Abstract Quinclorac and 13 synthesized esters were monitored for toxicity in foliar- and soil-treated leafy spurge plants. Foliar treatment at 0.5 μmol/plant with quinclorac resulted with 100% mortality, whereas treatment with esters at 2 μmol/plant showed initial toxicity symptoms, but the plants recovered with time (24 weeks). Foliar toxicity symptoms and mortality increased throughout 24 weeks after soil treatment at 0.4 μmol/ plant with the higher MW esters (C5-C16); however, toxicity symptoms decreased and plants recovered after quinclorac or low MW ester treatments. [ 14 C]Quinclorac esters also were monitored to ascertain if toxicity data could be related to ester mobility and/or metabolism. Foliar application showed volatile losses with the low MW esters; complete metabolism of esters occurred inside the treated leaves by 7 days, but little or no quinclorac was observed as a result; and little radiolabel migrated from the leaves. Soil application showed that the esters were metabolized by soil microorganisms through a series of ω- and β-oxidations and not by simple ester hydrolysis. These intermediate metabolites were identified by MS and NMR analyses. The C6 and C8 esters were metabolized to the quinclorac ester of 4-hydroxybutryic acid as a major intermediate in soil before conversion to quinclorac. The rate of quinclorac release from the various esters was dependent on the number of odd vs even carbons in the ester side chain; the C7, C5, and C8 esters were metabolized to quinclorac at relative rates of 16, 3.2, and 1, respectively. Quinclorac acid was leached readily from soil with water, but the C8 ester was adsorbed. As the higher MW esters released quinclorac in soil over time, concomitantly, the toxicity of leafy spurge after treatment with these esters also increased and was superior to quinclorac after 24 weeks. The slow release of quinclorac from the ω/β-oxidations of these esters appeared to increase efficacy in soil-treated leafy spurge.


This study was conducted to evaluate exposure level and risk of heavy metals in livestock foodstuffs and Korean foods. Based on the "Food Intake Data," a part of the 2005 National Health & Nutrition Survey and the "2005 Seasonal Nutrition Survey", 113 Korean foods items were selected. 3 samples from different manufacturers of each 113 items of Korean foods were purchased on summer and fall, so total 678 samples were used. The food groups were classified into 15 categories. For the livestock foodstuffs category, meats and poultry (chicken, pork, pork belly, beef, beef feet soup), milks and dairy products (milk, ice cream, liquid yoghourt, sherbet), eggs (egg) were selected. It was found that the daily amount of heavy metals intake (mg/person/day) from livestock foodstuffs is 0.00020 arsenic, 0.00000 cadmium, 0.00020 lead, and 0.00006 mercury, and the daily amount of heavy metals intake (mg/person/day) from Korean foods is 0.0265 arsenic, 0.0083 cadmium, 0.0067 lead, and 0.0028 mercury. Daily amount of heavy metals intake from livestock foodstuffs was low among the food groups. For risk assessment, PDI (Probable Daily Intake) was calculated and compared with PTWI (Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake) of JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additive). Relative hazard of these livestock foodstuffs was 0.006% in arsenic, 0.000% in cadmium, 0.085% in lead, and 0.149% in mercury. Relative hazard of Korean foods was 0.941% in arsenic, 14.676% in cadmium, 3.319% in lead, and 6.860% in mercury. Thus, livestock foodstuffs and Korean foods were as safe as satisfied with the recommended standards of JECFA.


This is the fourth in a series of five articles regarding obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. The first three articles ran in the March 1997, June 1997 and January 1998 issues of Psychiatric Times. The first article gave an overview of spectrum disorders, the second discussed obsessive-compulsive disorder and the third examined body dysmorphic disorder.


Political liberalization in Africa is a more problematic process than earlier thought. Powerful actors will attempt to maintain patrimonial control by developing creative counter-strategies to change. When faced with declining patronage resources, they will find alternative sources, often amplifying corruption and violence in the process. This paper provides a concrete example of this dynamic through an examination of Kenya's land grabbing—the irregular privatization of public lands. It argues that president Moi and his clients are increasingly and violently turning to public lands, which are less fettered by international scrutiny, as a patronage resource and instrument to maintain control. In response, many Kenyans are resisting this form of corruption and in the process are constructing a notion of the public that challenges the rules of the patrimonial game.


Background Adjuvant therapy of breast cancer patients reduces the risk of recurrence and mortality, although, a substantial proportion of patients acquire resistance and relapse in the disease. Predictors of therapeutic response are therefore important to avoid both therapy resistance and the side effects of inefficient regimes. The p53 protein is a key determinant to induce either growth arrest or apoptosis in response to cytotoxic stress. Methods In the search for predictive markers of cancer therapy we investigated a common Arg72/Pro72 polymorphism in the p53 gene, which has been shown to influence the apoptotic potential. Using PCR and RFLP we genotyped 220 breast cancer patients randomized to radiotherapy versus chemotherapy and tamoxifen versus no tamoxifen. Results Oestrogen-receptor positive patients possessing at least one Pro72 allele had better distant recurrence-free survival when randomized to tamoxifen compared to those who were not (P=0.0033), as also demonstrated by the significantly decreased hazard ratio (HR=0.28, 95% CI 0.12–0.65). Among patients homozygous for the Arg72 genotype the outcome was approximately equal between tamoxifen treated and non-tamoxifen treated patients (P=0.65). When the calculated hazard ratios for the genotypes were compared by an interaction test a significant difference was found (P=0.0088). Conclusion The present report indicates that the codon 72 polymorphism in the p53 gene may be a predictor of tamoxifen response, suggesting that breast cancer patients lacking the Pro72 allele might be candidates for other therapies.


Although auditory displays are effective for the representation of patterns in data, they are generally thought to be less effective for the communication of absolute values [1, 2]. Nonetheless, there are times when it is desirable to represent absolute values with sound. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the limits of representing absolute values with sound and to compare several ways of representing the values. Temporal representations of data led to better performance than the representation with pitch or the redundant use of temporal and pitch representations. We introduce the term "Mappable Difference" to refer to the smallest difference in a dimension that can be consistently mapped to a numeric value. Knowing the "Mappable Difference" in an auditory dimension can potentially aid display designers in determining the number of absolute values that can be represented by sound.


Neuropsychology has become a very important aspect for neurologists in clinical practice as well as in research. Being a specialized field in psychology, its long history is based on different historical developments in brain science and clinical neurology. In this volume, we want to show how present concepts of neuropsychology originated and were established by outlining the most important developments since the end of the 19th century. The articles of this book that cover topics such as aphasia, amnesia and dementia show a great multicultural influence due to an editorship and authorship that spans all developmental initiatives in Europe, Asia, and America. This book gives a better understanding of the development of higher brain function studies and is an interesting read for neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, neurosurgeons, historians, and anyone else interested in the history of neuropsychology.


Crassocephalum crepidioides is an edible plant which is also used in the ethnomedical treatment of stomach ulcer, indigestion, wounds, boils and burns in Africa and some other parts of the world. This study aims at identifying and characterizing the bioactive compounds present in C. crepidioides hexane fraction which may be responsible for the ethnomedicinal uses and reported activities of the plant. The crude extract from the powdered leaves of C. crepidioides was obtained with 70% methanol, followed by solvent partitioning with hexane to give the hexane fraction which was subjected to phytochemical profiling using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Spectrum interpretation was obtained from the library search of the database of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), while biological activities of compounds identified were predicted based on Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. The results revealed the presence of several bioactive compounds with various biological activities including Hexadecanoic methyl ester and α-Linolenic acid with reported hypocholesterolemic properties; Benzofuranone and Benzofuran with anticancer and antiviral activities; phenolic compounds and flavonoids with reported antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antifungal activities among others. The study showed that C. crepidioides contains compounds with important biological activities which provide scientific support for some medicinal uses of the plant.

 Key words: Phytochemicals, Crassocephalum crepidioides, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), ethnomedicinal.


The Mabuse phenomenon is recognized as an icon of horror in Germany as Frankenstein and Dracula are in the United States. This work is a study of the 12 motion pictures and five books (and some secondary films) that make up the eight decades of adventures of master criminal Mabuse, created by author Norbert Jacques in the best-selling 1922 German novel and brought to the screen by master filmmaker Fritz Lang in the same year. Both on screen and off, the story of Dr. Mabuse is a story of love triangles and revenge, of murder, suicides, and suspicious deaths, of betrayals and paranoia, of fascism and tyranny, deceptions and conspiracies, mistaken identities, and transformation. This work, featuring much information never before published in English, provides an understanding of a modern mythology whose influence has pervaded popular culture even while the name Mabuse remains relatively unknown in the United States.


User interface (UI) design patterns for mobile applications provide a solution to design problems and can improve the usage experience for users. However, there is a lack of research categorizing the uses of design patterns according to users' hand dominance in a learning-based mobile UI. We classified the main design patterns for mobile applications and investigated their relationships with major learning tasks. Students' use of different patterns was compared with respect to hand dominance. A questionnaire on 71 patterns was administered to 92 participants, and the number of patterns they used was analyzed. UI design patterns for mobile learning significantly differed between left- and right-hand-dominant participants. We also performed a cluster analysis to explore possible theme sets among participants with regard to hand dominance in learning. The results revealed three-cluster solutions for both the left- and right-hand-dominant groups. We profiled these solutions based on insights obtained from structured interviews. Our findings provide evidence that pattern use differs between right- and left-hand-dominant users with regard to reading, information retrieval, and information-browsing tasks. These findings will facilitate further development of suitable UIs for educational mobile applications.


