who prefer going to bed and waking up early, whereas Evening types tend to sleep at later hours and find it difficult to get up in the morning.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to survey, the relationship between morningness-eveningness type, sleep quality and insomnia in shift worker nurses.

PARTICIPANTS
The participants comprised 160 nurses working in three different wards in two university hospitals in Iran.

METHODS
Nurses completed the Horne and Ostberg questionnaire to assess the distribution of morningness or eveningness preference, the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and Insomnia Severity Index questionnaire to measure self reported sleep quality and insomnia. Demographic information was also collected in order to explore the relationship between circadian rhythms, sleep quality and prevalence of insomnia in shift workers.

RESULTS
The results showed that the prevalence of poor sleep quality was high. More than half of the participants had poor sleep. Evening type nurses had worse sleep quality in our study (P < 0.05). There is not any significant association between the shift type and age of the nurses with their quality of sleep (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The results suggested that nurses who had a morning sleep preference had better sleep quality. A survey of chronotype of nurses could be useful, so that individuals may be assigned to different shifts according to their sleep preference.


RACHMAWATI, S., DARMONO, and Z. ARIFIN. 1999. Effects of zinc and calcium minerals intake on cadmium accumulation in the liver of broiler chicken. Jurnal Ilmu Ternak dan Veteriner 4(3):209-214. Cadmium is a heavy metal which can accumulate in animal tissues, may have an effect the growth of chicken, causes a residual problems and is danger for human consumption. Study on evaluating the effect of mineral zinc (Zn) and calcium (Ca) intake on cadmium (Cd ) accumulation in the liver of broilers and their growth was carried out. One hundred and eighty of day old chicks (DOC) were divided into 6 groups, group I was used as control, group II, III, IV, V and VI were given feed containing of 5 ppm Cd, 5 ppm Cd and 10 ppm Zn, 5 ppm Cd and 15 ppm Zn, 5 ppm Cd and 10 ppm Ca, 5 ppm Cd and 15 ppm Ca respectively in their feed. Cd, Zn and Ca were added as CdCl2, ZnCl2 and CaCl2. During the experiment, at week -0, -1,-2,-3 and -4, five chickens from each group were weighed and then they were slaughtered and livers were collected. The liver samples were analyzed for Cd content by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The result indicated that Cd exposed to chickens caused the accumulation of that Cd in their liver. The addition of 15 ppm Zn in feed reduced the accumulation of Cd in liver significantly (P<0.05). However the addition of Ca in chicken feed gave greater effect in reducing the Cd accumulation in liver compared to that of Zn supplementation. 10 ppm Ca and 15 ppm Ca in chicken feed caused the accumulation of Cd in liver chicken significantly decreased (P<0.05). Ca supplementation also caused of increasing body weight of chickens. The body weight of five weeks old chickens given 15 ppm Ca in their feed as in average of 1,820 grams is higher than that of chickens in control group, which was 1,761 grams. Whereas the body weight of chickens in group IV, which was given with 15 ppm Zn in their diet was in average of 1,745 grams. It was concluded that Zn and Ca can reduce the accumulation of Cd in broiler chicken liver.


We present in this paper a framework embracing different aspects involved in COTS component selection that influence the success of this activity. Playing a crucial role in this framework appears the concept of quality model, aimed at structuring the description of the quality of COTS components. We propose a methodology for building quality models based on the ISO/IEC 9126-1 standard which allows to create hierarchies of models appropriate for categories and domains of COTS components, and also for particular contexts of COTS selection activities. Such quality models facilitate the expression and refinement of quality requirements during COTS selection. We present also a formal notation for expressing these quality models, the quality requirements and the product descriptions themselves; the notation supports model analysis and makes feasible tool support during COTS selection. Last, we enumerate at the conclusions some issues matter of current and future research.


