The bacterium Xylella fastidiosa Wells et al. induces Pierce's disease of grapevine. Four potential mechanisms of X. fastidiosa transmission to grapevines, Vitis vinifera L., were investigated: graft transmission by naturally occurring root grafts, mechanical transmission by pruning shears, and through the nymphs and adults of Homalodisca liturata Ball, the smoke tree sharpshooter, and the adults of Diceroprocta apache Davis, the apache cicada, two insects native to California. No naturally formed root grafts between X. fastidiosa-infected and noninfected grape plants were found and, consequently, no X. fastidiosa transmission by natural root grafts was detected (n = 5). One of 21 transmission attempts with pruning shears resulted in X. fastidosa transmission. Three of 24 smoke tree sharpshooter nymphs transmitted X. fastidiosa. Three of 14 attempts to transmit X. fastidiosa with smoke tree sharpshooter adults were successful, and 13 adults tested positive for X. fastidiosa as detected by polymerase chain reaction. One of 12 transmission attempts by the apache cicada resulted in X. fastidiosa transmission. Our findings of mechanical transmission by pruning shears from an infected shoot to a healthy shoot and insect transmission of X. fastidiosa by smoke tree sharpshooter nymphs and an apache cicada adult represent new means of transmission of the pathogen to grapevines. While transmission was rare via these mechanisms, results highlight the need to consider all means of transmission in the development of Pierce's disease management programs.


We present the discovery of 49 new photometrically classified T dwarfs from the combination of large infrared and optical surveys combined with follow-up Telescopio Nazionale Galileo photometry. We used multiband infrared and optical photometry from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and Sloan Digital Sky Surveys to identify possible brown dwarf candidates, which were then confirmed using methane filter photometry. We have defined a new photometric conversion between CH4s - CH4l colour and spectral type for T4-T8 brown dwarfs based on a part of the sample that has been followed up using methane photometry and spectroscopy. Using methane differential photometry as a proxy for spectral type for T dwarfs has proved to be a very efficient technique. Of a subset of 45 methane selected brown dwarfs that were observed spectroscopically, 100 per cent were confirmed as T dwarfs. Future deep imaging surveys will produce large samples of faint brown dwarf candidates, for which spectroscopy will not be feasible. When broad wavelength coverage is unavailable, methane imaging offers a means to efficiently classify candidates from such surveys using just a pair of near-infrared images.


The Supreme Court promulgates rules of procedure (based on the proposals of subordinate rulemaking committees) pursuant to the Rules Enabling Act. This statute empowers the Court to prescribe "general rules of practice and procedure," with the caveat that "[s]uch rules shall not abridge, enlarge or modify any substantive right." The Act is supposed to stand as a real constraint on what rules or alterations thereof the subordinate rulemaking bodies will consider or propose, as well as on how the Court will choose to interpret any given codified Federal Rule. However, the Act has no — to date — been employed to invalidate a promulgated Federal Rule, leading one to wonder whether the Act's admonitions have any real purchase beyond keeping the judiciary from crafting rules that regulate primary conduct. But just how far can the Federal Rules go? Does the fact that none have been invalidated mean that the rulemakers and the Court have managed to adhere successfully to the Act's strictures? This Article suggests that the answer to that latter question is no. No rule has been invalidated because the Court has not yet been confronted with a live controversy over a rule that challenges its ability to avoid the issue by a saving interpretation. As a result, the Court has not had the opportunity to crystallize the precise contours of what kind of rules the Act does and does not allow it to prescribe.

This Article takes up that enterprise, articulating an understanding of the Rules Enabling Act that will equip the Supreme Court with the ability to judge a rule's validity — and give the rulemakers much clearer guidance regarding the outer boundaries of their remit. Once such an understanding is in hand, a clear candidate for invalidation — Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 15(c)(1)(C)— comes to the fore. That rule — which (in some jurisdictions) eviscerates defendants' protection from liability, thereby disturbing their vested repose — alters substantive rights in ways the Act, properly understood, will not countenance. Other rules, such as FRCP 4(k) and 4(n), also fall afoul of the Rules Enabling Act if they are analyzed with a proper understanding of the Act's strictures.


Background Several lines of evidence indicate an important role for vitamin D in the prevention of a range of diseases. Blood vitamin D levels show clear seasonal variation; however, data on the determinants of vitamin D status for each season are limited. We investigated the association between lifestyle and serum vitamin D concentration by season in Japanese workers. Methods Subjects were 312 men and 217 women aged 21 to 67 years who worked in municipal offices in Northern Kyushu, Japan and participated in a periodic checkup in July or November. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between serum 25-hydroxivitamin D concentrations and lifestyle factors for each season. Results Mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was 27.4 ng/ml (68.4 nmol/L) and 21.4 ng/ml (53.4 nmol/L) for workers surveyed in July and November, respectively (P < 0.001); the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/ml) was 9.3% and 46.7%, respectively (P < 0.001). In November, dietary vitamin D intake (in both sexes) and nonsmoking and physical activity (in men) were significantly associated with higher concentrations of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. In summer, fish/shellfish intake was associated with higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in women. Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency is common in Japanese workers during seasons with limited sunlight. The lifestyle correlates of favorable vitamin D status in November were physical activity, dietary vitamin D intake, and nonsmoking.


Large pelagic sharks are caught incidentally in the swordfish and tuna fisheries of the Mediterranean Sea. In our study, twelve shark species were documented as bycatch
over three years from 1998 to 2000. Blue shark (Prionace glauca) was the predominant species in all gears and areas examined. Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), common thresher
shark (Alopias vulpinus), and tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) were the next most abundant shark species—found in more than half of the areas sampled. Catch composition varied both in the areas and gears investigated. Sharks represented 34.3% in weight of total catches sampled in the
Alboran Sea and 0.9% in the Straits of Sicily. Higher shark catches were observed in the swordfish longline fishery, where a nominal CPUE value reached 3.8 sharks/1000 hooks in the Alboran Sea. Size distribution by fishing gear varied significantly. Albacore longline catches consisted mainly
of juveniles, whereas subadult and adult specimens were more frequent in the swordfish longline and driftnet
fishery. The percentage of sharks brought onboard alive was exceptionally high; only 5.1% of the specimens died. Few discards (seven blue shark) were recorded in the Greek longline fleet during onboard sampling in the Aegean Se


This article has attempted to answer the question "What is a Savitky-Golay filter?" in terms that will be familiar to the DSP community and readers of IEEE Signal Processing Magazine. This article reviewed the definition and properties of S-G filters and showed how they can be designed easily using polynomial approximation of an impulse sequence. In contrast to most discussions of S-G filters, they focused on the frequency domain properties, and offered an approximate formula for the 3-dB cutoff frequency as a function of polynomial order N and impulse response half length M. Engineers with a frequency domain mindset may find this useful if they choose to use S-G filters in their application.


Dr Francis John Caldwell Roe, who has died aged 82, was for over 50 years active as an experimental pathologist and made major contributions to cancer research and toxicology. He had a wide range of research interests, which included the general toxicology and potential carcinogenicity of foods, food additives and contaminants, drugs, tobacco, pollutants, and industrial chemicals, as well as mechanisms of carcinogenesis, cancer epidemiology, cancer prevention, and the pathology of laboratory animals. This resulted in over 800 publications, including eight books and many leading articles in the BMJ and Lancet . His encyclopaedic knowledge, coupled with his ability to present his findings in an extremely clear and logical way, made his advice highly sought after. He served with distinction for many years on the UK Department of Health and Social Security's committees on carcinogenicity and on toxicity and on the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Food Safety. He was also a member of numerous other national and international expert committees, as well as of various scientific journal editorial boards, and was a highly valued consultant to a wide range of companies.

Francis Roe was born in London on 16 August 1924 and was educated at St Olave's Grammar School, Orpington, and then at Wadham College, Oxford, and the London Hospital Medical College. He obtained from Oxford his BA in 1945, BM BCh in 1948, MA in 1950, and DM in 1957. He took up a house appointment at The London Hospital in 1948, continuing his pathology experience at the Royal Army Medical College from 1949 to 1951 before returning for 10 years to The London Hospital to be lecturer, then senior lecturer in the Department of Cancer Research. During this period he had a year at the McArdle Memorial Laboratories in Madison as an exchange fellow. In 1961 he …


For more than 20 years, sex allocation in hymenopteran societies has been a major topic in insect sociobiology. A recurring idea was that relatedness asymmetries arising from their haplodiploid sex determination system would lead to various parent–offspring conflicts over optimal reproduction. A possible weakness of existing theory is that only interests of nuclear genes are properly accounted for. Yet, a diversity of maternally transmitted elements manipulate the reproduction of their host in many solitary arthropod groups. The bacterium Wolbachia is a striking example of such a selfish cytoplasmic element, with effects ranging from reproductive incompatibility between host strains, induction of parthenogenesis and feminization of males. This paper reports on a first PCR–based Wolbachia screening in ants. Out of 50 Indo–Australian species, 50% screened positive for an A–group strain. One of these species also harboured a B–group strain in a double infection. Various factors that might explain the unusually high incidence of Wolbachia in ants are discussed. In general, Wolbachia may represent a widespread and previously unrecognized party active in the conflicts of interest within social insect colonies.