Ice repellent coatings have been studied and keenly sought after for many years, where any advances in the durability of such coatings will result in huge energy savings across many fields. Progress in creating anti-ice and anti-frost surfaces has been particularly rapid since the discovery and development of slippery, liquid infused porous surfaces (SLIPS). Here we use SLIPS-coated differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) pans to investigate the effects of the surface modification on the nucleation of supercooled water. This investigation is inherently different from previous studies which looked at the adhesion of ice to SLIPS surfaces, or the formation of ice under high humidity conditions. Given the stochastic nature of nucleation of ice from supercooled water, multiple runs on the same sample are needed to determine if a given surface coating has a real and statistically significant effect on the nucleation temperature. We have cycled supercooling to freezing and then thawing of deionized water in hydrophilic (untreated aluminum), hydrophobic, superhydrophobic, and SLIPS-treated DSC pans multiple times to determine the effects of surface treatment on the nucleation and subsequent growth of ice. We find that SLIPS coatings lower the nucleation temperature of supercooled water in contact with statistical significance and show no deterioration or change in the coating performance even after 150 freeze-thaw cycles.


This paper presents an adaptation of the exemplar-based inpainting process for image sequences. The aimed application is digital restoration of old movies, and particularly scratch removal, which still remains an unsolved problem. Most of the current correction methods act frame by frame and fail to preserve the temporal coherences of the processed movies. Our new scratch concealment algorithm extends the recently published exemplar-based inpainting method by taking into account, for the block matching step, several images from the sequence. Furthermore, the method is improved by explicitely using motion estimation. A few results demonstrating the effect of this innovative extension are presented and compared to static methods.


Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are non-epithelial mesenchymal tumors that usually occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Included in this group are leiomyosarcomas and leiomyomas. Furthermore, CD117, a transmembrane receptor, is the best defining feature of GISTs. CD117 is continually bound, which activates a tyrosine kinase and leads to tumorigenesis. In addition, this receptor is also expressed by the interstitial cells of Cajal. Although the gastrointestinal tract is the most common location, there have also been reports of GISTs originating in the omentum and peritoneum. This case is a 60 year old white male who presented with weight loss and abdominal pain. Evaluation revealed a hepatic mass encompassing much of the right lobe of the liver. A biopsy of the mass contained spindle elements in a fibrous stroma, which stained positive for CD117. Furthermore, a serum α-fetoprotein level, gastroscopy, colonoscopy, small bowel enteroclysis, and bone scan were normal. The patient was started on Gleevec (tyrosine kinase inhibitor), but after three months developed pulmonary lesions/malignant pleural effusions and ultimately died of cardiorespiratory failure. As mentioned before, although GISTs have been reported to originate in the omentum and peritoneum, this is a case of a primary hepatic GIST. More importantly, this novel location emphasizes the current understanding regarding the origin of these tumors. Specifically, these tumors might be comprised of a heterogenous group in respect to the cell of origin, cellular differentiation, and prognosis. In addition, GISTs may arise from the pluripotent stem cell, which gives rise to the interstitial cell of Cajal. This is based on the fact that both cells express CD117. The only approved treatment for non-resectable GISTs is Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), which is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Although initial studies show some promise, the long-term outcomes are currently being studied.


It is difficult to use subsampling with variational inference in hierarchical models since the number of local latent variables scales with the dataset. Thus, inference in hierarchical models remains a challenge at large scale. It is helpful to use a variational family with structure matching the posterior, but optimization is still slow due to the huge number of local distributions. Instead, this paper suggests an amortized approach where shared parameters simultaneously represent all local distributions. This approach is similarly accurate as using a given joint distribution (e.g., a full-rank Gaussian) but is feasible on datasets that are several orders of magnitude larger. It is also dramatically faster than using a structured variational distribution.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

We have shown previously that phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a constituent of edible cruciferous vegetables (e.g., watercress), suppresses growth of cultured and xenografted human prostate cancer cells in association with apoptotic and autophagic cell death. The goals of the present study were to: (a) determine effect of dietary administration of PEITC on prostate cancer development using a transgenic mouse model (Transgenic Adenocarcinoma of Mouse Prostate; TRAMP); (b) elucidate whether PEITC utilizes the same mechanisms in vivo as it does in cultured prostate cancer cells; and (c) identify biomarker(s) predictive of PEITC response for future clinical applications. Administration of PEITC in the diet (3 μmol PEITC/g diet for 19 weeks) significantly inhibited burden (affected area) of poorly-differentiated cancer in the dorsolateral prostate (DLP) of TRAMP mice without causing weight loss or any other side effects. PEITC was detectable in plasma (∼1451 nM) as well as in the prostate (∼1138 nmol/kg) of non-transgenic littermates placed on PEITC-supplemented diet. The PEITC-mediated inhibition of prostate cancer progression correlated with a decrease in the expression of cell proliferation marker Ki-67. To our surprise, number of apoptotic bodies was comparable in the DLP of Control and PEITC-fed mice. On the other hand, the DLP from mice placed on PEITC-supplemented diet exhibited 2-3 fold increase in number of autophagosomes (judged by transmission electron microscopy) and elevated expression of autophagy regulator microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (judged by immunohistochemistry), as compared with that of Control group. Consistent with these observations, level of selective autophagy substrate p62 (also known as sequestosome 1) was reduced in the DLP of PEITC-fed mice in comparison with Control. The PEITC-mediated inhibition of prostate cancer development was accompanied by a marked increase in expression of E-cadherin. Additionally, 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry revealed a marked decrease in plasma clusterin in PEITC-treated mice compared with Controls. Together these results indicate that PEITC administration inhibits prostate cancer progression in TRAMP mice in association with reduced cell proliferation and induction of autophagy. Furthermore, the present study discovers plasma clusterin as a potential biomarker of PEITC response. This investigation was supported by the USPHS grant 2 RO1 CA101753-07, awarded by the National Cancer Institute.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5563. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-5563


The harmful effects of fine dust on health in industrial facilities are a significant problem. The development of new deposition methods for dust particles with a diameter less than 10 microns is particularly difficult. The purpose of this study is to describe and compare new deposition methods for such aerosols by means of external fields: an acoustic wind, an electrostatic field, and specially atomized powder.
It has been shown that the method of spraying a powder affects its adsorption ability. An experimental study of the dispersity and specific surface of nanopowder particles atomized by different methods was carried out. As a result of atomization, the specific surface area of the particles decreases, and this decrease is smaller in the case of atomization by the shock-wave method.
The proposed mathematical model of aerosol coagulation is based on the integral version of the Smoluchowski equation with the type of kernel depending on the types of external influence. In the model, the effect of acoustic wind is considered, as the acoustic wind plays an important role in the deposition of finely divided particles. A calculation of the drift velocity of particles in an electric field and gravitational field is performed. The results of the pilot and theoretical study of the acoustic and electrostatic deposition of fine aerosols are presented in this article. Depending on the deposition method and particle size, calculations confirmed experimentally enable the reference time of the deposition of a dust cloud to be established. Recommendations are provided about the use of ultrasound sources, electrostatic precipitators, water aerosol sprays, and electrostatic spray guns for the optimum removal of dust from air in the workplace, taking into account dust particle sizes. The results of this study can be applied to air purification systems to filter harmful dust emissions.


Commercially available sensors are being used by several investigators to measure thermal flux through the skin and skin temperature at a given site. Since these transducers place an additional thermal resistance into the system, they perturb the quantities that are being measured. This problem has been analyzed theoretically to obtain the following relatively simple equations: (Q0 - Q)/Q0 = EQ = QRt/(Ta - Te) and (Ts - Ts,0)/(Ta - Te) = [EQ/(1 - EQ)] [1 - EQ2 - (Ts - Te)/(Ta - Te)] in which Q = measured thermal flux; Rt = thermal resistance of the transducer; Ta, Ts, and Te = deep tissue, skin, and environmental temperatures, respectively; and the subscript 0 denotes unperturbed values. These equations can be rearranged easily to obtain improved estimates for the unperturbed values, Q0 and Ts,0, using the measured values, Q and Ts. Use of these relationships to estimate errors for various conditions previously reported in the literature reveals that the EQ can be as large as 10% to 20% for nude subjects in hyperbaric heliox or water, and the error in skin temperature can exceed 1 degree C. When used under a 1-clo garment, the transducer will perturb Q by 4% and Ts by 0.3 degrees C.


Abstract Background: In this paper, the effects of four groups of factors on organizational performance are examined. Those are human resource management (HRM) policies and practices, financial and business indicators, location, and firm characteristics. A review of selected literature confirmed that a similar set of factors, through its positive effects on boosting organizational performance, may significantly improve competitive advantage of firms. Methods: An empirical analysis using firm-level data is conducted on the sample of enterprises operating in Serbia. A microeconometric approach is employed in order to specify and estimate empirical models. Two statistical models are applied. The ordered probit model is used for investigating organizational performance and the standard binary probit model for examining the decision of a firm to integrate the human resource development (HRD) department into its organizational structure. The goodness of fit measures confirmed the statistical reliability of estimated models. Results: Estimation results revealed that optimization of the number of employees, sales and revenues, firm age, increased market demand and competitive environment, as well as the 'right decisions' of the top management have significantly positive effects on boosting organizational performance. Significance of on-the-job training for boosting organizational performance was not empirically supported. In the same group of factors are firm size, industry and region. An auxiliary model shown that large- and medium-sized firms, firms with high level of revenues, privately owned, foreign and those located in or near to the capital city are more likely to have HRD departments. Conclusions: This paper provides a survey of the theoretical literature and explains empirical findings that are relevant for understanding to what extent on-the-job training, managing human resource, as well as some other internal and external organizational and financial factors are important for enhancing competitive advantage of firms.


