The relationship between access to formal finance and poverty reduction lies at the heart of the development literature and policy discourse, particularly in developing countries, where access to financial services is often argued to have poverty-alleviating potential. Most of the stylised theoretical literature and empirical evidence, however, focus their efforts on the poverty-alleviating potential of access to finance at a given point in time, which ignores the dynamic and multidimensional nature of poverty. Using a nationally representative panel data set of households, this paper explores the effect of access to formal finance on household welfare dynamics in Nigeria between 2010–11 and 2012–13. Applying a bivariate probit model, which addresses the endogenous selection associated with households' initial welfare status, our estimates indicate that controlling for the exogeneity of initial household status is relevant when exploring the implications of access to finance for welfare dynamics in Nigeria, as the exogenous treatment of the initial conditioning may distort the correlation coefficients of our estimates. Our results suggest that access to formal finance has poverty-reducing effects, as we found that initially poor households with access to finance were less likely to remain poor in the subsequent period. Also, initially non-poor households with access to finance were seen to face a lower probability of descending into poverty over the period, thus suggesting that access to finance plays a significant role in reducing transient poverty.


Abstract Background. The purpose of the study was to realize the priorities in physical, technical and tactical training for junior football players. Moreover, preparing of the content was intended to optimize the use the most efficient methods and means for increasing the efficiency of speed and skill during the training and games. Objectives. Data were collected from 18 junior football players, with ages ranging from 14-15 years, members of the ACS Unirea (C) Tritenii de Jos team. The subjects were tested three times during the whole training stage, pre, middle and post-training examinations being performed. The three examinations consisted of 5 tests each: 50-meter sprint, standing long jump, 2000 meter running, maintaining the ball in the air and leading the ball through markers. Methods. Specific methods for developing the speed used in the study are based on repetitions (specific efforts at maximum or submaximal speed, under usual, relieved, severe conditions), on various efforts and intervals. Skill development methods took into account the complexity of coordinating action movements and the spatial, temporal, and motion force precision. For developing motor skills, the authors used the interval and circuit training. Results. All the participants attained higher levels of performance, both at the second and third examination, on each of the 5 tests. Data collected were analyzed using the One –Way ANOVA statistical procedure, which compares the results obtained by one single group of subjects. This procedure revealed, at a significant level of confidence, that the mean of the performance enhancement reached 50 percents along the one-year training stage. Conclusions. The research has shown that, by giving a more significant share of the best methods and means for developing the speed and skill in the physical training of junior footballers, the increase in the performance of these motor skills is significant.


The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of intestinal parasites among children in two primary schools in different social-economic districts in the central region of Yozgat and to educate the children about parasitic diseases. During the study, cellophane tape preparations and stool samples that had been prepared using direct mounting methods were examined. In addition the students were informed about intestinal parasites. Parasitic infection was observed in 128 (34.9%) out of 367 students and the highest rate of 16.1% was that of Entamoeba coli. The rate of Giardia intestinalis, Enterobius vermicularis, Hymenolepis nana, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, Taenia saginata, Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura were found to be 15.5%, 8.4%, 2.2%, 1.6%, 1.6%, 1.6% and 0.5%, respectively. In cases with parasitosis, one species of parasite was found in 68.0%, 2 species in 27.3% and 3 species in 4.7%. Thus, intestinal parasites are important among primary school children in Yozgat and it seems that there is a relationship between socio-economic conditions and the rate of intestinal parasites.


Objective This systematic review aims to synthesise and evaluate structural MRI (sMRI) and functional MRI (fMRI) studies in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). Methods We systematically searched Medline and Ovid and included articles from 1991 (date of Oxford diagnostic criteria for CFS/ME) to first April 2019. Studies were selected by predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently reviewed the titles and abstracts to determine articles for inclusion, full text and quality assessment for risk of bias. Results sMRI studies report differences in CFS/ME brain anatomy in grey and white matter volume, ventricular enlargement and hyperintensities. Three studies report no neuroanatomical differences between CFS/ME and healthy controls. Task-based fMRI investigated working memory, attention, reward and motivation, sensory information processing and emotional conflict. The most consistent finding was CFS/ME exhibited increased activations and recruited additional brain regions. Tasks with increasing load or complexity produced decreased activation in task-specific brain regions. Conclusions There were insufficient data to define a unique neural profile or biomarker of CFS/ME. This may be due to inconsistencies in finding neuroanatomical differences in CFS/ME and the variety of different tasks employed by fMRI studies. But there are also limitations with neuroimaging. All brain region specific volumetric differences in CFS/ME were derived from voxel-based statistics that are biased towards group differences that are highly localised in space. fMRI studies demonstrated both increases and decreases in activation patterns in CFS/ME, this may be related to task demand. However, fMRI signal cannot differentiate between neural excitation and inhibition or function-specific neural processing. Many studies have small sample sizes and did not control for the heterogeneity of this clinical population. We suggest that with robust study design, subgrouping and larger sample sizes, future neuroimaging studies could potentially lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of the disease.


Rex rabbit, with multiple phenotypes and colourful fur, is an interesting model for assessing the effect of coat colour gene mutations on characteristic pigmentation phenotype. Based on previous study, the melanophilin (MLPH) gene is a positional candidate gene related coat colour dilution. The fur colours are a lighter shade, e.g. grey instead of black. We sequenced 1689 base pairs of the MLPH gene in Chinchilla and black Rex rabbit. A total of 13 polymorphisms were identified, including seven missense mutations. The rabbit MLPH gene has a very high GC content and the protein shows 64.87% identity to the orthologous human protein (lack of homologous amino acids encoded by human MLPH exon 9). Hardy-Weinberg test showed that, except for the g.606C>A single nucleotid polymorphism (SNP), all other SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Haplotype analysis revealed that the seven missense mutation SNPs of two strains of Rex rabbits formed 10 haplotypes, but there were only seven major types of haplotypes (haplotype frequency P>0.05). The major haplotypes of the Chinchilla and black Rex rabbits were H1/H2/H3/H4/H5 and H1/H2/H3/H6/H8, respectively. The special haplotypes of Chinchilla Rex rabbit (H4, H5, H7) were consistently associated with the Chinchilla phenotype. This study provides evidence that different coat colour formation may be caused by one or more mutations within MLPH gene in several Rex rabbit strains. The data on polymorphisms that are associated with the Chinchilla phenotype facilitate the breeding of rabbits with defined coat colours.


Exposure to noise or ototoxic agents can result in degeneration of cells in the sensory epithelium and auditory nerve, as well as non-sensory cells of the cochlear lateral wall. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this pathology remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to localize and identify proteins in the cochlea that are responsive to noise or ototoxic exposure using a complementary proteo-transcriptomic approach. MALDI imaging of cochlear sections revealed numerous protein signals with distinct cochlear localization patterns in both cochlear injury models, of which six were chosen for further investigation. A query of proteomic databases identified 709 candidates corresponding to m/z values for the six proteins. An evaluation of mRNA expression data from our previous studies of these injured models indicated that 208 of the candidates were affected in both injury models. Downstream validation analyses yielded proteins with confirmatory distributions and responses to injury. The combined analysis of MALDI imaging with gene expression data provides a new strategy to identify molecular regulators responsive to cochlear injury. This study demonstrates the applicability of MALDI imaging for investigating protein localization and abundance in frozen sections from animals modeling cochlear pathology.


The definition of choreography specification languages for Service Oriented Systems poses important challenges. Mainstream approaches tend to focus on procedural aspects, leading to over-constrained and over-specified models. Because of such a drawback, declarative languages are gaining popularity as a better way to model service choreographies. A similar issue was met in the Multi-Agent Systems domain, where declarative approaches based on social semantics have been used to capture the nature of agent interaction without over-constraining their behaviour.

In this work, we present an integrated framework capable to cover the entire cycle of specification and verification of choreographies, by mixing approaches coming from the Service Oriented Computing and Multi-Agent Systems research domains. SCIFF is the underlying logic programming framework for modelling and verifying interaction in open systems. The use of SCIFF brings us two main advantages: (1) it allows us to capture within a single framework different aspects of a choreography, ranging from constraints on the flow of messages to effects and commitments resulting from their exchange; (2) it provides an operational model that can be exploited to perform a variety of verification tasks.


A novel technology of metal-ceramic parts with special functions formed by plasma spraying has become an important research trend. In this paper, the technical characteristics and spray parameters have been analyzed in detail based on the experiments of metal-ceramic near net forming, and some important techniques such as spray mould fabricating, backing and demoulding have been researched and summarized. Furthermore, the microstructure and property have been analyzed to forecast the quality of spray-formed parts. The research results show that plasma spraying is suitable for the production of metal-ceramic parts of any size with special mechanical and thermomechanical properties, which can realize the contemporary integration of forming and machining. Therefore, this technology with simple process and low cost is a method of metal-ceramic fabrication with a broad and brilliant prospect.