Background/Purpose: Conjoined twins are rare and complex anomalies of the newborn. It is reported in 1/50.000 to 1/100.000 live births. The aim of the study was to summarize the experiences gained during separation of 5 sets of conjoined twins with presentation of literature review. Materials & Methods: During the period from January 2003 to June 2009, 5 sets of Conjoined twins had been separated during the first month of life. Two sets were symmetrical while the other 3 sets were asymmetrical. Results: Urgent separation of 3 sets of conjoined twins had been performed due to respiratory embarrassment. Elective surgery was performed for the case presented as fetus in fetu and the case of thoraco- omphalopagus twins in which the shared liver was divided between both babies. The short term postoperative follow up revealed uneventful course of 6 children resulting from separation of 5 sets of conjoined twins. Conclusion: Parasitic twins and twins with sever anomalies incompatible with life in one of them are considered to be one person. Timing of separation and separation plan should be individualized according to the need of urgent separation and the degree of organ fusion. Index Word: conjoined twins, management, neonatal period.


Public debt is one of the most important macroeconomic indicators due to its impact on the economy of each country. Literature suggests that the effect varies in each country depending on the level of economic development and situation. Public debt will have a direct impact on a country's economic growth, but there are contrasting opinions amongst economists regarding the use of public debt, particularly in situations of distress and in developing countries. Albania is a country that would be in need of a decrease of the debt/GDP ratio. This can be done through a stimulation of the economy rather than a decrease of the public debt. The empirical analysis shows that the increase on real public debt can negatively influence the GDP, yet, we do not observe a specific level above which the effects worsened. Instead, we notie that whenever the public debt was increasing, the cost of debt would sometimes decrease because the governments substitutes the debt borrowed from second tier banks with debt borrowed from the IMF.


BACKGROUND
Removing subgingival plaque and calculus is a major goal of periodontal treatment. Few attempts have been made to evaluate the use of lasers for root surface debridement in periodontal therapy. The aim of the present study was to compare, histologically, the effects of hand instrumentation, ultrasonic instrumentation, and CO2 lasers on the root surfaces of teeth treated in situ.

METHODS
A total of 33 teeth scheduled for extraction due to severe periodontal disease were divided into three groups. In the first group, teeth were treated by ultrasonic bactericidal curettage (UBC) with an ultrasonic scaler; in the second group, teeth were treated by hand instrumentation; and in the third group, after hand instrumentation, roots were lased by a CO2 laser. The samples were then processed for histological examination.

RESULTS
In the first and second groups, plaque and calculus were present in interradicular septa, lacunae, and surface concavities. In the third group, surfaces of specimens treated by a low-power defocused CO2 laser showed areas devoid of cementum, with completely sealed dentinal tubules, and no bacterial cell remnants.

CONCLUSIONS
The CO2 laser treatment, used at low power and in the defocused mode, combined with traditional mechanical instrumentation, could improve root surface debridement of periodontally involved teeth. More extensive, long-term studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.


Future advanced driver assistance systems will contain multiple sensors that are used for several applications, such as highly automated driving on freeways. The problem is that the sensors are usually asynchronous and their data possibly out-of-sequence, making fusion of the sensor data non-trivial. This paper presents a novel approach to track-to-track fusion for automotive applications with asynchronous and out-of-sequence sensors using information matrix fusion. This approach solves the problem of correlation between sensor data due to the common process noise and common track history, which eliminates the need to replace the global track estimate with the fused local estimate at each fusion cycle. The information matrix fusion approach is evaluated in simulation and its performance demonstrated using real sensor data on a test vehicle designed for highly automated driving on freeways.


An organized community numbering 1563 men aged 20 to 59 years engaged in scientific activity were entered into an experimental and prophylactic study. The intervention measures were exercised in a high risk group with dyslipoproteinemia, borderline hypertension and coronary heart disease (CHD), mainly at the expense of alterations in nutrition. The three-year prophylaxis resulted in a 7-percent decrease in blood plasma cholesterol and a 13-percent fall in triglycerides. The prevalence of arterial hypertension declined by 3 and the excess body weight by 3.7 percent, which led to a 33-percent decrease in CHD risk development calculated with the aid of the R. P. Prochorskas risk logistic function. Advantages of the individual strategy of CHD prevention are discussed.