This study is the first part of an attempt to settle a vigorous debate among historians of medieval philosophy by harnessing the resources of analytic philosophy. The debate is about whether Avicenna's epistemology is rationalist or empirical. To settle the debate, I first articulate in this article the three core theses of rationalism and one core thesis of empiricism. Then, I probe Avicenna's epistemology in his major works according to the first core thesis of rationalism (the intuition thesis). In the end, I find Avicenna committed to this thesis in at least one substantive way, namely, in his claim to intuit the intelligible forms or essences. This suffices to count Avicenna as rationalist. In a subsequent article, I shall probe Avicenna's epistemology according to the other two core theses of rationalism, presenting further evidence that he was a rationalist, not an empiricist.


Regret minimization has proved to be a versatile tool for tree-form sequential decision making and extensive-form games. In large two-player zero-sum imperfect-information games, modern extensions of counterfactual regret minimization (CFR) are currently the practical state of the art for computing a Nash equilibrium. Most regret-minimization algorithms for tree-form sequential decision making, including CFR, require (i) an exact model of the player's decision nodes, observation nodes, and how they are linked, and (ii) full knowledge, at all times t, about the payoffs—even in parts of the decision space that are not encountered at time t. Recently, there has been growing interest towards relaxing some of those restrictions and making regret minimization applicable to settings for which reinforcement learning methods have traditionally been used—for example, those in which only black-box access to the environment is available. We give the first, to our knowledge, regret-minimization algorithm that guarantees sublinear
regret with high probability even when requirement (i)—and thus also (ii)—is dropped. We formalize an online learning setting in which the strategy space is not known to the agent and gets revealed incrementally whenever the agent encounters new decision points. We give an efficient algorithm that achieves O(T^3/4) regret with high probability for that setting, even when the agent faces an adversarial environment. Our experiments show it significantly outperforms the prior algorithms for the problem, which do not have such guarantees. It can be used in any application for which regret minimization is useful: approximating Nash equilibrium or quantal response equilibrium, approximating coarse correlated equilibrium in multi-player games, learning a best response, learning safe opponent exploitation, and online play against an unknown opponent/environment.


This article explores how Danish police officers and social workers involved in countering violent extremism (CVE) seek to cope with the possibility of public moral outrage being directed at the welfare state when issues of security and integration arise. In such cases, state officials are faced with a difficult dilemma: on the one hand, they could be blamed for inefficient casework if there is a terror attack. On the other hand, the target group could perceive their intervention as outrageous, in which case it may end up producing the violence that it purports to prevent. The response to this dilemma is a dynamic shift between early and intense intervention on the one hand, and hesitation and "pulling back" from intervention on the other. I suggest that this dynamic response plays a crucial role in risk assessment and decision-making processes related to CVE efforts in Denmark.


A method for sedation of preschool children in emergency medicine is presented. Midazolam (Dormicumo) is frequently used in premedication in children. Various routes of adrninistration have been described for this drug. After use of nasal administration oF midazolam for premedication we also used this method for sedation of children in emergencies. This technique provides rapid onset and cardiovascular stability while maintaining spontaneous ventilation. In two case reports the first results are demonstrated; the method is evaluated and discussed.


Whole-genome sequencing (WGS)-based outbreak investigation has proven to be a valuable method for the surveillance of bacterial pathogens. Its utility has been successfully demonstrated using both gene-by-gene (cgMLST or wgMLST) and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based approaches. Among the obstacles of implementing a WGS-based routine surveillance is the need for an exchange of large volumes of sequencing data, as well as a widespread reluctance to share sequence and metadata in public repositories, together with a lacking standardization of suitable bioinformatic tools and workflows. To address these issues, we present chewieSnake, an intuitive and simple-to-use cgMLST workflow. ChewieSnake builds on the allele calling software chewBBACA and extends it by the concept of allele hashing. The resulting hashed allele profiles can be readily compared between laboratories without the need of a central allele nomenclature. The workflow fully automates the computation of the allele distance matrix, cluster membership, and phylogeny and summarizes all important findings in an interactive HTML report. Furthermore, chewieSnake can join allele profiles generated at different laboratories and identify shared clusters, including a stable and intercommunicable cluster nomenclature, thus facilitating a joint outbreak investigation. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach with a thorough method comparison using publically available sequencing data for Salmonella enterica. However, chewieSnake is readily applicable to all bacterial taxa, provided that a suitable cgMLST scheme is available. The workflow is freely available as an open-source tool and can be easily installed via conda or docker.


Aims: A study was conducted to evaluate the benefits of cyanoacrylate tissue adhesive as an alternative to suturing in management of pediatric lacerations. Materials and Methods: A total of 7 patients were evaluated and followed for 3-month. The wound was evaluated on 1 st , 3 rd , and 7 th postoperative day for swelling, infection, gaping and pain and at 1 st and 3 rd postoperative month for scar evaluation. The evaluation was based on different superficial facial wound repairs (i.e., low tension) with an average length <3 cm; and if the surgeon subjectively felt that subcuticular sutures were justified to reduce wound tension, then these were used. Isoamyl 2-cyanoacrylate glue was applied over lacerated wound margins after cleaning the wound and holding together for 15 s by means of tissue holding forceps. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test after collection of data. Mean and standard error were estimated from the sample. Results: The mean total time taken for skin closure was 1-2.5 min. There was no wound infection in any of the cases; only one case showed wound dehiscence on 3rd postoperative day. The cosmetic was better as there were no suture marks. Conclusion: Isoamyl 2-cyanoacrylate can be considered as excellent "no needle" alternative for closure of selected pediatric lacerations, those that are short, clean and under low tension.


Both external and endogenous electrical fields widely exist in the environment of cortical neurons. The effects of a weak alternating current (AC) field on a neural network model with synaptic plasticity are studied. It is found that self-sustained rhythmic firing patterns, which are closely correlated with the cognitive functions, are significantly modified due to the self-organizing of the network in the weak AC field. The activities of the neural networks are affected by the synaptic connection strength, the external stimuli, and so on. In the presence of learning rules, the synaptic connections can be modulated by the external stimuli, which will further enhance the sensitivity of the network to the external signal. The properties of the external AC stimuli can serve as control parameters in modulating the evolution of the neural network.


The metabolic cage is developed to be able to have a control of total intake of feed and water and the excretion with urine and faeces. In addition, one can efficiently collect non contaminated samples of urine and faeces. For the animal, housing in a metabolic cage involves isolation and problems with cage enrichment since that can interfere with the total collection of urine and faeces. However little research has been done to investigate possible welfare problems for rodents placed in metabolic cages. Housing rodents socially isolated may lead to elevated corticosterone levels and more vulnerability to stress compared to group housed individuals. Studies have also found changes in the central nervous system and the immune system in individually housed rodents. Several negative effects of housing on grid floor are documented e.g. lesions and nerve injury in the hind feet of rats, elevated blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. Especially mice show a strong preference for nesting material and lack of such may be stressful. More research on the effects of metabolism cage housing on rodent welfare are needed to develop a metabolic cage which enables sampling of uncontaminated urine while allowing the animals to perform their natural behaviours.


Machine knitting is an increasingly accessible fabrication technology for producing custom soft goods. However, recent machine knitting research has focused on knit shaping, or on adapting hand-knitting patterns. We explore a capability unique to machine knitting: producing multilayer spacer fabrics. These fabrics consist of two face layers connected by a monofilament filler yarn which gives the structure stiffness and volume. We show how to vary knit patterning and yarn parameters in spacer fabrics to produce tactile materials with embedded functionality for forming soft actuated mechanisms and sensors with tunable density, stiffness, material bias, and bristle properties. These soft mechanisms can be rapidly produced on a computationally-controlled v-bed knitting machine and integrated directly into soft objects.


We develop a structured output model for object category detection that explicitly accounts for alignment, multiple aspects and partial truncation in both training and inference. The model is formulated as large margin learning with latent variables and slack rescaling, and both training and inference are computationally efficient. We make the following contributions: (i) we note that extending the Structured Output Regression formulation of Blaschko and Lampert [1] to include a bias term significantly improves performance; (ii) that alignment (to account for small rotations and anisotropic scalings) can be included as a latent variable and efficiently determined and implemented; (iii) that the latent variable extends to multiple aspects (e.g. left facing, right facing, front) with the same formulation; and (iv), most significantly for performance, that truncated and truncated instances can be included in both training and inference with an explicit truncation mask.

We demonstrate the method by training and testing on the PASCAL VOC 2007 data set - training includes the truncated examples, and in testing object instances are detected at multiple scales, alignments, and with significant truncations.