Abstract Ochnaceae s.l. is a family of trees, shrubs or rarely herbs widely distributed in tropical and subtropical forests and savannas of the Old and New World, and has about 500 species in 32 genera. The family is divided into three subfamilies: Medusagynoideae, Quiinoideae and Ochnoideae. We have provided, for the first time, a nearly complete molecular phylogenetic analysis of Ochnaceae s.l. resolving most of the phylogeny backbone of the family using five DNA regions. Based on this, dating analyses were performed using a secondary calibration, and relaxed molecular clock models. The historical biogeography of Ochnaceae s.l. was reconstructed using Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis and Bayesian Binary MCMC. The Neotropics were inferred as being the geographical origin of the family and the Old World was most likely colonized via the North Atlantic Land Bridge during a period when climatic conditions allowed establishment of a boreotropical flora. A full taxonomic revision of the continental African species of the genus Campylospermum has been prepared and additional historical biogeographic analyses were performed with a focus on the genus Campylospermum.


We have recently developed an experimental model in which pins, inserted into the 7th and 9th caudal vertebrae of 13-wk-old rats, are used to load the 8th caudal vertebra in compression. We have now applied this model to assess the responsiveness of rat cancellous bone to mechanical stimulation. We found that daily exposure to loads that induce strains similar to those observed in bone during relatively gentle physical activity, for 30 cycles/day, increased the rate of lamellar bone formation on cancellous surfaces by up to 140-fold. Bone formation rate showed a highly significant (P < 0.0001) correlation with the number of days for which the bones were loaded and with the size of the load. A single loading episode of 300 cycles, representing a 10-min period of loading, increased bone formation to 24 times that in nonloaded controls. Indexes of bone resorption were essentially the inverse of the bone formation parameters. These experiments show that rat cancellous bone is exquisitely sensitive to mechanical stimulation and suggest that the mechanical environment is a major determinant of the physiological behavior of mammalian cancellous bone.


Recursive methods offer a powerful approach in dynamic macroeconomics. This book contains both an introduction to recursive tools, including standard applications such as asset pricing, and advanced material, including analyses of reputational mechanisms and contract design. The tools are presented with enough technical sophistication to get the reader started working on practical problems. When numerical simulations are called for, the book provides suggestions for how to proceed, as well as references for further reading. The applications cover many substantive issues in macroeconomics, such as equilibrium asset prices, market incompleteness, wealth distribution, fiscal-monetary theories of inflation, government debt, optimal labour and capital taxation, time consistency and credible government policies, optimal social insurance, economic growth and labour market dynamics.


Introduction of defects and engineering of structure play significant roles in improvement on electrochemical performances of copper sulfide (Cu9S5) as a supercapacitors (SCs) electrode. Herein, a hierarchical rose-shaped Cu9S5 is synthesized by using a facile one-step hydrothermal method and subsequently annealed under different atmospheres and time. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirm the presence of sulfur vacancies and changes of morphology in Cu9S5 annealed under argon (Ar) for 2 hour (Cu9S5-Ar-2h), which exhibit an effective promotion to the surface redox reactions and ion transition ability proved by the electrochemical measurements. Thus, when the Cu9S5-Ar-2h is used as a SCs electrode, it performs the highest specific capacitance of 613 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g, which is nearly four times that of the pristine Cu9S5 (167 F/g). Moreover, an asymmetric supercapacitor using Cu9S5-Ar-2h as a positive electrode and C as a negative electrode is designed and assembled, which demonstrates a good energy density of 13.2 Wh/kg at a power density of 789.5 W/kg and an outstanding cycling stability of near 100% after 2000 cycles. This work will provide a feasible strategy to construct advanced electrodes based on transition metal sulfides by annealing treatments.


Dissolved hydrophobic and hydrophilic acids were isolated from samples collected at five channel sites within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers and Delta, California, USA, and from a peat island agricultural drain to examine the relationship between the chemical composition of dissolved organic carbon and the formation of trihalomethane, and to test whether peat island-derived dissolved organic carbon contributed substantially to reactivity. The chemical composition of the isolates was quite variable, as indicated by significant differences in carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and carbon to nitrogen concentrations ratios, though the variability was not consistent with simple mixing of riverand peat-derived dissolved organic carbon. The lowest propensity to form trihalomethane observed was in the peat island agricultural drain sample, suggesting the addition of peat island waters into Delta channels did not increase the amount of trihalomethane formed from channel water dissolved organic carbon. Changes in the chemical and isotopic composition of the isolates suggest the source of the trihalomethane precursors was different among samples and between isolates. The carbon isotopic composition of the trihalomethane formed from the isolates generally tracked the carbon isotopic composition of the isolates themselves, but variability in the carbon isotopic composition of the trihalomethane was higher.


A new ferrocenyl oxazaphospholidine oxide 3 was synthesized together with its P-epimer 2 in the reaction of ferrocene lithium with phosphoramidite chloride 1. 3 was successfully derivatized into planar chiral 1,2-ferrocenes, including phosphine ligands, via highly diastereoselective ortho-lithiation and subsequent functionalization; these compounds display opposite planar chirality to those obtained from 2. Some of these 1,2-ferrocenes were further lithiated, allowing for the introduction of a free phosphine group at the oxazaphospholidine ring. The X-ray structures of the compounds 2 and 3 as well as those of the new 1,2-ferrocenes 4 and 7 have been determined.


Abstract Musical arts (music, dance and dramatisation) embedded in Bemba ubwinga (wedding) ceremonies play an integral role as a conduit through which knowledge in the form of cultural values, customs and traditions is transmitted. Indigenous music performed at ubwinga ceremonies is based on mfunkutu, while contemporary musics include various styles such as Kalindula, Zamrock and Zamragga, as well as various musical styles from different parts of Africa and the rest of the world. Interaction with other cultures from within Zambia as well as from Africa and the rest of the world has led to change in the structure of ubwinga ceremonies, thereby influencing the musical arts embedded in them. This article examines the nature of mfunkutu and other musical arts within ubwinga celebrations expressed by the Bemba of Lusaka and the Copperbelt region of Zambia. Despite political, socio-economic and socio-cultural changes in Zambian society, both continuity and change are evident in the current ubwinga ceremonies, which are an amalgamation of some of the elements from the pre-colonial ubwinga ceremonies and those of the white wedding ceremonies of the post-independence era. Subsequently, these developments have revealed that, despite internal and external socio-cultural, socio-economic and political influences, marriage mfunkutu have not undergone substantial changes, other than an abridgement of the repertoire.


BACKGROUND
In children with brachial plexus birth palsy (BPBP) undergoing tendon transfers to augment shoulder external rotation, it is unclear whether transfer of the latissimus dorsi with its combined latissimus dorsi and teres major (cLT) versus isolated teres major (iTM) tendon transfer yield different outcomes.

METHODS
Records of patients with BPBP who underwent shoulder tendon transfers to augment external rotation were retrospectively reviewed. Transfer type (cLT or iTM) was considered indiscriminate by virtue of surgeon preference. Modified Mallet Scale (mMS) and Active Movement Scale scores were recorded. Patients with <12 months' follow-up, C7 or lower palsy, humeral osteotomy, shoulder procedure(s) within 8 months, microsurgery within 1 year, or recurrent glenohumeral subluxation confirmed by postoperative imaging were excluded. Matched cohorts were identified within each tendon transfer group to yield similar preoperative shoulder function and glenohumeral alignment status. Outcomes for all tendon transfers as well as differences between cLT and iTM cohorts were analyzed.

RESULTS
Among 121 cLT and 34 iTM transfers, 49 cLT and 14 iTM met the inclusion criteria. Subsequent matching of cohorts yielded 28 patients (14 cLT and 14 iTM). Average age at time of transfer was 3.0±1.4 years. Follow-up averaged 4.1±3.1 years. There were no statistically significant preoperative differences between cohorts, thus matching criteria were validated. Regardless of tendon(s) transferred, mMS external rotation improved (2.2 to 3.5, P<0.001), whereas mMS internal rotation decreased (3.8 to 3.2, P<0.001). When comparing matched cohorts, cLT transfer produced a greater mMS external rotation improvement than iTM (2.1 vs. 1.5, respectively; P=0.025). Loss of midline function (defined as mMS external rotation <3) occurred in 5 (35.7%) cLT and 2 (14.3%) iTM patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Both cLT or iTM transfer are effective at augmenting shoulder external rotation in children with C5-C6 BPBP. Furthermore, cLT transfers may yield a larger improvement in external rotation in certain patients. However, both techniques slightly decrease shoulder internal rotation. Given that more total cLT patients lost midline function among matched cohorts, iTM transfer may still be considered when limited midline function is a concern.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level III.


Background Rheumatoid artritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease of unknown and multifactorial aetiology, whoseprevalence is around 1% of the adult population. Anti citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) are the most specific serological markers of RA, with a specificity of 98%–99% in some studies. The presence of autoantibodies such as rheumatoid factor (RF) and ACPA is related to more severe structural damage and joint destruction during disease progression. Objectives To assess whether the presence of ACPA is associated with higher levels of disease activity score (DAS 28) in a sample of patients with RA. Methods We performed a descriptive study of a cohort of patients from Valme Hospital diagnosed with RA. Patients were identified from an electronic database. Demographic data, inmunological profile (presence of RF and/or ACPA),treatment (DMARDs or biological therapy) and disease activity measured by DAS 28 were collected transversely. Results Two hundred and sixty RA patients were included, current average age of 58.5 years, 72% were women, 48% were receiving biological therapy. Regarding serological markers, 61% were ACPA positive, 65% were RF positive and 54.3% were ACPA and RF positive. Mean DAS28 was 2.6 for RF and ACPA negative patients, compared to 2.8 for patients that showed positivity for one or both autoantibodies, without statistically significant difference. With respect to the subgroup of patients receiving biological treatment (n=122), no significant difference of the mean value of DAS28 was seen (regarding to the presence/absence of ACPA): DAS28 2,53 for ACPA positive versus 2.52 for ACPA negative. Conclusions The presence of ACPA in RA patients has been traditionally considered a predictor of radiographic progression and higher clinical activity. But recently, new studies suggest that, although ACPA positivity does maintain relationship with structural damage, there is no association with the severity of clinical activity measured by DAS28.1 In line with with these results, in our population of RA we found no relationship between the presence of ACPA and/or RF and disease activity, but it should be noted that the present is a cross-sectional study, so further prospective studies will be needed to elucidate this point. Reference M Kaushik R. Anti-Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide Antibodies as a Predictor of Clinical and Radiological Disease Severity in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Curr Rheumatol Rev2015 Jan 13.


