We obtained high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) spectroscopy for the very metal poor star HD 122563 with the Subaru Telescope High Dispersion Spectrograph. Previous studies have shown that this object has excesses of light neutron-capture elements, while its abundances of heavy ones are very low. In our spectrum, which covers 3070-4780 Å of this object, 19 neutron-capture elements have been detected, including seven for the first time in this star (Nb, Mo, Ru, Pd, Ag, Pr, and Sm). Upper limits are given for five other elements including Th. The abundance pattern shows a gradually decreasing trend, as a function of atomic number, from Sr to Yb, which is quite different from those in stars with excesses of r-process elements. This abundance pattern of neutron-capture elements provides new strong constraints on the models of nucleosynthesis responsible for the very metal poor stars with excesses of light neutron-capture elements but without enhancement of heavy ones.


Abstract One of the most important recent debates in Israeli political and academic circles is the question of whether Israel can be a state that is both Jewish and democratic. In the main, this debate has focused on Jewishness as a form of ethno‐national identity, yet the relationship between the Jewish religion and the state in Israel has also triggered a controversy framed in terms of the state's Jewish and democratic identity. This latter issue is relevant to the larger question of what role religion can and should play in democracies in general. This paper uses the Religion and State (RAS) dataset, which includes detailed information on government involvement in religion (GIR). A comparison of Israel to other democracies shows that all types of GIR which exist in Israel also exist in other democracies. This implies that the extent of GIR in Israel does not undermine its democratic character. The results also show that, while democracies tend to have lower levels of GIR than non‐democracies, the relationship between GIR and regime is nonlinear.


Promoting and increasing organizational innovation is the key factor of company's competitiveness in the current turbulent conditions. The aim of the paper is to verify the hypothesis, whether the entrepreneurial orientation of business management is effectively related to the organizational innovation of companies and at the same time, whether this relationship is mediated by team connection, work autonomy and building trust between employees and business management. The research sample was 244 managers of medium and large companies in Slovakia. The tool for data collection was a questionnaire survey and the tool for examining the mechanism of functioning of the presumed relationships is mediation with the use of regression analyses and the Sobel test to determine the significance of the indirect effect of median variables. The established hypothesis was confirmed by the study . Full mediation was identified, where up to 88% of the total effect is realized by intermediary variables with a significant influence of building trust and job autonomy. Team connectivity has a negative effect in the indirect effect, which further increases the importance of the other two mediation variables in the mediated transmission. From the controlled variables, management practice was a significant variable. The dependence is positive, i.e., the higher practice of the manager is related to the higher values of the dependent variable organizational innovation.


There are conflicting data regarding the ability of the liver to regenerate after partial hepatectomy in animals and humans with cirrhosis. The purpose of this study was to document liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in a carbon tetrachloride rat model of cirrhosis. Liver cirrhosis was produced by weekly intragastric gavage with carbon tetrachloride in 80 adult male rats. Vehicle-gavaged rats (n = 24) served as healthy controls. Liver regeneration was documented 1, 2, 3 and 7 days after partial hepatectomy on the basis of restitution of liver mass and [3H] thymidine incorporation into liver DNA. Restitution of liver mass after partial hepatectomy was significantly decreased in carbon tetrachloride-treated rats at 1 and 7 days compared with the vehicle-treated control rats. In cirrhotic rats, restitution of liver mass at 1, 2, 3 and 7 days did not differ between 33% and 70% hepatectomy. Hepatic DNA synthesis, however, was significantly impaired at 1 and 2 days in cirrhotic rats after 70% hepatectomy and also at 1 day after 33% hepatectomy compared with non-cirrhotic rats. The results of this study indicated that live regeneration did occur after partial hepatectomy in carbon tetrachloride-treated rats but was impaired in comparison with that in vehicle-treated control rats.


This article reviews the progress made by wind energy in the last 10 years, and discusses the potential of this technology. During the last decade of the 20th century, grid-connected wind capacity worldwide has doubled approximately every three years. Due to the fast market development, wind turbine technology has experienced an important evolution over time. Some of the countries with wind energy programmes are listed together with a discussion of how widely this energy source might be used. It concluded that, wind power is the fastest growing energy technology at the turn of the millennium, and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future due to it is abundant, domestic, inexhaustible and clean energy source.


In the present study 2,5 disubstituted 1,3,4 oxadiazole have been synthesized by the condensation of benzoic acid with hydrazine hydrate for half an hour. The intermediate obtained was benzohydrazide which is further refluxed for six hours with phosphoryl chloride as a catalyst and with different aromatic acids such as salicylic acid,toluic acid,2,4 dichloro benzoic acid,cinnamic acid,p-amino benzoic acid(a-e) which yields 2,5 disubstituted 1,3,4oxadiazole derivative.The structural assignment of this compound has been made on the basis of elemental analysis UV, IR, 1HNMR and MASS spectral data. The synthesized compounds were screened for their invitro anti-inflammatory and anthelminti activity with the help of standard drug Diclofenac for anti-inflammatory and piperazine citrate for anthelmintic activity by using perionyx excavates and perionyx sansibaricus. Compound a,c and e showed significant anti-inflammatory activity when compared to b. The compound b and d showed better anthelmintic activity when compared with compound A,C and E.


This paper investigates an approach for adapting RNN-Transducer (RNN-T) based automatic speech recognition (ASR) model to improve the recognition of unseen words during training. Prior works have shown that it is possible to incrementally finetune the ASR model to recognize multiple sets of new words. However, this creates a dependency between the updates which is not ideal for the hot-fixing use-case where we want each update to be applied independently of other updates. We propose to train residual adapters on the RNN-T model and combine them on-the-fly through adapter-fusion. We investigate several approaches to combine the adapters so that they maintain the ability to recognize new words with only a minimal degradation on the usual user requests. Specifically, the sum-fusion which sums the outputs of the adapters inserted in parallel shows over 90% recall on the new words with less than 1% relative WER degradation on the usual data compared to the original RNN-T model.


Background Autophagy is a highly conserved and regulated cellular process employed by living cells to degrade proteins and organelles as a response to metabolic stress. We have previously reported that eukaryotic elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF-2 kinase, also known as Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase III) can positively modulate autophagy and negatively regulate protein synthesis. The purpose of the current study was to determine the role of the eEF-2 kinase-regulated autophagy in the response of breast cancer cells to inhibitors of growth factor signaling. Methodology/Principal Findings We found that nutrient depletion or growth factor inhibitors activated autophagy in human breast cancer cells, and the increased activity of autophagy was associated with a decrease in cellular ATP and an increase in activities of AMP kinase and eEF-2 kinase. Silencing of eEF-2 kinase relieved the inhibition of protein synthesis, led to a greater reduction of cellular ATP, and blunted autophagic response. We further showed that suppression of eEF-2 kinase-regulated autophagy impeded cell growth in serum/nutrient-deprived cultures and handicapped cell survival, and enhanced the efficacy of the growth factor inhibitors such as trastuzumab, gefitinib, and lapatinib. Conclusion/Significance The results of this study provide new evidence that activation of eEF-2 kinase-mediated autophagy plays a protective role for cancer cells under metabolic stress conditions, and that targeting autophagic survival may represent a novel approach to enhancing the effectiveness of growth factor inhibitors.


In this paper, we investigate the tracking of time-varying channels in OFDM systems using both preamble and pilot symbols. A regularized least-squares method will be used to incorporate the initial channel estimate from the preamble to improve the performance of pilot-assisted channel estimation. Instead of using a fixed regularization parameter, the proposed method adaptively determines the regularization parameter according to mean-squared error of the latest channel estimate and that of the standard LS estimate. Simulation results demonstrate the proposed method can outperform the standard LS method with lesser pilots, thus achieving the reduction of pilot overhead especially at lower SNR environments.


The World in Miniature Metaphor (WIM) allows users to select, manipulate and navigate efficiently in virtual environments. In addition to the first-person perspective offered by typical VR applications, the WIM offers a second dynamic viewpoint through a hand-held miniature copy of the environment. In this paper we explore different strategies to allow the user to interact with the miniature replica at multiple levels of scale. Unlike competing approaches, we support complex indoor environments by explicitly handling occlusion. We discuss algorithms for selecting the part of the scene to be included in the replica, and for providing a clear view of the region of interest. Key elements of our approach include an algorithm to recompute the active region from a subdivision of the scene into cells, and a view-dependent algorithm to cull-away occluding geometry through a small set of slicing planes roughly oriented along the main occluding surfaces. We present the results of a user-study showing that our technique clearly outperforms competing approaches on spatial tasks performed in densely-occluded scenes.


Drawing on Françoise Dastur's suggestion that the event is a permanent possibility that shapes lived experience, but also, when it occurs, a distinctive temporal rupture, I argue that the initial weeks of the COVID-19 epidemic constitute an event, in her sense. Connecting this phenomenological point to literatures on the politics of temporality, I suggest that the distinction between event and normal experience maps to that between epidemic and endemic. Understanding some of the political and ethical erasures of death and debility in COVID times can thus be mutually informed by phenomenological analysis.


