This programmed approach to basic interviewing skills breaks down the complex process of effective professional/client communication into single-skill components. Based on Allen Iveys proven Micro Skills model, the text leads readers step-by-step to mastery of basic communication skills. Chapters 2 through 6 focus on rapport building and information-seeking skills that are basic to all effective communication, while Chapters 7 through 13 examine specific skills that can help bring about change in both cooperative and resistant clients.


The use of tablet computers have increased significantly in numerous parts of society during recent years, and the educational sector is no exception. Use of games in educational situations has intrigued scholars of different disciplines, presenting both favouring and opposing opinions. Whilst the educational effectiveness of the game media is discussed, research done in the area of cognitive development, psychology and pedagogy argue for the importance of play and the positive effects it entails on education and learning. This thesis investigates to what extent playfulness has been incorporated into the educational game-genre for children on Google Play by studying four games from the genre along with a fifth game from the entertainment section for comparison. Based on selected literature discussing play, education and games eleven attributes were assembled to dissect the games and to measure their playfulness and educational effectiveness.The study proved that educational games for children seldom possess playful elements. The analysed games possessed very few of the attributes from the study and tended to focus on educational values rather than offering a playful approach to learning, resembling the traditional educational school system. The lack of playfulness and effective guidance in the games and the absence of knowledge of modern, active and tested educational theories to basethe game design on lead the educational game genre to produce educationally ineffective games, which in turn effects the educational game market as whole.


Angela Merkel came to power at a crucial time in regards to Germany's relationship with its past. Where would she position herself in light of Gerhard Schroder's approach that had offered a new way of accepting responsibility for the past and integrating it into the twenty-first century present by explicitly making it a key element of German national identity, but also in view of her East German biography? Would she continue and maybe even reinforce the institutionalization of Holocaust-centered memory and-given the forceful return of the topic of German victimhood-complement it with the institutionalization of the memory of German suffering, or would she emphasize the latter at the expense of the former? This paper attempts to answer these questions by examining Merkel's politics of the past during her first three years in office.


Task-level or job-level isolation is commonly used in real-time systems to prevent a job that overruns from affecting jobs belonging to other tasks (task-level isolation) or to the same task (job-level isolation). Although such an isolation provides the desired protection and simplifies analysis, it often results in degraded performance (in terms of deadline meeting) because it limits the exploitation of residual processor time resulting from jobs that underruns. We propose a new overrun handling method called randomized dropping that relaxes the isolation to make effective use of such residual processor time. We apply the proposed randomized dropping to the EDF scheduling and give an analysis technique to compute the probability of deadline meeting. Experimental results show that the proposed overrun handling method outperforms previous approaches based task-level or job-level isolation.


The theme of this paper is whether there was a textbook-like inflation-output tradeoff in post-WWII Italy. We estimate both standard and time-varying parameter models of the relationship between inflation and the level of real economic activity over the 1949 to 2010 period and find no evidence of a stable, significant and positive association between output and prices. We attribute this evidence primarily to a fiscally dominated monetary policy and a rigid indexation mechanism aimed at protecting wages from inflation. These two institutions contributed to the persistent inflation bias and macroeconomic instability that lasted almost until the entry of the country in the European Monetary Union.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the stability of hemodynamic, respiratory and gas exchange variables in an animal model of oleic acid-induced acute lung injury.

METHODS
This was an experimental study involving 10 mongrel dogs. The variables were measured at baseline, as well as at 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after the administration of oleic acid. In order to analyze repeated measurements, linear and quadratic effects were tested. Mixed linear models with diversified variance and covariance structures were used, depending on the variable studied.

RESULTS
We found that mean arterial blood pressure stabilized at 30 min, as did heart rate, pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary capillary pressure at 60 min. Respiratory rate, tidal volume, minute volume and respiratory work stabilized at 30 min. Regarding gas exchange variables, PaO2, PaO2/FiO2 ratio and pulmonary shunt fraction stabilized at 30 min. The remaining variables maintained a continuous rise or fall.

CONCLUSIONS
This oleic acid-induced acute lung injury model is stable for some of the variables tested, although stabilization occurs at different times. The respiratory and gas exchange variables stabilized at 30 min, whereas the hemodynamic variables stabilized at 60 min.


In the thrust toward constructing economic value, health care provider firms have been consolidating at a marked rate. Medicaid managed care programs have been rapidly emerging with the objectives of containing health care costs and improving services for beneficiaries. However, there are concerns that the trend toward achieving market efficiency through merger is largely incongruent with the economic and health value objectives of Medicaid managed care programs in the states. Discordance among value objectives arises primarily because of inefficient and market concentrating horizontal merger strategies employed by firms and disruptions in quality of care that occur during the transition to integrated health care systems. By promoting vertical integration strategies and filling in the quality gaps created by an active merger environment, Medicaid offices advance state objectives of cost containment and quality while recognizing that providers operate in a complex and competitive environment that necessitates consolidation for organizational survival.


Alteration of leaf surface phenotypes due to virus infection has the potential to affect the likelihood of colonisation by insect vectors, or to affect their feeding activities. The aim of this study was to investigate whether viruses that rely on insects for their transmission, and which can be sensitive to the polarization of light, affect the percentage polarization of light reflected from leaves. We also set out to discover whether a correlation exists between the expression of ECERIFERUM (CER) genes involved in cuticular wax synthesis and the polarization of the light reflected from the leaf surfaces. It was found that the aphid-vectored viruses Potato virus Y and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) caused significant reductions in the percentage polarization of light reflected from the abaxial surfaces of leaves of Nicotiana tabacum, whereas the non-insect-vectored viruses Tobacco mosaic virus and Pepino mosaic virus did not induce this effect. In Arabidopsis thaliana, there was little difference in the impacts of CMV and the non-insect-vectored Turnip vein clearing virus on polarization reflection, with both viruses increasing the percentage polarization of light reflected from the abaxial surfaces of leaves. There was a trend towards increased accumulation of CER6 transcripts in N. tabacum and A. thaliana when infected with aphid-vectored viruses. No significant effect of infection on trichome densities was found in A. thaliana, suggesting that alterations to the formation of cuticular waxes may be the more likely phenotypic change on the leaf surface contributing to the changes in polarization reflection. The possible impacts and adaptive significance of these effects with regard to viral transmission by insects are discussed.


Aim The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to consider whether there was a correlation between stability quotient values (ISQ) and insertion torque values (IT) at implant placement (2); to determine which of these values were more related to success or failure; and (3) to determine the influence of bone type and implant length, diameter and shape in the study results. Materials and methods A retrospective clinical study was carried out between June 2012 and June 2014. The insertion torque and resonance frequency values of 279 double achid etched implants (Osseotite, Biomet 3i, Implant Innovations Inc., Palm Beach Gardens, USA), with conical and parallel walls, and of different diameters and lengths, were tested at the moment of insertion in 90 patients of different age (18- 82 years of age/ average: 60.89 years) and of both genders (58 females and 32 males). Collected data were processed and subjected to statistical analysis. Results The mean ISQ value was 70.54, showing no statistical significance between successful and unsuccessful implants. The mean IT value was 44.18. In this case, the values obtained showed a difference between successful and unsuccessful implants, yet not statistically significant (p> 0.05). However, statistically significant differences were found in relation to bone type, shape and length of the implants in IT as well as ISQ values. In the former case (IT values), the differences were only related to diameter. Conclusion There was a correlation between ISQ and IT values; with no significant difference concerning success or failure. The variables analyzed showed statistical differences, except for diameter, which was only significant for IT.


In order to design a restoration mortar with properties and composition similar to the original mortar, it is important to analyze the historic mortar in several ways. A combination of analyses give information about the mixing ratio between binder and aggregates, chemical composition of the mortar, additives, tool marks, application technique etc. This paper shows the variations in Swedish medieval lime mortars with a high content of binder. By analysing historic mortar with a combination of ocular investigations, microscopically studies of thin section specimens, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Powder Diffraction, all the information needed for designing a restoration mortar, with composition and properties similar to the historic mortar, is gained.


System dynamics and agent based simulation models can both be used to model and understand interactions of entities within a population. Our modeling work presented here is concerned with understanding the suitability of the different types of simulation for the immune system aging problems and comparing their results. We are trying to answer questions such as: How fit is the immune system given a certain age? Would an immune boost be of therapeutic value, e. g. to improve the effectiveness of a simultaneous vaccination? Understanding the processes of immune system aging and degradation may also help in development of therapies that reverse some of the damages caused thus improving life expectancy. Therefore as a first step our research focuses on T cells; major contributors to immune system functionality. One of the main factors influencing immune system aging is the output rate of naive T cells. Of further interest is the number and phenotypical variety of these cells in an individual, which will be the case study focused on in this paper.


Abstract This study seeks to answer the question how supply chain managers' capabilities impact individual and firm performance. Organisations have begun to recognise the importance of their supply chain and the necessity for qualified supply chain managers. Therefore, there is a need for further research on the impact of these capabilities on individual and firm performance. Sustained performance of a firm depends on dynamic capabilities and it allows firms to align and adapt strategies according to the volatile external environment. Using dynamic capabilities theory, the supply chain manager capabilities model was developed as a way for supply chain managers to effectively use their skills and past experiences to improve their own and firm's performance. Primary data was collected through a survey distributed to supply chain management professionals. The results strongly support the relationship between technology and soft skills with supply chain manager capabilities. Interestingly, our study identifies sequential relationship amongst the three constructs such as capabilities, individual and firm performance. Capabilities are related with individual performance whereas individual performance is related with the firm performance. However, our findings revealed that there is no direct relationship between supply chain manager capabilities and firm performance.