Purpose of review Recent articles of clinical and investigational interest on Gram-negative pneumonia, particularly hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated pneumonia, are reviewed. Recent findings The high rate of respiratory infections due to Gram-negative bacteria in late-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia has been repeatedly documented. The predominant pathogens are Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii. On the other hand, the frequency of Gram-negative bacteria in community-acquired pneumonia and in early-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia is increasing. Patients with risk factors for infection with resistant pathogens should initially receive a combination therapy that covers a broad spectrum, and, as soon as the pathogen and the susceptibilities are available, treatment should be simplified to a more targeted one (with the possible exception of P. aeruginosa pneumonia). Adequate dosing is of great importance and the use of pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic principles when prescribing antibiotics increases effectiveness. The optimal duration of therapy remains unknown; several studies have supported the use of shorter courses of treatment. Alternative treatment approaches (e.g. vaccines) are under investigation. Summary The increasing frequency of resistant Gram-negative bacteria and the shortage of newer antibiotics in the pipeline with activity against Gram-negative bacteria is of concern. Early effective antimicrobial treatment is a key for the resolution of infection and improved survival.


Over five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's Disease (AD), with an expected 34% increase in the incidence in this disease over the next decade. Unfortunately, there is no cure for AD. Recent studies have indicated that drugs which increase the levels of cyclic guanosine-3'5'-monophosphate (cGMP) may help preserve learning and memory in AD and enhance cognition in the aging brain; however, the mechanism(s) of how cGMP exerts this beneficial effect is unknown. The present findings now suggest that elevation of cGMP in astrocytes depresses inhibitory potassium currents in these cells to stimulate their protective influence on neuronal activity. Cellular currents were measured directly in rat embryonic astrocytes via the perforated-patch whole-cell patchclamp technique, and these experiments demonstrated robust outward currents due to potassium efflux. Currents exhibited slowly-activating, non-inactivating kinetics, and were sensitive to inhibition by tetraethylammonium. Thus, these currents were carried predominately by the delayed rectifier potassium (KDR) channel, which is highly expressed in astrocytes. Stimulation of cGMP signaling with sodium nitroprusside (a nitric oxide donor; 10mM; 10min) depressed steady-state outward currents by an average of 34% (n=3). In other cells addition of 8Br-cGMP (500mM; a membrane-permeable cGMP derivative) also depressed these currents (18.4%, n=3). In contrast, neither SNP nor 8Br-cGMP altered rapidly-inactivating, A-type potassium currents significantly. Lastly, elevating cyclic adenosine-3'5'-monophosphate (cAMP) levels in astrocytes with forskolin (10mM, 10 min) also depressed outward currents (17%; n=3). Taken together, these findings suggest a novel cellular transduction mechanism that could contribute to the beneficial effect of NO/cGMP signaling on learning and memory: depression of KDR currents, which depolarizes astrocytes, and thereby increases calcium influx via voltage-dependent (L-type) calcium channels. Increased astrocytic calcium levels would in turn excite these cells and enhance release of gliotransmitters to promote normal synaptic neurotransmission. Table of


Abstract. Coupling of Climate change effects with management and protection of cultural and natural heritage has been brought to the attention of policy makers since several years. On the worldwide level, UNESCO has identified several phenomena as the major geo-hazards possibly induced by climate change and their possible hazardous impact to natural and cultural heritage: Hurricane, storms; Sea-level rise; Erosion; Flooding; Rainfall increase; Drought; Desertification and Rise in temperature. The same document further referrers to satellite Remote Sensing (EO) as one of the valuable tools, useful for development of "professional monitoring strategies". More recently, other studies have highlighted on the impact of climate change effects on tourism, an economic sector related to build environment and traditionally linked to heritage. The results suggest that, in case of emergency the concrete threat could be given by the hazardous event itself; in case of ordinary administration, however, the threat seems to be a "hazardous attitude" towards cultural assets that could lead to inadequate maintenance and thus to a risk of an improper management of cultural heritage sites. This paper aims to illustrate potential benefits that advancements of Earth Observation technologies can bring to the domain of monitoring landscape heritage and to the management strategies, including practices of preventive maintenance. The attempt here is to raise awareness on the importance of integrating satellite remote sensing imagery and the deriving products with other geospatial information (even geo-referenced historic maps) for a more complete insight on the environmental dynamics of landscapes.


We discuss changes in the demand for paid sex accompanying the criminalization of prostitution in the United Kingdom, which moved from a relatively permissive regime under the Wolfenden Report of 1960, to a much harder line of aiming to crack down on prostitution with the Prostitution (Public Places) Scotland Act 2007 and the Policing and Crime Act of 2009 in England and Wales. We make use of two waves of a representative survey, the British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal2, conducted in 2000-2001 and Natsal3, conducted in 2010-2012) to illustrate the changes in demand that have taken place across the two waves. We do not find demand decreasing in our sample and find a shift in the composition of demand towards more risky clients, which we discuss in the context of the current trends towards criminalization of prostitution.


The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH) assumes that testosterone plays a dual role in mediating both sexual signal expression and immunosuppression. Although there is good evidence of the ICHH in birds, it was primarily tested using only one sexual signal approach. By focusing on the European tree frog Hyla arborea, a species for which mate choice is based on both acoustic and visual signals, we test for the first time the ICHH in a multimodal communication system. The ICHH may be viewed as a universal way to explain signal honesty no matter the sensory modality used by animals. After studying the effects of testosterone on the acoustic and visual sexual signals through a daily testosterone supplementation, the effects of androgen on the immune system response were measured through a phytohaemagglutinin injection. In H. arborea, we demonstrate that both the acoustic and visual sexual signals were testosterone dependent. However, the phytohaemagglutinin injection did not provoke immunosuppression for testosterone-supplemented males. Surprisingly, the testosterone-supplemented males with a high body mass presented an immunoenhancement. Therefore, it seems that ICHH is not an integrating mechanism that is able to explain signal honesty in the multimodal signaling system used by H. arborea in mate choice. On the contrary, our results support the idea that multiple mechanisms (e.g., cost-added and index signals) operating simultaneously may explain signal honesty of both acoustic and visual signals.


Abstract:
 This paper reports on the capability of the long-lived conifer Pilgerodendron uviferum in southwestern South America to record fire scars, making it the southernmost tree-ring fire recording species on Earth. We present detailed descriptions of the fire-scar morphology of this species and compare tree-ring fire-scar dates to independent sources of fire dates. The fire scars found on Pilgerodendron uviferum are morphologically similar to those found on conifers in western North America. All fire scars were crossdated on 80 out of 96 sampled cross-sections collected at 8 dispersed sites. Groups of micro-rings were the most common anatomical feature that impeded crossdating of fire-scar dates. A total of 597 fire-scar tips were successfully crossdated on these 80 cross-sections. The average number of fire scars per cross-section was 7.4, and the full collection of crossdated fire scars spanned from 1570 to 2004 AD. The crossdated fire-scar dates were highly synchronous within stands, and years of abundant scars matched years of widespread fire in documentary fire records from nearby areas. The high terpene content and mechanical properties of the wood of Pilgerodendron uviferum contribute to its resistance to decay and therefore long-term preservation of scars on both live and dead standing trees. The suitability of Pilgerodendron uviferum as a tree-ring fire recording species creates a significant opportunity to extend research on multi-century fire activity in relation to climate variability at mid to high latitudes (i.e., 43–55° s) in southwestern South America. Nomenclature: Marticorena & Rodriguez, 1995.


In order to select the optimal production technology for laminated veneer lumber of wood bridge, the properties and mechanics of experimental samples made by China southern plantation were analyzed. The experiment results showed that: the best production technology mode was 1.6min/mm hot process time, 4 MPa hot process pressure and 25 mm board thickness. And the eucalyptus veneers were fit to make laminated veneer lumber for wood bridge.


In order to effectively analyze, control, and prevent occupational health risk and ensure the reliability of the weight, a method based on FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis) and an improved AHP (analytic hierarchy process) model was established. The occupational disease of the occupational health and safety management system (OHSAS18001) of the mining industry in the southwest of Hubei Province is taken as an example, the three most significant risk factors (dust, noise, and gas) are selected as the research objects, the FMEA method is used, an expert questionnaire is carried out to establish the comprehensive assessment matrix of each indicator according to the RPN (risk priority number) value, and, finally, a case study is conducted through the FMEA and the improved AHP model The results show that the occupational disease of the mining industry's occupational health and safety management system belongs to a "general" grade, which is in line with the physical examination results of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Ezhou City in 2015. The improved AHP and FMEA comprehensive assessment model of occupational disease is proved feasible. This method can be incorporated in the process management of the enterprise for the purpose of occupational disease prevention in advance and continuous improvement on the occupational health and safety of employees. Additionally, the area research on this integrated model should be optimized continually in actual situations.


Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder associated with a high mortality and an often chronic and disabling course. Thus, novel treatment options should be explored. We performed two focus groups with a total of six people with AN on their use of music and their thoughts about music as an additional therapeutic option. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed in-depth using the NVivo 12 software package. The most prevalent theme throughout the focus groups involved positive expressions, emotions and memories related to music. This theme occurred in ~25% of the data. The importance of music was the second most common theme. Negative feelings and memories associated with music accounted for only ~10% of all references. All six patients expressed that they see benefit in using music therapy as an adjunct to their current treatment. Our analysis shows that people with AN connect music mainly with positive emotions and memories. Therapists might think about applying music more frequently during their sessions with AN patients and consider adding music therapy to their overall treatment concept. However, the results also suggest that music can influence mood not only positively but negatively as well. Quantitative research in bigger patient samples and randomized clinical trials will be necessary to verify these results.


Wireless sensor networks provide a significant contribution to the emerging field such as ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence. Due to the inherent property of WSN, it is most vulnerable for reliability. In literature, most of the authors concern about network longevity and ignore fault tolerance. In this dissertation, we present an energy-efficient fault tolerable routing protocol (EEFT) mechanism for WSN. The major novelty of this work is that sensor nodes can send their data to alternate path during a fault. The energy efficient can be achieves using clustering protocol for routing. The subordinate for each cluster help to tolerate faults occurred in the proximity. The cluster head nodes in proximity propagate aggregated data to base station. The simulation results show that the proposed approach yields better performance than the existing methods. It has observed that the proposed protocol EEFT has better energy utilization than existing EE-LEACH and FTREEP protocols. The EEFT protocol also has better packet delivery ratio than FTEERP; it increased up to 53.60%.


QoS provisioning in IEEE 802.11 networks is a nontrivial task due to a certain degree of randomness in the contention-based medium access control protocol. The problem often resides in the fact that flows belonging to the same service class use the same MAC parameters regardless of their respective bit rates. Assigning static MAC parameters confines WLAN deployment possibilities, and often leads to throughput fairness rather than perceived QoS fairness. This creates situations where network resources as well as their potential profitability are underex-ploited. Restricting the volume of traffic load carried by the network is a primordial task in order to preserve QoS performances of active multimedia services. In this article we review existing approaches to deliver QoS to real-time services in order to gain thorough insight into inhibiting factors inherent to contention-based 802.11 networks. The emphasis is put on studying the possible means to sustain QoS guarantees, which is of utmost importance for network operators willing to commit theirs underlying resources through service level agreements.


This paper reports studies on time-resolved laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) of plasmas induced by Nd:YAG laser pulses on a sample lyophilized from swine muscle tissue. Samples were measured under vacuum conditions (0.1 Pa), and the laser was operated at 1064 nm, with 6–9 ns laser pulses. The behavior of specific neutral and ionized emission lines of K, Mg, Mg+, H, and O as well as molecular bands such as CN (B2Σ+–X2Σ+), C2 (d3Πg–a3Πu), NH (A3Π–X3Σ−) and N2 (c3Πu–B3Πg) was characterized. Spectroscopic diagnostics were used to determine the time-resolved electron density and excitation temperatures. This work complements our previous studies by comparing the different mechanisms of plasma formation depending on the source of excitation, both Nd:YAG and transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) CO2 lasers. Plasma parameters, electron densities and vibrational temperatures of CN were measured from the temporal analysis of Nd:YAG induced plasma and were compared with the TEA-CO2 induced plasma results. In addition, complementary Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) combined with Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and LIBS has been performed to assess sample homogeneity.


Abstract: Neuronal differentiation is a fundamental event in the development of the nervous system as well as in the regeneration of damaged nervous tissue. The initiation and guidance of a neurite are accomplished by positive (permissive or attractive), negative (inhibitory or repulsive), or guiding (affecting the advance of the growth cone) signals from the extracellular space. The signals may arise from either the extracellular matrix (ECM) or the surface of other cells, or be diffusible secreted factors. Based on this classification, we briefly describe selected positive, negative, and guiding signaling cues focusing on the role of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs). CAMs not only regulate cell‐cell and cell‐ECM adhesion "mechanically," they also trigger intracellular signaling cascades launching neurite outgrowth. Here, we describe the structure, function, and signaling of three key CAMs found in the nervous system: N‐cadherin and two Ig‐CAMs, L1 and the neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM.


Sequencing batch reactors are a common design for wastewater treatment plants, particularly in smaller municipalities, due to their low footprint and ease of operations. However, like for most treatment plants in temperate/continental climates, the microbial community involved in water treatment is highly seasonal and its biological processes can be sensitive to cold temperatures. The seasonality of these microbial communities has been explored primarily in conventional treatment plants and not in sequencing batch reactors. Furthermore, most studies often only address which organisms are present. However, the activated sludge microbial community is very diverse, and it is often hard to discern which organisms are active and which organisms are simply present. In this study, we applied additional sequencing techniques to also address the issues of which organisms are active and which organisms are growing. By addressing these issues, we gained new insights into seasonal microbial populations dynamics and activity patterns affecting wastewater treatment. ABSTRACT Activated sludge is comprised of diverse microorganisms which remediate wastewater. Previous research has characterized activated sludge using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, which can help to address questions on the relative abundance of microorganisms. In this study, we used 16S rRNA transcript sequencing in order to characterize "active" populations (via protein synthesis potential) and gain a deeper understanding of microbial activity patterns within activated sludge. Seasonal abundances of individual populations in activated sludge change over time, yet a persistent group of core microorganisms remains throughout the year which are traditionally classified on presence or absence without monitoring of their activity or growth. The goal of this study was to further our understanding of how the activated sludge microbiome changes between seasons with respect to population abundance, activity, and growth. Triplicate sequencing batch reactors were sampled at 10-min intervals throughout reaction cycles during all four seasons. We quantified the gene and transcript copy numbers of 16S rRNA amplicons using real-time PCR and sequenced the products to reveal community abundance and activity changes. We identified 108 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with stable abundance, activity, and growth throughout the year. Nonproliferating OTUs were commonly human health related, while OTUs that showed seasonal abundance changes have previously been identified as being associated with floc formation and bulking. We observed significant differences in 16S rRNA transcript copy numbers, particularly at lower temperatures in winter and spring. The study provides an analysis of the seasonal dynamics of microbial activity variations in activated sludge based on quantifying and sequencing 16S rRNA transcripts. IMPORTANCE Sequencing batch reactors are a common design for wastewater treatment plants, particularly in smaller municipalities, due to their low footprint and ease of operations. However, like for most treatment plants in temperate/continental climates, the microbial community involved in water treatment is highly seasonal and its biological processes can be sensitive to cold temperatures. The seasonality of these microbial communities has been explored primarily in conventional treatment plants and not in sequencing batch reactors. Furthermore, most studies often only address which organisms are present. However, the activated sludge microbial community is very diverse, and it is often hard to discern which organisms are active and which organisms are simply present. In this study, we applied additional sequencing techniques to also address the issues of which organisms are active and which organisms are growing. By addressing these issues, we gained new insights into seasonal microbial populations dynamics and activity patterns affecting wastewater treatment.


As the costs of advanced node silicon have risen sharply with the 7 and 5-nanometer nodes, advanced packaging is coming to a crossroad where it is no longer fiscally prudent to pack all desired functionality into a single die. While single-die packages will still be around, the high-end market is shifting towards multiple-die packages to reduce overall costs and improve functionality. This shift is not just to add local memory, such as the addition of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) module(s) to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) die, but also to separate what would have been a monolithic ASIC in prior generations to its constituent parts, such as the central processing unit (CPU) cores, serializer/deserializer (SerDes) and input/output (I/O) blocks. By splitting the monolithic die into smaller functional blocks, costs can be reduced through improved wafer yield on the smaller CPU cores and re-using older, vetted intellectual property (IP) from a prior silicon node for the I/O and SerDes that do not necessarily need the most advanced silicon node.The traditional approach to fine-pitch multi-die packaging has been silicon interposers with Through Silicon Vias (TSVs). While the TSV approach has ushered in new performance levels never seen before, one of the major limitations is the inability to scale with higher and higher frequencies. The maximum frequency that a silicon interposer can handle between die-to-die interconnects is approximately 4 GHz due to the parasitics of the silicon. As dieto-die interconnects increase their bandwidth to higher and higher levels, the 4-6 GHz limitation can become a major bottleneck. Eliminating the silicon and silicon dioxide dielectrics and using polymers as the dielectric and the interposer itself can solve this problem.This paper will discuss how to use High-Density Fan-Out (HDFO) technology to replace the TSV-bearing silicon interposer with an organic interposer to enable higher bandwidth die-to-die interconnects for heterogeneous integration.