The coda of passive seismic recordings is often rich in arrivals that are coherent across several stations. If reflections can be extracted, then they may be used for seismic reflection subsurface imaging. With the objective to image the upper crust of the North Chilean Precordillera (Central Andes; approximate location 21°S 69°W), we developed a workflow to process passive seismic data into subsurface reflection images. We analysed the waveform recordings of several hundred microseismic events using signal processing and imaging techniques adapted from active (controlled source) seismic imaging as used in the oil industry. Key processing steps involved precise arrival time picking and hypocentre determination, removing signal amplitude variations due to varying source radiation patterns, identification and separation of reflections from coherent noise, and transformation of the processed waveforms into images of the subsurface reflectivity. When designing our microseismic reflection imaging workflow, we took advantage of the fact that the passive seismic recording geometry with the hypocentres located at depth and the receivers positioned at the surface resembles a reverse vertical-seismic profiling experiment. The resultant P- and S-wave reflection images reveal several reflective features, such as an approximate 15° westward dipping reflector over the 5–25 km depth range that largely coincides with a distinct seismicity boundary. We interpret the imaged interface as the brittle-ductile transition zone boundary, possibly enhanced by a tectonic shear zone. For the area of the North Chilean Precordillera, the deduced microseismic reflection sections with horizontal extensions of about 50 km represent the first high-resolution images of the shallow crust, which could not be obtained from previous active-source seismic-reflection data.


Research in nursing informatics has been described as problem based rather than theory guided. Furthermore, few examples exist in the literature where the process of theory development is described. This article describes a process used to develop a conceptual framework that supports a theory-driven program of research in nursing informatics. The conceptual framework combines Symbolic Interaction Theory and Information Theory. Constructs of Symbolic Interaction Theory (mind, self, and society) and Information Theory (entropy, negentropy, redundancy, probability, and noise) were then organized according to Gerbner's Communication Model. Theory derivation was the method used for organizing abstract constructs and reducing them to a measurable level. Theory derivation was supplemented with initial research findings. The measurable or middle-range constructs were then organized in a meaningful manner for conceptual framework development. The use of theory derivation to develop a conceptual framework to support theory-driven nursing informatics research will be discussed. The framework entitled "Effective Nurse-to-Nurse Communication" that guides a program of research will then be presented.


Cellular localization of photosynthetic enzymes was investigated by immunogold electron microscopy for leaves of nine C 4 grasses (three NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME) subtype species, three NAD-malic enzyme (NAD-ME) subtype species, and three phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK) subtype species), two C 4 sedges (NADP-ME subtype species) and two C 4 dicots (an NADP-ME and an NADP/NAD-ME subtype species). In leaves of all species, immunogold labelling was present for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in the cytosol of the mesophyll cells (MC) and for ribulose-1 ,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase in the chloroplasts of the bundle sheath cells (BSC). However, considerable specific variation was found in the intercellular patterns of labelling for pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK). In the NADP-ME grasses, two NAD-ME grasses, and the dicots, significant labelling for PPDK was present in the both the BSC and the MC chloroplasts. In the other NAD-ME grass, the PCK grasses, and the sedges, labelling for PPDK was present almost exclusively in the chloroplasts of the MC. These patterns were observed in the leaves of both young seedlings and mature plants. These results indicate that the accumulation of PPDK in leaves of C 4 plants is not necessarily restricted to the MC, although the chloroplasts of the MC accumulate more than those of the BSC.


Objectives Ovarian cancer is the second leading cause of gynecological mortality at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos Nigeria. The neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a general measure of inflammation is a simple cost-effective method that has been used in both the diagnosis and prognostication of solid tumors including ovarian cancer. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between NLR and serum CA-125 levels in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) in Lagos. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in which forty-five consenting patients with suspected ovarian malignancy scheduled for staging laparotomy were recruited between April 2016 and December 2017 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Blood samples were collected preoperatively for full blood counts and serum CA-125 estimations. Twenty-three had histologic diagnosis of EOC. NLR was defined as the absolute neutrophil count divided by the absolute lymphocyte count. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The correlation between NLR and CA-125 levels was determined using the Spearman's correlation coefficient. Elevated NLR was defined as a value ≥ 2.23. Results The mean age of the participants was 51.43± 11.08 years .The median serum CA-125 level was 264 IU/L and the interquartile range was 97.3–554.4. The NLRs ranged from 1.4 to 3.6 with a median value of 2.23. There was no correlation between NLR and CA-125 (r=0.198, p=0.364). Conclusions Though this study did not demonstrate any relationship between NLR and CA-125 in patients with EOC, it may find usefulness as a biomarker in the future if subjected to further research.


The phenomenon of insular dwarfism in proboscideans is particularly well represented on the Siculo-Maltese Palaeoarchipelago, an island group on which a species complex of palaeoloxodont elephants evolved during the Middle-Late Pleistocene. This likely included three species from Malta, four from Sicily (and possibly its palaeo-islands), and one from Favignana Island, ranging in size from the 1 m-tall Palaeoloxodon falconeri to continental-sized 4m-tall P. antiquus. However, our understanding of the causes for extreme differences in body size among insular samples in such a small geographic region is still limited. Here, I document the full range in size of elephants from the palaeoarchipelago, and discuss the reasons for size differences on the three islands in time and space in relation to predation, competition, resource limitation, accelerated life history, and duration of isolation. Differences in size between larger and smaller Sicilian elephants from Luparello Fissure, as well as possibly also in P. ex gr. P. mnaidriensis from Puntali Cave, San Teodoro Cave, and Favignana Island, may relate to the duration of isolation, or alternatively environmental stressors associated with the Last Glacial Maximum in the case of the Favignana elephant. Additionally, small but significant differences in size observable in Middle Pleistocene P. ex gr. P. falconeri from different localities on Sicily, as well as in Maltese P. 'melitensis' may also relate to duration of isolation, highlighting the need for better geochronological data in order to better distinguish macro-ecological causes driving body size change from more subtle effects relating to duration of isolation.


The change in volume of cultured smooth muscle cells prepared with four different fixation procedures for transmission electron microscopy was studied. Although the cells showed swelling after being embedded in Spurr's embedding medium, the degree of swelling depended on the particular method of fixation procedure used. When the volume of the cells measured using transmission electron microscopy was compared with that of the fresh cell volume, cells prepared by two of the methods showed swelling, and cellular shrinkage was noted in the other two methods. One method which caused the least amount of volume change is recommended for quantitative electron microscopic study of vertebrate smooth muscle cell systems.


The thermal behaviour of a spherical gas bubble in a liquid driven by an acoustic pressure is investigated in the uniform pressure approximation by employing an iterative method to solve the energy balance equations between the gas bubble and the surrounding liquid for the temperature distribution and the gas pressure inside the bubble. It is shown that the first iterative solution leads to the first order law of the gas pressure as a polytropic power law of the bubble wall temperature and of the bubble radius, with the polytropic index given as an explicit function of the isentropic exponent of the gas. The resulting first order law of the gas pressure reduces to the classical isothermal and adiabatic laws in the appropriate limits. The first order gas pressure law is then applied to an acoustically driven cavitation bubble by solving the Rayleigh-Plesset equation. Results obtained show that the bubble wall temperature pulsations during collapse and rebound can become a few orders of magnitude higher than the bulk liquid temperature.


The Nwaboi Apprenticeship System is by far the most entrenched and vibrant entrepreneurship promotion vehicle in Nigeria and it plays a major role in the growth and development of micro, small and medium scale enterprises. The system is a big driver for wealth creation, employment generation and poverty reduction and thus economic growth and development. The paper starts with a brief historical background and it is contended that the system is strongly rooted in Igbo culture. There are basically two major types of 'the Nwaboi apprenticeship system: 'Imu-Oru Aka' (Learning a craft or skill) and 'Imu-Ahia' (Learning to trade) and the scope is wide; ranging from all kinds of trading to various crafts and skills. The system is very informal, not integrated with the organized private sector and virtually outside the ambit of government oversight and support. However, in a bid to tackle the growing rate of youth and graduate unemployment, the Nigerian government took an unusual positive step and established the National Directorate of Employment in 1987 to equip young people with marketable skills that will help them to become employable or self-employed. Unfortunately, like many government initiatives in Nigeria that are prone to inconsistency and short life cycle, most if not all the programmes put in place as part of the NDE initiative are now either not functional or on the verge of becoming moribund. Some of the challenges facing the Nwaboi Apprenticeship System are explored while recommendations on how the system can be improved and reinvented for the 21st Century include the realignment of the anti-industry dimensions of entrepreneurial ecosystem to promote the embedding of the enterprise culture; provision of physical, scientific and technological infrastructure; the establishment of a good legal framework to guide and formalize the system; establishment of entrepreneurship development and skills acquisition centres to promote the training and development of apprentices on basic and technological literacy and on entrepreneurship skill-sets such as technical, management and entrepreneurship skills and the promotion of linkage with well managed local organizations and multinational corporations. The paper concludes that the Nwaboi Apprenticeship System has the potential to significantly increase the level of entrepreneurial metabolism and to stimulate the rate and pace of new venture creation and thus a viable platform for entrepreneurship promotion in Nigeria.