The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory currently has three series-connected hybrid (SCH) magnet projects, where resistive coils are connected in series with superconducting coils using cable-in-conduit-conductor (CICC) underway: first for the magnet laboratory in Tallahassee, FL; second for the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB), Germany; and the third for the Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN. The one for HZB has a horizontal conical bore with a 30^ opening angle for neutron scattering experiments. During power supply trip, superconducting magnet quench, resistive insert short, and insert fault, transient electromagnetic effects as a result of fast decay of the coil current introduce a significant amount of eddy current and Lorentz force on the conductive components of the cryostat such as the metallic cold-mass magnet frame and the 50-K thermal radiation shield. Although the eddy-current heating is not a concern during quench and fault operations, the eddy-current-induced Lorentz forces need to be taken into account in the structural design of the SCH cryostat. In this paper, a detailed eddy-current analysis for the HZB magnet during abnormal operations has been performed for its cryostat based on the dry magnet design concept. The nonuniform eddy-current distribution from the finite-element analysis implies that local hot spots may develop under abnormal operations. The eddy-current-induced Lorentz forces are quantified to ensure the strength and stability of the cryostat structure and, most importantly, safety of the SCH magnet during abnormal conditions.


Before the year 2007, Nigerian government has been managing unprofitable contractual
 situations, most of which lacked the needed value for money. Some of which also were negative
 due to the very little monitoring habit that coursed general project abandonment for which in a
 general view those projects had suffered a great setback in terms of quality and sustainability.
 Furthermore, the government had made series of efforts trying to subdue these impending
 problems during which ample consultations were made; many programmes were designed in the
 bid to stop the menace. However it was in the course of this that in the year 2007 the government
 came up with an agency that was shouldered with responsibility of checkmating these issues to
 appropriately monitor the quality of jobs being done and making sure that such works were
 actually captured in the years budget and therefore executing them accordingly. The government
 witnessed a tremendous achievement with this effort and thereby felt the need to improve on it
 and then transformed it into a well-organized outfit with autonomous control over all MDAs in
 the case of contract execution. This giant step has helped the Universal Basic Education Board to
 also have the long needed control over their numerous contracts across the country. It brought a
 great sanity into their ways of engagement concerning every contract process putting in mind the
 now introduced procurement law. The Universal Basic Education Board has therefore adopted
 all necessary medium in their ways of conducting all contract proceedings adhering with the
 procurement law put in place. The daring need therefore to completely abolish all past errors
 brought the need to adopt and practice the present procurement processes. Therefore the extent
 of achievements of these processes needed to be abreast which in turn brought the need for the
 procurement process of the Universal Basic Education Board. It is very important that all parties
 must be satisfied with the quality of the project as well as timely payment by the client if
 satisfied for the overall performance. It is recommended that the pre-qualification process should be supported by laws which will guide against the people that might try to hijack the process.
 The whole process should be overhaul to avoid those who will try to use power in trying force
 professionals or official assign in carrying out the pre-qualification task.


Fungal diseases are one of the biggest threats for plant growth, development and productivity. Exobasidium vexans is an obligate biotrophic fungal pathogen of tea that causes blister blight, a devastating disease resulting in significant crop losses. A study was carried out to do a comprehensive transcriptome profiling utilizing cDNA-AFLP and SSH along with qRT-PCR based expression profiling, with the objective of identification of blister blight inducible defense-related transcripts in tea, particularly in a resistant cultivar.This could potentially be utilized for development of molecular markers associated with resistance blister blight. Candidate transcripts were screened using cDNA-AFLF method, which are differentially expressed between a resistant and a susceptible cultivar under blister blight stress. Further, SSH libraries were constructed for identification of blister blight induced ESTs in the resistant cultivar. In silico analysis, functional annotation and characterization showed that E. vexans challenge rapidly modulates the expression of a large repertoire of genes associated with an array of biochemical processes, particularly defense. A high level of E. vexans- dependent induction was detected for most of the selected genes through qRT-PCRbased expression profiling of selected ESTs. This entire collection of blister blight induced ESTs includes genes involved not only in defense, but in metabolism, energy, transport, protein modification, cell wall fortification, oxidative stress response and signal transduction, which have either direct or indirect implications in conferring plant defense or resistance responses. A number of novel genes were also identified, which need to be investigated further for their probable roles in defense progression. The data provide potential candidates for improving resistance to blister blight either by marker assisted breeding or genetic engineering and sequence information for marker development (SNPs and SSRs), microarray construction, and genome annotation and the information accrued is expected to accelerate molecular characterization of genes of interest.


In order to have good dephosphorization, it is beneficial to know the proper physical properties, including the melting point and viscosity of slag with fixed lime activity for steel refining, slag foaming and reaction in steel making. A fast way to determine the melting point and viscosity of complex multi-component slags is needed to control the quality of steel. In this study, experimental slag of FetO-CaO-SiO2-MgO-MnO-Al2O3 is obtained with electro slag remelting technique. The liquidus temperature of slag is determined with a video-based contact angle meter recorded with a high-speed camera and verified with an isopleth phase diagram of slag constructed with thermodynamic software FACTSAGE. The viscosity of liquid slag can be estimated with the optical basicity and liquidus temperature obtained from the calculated isopleth phase diagram, then it was compared with the experimental value measured by the rotating torque viscometer. The results indicated that substantial error between the calculated temperature of isopleth phase diagram and the value determined with method of contact angle in high basicity slag. On the other hand, minor difference exists between calculated liquidus temperature and measured temperature in low basicity slag. The viscosity estimated from the optical basicity and liquidus temperature of isopleth phase diagram show the similar behavior. It has good correlation between the calculated value and experimental value in low basicity, however, deviations are found in the range of high basicity.


Antibodies are indispensable tools in biomedical research, but their size, complexity, and sometimes lack of reproducibility created a need for the development of alternative binders to overcome these limitations. Affimers are a novel class of affinity binders based on a structurally robust protease inhibitor scaffold (i.e., Cystatin A), which are selected by phage display and produced in a rapid and simple E. coli protein expression system. These binders have a defined amino acid sequence with defined binding regions and are versatile, thereby allowing for easy engineering. Here we present an affimer-based liquid chromatography−mass spectrometry (LC− MS) method for quantification of the soluble Receptor of Advanced Glycation End-products (sRAGE), a promising biomarker for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The method was validated according to European Medicines Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines and enabled quantitation of serum sRAGE between 0.2 and 10 ng/mL. Comparison between the affimer-based method and a previously developed, validated antibody-based method showed good correlation (R = 0.88) and indicated that 25% lower sRAGE levels are reported by the affimer-based assay. In conclusion, we show the first-time application of affimers in a quantitative LC−MS method, which supports the potential of affimers as robust alternatives to antibodies.


In recent years newly arrived refugees from Africa, Burma and Middle Eastern nations have dominated the refugee intake to Australia. Coming from war torn nations, extremely poor economies and rural areas, their transition into Australia has not been easy. This paper is based on the evaluation of the Integrated Services Centre Pilot Project (ISC) which assessed co-location as an alternative service delivery model. The evaluation focused on project staff, service providers and a small sample of the refugees themselves. The objectives of the research did not warrant a greater focus on the clients as the evaluation centered on co-location as an alternate service delivery model. Data gathered from the evaluation indicated that the basic support needs of African refugees were not being met by traditional refugee services, but that the ISC Project was meeting these needs. Data also showed that African refugees had a higher level of need than other refugee groups. The article concludes with some recommendations on how current service provision can be more responsive to the needs of African refugees.


Alzheimer's disease begins about two decades before the onset of symptoms or neuron death, and is believed to be caused by pathogenic amyloid-β aggregates that initiate a cascade of molecular events culminating in widespread neurodegeneration. The microtubule binding protein tau may mediate the effects of amyloid-β in this cascade. Amyloid plaques comprised of insoluble, fibrillar amyloid-β aggregates are the most characteristic feature of Alzheimer's disease. However, the correspondence between the distribution of plaques and the pattern of neurodegeneration is tenuous. This discrepancy has stimulated the investigation of other amyloid-β aggregates, including soluble amyloid-β oligomers. Different soluble amyloid-β oligomers have been studied in several mouse models, but not systematically in humans. Here, we measured three amyloid-β oligomers previously described in mouse models-amyloid-β trimers, Aβ*56 and amyloid-β dimers-in brain tissue from 75 cognitively intact individuals, ranging from young children to the elderly, and 58 impaired subjects with mild cognitive impairment or probable Alzheimer's disease. As in mouse models, where amyloid-β trimers appear to be the fundamental amyloid-β assembly unit of Aβ*56 and are present in young mice prior to memory decline, amyloid-β trimers in humans were present in children and adolescents; their levels rose gradually with age and were significantly above baseline in subjects in their 70s. Aβ*56 levels were negligible in children and young adults, rose significantly above baseline in subjects in their 40s and increased steadily thereafter. Amyloid-β dimers were undetectable until subjects were in their 60s; their levels then increased sharply and correlated with plaque load. Remarkably, in cognitively intact individuals we found strong positive correlations between Aβ*56 and two pathological forms of soluble tau (tau-CP13 and tau-Alz50), and negative correlations between Aβ*56 and two postsynaptic proteins (drebrin and fyn kinase), but none between amyloid-β dimers or amyloid-β trimers and tau or synaptic proteins. Comparing impaired with age-matched unimpaired subjects, we found the highest levels of amyloid-β dimers, but the lowest levels of Aβ*56 and amyloid-β trimers, in subjects with probable Alzheimer's disease. In conclusion, in cognitively normal adults Aβ*56 increased ahead of amyloid-β dimers or amyloid-β trimers, and pathological tau proteins and postsynaptic proteins correlated with Aβ*56, but not amyloid-β dimers or amyloid-β trimers. We propose that Aβ*56 may play a pathogenic role very early in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.