Abstract. Adopting soil and crop management practices that conserve or enhance soil structure is critical for supporting the sustainable adaptation of agriculture to climate change, as it should help maintain agricultural production in the face of increasing drought or water excess without impairing environmental quality. In this paper, we evaluate the evidence for this assertion by synthesizing the results of 34 published meta-analyses of the effects of such practices on soil physical and hydraulic properties relevant for climate change adaptation in European agriculture. We also review an additional 127 meta-analyses that investigated synergies and trade-offs or help to explain the effects of soil and crop management in terms of the underlying processes and mechanisms. Finally, we identify how responses to alternative soil–crop management systems vary under contrasting agro-environmental conditions across Europe. This information may help practitioners and policymakers to draw context-specific conclusions concerning the efficacy of management practices as climate adaptation tools. Our synthesis demonstrates that organic soil amendments and the adoption of practices that maintain "continuous living cover" result in significant benefits for the water regulation function of soils, mostly arising from the additional carbon inputs to soil and the stimulation of biological processes. These effects are clearly related to improved soil aggregation and enhanced bio-porosity, both of which reduce surface runoff and increase infiltration. One potentially negative consequence of these systems is a reduction in soil water storage and groundwater recharge, which may be problematic in dry climates. Some important synergies are reductions in nitrate leaching to groundwater and greenhouse gas emissions for nonleguminous cover crop systems. The benefits of reducing tillage intensity appear much less clear-cut. Increases in soil bulk density due to traffic compaction are commonly reported. However, biological activity is enhanced under reduced tillage intensity, which should improve soil structure and infiltration capacity and reduce surface runoff and the losses of agro-chemicals to surface water. However, the evidence for these beneficial effects is inconclusive, while significant trade-offs include yield penalties and increases in greenhouse gas emissions and the risks of leaching of pesticides and nitrate. Our synthesis also highlights important knowledge gaps on the effects of management practices on root growth and transpiration. Thus, conclusions related to the impacts of management on the crop water supply and other water regulation functions are necessarily based on inferences derived from proxy variables. Based on these knowledge gaps, we outlined several key avenues for future research on this topic.


Artificial neural network (ANN) is a very useful tool in solving learning problems. Boosting the performances of ANN can be mainly concluded from two aspects: optimizing the architecture of ANN and normalizing the raw data for ANN. In this paper, a novel method which improves the effects of ANN by preprocessing the raw data is proposed. It totally leverages the fact that different features should play different roles. The raw data set is firstly preprocessed by principle component analysis (PCA), and then its principle components are weighted by their corresponding eigenvalues. Several aspects of analysis are carried out to analyze its theory and the applicable occasions. Three classification problems are launched by an active learning algorithm to verify the proposed method. From the empirical results, conclusion comes to the fact that the proposed method can significantly improve the performance of ANN.


Mutations in human prostate tumors impair degradation of a protein that helps cancer cells invade into surrounding tissue. Cancer genome sequencing projects have uncovered a multitude of mutations in human tumors. Understanding whether and how these mutations contribute to tumor development and progression could ultimately lead to new therapies. Theurillat et al. studied SPOP, the protein product of a gene that is recurrently mutated in prostate cancer. Normally, SPOP helps attach ubiquitin to proteins, tagging them for degradation. The new work shows that the tumor-associated mutant SPOP loses this tagging ability, which results in the stabilization of specific proteins that would otherwise be degraded. One of the most intriguing of these proteins was DEK, which helps prostate cancer cells invade into surrounding tissue. J.-P. P. Theurillat, N. D. Udeshi, W. J. Errington, T. Svinkina, S. C. Baca, M. Pop, P. J. Wild, M. Blattner, A. C. Groner, M. A. Rubin, H. Moch, G. G. Privé, S. A. Carr, L. A. Garraway, Ubiquitylome analysis identifies dysregulation of effector substrates in SPOP-mutant prostate cancer. Science 346, 85–89 (2014). [Abstract] [Full Text]