Nowadays, networks are at the center of the next industrial revolution. In fact, 5G in a short time will connect people, industries and things, so understanding how the network is performing its critical mission in this new paradigm is a key aspect. Network analytics increases the knowledge of the network and its users, leading the network managers to make smarter, data-driven decisions about the operations that they will execute in the network. In this article, a new methodology is introduced to analyze real data contained in a Call Details Record of a mobile network. With this novel methodology, the extraction of extreme points using the orthogonal projection decrease the complexity of the classification algorithm to obtain key information about network usage. Experimental results show how the proposed methodology selects and classifies network behavior patterns using a simple classification algorithm and how these patterns could be used to find, for instance, anomalies in the network, track human mobility, undertake network planning, detect events in the network, etc.


Objective: To examine the validity of the Nasometer (KayPENTAX, Lincoln Park, NJ) in measuring the temporal characteristics of nasalization by comparing the Nasometer measures to the measures from an external criterion procedure. Design: Speech samples consisted of three rate-controlled nonsense syllables, which varied in their vowel compositions: /izinizi/, /azanaza/, and /uzunuzu/. Acoustic data were recorded simultaneously through the Nasometer and an external criterion procedure (a specialized microphone set that collected acoustic signals separately for the nasal and oral channels). Speech segment durations measured from the two instrumental conditions were compared on the Nasometer display and the Computerized Speech Lab (KayPENTAX, Lincoln Park, NJ) display. Five durational variables were measured: total utterance duration, nasal onset interval, nasal consonant duration, nasal offset interval, and total nasalization duration. Participants: Fourteen normal adults who speak American English as their first language participated in the study. Results: No significant differences were found between the measures from the Nasometer and those from an external criterion procedure in all the durational variables pertinent to nasalization. Different vowels, however, yielded significantly different patterns in these durational variables, in which the low vowel /a/ context revealed significantly longer total nasalization duration than did the high vowel /i/ and /u/ contexts. Conclusions: The results suggest that the Nasometer can be used as a valid tool to measure the temporal characteristics underlying nasalization and confirm significant vowel effects on the temporal patterns of nasalization.


The Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is composed of a large number of sensor nodes with limited computation communication, and battery facilities. One of the common applications of this network is environment monitoring through sensing motion, measuring temperature, humidity and radiation. One of the basic activities in WSN is data gathering which represents a great challenge. Many routing protocols are proposed for that network to collect and aggregate the data. The most popular ones are hierarchy and data centric routing protocols. The main goal of this study is to identify the most preferable routing protocol, to be used in each mobility model. This paper studies the performance of LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) from hierarchy routing protocol and direct diffusion from data centric routing protocol which is not clarified until now. Moreover, a comparison between LEACH and direct diffusion protocol using NS2 simulator will be made, and an analysis of these protocols will be conducted. The comparison includes packet delivery ratio, throughput, average energy ratio, average delay, network lifetime, and routing overhead. The performance is evaluated by varying the number of sensor nodes under three mobility models Reference Point Group Mobility Model (RPGM), Manhattan and random waypoint mobility model. Simulation results show that LEACH routing protocol has a good performance in RPGM and Manhattan than random waypoint mobility model. Direct diffusion has a good performance in random waypoint mobility model than in RPGM and Manhattan mobility model.


Thank you very much. Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking the American Society of International Law for this valuable opportunity to speak at the Annual Meeting of one of the preeminent legal organizations in the world. Of the four courts represented in this panel, the ICC is the youngest one, but over the last 10 years, the ICC has grown from a court on paper into a fully functioning international judicial institution. I will just make some points without any particular order with respect to the development or progress we have made over the last 10 years. The most significant development in relation to the Assembly of States Parties' legislative role thus far took place in 2010 when the states parties agreed on amendments to the Rome Statute regarding the crime of aggression. However, these amendments will enter into force in 2017 at the earliest. In the meantime, the ICC is exercising its jurisdiction with respect to three other categories of international crimes, as you know: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Last year, eight new suspects appeared before our judges--more than in all previous years combined. On the other hand, 10 persons sought by the International Criminal Court remain at large. Two weeks ago, the ICC issued its first judgment convicting Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for conscripting and enlisting children under 15 years of age and using them to participate actively in hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lubanga's guilty verdict is a landmark moment in the short history of the ICC. For the first time in the history of humanity, countries have come together and established a permanent means of holding serious human right abusers accountable while providing a fair system of justice, even for the most heinous crimes. I guess this is how we build a safer, more secure world. I think the Lubanga decision is also a significant marker for the development of international law. It has laid the groundwork for the kind of trial that many other notorious perpetrators of war crimes involving child soldiers would perhaps deserve. We showed, and you witnessed, the ICC mature from a fledgling institution to one which delivers results, holds mass killers accountable, and helps bring justice to their victims. The precedents set in this particular case will affect how the ICC administers justice in the future. Increasingly, the world is turning its eyes to the ICC whenever reports of atrocities committed with impunity emerge from any part of the world. The unanimous decision of the United Nations Security Council to refer the Libya situation to the ICC with the affirmative votes of the United States, China, Russia, and India was one of the strongest indicators of this growing international confidence in the ICC's role. Thus far, we have 120 states parties, and more will soon join us, but what I frequently find in my discussions with senior government officials from various countries is that lack of information and misconceptions are frequently the major obstacles to joining the ICC system. As I did this morning when I had a small-scale discussion with a few members of the U.S. Congress, two of the key points I always stress are (1) the principle of complementarity, meaning that national jurisdictions always have the primary responsibilities to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes; and (2) the Rome Statute requirements that shall always subject every initiative taken by the prosecutor of the ICC to strict judicial scrutiny. I guess I am trying to dispel some suspicions that are widely shared by certain countries or people by pointing these two particular features of the Rome Statute out to them. …


History DAVIES, W.D. & FINKELSTEIN, L., The Cambridge History of Judaism Volume I: The Persian Period, Cambridge: CUP, 1984. Pp. xvi + 464. Cloth, £33.00. ISBN 0-521-21880-2. This is the long-awaited first of four volumes which will cover the period 587 BCE-250 CE. The first three chapters, on geography, numismatics and chronology, introduce the whole series; the remaining ten essays cover much more than history, including Prophecy and Psalms, Persian religion and Wisdom literature. The editors have rightly refrained from attempting to eliminate differences of opinion among the eminent contributors. There are excellent bibliographies.


—Cost-maps are used by robotic vehicles to plan collision-free paths. The cost associated with each cell in the map represents the sensed environment information which is often determined manually after several trial-and-error efforts. In off-road environments, due to the presence of several types of features, it is challenging to handcraft the cost values associated with each feature. Moreover, different handcrafted cost values can lead to different paths for the same environment which is not desirable. In this paper, we address the problem of learning the cost-map values from the sensed environment for robust vehicle path planning. We propose a novel framework called as CAMEL using deep learning approach that learns the parameters through demonstrations yielding an adaptive and robust cost-map for path planning. CAMEL has been trained on multi-modal datasets such as RELLIS-3D. The evaluation of CAMEL is carried out on an off-road scene simulator (MAVS) and on field data from IISER-B campus. We also perform real- world implementation of CAMEL on a ground rover. The results shows flexible and robust motion of the vehicle without collisions in unstructured terrains.


Positive and negative aspects of dyslexia were explored within the Iranian context. Dyslexia can be considered either as a deficit or merely as a difference. In this study 26 dyslexic primary-school students in Tehran were matched with 26 nondyslexics. The Shirazi and Nilipur (2004) Diagnostic Reading Test was administered to identify any significant difference in reading ability between the two groups. Then the Torrance (1974; as cited in Alizadeh, 1994) Creativity Test (Form B, picture subtest) and the Cornoldi (1995; as cited in Kakavand, 2003) Test of Visual-Spatial and Verbal Memory were used. Nondyslexics outperformed dyslexics significantly in visual-verbal memory of words for concrete objects and abstract concepts and in audio-verbal memory of words for abstract concepts. Dyslexic students performed significantly better in visual and audio memory of concrete words compared to abstract concepts; their visual-spatial memory was better than their visual-semantic memory, and their pictorial memory was also better than their verbal memory. Dyslexic students scored higher than nondyslexics for original thinking and equally as high in overall creativity. These findings indicate that a change of attitude is needed toward dyslexics.


Introduction: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial diseases worldwide that can present as asymptomatic or symptomatic characterized by a wide range of symptoms from mild irritative voiding to bacteremia, sepsis or even death. Increase in resistance of urinary pathogens to conventional antimicrobial agents is gaining the attention of many microbiologists worldwide in respect to treatment of urinary tract infection. Since the pattern of bacterial resistance is continuously changing, the monitoring of antibiotic susceptibility pattern becomes more important. Objective: The objective of this study was to update the distribution of current urinary pathogens and to find out their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. Methods: A Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted at Border Guard Hospital (BGB Hospital) Peelkhana, Dhaka during the period of February 2013 to September 2013. A total of three hundred ninety urine samples were collected from patients with suspected UTI. All the samples were clean catch mid stream urine. Urine samples were cultured on MacConkey agar medium and blood agar medium. Colony counts yielding single type of bacterial growth of 105 CFU/ml were deemed significant. Results: Out of 390 samples, 49(12.56%) samples were culture positive. The isolated organisms were identified by conventional methods and were subjected to determine antimicrobial susceptibility testing by Kirby Bauer's disc diffusion method. Escherichia coli (E.coli) was found as the most prevalent isolates 31(63.26%) followed by klebsiella spp 06(12.24%), Enterobacter spp o4(8.17%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 04(8.17%), Staphylococcus aureus (Staph aureus) 02(4.08%) and Enterococcus spp 02(4.08%). Eight antimicrobial agents namely Amoxycillin, Co-trimoxazole, Levofloxacin, Nitrofurantoin, Gentamicin, Ceftriaxone, Imipenem and Amikacin were used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The most effective drug found against urinary isolates was Imipenem (95.91%), followed by Amikacin (81.63%) and Ceftriaxone (69.38%). None of the drug found was 100% effective against urinary pathogens. E.coli was found to be fairly sensitive to Ceftriaxone, Gentamicin and Nitrofurantoin. Conclusion: Urinary tract infection remains one of the most common bacterial infections. Antimicrobial drug resistance is increasing among urinary pathogens. This study updated the current occurrence of urinary pathogens and their antibiotic sensitivity pattern. We recommend periodical determination of antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of urinary pathogens in a particular hospital or area. Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.10(2) 2014


The Designated Emphasis (DE) in Critical Theory enables graduate students already enrolled in UC Berkeley PhD programs from across the social sciences, arts, and humanities to obtain certification of a Designated Emphasis specialization in Critical Theory. (The DE is not an independent degree-granting program.) Students admitted to the DE who complete its requirements will receive a parenthetical notation to that effect on their doctoral degrees. The program offers graduate fellowships, hosts international scholars, and presents lectures, seminars, and other events for the wider campus community and local public. Critical Theory also maintains important collaborative relations with other critical theory institutes and programs nationally and internationally.