Calcium ion (Ca2+) is a universal second messenger that governs a vast array of biological phenomena, including muscle contraction, neuronal transmission, fertilization, aging, cell death, and hormone secretion.1 Perturbations of intracellular Ca2+ signaling underlie a host of pathological states, including the myocardial diseases of ischemia/reperfusion injury, arrhythmia, myocyte hypertrophy, and heart failure.2

Article, see p 339

Despite the pivotal role of Ca2+ homeostasis in myocyte physiology and disease, large gaps exist in our understanding of its compartmentalization within subcellular microdomains and its trafficking among them. A vast literature has glossed over the finely tuned handling of intracellular Ca2+, its sites of storage, release, action, and reuptake, focusing instead on crude measures of bulk Ca2+ concentration. In so doing, the intricacies of spatiotemporal handling of Ca2+, occurring on the scales of milliseconds and nanometers, are blurred, and our understanding is incomplete.

Appreciation of the pivotal role of Ca2+ in heart function dates to the late 19th century, when Sidney Ringer3 discovered that this cation is absolutely required for cardiac mechanical function. Cardiac contraction is triggered by influx of a small amount of Ca2+ through voltage-gated l-type Ca2+ channels (LTCC) embedded in the cell surface membrane. This Ca2+ influx, in turn, triggers the release of much larger amounts of Ca2+ from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) stores through ryanodine receptors (RyRs), a process termed Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release. Thus, LTCC Ca2+ influx gates Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release; in the converse sense, Ca2+ released by Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release feeds back to control LTCC influx.4 The end result is an elaborate, finely tuned, and self-regulated cascade of events that controls every heart beat.

The intricate dynamics of this process …


The temperature, supersaturation, seeding procedure, stirring speed and other parameters were varied in crystallization experiments of calcium carbonate performed in aqueous solutions to control size, particle size distribution and morphology of the particles. Particle size information was obtained by focused beam reflectance measurements and the Coulter Counter Multisizer. Crystals of CaCO3 could be crystallized as spherical polycrystalline particles of the vaterite polymorph, needle-like crystals of aragonite and both cube-like and novel plate-like crystals of calcite. Filtration experiments for calcium carbonate, performed at a constant pressure difference of 2 bar, show that spherical particles with a larger size show better filterability and that spheres with a wider size distribution, as a result of high supersaturation and nucleation, give higher average cake resistance values. Comparing different particle morphologies, plate-like crystals and needle-like crystals show worse filterability than spherical particles and cube-like particles. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012


Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec®) is a well-established pharmacologic treatment for all phases of chronic myeloid leukemia and for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Edema-related side effects are relatively common in imatinib therapy with the periocular skin representing one of the most common sites for localized edema. While the adverse effect of periorbital edema with imatinib is well documented in the oncology literature, there is limited reference to this common reaction in the ophthalmology literature. We report two patients with upper eyelid edema associated with imatinib therapy who required surgical intervention to ameliorate significant visual field obstruction. We highlight the details of each case including the histopathologic findings of excised redundant skin followed by a thorough review of the literature on imatinib related periorbital edema.


Abstract We present an annotated working list of the bird species breeding in New Zealand during the late Pleistocene and Holocene, up to the time of human contact. New Zealand is defined as including the three main islands and the surrounding smaller islands, plus outlying island groups from Norfolk Island in the northwest, the Kermadec, Chatham, Bounty, Antipodes, Campbell, Auckland, Snares, to Macquarie Islands, but excluding islands south of Macquarie Island and the Ross Dependency. Inclusions or exclusions of species from the list were based on specified criteria. We include only species with a breeding population and not vagrants that occur in New Zealand but which breed elsewhere. Species with validly published names were included if there was fossil evidence for a breeding population before human contact. Species with a breeding population at the time of European contact were included unless contrary evidence from the fossil record indicates that they actually colonised after human settlement. Species without a fossil record were included if a breeding population exists on a relatively undisturbed island within the New Zealand archipelago as defined above. Species now present on the main islands were excluded if they are absent from all well‐documented fossil faunas. Species were excluded from the breeding fauna and treated as vagrants where sustained breeding has not been demonstrated. The phylogenetic species concept is applied both to fossil and to living taxa. The late Quaternary fossil record of birds in New Zealand is excellent, and the contribution of extinct taxa to the total list is understood at least as well as that of the surviving taxa. Many taxa presently recognised at subspecific level are treated here as full species. Twelve extinct species whose former presence is known from fossil evidence, but for which no description has been published, are listed under informal species designations. Taxonomic considerations limited the extent to which the main list could reflect present understanding of the diversity of the avifauna; some undescribed species are at present subsumed under one species name. Where previous taxonomic publications provide precedence, available names at the species‐level have been used. A supplementary hypothetical species list includes all nomenclatural changes signalled in extensive annotations to the main list. In this list we accept 245 species in 110 genera representing 46 families; 176 species were endemic to the archipelago. Preliminary biogeographic analyses based on the composition of the supplementary list show that there were four separate regional faunas: a northern subtropical fauna (Norfolk, Kermadecs); the major fauna of the main islands (North, South, Stewart, and offshore islands); a Chathams fauna (Chatham Islands only); and a subantarctic fauna on the southern islands. Species with wider distributions formed link groups. The origin and compositions of the regional avifaunas and their endemic species differ with their geographic position, climate, and proximity to source faunas. Instances of speciation in groups such as the Coenocoiypha snipe and Petroica flycatchers, and adaptive radiations in groups including moa and acanthisittid wrens, show that there are many avenues for research on the rate of evolution in island and mainland populations of New Zealand birds and that there are large gaps in knowledge of even common taxa. A brief case study demonstrates the inadequacies of using species lists that do not include Holocene fossil species. Species‐area curves based on the total fauna differ substantially from those developed in previous studies based on incomplete, or biased, lists. Pleistocene glaciations caused the pattern of distribution of species on the main islands to change in concert with vegetation changes. Other possible effects include the elimination of warm climate species early in the cooling phase more than 1 million years ago, the speciation in groups including waders and parrots as new habitats (e.g., braided riverbeds and alpine areas) appeared, and the appearance regularly during the Pleistocene of islands that were potential staging points for colonisation of the Chatham Islands. For at least the past 100 000 years, until 2000 years ago, the fauna appears to have been very stable in composition, despite strong cyclic fluctuations in climate and vegetation. The effects of extinctions within the past 2000 years on the composition of the present fauna include the elimination of most of the endemic taxa from all but the subantarctic faunas. Only 169 species of the original late Holocene breeding fauna survive. The extinctions have resulted in a strong bias towards marine and coastal taxa in the present avifauna, in contrast to the balanced representation of terrestrial and marine species in the Pleistocene and Holocene fauna. The importance of systematic studies and the determination of the status of island populations to conservation and basic ornithological research is emphasised. The systematic status of many New Zealand birds is poorly known at present.


Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is usually performed with a four-trocar technique. From December 1998 to March 1999, 25 of 42 admitted patients underwent a two-trocar laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In our technique, after establishing umbilical carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum, a 30° scope was inserted, and a second 5-mm trocar was positioned below and to the left of the xiphoid process. Then two stitches with nonabsorbable sutures were passed: one at the fundus to pull up the gallbladder, and the second through the neck of the gallbladder to expose the structure of the Calot triangle. Intraoperative cholangiography was performed with a percutaneous catheter in 15 patients. Retrograde cholecystectomy was performed and the gallbladder was extracted through the umbilical port. Scars were closed with glue, and bupivacaine was injected to reduce pain. The technique was feasible in approximately 84% (25 of 30) of patients. The mean operative time was 42 minutes, and the mean hospital stay was 1.6 days. We conclude that this method is similar to four-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy in terms of safety and operation time. This technique seems to be well reproducible and offers better results in terms of postoperative pain, hospital stay without considering better cosmetic results, and cost-effectiveness.


Patterns of bison (Bison bison L.) grazing were examined in a 2-year study on a tallgrass prairie site in Oklahoma subjected to a seasonally and spatially variable burning regime. Mixed groups of bison, composed of cows, yearlings, calves, and young ( 5 years of age selected unburned areas for grazing 29% of the time and burned areas only 4% of the time. Temporal patterns in bison grazing were evident; selective use of burns persisted for only a short period during the first post-fire growing season, after which burns were grazed in proportion to availability and then selectively avoided as bison shifted grazing efforts to newer burns. Regression analysis verified that bison grazing was negatively related to burn age. Regression also showed that grazing patterns were positively related to burn patch size. Although burn types varied significantly in biomass and overall vegetative composition, bison exhibited only limited preference for any burn type, choosing those with higher relative cover of annual Bromus spp. and sedges. It appears that bison select recently burned areas with relatively low graminoid biomass for grazing, presumably choosing these areas based on forage quality rather than quantity.