Forecasting suspended sediment load is crucial for river water quality continuous management. This paper investigates the accuracy of a time-lagged recurrent network (TLRN) for forecasting suspended sediment load (SSL) occurring episodically during the storm events in Kaoping River basin located in Southern Taiwan. For this study, two major stations of Kaoping River basin; Liukwei and Lao-Nung are taken into account where important data have been collected between years 1984 to 2005. The ability of TLRN in SSL estimation is assessed by using hydro-meteorological data such as rainfall, water level and discharge as input sets. The network accuracy was evaluated with the goodness-of-fit measures of normalized mean square error, mean absolute error and coefficient of correlation between estimated and observed data. The results showed that the TLRN has a good performance in SSL forecasting when using only water discharge variable as the network input for both stations. However, Liukwei station presented a better statistical performance than Lao-Nung. It was found that among the input variables considered in this study, water discharge is the most effective for sediment load forecasting in the two stations. Finally, TLRN can be successfully employed in Southern Taiwan for modeling river sedimentation if the other factors related to SSL are apprehended. Key words:


ABSTRACT Research Findings Using a sample of 568 students from 61 kindergarten classrooms whose primary caregivers completed a questionnaire describing their child's early childhood education and care (ECEC) by year from birth to pre-kindergarten, we identified seven pathways characterizing children's ECEC experiences using a latent class analysis. Once identified, profile membership was included as an independent variable in a multilevel model to predict children's cognitive and social-behavioral outcomes at kindergarten entry. Although a considerable body of work has examined dosage of time in (ECEC) and its associations with children's skills in later grades, we extend this work by expanding the definition of dosage to include multiple care arrangements from birth to kindergarten entry and by examining if profiles of ECEC participation have associations with kindergarten-entry skills. Our findings show membership in profiles in which children spent consistent time in center-based care from birth to five were associated with adverse social-behavioral outcomes including behavioral aggression, school adjustment, peer social skills, and self-efficacy. Practice or Policy: Our findings suggest the importance of considering more nuanced differences in children's experiences with ECEC and the need for possible interventions to support the social-behavioral development of children with exposure to 5 years of center-based care.


Over the last three decades, computer architects have been able to achieve an increase in performance for single processors by, e.g., increasing clock speed, introducing cache memories and using instruction level parallelism. However, because of power consumption and heat dissipation constraints, this trend is going to cease. In recent times, hardware engineers have instead moved to new chip architectures with multiple processor cores on a single chip. With multi-core processors, applications can complete more total work than with one core alone. To take advantage of multi-core processors, parallel programming models are proposed as promising solutions for more effectively using multi-core processors. This paper discusses some of the existent models and frameworks for parallel programming, leading to outline a draft parallel programming model for Ada.


Objective Specific inhalation challenge (SIC) as the reference diagnostic test for occupational asthma (OA) is not widely available worldwide. We aimed to develop non-SIC-based models for OA. Methods Of 427 workers who were exposed to high-molecular-weight agents and referred to OA clinic at Montréal Sacré-Cœur Hospital between 1983 and 2016, we analysed 160 workers who completed non-specific bronchial hyper-responsiveness (NSBHR) tests and still worked 1 month before SIC. OA was defined as positive SIC. Logistic regression models were developed. The accuracy of the models was quantified using calibration and discrimination measures. Their internal validity was evaluated with bootstrapping procedures. The final models were translated into clinical scores and stratified into probability groups. Results The final model, which included age ≤40 years, rhinoconjunctivitis, inhaled corticosteroid use, agent type, NSBHR, and work-specific sensitisation had a reasonable internal validity. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) was 0.91 (95% CI 0.86 to 0.95), statistically significantly higher than the combination of positive NSBHR and work-specific sensitisation (AUC=0.84). The top 70% of the clinical scores (ie, the high probability group) showed a significantly higher sensitivity (96.4%vs86.9%) and negative predictive value (93.6%vs84.1%) than the combination of positive NSBHR and work-specific sensitisation (p value <0.001). Conclusions We developed novel scores for OA induced by high-molecular-weight agents with excellent discrimination. It could be helpful for secondary-care physicians who have access to pulmonary function test and allergy testing in identifying subjects at a high risk of having OA and in deciding on appropriate referral to a tertiary centre.


Foreign markets can provide new economic opportunities for agricultural producers. However, the costs of accessing those markets are beyond the capacity of many independent agents, while the benefits are probably too narrow to suggest a federal role. Because of environmental and historical differences, states have particular interests in specific commodities (e.g., Washington's apples, Florida's oranges, and Wisconsin's cheese). Thus, when independent agents lack capacity due to their small scale, it falls to the state to provide market research, technical support, and promotional activities to establish its producers in a foreign market. While the costs of such services are probably not warranted from the perspective of a single producer, they may be negligible compared to the long term gains to that state economy from dynamic trade relations.


Recent advances in computers and telecommunications have allowed networked learning to play a significant role to play across the complete spectrum of higher education teaching. One of the most significant UK government initiatives to date has been the development the Information Environment (IE) originally called as the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER), which is aiming to create a managed environment for accessing quality assured information resources on the Internet (IE, 2004). This paper draws on our formative evaluation of the IE and the investigation of the take up of digital resources produced by a number of projects selected for funding under JISC circular 5/99. Although we identified examples of good practice in using the IE to support learning and teaching and instances where digital resources were successful in addressing certain needs for the learners the benefits were less then anticipated. The digital resources produced by the projects seem to hold a potential to support teaching in higher education, however, the actual impact they had on learning was found to be less than anticipated. The findings suggest that the application and implementation of networked technologies is partly determined by the social context in which it operates. Finally, the paper advocates the need for action to influence educational practice and engage related parties in a genuine way in order to realise the transforming potential of networked learning. By exploring the implementation of information digital resources in teaching and learning under the framework of actor network theory, this paper makes a contribution to the development of theory and practice in the area of networked learning.


This article attempts to provide a comparative lawyer's introduction to Cyprus law, as well as a first examination of Cyprus law in the light of modern theories of comparative law, especially the mixed-jurisdictions sub-genre. It consists of three parts: a general historical overview, an examination of the administration of justice system (legal profession and court structure), and an evolutionary examination of the sources of Cyprus law (hierarchy of sources, legislation and case law).The legal system of Cyprus - an independent country since 1960 and EU Member State since 2004 - both confirms and challenges the basic premises of mixed jurisdiction theory. Not unlike the "classic" mixed jurisdictions, the law of Cyprus is built on the twin foundations of common law and continental law, each in control of different legal subjects. Cyprus law is rather unique, however, among mixed legal systems, in the sense that it is private law (in most subjects) and criminal law that follow the English common law, whereas public law has a continental orientation. Ironically, almost all subjects are covered by comprehensive legislative instruments - colonial-era "codifications" of the common law, transplants of English statutes but also transplants of Greek law in continental enclaves. Procedural law is purely common law - a major factor in the mutation of the "continental" elements of the legal system. Like all major mixed legal systems, the bijurality of Cyprus law has been founded upon a transfer of sovereignty: from British colonial rule (1878-1960) to independence. It has also been strengthened, and challenged, by the bilingualism of the system and the power politics of the legal elites. In fact, a veritable split (acquiring generational and subject-matter dimensions) is observable in the legal profession between continental and English- educated lawyers, and this has certainly affected the evolution of the legal system. Whereas the bulk of legislation and legal institutions have a distinctively colonial and/or post-colonial flavor, the country and the legal elites identify with, and are active participants in, European law and institutions. Cyprus law combines a traditionalist mentality with the sense of perpetual temporariness (interimness) due to the decades-long state of political emergency and Turkish occupation of a substantial part of the territory. All these factors, and then more, contribute to an amazingly complex picture of a unique legal system, which has seldom been studied properly, either from the inside or the outside. Mixed jurisdictions theory can help both comparative law scholars and the lawyers of Cyprus to better understand a legal system that has been aptly characterized as "a colorful plurilegal mosaic." In its turn, the in-depth study of Cyprus law will provide material for the ongoing theoretical discussions about mixed jurisdictions and the legal process in general.


Establishing a microbial diagnosis for patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is still challenging and is often achieved in only 30-50% of cases. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been shown to be more sensitive than conventional microbiological methods and it could help to increase the microbial yield for CAP patients. This study was designed to develop, optimize and evaluate multiplex real-time PCR as a method for rapid differential detection of five bacterial causes of CAP namely Streptococcus pneumoniae, Burkholderia pseudomallei and atypical bacterial pathogens, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila. Duplex and triplex real-time PCR assays were developed using five sets of primers and probes that were designed based on an appropriate specific gene for each of the above CAP pathogens. The performance of primers for each organism was tested using SYBR Green melt curve analysis following monoplex realtime PCR amplification. Monoplex real-time PCR assays were also used to optimize each primers-probe set before combining them in multiplex assays. Two multiplex real-time PCR assays were then optimized; duplex assay for the differential detection of S. pneumoniae and B. pseudomallei, and triplex assay for the atypical bacterial pathogens. Both duplex and triplex real-time PCR assays were tested for specificity by using DNA extracted from 26 related microorganisms and sensitivity by running serial dilutions of positive control DNAs. The developed multiplex real-time PCR assays shall be used later for directly identifying CAP causative agents in clinical samples.


Despite the isolation, design, and synthesis of a high number of compounds for managing cancer, the discovery of green chemotherapeutic agents is still represented a considerable challenge for medicinal chemists. In this concern, researchers concentrated their efforts to explore novel antitumor scaffolds by studying and screening many natural and synthetic derivatives. One of the most important family of compounds is the coumarin-derived products. Many members belong to this family have shown promising antitumor attributes with an acceptable selectivity and safety. 4-Methylumbelliferone, which is ordinarily referred to as 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin, and it's based compounds have revealed encouraging properties to execute the multidrug tumor resistance, frustrate the toxic side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs, and develop the cancer phototherapy. Also, many synthetic 4-methylumbelliferone derivatives have been authenticated to have a notable antitumor attribute versus several cancer phenotypes. In this report, we screened the published data to specify the structural features of 4-methylumbelliferone-based compounds that play a defined role in their antitumor attribute. This may direct the feature studies to design and prepared new 4-methylumbelliferone derivatives with optimal activity and selectivity.