The computation of optical flow in video sequences is a challenging task in most camera based scene interpretation systems. In the past, most optical flow computation algorithms has been either implemented in software running on general purpose processors or designed as an application specific hardware. However, these implementations either cannot support real-time processing requirements or result in excessive inaccuracies in the computed velocity values. In this work, we propose a efficient VLSI system architecture for computing the optical flow in video sequences using the Lucas-Kanade (L-K) algorithm. The algorithm is converted into high speed RTL implementation by exploiting the inherent paralellism in the data flow graph. Clever pipelining strategies has been used throughout the design to further improve the speedup of velocity computation. We have mapped the RTL design on a Xilinx Virtex II XUPV2P FPGA board. Experimental results of our proposed design showed significant improvements in accuracy with a speedup of five times when compared with other recent hardware implementations.


Surface modification mechanism on scratch of ion implanted p-Si (100) is investigated by scanning electric microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Raman experimental results reveal that the amorphous Si appears near the scratch during the scratching process, while the ion implantation adjusts the structural parameters of the amorphous Si and changes the residual stress state of the surface scratch from tension to compression. Moreover, Raman experimental results reveal that the laser power synchronously decreases Raman shift and full width of half maximum intensity (FWHM). The laser heating effect can be neglected because a lower laser power is selected in our measurements.


Two thirds of the adult population (over 15 years old) in Europe do not meet the recommended daily amounts of physical activity, and it is believed that 600 000 people die every year as a result of inactivity. There is reason to believe that the physical environment influences our activities. Regular physical activity can improve our physical and mental health and data suggests that physical activity in green environments, so called green exercise, has even greater positive health effects. Studies have shown that people are more likely to be active as adults if they were active in their late teens. In other words, youth physical activity is crucial for being active later in life. The aim of this study is to investigate significant physical environment characteristics for youth self-organized physical activity in parks and green spaces, asking: "How can the design of urban parks and green spaces promote youth selforganized physical activity?" A literature review of available scientific studies that explore the topic has been conducted. The results and conclusions from the review have been utilized in the design of an urban green space, with the aim to promote youth physical activity. The literature review showed evident limitations to the literature exploring the topic. Only a few of the physical environment characteristics are studied to a sufficient extent, using appropriate methods. Still, quite a few specific park characteristics stood out as significant. Three or more studies showed that the investigated physical environment characteristics availability, sports fields/facilities for movement, safety, paths, nature-/green areas, number of facilities, renovation, aesthetics, open spaces, form and size, maintenance, variation, quality, attractions, trees/shade/shelter, and water, were significantly positively related to youth physical activity in parks and green spaces. The study provides an overview of the relationship between the physical environment in parks and green spaces and youth physical activity. The study also identifies requirements in further research. There is a need for more standardized methods of measuring the relationship between environmental characteristics and physical activity, and also a need to clarify the central concepts and definitions. The combination of different methods, i.e. combining direct observation with depth interviews will provide a more comprehensive picture of youth's preferences for activity areas. Studies investigating specific parts of the physical environment are few. Youth, in this study teenagers or adolescents, is an understudied age group. At the same time, it might be appropriate to also include so called young adults in future research exploring this topic. The second part of this report proposes a design of an activity area in an existing green space at Furuset in Oslo, as part of the ongoing project Verdensparken – The World Park.


[1] We examine the quality of atmospherically deposited ion and isotope signals in an ice core taken from a periodically melting ice field, Lomonosovfonna in central Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The aim is to determine the degree to which the signals are altered by periodic melting of the ice. We use three diagnostics: (1) the relation between peak values in the ice chemical and isotopic record and ice facies type, (2) the number of apparent annual cycles in these records compared with independently determined number of years represented in the ice core, and (3) a statistical comparison of the isotopic record in the ice core and the isotope records from coastal stations from the same region. We find that during warm summers, as much as 50% of the annual accumulation may melt and percolate into the firn; in a median year this decreases to similar to25%. As a consequence of percolation, the most mobile acids show up to 50% higher concentrations in bubble-poor ice facies compared with facies that are less affected by melt. Most of the other chemical species are less affected than the strong acids, and the stable water isotopes show little evidence of mobility. Annual or biannual cycles are detected in most parameters, and the water isotope record has a comparable statistical distribution to isotopic records from coastal stations. We conclude that ice cores from sites like Lomonosovfonna contain a useful environmental record, despite melt events and percolation and that most parameters preserve an annual, or in the worst cases, a biannual atmospheric signal.


Building upon recent advances in entropy-regularized optimal transport, and upon Fenchel duality between measures and continuous functions , we propose a generalization of the logistic loss that incorporates a metric or cost between classes. Unlike previous attempts to use optimal transport distances for learning, our loss results in unconstrained convex objective functions, supports infinite (or very large) class spaces, and naturally defines a geometric generalization of the softmax operator. The geometric properties of this loss make it suitable for predicting sparse and singular distributions, for instance supported on curves or hyper-surfaces. We study the theoretical properties of our loss and show-case its effectiveness on two applications: ordinal regression and drawing generation.


We investigate the fault-tolerance issue of networking and propose a layered solution to it. By evaluating the performance of fault-handling schemes at each layer of a protocol stack, we can find a set of fault-handling schemes whose combined performance will guarantee the required end-to-end delay bound for real-time communication services while maintaining a certain level of fault-tolerance. The Survivable Adaptable Fiber Embedded Network (SAFENET) is used as the main vehicle of this study.<<ETX>>


This article describes the four coordinates of the Eurosystem monetary policy -its aim, its strategy, the operating framework and the approach- bearing in mind the essential features denoting the monetary policy of the euro area with regard to any other country's or region's. These characteristic features are the principal novelty of this policy, as it has been in operation for just over a year, the relative heterogeneity of the area to which it is applied, and the uncertainty that inevitably accompanies everything new and heterogeneous.The prime aim of the Eurosystem monetary policy is price stability and without prejudice to this, indirectly and conditionally, economic growth and employment. Exchange rate stability is not a specific objective of the EGB but rather a condition, an ingredient, along with others, so that price stability is maintened.The strategy chosen to achieve this objective is genuine -consisting of two pillars, one monetary and the other forecasts of inflation- so that it may be more flexible towards the novelty and uncertainty accompanying the monetary policy of the Eurosystem. The operational framework -based on open market operations, mainly weekly auctions for injections of liquidity with repos, two permanent facilities, one loan and the other deposit, and a liquidity reserve ratio remunerated at market rate- is characterized by its flexibility and by interest rate control in spite of the fact that there is no operating goal for shortterm rates. Lastly, the main features of the Eurosystem monetary policy approach are the medium term, passiveness, discretion and global European outlook.Although the aim, strategy, operational framework and approach of the European monetary policy have proved to function perfectly, at least so far, there are still major challenges to be met by the Eurosystem in the coming years. The first of theseis to go on implementing a single monetary policy forthe eleven different countries from not only the political and social, but also the economic standpoint. The second challenge is the ultimate integration of the European financial markets. The third, connected with the first, is greater interaction of macroeconomic policies. The fourth challenge is to make fourther advances towards structural reforms and reduction of unemployment. The final challenge is to integrate new countries into the euro area, beginning with those already forming part of the European Union, and continuing with the countries that join in the future.


This study systematically investigated the correlations between fluorescence distributions characterized by the excitation-emission matrix (EEM) and hydrophobic/hydrophilic composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). On the basis of samples from 10 full-scale MBRs, we performed point-to-point comparisons among different components using an EEM fluorescence quotient (FQ) method and obtained a hydrophobic/hydrophilic fluorophore distribution map via Wilcoxon signed rank test. Hydrophobic acids/bases (HOA/HOB) concentrated in the low-wavelength region [excitation wavelength (Ex) < 235 nm], while hydrophilic substances (HIS) were enriched in the region of Ex > 235 nm [especially with emission wavelength (Em) = 300-360 nm]. Quantitatively, EEM regional contribution to whole wavelength fluorescence was found to significantly correlate with the hydrophobic/hydrophilic proportions of DOM, with Pearson's coefficients of 0.94 and 0.78 ( p < 0.01) for HOA and HIS, respectively. We established a linear regression model showing the HOA proportion as a function of the EEM regional contribution at (Ex, Em) = (200-285, 340-465 nm), with R2 = 0.876, which was validated via leave-one-out cross-validation and Monte Carlo simulation. This study shows a statistically hydrophobicity-dependent fluorescence property across different MBRs, and it might be applied to provide a quick estimation of hydrophobic/hydrophilic composition of DOM in wastewater treatment systems based on EEM monitoring.