This book is an examination of nuclear weapons policy options in light of recent declared changes in Soviet military strategy. David B. Myers addresses the question: How should the United States respond to the fact that the Soviet Union has thousands of nuclear weapons aimed at the American homeland? He points out that even if a Soviet-American treaty cutting strategic weapons by fifty percent becomes a reality, this question will remain compelling. Given the current climate of glasnost, US. strategy now must carefully be rethought. Myers' discussion provides an explanation of essential policy alternatives, the major arguments for each, and criteria for evaluating all proposals. In an effort to make the security options more accessible to readers, Myers draws an original analogy between four criminal correction theories and four major policy options.Nuclear deterrence strategy is compared to the theory of criminal deterrence; strategic defense, to social defense; conventional defense, to retribution; and civilian-based defense, to rehabilitation. He evaluates each policy by means of seven criteria: coherence, moral defensibility, legal defensibility, technical feasibility, affordability, adequacy vis-a-vis Soviet policy, and value for disaster avoidance. This work in applied philosophy clearly provides readers specialists as well as generalists with technical information, policy alternatives, and criteria to evaluate competing answers to one of the most crucial questions facing our nation. David B. Myers, Professor of Philosophy at Moorhead State University, is the author of "Between Marx and Nietzsche".


Most MAP inference algorithms for CRFs optimize an energy function knowing all the potentials. In this paper, we focus on CRFs where the computational cost of instantiating the potentials is orders of magnitude higher than MAP inference. This is often the case in semantic image segmentation, where most potentials are instantiated by slow classifiers fed with costly features. We introduce Active MAP inference 1) to on-the-fly select a subset of potentials to be instantiated in the energy function, leaving the rest of the parameters of the potentials unknown, and 2) to estimate the MAP labeling from such incomplete energy function. Results for semantic segmentation benchmarks, namely PASCAL VOC 2010 and MSRC-21, show that Active MAP inference achieves similar levels of accuracy but with major efficiency gains.


. It is possible to quantify the damage to reinforced concrete members under cyclic loading through a nondimensional parameter known as a "damage index". The damage index can be either a global damage index for the total structure, or a local damage index for the element level. In this paper, a new damage model termed "equivalent ductility damage model" has been suggested for evaluation of the damage index, which is consistent with accepted definitions of ductility. Substructure method was applied to verify the suggested new damage model. A total of 3 identical half-scale reinforced concrete columns were tested under variable amplitude cyclic loading up to the ultimate failure of the specimens. The imposed displacement histories were obtained from analytical simulations of the model column subjected to a series of earthquakes. Test observations indicate that the proposed model predicts 100 percent damage at the ultimate failure state of the element. The proposed damage index model can be extended to other structural elements, such as shear walls, beams, beam-column junctions, etc.


CuCl thin films grown on (100) Si by thermal evaporation are studied by means of low temperature photoluminescence (PL) and reflectance spectroscopies. Spatially and wavelength resolved room temperature cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging of the surface of the CuCl samples in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) has also been performed.

Investigation of the effect of mixing KCl with the CuCl has been performed. The samples produced by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) machine use this element to lower the boiling point of CuCl so it is important to understand the effect they have on the resultant thin films. P-type doping has also been performed with oxygen.

Characterisation of these doped and undoped γ-CuCl samples has been performed. Reflectance and X-ray diffraction measurements show the effect the oxygen doping has on the structural and optical properties of the material. The exciton positions in the undoped samples have been repeatable, but deteriorate as oxygen doping levels increase. A suitable capping method for use in x-ray diffraction has been found. Nail varnish applied to the samples was shown to prevent structural decay of the
CuCl thin films due to their hygroscopic nature.