The measurement of left ventricular function is greatly enhanced when the three-dimensional shape of the ventricle can be closely assessed by biplane angiocardiograms taken from two perpendicular X-ray camera sets. The ventricle shape can be reconstructed by dividing each of the two orthogonal projection images into corresponding slices, processing each pair of corresponding slices to form a binary cross-sectional image, and stacking up these parallel cross-sectional images. Existing methods of reconstructing cross sections often involve assumptions of elliptic shape or convex symmetry. Recently, a new approach was proposed to reconstruct each cross section by estimating an equal-divisor curve instead of estimating the boundary directly. The approach works well as long as a certain regularity condition (a much relaxed assumption) is satisfied. The notion is extended to the equal-divisor surface of a three-dimensional object with two orthogonal projections. A method for the direct three-dimensional reconstruction of the left ventricle (instead of piling up the parallel reconstructed two-dimensional cross sections) is given. >


ABSTRACT Turkey possess one of the most vibrant educational systems in the World. This study specifically aims at revealing Turkish school principals' perceptions about the large-scale changes imposed by the Ministry of Education and the strategies they follow for coping with these changes. The study was designed as a generic qualitative study. Twenty principals from different schools at different levels were identified through snowball sampling and semi-structured interviews were conducted with each of them. The decoupling between change interventions and the needed change, inappropriate change implementation process, the passive role of the school principals in the design phase of change interventions are some of the major challenges that school principals encounter. The passivity of the principals during design phase put them into a state of reluctant activeness to find out resources, create readiness and adopt a mediating role between top authority and the teachers in order to implement the imposed changes.


Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important crop among Brazilian smallholder farmers, who are also responsible for 40% of the poultry and egg production in the country. Although poultry litter is considered a potential pollutant, if properly stabilized and distributed in the field it can be used as a source of nitrogen for maize production. In this study, the response of maize to mineral fertilizer and poultry litter as source of nitrogen was evaluated and the results were then used to parameterize a processbased model. For both sources of nitrogen used in the second trial the average observed yield was higher than the average yield obtained by farmers during the preceding years, indicating that there is a potential for improvement of maize yield in the region. A rate of 195 kg ha -1 of nitrogen as poultry litter provided a slightly higher yield than a rate of 145 kg ha -1 of nitrogen as mineral fertilizer. After adjustments in the CSM-CERES-Maize cultivar-specific coefficients the model satisfactorily simulated maize anthesis, physiological maturity and yield. Poultry litter has the potential to be an alternative source of nitrogen for maize production in smallholder farms. The CSM-CERES-Maize model properly simulated maize growth, development and yield for both, mineral fertilizer and poultry litter sources of nitrogen.


The electromagnetic (EM) barrier, the magnetic (M) shunt and a combination of both are widely used in electrical devices in order to control stray fields and effectively reduce the power loss that may lead to hazardous local overheating. This paper focuses on the 3-D finite element modeling and validation of multishielding at power frequencies. The hybrid (M+EM) shielding behavior of the current magnetic shunt configuration is numerically and experimentally examined and is compared to other types. The leakage flux complementary-based measurement method of stray-field loss is also proposed and verified based on the benchmark shielding models.


This paper explores the connections between broad indicators of economic conditions in the New York Metropolitan area and their national counterparts. Our examination provides two different views of the metropolitan economy. First, as is well known, employment growth in the region over the last seven years has been very poor, both in absolute terms and relative to the nation, suggesting a region in decline. On the other hand, the region's income growth has been considerably better, suggesting a region whose goods and services remain in healthy demand. Some methods of analyzing the data suggest that national and regional variables are more closely connected than they have been in a generation. Notwithstanding this, VAR analysis indicates that regional factors were the initial catalysts for the local recession in the 1990s. However, this analysis also indicates that national developments, in particular the slow growth in employment following the 1990-91 recession, have been important factors behind the persistence of the local recession. This is unlike the experience of the 1970s, when regional factors were primarily responsible for prolonging that recession.


When using the human mind as a template for artificial intelligence systems, principles of human thinking have to be modeled. One such very important principle is defense. Hence, in this article we describe a formalism to implement psychoanalytic defense mechanisms in artificial intelligence systems. They can be seen as transformations. A tuple1 consisting of perceptions or drives (of a software agent in our case) combined with a value indicating their strength is transformed into a different tuple, if a potential interpretation is considered inappropriate by the defense. Some types of defense mechanisms can easily be transformed. Other more difficult ones and abstract types of defense mechanisms are transformed by the use of transformation tables. The transformations can alter, suppress or pass each of the components of a tuple or the whole tuple. In this article we show the transformation tables, we give a categorization of defense mechanisms, we show the general form of the transformations and we show some examples of transformations and ways to implement them in artificial intelligence.


The fourth version of the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Regional Climate Model (RegCM4) model is evaluated for its performance over Upper Blue Nile River Basin Region (UBNRBR). The model rainfall captured the observed spatial and temporal variability of rainfall over the basin during the spring (MAM) and summer (JJA) seasons. The simulation dataset is generated using the RegCM4 for the period 1982–2009. The UBNRBR is first divided into 14 homogeneous regions using criteria including Rotated Empirical Orthogonal Function (REOF), spatial correlation and topographical features. Spatially averaged observed and simulated rainfall time series are then generated and analyzed for each region. Standardized rainfall anomalies of the observations and the simulated data are highly correlated over most of central regions, while a weak correlation is found over the east border regions of the basin. The dominant modes of rainfall variability are identified using REOF. The first leading patterns of rainfall and upper wind (averaged between 100 and 300 hpa) are highly correlated and exhibit similar features between simulated and observed dataset over the basin. Similarly, the first loading pattern of low level wind (averaged between 850 and 1000 hpa) exhibits a dipole structure across the southwestern and southeastern regions of the UBNRBR. The correlations with significant rotated principal components (RPCs) across gridded gauge, and model rainfall fields with that of low- and upper level winds show the presence of significant relationship (correlation exceeding ~0.6). Overall, that the RegCM4 shows a good performance in simulating the spatial and temporal variability of precipitation over UBNRBR.


The Moscow Oncology Institute was opened on November 18 (December 1) 1903 and named "Institute for Treatment of Malignant Tumors at Moscow University". With the lapse of time this name was changed several times. In 1947 it was named after a prominent Soviet surgeon P.A. Herzen. It is the oldest in Russia and one of the oldest in the world institutions for oncology researches.


Evaporative cooling has led to the coldest temperatures ever observed in the universe: sub-microkelvin temperatures generated in atom traps. It turned out to be the key technique to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation, a long-sought goal in atomic physics. Evaporation describes the process of energetic particles leaving a system with a finite binding energy. This process results in cooling: since the evaporating particles carry away more than their share of thermal energy, the temperature of the system decreases. Here we demonstrate experimentally the condensation of exciton-polaritons through evaporative cooling. A cold fraction of exciton-polaritons condenses in an optically induced two-dimensional trap inside the crystal, decoupled from the decoherence inducing excitonic reservoir. We detect a characteristic Bogolyubov dispersion of the condensate with a sound velocity proportional to the square root of the number of trapped quasi-particles and extract the polariton-polariton interaction strength. In a reference experiment, where the evaporative cooling mechanism is switched off by changing the excitation intensity profile, polariton condensation takes place for excitation densities one order of magnitude higher and the resulting condensate is subject to a much stronger dephasing. These observations pave the way to the realisation of polariton logic devices including optically controlled transistors and ultrafast switches as well as the study of bosonic superfluid effects in semiconductor microcavities.