Bioactive natural products are economically important as drugs, fragrances, pigments, food additives and pesticides. The biotechnological tools are important to select, multiply, improve and analyze medicinal plants for production of such products. The utilization of medicinal plant cells for the production of natural or recombinant compounds of commercial interest has gained increasing attention over the past decades. Plant tissue culture systems are possible source of valuable medicinal compounds, fragrances and colorants, which cannot be produced by microbial cells or chemical synthesis. In vitro production of bioactive natural products in plant cell suspension culture has been reported from various medicinal plants and bioreactors are the key step towards commercial production. Genetic transformation is a powerful tool for enhancing the productivity of novel products; especially by Agrobacterium tumefacians . Combinatorial biosynthesis is another approach in the generation of novel natural products and for the production of rare and expensive natural products. Recent advances in the molecular biology, enzymology and bioreactor technology of plant cell culture suggest that these systems may become a viable source of important secondary metabolites. Genetic fingerprinting could be a powerful tool in the field of medicinal plants to be used for correct germplasm identification. In addition, when linked to emerging tools such as metabolomics and proteomics, providing fingerprints of the plant's metabolites or protein composition, it gives data on phenotypic variation, caused by growth conditions or environmental factors, and also yield data on the genes involved in the biosynthesis. DNA profiling techniques like DNA microarrays serve as suitable high throughput tools for the simultaneous analysis of multiple genes and analysis of gene expression that becomes necessary for providing clues about regulatory mechanisms, biochemical pathways and broader cellular functions. New and powerful tools in functional genomics can be used in combination with metabolomics to elucidate biosynthetic pathways of natural products.


Months after they found it, they still couldn't figure out what it was. My mother consulted with a group of doctors at Johns Hopkins who told her that I won the award for longest debate over a brain tumor. I imagined them all gathered like ancient Roman astrologers staking out their claims about space. About stars. But instead of a star, it was my brain up on the screen. Its gray folds, tight around a mass sitting square in the middle of my brain. Perfectly spherical... Cover Page Footnote "Suprasellar" was originally published at Booth. This article is available in Booth: http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/booth/vol8/iss6/4


Panel data allow correction for measurement error without assuming a known measurement error covariance matrix or using additional validation/replic- ation data to estimate the measurement error covariance matrix. Griliches and Hausman (1986) proposed using the generalized method of moments (GMM) or op- timal weighting to efficiently combine instrumental variable (IV) estimators. Wans- beek (2001) applied GMM based on moment conditions expressed in the form of the Kronecker product. This paper studies some issues crucial to applications of these two approaches, including the estimability of the regression parameter un- der Griliches and Hausman's or Wansbeek's approach, how to choose instruments, what is the optimally weighted IV estimator, how to explicitly construct GMM estimators, how to remove the redundancy of the moment conditions constructed by Wansbeek (2001), and the existence of optimal GMM estimators. We unify Griliches and Hausman's and Wansbeek's approaches by establishing their equiv- alence. We also consider models with exogenous regressors and models with non- classical assumptions. We apply the methods in this paper to revisit an investment controversy, viz., whether financially constrained firms respond to internal funds such as cash flow more sensitively than financially unconstrained firms.


Photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) water-splitting is an active field of research as a sustainable technology utilising solar energy to produce hydrogen, H2 fuel from water. The application of nanostructured carbon materials e.g. reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as promoters for PEC water-splitting photoelectrodes offers many advantages such as cost-effectiveness, chemical stability and tunable properties. Nanostructured carbons obtained from the hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) of renewable carbon precursors (HTC-biocarbon) shows interesting catalytic activity but its poor electroconductivity limits its application in PEC water-splitting; thus, efforts to increase the sp2 content and diffusion distance may enhance its potential application as promoter for PEC water-splitting. As such, the present thesis sought to investigate the optimal conditions for preparing electrochemically reduced GO (rGO) for the synthesis of rGO-hybridised ZnO photoanodes. Also, HTC-biocarbons were produced using ZnCl2/NaCl and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in the hydrothermal carbonisation of renewable carbon precursors for the purpose of modifying the sp2 content and morphology of the HTC-biocarbon product, respectively. The Ph.D. project was carried out to achieve the following objectives: (1) To identify the potential of HTC-biocarbon materials prepared through modified HTC synthesis method as carbon-based promoter for PEC water-splitting photoanodes and (2) To identify optimum preparation methods to obtain higher photoelectric performances in carbon-supported ZnO photoanodes. The effect of modifying the HTC process with ZnCl2/NaCl activating agent and PVA soft template on the sp2 content and morphology of the HTC-biocarbon was investigated. In this study, a porous HTC-biocarbon with surface area up to 597.6 m2 g-1 was prepared using ZnCl2/NaCl as activating agent in the HTC of oil palm shell fibre. An increase in sp2 content was observed with increasing temperature and in the presence of activating agent. The application of PVA as soft template changed the morphology of the HTC-biocarbon product to form a hybrid carbon-carbon structure, consisting of graphene-like sheets and carbonaceous microspheres. rGO-hybridised ZnO thin films were prepared using electrochemical reduction of GO and electrodeposition to deposit the rGO and ZnO layers, respectively. The thin films were prepared in two configurations i.e. (1) ZnO grown on rGO (rGO/ZnO) and (2) rGO coated on ZnO (ZnO/rGO), in order to investigate the effect of layer ordering on the Applied Bias Photon-to-Current Efficiency (ABPE). The rGO/ZnO sample demonstrated the highest ABPE of 0.89 %, due to enhanced electron transfer at the collector-semiconductor interface. The effect of GO electrochemical reduction method was further investigated for rGO/ZnO thin films. It was found that rGO prepared under high flux and rate-controlled conditions during the electrochemical reduction of GO resulted in optimum photo-conversion efficiency in rGO/ZnO films. The highest photocurrent density was observed for rGO/ZnO prepared using CV(1,1) and CV(10,50) ERGO films, at 0.73 and 0.69 mA cm-2 respectively. The onset potential of ZnO was reduced from -0.46 to -0.56 V vs Ag/AgCl for the rGO/ZnO film prepared using CV(10,50), which suggested that rGO/ZnO film prepared using CV(10,50) ERGO film provided the lowest overpotential for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The scan rate, number of scan cycles, duration and applied potential are important parameters which allow control between diffusion- and rate-controlled reactions.


The data presented by HANGGI et al. (1995) and BOLANOS (2003) on the habitats of a large number of European spiders are examined, most of which appear to show non-specific preferences. The abundance and frequency peaks of the 384 species graphs (HANGGI et al. 1995) can be explained by assuming that habitat tolerance varies with geographical location. This can be demonstrated on a local level within a particular country or throughout the European range of a species. Examples are described. Many published ecological studies of spider faunas seem to have assumed that the habitat preferences of a species is a fixed characteristic wherever they occur but evidence is presented to show that this may apply to only a few species. A number of examples are described showing how preferences change with latitude and longitude within Europe. It is proposed that most species can be categorised as stenotopic, mesotopic or eurytopic, although there is a gradual change from one group to another, with no clear boundaries. Supporting evidence for regional variation in habitat tolerance is scarce. More studies are required of individual species throughout their European distribution and detailed descriptions of their habitats in different parts of their range. Definitions of micro-, macro- and minor habitats are presented as useful tools for field studies of spider faunas. It is also recommended that future faunal surveys should use the same system of habitat classification so that the results are comparable with other studies. The most appropriate method is described by BUCHAR & RŮŽICKA (2002) but could be made more precise by the use of scientific measuring equipment for light/shade, dryness/humidity and temperature. Finally the importance of checking the validity of some published records is stressed because misidentifications are sometimes frequent.


Many telecommunication service providers (telcos) currently face new challenges of service provisioning and service activation in a multi-technology environment. The time required to develop management systems for a specific technology is always a bottleneck for the fast deployment of that technology. To be competitive in this new multi-technology environment, telcos need a flexible management system, which is technology independent and can be deployed quickly. The generic network model (GNM) (see "Generic Network Model Series", Astracon White Paper, 1998; Chen, G. and Kong, Q., "Integrated Telecommunication Management Solutions", IEEE Press, 1999) is designed to allow telecommunication networks to be modeled independently from their underlying technologies. Its purpose is to provide a vehicle for developing management applications for end-to-end connection services, across multiple technology domains. The GNM also provides a platform for better integration between different TMN (telecommunications management network) management layers, and between different management technologies. This paper presents the key components of a practical GNM based solution. It also gives a simple example of applying this solution for IP VPN services management.


Covert policing - the practices of communication interception, surveillance, the use of informants and undercover operations - was used extensively during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Covert policing is argued to have prolonged the conflict and did lasting and immense damage to the rule of law. After the signing of the peace agreement, the Northern Ireland police service undertook large-scale reforms which were designed to prevent the recurrence of such abuses. Yet the secret Security Service – implicated in past abuses – has not yet undertaken such reformation but has been put in charge of a highly important area of mainstream policing. MI5 maintains primacy in covert 'national security' policing and gives 'strategic direction' to the PSNI in this area. Despite its large role in policing and its lack of reform, governmental oversight of MI5 is limited and ineffective. Limited additional accountably measures were promised in the St Andrews Agreement but some of the most significant commitments, such as those to publish policy frameworks, have not been honoured. Instead, MI5 has been given control of one of the most sensitive areas of policing in Northern Ireland, operating undercover, without having been reformed, and without an accountability structure. This report develops a human rights based framework from international standards and the Patten Report and uses it to analyse past and present covert policing practice. This report reflects on evidence of the involvement of police informants in serious criminality, which led to recommendations to improve legality and accountability of covert policing. However, since primacy in 'national security' policing was given to MI5 five years ago (2007), the research finds that there is a growing "accountability gap" over a large part of policing. This report explains that the UK level oversight of MI5 is plainly inadequate and that the local mechanisms that hold the PSNI to account are evaded by the Security Service. It argues that this situation falls woefully short of international standards and has the capacity to undermine confidence in policing as a whole.