Cathodoluminescence work on undoped and doped samples (doped with both oxygen and KCl) has been performed showing the effect of these techniques on the electrical properties. Digital CL has also been performed, but with limited results due to the low resolution of the digital CL camera.

EDX has been used to analyse the atomic structure of the thin film samples. Traces of K were found in the KCl-CuCl samples with little change in the Cl levels. This gives further credence to the idea that the K+ atom within the material is responsible for the increase in conductance produced by KCl doping.

The Reflectance of the various CuCl samples was tested at different angles of incidence using a Deuterium light source. The reflectance spectra are modelled using a dielectric response function with various models involving dead layers and reflected waves in the thin film and the exciton-polariton structure obtained is compared to other
studies of CuCl. The modelling is shown to match the experimental data quite well with the dead layer having little effect on the modelled spectra. KCl-CuCl samples prove to have a consistently higher reflectance signal than undoped CuCl.

Photoluminescence (PL) tests of doped CuCl reveal the emergence of an unknown peak centred at 3.187 eV. This peak has not been previously identified to the best of our knowledge and steadily increases to become the maximum in the PL spectrum as doping levels are increased. A combination of PL and reflectance scans have been used to locate an ideal doping level which provides p-type doping attribute of CuCl without a corresponding significant decrease in the optical properties. This ideal region is between 3-4 minutes of exposure at the settings detailed herein.


The performance of a high-bit-rate lightwave transmission system which uses a dc-operated semiconductor laser with external modulation may be affected by intrinsic intensity fluctuations in the laser output. The effect of such random variations in the transmitted optical pulse stream on the average probability of error is determined. The results indicate that while the effect of the intensity fluctuations is strongly influenced by the average gain of the photodetector, these random variations are not a serious source of transmission errors at a bit rate of 8 Gbit/s.


An anionic conjugated polyelectrolyte poly[(9,9-bis(4-sulfonatobutyl sodium) fluorene-alt-phenylene)-ran-(4,7-di-2-thienyl-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-alt-phenylene)] which exhibits good solubility in water was synthesised via Suzuki-cross coupling. This conjugated polyelectrolyte was used as an additive in the hole transporting layer within organic photovoltaic devices. There is an efficiency gain as a result of an improved carrier generation and charge transport across the interface into the hole transport layer when the work function of the hole transport later is well matched to the active layer of the solar cell. The best performances were achieved using 5 mg ml−1 of the polyelectrolyte additive added to the hole transport layer solution in which case the average power conversion efficiency increased from 4.63% for reference devices without any additive to 5.26% when the additive is present which is a 13% improvement. The reproducibility of device performance was also significantly improved with the variation in fill factor, short circuit current and open circuit voltage all improving when the additive is present.


 A Rules Based Algorithm for Self-Organizing Virtual Sensors Malena Mesarina, Devaraj Das, John Recker HP Laboratories HPL-2006-101R1 sensor networks; self-organizing; virtual sensors Current methods of programming sensor nodes require individual programming of sensors, impeding their usage in practical industry applications. In this paper, we present a methodology that allows sensors to be programmed based on functionality, providing a higher level of abstraction to applications. Our method enables sensors to self-organize into collaborative clusters via organization rules and behavior scripts. The rules describe required sensor attributes and the behavior scripts are the programs for each sensor type. The rules and scripts are disseminated to the network and a distributed algorithm determines the clusters, as well as when to spawn and kill behavior scripts. In addition, the system is adaptive to changes in sensors and location, as well as scalable. External Posting Date: March 21, 2013 [Fulltext] Approved for External Publication Internal Posting Date: July 21, 2006 [Fulltext]


PART OF THE JONES & BARTLETT LEARNING INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY & ASSURANCE SERIES Series meets all standards put forth by CNSS 4011 & 4013A! Access control protects resources against unauthorized viewing, tampering, or destruction. They serve as a primary means of ensuring privacy, confidentiality, and prevention of unauthorized disclosure. Revised and updated with the latest data from this fast paced field, Access Control, Authentication, and Public Key Infrastructure defines the components of access control, provides a business framework for implementation, and discusses legal requirements that impact access control programs. It looks at the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities prevalent in information systems and IT infrastructures and how to handle them. It provides a student and professional resource that details how to put access control systems to work as well as testing and managing them. New to the Second Edition: Updated references to Windows 8 and Outlook 2011 A new discussion of recent Chinese hacking incidence Examples depicting the risks associated with a missing unencrypted laptop containing private data. New sections on the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and granting Windows folder permissions are added. New information on the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).