Stocks and bonds? Real estate? Hedge funds? Private equity? If you think those are the things to focus on in building an investment portfolio, Andrew Ang has accumulated a body of research that will prove otherwise. In his new book Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing, Ang upends the conventional wisdom about asset allocation by showing that what matters aren't asset class labels but the bundles of overlapping risks they represent. Making investments is like eating a healthy diet, Ang says: you've got to look through the foods you eat to focus on the nutrients they contain. Failing to do so can lead to a serious case of malnutrition-for investors as well as diners. The key, in Ang's view, is bad times, and the fact that every investor's bad times are somewhat different. The notion that bad times are paramount is the guiding principle of the book, which offers a new approach to the age-old problem of where do you put your money? Years of experience, both as a finance professor and as a consultant, have led Ang to see that the traditional approach, with its focus on asset classes, is too crude and ultimately too costly to serve investors adequately. He focuses instead on "factor risks," the peculiar sets of hard times that cut across asset classes, and that must be the focus of our attention if we are to weather market turmoil and receive the rewards that come with doing so. Optimally harvesting factor premiums-on our own or by hiring others-requires identifying your particular set of hard times, and exploiting the difference between them and those of the average investor. Clearly written yet chock-full of the latest research and data, Asset Management will be indispensable reading for trustees, professional money managers, smart private investors, and business students who want to understand the economics behind factor risk premiums, harvest them efficiently in their portfolios, and embark on the search for true alpha. Available in OSO: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/economicsfinance/9780199959327/toc.html


Governance constitutes elementary supportive infrastructure for regional innovation systems. This paper extends the evolutionary lens of governance into initial industrialization phase and examines the impact of their evolution into regional innovation systems on fostering innovation activities. Drawing on the empirical substances in Shenzhen and Dongguan, China, a path-dependent nature of institutional design on supporting innovation has been discovered. The paper shows that the dirigiste globalized production system in Shenzhen in 1980s has gradually evolved to a higher level of interactive regional innovation system than the grassroots globalized production system in Dongguan, where innovation is still passively managed by global players. Finally, policy implication is discussed for the construction of regional innovation systems under different governance modalities in the initial industrialization phase.


In this paper we introduced an integrative network-based approach to modelling co-dependent infrastructure systems and simulating them within the general purpose framework of situational simulations. We introduced and discussed the underlying mathematical model of the simulation, and also discussed typical information that will drive it – specifically considering the case of the City of Houghton, Michigan, in the USA. We also implemented the situational simulation using a proposed process model and the information model, thus providing a prototypical product interface. The simulation is interactive and it allows decision makers to account for complex adaptive interactions among co-dependent infrastructure systems, and to account for non-linear feedbacks and counter-intuitive behaviour. The significance of this research is twofold: 1. It provides an underlying model to represent and reason about co-dependent infrastructure systems. 2. It implements the model within the general purpose framework of situational simulations that can be used by public infrastructure emergency management agencies to test crisis management strategies, assess risk, and specifically identify and prepare for events that expose system vulnerabilities. This paper seeds an agenda for interdisciplinary future research with the ultimate goal of developing products that enhance decision making in managing co-dependent infrastructure systems.


During three spring seasons between 2006 and 2008, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa taught at the School of Architecture at Princeton. The SANAA Studios explored Japan's contemporary society as a context for architecture and considered its particular perspective on space, the personal and the public realm. Design exercises were situated within the specific demographics and social variables of three distinct sites in Japan. This book captures the atmosphere in which the studios were conducted and registers some of the findings gained out of exploring the office, its methods and its context. By combining analyses, essays, documentation and design proposals, it asks: What can we learn from SANAA? It tries to frame SANAA's compassionate search for new architectures within a larger societal context. For this publication, Dutch architectural photographer Iwan Baan has revisited the three sites where the studios took place to capture the spirit of its context and the SANAA buildings in use.


Wild plant populations may harbour a myriad of unknown viruses. As the majority of research efforts have targeted economically important plant species, the diversity and prevalence of viruses in the wild has remained largely unknown. However, the recent shift towards metagenomics-based sequencing methodologies, especially those targeting small RNAs, is finally enabling virus discovery from wild hosts. Understanding this diversity of potentially pathogenic microbes in the wild can offer insights into the components of natural biodiversity that promotes long-term coexistence between hosts and parasites in nature, and help predict when and where risks of disease emergence are highest. Here, we used small RNA deep sequencing to identify viruses in Plantago lanceolata populations, and to understand the variation in their prevalence and distribution across the Åland Islands, South-West Finland. By subsequent design of PCR primers, we screened the five most common viruses from two sets of P. lanceolata plants: 164 plants collected from 12 populations irrespective of symptoms, and 90 plants collected from five populations showing conspicuous viral symptoms. In addition to the previously reported species Plantago lanceolata latent virus (PlLV), we found four potentially novel virus species belonging to Caulimovirus, Betapartitivirus, Enamovirus, and Closterovirus genera. Our results show that virus prevalence and diversity varied among the sampled host populations. In six of the virus infected populations only a single virus species was detected, while five of the populations supported between two to five of the studied virus species. In 20% of the infected plants, viruses occurred as coinfections. When the relationship between conspicuous viral symptoms and virus infection was investigated, we found that plants showing symptoms were usually infected (84%), but virus infections were also detected from asymptomatic plants (44%). Jointly, these results reveal a diverse virus community with newly developed tools and protocols that offer exciting opportunities for future studies on the eco-evolutionary dynamics of viruses infecting plants in the wild.


Two thousand, one hundred and fifty-eight offenders committed for trial at the Ibadan Magistrate courts between 1974 and 1975 were reviewed. A preponderance of males (95.9%) and young adults (81% less than 40 years) was found in the population of the offenders. A decline in criminal offences was found with increase in age. Stealing was found to be the commonest crime and it was about half (49%) of the total offences. There were significant increases in fraud and assault between 1974 and 1975. Within the 2 years, only cases of homicide (twenty-three out of seventy-one cases) were referred for psychiatric assessment. Attempted suicide and drug abuse were not referred. It was concluded that psychiatric cases can commit any form of crime and that where the sanity of a criminal, whatever the type, is doubted, he should be referred for psychiatric evaluation. Language: en


Breaking bad news (BBN) is necessary in medical practice and requires training. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and mainly explore the components involved in medical students' and residents' performance after a flipped educational intervention to train them to break bad news. A randomized controlled before-after study was conducted with 43 medical students and residents in the intervention group and 41 in the control group. The intervention combined an online multimedia program (DocCom) with a two-hour workshop. BBN performance was assessed at two clinical stations using Objective Structured Clinical Examination and analyzed using a mixed between-within subject analysis of variance. A factor analysis was conducted to analyze the performance by checklist components. The intervention group improved its overall performance in BBN over time (p = 0.000; Eta2 = 0.38) and when compared to the control group (p = 0.01; Eta2 = 0.12). The factor analysis revealed two main components: Factor 1—"giving bad news and responding with empathy"—and Factor 2—"using general communication skills". Performance analysis by these components revealed that the improvement occurred mainly in Factor 1 (over time, p = 0.000; Eta2 = 0.48, group x time, p = 0.000; Eta2 = 0.38). The intervention combining DocCom Module 33 and a workshop had a moderate effect on the improvement of medical students' and medical residents' BBN overall performance in standardized encounters. This improvement was mainly related to communication skills for giving bad news and responding with empathy, in which the intervention effect was large over time and between groups.


We investigated the failure of an IS project within a global industrial company. The challenges in the complexity of product master data were one of the failure reasons. We detected a research gap in how to handle master data complexity in IS development, especially in data storage integrations. The traditional approach is to define so-called golden records, "single versions of truth", for each record, and then harmonize and cleanse data so that only or mainly golden record values will be used. We offer federative approach as an alternative to the golden record approach. According to this approach data interoperability is achieved by identifying shared attributes, by federating data on the basis of shared attributes' metadata, and by developing IS functionalities to process the metadata and their crossreferences. We compare the ontological stances of the approaches theoretically and with figures. We present the results of a case, where the federative approach was probed. Our study contributes to research by showing how to link data management to IS development to address the complexity of master data in data interoperability projects, by comparing the golden record and the federative approaches, and by showing how the federative approach can be used in real-life contexts.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the corporate sustainability culture of contracting firms, particularly in the Midwest. Many of the local firms operate nationally. The local corporate culture influences their regional offices. Other than convenience, the firms are selected from Midwest since their headquarters are situated in Midwest region and comprises of more number of employees than their other regional offices. This helped the research to approach more contractors for better survey and interview responses. The paper documents the study on existing management and construction practices these contractors adopt on sustainability and examines how their sustainability efforts influence the firms' performances.

Design/methodology/approach

This research utilized surveys and interviews as the primary means of data collection. The data were collected from survey and interviews with selected companies operating in the Midwest region of the USA. One of the companies also operates offices across the country. Data from the interviews and surveys were analyzed using statistical analysis system software application. χ2 analysis, particularly the frequency procedures using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel (CMH) method was the primary analysis method used to study the relationships between different factors. The CMH method compares the association between and within two groups and permits adjustments of the control variables.

Findings

The findings of this paper include the results from various Midwest commercial building contractors. The results on different aspects of sustainable practices and their success rates among the contractors are determined and discussed, and future scope of improvements are mentioned at the conclusion of this paper.

Research limitations/implications

In summary, sustainable business practices are beneficial to society and favorable for the construction business. Embracing sustainable business practices has a positive impact on firm strategic performance for commercial building contractors through employee satisfaction, project opportunities, and market advantage. Sustainable business practices extend into the lives of individuals involved which exceedingly impacts society. The construction industry has advanced sustainability efforts, but there is a long way to go on the journey to being better stewards of the environment and resources.

Originality/value

A rival theory became apparent during the investigation that a new building consolidating all local company employees could have an impact on firm strategic performance. Third, this paper is confounded by a great recession that made project opportunities and revenue considerations analysis problematic. Some information regarding these aspects were helpful; however, expanding this paper during a more stable and typical economic period could provide additional insight.