Abstract Calculation of Box Compression Resistance (BCR) is a challenging task and here the possibility of an engineering approach is considered. The strive has been towards obtaining a simple and generat predictive tool with as few parameters as possible and still obtaining an accurate estimate of the BCR. The model proposed is based on the concept of dividing the package into panels and corner panels. With these remarkably few structural elements it is possible to obtain simple explicit formulas where the only material parameters are given by standard tests in terms of short span compression test and bending resistance. The BCR for different packages is then obtained by a simply summation of the load from the panels and corner panels. A validation agairrst experimental data indicates that, despite its remarkably simplicity, the predictions are very accurate for a wide range of package types, package dimensions, board qualities and loading directions.


Studies on agents that modulate carcinogen-induced genotoxicity in experimental animals provide end points that can be used to assess the anti-mutagenic properties of putative chemopreventive compounds. Red apple and watermelon juices were assessed for modulation of cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced proportion of polychromatic erythrocyte (PCE) and frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCE) in mice. Three groups of five mice each were given 100, 50 or 25% concentration of fruit juice ad libitum for 7 days; intraperitoneally (ip) injected with 40 mg/kg CP and sacrificed 24 h later for preparation of bone marrow smears and analysis. Control group animals drank water before injection with CP (positive) or distilled water (negative). Each group mean of the proportion of PCE and frequency of MNPCE was compared with the group mean of the concurrent negative and positive control using the Mann-Whitney U test. No difference in the proportion of PCE was found between any group and the negative control (P<0.05) which suggested that CP treatment alone or after pre-treatment did not induce erythropoietic cell toxicity. Pre-treatment with 100% apple or 25% watermelon juice reduced the frequency of CP-induced MNPCE (P< 0.05), while pre-treatment with 100% watermelon juice increased the frequency of CP-induced MNPCE. Key words: Genotoxicity, cyclophosphamide, micronuclei, apple, watermelon.


In this thesis we consider the following question: Given a finite separable non-Galois extension F/K of a global field K, how a prime P of K decomposes in the field F. In the first part, we study the Galois extension M/K where M is the Galois closure of F/K and action of Galois group G of M/K over the set of primes of F lying over a prime P in K. We obtain a one to one correspondence between the double coset space of G with respect to certain subgroups of G (depending on P and F) and the set of primes of F lying over P. Under this correspondence ramification indices and inertia degrees are explicitly determined. Then we investigate the case where G is a finite group of Lie type and F is the intermediate field corresponding to a parabolic subgroup of G. We obtain that the number of primes of F lying over an unrami ed place with given residue degree can be given as polynomials in a power of the characteristic of the variety G. This polynomials depend on the length function on the certain subgroups of the Weyl group of G.


We tested the hypothesis that leaf hydraulics is correlated with the light adaptation of different plant species and specifically that the hydraulic resistance of the leaf venation (Rvenation) is lower in sun- than in shade-adapted species. Rvenation was measured in six sun- and six shade-adapted species with a high-pressure flow meter (HPFM). The number of conduits at the proximal third of the midrib was counted and the diameter of the widest conduits together with vein density were measured. Rvenation was higher in shade species than in sun species and it was negatively correlated with the mean diameter of the widest conduits. Maximum leaf conductance to water vapour recorded for the different species was negatively correlated with the corresponding Rvenation. Sun-adapted species coping with the high water demand typical of sunny habitats appeared to have developed a highly efficient conducting system to supply living mesophyll cells with water. In contrast, species adapted to shady habitats showed higher Rvenation values according to their lower need for investment of carbon into producing wide conduits in the leaf.


Objective: The aim of the study is to identify family needs and to assess the family environment of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Material and Methods: Participants were the primary caregivers of 103 children between the age of 4 and 12 years with a diagnosis of CP. The parents of the children completed the Family Environment Scale (FES) and the modified version of Family Needs Survey (FNS). The Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) and Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) levels of children were determined. The medical history of the participants accompanying disorders and characteristics of families are questioned. Results: According to the results of FNS, the most cited requirement was need for information (84.3%) and the least cited requirements were needs for babysitting while having a meeting (62.1%) and payment for childminders (74.8%). Neither the FES nor the FNS results was correlated to the GMFCS or MACS levels or accompanying disorders. Conclusion: Regardless of education level, parents reported need for information about their children's conditions and future services. If families are informed about their children's health condition and are aware of present or future resources, better outcomes will be seen. Understanding the needs of families who have children with CP and assessment of family characteristics and environment are important for family-centered services.


This article is focused on counter-terrorism measures. Our research is deal to Soft targets when we try to identify them, to describe them and to propose their protection. In this article, we present the research about a determining of the Soft target's vulnerability. This is important for Risk management because it is necessary to know how much is my object or event vulnerability and what I should do for improvement. In this article, we describe our method of the determining of vulnerability, which is based on local knowledge of the environment. In the present, in the Czech Republic, there is one method for the determining of vulnerability from Ministry of interior1; however, this method is especially for security experts or for people with knowledge about security. In our new method, we proposal the process for non-specialists. The results are very similar to method of Ministry of interior. We discussed our method with them, and they agree with our process. We tested our methods on several objects (about 30), and we have very good results.1https://www.mvcr.cz/cthh/soubor/vyhodnoceni-ohrozenosti-mekkeho-cile.aspx


The bipedal humanoid robot WABIAN-2R is developed to simulate human locomotion. Performing a walking motion requires a high torque at the ankle joint. WABIAN-2R consists harmonic gears in its driveline system which increases the weight of each leg and respectively decreases the energy economy. Therefore, a new idea is proposed and developed in this paper through computer simulation to modify the design of the ankle joint by adding a spring mechanism instead of high gear ratio transmission. This helps to reduce the energy consumed while walking; by storing and returning part of the energy. Research presented in this paper proposes an important step toward developing the passive dynamics walking into the advanced complex humanoid robots.


The two weeks' effect of cholesterol on the rat adrenal cortex response under conditions of a severe stress was studied. In comparison with control, the degree of the gland activation and its alteration was found to decrease. It is suggested that the effect of cholesterol depends upon the action on the hypothalamus, and upon the adrenocortical tissue as well. The action of cholesterol on the adrenocortical tissue is bound with the cholesterol capacity to retard peroxydation reactions.


The maintenance and regeneration of tissues and organs is essential to ensure the health of an organism and its survival. These processes are characteristics of self-renewing tissues and are typically undertaken by dedicated stem cells. Therefore, understanding the signals within these stem cells that drive their proliferation in various contexts is crucial for understanding stem cell-dependent health and disease associated processes, such as cancer. We use the adult Drosophila midgut as a model to study stem cell biology and the processes by which stem cells maintain the tissues they reside in, regenerate tissues in response to damage, and how these processes can lead to malignancy following deregulation or co-option of normal developmental programmes.
The PIWI pathway is composed of a family of proteins discovered and extensively characterised in the Drosophila germline, which are known for binding to retrotransposons and suppressing their insertion into DNA during meiosis, thereby maintaining genomic integrity. This process has been shown to be essential for maintaining germline stem cell populations. Biological functions of PIWI proteins outside the germline are largely unknown. However, reports in various species, including humans, point to a potential functional role of this family of proteins in somatic tissues. PIWI proteins are required for planarian wound healing and are highly expressed in many human cancers including colorectal cancer. We utilised the adult Drosophila midgut to study the role of the Drosophila PIWI family members, Piwi, Aubergine (Aub) and Ago3, as potential drivers of proliferation in somatic stem-cells.
We find that piwi, aub and ago3 are expressed in the midgut and, using whole tissue mutants and cell specific gene manipulations, we have determined an exclusive role for Aub in the intestinal stem and progenitor cells (ISC/EBs). Our results indicate that Aub is induced upon stress in the midgut and knockdown of aub within intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and progenitor enteroblast (EB) cells results in abolishment of the proliferative response of ISCs during damage and ageing. Reciprocally, overexpression of aub within ISC/EBs is sufficient to induce tissue hyper-proliferation and accumulation of stem cells. Small RNA sequencing has shown that Aub is not having an impact on transposable elements (TEs), suggesting a potential non-canonical role for Aub in the regenerative response of the intestine following damage. Consistently, we find that knockdown of aub from ISC/EBs abolishes the upregulation of Wingless (Wg), a critical stem cell niche component required for the intestinal regeneration.
We have also looked in to the role of the PIWI homologues in mice and found that the PIWIL1 protein, a homologue of Aub and Piwi, appears to be upregulated in colorectal cancer. Elucidation of this novel somatic role of Aub in the Drosophila midgut may have broader implications into the role of mammalian PIWI proteins in regeneration, ageing and hyperplastic conditions, such as cancer, affecting somatic self-renewing tissues.


We propose a method to reliably estimate the motion of a dynamic stereo camera system in the three dimensional world where observations are disturbed by high portions of independently moving objects. Robustness of the estimation process is achieved by applying an additional visual sensor. The system consists of a stereo vision sensor, acquiring optical flow and depth information of the scene and a camera with its optical axis oriented perpendicular to the road surface, measuring the speed over ground of the camera-equipped vehicle. The fusion approach presented in this paper combines the motion estimates of the two sensors and applies an efficient random sampling scheme that evaluates the distribution of motion patterns in the scene. The goal of the sampling scheme is to separate the observations into alien and ego-motion portions used in the subsequent step to extract the ego-motion of the camera system. The presented setup of the two visual sensors in combination with the observation sampling scheme increases robustness of the overall system.