This paper presents a case study that explores the impact of a re-engineering project on a Small to Medium Enterprise in the United Kingdom. The business operates within the wetstock management sector and represents a number of large multi-national corporations. The services provided by the business enable their clients to make informed strategic and operational decisions. It is therefore critical that the business is efficient in producing timely and accurate feedback to its customers. Through a regular review process, issues were identified in a key area of the business that impacted upon the time taken to complete essential tasks. The underlying reasons for this inefficiency were analysed and, through the Agile software engineering methodology, a solution was designed to resolve these issues. The paper identifies the benefits that were achieved through the implementation of the re-engineered processes; some expected and others unexpected positive side-effects. The paper concludes by reflecting upon the longer term outcomes that the business has experienced since the project commenced.


A post-processing adjustment technique to enhance dual-frequency second-order ultrasound field (SURF) reverberation-noise suppression imaging in medical ultrasound is analyzed. Two variant methods are investigated through numerical simulations. They both solely involve post-processing of the propagated high-frequency (HF) imaging wave fields, which in real-time imaging corresponds to post-processing of the beamformed receive radio-frequency signals. Hence, the transmit pulse complexes are the same as for the previously published SURF reverberation-suppression imaging method. The adjustment technique is tested on simulated data from propagation of SURF pulse complexes consisting of a 3.5-MHz HF imaging pulse added to a 0.5-MHz low-frequency sound-speed manipulation pulse. Imaging transmit beams are constructed with and without adjustment. The post-processing involves filtering, e.g., by a time-shift, to equalize the two SURF HF pulses at a chosen depth. This depth is typically chosen to coincide with the depth where the first scattering or reflection occurs for the reverberation noise one intends to suppress. The beams realized with post-processing show energy decrease at the chosen depth, especially for shallow depths where, in a medical imaging situation, a body-wall is often located. This indicates that the post-processing may further enhance the reverberation- suppression abilities of SURF imaging. Moreover, it is shown that the methods might be utilized to reduce the accumulated near-field energy of the SURF transmit-beam relative to its imaging region energy. The adjustments presented may therefore potentially be utilized to attain a slightly better general suppression of multiple scattering and multiple reflection noise compared with non-adjusted SURF reverberation-suppression imaging.


The objective of this literature study is to summarise the present situation and future prospects of digital printing technologies and markets, to review the existing publicly available information on the environmental impacts of digital printing, and to present suitable indicators for assessing the environmental performance of digital printing. Digital printing methods have developed considerably in recent years, both in terms of quality and productivity. New products based on the variable data printing capability of digital printing have been introduced. Digital methods have also taken market share from mechanical printing methods in the on-demand and short-run production of traditional products. The market share of digital printing will continue to increase in the future. There is little published research on the environmental impacts of digital printing. The analysed literature indicates that digital methods have a higher energy and ink/toner consumption than mechanical methods, but their chemicals and water consumption and waste output are lower. Paper consumption and emissions to air are difficult to assess due to the lack of data. More research is needed to obtain a better and more reliable understanding. Environmental indicators used in earlier studies of printing can be used for digital printing as well. These include physical and monetary input and output figures like energy and materials consumption, emissions and waste output. The suitable functional units are the weight and the surface area of products, e.g. tonne of printed products or million duplex printed A4 sheets.


a remission of her psychosis, which reappeared when the drug was stopped. From this followed a trial in 13 cases of acute psychoses of varying aetiology, from which he and his team concluded that the symptoms of psychoses are attributable to hyperactivity of the betaadrenergic system in the brain. There have been attempts at treatment with beta-blockers by other research teams, which have produced spectacular results in some hands2 and dubiety so far as schizophrenic illness is concerned in others.' Here one cannot rule out, in using such high doses, the possibility of a membranestabilising effect; but the doses used by Steinhert and Pugh4 were much lower.