Experiments were carried out in lactating white mice. Removal of Ca(2+)-ions from the perfusion solution reduced the amplitude and duration of the membrane potential changes in the secretory cells in the mammary gland alveolus. The extra- and intracellular Ca(2+)-ions participate in development of contraction responses of myoepithelial cells. Removal of K(+)-ions from perfusion solution and increase of K(+)-ions concentration in the medium to 20 mmol/l inhibit the development of response of secretory cells to oxytocin action. These changes in K(+)-ions concentration do not affect the contractile response of the myoepithelial cells. The findings suggest that there are essential differences in the participation of Ca(2+)- and K(+)-ions in mechanisms of the mammary secretory and myoepithelial cells responses to oxytocin action.


This article is the first stage of a project which considers how best to use the data collected from mirror surveys and other internal student surveys to enhance the student experience, with a subsidiary aim of thereby enhancing National Student Survey (NSS) scores. The second stage, which is underway at present, combines the theoretical basis and debate explored in this article with detailed statistical analysis of internal and external survey results, to provide a greater evidential basis for decision-making and strategic planning. The research was supported as a 2011-12 Learning Development Project, at City University London, and is intended to inform educational discussion and strategy. The interim findings discussed below are readily transferable to other disciplines and other universities.

Universities have put a great deal of effort into improving student satisfaction, but not always with measurable results. Throughout the existence of the NSS, universities have experienced significant variance between student satisfaction as represented by internal measures and the levels of satisfaction reported in the NSS. This has been the case even when the internal measures take the form of mirror surveys, i.e. surveys which mirror or closely resemble the questions on the current version of the NSS. Although general morale factors and events beyond a university's control may play a strong role in the scores, they do not necessarily explain the differences, especially where the internal questions are based on those from the NSS. Both measures may be an accurate representation of student satisfaction but measuring subtly different factors, or other influences may be operating. By examining this issue, this project aims to enable better planning for the future and the development of appropriate, tailored responses to issues. The interim findings reflect examples of best practice and next steps for the strategic use of such data, including free-text comments.


The application of ultrasonic energy can inactivate many enzymes. The ultrasound shock waves produce cavitation and acoustic streaming in the liquid medium, which generates adequate mechanical, thermal, and chemical effects to inactivate enzymes. The extremely fast cycles of pressurization and depressurization and the resultant (localized) high temperature lead to rapid formation and collapse of bubbles. The rapid formation and collapse of bubbles is capable of breaking the hydrogen bonds as well as the van der Waals interactions in polypeptide chains. The application of ultrasound alters the secondary and tertiary structure of enzymes and leads to the loss in their biological activity. In this article, the authors review the recent advances made in the inactivation of common enzymes by the application of ultrasound alone or in combination with heat and pressure. The associated inactivation mechanisms and the factors affecting the enzyme inactivation are also reviewed.


Children's unwillingness to report abuse places them at risk for re-victimization, and interviewers who do not respond sensitively to that unwillingness may increase the likelihood that victims will not disclose abuse. Interviewer support and children's reluctance were examined on a turn-by-turn basis using sequential analyses in 199 forensic interviews of 3- to 13-year-olds who alleged maltreatment. Half of the children were interviewed using the Revised Protocol that emphasized rapport-building (RP), the others using the Standard National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Protocol (SP). When using the RP, interviewers provided proportionally more support than when using the SP, but even when using the RP they did not specifically provide support when children expressed reluctance. The RP promoted immediate cooperation when reluctant utterances were met with support, however, suggesting that supportive statements were valuable. The findings enhance our understanding of children's willingness to participate in investigative interviews and the means through which interviewers can foster the comfort and well-being of young witnesses.


I present the exact energy eigenstates and eigenvalues of a quantum many-body system of bosons on non-commutative space and in a harmonic oszillator confining potential at the selfdual point. I also argue that this exactly solvable system is a prototype model which provides a generalization of mean field theory taking into account non-trivial correlations which are peculiar to boson systems in two space dimensions and relevant in condensed matter physics. The prologue and epilogue contain a few remarks to relate my main story to recent developments in non-commutative quantum field theory and an addendum to our previous work together with Szabo and Zarembo on this latter subject.


This thesis begins with an intellectual puzzle (Mason, 2002): why are there so few British Pakistani women (BPw) in managerial and professional positions in organizations in the UK? (EOC, 2007:9). A literature review based on the context: gender, ethnicity, religion and nationality, as well as the social phenomenon: career experiences, revealed a number of blind spots. These blind spots were theoretical, methodological and empirical. I theorize for an approach that links structures that create intersecting identit(y)ies to organizations, and then further. I posit that as identities are under construction, the identity of ethnic minority women in managerial and professional roles can be shaped in organizations and by organizations. However, being a woman is still an area of concern (Calas et al., 2014). Thus, gender needs to be in the forefront among all social categories (Broadbridge and Simpson, 2011). The research findings reveal three insights. The first is linked to the discussion on choices that women make with respect to careers and employment (Hakim, 2002). The participants' in this research make choices based on ethical selves, borrowing on Foucault's technologies of self and ethical subject. Ethical selves focus on both structure and agency as playing a role in choices. The second insight is linked to the notion of free choice. Underpinning ethical selves is the insight of glass chains. The glass chain is a metaphor I am using to elucidate invisible links to a moral code. I posit the individual is never free from Discourse because she is linked to moral codes (Foucault, 1991a). While disciplinary power gives no room for manoeuvring, I propose that glass chains do. It is self-exercised by an individual to keep herself within her moral codes, yet allows her freedom, although limited. Glass chains allow individuals to see themselves as ethical subjects and transform their lives ethically. The third insight is linked to the literature that postulates that identity is in process and the argument of Ely and Padavic (2007) that identity work continues in organizations. I demonstrate the identity of an individual is affected by organizations and their "inequality regimes" (Acker, 2006a). In addition, intersecting identities and glass chains working simultaneously within inequality regimes result in invisible barriers (the inability to fit in or merge and become invisible), further re-producing feelings of being the other. This creates a situation that perpetuates and reproduces inequalities.


1. A Harris9 hawk with a mass of 0.702 kg and a maximum wing span of 1.02 m glided freely in a wind tunnel at air speeds between 6.1 and 16.2ms −1 . The glide angle varied from 8.5% at the slowest speed to a minimum of 5% at speeds between 8.0 and 14.7 ms −1 . The maximum ratio of lift to drag was 10.9 and the minimum sinking speed was 0.81ms −1 2. Wing span decreased when either air speed or glide angle increased. Wing area was a parabolic function of wing span 3. Lift and profile drag coefficients of the wings fell in a polar area similar to that for a laggar falcon ( Falco jugger ) and a black vulture ( Coragyps atratus ). A single polar curve relating lift coefficients to minimum profile drag coefficients can predict the maximum gliding performance of all three birds when used with a mathematical model for gliding flight 4. The parasite drag values that have been used with the model are probably too high. Thus, the profile drag coefficients determined from the polar curve mentioned above are too low, and the predicted wing spans for gliding at maximum performance are too large. The predicted curve for maximum gliding performance is relatively unaffected 5. The maximum lift coefficient for the Harris9 hawk in the wind tunnel was 1.6. This value is probably less than the maximum attainable, since the hawk9s wings never appeared to stall. The best estimate of the minimum profile drag coefficient is 0.026 at a lift coefficient of 0.60.


One of the distinguishing features of future autonomous cars is the ability to take into account and communicate with traffic infrastructure. Thereby detection and recognition of vertical traffic signing is an obvious requirement. Automatic recognition of traffic signs allows to check driver's reaction time, if it is necessary to react, and in that way to contribute to and increase the road safety. It is especially important in the darkness when the retroreflective sheeting materials on the traffic signs help to increase visibility. Unfortunately, environmental conditions around the traffic signs exert considerable influence on the sign's surface and alter their retroreflective properties. Many scientists explored different impacts on retroreflective properties of signs. Some impacts attracted more attention (such as detection distances and deterioration with age), some impacts were studied by several scientists only (such as dew and frost) and some factors were even omitted at all (e.g. the temperature during measurements of inservice signs). The paper is focused on the impact analysis of insufficiently explored factors influencing retroreflective properties of traffic sings. The findings of this research can support the development of further experimental research and could become a basis of reliable traffic signs usage on modern and smart roads.


A new advancement in massive DNA-based screening in limited-resource settings is demonstrated through the incorporation of easy-to-fabricate microfluidic chambers on digital versatile discs (DVDs) to perform isothermal recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) in a microarray format. Standard un-modified DVD discs and commercial drives are used for the low-cost detection method. DNA primers were printed in a microarray format on the polycarbonate surfaces of DVDs with integrated control spots to guarantee the absence of false-negatives and false-positives. The solid-phase amplification assay, including the washing protocols and development reaction, was performed by the dispensation of solutions through the inlet and by controlling the flow-movement by DVD drive centrifugation. The final disc with reaction products was inserted into a DVD player and microarray images were captured and automatically processed. This simple approach was applied for the screening of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food samples. The limit of detection was 7 μg g−1, which is well below the EU regulation limit for GMOs in food products. Therefore, the only required materials for food safety monitoring were standard store-bought DVDs, plastic chambers, tips, pipettes, an oven, and a standard DVD drive. The proposed strategy allows an integrated microarray system with low manipulation, reduced sample volume, and portability, which are beneficial for low-resource settings.