Measuring wildland fuels is at the core of fire science, but many established field methods are not useful for ecosystems characterized by complex surface vegetation. A recently developed sub-meter 3D method applied to southeastern U.S. longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) communities captures critical heterogeneity, but similar to any destructive sampling measurement, it relies on separate plots for calculating loading and consumption. In this study, we investigated how bulk density differed by 10-cm height increments among three dominant fuel types, tested predictions of consumption based on fuel type, height, and volume, and compared this with other field measurements. The bulk density changed with height for the herbaceous and woody litter fuels (p < 0.001), but live woody litter was consistent across heights (p > 0.05). Our models predicted mass well based on volume and height for herbaceous (RSE = 0.00911) and woody litter (RSE = 0.0123), while only volume was used for live woody (R2 = 0.44). These were used to estimate consumption based on our volume-mass predictions, linked pre- and post-fire plots by fuel type, and showed similar results for herbaceous and woody litter when compared to paired plots. This study illustrates an important non-destructive alternative to calculating mass and estimating fuel consumption across vertical volume distributions at fine scales.


Many physical phenomena can be modeled using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) because it is a powerful tool to study thermodynamic properties. MCS can be used to simulate interactions between several particles or bodies in the presence of local or external fields. The main idea is to create a high number of different random configurations; statistics can be taken according to appropriate algorithms (Metropolis algorithm). In this chapter, we present basic techniques of MCS as the choice of potential, reaction rates, simulation cell, random configurations, and algorithms. We present some principal ideas of MCS used to study particle-particle collisions in the gas and in plasmas. Other MCS techniques are presented briefly. A numerical application is presented for collisions in gas phase during thin film deposition by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) processes. Parameters and results of the simulation are studied according to a chosen reactor and mixture.


&NA; In post‐conflict settings, service coverage indices are unlikely to be sustained if health systems are built on weak and unstable inter‐organization networks—here referred to as infrastructure. The objective of this study was to assess the inter‐organization infrastructure that supports the provision of selected health services in the reconstruction phase after conflict in northern Uganda. Applied social network analysis was used to establish the structure, size and function among organizations supporting the provision of (1) HIV treatment, (2) maternal delivery services and (3) workforce strengthening. Overall, 87 organizations were identified from 48 respondent organizations in the three post‐conflict districts in northern Uganda. A two‐stage snowball approach was used starting with service provider organizations in each district. Data included a list of organizations and their key attributes related to the provision of each service for the year 2012‐13. The findings show that inter‐organization networks are mostly focused on HIV treatment and least for workforce strengthening. The networks for HIV treatment and maternal services were about 3‐4 times denser relative to the network for workforce strengthening. The network for HIV treatment accounted for 69‐81% of the aggregated network in Gulu and Kitgum districts. In contrast, the network for workforce strengthening contributed the least (6% and 10%) in these two districts. Likewise, the networks supporting a young district (Amuru) was under invested with few organizations and sparse connections. Overall, organizations exhibited a broad range of functional roles in supporting HIV treatment compared to other services in the study. Basic information about the inter‐organization setup (infrastructure)—can contribute to knowledge for building organization networks in more equitable ways. More connected organizations can be leveraged for faster communication and resource flow to boost the delivery of health services.


DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF INFECTIONS The Diagnosis and Treatment of Infections. By D. Geraint James, M.A., M D.(Cantab.), M.R.C.P.(Lond.). (Pp. 234+ yii. 30s.) Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. 1957. This is a book on new lines. It is divided into three parts, of which the first, which might logically have been the second. is a description of the properties, antimicrobic activity, and pharmacological behaviour of antibiotics and some other chemotherapeutic drugs. The second contains accounts of the principal pathogenic micro-organisms and of laboratory methods used in diagnosing infections due -to them. Much the largest of these chapters deals with viruses, and will be found helpful by many whom recent advances in diagnostic virology and the advent of such new entities as Coxsackie, ECHO, and A.P.C. viruses may well have bewildered. The third section deals with infections by systems, with some reference to their clinical features and an account of methods for their treatment with antimicrobic drugs and for immunization against them, when either of these proceedings is feasible. Two brief concluding chapters are on diagnosis in P.U.O. (" U " is translated as " unknown," but some people prefer " uncertain ") and on the use of corticosteroids in infections. A very helpful feature is extensive tabulation: anyone who has attempted this will know how difficult it is to secure all the data necessary to complete a really informative table. An example is Table 5. which states, among other things. the amount of each of the principal antibiotics which enters cerebrospinal fluid and the degree to which they are concentrated in the bile. The addition of some tables stating degrees of bacterial sensitivity in quantitative terms would be helpful. It would also be helpful to define all units for antibiotics so measured, and the statement that antibiotics are not amoehicidal needs qualification: oxytetracvcline could not exert the effect it does if its action were only on secondarv bacterial invaders. Where policv in the use of antibiotics is disptitable. the suggestions made will commend themselves, particularly for the treatment of possibly resistant infections and for delaying the emergence of bacterial resistance, although whether some of these measures will actually succeed remains to be proved. It is no small achievement for one author to have so adequately covered both the clinical and the theoretical or laboratory side of this subject, and his book should prove a valuable guide in both diagnosis and treatment. L. P. GARROD.


A player or a team, even with a model of game, or with a specific action plan for a game, needs exploit the context, and interact with colleagues and opponents to resolve the situation of the game. Therefore, more than memorize a large number of rules, or actions, players need to develop the capacity to detect informational constraints to identify ways to the objective. In this way, during the game, a player becomes pellet colleague, since this colleague allows the occurrence of passing, i.e. , since the colleague is (or will be) in a position where the pass is possible (the relationship between the players to pass), and not because the trainer can define at beginning. Then we will try clarify how develops this process. We believe that the development of decisional behavior is not a linear and normative, and which are expected different amounts of change between the players. In this sense, the training should focus in functional aspects of the game through the manipulation of embarrassment individual, environmental and the task, which receives the holding, the discovery and potentiation of couplings-action relevant information.


This thesis explores the use of aberration-corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (ac-STEM) to characterise the size, atomic structure and chemical composition of different types of nanoparticles, including Ag clusters produced in a matrix assemblym cluster source (MACS), chemically-synthesised monolayer protected Au clusters, metal oxide nanoparticles and bimetallic nanoparticles. The size and density of clusters produced in the MACS with different experimental parameters are characterised by STEM High-Angle Annular Dark Field (HAADF) imaging, shedding light on the capabilities of this new cluster source. A statistical investigation is conducted into the size and atomic structure of nominally Au144(SR)60 clusters synthesised by two different research groups. The clusters are "weighed" against size-selected clusters (i.e. atom counting) and the structures are compared to several model structure simulations. A ring-dot feature, characteristic of a local icosahedral order, is frequently observed. The oxidation states of CeOx, CuOx, CoOx and FeOx nanoparticles are investigated by Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) in the STEM. All these samples show a mixing oxidation states. HAADF images are used to analyse the elemental distribution of Cr-Pt bimetallic nanoparticles. Comparison between the experimental and simulated HAADF intensity profiles indicates that Cr and Pt atoms are mixed. EELS mapping and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) are used to characterise hydrothermally-prepared FeCo oxide nanoparticles. The results show that the Fe-Co nanoparticles synthesised with iron nitrate precursors are less crystallised and the elemental distributions of Fe and Co are not uniform. While the nanoparticles synthesised with ammonium iron citrate are well crystallised and the elemental distributions are homogenous.


Sharpness-aware minimization (SAM) is a recently proposed method that minimizes the sharpness of the training loss of a neural network. While its generalization improvement is well-known and is the primary motivation, we uncover an additional intriguing effect of SAM: reduction of the feature rank which happens at different layers of a neural network. We show that this low-rank effect occurs very broadly: for different architectures such as fully-connected networks, convolutional networks, vision transformers and for different objectives such as regression, classification, language-image contrastive training. To better understand this phenomenon, we provide a mechanistic understanding of how low-rank features arise in a simple two-layer network. We observe that a significant number of activations gets entirely pruned by SAM which directly contributes to the rank reduction. We confirm this effect theoretically and check that it can also occur in deep networks, although the overall rank reduction mechanism can be more complex, especially for deep networks with pre-activation skip connections and self-attention layers. We make our code available at https://github.com/tml-epfl/sam-low-rank-features.


The demand for magnesium alloys has increased significantly during the past decade in the automotive and electronic industries where weight reduction becomes increasingly an important issue. At present, high-pressure die casting (HPDC) is a dominant process in production of magnesium alloy components. However, magnesium alloy components produced by HPDC suffer from porosity problem and this limits the enhancement of mechanical properties through subsequent heat treatments. The semi-solid processing (SSP) is an emerging new technology for near-net shape production of engineering components, in which the alloys are processed in the temperature range where the liquid and solid phases coexist. The SSP has various advantages over the conventional casting processes. It offers the castings with high integrity and less porosity and allows subsequent heat treatments for enhancement of mechanical properties. For these advantages, the SSP of magnesium alloys has received increasing attention in recent years. In the present study, the continuous casting process was developed for the production of magnesium billets for the subsequent SSP. The process utilizes an electromagnetic stirring system in order to obtain desired microstructure with an excellent degree of homogeneity in both microstructure and composition. Prototypes of an air conditioner cover and a telescope housing were produced using the SSP of the continuously cast magnesium alloy billets.