This study investigates the extent to which assimilating high-resolution remotely sensed cloud cover into the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University‐National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU‐NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5) provides an improved regional diagnosis of downward shortwave surface radiation fluxes and precipitation and enhances the model's ability to make short-range prediction. The high-resolution (4 km 3 4 km) clear- and cloudy-sky radiances derived using a cloud-screening algorithm from visible band Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) data were used in the University of Maryland Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment's Surface Radiation Budget (UMD GEWEX/SRB) model to infer the vertically integrated cloud mass via cloud optical thickness. Three-dimensional cloud fields were created that took their horizontal distribution from the satellite image but derived their vertical distribution, in part, from the fields simulated by MM5 during the time step immediately prior to assimilation and, in part, from the observed cloudtop height derived from the infrared band of GOES. Linear interpolation was used to derive 1-min cloud images between 15-min GOES samples, and the resulting images were ingested every minute. Comparisons were made between modeled and observed data taken from the Arizona Meteorological Network (AZMET) in southern Arizona for model runs with and without cloud ingestion. Cloud ingestion substantially improved the ability of the MM5 model to capture temporal and spatial variations in surface fields associated with cloud cover. Experiments in which the model was operated in forecast mode suggest that cloud ingestion gave some limited enhancement in MM5 short-term prediction ability for up to 3 h. However, an analysis suggests that, in order to get additional forecasting capability, it will be necessary to modify the atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics in the model to be consistent with the ingested cloud fields.


Objectives. To define the incidence rate of urinary tract infections (UTI) and the usefulness of antibiotic prophylaxis in postmenopausal female undergoing invasive urodynamics (IU). Methods. 262 postmenopausal females underwent IU, being previously double-blindly randomized in 2 homogenous age-matched groups. Group 1 (130 patients) received oral antibiotic prophylaxis with a single 400 mg dose of norfloxacin. Group 2 (132 patients) was given placebo. The statistical analysis was performed using a Chi-Square test, in order to evaluate any difference between groups for UTI incidence rate. Results. 54 patients out of 262 (20.6%) developed a UTI [24 out of 130 subjects who received antibiotic prophylaxis (18.4%), and 30 out of 132 subjects who received placebo (22.7%)]. As per the UTI incidence rate, no statically significant difference (p>.05) was shown between patients receiving and those not receiving the antibiotic prophylaxis. Conclusions. The UTI incidence rate in postmenopausal women undergoing urodynamics is not affected by the administration of antibiotic prophylax.


. In order to improve the dynamic response rapidity and positioning precision for pneumatic 6-DOF parallel robot from the structural design aspect, a mathematical model of natural frequency for the parallel robot is developed based on dynamic equation by using vibration theory. The influences of structural parameters on minimal natural frequency are analyzed by simulation and an optimization rule of structural parameters based on minimal natural frequency is proposed. The optimization rule has advantages of simplification and efficiency, which provides a new theoretical gist for optimization of structural parameters as well as for checking the results of the actual natural frequency for pneumatic 6-DOF parallel robot. And this new rule is also valuable for structural optimization design of other similar parallel robot.


This article analyzes the themes of class and military service in the Springsteen canon. As a member of the baby boom generation who narrowly missed service in Vietnam, Springsteen's reflection on these heretofore unappreciated themes should not be surprising. Springsteen's emergence as a musician and American icon coincide with the end of conscription and the introduction of the All-Volunteer Force in 1973. He became an international superstar as Americans were debating the meaning of the post-Vietnam era and the patriotic resurgence of the Reagan era. Because of this context, Springsteen himself became involved in veterans issues and was a voice of protest against the 2003 Iraq War.


Objective
To evaluate family-related stressors and resources associated with the depressive symptoms of military members and their spouses.

Background
Most deployment-related research has focused on deployment and reintegration, but there is a dearth of information about military families during the pre-deployment phase. Family stress theory provided a valuable lens from which to view family-related risk and protective factors associated with adaptation during times of stressful transition.

Method
Data were gathered using an online survey from 151 U.S. Army National Guard members and their spouses preparing for a scheduled deployment. Hierarchical regression was utilized to examine associations between the independent variables (e.g., stress pileup, informal and formal resources, deployment preparation) and participants' depressive symptoms.

Results
Results revealed that aspects of stress pileup were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Informal resources and deployment preparation, but not formal resources, had statistically significant negative associations with individuals' depressive symptoms. Findings were similar for military members and spouses.

Conclusion
Results indicated that logistical and instrumental preparation, in addition to informal resources such as effective family functioning and social support, are important for positive adaptation in times of stressful transition.

Implications
Family service professionals may want to assist families with identifying and strengthening their family support and improving family functioning, as well as guide families in a process of identifying the instrumental and logistical tasks that are necessary or helpful for an impending transition.


The current economic climate demands more innovative approaches to increasing labor market participation for people with disabilities. Social entrepreneurship offers one alternative pathway to employment. However, little is known about the motivational and attitudinal factors influencing social entrepreneurship for people with disabilities. Using empirical data from focus groups comprised of social entrepreneurs with disabilities, and interviews with key stakeholders working in the fields of policy, disability, and business, this research frames its analysis in the intersection of disability studies and entrepreneurial studies to explore: what motivates people with disabilities to pursue social entrepreneurship, if they continue to encounter attitudinal barriers and discrimination, and whether motivational and attitudinal factors affect their social entrepreneurship. Findings indicate that despite social entrepreneurship having been promoted as a strategy for circumventing employment discrimination, the individuals with disabilities in this research continued to encounter attitudinal barriers and discrimination affecting their employment decisions. Future research should focus on interrogating what might be gained in the spaces where need and opportunity intersect and exploring the extent to which motivations overlap for social entrepreneurs with disabilities in theory, policy, and practice.


To determine a renal tubular mechanism for the natriuretic effect of dopamine (DA) and DA-1 agonists, we measured Na(+)-H+ exchange activity (amiloride sensitive) in rat renal cortical brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV). Renal cortical tissues were preincubated with ligands before BBMV preparation to study Na(+)-H+ exchange activity in the absence of the added ligands that may compete for ion binding sites of the exchanger. DA and DA-1 agonist-inhibited Na(+)-H+ exchange activity was concentration and time dependent. The inhibitory effect was not due to increased permeability, collapse of the proton gradient, or change in vesicle size and did not extend to Na(+)-glucose symport. DA-2 agonists had no effect, whereas alpha-adrenergic agonists increased Na(+)-H+ exchange activity. Kinetic analysis revealed that the DA-1 agonist inhibited Na(+)-H+ exchange activity by a noncompetitive process. 2',5'-Dideoxyadenosine inhibited adenylate cyclase activity and reversed the inhibitory effect of DA-1 agonist on the exchanger. H4, an isoquinoline sulfonamide, which inhibits protein kinase A, also reversed the inhibitory effect of DA-1 agonist on the exchanger. Thus the DA-1 agonist-mediated inhibition of Na(+)-H+ exchange activity in BBMV is a receptor-mediated adenylate cyclase-linked process.


In recent years, many countries have adopted policies aiming to promote the rights of people with disabilities to full and equal participation in society. In Africa, some countries have made progress in introducing disability-related legislation, but many of these laws have not yet been implemented, and in others, existing national laws need to be reviewed in order to achieve equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities. The country study for Zambia is part of an ILO project, "Promoting the employability and employment of people with disabilities through effective legislation". The first phase of the programme (2001-2004) aimed at enhancing the capacity of national governments in selected countries of East Africa and Asia1 to implement effective legislation concerning the employment of people with disabilities. Phase 2 of the project (2004-2007) is extending coverage to several additional countries (Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa and Zambia in Africa and Viet Nam in Asia), with a broadened focus on provisions for vocational training and skills development. This country study outlines the main provisions of the laws and policies in place in Zambia concerning the employment and training of people with disabilities. An initial review of the implementation of the legislation is also provided. A concluding comment underlines the progress made in the country and points to areas that have been identified, by key stakeholders or in the literature, as in need of further improvement. It may be read in conjunction with the regional overview prepared for the Technical Consultation in 2002, "Employment of people with disabilities The impact of legislation (East Africa),Technical Consultation Report, Addis Ababa, 20-22 May 2002", ILO, 2002.


We present a theoretical analysis of what we believe to be a new color constancy method that inputs two chromaticities of an identical surface taken under two blackbody illuminations. By using the Planck formula for modeling spectra of outdoor illumination and by assuming that a narrowband camera sensitivity function is sufficiently narrow, surface colors can be estimated mathematically. Experiments with simulation and real data have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the method. The results showed that although this method is a perfect vehicle for simulation data, it produces significant errors with real data. A thorough investigation of the cause of errors indicates how important the assumptions on both blackbody illuminations and narrowband camera sensitivities are to the method. Finally, we discuss the robustness of our method and the limitation of solving color constancy using the illumination constraint.


This paper looks into the communication factor in Greek foreign policy. It aims at identifying communication patterns and models used to convey Greek foreign policy positions abroad. It examines critically the efficacy of the applied practice and argues that the communication factor has been disregarded by foreign policy-makers, making successful promotion of Greek foreign policy problematic and hurting the image of the country internationally. The paper suggests that Greece should invest in public diplomacy, especially relationship building, in order to communicate its foreign policy more effectively.