As females are actively participating in every sector, the obstacles faced by them in their careers attracted the attention of researchers. The main purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature about the glass ceiling in the healthcare sector, published between the years 2000 to 2019, with no geographical limitations. Additionally, the barriers resulting from the glass ceiling were also explored. For this purpose, literature was searched from various databases, and grey literature was also used for the review. After applying all the steps of inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 32 studies were evaluated for this paper. Results were obtained by mainly focusing on the existence of a glass ceiling in healthcare and the barriers/factors of the glass ceiling. The findings showed that although the number of females is increasing in the healthcare sector, there is still an underrepresentation of females in senior positions. The existence of a glass ceiling is the main reason for this. The main barriers to the glass ceiling in the healthcare sector that are obstructing the way of females are organizational, societal, and personal. There is a long way to go for females in the healthcare sector.


In-situ iron nanoparticles can be formed during copper alloy solidification. Here we consider ZCuSn3Zn8Pb6Ni1FeCo alloy and demonstrate that high undercooling is the motive power of nanoparticles during solidification , which would act as heterogeneous nuclei to achieve outstanding contribution for grain refinement compared to ZCuSn3Zn8Pb6Ni1 alloy. Convection of the melt inhibit the growth of nanoparticles by way of prohibitting the deposition of iron atoms on the surface.This technique offer new enlightenment for the control of in-situ nanoparticles formed during alloy solidification,and also opens the door to a new class of dispersed nanoparticles strengthened materials.


Objective: To document the occurrence of thyroid dysfunction in Chinese children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Method: Four hundred and sixteen Chinese children and adolescents with Down syndrome were studied retrospectively for thyroid dysfunction. Hospital records from seven regional hospitals were reviewed. Records could not be traced in 65 of them. Among the 351 subjects, 200 were boys while 151 were girls. The age ranged from 0 to 18.99 years. Results: Thyroid function was normal in 250 patients (71.2%). Seven patients had congenital hypothyroidism (2.0%), seven had acquired hypothyroidism (2.0%) and seventy-nine had subclinical hypothyroidism (22.5%). Hyperthyroidism was found in 8 of them (2.3%). Serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) or free thyroxine (fT4) level could be traced in 200 of them. There was no significant difference in mean fT4 levels between the normal group (118 patients) and the group with subclinical hypothyroidism (70 patients). Patients with subclinical hypothyroidism were subdivided into two groups: G1 (n=61) with TSH=5-10 mIU/L and G2 (n=9) with TSH>10 mIU/L. There was no significant difference in fT4 levels between the two groups. Sixty-seven patients had been screened for auto-antibodies. Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies and/or anti-thyroid microsomal antibodies were found in 25 patients. All 8 patients with hyperthyroidism were positive in either one or both autoantibodies. Two out of 6 patients with acquired hypothyroidism and 10 out of 29 with subclinical hypothyroidism had positive autoantibodies while thyroid autoantibodies were present in 5 out of 20 patients with normal thyroid function. Conclusion: Thyroid dysfunction is very common in patients with Down syndrome. Regular blood test for thyroid function is recommended. The fT4 levels of subclinical hypothyroidism did not differ significantly from the normal group. Further study is required to support the need for treatment in these patients. The presence of thyroid autoantibodies in all patients with hyperthyroidism highly suggests an autoimmune origin.


The skeletal stability of Le Fort I osteotomy was evaluated cephalometrically in 40 consecutive patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) (27 male and 13 female) who were operated on between 1987-1995. Their mean age at the time of operation was 23.7 years (range 16.3-40.4). The onepiece Le Fort I osteotomy was fixed with titanium plates and the osteotomy line was bone-grafted. Neither intermaxillary fixation nor occlusal splints were used postoperatively. Skeletal stability was analysed both horizontally and vertically on cephalograms taken shortly before operation, immediately afterwards, and at six months and at one year postoperatively. The mean maxillary advancement (point A) during the Le Fort I was 3.9 mm (range 0- 8.9) and mean vertical lengthening 4.5 mm (range -0.6-10.5). One year postoperatively the mean maxillary horizontal relapse was 20.5% (0.8 mm, range 0-3.7) whereas the mean vertical relapse was 22.2% (1 mm, range 0-5.7). The vertical relapse reduced from 38% to 8.3% between 1987 and 1995, and there was a positive correlation between the amount of maxillary advancement and relapse both horizontally and vertically.


Introduction of the packet switching technique into digitized voice communication may afford great advantages in efficient use of the channel, compared to both circuit-switched and DSI systems. Detailed characteristics, however, have not been obtained because of difficulty in the exact analysis. Hence, simalation models are developed in this paper for the packetized voice transmission system, and various characteristics such as tranmission delays and loss probability of voice packets are obtained. We further evaluate three types of voice packet reassembly strategy at the receiving terminal, and obtain the optimal packet length, which keeps both overall packet transmission delay and packet loss probabilty less than a certain permissible value. Comparison among three strategies is also stated.


The study investigates photocatalytic activity of hydroxyapatite supported BiOCl (BiOCl/HA) in the presence of H2O2. BiOCl/HA was prepared by simple hydrolysis method. BiOCl/HA was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tunneling electron microscopy (TEM), Xray diffraction (XRD), energy diffraction X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-visible (UV-vis)analysis. SEM results confirmed the dispersion of BiOCl onto hydroxyapatite. BiOCl/HA exhibited irregular pleats-like structure having average size of 80 nm. The band gap of BiOCl/HA was found to be 3.42 eV. The solar light was used as radiation source during photocatalysis. Both H2O2 and BiOCl/HA had synergistic effect on oxytetracycline removal. The simultaneous adsorption and photocatalysis (A+P) was most efficient process for OTC removal. The photocatalytic degradation of oxytetracycline obeyed pseudo first order kinetics. The effect of process parameters catalyst loading, H2O2 concentration, pH and OTC concentration was investigated on photocatalysis. The oxidative removal occurred through hydroxyl radical formation. BiOCl exhibited significant recycle efficiency due to easier separation and stability in reaction solution. Solar/H2O2/BiOCl/HA displayed excellent photocatalytic property for degradation of OTC from aqueous solution. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


Searching is inherently an interactive process usually requiring numerous iterations of querying and assessing in order to find the desired amount of relevant information. Essentially, the search process can be viewed as a combination of inputs (queries and assessments) which are used to "produce" output (relevance). Under this view, it is possible to adapt microeconomic theory to analyze and understand the dynamics of Interactive Information Retrieval. In this paper, we approach the search process as an economics problem and conduct extensive simulations on TREC test collections analyzing various combinations of inputs in the "production" of relevance. The analysis reveals that the total Cumulative Gain (output) obtained during the course of a search session is functionally related to querying and assessing (inputs), and this can be characterized mathematically by the Cobbs-Douglas production function. Further analysis using cost models, that are grounded using cognitive load as the cost, reveals which search strategies minimize the cost of interaction for a given level of output. This paper demonstrates how economics can be applied to formally model the search process. This development establishes the theoretical foundations of Interactive Information Retrieval, providing numerous directions for empirical experimentation that are motivated directly from theory.


Introduction: Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with impairment in cognitive domains such as verbal memory and executive functions. Very few studies have assessed dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) in BD and its relation to cognitive functioning despite evidence showing its regulatory effects on glucocorticoid action. The aim of our study was to explore the association of cortisol, DHEA-S, and cortisol to DHEA-S ratio with visuospatial memory and executive functioning in BD. Methods: Cognitive performance of 60 bipolar I patients and 30 healthy subjects was evaluated by using Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery tasks targeting visuospatial memory (spatial recognition memory) and executive functions (planning [Stockings of Cambridge; SOC] and attentional set shifting [ID/ED]). Morning serum cortisol and DHEA-S levels were measured in patients. Main effects of cortisol, DHEA-S, and cortisol/DHEA-S ratio for each neurocognitive task were explored in multiple regression analyses correcting for demographic and clinical parameters as well as treatment-related factors (current use of antipsychotic and mood stabilizer medication). Results: Bipolar patients showed poorer performance than healthy subjects in planning and attentional set shifting but not in visuospatial memory. Cortisol to DHEA-S ratio predicted worse performance in planning (SOC). Conclusions: This is the first study to assess memory and executive function in BD in relation to DHEA-S and cortisol to DHEA-S ratio. We report an association of cortisol to DHEA-S ratio with worse performance in planning in bipolar I patients, which warrants further investigation.


We report analytic results on quantum capacitance (Cq) measurements and their optical tuning in a dual-gated device with potassium-doped multi-layered black phosphorous (BP) as the channel material. The two-dimensional (2D) layered BP is highly anisotropic with a semi-Dirac dispersion marked by linear and quadratic contributions. The Cq calculations mirror this asymmetric arrangement. A further increase in the asymmetry and consequently Cq is predicted by photon-dressing the BP dispersion. To achieve this and tune Cq in a field-effect transistor (FET), we suggest a configuration wherein a pair of electrostatic (top) and optical (back) gates clamp a BP channel. The back gate shines an optical pulse to rearrange the dispersion of the 2D BP. Analytic calculations are done with Floquet Hamiltonians in the off-resonant regime. The value of such Cq calculations, in addition to its role in adjusting the current drive of an FET, is discussed in the context of metal-insulator and topological phase transitions and ...


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine whether systolic and diastolic blood pressures are associated with salivary flow, dry mouth, or dry eye symptoms in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome as compared with xerostomic control subjects.