Critical Data Studies (CDS) explore the unique cultural, ethical, and critical challenges posed by Big Data. Rather than treat Big Data as only scientifically empirical and therefore largely neutral phenomena, CDS advocates the view that Big Data should be seen as always-already constituted within wider data assemblages. Assemblages is a concept that helps capture the multitude of ways that already-composed data structures inflect and interact with society, its organization and functioning, and the resulting impact on individuals' daily lives. CDS questions the many assumptions about Big Data that permeate contemporary literature on information and society by locating instances where Big Data may be naively taken to denote objective and transparent informational entities. In this introduction to the Big Data & Society CDS special theme, we briefly describe CDS work, its orientations, and principles.


There has been talk of a new phenomenon of 'working poverty' in Australia, whereby the levels and concentration of low pay are combining to see incomes in a significant number of households fall below the poverty line even where family members are in paid employment. The links between individual low pay and family poverty, however, are complex. This paper uses [Australian Bureau of Statistics] ABS survey data to examine the growth of working poverty in Australia from the beginning of the 1980s to the mid-1990s. The analysis shows that low pay on an hourly basis does not in itself equal poverty, and the biggest increase in family poverty has been among employees not in low pay. Yet the proportion of low-paid workers who are also in poor families has grown to about one in five. It is not only a question of part-time or casual work. Poverty amongst those in full-year, full-time work seems also to have risen significantly, with a particular increase amongst single person households. In the light of these findings, the paper discusses the policy implications, including the possible impact of recent calls for a freeze on minimum wages in order to stimulate employment growth.


Abstract. Knowledge on ice surface velocity of glaciers and ice caps contributes to a better understanding of a wide range of processes related to glacier dynamics, mass change and response to climate. Based on the recent release of historical SAR data from various space agencies we compiled nearly complete mosaics of winter ice surface velocities for the 1990's over the Eastern Arctic (Novaya Zemlya, Franz-Josef-Land, Severnaya Zemlya and Svalbard), a region with sparse optical velocity records from these years. We mainly applied offset-tracking to JERS-1 SAR data and filled data gaps using SAR interferometry and offset-tracking from ERS-1/2 SAR data. We studied the long-term variability of winter ice surface velocity by comparing our 1990's results to 2008–2011 velocity maps from ALOS-1 PALSAR-1 and 2020–2021 maps from Sentinel-1. A general increase of winter velocities from the 1990's to present along with a retreat of glacier fronts is obsverved. Exceptions to this general pattern are surges, which are widespread over Svalbard but rarely found in the other three regions. The dense time series of ice surface velocity from Sentinel-1 since 2015 were also considered to infer the representativeness of winter data with respect to mean annual values. We found that for non-surging glaciers short-term seasonal fluctuations are relatively small and winter ice surface velocities are a good representative of mean annual velocities with an underestimation of less than 10 %. Together with consistent datasets of glacier ice thickness and terminus position, the ice surface velocities in the Eastern Arctic provide the basis to quantify the regional decadal average calving flux during the 1990's. The ice surface velocity data set for the 1990's over the Eastern Arctic from satellite SAR data can be downloaded from https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.938381 (Strozzi et. al., 2021).


The study was carried out in Eagle Island River, located in Mgbuosimini community, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. In this study, the concentration of Nickel (Ni) in sediments and periwinkles (Tympanotonos fuscatus) were determined from 25 sampling stations in Eagle Island River. The portion of the periwinkle that was assayed was the edible part. The assay was carried out using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The mean±SD of Ni concentrations in sediments and periwinkles were 2.77±1.05 mg/kg and 6.25±1.98 mg/kg respectively. The mean concentration of Ni was higher in periwinkles than in sediments. The correlation coefficient between Ni concentrations in sediment and periwinkle was 32.7%. Following the increasing industrial activities and waste disposal in the water body, the need to regularly determine the concentrations of this heavy metal in the water, aquatic lives and sediments is imperative in order to uphold environmental and human health protection.


Great effort has been placed to identify the most suited bioenergy crop under different environments and management practices, however, there is still need to find new genetic resources for constrained areas. For instance, South Mediterranean area is strongly affected by prolonged drought, high vapour pressure deficit (VPD) and extremely high temperatures during summertime. In the present work we investigated the soil water effect on crop growth and leaf gas exchange of Saccharum spontaneum L. ssp. aegyptiacum (Willd.) Hackel, a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous grass. Furthermore, the net increase of biomass production per unit light intercepted [radiation use efficiency (RUE)] and per unit water transpired [water use efficiency (WUE)] was also studied. To this end a field trial was carried out imposing three levels of soil water availability (I 100 , I 50 and I 0 , corresponding to 100%, 50% and 0% of ETm restutition) under a semi-arid Mediterranean environment. Leaf area index (LAI), stem height, biomass dry matter yield, CO 2 assimilation rate, and transpiration rate resulted significantly affected by measurement time and irrigation treatment, with the highest values in I 100 and the lowest in I 0 . RUE was the highest in I 100 followed by I 50 and I 0 ; on the other hand, WUE was higher in I 0 than I 50 and I 100 . At LAI values greater than 2.0, 85% photosynthetically active radiation was intercepted by the Saccharum stand, irrespective of the irrigation treatment. Saccharum spontaneum spp. aegyptiacum is a potential species for biomass production in environment characterized by drought stress, high temperatures and high VPD, as those of Southern Europe and similar semi-arid areas.


To test the effectiveness of a public awareness campaign on women's political participation in a developing country, we conducted a randomized field experiment across 40 municipalities in Guatemala. The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness about the importance of women's civic and political participation within the context of the 2011 general elections in Guatemala. We found no measurable impact, but provide lessons learned that can be helpful to other teams undertaking similar initiatives. We also fill a void in the literature given that this is one of the few studies that integrates an experimental design to explore the impact of a public campaign on women's political participation in a developing country.


The variety and amount of data being collected in our everyday life poses unique challenges for multimedia retrieval. In the Lifelog Search Challenge (LSC), multimedia retrieval systems compete in finding events based on descriptions containing hints about structured, semi-structured an unstructured data. In this paper, we present the multimedia retrieval system vitrivr with a focus on the changes and additions made based on the new dataset, and our successful participation at LSC 2019. Specifically, we show how the new dataset can be used for retrieval in different modalities without sacrificing efficiency, describe two recent additions, temporal scoring and staged querying, and discuss the deep learning methods used to enrich the dataset.


Remote sensing image registration plays an important role in military and civilian fields, such as natural disaster damage assessment, military damage assessment and ground targets identification, etc. However, due to the ground relief variations and imaging viewpoint changes, non-rigid geometric distortion occurs between remote sensing images with different viewpoint, which further increases the difficulty of remote sensing image registration. To address the problem, we propose a multi-viewpoint remote sensing image registration method which contains the following contributions. (i) A multiple features based finite mixture model is constructed for dealing with different types of image features. (ii) Three features are combined and substituted into the mixture model to form a feature complementation, i.e., the Euclidean distance and shape context are used to measure the similarity of geometric structure, and the SIFT (scale-invariant feature transform) distance which is endowed with the intensity information is used to measure the scale space extrema. (iii) To prevent the ill-posed problem, a geometric constraint term is introduced into the L2E-based energy function for better behaving the non-rigid transformation. We evaluated the performances of the proposed method by three series of remote sensing images obtained from the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and Google Earth, and compared with five state-of-the-art methods where our method shows the best alignments in most cases.


OBJECTIVES
To (1) introduce a novel machine learning method and (2) assess maxillary structure variation in unilateral canine impaction for advancing clinically viable information.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A machine learning algorithm utilizing Learning-based multi-source IntegratioN frameworK for Segmentation (LINKS) was used with cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images to quantify volumetric skeletal maxilla discrepancies of 30 study group (SG) patients with unilaterally impacted maxillary canines and 30 healthy control group (CG) subjects. Fully automatic segmentation was implemented for maxilla isolation, and maxillary volumetric and linear measurements were performed. Analysis of variance was used for statistical evaluation.

RESULTS
Maxillary structure was successfully auto-segmented, with an average dice ratio of 0.80 for three-dimensional image segmentations and a minimal mean difference of two voxels on the midsagittal plane for digitized landmarks between the manually identified and the machine learning-based (LINKS) methods. No significant difference in bone volume was found between impaction ([2.37 ± 0.34] × 104 mm3) and nonimpaction ([2.36 ± 0.35] × 104 mm3) sides of SG. The SG maxillae had significantly smaller volumes, widths, heights, and depths (P < .05) than CG.

CONCLUSIONS
The data suggest that palatal expansion could be beneficial for those with unilateral canine impaction, as underdevelopment of the maxilla often accompanies that condition in the early teen years. Fast and efficient CBCT image segmentation will allow large clinical data sets to be analyzed effectively.


This dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter empirically investigates how the intensity of product market competition affects the cost of debt. Using a large sample of loans to publicly traded US manufacturing firms, the chapter provides evidence that an intensification of product market competition among firms significantly increases the cost of bank loans. The analysis reveals that the effect is strongest in industries with high illiquidity and specificity of assets. This finding indicates that the liquidation value of assets is an important channel through which competition affects the cost of debt. Moreover, loans to firms that operate in more competitive industries contain more covenants restricting the firms' financing and dividend policies. Overall, the results suggest that banks explicitly take into account the risk arising from product market competition when pricing and designing debt contracts. The second chapter tests whether equity risk reflects the shareholders' incentives to default strategically on the firm's debt obligations. The chapter develops a model that relates shareholders' incentives to default strategically with the likelihood that debt renegotiations fail. Using an international cross-section of stocks to exploit the exogenous variation of insolvency procedures across countries and to test the model's predictions, the analysis reveals that the equity beta increases with the degree of creditor protection. Moreover, the equity beta decreases with the costs of liquidation and shareholders' bargaining power, and the sensitivity of this relationship weakens as country's creditor protection toughens. The results are economically important, and robust to various specifications and estimation techniques. The third chapter investigates how the debt structure and the strategic interaction between shareholders and creditors in the event of default affect expected stock returns. By endogenizing shareholders' decision to default, the model generates new predictions linking firm characteristics to expected stock returns through an intuitive economic mechanism. In particular, the model predicts that expected stock returns are higher for firms that face high debt renegotiation difficulties, and that have a large fraction of secured or convertible debt. Expected stock returns are lower for firms whose shareholders maintain strong bargaining power, and for firms subject to high liquidation costs. Using a large sample of publicly traded US firms between 1985 and 2005, the third chapter presents new evidence on the link between debt structure, renegotiation frictions, and stock returns, which is supportive of the model's predictions.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex neurological disorder, characterized by selective degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons. It is a multi-factorial disease, contributed by a combination of age, genetic and environmental factors. Etiology of sporadic PD and mechanism underlying selective loss of dopaminergic neurons has not yet been clearly understood. Recent developments in genomics and proteomics have revolutionized the research on PD at genetic level. Differential gene expression patterns (DNA biochip technology), age-dependent complex genetic patterns (SNP genotyping), and protein expression profiles (proteomics) of PD patients have started providing the specific and rigorous molecular explanation and role of modifying factors in PD. Genomics and proteomics are further expected to help in developing biomarkers for diagnosis of early onset PD and also to develop valuable and potential therapeutic strategies for its treatment. In this review, we have discussed the progress made by genomics and proteomics, in understanding the role of modifying factors in PD.


Establishing new approaches for the prevention and treatment of stroke relies on identifying modifiable risk factors that contribute to the development of this complex disease. Mendelian randomization (MR) studies, analogous to naturally occurring randomized trials, can assess causality of potentially modifiable biomarkers and offer new insights into biological pathways. Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and the chief determinant of long-term disability. Stroke is a heterogeneous disease arising from several distinct underlying pathologies and is typically classified as ischemic or hemorrhagic, and further subclassified using imaging data. Ischemic stroke (IS), including its 3 main subtypes: small vessel disease, large vessel disease, and cardioembolic stroke, accounts for ≈80% of stroke and is the result of an interrupted blood supply, leading to localized areas of ischemia in the brain. Small vessel disease may be a consequence of nonatherosclerotic, as well as atherosclerotic, mechanisms that result in an occlusion of the small perforating arteries, whereas large vessel disease results from occlusions or emboli from plaque rupture in larger vessels, such as a carotid artery. Cardioembolic stroke arises typically from emboli from the heart. By contrast, hemorrhagic stroke is a consequence of intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding into the brain) or subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding into the subarachnoid space). These diverse stroke subtypes have distinct underlying pathologies reflecting different risk factor distributions. MR studies, using genetic variants as instrumental variables, afford a powerful approach to assessing causality of risk factors and avoid biases inherent in observational studies, including confounding and reverse causation. This review considers the contribution of MR studies to stroke epidemiology and their relevance to understanding risk factors and new therapeutic targets for stroke.


Background:  Hearing loss is a major side effect of cisplatin-based chemotherapy. With a large burden of cancer in developing countries, an evidence-based approach to prevention of cisplatin-induced hearing loss (ototoxicity) is pertinent. Aim:  This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of treatment modifications currently being implemented to prevent or minimise ototoxicity during cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Setting:  A retrospective medical folder review design was employed. Purposive sampling was used to select medical folders of adult patients who were undergoing cisplatin-based chemotherapy at Groote Schuur Hospital between January 2011 and December 2016. Method:  Demographic, cisplatin chemotherapy treatment and audiometric data were extracted from patients' records. The Common Terminology Criteria of Adverse Events version 4 (CTCAE v4) grading scale was used to determine ototoxicity and grade severity of hearing loss. Data were analysed using R, a software environment for statistical computing. Results:  Fifty-eight medical folders were included in the study (median age = 43 years; range: 18–75 years; 36 male, 22 female; average length of treatment: 13.45 weeks). Three treatment modifications were used: Dose reduction, switching drugs and continuing with the same drug. Common Terminology Criteria of Adverse Events version 4 grading scale revealed ototoxicity in 75 % of the patients who switched drugs, 50% of the patients with reduced dose and 56 % of the patients who were continued on the same drug. There was no statistically significant association between treatment modifications and incidence of ototoxicity. Conclusion:  Most patients experienced cisplatin-induced ototoxicity despite treatment modifications. There was no statistically significant association between any of the strategies implemented and incidence of hearing loss.


OBJECTIVES
To study children with cerebral palsy in Hong Kong, their neuroimpairment, activity limitation, and participation restriction in society. Parents' opinion on current medical and rehabilitation services was also sought.

DESIGN
Systematic survey using questionnaires.

SETTING
Four associations in Hong Kong: Child Assessment Service, Hong Kong Association for Parents of Children with Physical Disabilities, Association of Parents of the Severely Mentally Handicapped, and Hong Kong Physically Handicapped and Able-Bodied Association.

PARTICIPANTS
Parents of children with cerebral palsy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Neuroimpairment, activity limitation, and participation restriction.

RESULTS
Information from 181 children with cerebral palsy was analysed. Among them, 56% were boys. The mean age was 7 years 6 months (standard deviation, 3 years 11 months). The most common diagnostic type was spastic cerebral palsy. Co-morbidities in children with cerebral palsy were common. Limitation in daily activities including mobility and self-care tasks was considerable and this posed great stress to parents when taking care of their children. Children's participation in both social and leisure activities was regarded as a low priority. A high percentage (70%) of parents reported difficulty in travelling. The reasons involved problems in transportation, building access (entry and exit), and attitudes of the general public. These environmental factors restricted the social participation of the children and their families. Over 75% of parents were satisfied with the current medical and rehabilitation services.

CONCLUSIONS
Children with cerebral palsy have multiple and complex needs. The findings of this study may serve as a reference for parents, service providers, and policy makers to work in partnership to achieve a more comprehensive health-care service for children with cerebral palsy and to facilitate better integration into the community.


Aim: We aimed to investigate the factors that make inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients more or less likely to be willing to take corticosteroids. Methods: Respondents completed a questionnaire. The primary outcome was whether the respondents would or would not use corticosteroids again to treat their IBD. Three separate univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine which variables predicted willingness to take steroids, including specific side effects. Results: Four hundred fifty three respondents (321 with Crohn's disease, 115 with ulcerative colitis; mean age 40 years, 297 [66%] female) completed the questionnaire. Corticosteroid efficacy (OR 6.83, 95% CI 3.67-12.7), lack of previous negative side effects (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.04-0.32), and positive side effects (OR 2.96, 95% CI 1.63-5.40) were associated with a willingness to use corticosteroids in the future. In multivariate analysis, weight gain (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.29-0.98) and hallucinations (OR 0.28, CI 0.09-0.89) were associated with an unwillingness to use corticosteroids again, whereas increased energy (OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.20-4.42) was the only significant positive side effect in a multivariate model. Conclusions: Past experiences with corticosteroids influence whether patients will take corticosteroids again. Clinicians should enquire about side effects and positive psychological symptoms associated with corticosteroid use.


Background Khat chewing has become prevalent in the world due to the improvement of road and air transportation. In Ethiopia, khat chewing is more prevalent and wildly practiced by men. Khat has a negative effect on social, economic and mental health. Therefore, this study aims to show spatial patterns and factors associated with khat chewing among male adults 15-59 years in Ethiopia. Methods A total of 12,594 men who chew khat in their were included in this study. ArcGIS version 10.7 software was used to visualize spatial pattern chewing khat among adult men in Ethiopia. The Bernoulli model was applied using Kilduff SaTScan version 9.6 software to identify significant purely spatial clusters for chewing khat in Ethiopia. The robust standard error method of generalized estimating equations was used for the binary outcome variable from the clustered data and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were reported. Results A total of 12,594 participants were included in the analysis. The prevalence of ever khat chewing in this study was 3418 (27.14%) with 95% CI 26.37% to 27.92%. From EDHS 2016 survey the high proportion of chewing khat was located in Diredawa, Harari, Southern Oromia, Somai and Benishangu Gumuz Regions. In spatial scan statistics analysis, a total of 126 clusters (RR= 4.02, P-value < 0.001) was identified. Age group 30-44 (AOR=1.44, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.62), being single (AOR=1.86, 95% CI: 1.64, 2.12), Muslim religion (AOR=4.91, 95% CI: 3.69, 8.19), media exposure (AOR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.68, 0.86), working status(AOR=0.45, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.53), alcohol drinking (AOR=2.91, 95% CI: 2.43, 3.39) and region were statistically significant factors affecting chewing Khat in Ethiopia. Conclusions The prevalence of chewing chat in Ethiopia was high and located in Diredawa, Harari, Southern Oromia, Somai and Benishangu Gumuz Regions. Older age group, single, drinker, media unexposed, had no work and Muslim religion follower should be given spatial attention in reducing the prevalence of chewing khat. Therefore, it is good to teach the health impact of khat chewing through media.