The first aim of the thesis was to collect and review systematically, and to appraise critically the available evidence stemming from physiotherapy and physiotherapy-related studies in patients with stroke. It can be concluded that the application of physiotherapy improves performance to execute regular daily activities by patients with stroke. As the systematic reviews in this thesis demonstrate, walking ability in patients with stroke can best be improved by interventions to train specific functional gait and gait related tasks, e.g., gait training added by external auditory rhythms during gait, or on a treadmill, with and without body weight support. Functional use of the paretic arm and hand can best be improved by for instance constraint-induced movement therapy, and activities of daily living (ADL), for instance sit-to-stand transfers by frequent training of taking a seat and standing up. Based on the review results physiotherapists involved in stroke management were recommended to train their patients intensively and in a task- and context specific manner. The favourable effect on ADL is shown, if patients received augmented therapy for at least 16 hours within the first 6 months post stroke. On the basis of these findings, recommendations were made, that permitted guidance of the clinical decision-making process of physiotherapists involved in the care of patients with stroke, presented as the Clinical practice Guideline on Physiotherapy management of patients with Stroke (CPGPS), the first physiotherapy specific stroke guideline worldwide. The CPGPS states 72 recommendations which concern three important aspects of physiotherapy: 1) prediction of functional recovery of ADL, including walking ability and hand/arm use, 2) selection of cost-effective physiotherapy interventions, and 3) selection of relevant outcome measures, of which seven are to be seen as a minimal optional base, to determine impairments and activity limitations. The second aim was to integrate the recommendations of the guideline into daily physiotherapists' practice. Subsequently, one part of the clinical practice guideline related with using the core set of outcome measures was implemented. The use of outcome measures by professionals can be seen as a useful indicator of guideline adherence. A survey was carried out on Dutch physiotherapists involved in stroke management (N=400; effective response: 43%). On the base of this survey can be concluded that responders demonstrate a positive attitude for the use of outcome measures but still claim to use only three out of the seven recommended instruments. Based on an analysis of barriers and facilitators of implementation, an educational program was performed, the Physiotherapists Educational Program Clinimetrics in Stroke (PEPCiS). In a randomized controlled feasibility study differences were detected between a group of physiotherapists trained by either a tutor with high-experience with outcome measures in stroke versus a group trained by a tutor with low-experience. After PEPCiS, both groups reported the use of outcome measures more often in their patient records, from 3 to 6 for those trained by the expert-tutor and from 3 to 4 for the non-expert trained group. However the between-group differences were not statistically significant (p=0.07).


This project argues that the rhetoric of perfection is a form of authoritative discourse that has its roots not only in the formation of ballet, but also the formation of culture as a whole where its hold extends particularly to women. Ballet's rhetoric of perfection is thus a microcosm of a rhetoric of perfection that functions in and is perpetuated by society at large. This project will first describe ballet's culture of perfection and its dominant rhetoric of perfection. Then, I explain how the rhetoric of perfection operates in both body and language and how this rhetoric is enforced through surveillance and rendering the dancer docile. I will then demonstrate that perfection is impossible at the level of materiality and the places that the rhetoric of perfection begins to obviously break down. From here, I will introduce the concept of a rhetoric of performance that exists within ballet's culture of perfection as an alternative to the rhetoric of perfection. I will establish, through analysis of dancers' autobiographies, that the rhetoric of performance may also strive for an ideal that is unreachable, but it only asks the dancer to continue to explore her inner depths for a deeper connection to this rhetoric, rather than seeking external approval.


Condition-based maintenance (CBM) is a promising strategy in reducing the operating cost for modern high-speed rail (HSR), especially for train wheelsets. This paper presents a research effort on wheel defect detection in high-speed trains by devising a fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based online monitoring system deployed on rail tracks to detect both wheel local defect and wheel polygonization during the passage of in-service high-speed trains. A diagnostic algorithm is developed using the online monitoring rail response to automatically identify both potential wheel local defects and polygonal wears. The devised monitoring system is then deployed on a test track to experimentally verify its capability to detect wheel defects. Two blind tests are conducted by running a train with potential wheel local defects and wheel polygonization on the instrumented rail, respectively. Results indicate that both local defects and polygonal wears can be identified with high fidelity, with the identified results being in good agreement with the results of radius deviation measurement later conducted offline in a depot.


Commercial chatbots such as Apple's Siri, Microsoft's XiaoIce, Amazon's Alexa, Jingdong's JIMI, and Alibaba's Alime, have some great prospective in applications such as hosting programs, writing poetry, providing pre-sale consulting and after-sales service in E-commerce, and providing virtual shopping guidance. However, in most cases, existed chatbots in the world are neither designed specifically for children, nor suitable for children, especially for children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). In order to develop chatbots that are suitable for children with ASD, the present study firstly adopted an open source chatting corpus containing more than 1.7 million question-and-answer Chinese sentences of chatting histories involving children in many cases, and screened out more than 400,000 ideal chatting sentences for model training. Then a generative-based method combing Bi-LSTM and attention mechanism with word embedding based on deep neural network was adopted to build a general Chinese chatbot. The quality evaluation results indicated that our chatbot can successfully intrigue participants' interest and made them understand it well. The chatbot also showed its' great potential for using in the conversation-mediated intervention for Chinese children with ASD.


The study of reference often leads to addressing fundamental issues in semantics, metaphysics and epistemology this suggests that reference is closely linked to the three realms. The overall purpose of this study is to elucidate the structure of some of these links, through a close exarriination of the "mechanism" of reference. As in many other enquiries, considering the possible (i.e., the modal,) in addition to the actual proves very helpful in clarifying and explicating insights. The reference of a term with respect to possible worlds is commonly called "intension" so this is a study of intensions. The main contribution of the study is an outline for a "calculator" of intensions. It is argued that the intension of a term is a function of three variables: (a) the way in which the term "picks out" its referent in different possible worlds (semantics) (b) criteria of identity (metaphysics) and (c) the actual state of affairs (actuality). While considering different possible values for these variables, it is demonstrated how the variables combine to generate the term's intension. In other words, the result is a calculator that when provided with the required values, yields the reference of the term in different possible worlds. By taking into account the possible gap between what we take the values of these variables to be and what they may in fact be, we also gain important insights into the epistemic aspect of reference. In addition, since a "rigid designator" is a term with constant intension, the proposed thesis provides an elaborate account of rigidity. The first chapter is devoted to the development of the calculator of intensions. Each of the following three chapters elaborates on one aspect of intensions, namely, the semantic, metaphysical and epistemic aspects. In the course of these chapters, various familiar puzzles pertaining to the respective philosophical realms are addressed (many of these puzzles are discussed in Kripke's Naming and Necessity a. work that considerably inspired this study). In the fifth and last chapter the analysis of intensions is applied to two case-studies from relatively recent philosophical literature: the Kripke-Lewis debate over the identity theory of mind, and the debate over the significance of Donnellan's referential/attributive distinction. The novel accounts that these applications generate purport to illustrate the importance and originality of the proposed thesis.


Highly laminated tight gas sand sequences remain prolific targets worldwide and have often been bypassed using standard petrophysical analysis and simple porosity cut-off technique. The problem becomes more acute in marginal tight gas reservoirs. The high cost of hydraulic fracturing increases the need for an effective and useable petrophysical model for an accurate productivity indication of the target interval. The pressure to avoid non-economical completions continues to leave hydrocarbons bypassed. Using recent advances in logging technology and production optimization modeling, the thinly laminated gas bearing permeable sands can be discerned from clay dispersed in silt and sand. A true net height can now be obtained. Through production optimization modeling, it is possible to assess the economic viability of completing and stimulating highly laminated interval. In this paper, we will show a case study from a South Texas tight gas sand field. Several wells were evaluated using micro-resistivity imaging. From this an enhanced high-resolution petrophysical analysis was created. This image-enhanced evaluation of reservoir properties was combined with production modeling. The production performance was simulated for each interval and used for recommendations on completion strategies. Additional pay intervals, normally bypassed, were perforated and hydraulically stimulated. We compared production data from offset wells that used standard petrophysical analysis to the results of the newer wells with the high-resolution analysis. The results indicated that actual field production increased and paid out the increased fracture stimulation cost. Production logs acquired across entire intervals confirmed that portions of the field produced from horizons that were previously bypassed. This process is useful for any highly laminated tight gas sand sequence and is of widespread applicability. Previously bypassed intervals can now be assessed and completed effectively and economically. This process will further add to the reserve base of tight gas.


Fungal infections constitute an emerging threat and a prevalent health problem due to increasing number of immunocompromised people and pharmacological or other treatments aiming at viral infections, cancer or allergies. Currently used antifungals suffer from inefficiency, toxic side effects and developing drug-resistance. Additionally, over the last two decades no new classes of antifungals have been approved, emphasizing the urgent need for developing a novel generation of antifungals. Here, we investigate the antifungal activity of a series of chemically synthesized Hydroxytyrosol (HT) analogs. HT is one of the major phenolic compounds in olive oil, shown to possess radical-scavenging antioxidant, antiproliferative, proapoptotic and anti-inflammatory activities. No previous report has studied HT analogs as antifungals. We show that specific analogs have broad and strong antifungal activity, significantly stronger than the parent compound HT. Using Aspergillus nidulans as an in vivo cellular model system, we show that antifungal HT analogs have an unprecedented efficiency in fungal plasma membrane destruction. Importantly, antifungal HT analogs did not show toxicity in a mammalian cell line, whereas no resistance to HT analogs was obtained by standard mutagenesis. Our results open the way for the development of a novel, efficient and safer class of antifungals.


In this paper the author faces some preliminary methodological issues. According to him the constitutional lawyer cannot base his/her judgment only upon the formal text of the written constitution, but must necessarily take into account the living constitution (which includes conventions of the constitution, customs and actual behaviour of political institutions): in particular when the aim is to determine which happens to be the true role of the President of the Republic within the Italian legal system. Subsequently the author asserts that the seven years of President Napolitano's mandate have definitely established a dualist interpretation of the Italian political regime, especially taking into account the formation of Monti's cabinet. He ends his paper suggesting that a more functional political system should be pursued by limited changes to the constitution to better regulate a parliamentary form of government within which the role of the President as part of the executive is openly recognized. The myth of a President impartial and neutral guarantor, a sort of nanny of the entire political system, should be abandoned once and for all.