The assessment of the influence of Scottish literature and literary practice abroad, especially in the context of Scottish diasporas, has generally focused on fiction in English, particularly in the form of the novel. Missing from this approach is a large body of Scottish Gaelic literature, primarily oral poetry, which has been composed in a sustained literary tradition that extends from the medieval period in Scotland to the present day in North America. This article reviews the evidence for Gaelic literary continuity in the North American diaspora in terms of the literary conventions that have determined the forms of literary production, the iconic figures and literary culture signifiers invoked by authors, and the statements made by authors in their texts that reflect self-consciousness about the tradition in which they worked and to which they belonged.


Assessment of standing crop on grasslands using a visual obstruction technique provides valuable information to help plan livestock grazing management and indicate the status of wildlife habitat. The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop a simple regression model using easily measured visual obstruction to estimate standing crop on sandy lowland range sites in the Nebraska Sandhills, (2) provide sampling and monitoring suggestions in the use of visual obstruction on this grassland type, and (3) compare the visual obstruction technique to the standard clip and weigh procedure. Visual obstruction precisely predicted average standing crop dry weights for the sandy lowland range sites (r2 = 0.88). A prediction accuracy of ? 295 kg ha-' was found using a test data set. Two sampling options (A and B) were evaluated using a 2-stage sampling protocol. Option A (1 transect/quarter section) provided more precise estimates applicable to extensive grasslands than option B. However, option A was not applicable to a section (259 ha) or a few sections. Option B (3 transects/section) provided estimates applicable to each section and to the entire area, but it required more intensive sampling than option A to attain the same precision. The visual obstruction technique provided more precise estimates of standing crop than the standard clip and weigh technique when clipping and weighing up to 6 plots per transect. When 7 or more clipped and weighed plots per transect were sampled, standing crop estimates were more precise than using visual obstruction readings. However, since 20 visual obstruction readings/transect (25 minutes) can be sampled in about half the time spent clipping and weighing 6 plots/transect (45 minutes), visual obstruction in combination with a previously estimated regression model provides a simple, reliable, and cost effective alternative to the clip and weigh technique. Regression models should be developed for other grassland types following the methodology described in this paper.


The major metabolite in rat bile of injected C14-retinoic acid was purified by ion-exchange and silicic acid chromatography; it has the spectrum of methyl retinoate, releases retinoic acid upon basic hydrolysis or by treatment with β-glucuronidase, and contains glucuronic acid. The metabolite was characterized by treatment with diazomethane followed by hexamethyl-disilazane, or with periodate followed by semicarbazide, and the products were chromatographed. The metabolite has been tentatively identified as retinoyl β-glucuronide.


We study the possibility of designing solar radiation management schemes to achieve a desired meridional radiative forcing (RF) profile using a two‐dimensional chemistry‐transport‐aerosol model. Varying SO2 or H2SO4 injection latitude, altitude, and season, we compute RF response functions for a broad range of possible injection schemes, finding that linear combinations of these injection cases can roughly achieve RF profiles that have been proposed to accomplish various climate objectives. Globally averaged RF normalized by the sulfur injection rate (the radiative efficacy) is largest for injections at high altitudes, near the equator, and using emission of H2SO4 vapor into an aircraft wake to produce accumulation‐mode particles. There is a trade‐off between radiative efficacy and control as temporal and spatial control is best achieved with injections at lower altitudes and higher latitudes. These results may inform studies using more realistic models that couple aerosol microphysics, chemistry, and stratospheric dynamics.


activities and climate change have dramatically affected discharge and sediment regime of the rivers in the past half century. Detection of these changes in time series is usually carried out using trend analysis tests. Literature review indicated that there is little information on the sediment discharge trends across the Iran. Therefore, in this research the sediment yield trend in the main tributaries of the Tireh River in the Lorestan province and its likely relationship with variation in annual time series of precipitation and discharge have been investigated during the period of 1975 through 2004. To this end, the parametric test of simple linear regression and the non-parametric test of Mann-Kendall have been applied on hydro-climatological timeseries of the study area using the R statistical package (Version 2.6.0.). The results of both tests indicated that despite no significant decreasing trend in the main tributaries of the Tireh River basin, a significant decreasing trend has been observed in the outlet of whole basin for both discharge and sediment yield. However, no significant decreasing trend for the annual precipitation of the basin has been observed and no major dam or reservoirs have been constructed within the basin. Therefore, other factors were considered which may have influenced the discharge and sediment yield regime of the basin. It appeared that expansions of the agricultural lands, decline in the water table which in turn increase the initial abstraction and recharge rate of hydrologic components, as well as the implementation of bio-mechanical soil and water conservation practices on hillslopes and check dams across the headwater courses are the main causes of decreasing trends of discharge and sediment yield in the Tireh River basin of the Lorestan province.


Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in children and adults. This study examined the relationship between hepatic nuclear receptor (NR) expression and histologic features of NAFLD. Drugs targeting a variety of NRs for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are in clinical trials. Liver messenger RNA was isolated from 40 children (10‐19 years) undergoing end‐of‐treatment biopsy in the Treatment of NAFLD in Children (TONIC) trial. High‐throughput quantitative polymerase chain reaction assayed NR messenger RNA. Cluster analysis was used to group 36 NRs, and NR levels were related to histologic measures of specific NAFLD features. Cluster analysis determined five groupings of NRs. Significant (P < 0.05) differential expressions of specific NRs associated with histologic measures include farnesoid X receptor alpha and retinoic acid receptor (RARβ and RARβ) for steatosis; estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor gamma 3 (PPARγ3) for hepatocellular ballooning; ER and PPARγ2 for lobular inflammation; PPARα/δ/γ1/γ2, ERα, constitutive androstane receptor, chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor 1, RARα, RARβ1, retinoid X receptor, pregnane X receptor, thyroid hormone receptors α and β, and nuclear receptor related‐1 for fibrosis; and ERα and RARβ/β1/α for diagnosis of NASH. Conclusion: Differential expression of specific NRs correlates with histologic severity of specific NAFLD features. These NRs are pleiotropic transactivators regulating basal metabolic functions and inflammatory responses. Derangement of activity of these receptors in NAFLD provides a rationale for exploiting their ability with receptor‐specific ligands to ameliorate NASH and its consequences.


Nanosheet transistors based on mechanically exfoliated MoS2 and other transition metal dichalcogenide layers have already been reported demonstrating good device performances. In an approach to synthesize a large area two-dimensional (2D) sheet, chemical vapor deposition methods were reported and the transfer of those sheets onto other arbitrary substrates was also attempted, although studies on the direct imprinting of such 2D semiconductor sheets are rare. Here, we report on a direct imprinting method, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-adopting approach, that enables the fabrication of patterned bottom-gate MoS2 nanosheet field-effect transistors (FETs) on any substrate; using direct printing methods MoS2 FETs were successfully fabricated on glass. Since our FETs were also controlled to be a depletion or an enhanced mode with the modulated MoS2 thickness on a patterned bottom-gate, our imprinting approach is regarded as a meaningful advance toward 2D nanosheet electronics.


After the property catastrophe losses of 1992 (Hurricane Andrew), 2001 (9/11-World Trade Center), and 2005 (Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma), capital of existing reinsurers was depleted and had to be replaced, and the typical response was to issue new equity and to raise premiums. Increased premiums attract new, or "clean sheet," reinsurance companies. In 1992, along with a host of new traditional reinsurers, new competition came into the market in the form of direct absorption of reinsurance risk by the capital markets via the issuance of insurance-linked securities and derivatives. The purpose of this article is to compare and contrast capital markets reinsurance with traditional reinsurance mechanisms. Capital markets reinsurance behaves similarly to traditional markets in many ways including underwriting and peril composition, pricing, and non-price behavior. For reasons such as higher balance sheet leverage and more liberal investment guidelines, the traditional reinsurance market enjoys a higher return on capital, but that does not mitigate the important and growing role of capital markets reinsurance. Ironically, such a rate-of-return comparison is made possible largely by the transparency of the insurance-linked securities market.


Due to morbidity, mortality, and high costs associated with eradicating Clostridium difficile once this organism causes colitis, this bacterium has been termed one of the most ecologically relevant microorganisms of the present day. Symptoms associated with C. difficile diarrhea often first present during or shortly after a course of antibiotic therapy. During the past 5 years, the virulence of this organism has increased. C. difficile-associated disease (CDAD) has reached epidemic proportions in some hospital settings, prompting Medicare to propose adding CDAD to the list of hospital-acquired conditions for which reimbursements may be cut. Thus, it is imperative that effective preventive strategies be implemented in hospitals to decrease CDAD infections. It is plausible that probiotic supplements may offer a safe and effective means of preventing both initial CDAD episodes as well as CDAD recurrences. This review critically examines the current literature in which probiotic supplements have been studied for efficacy in CDAD prevention. This analysis will guide practitioners in applying available probiotic data to CDAD clinical scenarios and will assist researchers in the appropriate design of future studies as examination continues into the role that probiotics may have in CDAD prevention.