STUDY DESIGN
One hundred forty consecutive patients seen at the Sjögren's Syndrome Clinic were categorized retrospectively with various classification schemes: (1) subjective dry mouth; (2) subjective dry eye; (3) European criteria; and (4) international criteria. Data collection included age, gender, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, salivary flow rate, focus score, Schirmer's test, and laboratory findings, including antinuclear antibodies, anti-SSA, anti-SSB, IgG, IgA, IgM, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and rheumatoid factor.

RESULTS
No meaningful associations of salivary flow rates with systolic or diastolic blood pressures were found in patients with Sjögren's syndrome or in xerostomic control subjects. An inverse correlation was seen between salivary flow and elevated diastolic blood pressure in xerostomic control subjects only.

CONCLUSION
Elevated blood pressure was not related to saliva flow in patients with Sjögren's syndrome.


Disgust represents a feeling of revulsion and is manifested as a response to adverse stimuli and indicates a motivation to withdraw from the stimulus. Several attempts were made to measure disgust, the earliest being the Disgust Sensitivity Scale (Haidt et al., 1994) that relied on responses to disgust elicitors, and the Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale (DPSS, Cavanagh & Davey, 2000) that focused on the feeling itself, not on the strength of the reaction to specific disgust elicitors. There are two proposed models of the DPSS, one with two subscales, disgust propensity (DP) and disgust sensitivity (DS), and the other with three subscales where the self-focused/ruminative disgust (SFR) split from DS. This study aimed to validate the Serbian translation of the scale. We used two samples, a student sample (N = 437) and a social network user sample (N = 344). We used confirmatory factor analysis in both samples and the yielded results have shown that the three-factor solution is superior. The internal consistency of the subscales was marginally acceptable, while SFR subscale alpha value lagged in the social network user sample. Significant gender differences in subscale values were detected as expected, adding to the scale validity. Also, DP and DS registered a weak positive correlation with trait Neuroticism, negative affect, stress, depression, and anxiety. These results will further our claims that our translation of the DPSS is valid. In conclusion, we believe that the Serbian translation of the 12 item DPSS scale is viable for use in future research on this subject.


Since the year 2000, twenty Icelandic films have been produced which could be aptly grouped as LGBTQ+ or queer Icelandic cinema. This "queer turn" in Icelandic cinema emerges as the nation makes strides in advancing LGBTQ+ rights and as its demographics markedly shift, first-generation immigrants now comprising 12.6 per cent of the population. These changes have not occurred in a vacuum, and the films discussed in this article complicate the boundary between native and foreign, Icelandic and non-Icelandic, alongside their centering of queer characters and stories. In addition to narrative focus on coming-out and sexuality, many of the films within "Icelandic queer cinema" thematize race and ethnicity, often through the inclusion of foreign characters living and traveling in Iceland.This collection of films is thus well suited to exploring the interlocking national and sexual regulations which produce the Icelandic nation state. This article explores conceptions of the Icelandic nation state in two films that span Icelandic cinema's "queer turn," Baltasar Kormakur's 101 Reykjavik (2000) and Isold Uggadottir's Andið eðlilega (And Breathe Normally, 2018). In tracing representations of racialized otherness within these films and taking theoretical cues from critical race theory and queer of color critique, this article considers the ways in which race and ethnicity co-constitute categories of sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Ultimately, this article poses "Icelandic queer cinema" as a key site for the contemporary negotiation of the meaning of national and sexual belonging in Iceland.


Bifidobacterium adolescentis iVS-1 is a human-isolated strain known to possess several probiotic properties. Here, its genome was completely sequenced to examine genes associated with lactose metabolism and other potentially beneficial traits, such as the production of folate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).


We present the high-order harmonic generation spectrum from a united two-atom system simultaneously exposed to a fundamental Ti:sapphire and its 33rd harmonic (H33) lasers by numerically solving a one-dimensional timedependent Schroedinger equation. At a suitable inter-nuclear separation, the harmonic plateau is widened from Ip+3.2Up in the single-atom case up to Ip + 5.6Up in the united-atom case. Furthermore, the plateau is heightened in excess of six orders of magnitude by using the combined lasers compared with the case of the fundamental laser alone. Such a scheme can step by step accomplish the following processes: through a single H33 photon resonance transition an appropriate amount of electrons are first populated to an excited state, in which the electrons are easily ionized and subsequently accelerated by the fundamental laser; then they can recombine with the neighbouring atom, so that high-efficiency emissions of the harmonics beyond Ip + 3.2Up are successfully realized.


In this paper we introduce the notion of eventually periodic switching signal. We prove that if a family of linear vector fields satisfies a mild finite time controllability condition, and for each initial state there exists a time-dependent switching signal which asymptotically drives the system to the origin (possibly allowing different signals for different initial states), then the same goal can be achieved by means of an eventually periodic switching signal. This enables us to considerably reduce the dependence of the control law on the initial state. In this sense, the problem addressed in this paper can be reviewed as a switched system theory version of the classical problem of investigating whether, or to what extent, a nonlinear asymptotically controllable system admits stabilizing feedback laws.


BACKGROUND
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the main classification system used for population-based traumatic brain injury (TBI) surveillance activities but does not contain direct information on injury severity. ICD-based injury severity measures can be empirically derived or mapped to the Abbreviated Injury Scale, but no single approach has been formally recommended for TBI.

OBJECTIVE
To compare the accuracy of different ICD-based injury severity measures for predicting in-hospital mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission in TBI patients.

METHODS
We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study. We identified all patients aged 16 years and over with a TBI diagnosis who received acute care between April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2013 from the Quebec Hospital Discharge Database. The accuracy of five ICD-based injury severity measures for predicting mortality and ICU admission were compared using measures of discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic [AUC]) and calibration (calibration plot and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistic).

RESULTS
Of 31,087 traumatic brain-injured patients in the study population, 9.0% died in hospital and 34.4% were admitted to the ICU. Among ICD-based severity measures that were assessed, the multiplied derivative of ICD-based injury severity score (ICISS-Multiplicative) demonstrated the best discriminative ability for predicting in-hospital mortality (AUC: 0.858, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.852-0.864) and ICU admissions (AUC: 0.813, 95%CI 0.808-0.818). Calibration assessments showed good agreement between observed and predicted in-hospital mortality for ICISS measures. All severity measures presented high agreement between observed and expected probabilities of ICU admission for all deciles of risk.

CONCLUSIONS
ICD-based injury severity measures can be used to accurately predict in-hospital mortality and ICU admission in TBI patients. ICISS-Multiplicative generally outperformed other ICD-based injury severity measures and should be preferred to control for differences in baseline characteristics between TBI patients in surveillance activities or injury research when only ICD codes are available.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
III.

STUDY TYPE
Prognostic study.


A theoretical evaluation of nonuniform x-ray field distributions in mammography was conducted. An automatic exposure control (AEC) is proposed for a scanning full field digital mammography system. It uses information from the leading part of the detector to vary the scan velocity dynamically, thus creating a nonuniform x-ray field in the scan direction. Nonuniform radiation fields were also created by numerically optimizing the scan velocity profile to each breast's transmission distribution, with constraints on velocity and acceleration. The goal of the proposed AEC is to produce constant pixel signal-to-noise ratio throughout the image. The target pixel SNR for each image could be set based on the breast thickness, breast composition, and the beam quality as to achieve the same contrast-to-noise ratio between images for structures of interest. The results are quantified in terms of reduction in entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) and scan time relative to a uniform x-ray field. The theoretical evaluation was performed on a set of 266 mammograms. The performance of the different methods to create nonuniform fields decreased with increased detector width, from 18% to 11% in terms of ESAK reduction and from 30% to 25% in terms of scan time reduction for the proposed AEC and detector widths from 10to60mm. Some correlation was found between compressed breast thickness and the projected breast area onto the image field. This translated into an increase of the ESAK and decrease of the scan time reduction with breast thickness. Ideally a nonuniform field in two dimensions could reduce the entrance dose by 39% on average, whereas a field nonuniform in only the scanning dimension ideally yields a 20% reduction. A benefit with the proposed AEC is that the risk of underexposing the densest region of the breast can be virtually eliminated.


The experiment investigated the effect of storage period on spearmint herb oil composition. Spearmint herb samples were dried under shade for seven days and kept in polyethylene bags and stored at ambient room temperature for 12 months. Spearmint oil was extracted by hydro distillation using the technique of British Pharmacopoeia. Oil composition investigated every four months; initially in January before herb storage, April, August and December; to determine oil constituents using Gas Liquid Chromatography (GC) provide by Mass Spectrometry (MS). The results showed variation in oil constituents with progress of storage period. Carvone content slightly increased from 72.0% at January to 84.8% at April during the first four months and progressively decreased to 54.7% at the end of the storage period. The different oil constituents differed greatly during storage of spearmint herbs.


The conference Theory and method in the prehistoric archaeology of Central Europe aims to promote the exchange of ideas on contemporary archaeological theory and method among scholars from diverse academic communities. Since early prehistory Central Europe has presented a type of crossroads, witnessing the movement of people, things and ideas. Even today Central Europe may be pictured as a hub for the flow of ideas. Its strategic position has not lost its significance even in times when imagined communities dwell in virtual space. This region hosts scholars well established in the Western stream of thought alongside those who draw on the ideas developed in the former Eastern bloc. Inbetween, there are several local Central European traditions that have been producing original archaeological knowledge for decades and followed their own individual agendas. Alas, not all stimulating ideas have been pervasive enough to cross the borders in either direction and make a splash noticable from the outside. This conference strives to break the stereotypical image of the East-West division and demonstrate that innovative ideas may and do grow in every archaeological community.