The ecologically important white rot basidiomycete Hypholoma fasciculare was previously shown to produce large amounts of adsorbable organic halogens (AOX). The purposes of this study were to identify the time period of AOX production in relation to the primary and secondary metabolic phases of the growth cycle of the fungus, to determine the maximal specific AOX production rates and final AOX yields on the different substrates and to account for the measured AOX in identifiable compounds. The AOX production was observed to take place during the transition between the primary and secondary metabolic phases of the growth cycle of the fungus. The maximum AOX production rates ranged from 0.63 to 3.23 mg AOX per gram of dry mycelium per day and the final AOX yields ranged from 0.88 and 1.50 percent of dry weight of mycelium on five different substrates including natural woody substrates. The AOX produced by the fungus was stable in all five substrates, even after prolonged incubation periods. However, the composition of the AOX changed drastically. Initially most of the AOX was accounted for by the compound 3,5-dichloro-p-anisyl alcohol; however, after prolonged incubation this compound was largely converted into 3,5-dichloro-p-anisic acid in N-rich medium and into unidentified organohalogens in N-limited medium.


The framework of feedback graphs is a generalization of sequential decision-making with bandit or full information feedback. In this work, we study an extension where the directed feedback graph is stochastic, following a distribution similar to the classical Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi model. Specifically, in each round every edge in the graph is either realized or not with a distinct probability for each edge. We prove nearly optimal regret bounds of order $\min\bigl\{\min_{\varepsilon} \sqrt{(\alpha_\varepsilon/\varepsilon) T},\, \min_{\varepsilon} (\delta_\varepsilon/\varepsilon)^{1/3} T^{2/3}\bigr\}$ (ignoring logarithmic factors), where $\alpha_{\varepsilon}$ and $\delta_{\varepsilon}$ are graph-theoretic quantities measured on the support of the stochastic feedback graph $\mathcal{G}$ with edge probabilities thresholded at $\varepsilon$. Our result, which holds without any preliminary knowledge about $\mathcal{G}$, requires the learner to observe only the realized out-neighborhood of the chosen action. When the learner is allowed to observe the realization of the entire graph (but only the losses in the out-neighborhood of the chosen action), we derive a more efficient algorithm featuring a dependence on weighted versions of the independence and weak domination numbers that exhibits improved bounds for some special cases.


We report the first spatially resolved observations of the spectroscopic binaries λ Vir and WR 140, including the debut of aperture-synthesis imaging with the upgraded three-telescope IOTA interferometer. Using IONIC-3, a new integrated optics beam combiner capable of a precise closure phase measurement, short observations were sufficient to extract the angular separation and orientation of each binary system and the component brightness ratio. Most notably, the underlying binary in the prototypical colliding-wind source WR 140 (WC7 + O4/O5) was found to have a separation of ~13 mas with a position angle of 152°, consistent with previous interpretations of the 2001 dust shell ejection only if the Wolf-Rayet star is fainter than the O star at 1.65 μm. We also highlight λ Vir, whose peculiar stellar properties of the Am star components will permit direct testing of current theories of tidal evolution when the full orbit is determined.


CONTEXT
The long-term risk of suicide after a first episode of psychosis is unknown because previous studies often have been based on prevalence cohorts, been biased to more severely ill hospitalized patients, extrapolated from a short follow-up time, and have made a distinction between schizophrenia and other psychoses.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the epidemiology of suicide in a clinically representative cohort of patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis.

DESIGN
Retrospective inception cohort.

SETTING
Geographic catchment areas in London, England (between January 1, 1965, and December 31, 2004; n = 2056); Nottingham, England (between September 1, 1997, and August 31, 1999; n = 203); and Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (between January 1, 1979, and December 31, 1998; n = 464).

PARTICIPANTS
All 2723 patients who presented for the first time to secondary care services with psychosis in the 3 defined catchment areas were traced after a mean follow-up period of 11.5 years.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Deaths by suicide and open verdicts according to the International Classification of Diseases (seventh through tenth editions).

RESULTS
The case fatality from suicide was considerably lower than expected from previous studies (1.9% [53/2723]); the proportionate mortality was 11.9% (53/444). Although the rate of suicide was highest in the first year after presentation, risk persisted late into follow-up, with a median time to suicide of 5.6 years. Suicide occurred approximately 12 times more than expected from the general population of England and Wales (standardized mortality ratio, 11.65; 95% confidence interval, 8.73-15.24), and 49 of the 53 suicides were excess deaths. Even a decade after first presentation-a time when there may be less intense clinical monitoring of risk-suicide risk remained almost 4 times higher than in the general population (standardized mortality ratio, 3.92; 95% confidence interval, 2.22-6.89).

CONCLUSIONS
The highest risk of suicide after a psychotic episode occurs soon after presentation, yet physicians should still be vigilant in assessing risk a decade or longer after first contact. The widely held view that 10% to 15% die of suicide is misleading because it refers to proportionate mortality, not lifetime risk. Nevertheless, there is a substantial increase in risk of suicide compared with the general population.


Summary: The effect of polyene antibiotics upon growth and sterol-induction of oospore production by Pythium periplocum was studied. Filipin and fungichromin markedly inhibited growth and prevented reproduction. Amphotericin B also prevented oospore production but only slightly inhibited growth. Pimaricin slightly inhibited growth and greatly decreased reproduction. Nystatin usually had no effect on growth and slightly stimulated reproduction. At 4 μg./ml., amphotericin B and fungichromin prevented oospore induction by 1 μg. cholesterol/ml. but had no effect on growth. Growth inhibition by amphotericin B and fungichromin was almost completely annulled by higher cholesterol concentrations, and prevention of oospore formation was partially annulled. These results generally support the hypothesis that polyene antibiotics act by interfering with the action of cellular sterols, but the growth inhibition which occurred on sterol-free medium suggests that a second mechanism may be operative.


CONTEXT
An autopsy case of cytomegalovirus (CMV) associated with fatal severe pancreatitis is reported.

CASE REPORT
A 76-year-old man presented with high fever and was admitted to our hospital for evaluation. Imaging modalities, including chest X-ray, CT and MRI, revealed interstitial pneumonia. Blood laboratory tests showed positive anti-nuclear antigen (x 80), but collagen diseases were not identified. The patient was treated with steroids (prednisolone 30 mg/day). Two months later, the patient developed acute abdominal pain. Serum laboratory tests revealed an elevated amylase level (1,296 IU/L), and CT demonstrated acute pancreatitis. The patient died of multiple organ failure from the acute pancreatitis three days after the onset of the acute pancreatitis. An autopsy revealed severe necrotizing acute pancreatitis. Numerous large inclusions of CMV were found in the acinar and ductal cells of the pancreas. Numerous CMV inclusions were also seen in the degenerated and necrotic pancreatic acinar cells. CMV-infected cells were immunohistochemically positive for CMV antigen, CMV early antigen and CMV late antigen, indicating active replication and regression of CMV.

CONCLUSION
The findings strongly suggest that severe CMV infection can occur after steroid administration, and that CMV infection can be the cause of severe fatal acute necrotizing pancreatitis.


BACKGROUND
 Deprescribing, a relatively recent concept, has been proposed as a promising solution to the growing issues of polypharmacy and use of medications of questionable benefit among older adults. However, little is known about the health outcomes of deprescribing interventions.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aims to contribute to the knowledge on deprescribing by addressing two specific objectives: 1) describe the impact of deprescribing in adults' ≥60 years on health outcomes or quality of life; and 2) determine the characteristics of effective interventions in deprescribing.

 METHODS
 Primary studies targeting three concepts (older adults, deprescribing, and health/quality of life outcomes) will be included in the review. The search will be performed using key international databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Ageline, PsycInfo) and a special effort will be made to identify grey literature. Two reviewers will independently screen the articles, extract the information and evaluate the quality of the selected studies. If methodologically feasible, meta-analyses will be performed for groups of intervention studies reporting on deprescribing interventions for similar medications, used for similar or identical indications and reporting on similar outcomes (for example benzodiazepines used against insomnia and reporting on quality of sleep or quality of life). Alternatively, results will be presented in bottom-line statements (Objectives 1) and a matrix outlining effective interventions (Objective 2).

 RESULTS
 The knowledge synthesis may be limited by the availability of high-quality, clinical trials on deprescribing and its outcomes in older adults. Additionally, analyses will likely be affected by studies on the deprescribing of different types of molecules within the same indication, e.g. different pharmacological classes and medications to treat hypertension, and different measures of health and quality of life outcomes for the same indication.

 CONCLUSIONS
 This systematic review will contribute to a better understanding of the health outcomes of deprescribing interventions in seniors.