Hemobilia is an unusal cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding and may be the result of the formation of an hepatic vessel pseudoaneurysm. This is a rare occurence after laparoscopic or open cholecistectomy. The most importants factor for pathogenesis are direct or indirect iatrogenic injuries during intervention and hepatic trauma. Clinical presentation may also be late and includes more frequently upper gastrointestinal bleeding due to pseudoaneurysm rupture, abdominal pain and jaundice secondary to bile duct compression. Therapies includes trans arterial embolization of feeding artery and percutaneous ingjection of embolic devices into the aneurysm. Surgery must be reserved for cathether based therapy failure. We report a case of a 66 year old man, presenting a month after cholecystectomy, complaining abdominal pain in the upper right quadrant and hematemesis. An EGDS exam showed hemobilia and computed tomography (CT) revealed a cistic artery pseudoaneurysm (PSA) wich have been successfully treated with hyperselective arterial embolization. Although this is a rare complication the surgeon must be aware of related symptoms and signs in order to sospect pseudoaneurysm as prompt recognition and treatment are essential. Untreated haemobilia may determine an immediate threat to life leading to acute haemodynamic instability We describe both diagnostic features and therapeutic strategies in comparison to the most recent literature. (www.actabiomedica.it)


The problem of this public service is how to realize the autonomic people power to do the advocate of environment in order to overcome the environmental conflict. In the training of the advocate of environment, the victims of pollution—most of them are farmers and low educated people— are very enthusiastic to join the training. They are curious to know how to struggle for their polluted environment as the result of the misconduct of irresponsible companies. In the effort of this advocate of environment, the NGO "Gita Pertiwi" also gives significant contribution. It tends to cooperate with the society in order to do the advocating process. Yet, the previous activity is conducting dialogues with the society about the pollution problem. Besides, they attempt to facilitate the society to figure and find out the solution of the problem.


Since the early 20th century, inventors have conceptualized "plane cars" and other urban aerial transportation. Emerging innovations in electrification, automation, and other technologies are enabling new opportunities for on-demand air mobility, business models, and aircraft design. Urban air mobility (UAM) envisions a safe, sustainable, affordable, and accessible air transportation system for passenger mobility, goods delivery, and emergency services within or traversing metropolitan areas. This research employed a multi-method approach comprised of 106 interviews with thought leaders and two stakeholder workshops to construct the history, ecosystem, state of the industry, and potential evolution of UAM. The history, current developments, and anticipated milestones of UAM can be classified into six phases: 1) "flying car" concepts from the early 1910s to 1950s, 2) early UAM operations using scheduled helicopter services from the 1950s to 1980s, 3) re-emergence of on-demand services starting in the 2010s, 4) corridor services using vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) envisioned for the 2020s, 5) hub and spoke services, and 6) point-to-point services. In the future, UAM could face several barriers to growth and mainstreaming, such as the existing regulatory environment; community acceptance; and concerns about safety, noise, social equity, and environmental impacts. UAM also could be limited by infrastructure and airspace management needs, as well as business model constraints. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on sustainability, social and economic impacts, airspace integration, and other topics.


Cerebral infarction (CI), cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are atherosclerosis-related diseases, which are major causes of health damage. For early and sensitive diagnosis, development of novel biomarkers is expected and of significant practical importance. First screening was carried out by phage expression cloning to identify antigen proteins recognized by serum IgG antibodies in patients with atherosclerosis. RPA2, LRPAP1, EEF1A1, SPOCK1, LOC729260, tubulin beta 2C (TUBB2C) and KIAA0020 markers were identified. We then compared the serum antibody levels against the candidate proteins between healthy donors (HD) and patients with CI, CVD, DM, or CKD by Alpha (amplified luminescent proximity homogeneous assay)-LISA method. The results showed that the serum TUBB2C antibody levels were significantly higher in patients with CI, DM, or CKD than those in HD. Using the average + 2SD of HD as the cut-off value, the positive thresholds of TUBB2C antibody markers were 14.8% in CI, 25.8% in DM, and 18.3% in CKD. TUBB2C antibody levels were well correlated with artery stenosis degrees such as plaque score, maximum intima-media thickness and cardio ankle vascular index. Consequently, TUBB2C antibody markers are useful to diagnose atherosclerosis, DM, and CKD, and can be applied to the prediction of the onset of CI. The serum anti-TUBB2C antibody markers are useful for the diagnosis of DM and CKD. Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Diabetes mellitus; Chronic kidney disease; Cerebral infarction; Cardiovascular disease; Antibody biomarker


The shear force gauge is a device that will allow surgeons to develop a sense for the amount of shear force exerted on the arterial endothelium during balloon embolectomy. As a teaching device, hopefully it will decrease the number of shear force related complications connected to the use of the balloon embolectomy catheter.


In this thesis, priority setting to the form of the Swedish parliamental decision on priority setting, 1997, is considered an innovation for implementation in health care. The features of this innovation are investigated. The practical implications of implementation are identified by investigating the user organisation, ie, Swedish health care organisations and management systems. Also, a case of a three-stage process for macro-level priority setting that engaged the entire organisation in the Vasterbotten County Council (VCC) is presented. This is done against a background of preceding implementation efforts in the VCC. Four specific research efforts and papers are presented. In Paper I, priority setting is operationalised into a multi-dimensional resource allocation task. On that basis, with the help of interviews (1998) and surveys (2002 and 2005) primarily of VCC health care managers, the impact of implementation is measured by prioritisation structures, processes and decisions. Survey response rates were low. Results were used as qualitative data, internally compared, and interpreted as: a) responses reflected mainly "early adopters'" opinions; b) priority setting is an ambiguous concept; c) indicating limited overall implementation; d) reinterpretation of the prioritisation task occurred over time among respondents; and, e) this group took increasingly personal responsibility as stakeholders in priority setting. Paper II reports a case study intervention of explicit, departmental level priority setting with the aim of improving cost-effectiveness in in vitro fertilization resource use and a rationing of services perceived legitimate by all stakeholders. The intervention combined priority setting and structured quality improvement techniques. Results were: a) improved operational efficiency of diagnostic procedures that allowed resources to be reallocated to treatment; and b) patients were prioritized and treatment resources were rationed based on evidence of treatment effect among subgroups. Evaluation showed that the procedure met stated criteria for legitimacy. In Paper III, a full-format test of the macro level prioritisation process is described and evaluated by participants with the help of surveys after each completed stage. Participants report the need for improvement of elements in the overall process and of procedural specifics. However, overall there was a strong commitment to the initiative and satisfaction with the process and the resulting decisions. In Paper IV, procedural specifics of the prioritisation process are evaluated. They are also compared to the Program Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA) framework when used for macro level purposes. Procedures provided intended results such as vertical and horizontal priority setting and a consistent process. However, economic targets were not fully achieved in any of the stages. Conclusions include that health care management systems are not prepared for priority setting and need profound restructuring and that the prioritisation process described in Papers III and IV was successful because: a) the process satisfied politicians' directives; b) participants were satisfied with the procedures and perceived the subsequent reallocation decisions as legitimate; and, c) methods resulted in the intended outcome. Factors suggested as the basis of success include: long-term overall preparations; broad and deep participation; a readiness for change among participants; a stage for horizontal priority setting that added to the quality, feasibility and perceived validity of the knowledge base; a strong process leadership; and politicians determined to protect the process from opportunistic disturbances.


The most important recent advance in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the development of antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapeutic agents that preserve and improve visual acuity by arresting choroidal neovascular growth and reducing vascular permeability. Two anti-VEGF agents, ranibizumab and pegaptanib sodium, are currently approved by Swissmedic for the treatment of neovascular AMD. A third anti-VEGF agent, bevacizumab, is currently used as an off label treatment option for exsudative AMD. Other anti-VEGF agent strategies that have shown efficacy include among others, small interfering RNA agents to silence the VEGF gene and receptor and the fusion protein VEGF trap. Anti-VEGF therapies have been used successfully in the clinic, encouraging their use in the treatment of other neovascular and exudative eye diseases.


The 12th Edition of Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies explores major concepts in tourism, what makes tourism possible, and how tourism can become an important factor in the wealth of any nation. Written in global terms, it provides an overview of the principles, practices, and philosophies that affect the cultural, social, economic, psychological, and marketing aspects of human travel and the tourism industry. Among the topics given expanded coverage in this edition are: B&Bs, time shares, meetings and conventions, sustainable tourism, climate change, social media, and mobile marketing.


Graphene has emerged as an ultrafast optoelectronic material for all-optical modulators. However, because of its atomic thickness, it absorbs a limited amount of light. For that reason, graphene-based all-optical modulators suffer from either low modulation efficiencies or high switching energies. Through plasmonic means, these modulators can overcome the aforementioned challenges, yet the insertion loss (IL) of plasmon-enhanced modulators can be a major drawback. Herein, we propose a plasmon-enhanced graphene all-optical modulator that can be integrated into the silicon-on-insulator platform. The device performance is quantified by investigating its switching energy, extinction ratio (ER), IL, and operation speed. Theoretically, it achieves ultrafast (<120 fs) and energy-efficient (<0.6 pJ) switching. In addition, it can operate with an ultra-high bandwidth beyond 100 GHz. Simulation results reveal that a high ER of 3.5 dB can be realized for a 12 μm long modulator, yielding a modulation efficiency of ∼0.28 dB/μm. Moreover, it is characterized by a 6.2 dB IL, which is the lowest IL reported for a plasmon-enhanced graphene all-optical modulator.


This article reports the results of temperature measurements carried out on 50-mm-thick Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst) wood samples exposed to infrared (IR) radiation. The varied property with respect to the optimization of the drying technology was the initial moisture content of samples. During the experiments, temperature profiles were registered on the surface and in the core of the samples under controlled technological conditions. Based on our osmotic approach, the variability in the curves was interpreted with respect to the stagnation temperature below the fiber saturation point (FSP). We conclude that the amount of liquid water necessary for osmosis must still be available locally in the core. With decreasing initial average moisture content, the time interval of the osmotic process also decreases. In this context our results support the hypothesis that the presence of free water in the wood tissue is necessary for the osmotic mechanism even if the average moisture content falls below the FSP.