Angola's economic re-integration into the Southern African region profoundly changes the economic and political landscape in the neighbouring countries. Apart from the country's new political influence, Angolan buying power leads to an economic boom in formerly marginal places along its borders. Oshikango, the main Namibian border post to Angola, is perhaps the most impressive example of that change. Over the last 12 years, a forgotten outpost has developed into a sprawling boom town. In the first part of this article, I trace the town's development and give an outline of the different economic activities that were instrumental in it. A second part concentrates on the role of the border for the town's development and the construction of Namibian political and economic identity. While state regulations are enforced on both sides on the border, the transit between them is under-regulated and provides the economic opportunities that fuel the boom. The third part then looks at regulation within the boom town and its growing integration into the Namibian political landscape. The capacity of local administrators to profit from the boom rests on two interlinked factors: they are seen as bureaucratic representatives of state power, which lends legitimacy and leverage to their efforts of domination; but there is always too much to regulate in a boom town, which makes it possible to choose where and how to apply official rules without losing legitimacy. Through these dynamics of legitimacy and opportunity, the boom town of Oshikango is a place where state authority is reinforced, fuelled by the private interests of state representatives.


We introduce a system for anaphora resolution for German that uses various resources in order to develop a real system as opposed to systems based on idealized assumptions, e.g. the use of true mentions only or perfect parse trees and perfect morphology. The components that we use to replace such idealizations comprise a full-fledged morphology, a Wikipedia-based named entity recognition, a rule-based dependency parser and a German wordnet. We show that under these conditions coreference resolution is (at least for German) still far from being perfect. Abstract. We introduce a system for anaphora resolution for German that uses various resources in order to develop a real system as opposed to systems based on idealized assumptions, e.g. the use of true mentions only or perfect parse trees and perfect morphology. The components that we use to replace such idealizations comprise a full-fledged morphology, a Wikipedia-based named entity recognition, a rule-based dependency parser and a German wordnet. We show that under these conditions coreference resolution is (at least for German) still far from being perfect.


Several recent studies have shown a relationship between working memory and the ability of older adults to benefit from specific advanced signal processing algorithms in hearing aids. In this study, we quantify tradeoffs between benefit due to noise reduction and the perceptual costs associated with distortion caused by the noise reduction algorithm. We also investigate the relationship between these tradeoffs and working memory abilities. Speech intelligibility, speech quality and perceived listening effort were measured in a cohort of elderly adults with hearing loss. Test materials were low-context sentences presented in fluctuating noise conditions at several signal-to-noise ratios. Speech stimuli were processed with a binary mask noise-reduction strategy. The amount of distortion produced by the noise reduction algorithm was parametrically varied by manipulating two binary mask parameters, error rate and attenuation rate. Working memory was assessed with a reading span test. Results will be discussed in terms of the extent to which intelligibility, quality and effort ratings are explained by the amount of distortion and/or noise and by working memory ability.[Funded by NIH, Oticon and GN ReSound]


The meteorology of hot Jupiters has been characterized primarily with thermal measurements, but recent observations suggest the possibility of directly detecting the winds by observing the Doppler shift of spectral lines seen during transit. Motivated by these observations, we show how Doppler measurements can place powerful constraints on the meteorology. We show that the atmospheric circulation—and Doppler signature—of hot Jupiters splits into two regimes. Under weak stellar insolation, the day–night thermal forcing generates fast zonal jet streams from the interaction of atmospheric waves with the mean flow. In this regime, air along the terminator (as seen during transit) flows toward Earth in some regions and away from Earth in others, leading to a Doppler signature exhibiting superposed blueshifted and redshifted components. Under intense stellar insolation, however, the strong thermal forcing damps these planetary-scale waves, inhibiting their ability to generate jets. Strong frictional drag likewise damps these waves and inhibits jet formation. As a result, this second regime exhibits a circulation dominated by high-altitude, day-to-night airflow, leading to a predominantly blueshifted Doppler signature during transit. We present state-of-the-art circulation models including non-gray radiative transfer to quantify this regime shift and the resulting Doppler signatures; these models suggest that cool planets like GJ 436b lie in the first regime, HD 189733b is transitional, while planets hotter than HD 209458b lie in the second regime. Moreover, we show how the amplitude of the Doppler shifts constrains the strength of frictional drag in the upper atmospheres of hot Jupiters. If due to winds, the ∼2 km s−1 blueshift inferred on HD 209458b may require drag time constants as short as 104–106 s, possibly the result of Lorentz-force braking on this planet's hot dayside.


Acrylic resins are widely used as removable denture baseplate. These resins need adequate cleaning and maintenance. One way to clean resin denture is by immersing it in a denture cleanser solution. Denture cleanser should have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Chitosan is a natural antibacterial and antifungal substance. Unfortunately, acetic acid used as solvent for chitosan solvent can cause toxicity to cells. Ascorbic acid can be used as an alternative solvent for chitosan with lower toxicity than acetic acid. The aim of this study is to test antibacterial and antifungal activity of chitosan solution in ascorbic acid for the use as resin acrylic cleanser. In this study we evaluate antibacterial and antifungal activity of chitosan solution in ascorbic acid as denture cleanser solution. Acrylic resin plates were contaminated with Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans colonies and then were immersed in five different groups of solutions, aquadest as control group, ascorbic acid, 1%, 2%, and 3% chitosan solution in ascorbic acid. Antibacterial and antifungal activity test were examined by using diffusion method (Kirby-bauer). The results were analysed using statistical analysis.Antibacterial and antifungal activity test results show that the highest significant influence was observed in 1% chitosan group, showing 1,21x104 cfu/ml for Streptococcus mutans colonies and 4083 cfu/ml for Candida albicans colonies. The optimal percentage volume for adequate antibacterial and antifungal chitosan solution in ascorbic acid is 1%.


Objectives: Jaundice in pregnancy carries with it a high mortality rate. In this study, we examined the characteristics of women on survival of women with hepatitis E due to the stress of labor in terms of multiorgan failure after delivery. Design: A retrospective study of hospital records was done on women of hepatitis E from December 2010 to August 2011 at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, India. The women were divided into two groups: expired and survived. Results: Fatality rate during the epidemic months (March/ during nonepidemic months (June to February). The overall mortality rate of fulminant hepatic failure was 94%. The mean duration of jaundice, levels of bilirubin, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), and prothrombin time (PT) were ! altered creatinine and PT [International Normalized Ratio (INR) >1.5] had a high mortality rate of 88 and 76%, respectively. All those who were conscious at the time of delivery (no hepatic encephalopathy) survived while those who were unconscious expired after delivery. All those who were intubated died. Conclusion: Hepatitis E is endemic in India and is an important indirect cause of maternal mortality. Study of the expired group helps understand the critical levels of liver function tests. This can help in appropriate counselling of patients and their relatives regarding the prognosis. Although delivery does not have any effect on survival, blood loss, infection and raised intracranial tension can cause liver hypoxia and worsen the disease state.


A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Award
of the Degree of Master of Science in Economics of Mzumbe University
2013


Since the agricultural commodity boom and the two concurrent devaluations of the U.S. dollar in the early 1970s, the effect of exchange rate change on agricultural trade has been extensively studied. Change in exchange rate regime from fixed to flexible in 1973 coupled with the farm crisis in the early 1980s directed attention of study to the assessment of impact of monetary policy on agriculture. However, the theoretical and empirical conclusions of the effect of exchange rate or monetary policy are mixed so far. The primary reasons of these mixed conclusions might be because of the use of the conventional competitive framework and the weak linkage between agricultural and financial market;This study develops a new U.S. wheat model that consists of wheat trade in the imperfect competition world market and competitive domestic market, and then uses the model to measure the impacts of monetary policy on wheat trade and domestic market. The duopoly characteristic was adopted for the world wheat market. Such incorporation made this model different from the conventional competitive framework. The complete U.S. wheat model was constructed by combining the duopolistic trade and competitive domestic market together. For the assessment of the impacts of monetary policy, the U.S. wheat model was connected with the financial market via linkages of exchange rate and interest rate determination. These two rates were endogenized and the portfolio equilibrium model was employed to determine these two rates;The model was empirically estimated using annual data for the period 1965 to 1985. The estimation technique was nonlinear, three-stage least squares. Almost all estimated coefficients were highly significant and all had correct signs as theoretical expectations. All statistics of model examination indicated that this model performed satisfactorily. Using this model, the impacts of monetary policy were analyzed for the period 1973 to 1985 using dynamic simulation and multiplier analysis;The empirical results indicate that the U.S. wheat industry faces two almost equally important markets which have different characteristics, and the associated determination process of the domestic and export prices is different. The effect of monetary policy on export price is dramatically elastic, but on quantity exported is quite small. In the domestic market, the effect on commercial ending stock is elastic, however, on the domestic disappearance and the domestic price are inelastic. Since U.S. wheat sector is heavily dependent on exports, an expansionary monetary policy would tend to have a positive impact on the sector.


The deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap has been shown to be a valid option for breast reconstruction, as it has certain advantages over the free TRAM flap, including lower morbidity in the donor area, conservation of abdominal wall function, and reduced postoperative pain. However, some cases of venous congestion in using the DIEP flap have been described. The authors present a case in which the venous return in a DIEP flap objectively (by measurement with a flux meter) presented a marked improvement (from 4 ml/min to 13.9 ml/min) after venous drainage was increased by means of the supplementary anastomosis of a comitant vein from the deep inferior epigastric pedicle to the intercostal branch of the internal mammary vein. The preservation of this branch is a simple and effective technique to improve the venous drainage of DIEP flaps, whether signs of congestion are present or not.