There is a low financial credit take among youth in Uganda because potential beneficiaries perceive the associated risk as high. This study assesses the determinants of entrepreneurial risk tolerance among Ugandan youth using experimental data from a randomised control trial and a real-life investment risk experiment. The intervention consists of credit-counselling and sector-specific business training for young men and women aged 18-35 years who own a business to inform them about the obligations and commitments associated with financial credit. The intervention has a significant impact on the demand for credit and related intermediate outcomes such as the ownership of a bank account and the investment in assets. The study finds that the youth actually exhibit lower demand for credit after the business training. This is attributed to an increased awareness of the actual risk associated with taking out credit. The findings of this research reinforce national strategies to promote soft skills for business entrepreneurship, extending beyond the standard business training.


Nanocrystalline biological apatites constitute the mineral phase of vertebrate bone and teeth. Beyond their central importance to the mechanical function of our skeleton, their extraordinarily large surface acts as the most important ion exchanger for essential and toxic ions in our body. However, the nanoscale structural and chemical complexity of apatite-based mineralized tissues is a formidable challenge to quantitative imaging. For example, even energy-filtered electron microscopy is not suitable for detection of small quantities of low atomic number elements typical for biological materials. Herein we show that laser-pulsed atom probe tomography, a technique that combines subnanometer spatial resolution with unbiased chemical sensitivity, is uniquely suited to the task. Common apatite end members share a number of features, but can clearly be distinguished by their spectrometric fingerprint. This fingerprint and the formation of molecular ions during field evaporation can be explained based on the chemistry of the apatite channel ion. Using end members for reference, we are able to interpret the spectra of bone and dentin samples, and generate the first three-dimensional reconstruction of 1.2 × 10(7) atoms in a dentin sample. The fibrous nature of the collagenous organic matrix in dentin is clearly recognizable in the reconstruction. Surprisingly, some fibers show selectivity in binding for sodium ions over magnesium ions, implying that an additional, chemical level of hierarchy is necessary to describe dentin structure. Furthermore, segregation of inorganic ions or small organic molecules to homophase interfaces (grain boundaries) is not apparent. This has implications for the platelet model for apatite biominerals.


Aims. We present a technique to measure lightcurves of time-variable point sources on a spatially structured background from imaging data. The technique was developed to measure lightcurves of SNLS supernovae in order to infer their distances. This photometry technique performs simultaneous point spread function (PSF) photometry at the same sky position on an image series. Methods. We describe two implementations of the method: one that resamples images before measuring fluxes, and one which does not. In both instances, we sketch the key algorithms involved and present the validation using semi-artificial sources introduced in real images in order to assess the accuracy of the supernova flux measurements relative to that of surrounding stars. We describe the methods required to anchor these PSF fluxes to calibrated aperture catalogs, in order to derive SN magnitudes. Results. We find a marginally significant bias of 2 mmag of the after-resampling method, and no bias at the mmag accuracy for the non-resampling method. Given surrounding star magnitudes, we determine the systematic uncertainty of SN magnitudes to be less than 1.5 mmag, which represents about one third of the current photometric calibration uncertainty a ecting SN measurements. The SN photometry delivers several by-products: bright star PSF flux measurements which have a repeatability of about 0.6%, as for aperture measurements; we measure relative astrometric positions with a noise floor of 2.4 mas for a single-image bright star measurement; we show that in all bands of the MegaCam instrument, stars exhibit a profile linearly broadening with flux by about 0.5% over the whole brightness range.