Drawing on data generated from a six-year ethnographic study of one Wing Chun Kung Fu Association in England, this article explores the ways in which this martial art is constructed as a form of religion and functions as a secular religious practice for core members of this association. Two key features of this process are identified. The first involves the ways in which Wing Chun evolves from an everyday secular practice into something that takes on sacralized meanings for participants while the second focuses on the development of a Wing Chun habitus over time. The article closes with a discussion of how the findings relate to broader discussions of martial arts practices, religion and spirituality in Western cultures.


Background: To enhance postoperative outcomes in patients having videoassisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for spontaneous pneumothorax, it is necessary to determine the difference between the uses of each VATS treatment in such patients. Previous studies have revealed a discussion over the preference of one technique over the other. Materials and Methods: A comparative study was conducted on spontaneous pneumothorax patients (primary or secondary) undergoing VATS in Assiut University Heart Hospital from January 2017 till April 2019. Patients included in our study were prominent bullous forms in PSP pneumothorax lines, recurrent pneumothorax, bilateral pneumothorax, previous history of contralateral pneumothorax, and spontaneous hemothorax, air leakage more than five days with drainage catheter for first-episode patients. Patients were divided into two groups as group A patients who underwent uniport VATS procedure, and group B patients who underwent biport VATS procedure. Results: The study included 32 patients, 22 were primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP), while 10 were secondary spontaneous pneumothorax (SSP). The male to female ratio (M\F ratio) was 3.2:1. The mean ± SD for age was 30.04 ± 10.245 in PSP and was 50.43 ± 9.071 in SSP. Eighteen patients underwent uniport VATS, and 14 underwent biport VATS. The mean time for operation was 81.5 ± 33.74 in uniport VATS versus 109.79 ± 25.37 in biport VATS (p = 0.014). No significant statistical difference was found between uniport and biport VATS regarding pain, air leak, complications, hospital stay, recurrence, and mortality. Despite no statistical difference regarding mortality (p = 0.492), there were two mortalities in the uniport VATS group known as interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Conclusions: We concluded that there are no differences between both techniques except for operative time.


We describe a patient with massive rectal bleeding from colonic tuberculosis. This is an uncommon presentation of gastrointestinal tuberculosis with fewer than 20 cases reported in the medical literature. The incidence of tuberculosis has been increasing during the last decade. The resurgence of tuberculosis (secondary to increased immigration, more patients on immunosuppressive therapy, and the AIDS epidemic) mandates that the clinician be aware of the wide spectrum of presentation of intestinal tuberculosis. Endoscopy is the preferred method used to diagnose colonic tuberculosis.


Movement from the supine to the upright position brings about the transfer of blood from the upper to the lower body. Cardiac output and central arterial pressures are reduced causing, in the normal subject, a reflex increase in sympathetic and a decrease in parasympathetic activity. Increased sympathetic activity facilitates cardiovascular and skeletal muscular adjustments aimed at maintaining cerebral blood flow. If there were no compensatory cardiovascular changes, the reduced cardiac output due to the pooling of blood into the dependent regions of the body would result in cerebral ischemia and loss of consciousness (postural hypotension). This situation is most often experienced in the elderly population and can have quite a debilitating influence on daily living activities. It is known that as humans age, the efficiency of bodily functions often becomes impaired. It is also known that exercise can improve the function of the cardiovascular system as shown by an improved work capacity and lowered incidence of heart disease and high blood pressure. These exercise-related changes suggest that exercise may have implications in the management of postural hypotension. However, recent studies have given conflicting accounts regarding the relationship between regular exercise and postural adaptation, with some studies describing an impaired adaptation in athletes. The purpose of this paper is to summarize, in detail, the influences of age and physical fitness on postural adaptation.


"An analytic overview of the history of social welfare and juvenile justice in Boston..[Schneider] traces cogently the origins, development, and ultimate failure of Protestant and Catholic reformers' efforts to ameliorate working-class poverty and juvenile delinquency." --Choice "Anyone who wants to understand why America's approach to juvenile justice doesn't work should read In the Web of Class." --Michael B. Katz,University of Pennsylvania


Triggers of summertime convective rainfall depend on numerous interactions and feedbacks, often compounded by spatial variability in soil moisture and its impacts on vegetation function, vegetation composition, terrain, and all the complex turbulent entrainment processes near the capping inversion. To progress even within the most restricted and idealized framework, many of the governing processes must be simplified and parameterized. In this work, a zeroth‐order representation of the dynamical processes that control convective rainfall triggers – namely land surface fluxes of heat and moisture – is proposed and used to develop a semianalytical model to explore how differential sensitivities of various ecosystems to soil moisture states modify convective rainfall triggers. The model is then applied to 4 years (2001–2004) of half‐hourly precipitation, soil moisture, environmental, and eddy‐covariance surface heat flux data collected at a mixed hardwood forest (HW), a maturing planted loblolly pine forest (PP), and an abandoned old field (OF) experiencing the same climatic and edaphic conditions. We found that the sensitivity of PP to soil moisture deficit enhances the trigger of convective rainfall relative to HW and OF, with enhancements of about 25% and 30% for dry moisture states, and 5% and 15% for moist soil moisture states, respectively. We discuss the broader implications of these findings on potential modulations of convective rainfall triggers induced by projected large‐scale changes in timberland composition within the Southeastern United States.


This paper investigates the radio resource allocation scheme for the uplink OFDMA systems and a new uplink-based radio resource allocation (URRA) algorithm is proposed based on the maximization of system throughput and the quality of service (QoS) constraints of the users. The URRA algorithm is composed of two parts. The first part introduces a dynamically priority parameter for each user according to the uplink channel state information (UCSI), the QoS constraints and data buffer information, and then allocates resources to meet the user's QoS constraints based on the priority parameters. The second part of the URRA algorithm allocates the remaining subcarriers to the users who have the most increment of throughput. Simulation results show that the URRA algorithm not only increases the system throughput performance subject to the QoS constraints, but also significantly reduces the computational complexity compared with the existing algorithm.


This article explains Donald Trump's brutal political effectiveness in terms of his white nationalist appeal. It locates the intellectual, popular, and policy imperatives of Trumpism in a new form of racial politics that I am calling white nationalist postracialism. This is a paradoxical politics of twenty-first-century white racial resentment whose proponents seek to do two contradictory things: to reclaim the nation for white Americans while also denying an ideological investment in white supremacy. The article shows how Trump's excoriation of political correctness, his nostalgia for the post–WWII industrial economy, his use of hand gestures, and his public speaking about race work together to telegraph a white nationalist message to his followers without making them feel that he is, or they are, racist. I end the article by explaining why I think that Donald Trump's embrace of many white nationalist ideological precepts—if not quite yet of white nationalism as a fully realized political project—makes good political sense in the twenty-first-century United States.


Primary cultures and established cell lines derived from human T-cell leukemias were analyzed for genomic rearrangements in the region 3' of the MYC locus. A T-cell leukemia line, HUT 78, whose 3' MYC region is rearranged, carries a chromosome t(2;8) juxtaposition; i.e., a locus derived from chromosome region 2q34 is attached to the 3' end of one MYC allele. The t(2;8) rearrangement in the HUT 78 cell line results in expression of a fused transcript encompassing the MYC gene and a locus designated TCL4 (T-cell leukemia/lymphoma 4), which normally resides on chromosome 2. The steady-state level of MYC-TCL4 fusion transcripts in HUT 78 cells is significantly higher than the MYC RNA level found in several other B- and T-cell lines. The production of fused MYC-TCL4 transcripts in a leukemic cell line raises the possibility that other B- and T-cell leukemias may express MYC fusion transcripts as an integral step in their pathogenesis.


With aging and deterioration of bridges, evaluation of existing conditions of their structural elements becomes vital to engineers and public officials when deciding how to repair or replace the structures. The ability to obtain necessary information on these conditions is often expensive and time consuming, especially for concrete bridges where the reinforcement is not available for inspection. Employing the surface-strain relief method could allow for accurate evaluation of aged or damaged prestressed members. The surface-strain relief method was developed to measure initial or pre-existing strains in a concrete member. It involves relieving the strain in the member and measuring the change in strain. Two methods were tested in this study—one used a linear electrical-resistance strain gage and a three-inch-diameter diamond concrete core bit to cut around the gage, and the second method used a laser-speckle imaging device and a diamond cutting wheel to create notches perpendicular to the axis of maximum strain. Both methods measured the change in strain and related it to within 10% of the actual fse. The method of cutting notches and the laser-speckle imaging device provided a simpler method to be implemented in the field, while the coring method achieved a higher level of accuracy and precision.


ABSTRACT Escherichia coli NZN111, which lacks activities for pyruvate-formate lyase and lactate dehydrogenase, and AFP111, a derivative which contains an additional mutation in ptsG (a gene encoding an enzyme of the glucose phophotransferase system), accumulate significant levels of succinic acid (succinate) under anaerobic conditions. Plasmid pTrc99A-pyc, which expresses the Rhizobium etli pyruvate carboxylase enzyme, was introduced into both strains. We compared growth, substrate consumption, product formation, and activities of seven key enzymes (acetate kinase, fumarate reductase, glucokinase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, isocitrate lyase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, and pyruvate carboxylase) from glucose for NZN111, NZN111/pTrc99A-pyc, AFP111, and AFP111/pTrc99A-pyc under both exclusively anaerobic and dual-phase conditions (an aerobic growth phase followed by an anaerobic production phase). The highest succinate mass yield was attained with AFP111/pTrc99A-pyc under dual-phase conditions with low pyruvate carboxylase activity. Dual-phase conditions led to significant isocitrate lyase activity in both NZN111 and AFP111, while under exclusively anaerobic conditions, an absence of isocitrate lyase activity resulted in significant pyruvate accumulation. Enzyme assays indicated that under dual-phase conditions, carbon flows not only through the reductive arm of the tricarboxylic acid cycle for succinate generation but also through the glyoxylate shunt and thus provides the cells with metabolic flexibility in the formation of succinate. Significant glucokinase activity in AFP111 compared to NZN111 similarly permits increased metabolic flexibility of AFP111. The differences between the strains and the benefit of pyruvate carboxylase under both exclusively anaerobic and dual-phase conditions are discussed in light of the cellular constraint for a redox balance.