PROJEMAR S. A., a naval and offshore design company at Brasil has developed several conversion projects of FPSO's to operate at Campos Basin. This way, PROJEMAR faced some interface difficulty in the structural design of the topside supports, mainly for the vessel reinforcement. The structural analysis of the cargo region, when performed together with the topside supports and loads, introduces significant buckling and fatigue problems in the main transverse and longitudinal structure of the vessel. The solution adopted in first instance is to reinforce the transverse structure and longitudinal bulkheads of the cargo tanks just below the topside supports. This reinforcement is expensive and takes a lot of time to be done, as hundreds of buckling bars should be installed. In order to avoid this work inside the cargo region, PROJEMAR evaluated this study to minimize the steelwork inside the cargo region, and to optimize the steel weight for topside supports. PROJEMAR analyzed three different concepts of topside supports: two transverse bulkheads supporting each topside module, two sets of strong brackets supporting each topside module, and sets of pillars supporting each topside modules. The results present the amount of steelwork inside and outside the cargo tanks, the total amount of steel reinforcement after the evaluation of stress, deflection, buckling and fatigue verification. The conclusions present cost and benefit for each solution, and some discussions on the time acceleration for the conversion.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


Northern Uganda is recovering from the effects of prolonged war which devastated most of the health systems in the region. The aim of the study was to identify health sector impediments affecting health systems response to Neurocysticercosis in the districts of Gulu and Amuru.  A cross sectional study was conducted on two hospitals and 10 health centers.  Two hundred and three (n=203) respondents were involved. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. One hundred and forty two (70.0%) of the respondents are permanently employed (P=0.01). Seventy three point nine percent (73.9%) of respondents are residents from Gulu districts (P=0.024). One hundred and nine (53.4%) of respondents reported they received training on infectious diseases (P=0.507). One hundred and forty three (70%) reported their health facilities have polices (P=0.04). One hundred and forty seven (72.4%) reported in-charges reside at health facilities (P=0.01). One hundred and twenty four (61%) of the respondents reported Government is the primary source of funding (P=0.02). One hundred and seventeen (57.6%) of the respondents reported funding are irregular (P=0.23). Eighty seven percent (87%) reported inadequate physical infrastructure (P=0.04). Seventy three point six have limited knowledge on the diagnosis of Neurocysticercosis (P=0.01) and many prescribe anti-helminthic drugs to patients (P=0.27). Despite improvement in the healthcare services in the health sectors, health systems response to Neurocysticercosis in Gulu and Amuru, Northern Uganda is weak with most health facilities operating minimally. There is need for holistic approach to improvement of health systems in the region through increased Government funding and advocacy.

 Key words: Impediments, health systems, neurocysticercosis, communities, northern Uganda.


ABSTRACT The YycFG two-component system, originally identified in Bacillus subtilis, is highly conserved among gram-positive bacteria with low G+C contents. In Streptococcus pneumoniae, the YycF response regulator has been reported to be essential for cell growth, but the signal to which it responds and the gene members of the regulon remain unclear. In order to investigate the role of YycFG in S. pneumoniae, we increased the expression of yycF by using a maltose-inducible vector and analyzed the genome-wide effects on transcription and protein expression during the course of yycF expression. The induction of yycF expression increased histidine kinase yycG transcript levels, suggesting an autoregulation of the yycFG operon. Evidence from both proteomic and microarray transcriptome studies as well as analyses of membrane fatty acid composition indicated that YycFG is involved in the regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis pathways and in determining fatty acid chain lengths in membrane lipids. In agreement with recent transcriptome data on pneumococcal cells depleted of YycFG, we also identified several other potential members of the YycFG regulon that are required for virulence and cell wall biosynthesis and metabolism.


As diols, N,N'-1,2-ethanediylbis-(4-hydroxy-pentanamide) (1) and 4-hydroxy-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-pentanamide (2)) are versatile precursors for the manufacture of bio-polymers. Polymer design, by exploiting the variation in structure of both diol and di-isocyanate monomers, such as backbone structure and presence of functional groups, appears to be a promising biopolymer engineering pathway to synthesize polyurethanes. Both diols (1) and (2) were then polymerized by reaction with aliphatic and aromatic di-isocyanates at 140 °C in (N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) solvents using triethylamine (TEA) catalysts, to obtain novel polyurethanes. The products were characterized by FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and Elemental Analysis. This working has created a new chance to synthesis bio-polyurethanes based on levulinic acid, as one of biomass compounds


Background: The study was undertaken to gain insight into the morphology of pronuclear oocytes developed through prematuration culture with cilostamide. The criteria such as position and orientation of pronuclei (PN), the size and distribution of nucleolar precursor bodies (NPB), alignment of polar body (PB), and the cytoplasmic halo have been included in the study. Objective: To elucidate the effect of cilostamide on zygote morphology in prematuration culture. Study design: A prospective analysis of pronuclear zygote morphology developed through IVM with prematuration culture using cilostamide conducted from April 2018 to March 2020. Materials and methods: The present study comprised of 57 zygotes, obtained from the in vitro matured oocytes of 63 patients aged between 25 and 35 years, who underwent controlled ovarian stimulation for IVF/ICSI. Results: In pronuclear morphology, the central juxtaposed position was higher in the experimental group (77.1%) than in the control group (54.5%). The Group 1 NPB distribution was statistically significant in the experimental group (51.4%) as compared to the control group (22.7%) ( p = 0.03). Besides, Group 3 NPBs were lower in the experimental group (11.4%) when compared to the control group (36.4%) ( p = 0.02). The α-type polar body distribution was significantly higher in the experimental group (65.7%) ( p = 0.03). Cytoplasmic halo was noted in the experimental (60%) and control (45.5%) groups ( p > 0.05). Conclusion: The results indicate that prematuration culture using cilostamide for synchronizing nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation yielded a better pronuclear zygote morphology.


Background The exposure of pharmacy technicians to antineoplastic agents (AAs) has been widely studied, but less is known about risks of exposure and awareness of nurses, nursing auxiliaries and cleaning personnel. Purpose To evaluate the practise and the awareness of oncology nurses (ONs), nursing auxiliaries (NAs) and cleaning personnel (CP) concerning exposure to AA. Materials and Methods Three questionnaires were distributed to ONs, NAs and CP in three oncology wards including one paediatric ward. Participants were asked 10, 11 and 12 questions respectively about their practises and awareness of exposure to AAs. Results For ONs (n = 38), gloves are more often worn when manipulating syringes than when manipulating infusion bags (60.5% vs. 36.8%, p < 0.05). 26.3% considered themselves well informed but 97.4% thought information could be improved. 81.6% of ONs suspected that AAs had teratogenic effects and 10.5% of them thought that AAs did not have mid- or long-term toxic effects. For NAs (n = 14), wearing gloves while washing patients or eliminating excreta was more frequent than mask wearing (64.3% vs. 5.3%). 28.6% considered themselves well informed but 92.9% thought information could be improved. 85.7% of NAs suspected that AAs had teratogenic effects and 14.3% of them thought that AAs did not have mid- or long-term toxic effects. For CP (n = 10), 62.5% wore gloves for bed making and 80.0% for sanitation cleaning. All of them considered themselves not sufficiently informed and 90.0% thought that AAs had teratogenic effects whereas 10% of them thought that AAs did not have mid- or long-term toxic effects. All (n = 62) reported routine use of water and soap (46.8%) or hydro-alcoholic solution (25.8%) after a potential exposure to AAs. Conclusions Lack of information suggested the necessity of informing the nursing and cleaning personnel on the oncology ward in some fields. A teaching session was arranged by department. No conflict of interest.


We use generalized sheet transition conditions (GSTCs) to investigate the existence of guided waves (both surface waves and complex modes) on a metafilm: a surface distribution of electrically small scatterers characterized by electric and magnetic surface susceptibilities. In this paper, excitation of a metafilm by both electric and magnetic line currents is investigated. The characteristics of the guided waves for both these polarizations are expressed in terms of the surface susceptibilities, which are directly related to the electric and magnetic polarizabilities of the scatterers composing the surface. We will show that the guided waves can have unique behaviors (not found in classical slab configurations) for judicious choices of the scatterers in the metafilm. For example, unlike a conventional dielectric slab, forward and backward surface waves as well as complex modes can be excited simultaneously on the metafilm, a direct consequence of engineering the properties of the constituent scatterers. Two different classes of modes (even and odd) are possible on the metasurface. The odd mode is analogous to the surface plasmon polariton seen on some metamaterials, and under certain conditions, the even mode is analogous to the classical dielectric slab surface wave. In order to validate the predictions presented here, we present numerical results for an electric-line source placed above a metafilm composed of spherical particles. We also show comparisons of propagation constants obtained from our model to other analytical results found in the literature. Finally, we show that the results from our formulation reduce to analytical results given in the literature for a thin dielectric layer.


The 'exulceratio simplex Dieulafoy' is an uncommon and probably underdiagnosed cause of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. The bleeding is intermittent and even endoscopically often missed. In this article the pathogenesis, diagnostic methods, clinical presentation and therapy are discussed. We present one case treated in our hospital.