In her influential review of the "new formalist" movement, Marjorie Levinson grounds her discussion on the polemic of resurgent formalist views and theories with materialist approaches to literary history and interpretation represented by the well-established, institutionalized, school of new historicism. The most frequent problem invoked by representatives of the formalist "countercurrent" in literary studies today is the tendency of reducing literary texts to "a simple-minded mimesis" of their cultural and historical contexts, which has come to replace "the dynamic formalism that characterized early new historicism". By recourse to Reinhart Koselleck's notion of historical structure (which he discusses in connection with the practice of conceptual history), I propose an analysis of Poe's narrative response to and representation of the new order of free enterprise capitalism, a period of huge transformations in antebellum America, brought forth by the rapid transition from an agrarian society to a market economy dominated by industrial capitalism. With this new historicist exercise informed by Koselleck's philosophy of history, I hope to get a closer look at the elusive mechanisms of the dialectical relation between work and world, literature and history - a central issue for many of those writing against the new historicist "current".


Interface-based programming, i.e. the systematic use of interface types in variable declarations, serves the decoupling of classes and increases a program's changeability. To maximize this effect, interfaces should contain as few elements as possible. For the design of minimal (i.e., maximally general) interfaces, an in-depth analysis of the protocol needed from objects in a given context is required. However, currently available refactorings for the creation of such interfaces (such as Extract Interface) leave programmers alone with the decision what to include or, more importantly, what to omit: they let them choose manually from the protocol of a class, and only then offer the use of the new interface where (if) possible. To end this trial and error process, we have developed a new refactoring named Infer Type that, using type inference, completely automates the construction of new, context-specific interfaces and their use in variable declarations, thus supporting greater decoupling and access protection of code, serving the goals of interface-based programming.


Based on 34 in-depth interviews with women in the Israeli military, this article explores how the sexual vulnerability of women in power positions is used as both a disciplining power and a resource for agency that enables them to negotiate a hyper-masculine organizational culture. Juxtaposing theoretical insights from the CMS literature on sexuality within organizations with those arising from the Butlerian conceptualization of vulnerability, we offer an analytical framework for understanding women's sexual vulnerability in hyper-masculine environments, not exclusively as a victimization process but also as a significant survival practice designed for coping with their organizational exclusion. Accordingly, the theoretical contribution of this article allows for a nuanced examination of subjects experiencing exclusion and devaluation as they constitute their political subjectivity in hostile work environments.


Higher alcohols are closely related to the flavor and safety of rice wine. The formation of n-propanol, isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol, and phenylethanol during rice wine fermentations was for the first time investigated in this study among 10 rice cultivars from two main production regions. Rice wine made from Yashui rice, the long-grain non-glutinous rice from Guizhou, produced the highest yields of higher alcohols (487.45 mg/L), and rice wine made from five glutinous rice cultivars produced the lowest yields of higher alcohols (327.45–344.16 mg/L). An extremely strong correlation was found between the starch in rice and higher alcohols in rice wine. Further analysis first showed that the former fermentation period was key for the nutrient consumption and higher alcohol formation, with more than 55% of glucose being consumed and more than 75% of higher alcohols being synthesized in 48 h. Correlation analysis confirmed the strong correlation between nutrient consumption and higher alcohol formation including valine–isobutanol (coefficient higher than 0.8 in seven rice cultivars and higher than 0.6 in three rice cultivars), glucose–isoamyl alcohol (coefficient higher than 0.8 in five rice cultivars and higher than 0.6 in the other five rice cultivars), and glucose–phenylethanol (coefficient higher than 0.8). The correlation of threonine–n-propanol, leucine–isoamyl alcohol, phenylalanine–phenylethanol, glucose–n-propanol, and glucose–isobutanol varied among the rice wines made from 10 rice cultivars. RT-qPCR analysis on five target genes verified the variation caused by different rice cultivars. this study for the first time reported the special formation pattern of higher alcohols during rice wine fermentation, emphasizing the early contribution of glucose metabolism on the formation of isobutanol. This study highlighted the significance of rice selection for making rice wine with good quality and provided theoretical references for the control of higher alcohols, especially in the former period of rice wine fermentation.


A 62-year-old woman presents for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. During transseptal catheterization (TSC) the patient sustained mechanical injury to the atrioventricular node (AVN) with consequent complete heart block (CHB). Injury to the AVN and CHB recovered after approximately forty minutes. The patient subsequently underwent a successful PVI with the remainder of the hospital stay uneventful. We present a case of reversible injury to the AVN caused by a steerable introducer sheath during TSC and discuss the mechanisms of injury as well as potential measures to avoid such a complication in the future.


Although endosomes and lysosomes are associated with different subcellular functions, we present evidence that a lysosomal enzyme, arylsulfatase-A, is present in prelysosomal vesicles which constitute part of the endosomal compartment. When human cultured fibroblasts were subfractionated with Percoll gradients, arylsulfatase-A activity was enriched in three subcellular fractions: dense lysosomes, light lysosomes, and light membranous vesicles. Pulsing the cells for 1 to 10 min with the fluid-phase endocytic marker, horseradish peroxidase, showed that endosomes enriched with the marker were distributed partly in the light lysosome fraction but mainly in the light membranous fraction. By pulsing the fibroblasts for 10 min with horseradish peroxidase conjugated to colloidal gold and then staining the light membranous and light lysosomal fractions for arylsulfatase-A activity with a specific cytochemical technique, the endocytic marker was detected under the electron microscope in the same vesicles as the lysosomal enzyme. The origin of the lysosomal enzyme in this endosomal compartment was shown not to be acquired through mannose 6-phosphate receptor-mediated endocytosis of enzymes previously secreted from the cell. Together with our recent finding that the light membranous fraction contains prelysosomes distinct from bona fide lysosomes and was highly enriched with newly synthesized arylsulfatase-A molecules, these results demonstrate that prelysosomes also constitute part of the endosomal compartment to which intracellular lysosomal enzymes are targeted.


A derivative, FOT5, of the F9 murine embryonal carcinoma cell line which is resistant to ouabain and thioguanine was fused with a near diploid parietal endodermal cell line, PFHR9, Hybrid clones (ENEC1 to ENEC5) were isolated in HAT Medium containing ouabain at a frequency of approximately 2 x 10(-4). The DNA contents and chromosome number of the ENEC hybrids were approximately the sum of those of the parents. Five hybrid cell lines examined in detail expressed the following parietal endodermal functions: plasminogen activator activity, basement membrane proteins, and endodermal cytoskeletal proteins. Embryonal carcinoma characteristic functions (tumorigenicity, a stage specific embryonic antigen, and high alkaline phosphatase activity) were extinguished in the hybrids. No hybrid clones with embryonal carcinoma morphology were observed among 1,358 hybrid clones examined. Hybrids, propagated for over 100 generations, continued to express endodermal functions and not embryonal carcinoma functions. The coordinate expression of endodermal functions and the extinction of embryonal carcinoma functions in the ENEC hybrids suggest that the parietal endodermal cells contain diffusible activities which extinguish embryonal carcinoma functions and possibly cause the embryonal carcinoma genome to express parietal endodermal characteristics.


Reducing methane (CH4) emission from paddy rice production is an important target for many Asian countries in order to comply with their climate policy commitments. National greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory approaches like the Tier-2 approach of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are useful to assess country-scale emissions from the agricultural sector. In paddy rice, alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is a promising and well-studied water management technique which, as shown in experimental studies, can effectively reduce CH4 emissions. However, so far little is known about GHG emission rates under AWD when the technique is fully controlled by farmers. This study assesses CH4 and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes under continuous flooded (CF) and AWD treatments for seven subsequent seasons on farmers' fields in a pumped irrigation system in Central Luzon, Philippines. Under AWD management, CH4 emissions were substantially reduced (73% in dry season (DS), 21% in wet season (WS)). In all treatments, CH4 is the major contributor to the total GHG emission and is, thus, identified as the driving force to the global warming potential (GWP). The contribution of N2O emissions to the GWP was higher in CF than in AWD, however, these only offset 15% of the decrease in CH4 emission and, therefore, did not jeopardize the strong reduction in the GWP. The study proves the feasibility of AWD under farmers' management as well as the intended mitigation effect. Resulting from this study, it is recommended to incentivize dissemination strategies in order to improve the effectiveness of mitigation initiatives. A comparison of single CH4 emissions to calculated emissions with the IPCC Tier-2 inventory approach identified that, although averaged values showed a sufficient degree of accuracy, fluctuations for single measurement points have high variation which limit the use of the method for field-level assessments.


The second volume of Robert Lacey's unique story of England opens with the dramatic battle of Agincourt when Henry V's bowmen defeated French armour against the odds, and ends with the 'The Protestant Wind' -- King William and Mary and the Glorious Revolution. The centuries in between witnessed some of the truly classic events -- and stories -- of English history: Joan of Arc, all the drama of the Wars of the Roses, William Caxton and the first printing press in the land, King Richard III murdering his nephews in the story of The Princes in the Tower, through Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey, the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Guy Fawkes and his plot to blow up Parliament, King Charles II hiding in the Royal Oak, the rise of Cromwell, the Restoration and the Great Fire of London. Packed with humour, insight and Robert Lacey's genius for the popular touch, this is history as it should be told -- with all the drama and detail brought vividly to life.