Abstract The human body is central to myriad metaphors, so studying the conceptualisation of the body itself is critical if we are to understand its broader use. One essential but understudied issue is whether languages differ in which body parts they single out for naming. This paper takes a multi-method approach to investigate body part nomenclature within a single language family. Using both a naming task (Study 1) and colouring-in task (Study 2) to collect data from six Japonic languages, we found that lexical similarity for body part terminology was notably differentiated within Japonic, and similar variation was evident in semantics too. Novel application of cluster analysis on naming data revealed a relatively flat hierarchical structure for parts of the face, whereas parts of the body were organised with deeper hierarchical structure. The colouring data revealed that bounded parts show more stability across languages than unbounded parts. Overall, the data reveal there is not a single universal conceptualisation of the body as is often assumed, and that in-depth, multi-method explorations of under-studied languages are urgently required.


Human biologists are increasingly engaging with current global trends toward obesity. However, little is considered about how variation in cultural views of "fat" might shape the biology of obesity, such as through pathways related to socially induced stress. Recent research indicates elevated levels of explicit fat‐stigma in middle income nations, suggesting potentially high levels of psychosocial stress around "being fat." We use the case of Paraguay to test if high levels of explicit prejudice around "being fat" also suggest internalization of those ideas in ways that might predict stress effects.


The identification of additional genetic risk factors is an ongoing process that will aid in the understanding of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aetiology. A genome-wide association scan in Crohn's disease highlighted the IL23R gene as a susceptibility factor.1 The IL-23 receptor is a heterodimer formed by the products of two different genes: IL23R and IL12RB . Our aim was to analyse whether polymorphisms within the genes coding for the specific chain of the IL-23 receptor ( IL23R ) and for its p40 ligand ( IL12B ) and interacting in psoriasis2 are also associated with an altered risk of RA.

In agreement with previously published data,3–6 no statistically significant association was found with the IL12B polymorphisms (table 1).

View this table:

Table 1 Association of IL23R (rs7517847 and rs11209026) and IL12B (rs6887695 and rs322227) SNP with RA

The minor alleles of the IL23R polymorphisms were associated with increased predisposition to …


Background: Okinawa mozuku ( Cladosiphon okamuranu ) is a type of edible seaweed of the family Chordariaceae that typically contains the polysaccharide fucoidan as a functional ingredient. In Okinawa, raw mozuku is eaten as vinegared mozuku together with vinegar or as tempura (deep-fried in batter). Polysaccharides such as fucoidan are generally known to regulate intestinal function, which is why we have used Okinawa mozuku to investigate this intestinal regulatory effect. Methods: The study was designed as a randomized, double-blind, parallel group study. Dried Okinawa mozuku powder at a dose of 2.4 g/day (1.0 g/day of fucoidan) and a placebo not containing any dried Okinawa mozuku powder were each made into capsules and given to healthy men and women with infrequent weekly bowel movements (2–4 movements a week) to ingest for eight weeks. We then investigated changes in the defecation situation, blood tests, and adverse events.  Results: In the group that ingested the capsules containing dried Okinawa mozuku powder, the number of days with a bowel movement significantly increased compared with the placebo group after four weeks of ingestion (p < 0.05). Furthermore, after eight weeks of ingestion, the same increasing trend was seen compared with the placebo group (p = 0.0964). The volume of stool also increased significantly in the dried Okinawa mozuku powder group after eight weeks compared with the placebo group. In terms of blood tests and adverse events, no adverse events occurred that were the result of the test food. Conclusions: Ingestion of Okinawa mozuku was found to have a regulatory effect on intestinal function by promoting defecation in healthy individuals with a tendency for constipation. This demonstrated that Okinawa mozuku is a functional food capable of making defecation smoother and increasing the volume of stool. Key Words: Okinawa mozuku, Cladosiphon okamuranus , fucoidan, dry powder, bowel movement, constipation


Fifteen microsatellite loci were identified in the tetraploid spined loach, Cobitis biwae (Teleostei: Cobitidae). Among these, 14 were polymorphic (5-31 alleles) and showed moderate to high cross-species amplification transferability in four related species, Cobitis matsubarai, Cobitis taenia, Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, and Misgurnus fossilis. The loci, described herein, will be useful for population genetics, phylogeny, parentage analysis, and detection of hybridization among Cobitis species.


Elementary school-age children (N = 137, 70 boys, ages 4–10) were randomly assigned to receive one of two types of lessons aimed at increasing the inclusiveness of peer relations and improving children's ability to identify bias in media. Children in the pro-social condition were taught to identify and respond to undesirable/unfair social behaviors (e.g., teasing), whereas children in the pro-egalitarian condition were taught to respond to these same behaviors, with additional attention to gender bias (e.g., teasing about gender role nonconformity). After five lessons, children completed immediate and 6-month delayed measures of egalitarian attitudes, intergroup liking, responses to hypothetical peers' sexist remarks, and ability to identify sexism in media. The lessons did not differentially affect children's gender egalitarian attitudes and intergroup liking. As expected, however, children in the pro-egalitarian condition were better able to identify sexism in media and to respond to peers' sexist comments than were children in the pro-social condition.


The widespread reliance on heuristics for the design and specification of particle/fluid separation
devices has prompted a new approach to pressure filtration which incorporates the principles of
mechatronics. By combining accurate experimentation with classical filtration models it is shown
how the performance of a deadend pressure leaf filter can be predicted over a range of process
conditions. An experimental apparatus is described along with data which illustrate its versatility
and accuracy. Experimental data obtained from the apparatus with aqueous mineral suspensions
are shown to compare favourably with theoretical predictions of important design parameters such
as cake height and cumulative volume of filtrate. Preliminary results from unique constant flow
filtration experiments are also presented where the air pressure within the filter was controlled
through a combination of flow & pressure transducers and an electronically adjusted pressure
regulator. Their combination allowed filtrations performed under different pressure/flow regimes to
be compared as identical suspension characteristics could be maintained.


The regulation of calcium channel currents (ICa) induced by daily stimulation (1 hr) with 10 microM glutamate was studied in full differentiated hippocampal cells in culture. We report a specific enhancement of the high-voltage-activated current type (HVA ICa) ongoing over days. The density of HVA ICa increased about twofold after the second glutamate session, and this enhancement was still observed after the fifth day of treatment, while low-voltage-activated calcium currents (LVA ICa) remained unchanged. During glutamate application, a transient increase of intracellular calcium (Cai) was observed, followed by a slow decay within 2–3 min, and substantial recovery in about 10 min. Similarly, Cai transients induced by periodic membrane depolarization mimicked the long-term effect of glutamate on ICa. These results demonstrate for the first time an increase of ICa in a time frame of days. Since the effect of glutamate on ICa was prevented by cycloheximide, neosynthesis of channel proteins presumably supports this enhancement.