AbstractCanadian psychologists have a new code of ethics. Demonstrations of the code's use have thus far have concentrated on its application in traditional areas. The present paper demonstrates its proactive use in planning field research by delineating the ethical implications of a research example drawn from the organizational psychology literature. Specifically, I argue that the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists provides a useful method for planning ethically sound field research. It is further shown that the decision - making process advocated by the CPA code of ethics is an effective means of identifying issues that would otherwise be neglected. Implications of the code for Canadian Industrial and Organizational psychologists are briefly discussed.In 1986, the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) adopted its own code of ethics. The new code replaces previous adaptations of the ethical code from the American Psychological Association (APA) (Sinclair, Poizner, Gilmour - Barrett & Randall, 1987). The development of a Canadian code was, in part, spurred on by a growing interest among Canadian psychologists in developing a Canadian ethical code that would address uniquely Canadian issues and concerns (Sinclair, et al., 1987).The CPA code of ethics is still in its infancy; thus, many avenues remain to be explored. According to Sinclair and her colleagues (1987), the CPA code should be conceived of as, "... an umbrella document that can be used as a guide to the development of more specific standards for particular areas of practice in Canadian psychology... ". This paper is intended to encourage progress in these areas. Specifically, I will demonstrate how the CPA code can be applied to issues in field research by using an ethical dilemma drawn from the organizational literature. To emphasize the uniqueness of the Canadian ethical code, the example chosen is one that has already been considered from the perspective of the APA code of ethics. I hope that this example will benefit both those individuals engaging in field research more generally, as well as those working closely with organizations, such as industrial/organizational (I/O) and social psychologists.Given that my own background is in I/O psychology, the present article will adopt an organizational psychology flavour. This, however, should not be taken as indicating that the dilemma is purely organizational in nature, nor one that is typical of I/O psychology. Rather, it is simply one of the many dilemmas I/O psychologists could face, and is one shared with many other field researchers.There are many possible scenarios that are unique to Applied Psychology, and the CPA code by no means answers all the questions. The code does, however, provide a solid foundation for further developments. The generic nature of the decision - making process advocated by the CPA code lends itself to most situations faced by psychologists, regardless of contextual factors.Other psychologists have demonstrated the application of the CPA code in contexts such as clinical and counselling psychology (see Eberlein, 1988; Weinberger, 1988; CPA Companion Manual, 1988; Tymchuk, 1986), and have described value conflicts occurring in field research (O'Neill, 1990). Many discussions of the new Code have been tied to issues for which dilemmas were unavoidably at hand; hence, use of the code was "reactive" in nature - the psychologist has a situation at hand that must be dealt with immediately.In the present paper, I shall explore how the CPA code can be used in a research setting in a "proactive" manner. Using the code proactively means that psychologists are using the code to delineate possible consequences to actions they have yet to execute. The decision - making process encourages researchers, first to identify potential consequences to various alternatives, and then to offer possible solutions for any ethical impasse. …


The present article analyzes the impact of new media resources and virtual environments on the individual learning of the students from Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, specialization Pedagogy of Pre-Primary and Primary Education. We believe that within students' individual preparing, modern electronic information resources are a viable and even more efficient alternative to traditional information sources. Using qualitative research methods and considering students' working skills, the acceptance and interest in new technologies, which have their own advantages and limitations compared to traditional information sources, we aimed to identify our students' preferences with regard to accessing various sources of information in documenting and preparing for exams.
 This study was imposed by the heterogeneous structure of teams of students attending Pedagogy of Pre-Primary and Primary Education, undergraduate studies. The investigated population, consisting of students from all the three years of study, presented interest in terms of their relationing with new media resources and virtual environments in order to improve their training. Starting from the assumption that the students who were analyzed differ in terms of their ICT skills and willingness to shape, refine and implement these skills in their own training, we found the existence of well-defined preferred typologies regarding the selection of ways to access information that would clarify and supplement the current course materials or allow the development of essays, projects, essays, graduation papers. This research also provides a feedback among academic staff regarding how to recommend bibliographical sources to students in different situations. This aspect enables improving and streamlining of individual study for a quality training.


A new example of "hybrid dysgenesis" has been demonstrated in the F1 progeny of crosses between two different strains of Drosophila virilis. The dysgenic traits were observed only in hybrids obtained when wild-type females (of the Batumi strain 9 from Georgia, USSR) were crossed to males from a marker strain (the long-established laboratory strain, strain 160, carrying recessive markers on all its autosomes). The phenomena observed include high frequencies of male and female sterility, male recombination, chromosomal nondisjunction, transmission ratio distortion and the appearance of numerous visible mutations at different loci in the progeny of dysgenic crosses. The sterility demonstrated in the present study is similar to that of P-M dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster and apparently results from underdevelopment of the gonads in both sexes, this phenomenon being sensitive to developmental temperature. However, in contrast to the P-M and I-R dysgenic systems in D. melanogaster, in D. virilis the highest level of sterility (95-98%) occurs at 23-25 degrees. Several of the mutations isolated from the progeny of dysgenic crosses (e.g., singed) proved to be unstable and reverted to wild type. We hypothesize that a mobile element ("Ulysses") which we have recently isolated from a dysgenically induced white eye mutation may be responsible for the phenomena observed.


INTRODUCTION Everyone likes to get a joke. Those who catch the humor feel included among the others who find it funny. Conversely, those who fail to catch the punchline can feel excluded, leading to frustration, resentment, or even anger toward those who got it. Like a well-timed joke, many study abroad experiences offer opportunities for all people at a university to get it: a broadened global perspective gleaned from interpersonal engagement with cultural others in an international setting. Unfortunately, and far too often, the campus majority who do not have this firsthand travel experience remain disengaged and might feel excluded. We contend, though, that participants are not the only people to benefit from international study; veterans of study abroad, as they share their experiences through multiple channels with others, enhance the campus and community in new and transformative ways. Student interest in international study is growing among both students coming to the U.S. and U.S. students studying in other countries. Brain Track, a popular site assisting international students coming to the United States (US), reports data from the Institute of International Education (IIE) indicating "the number of international students in the US reached an all-time high at over 600,000. Additionally, annual inquiries from prospective international students sent to the US Department of State have recently reached 25 million" (2011). The Christian Science Monitor published results from a 2010 report by the IIE documenting 270,604 American students studying abroad in the 2009-2010 academic year, a rise of nearly four percent over the previous year. "This figure has more than tripled in the past two decades, with the number of students studying abroad increasing every year" (Mach). Despite increased participation, the actual number of students who experience study abroad remains a small fraction of the whole campus population. Scholars acclaim multiple values derived from international education (e.g., Haynes; Braid and Palma de Schrynemakers; Karsan; Otero; Hoffa; Lewin), but frequently the value of these opportunities remains sequestered. The broader campus community is not afforded the chance to "get it," and thus study abroad remains unfamiliar or elusive to many within campus communities. Akin to those on the outside of a joke, uninformed individuals can harbor negativity toward study-abroad opportunities and outcomes. THE FOUR Es: PERCEPTIONS AGAINST INTERNATIONAL STUDY Detractors of international study contend that educational practices involving study abroad can be described in the following negative ways: 1. Elitist because they are highly selective and not typically available to the general campus population, with only a small percentage of the campus community participating. 2. Extravagant because the low number of students directly served and the high costs for the participants do not justify the institutional support or expenditures. 3. Elementary because of a lack in academic rigor, with international programs resembling holidays more than activities meriting academic credit. 4. Ephemeral because participation can produce an interruption of an individual's progress toward a completed degree, with international study becoming tangential and distracting students from their commitment to academic study. The cry of elitism often comes from those who consider international experiences as activities which promote privilege. Indeed, many early university study-abroad programs were offered by "privileged liberal arts colleges with a tradition of sending students on the Grand European Tour" (DeWinter 56). While many such programs encouraged language acquisition, they involved little direct engagement with the culture and people of the host country. This lack of connectivity can seem elitist, particularly when American students pass judgments through the eyes of class privilege in developing countries. …


Recent recognition o f the importance of trace metals in oceanic biogeochemical cycling and of the significance of atmospheric trace metals inputs to marine waters, highlights the need to assess the dissolved trace metals inputs from atmospheric sources. Atmospheric inputs are important to the surface waters of the Eastern Mediterranean, due to the reduction of riverine inputs. High-volume aerosol samples were collected from Haifa, Israel and Erdemli, Turkey in 1996. These samples were characterised by air mass back trajectories, because contrasting aerosol sources (urban and crustal) are apparent in this region. Trace metal (Cu, Pb and Zn) seawater solubility studies were determined for selected samples, under carefully controlled conditions (seawater at pH 8.0 and 25.0 ± 1.0 °C; shaking rate 150 osc min"'). The average seawater solubilities of Zn and Pb from the northern (predominantly European source) wind sector were statistically higher than the southern (mainly Sahartm and Arabian desert source) wind sector. The total dry deposition fluxes o f trace metals were estimated from the geometric air concentrations o f both wind sectors, the wind sector weighting and assimiing a deposition velocity of 0.1 cm s'K Trace metal seawater soluble fluxes were calculated using mean seawater solubilities of the aerosols from the northern and southern wind sectors. The soluble trace metal fluxes, by dry deposition, to the Eastern Mediterranean were compared with soluble wet deposition and riverine fluxes. A novel experimental system was assembled and validated, in order to (i) enhance our knowledge of the physiochemical and biological factors that affect the seawater solubility of trace metals and (ii) to refine the soluble trace metal flux estimates. The experimental system was capable of monitoring trace metal desorption reactions at high temporal resolutions (> 45 s). It was initially applied to the measurement of the extent and rate of desorption of total dissolved and Mabile dissolved' Cu, Pb and Zn from Liverpool urban particulate material, then to the seawater solubility of trace metals associated with urban particulate standard reference material and Saharan dust. In order to increase our understanding of the fate of trace metals associated with aerosol particles after dry deposition into seawater, the effects of bacteria, proportional mbcing of end member aerosols, particle concentrations, mbcing rates, light and temperature on the desorption of aerosol associated trace metals were separately investigated. It was found that the presence of bacteria in seawater and seawater temperattire enhanced the seawater solubility o f Zn, Pb and Cu. In addition, natural light enhanced the solubility of Cu from Saharan dust. Conversely, increasing the particle concentrations and the mixing rate of the incubated seawater caused a decrease the observed seawater solubility of aerosol associated trace metals (the decrease was greater for Pb and Zn than Cd and Cu).