Turnouts are expensive but essential railway infrastructure components. Approximately 13,600 turnouts are located on the Austrian Federal Railways network. The average age of these turnouts is over 22 years. A turnout is an assortment of many individual parts and in addition, has some moveable elements. These two facts lead to high wear and very close inspection intervals. Therefore, new approaches are necessary to rate the actual condition very precisely and to forecast the remaining service life. In contrast to the open track, the inspection of turnouts is still carried out manually and based on this data it is not possible to describe or predict turnouts behaviour over time. In order to change this situation, the identification of the life-limiting components of turnouts will first be necessary. Having this knowledge, there is still a need to search for other sources of data to describe the condition and to predict the behaviour. The prerequisite is that this data is measured under load, so that the real behaviour of a turnout can be assessed during the passage of a rail vehicle. The measurement data from the trackrecording car EM 250 seems to be best suited for that challenge. Nevertheless, a very extensive positioning process for these measurement data will be necessary to derive a dataset fulfilling all the requirements. This algorithm enables on the one hand the synchronization of all measuring signals and on the other hand the identification of the individual areas within the measurement signals. Consequently, after applying this positioning algorithm to the measurement data, it will be possible to describe the life-time limiting components' condition. In order to handle the great amount of different data, a platform with the name CoMPAcT was introduced. Within this environment, it will be possible to store all the information relating to the respective turnout, while also to carry out analyses either for specific turnouts or for all existing ones. In addition to measurement data, all other information (performed maintenance activities, inspection results, geometric designs, etc.) is specifically implemented for each considered turnout.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Critical loss of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) beside increased insulin signaling often results in mTOR activation which is associated with progression of lethal prostate cancer (PCa). Recently mTOR was shown to control de novo pyrimidine synthesis via S6K which directly phosphorylates Ser1859 on CAD (carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 2, aspartate transcarbamoylase, dihydroorotase), the enzyme that catalyzes the first three steps of de novo pyrimidine synthesis. We assessed the CAD expression and phosprylation at Ser1859 in different in-vitro and in-vivo models of PCa and also tested the potential efficacy of fisetin, an agent which we previously established as a dual PI3K/AKT and mTOR inhibitor. We observed upregulation of CAD both at transcriptional and translational levels in PCa cell lines when compared with the non-tumorigenic prostate cells. However, a highly significant upregulation of CAD phosphorylation at Ser1859 was evident in PTEN deficient cells when compared with wild type PTEN cells. To confirm, we assessed the CAD phosphorylation at Ser1859 in PTEN knockout mice samples and observed significant increase in the CAD phosphorylation at Ser1859 but not in total CAD levels, suggesting high demands of de novo pyrimidine synthesis in PTEN deficient tumors. In another model of spontaneous PCa (TRAMP) an inverse association between CAD phosphorylation at Ser1859 and PTEN was observed. Based on the facts that PTEN deficient cells have high mTOR activity that is prerequisite for CAD phosphorylation we tested the efficacy of fisetin to inhibit CAD phosphorylation at Ser1859 in different PCa models. Fisetin significantly suppressed the CAD phosphorylation in tumorigenic PCa cells in-vitro. In-vivo efficay of fisetin for inhibition of CAD phosphorylation was also established in the xenograft study. However, decrease in abundance of CAD mRNA and protein in xenograft samples suggested fisetin additionally suppressed other mechanism(s) important for CAD expression. Next we determined the effect of fisetin to inhibit the growth factors (insulin/IGF-1/EGF) stimulated CAD oligomerization in PCa cells important for CAD activity. Fisetin significantly suppressed the growth factors induced CAD oligomerization as observed by electron microscopy and density gradient based western blotting. However, we did not find significant S-phase blockage by fisetin under similar conditions. Based on these data we suggest that PTEN deficient PCa epithelial tumors possess heightened de novo pyrimidine requirements, satisfied by growth factor stimulated and mTOR regulated CAD phosphorylation and oligomerization. Fisetin inhibits both CAD phosphorylation at Ser1859 and oligomerization and thereby limits pyrimidine sufficiency in PTEN deficient PCa cells. Our results add additional mechanistic insight in the fisetin mediated inhibition of PCa and suggest the use of fisetin in PTEN deficient PCa incidents.

Citation Format: Mohammad Imran Khan, Vaqar Mustafa Adhami, Omar Mohammad Haidar, Bilal Bin Hafeez, Ajit Kumar Verma, Hasan Mukhtar. PTEN deficiency in prostate epithelial cells is associated with increased CAD phosphorylation and is inhibited by fisetin. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1437. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1437


Monitoring vehicular road traffic is a key component of any autonomous driving platform. Detecting moving objects, and tracking them, is crucial to navigating around objects and predicting their locations and trajectories. Laser sensors provide an excellent observation of the area around vehicles, but the point cloud of objects may be noisy, occluded, and prone to different errors. Consequently, object tracking is an open problem, especially for low-quality point clouds. This paper describes a pipeline to integrate various sensor data and prior information, such as a Geospatial Information System (GIS) map, to segment and track moving objects in a scene. We show that even a low-quality GIS map, such as OpenStreetMap (OSM), can improve the tracking accuracy, as well as decrease processing time. A bank of Kalman filters is used to track moving objects in a scene. In addition, we apply non-holonomic constraint to provide a better orientation estimation of moving objects. The results show that moving objects can be correctly detected, and accurately tracked, over time, based on modest quality Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data, a coarse GIS map, and a fairly accurate Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) navigation solution.


This paper revisits an old but relevant and imperative question in the field of real estate investment and portfolio management: are the direct and indirect real estate markets integrated? The authors aim to provide the answer for the Hong Kong context by examining the effects of common risk factors on the variations in excess returns for these markets. Adopting the multifactor asset pricing model (MAP), the Fama-MacBeth two-pass regression approach is applied to estimate the time-varying risk premia for the model. The pooled-variance t-test is then performed for the risk premia coefficients to determine if the direct and securitized markets are linked. Preliminary analysis of the results shows that the markets in Hong Kong are not integrated, and the authors attempt to provide some explanation to this based on the unique characteristics of the Hong Kong real estate market.


AIM: To investigate the role of NF-κB activation and zinc finger protein A20 expression in the regulation of maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) derived from liver allografts undergoing acute rejection. METHODS: Sixty donor male SD rats and sixty recipient male LEW rats weighing 220-300 g were randomly divided into whole liver transplantation group and partial liver transplantation group. Allogeneic (SD rat to LEW rat) whole and 50 % partial liver transplantation were performed. DCs from liver grafts 0 hour and 4 days after transplantation were isolated and propagated in the presence of GM-CSF in vitro. Morphological characteristics and phenotypical features of DCs propagated for 10 days were analyzed by electron microscopy and flow cytometry, respectively. NF-κB binding activity, IL-12p70 protein and zinc finger protein A20expression in these DCs were measured by EMSA and Western blotting, respectively. Histological grading of rejection was determined. RESULTS: Allogeneic whole liver grafts showed no signs of rejection on day 4 after the transplantation. In contrast,allogeneic partial liver grafts demonstrated moderate to severe rejection on day 4 after the transplantation. After propagation for 10 days in the presence of GM-CSF in vitro,DCs from allogeneic whole liver grafts exhibited features of immature DC with absence of CD40 surface expression,these DCs were found to exhibit detectable but very low level of NF-κB activity, IL-12 p70 protein and zinc finger protein A20 expression. Whereas, DCs from allogeneic partial liver graft 4 days after transplantation displayed features of mature DC, with high level of CD40 surface expression, and as a consequence, higher expression of IL-12p70 protein, higher activities of NF-κB and higher expression of zinc finger protein A20 compared with those of DCs from whole liver grafts (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that A20expression is up-regulated in response to NF-κB activation in mature DCs derived from allogeneic liver grafts undergoing acute rejecti


This paper deals with the issue of the etymology and semantic developments of the word orgia in Greek and Roman language and ritual practice, with particular reference to Dionysiac religion. Relying on the definition of orgy currently accepted in the study of religion (transgressive collective behaviour meant to sanction a festive period and to reinforce the vital energies of cosmos and human groups by indulging to rave music, frantic dances and promiscuous sexual intercourses) it describes orgiastic practices occurring in various ancient Mediterranean mystery cults, with reference to reversal rituals and to similar accounts reported by Christian haeresiologists for Gnostic conventicles.


We evaluated the impact of the ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) on the microbiological quality of water. We measured fecal coliforms, Salmonella spp., and Aeromonas spp. in the gull droppings and the number of fecal coliforms in the water prior to and after attracting these birds to the beach with food. Gulls can contribute to the bacteriological degradation of recreational water.


: A model of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension was made in conscious sheep, and plasma platelet activating factor (PAF) were measured by radioimmunoassay method during the beginning, progression and reversal of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. The main results were as follows: (1) Under hypoxic condition for 4 days, the conscious sheep develops hypoxemia and marked hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV). These response were reversible. (2) At the beginning of hypoxia, plasma PAF increased, but did not continually increase with hypoxic prolongation and development of HPV. (3) Upon cessation of hypoxia with reversal of pulmonary hypertension, plasma PAF did not show any parallel decrease. These results indicate that plasma PAF is in no way involves in the development of HPV in conscious sheep.


Stable carbon isotopic (δ13C) analyses of soil organic matter (SOM) have been used in the past to characterise C3–C4 vegetation changes. However, the temporal and spatial resolution of these isotopic data are not well established. Here, we present data from δ13C analyses of whole and size-separated SOM, which are discussed in conjunction with organic (total organic carbon (TOC) content) and inorganic (%clay) soil data. These data are put into context with the current vegetation state (assessed from tree size-class distribution) and the 50-year vegetation history (assessed from aerial photographs). By linking below- and above-ground datasets, we show that δ13C analyses of SOM can accurately record vegetation-change histories over short- (10 and 50years) and longer-term (hundreds of years) time scales. Our data also show that spatial variability was relatively small for the clay TOC content but was much larger for δ13C data, indicating that the number of soil cores required for statistical significance is highly dependent on the kind of measurements intended. Finally, interpretation of δ13C data from SOM to assess the history of C3–C4 vegetation change is complicated by the inherent 13C-enrichment of SOM, owing to decomposition processes, which occurs regardless of vegetation change. We suggest a method for distinguishing 13C-enrichment of SOM that is due to soil-inherent (decomposition-related) processes from 13C-enrichment that is due to increased inputs of C4 organic matter.


As we enter the fifth year of the Syrian conflict, which began in 2011, it is becoming clear that this crisis could lead to the long-term displacement of Syrian refugees. Education is an "essential platform for protection, social stabilization and economic recovery" (UNICEF et al., 2013). Access to quality education is key to ensuring the continued learning of children displaced due to the on-going conflict in Syria. A high proportion of uneducated Syrians will have serious individual and societal consequences. Education provision for Syrian children in their host countries is therefore indispensable. Yet, 57% of the region's children are currently not attending school. This report discusses the education provision for Syrian refugees in three neighbouring countries; Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. It will specifically look at the educational possibilities for Syrian refugee girls and the role these can play in reducing gender-specific vulnerabilities that girls can experience in times of displacement.


This is a practical guide to pottery. From the essentials of understanding and preparing the raw material, it explains the principles, processes and more advanced techniques in order to explore the properties of clay, and to realise your own potential as a potter. With contributions from contemporary ceramic-artists, it includes understanding and preparing clay, the principles of good design, hand-building and throwing, assembly, decoration, unorthodox procedures, glazing and firing.