It is assumed that human capital external economies can increase factor
productivity. However, as human capital is accumulated in an unequal way in the
territory, productivity improvements will be different among territories. So, in the
presence of labour mobility, wage differences will induce migratory movements that
would concentrate population in a given geographical area and increasing housing rents
until the net advantage of residing and working in different places is equal. In this paper
we estimate wage and housing rents equations following Rauch (1993) model using
microdata from the EPF 1990/91. The results offer evidence of local human capital
external economies for the Spanish econom


A study of disparity in the administration of the death penalty in Pennsylvania by Kramer, Ulmer, and Zajac (2017) was recently completed for the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission on Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness. This study collected basic statistical data on 4,274 cases charged with homicide in Pennsylvania from 2000 to 2010, and then collected highly detailed data from courts and prosecutors' offices on a subset of 880 first degree murder convictions in 18 counties accounting for more than 87% of all 2000-2010 first degree murder convictions. Utilizing propensity score methods in analyses of these first degree murder convictions, the study examined whether defendants' and victims' race/ethnicity (separately and in combination), predicted: 1) prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty, 2) prosecutors' decisions to retract a motion to seek the death penalty once it is filed, and 3) court decisions to sentence defendants to death or life without parole. Key findings were: 1) No pattern of disparity was found to the disadvantage of Black or Hispanic defendants in prosecutors' decisions to seek and, if sought, to retract the death penalty. 2) Black and Hispanic defendants were not disadvantaged in death penalty sentence decisions relative to White defendants. 3) Cases with White victims, regardless of race of defendant, were 8% more likely to receive the death penalty, while Black victim cases were 6% less likely to receive the death penalty. 4) Prosecutors filed to seek the death penalty in 36% of first degree convictions; but later retracted that filing in 46% of those cases. Moreover, a predominant pattern emerged in which a death penalty filing strongly predicted a guilty plea in these murder cases, and pleading guilty strongly predicted the retraction of the death penalty filing. 5) There were very large differences between counties in the likelihood of prosecutors filing to seek the death penalty, the likelihood of their retracting that filing, and in courts imposing the death penalty. In fact, the biggest extra-legal influence on whether defendants faced or received the death penalty was where their cases were handled. 6) Public defenders were less likely than private or court appointed attorneys to have the death penalty filed in cases they represented. However, public defender cases were more likely to receive the death penalty, and defendants represented by private attorneys were especially unlikely to receive the death penalty. These defense attorney differences also, in turn, varied greatly between counties.


Background Caesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) is a type of ectopic pregnancy where the fertilised egg is implanted in the muscle or fibrous tissue of the scar after a previous caesarean section. Management options for women who opted for termination of CSP include sharp curettage, dilation and evacuation (D&E), excision of trophoblastic tissues, local or systemic administration of methotrexate, bilateral hypogastric artery ligation, and selective uterine artery embolisation with curettage and/or methotrexate administration. Recently hysteroscopic resection has also been proposed as an alternative option. Objective To compare the surgical outcome of hysteroscopic resection with dilation and evacuation (D&E) for the treatment of caesarean scar pregnancy (CSP). Methods Parallel-group, non-blinded, randomised clinical trial conducted at a single centre in Italy. Eligible women are those with singleton gestations at less than 9 weeks of gestation, and with thickness of myometrial layer ≥1 mm at the level of the ectopic. Inclusion criteria are women with CSP with positive embryonic/fetal heart activity who opted for termination of pregnancy. Patients will be randomised 1:1 to receive either hysteroscopic resection (i.e. intervention group) or D&E (i.e. control group). In both groups, 50 mg/m2 (based on DuBois formula for body surface area) of methotrexate (MTX) will be injected intramuscularly at the time of randomisation (day 1) and another dose at day 3. A third dose of MTX is planned in case of persistence of fetal heart activity on day 5. Participants will receive either D&E or hysteroscopic resection from 3 to 7 days after the last dose of MTX. A sample size of 54 women is planned. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome is the success rate of the treatment protocol, defined as no requirement for further treatment until complete resolution of the CSP as demonstrated by negative beta hCG levels and absence of residual gestational material on ultrasound examination.. Study hypothesis Hysteroscopic surgery is superior to D&E for the treatment of CSP. What is new? The results of the trial will provide information on the best treatment for CSP.


The decomposition pathways of a series of carbohydrates dissolved in carboxylate ionic liquids have been investigated in detail using a broad range of thermal and chromatographic techniques. Mixtures of the carboxylate ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate with carbohydrates were found to undergo reaction of the C2 carbon of the imidazolium ring with the aldehyde functionality on the open chain sugar, yielding an imidazolium adduct with a hydroxylated alkyl chain. Subsequently, degradation of the hydroxyalkyl chain occurs by sequential loss of formaldehyde units, to yield a terminal adduct species, 1-ethyl-2-(hydroxymethyl)-3-methylimidazolium acetate. Identities of the final and intermediate adduct species, and the reaction mechanisms connecting adducts, were elucidated by NMR, HPLC and LCMS techniques. Factors affecting the rate and quantity of adduct formation were explored. Changing the ionic liquid cation and anion, the acid number, sugar concentration and temperature influenced the rate of formation and relative quantities of the adduct species. Formation of adducts could not be entirely prevented when employing carboxylate ionic liquids. By contrast, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride was identified as an ionic liquid capable of dissolving a significant quantity of cellulose, yet without reacting with carbohydrates.


Ship-strike is a major cause of death for large whales. For the northern right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) ship-strike is the leading cause of documented deaths. Forward-looking sonar provides one possible solution to this problem. A forward-looking sonar could provide information to the ship operator about the presence and location of large whales ahead of a vessel. This paper documents two sea tests in which target strength data was collected for humpbacks (Megaptera novaeangliae) and for northern right whales. Results are compared to previously published whale target strengths. Blubber thickness and frequency are used in a reflection coefficient model to explain the differences between the previous results and those presented in this paper.


The traditional first-year curriculum in American law schools takes incoming law students as novice or dualistic thinkers, in the nomenclature of developmental learning theorists. Thus the traditional first-year curriculum emphasizes the determinate nature of law and practice, and the role of authority in the law, just to name two features. But while our incoming students may, in fact, be novices in the law, they are increasingly sophisticated thinkers in other areas of their lives and in their moral reasoning abilities. They can deal with indeterminacy, and they can be agents of development (not merely recipients of knowledge), outside the law. Moreover, they can apply these capabilities to their legal studies. In treating first-year students as novices, the traditional legal curriculum neglects these capabilities. Worse, it regresses first-year students as thinkers and as moral reasoners on conventional developmental continua. In contrast to the traditional curriculum, actual legal work in the first year - where students take responsibility for actual legal work, with all its attendant indeterminacies - builds upon the capabilities that our students bring to law school and thus promotes their intellectual development, their ethical reasoning skills, and their development as professionals.


The Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders/Brain and Body Donation Program at Banner Sun Health Research Institute (BSHRI) is a longitudinal clinicopathological study with a current enrollment of more than 900 living subjects for aging and neurodegenerative disease research. Annual clinical assessments are done by cognitive and movement neurologists and neuropsychologists. Brain and body tissues are collected at a median postmortem interval of 3.0 h for neuropathological diagnosis and banking. Since 2018, the program has undertaken banking of scalp fibroblasts derived from neuropathologically characterized donors with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we describe the procedure development and cell characteristics from 14 male and 15 female donors (mean ± SD of age: 83.6 ± 12.2). Fibroblasts from explant cultures were banked at passage 3. The results of mRNA analysis showed positive expression of fibroblast activation protein, vimentin, fibronectin, and THY1 cell surface antigen. We also demonstrated that the banked fibroblasts from a postmortem elderly donor were successfully reprogramed to human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Taken together, we have demonstrated the successful establishment of a human autopsy-derived fibroblast banking program. The cryogenically preserved cells are available for request at the program website of the BSHRI.


Nihāyatu'l- irab fi akhbare'l -fors va'l- arab is the name of a book whose author(s) and the authoring time are uncertain. In compiling this book, authors such as 'Amer Sha'bi , Ayyoub ibn-i Gherriyah, Abdullah ibn-i Moghafa', Asma'i and Ab ol-bakhtary have contributed. There are three different speculations concerning the time of authorship: 1) 75 A.H. 2) before the year 142 A.H. 3) around 170-193 A.H. However, this book-- especially the parts narrated by ibn-i Moghafa'—are the most important sources in our understanding Siyar ol-molouk and subsequently the Khodāy-nāme in the Sassanid period. Since Ferdowsi's Shāh-nāme is also connected to the Khodāy-nāme through the Abu-Mansouri Shāh-nāme, the story of Dara and Alexander have been chosen from Nihāyatu'l- irab and the Shāh-name in order to determine the main source of the two narratives. The comparative study of the structure of the story of Alexander and Dara in these two books reveals that Ferdowsi's account is exactly like ibn-i Moghafa's but Ferdowsi has eliminated some details and has added some more to serve his storytelling purposes.