 CLINICALTRIAL
 Systematic Review Registration Number: CRD42015020866


Objective The aim of the study was to investigate the key factors of balance function in the early subacute phase after stroke. Design Ninety-four stroke patients were included. Multiple variables were evaluated, including demographic factors, clinical variables (stroke type; lesion site; Mini-Mental State Examination; motor strength of the hip, knee, and ankle joints; Fugl-Meyer Assessment of lower extremity), neurophysiological variables (amplitude ratio of somatosensory evoked potential of the tibial nerves), and laterality index of fractional anisotropy of the corticospinal tract using diffusion tensor imaging. Balance function was measured using the Berg Balance Scale. Results The Berg Balance Scale score was significantly negatively correlated with age and laterality index of fractional anisotropy and positively correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination; Fugl-Meyer Assessment of lower extremity; motor strength of the affected hip, knee, and ankle joint; and somatosensory evoked potential amplitude ratio (P < 0.05). The abnormal somatosensory evoked potential group and poor integrity of the corticospinal tract group showed significantly decreased Berg Balance Scale scores. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, age, Fugl-Meyer Assessment of lower extremity score, and ankle plantar flexion strength were significantly associated with balance function (odds ratios = 0.919, 1.181, and 15.244, respectively, P < 0.05). Conclusions Higher age, severe initial motor impairment, and strength of the affected lower limb muscles, especially the ankle plantar flexor, are strongly associated with poor balance function early after stroke. To Claim CME Credits Complete the self-assessment activity and evaluation online at http://www.physiatry.org/JournalCME CME Objectives Upon completion of this article, the reader should be able to: (1) Enhance ability to evaluate motor and balance function of stroke patients by learning common assessment tools including clinical tests, neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies; (2) Explain the important factors associated with balance function impairment in early subacute stroke patients; and (3) Enhance planning rehabilitation strategies for improvement of balance function according to recovery stage after stroke. Level Advanced Accreditation The Association of Academic Physiatrists is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Association of Academic Physiatrists designates this Journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.


This report presents the results of an investigation of blast upgrading of existing structures, which consisted of developing failure prediction methodologies for various structure types, both in 'as built' and in upgraded configurations, and verifying these prediction techniques with full-scale load tests. These upgrading schemes were developed for use as shelters in support of Civil Defense crisis relocation planning. Structure types investigated included wood, steel, and concrete floor and roof systems. The results of this study are being used in the development of a shelter manual presenting the various upgrading concepts in an illustrative workbook form for use in the field.


While open databases are an important resource in the Deep Learning (DL) era, they are sometimes used "off-label": data published for one task are used for training algorithms for a different one. This work aims to highlight that in some cases, this common practice may lead to biased, overlyoptimistic results. We demonstrate this phenomenon for inverse problem solvers and show how their biased performance stems from hidden data preprocessing pipelines. We describe two preprocessing pipelines typical of open-access databases and study their effects on three well-established algorithms developed for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) reconstruction: Compressed Sensing (CS), Dictionary Learning (DictL), and DL. In this large-scale study we performed extensive computations. Our results demonstrate that the CS, DictL and DL algorithms yield systematically biased results when naïvely trained on seemingly-appropriate data: the Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) improves consistently with the preprocessing extent, showing an artificial increase of 25%-48% in some cases. Since this phenomenon is generally unknown, biased results are sometimes published as state-of-the-art; we refer to that as subtle inverse crimes. This work hence raises a red flag regarding naïve off-label usage of Big Data and reveals the vulnerability of modern inverse problem solvers to the resulting bias.


Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in several processes in the skin, including wound healing, pigmentation and regulation of apoptosis. Pharmacological intervention with NO donors appears to be a promising treatment for conditions such as diabetic ulceration. In this issue of Clinical Science, Khan et al. describe the synthesis of a number of NO donors, based on nitrosylated thiosugars, structural changes in which altered the rate of NO release. The in vivo behaviour of one of the donors was then measured by laser Doppler blood flow measurements on the skin. The ability to tailor the pharmacokinetic behaviour of these drugs should be of interest in developing NO donors for clinical use.


In a series of 86,400 pathological examinations 125 cases of pigmented naevus associated with one or several foci of cutaneous ossification were observed. This association, known as osteonaevus of Nanta, account for 1.4 p. 100 of all pigmented naevi. In our series of examinations, osteonaevus was the most frequent cause (62 p. 100) of the 201 skin ossifications observed, the other causes being keratinizing basal cell epithelioma (7 p. 100) and pilomatricoma (5.5 p. 100). The patients' mean age was 46 years (range: 21-80 years), and 81 p. 100 of them were women. In almost every case the lesions were located on the head. The clinical diagnosis was always pigmented naevus, but it coexisted with inflammatory changes in 8 cases, and an underlying induration could be perceived at palpation in 4 cases. In 123 or ou 125 cases the pigmented naevus was restricted to the dermis, junctional theques being present in only 2 cases. The number of ossified foci varied from 1 in 45 p. 100 of the cases to 2 to 4 in 91 p. 100, and in 1 patient up to 8 foci were visible on the same section plane. The lesions presented as compact balls (135 cases), or lamellated bone (126 cases), or spicules of unorganized bone formations. They varied in size from 0.5 mm for balls to 1.5 mm for elements with a central cavity. In the latter were rudiments of bone marrow with capillary vessels, osteoclasts, adipose cells and cells that could be regarded as having haemopoietic functions. All naevi contained hair follicles.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Aim The aim of this prospective clinical trial was to analyze, using the Functional Implant Prosthodontic Score (FIPS), the clinical resultsof three different abutment-implant connections (1 hexagon vs 2 conical types) single-unit restorations after one year of clinical service. Material and methods Thirty patients were restored with cement-retained crowns on soft tissue level implants (10 TTc Windmix, 10 TTk Windmix and 10 Aadva GC) in posterior sites and followed-up for 1 year. FIPS was applied for objective outcome assessment beside clinical and radiographic examinations. Five variables were defined for evaluation, resulting in a maximum score of 10 per implant restoration. The patients' level of satisfaction was recorded and correlated with FIPS. Results All implants and connected crowns revealed survival rates of 100% without any biological or technical complications after three years of loading. The total FIPS recorded for group 1 was 44, 43 in group 2 and 42 in group 3. The mean total FIPS score was 8.6±1.1, ranging from 6 to 10. The variable "bone" revealed the highest scores (2.0; range: 2–2), as well "occlusion" (2.0; range: 2–2). Mean scores for "design" (1.7 ±0.4; range: 1–2), "mucosa" (1.6±0.5; range: 1–2), and "interproximal" (1.5±0.6; range: 1–2) were more challenging to satisfy. The patients expressed a high level of functional satisfaction (80.5±2.5; range: 65–100). No type of connection showed to be superior to the other two. No statistically significant differences were found among the three tested groups. A significant correlation was found between FIPS and the subjective patients' perception with a coefficient of 0.80 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions The findings of the clinical trial indicated the great potential of both conical and hexagon connections and their good performance after 1 year of clinical service. FIPS showed to be an objective and reliable instrument to assess implant success.


This paper presents the development of a PC-based 3D human computer interface for virtual assembly applications. This system is capable of importing complex CAD (Computer Aided Design) models, rendering them in stereo, and implementing haptic force feedback for realistic part interaction in virtual environments. Such an application will facilitate wider acceptance of the use of a VR interface for prototyping assembly tasks. This interface provides both visual and haptic feedback to the user, while allowing assembly tasks to be performed on a desktop virtual environment. The network module has the ability to communicate with multiple VR systems (such as CAVE etc.) at geographically dispersed locations using a non-dedicated network channel. The potential benefits of such a system include identification of assembly issues early in the design process where changes can be made easily, resulting in a more efficient and less costly product design process.


Objectives & Background Demonstrating educational interventions improve patient care can been difficult. This study aimed to perform an extensive assessment of a bespoke e-learning package on the NICE Feverish illness in Children Guideline to aid the development of an evaluation model. Methods An e-learning package was designed featuring an interactive traffic light table page. For each of the 5 domains and the three risk categories there was a video describing the features within that domain. The e-learning package also contained a pre- and post- learning section consisting of a demographic questionnaire, an attitudinal survey and knowledge testing. The weblink to the e-learning package was distributed to 12 Emergency Departments throughout England in August 2012. Results A total of 202 junior doctors expressed an interest in undertaking the intervention, 115 (56.9%) commenced the package, 91 (45.3%) completed the pre-learning and 58 (28.7%) completed the post-learning. There was an average 1 point improvement (scale 1–10) in perceived safety, confidence and competence in relation to management of febrile children after the package had been completed (p<0.0001). The Knowledge Test scores improved significantly in MCQs (Z −3.942, p<0.001). ROLMA matrices, a previously published methodology of describing adherence to evidence based practice, were used to examine case-notes of children with undifferentiated febrile illness at the lead site (n=48 patient pre-intervention and n=20 patients post-learning). There was a trend to improved evidence based management in the post learning group but this was not significant (Chi-Square 2.776, p=0.096). Overall data in the lead department demonstrated a rise in admissions of children with undifferentiated fever compared to 2011 but less than the 5 previous years despite a rise in presentations over that time. In respect of satisfaction and success with the e-learning system 83.6% (56/67) participants agreed or strongly agreed. Conclusion It is important any educational intervention is thoroughly examined as positive findings in respect of satisfaction or knowledge gain may not equate to behaviour change. The continued poor assessment of educational interventions results in potentially continued poor practice or educational technique. A new framework for evaluation (the 7Is) will be presented as a solution.


Centrosomes are the cellular organelles that nucleate microtubules (MTs) via the activity of gamma-tubulin ring complex(s) (γ-TuRC) bound to the pericentriolar material of the centrosomes. BRCA1, the breast and ovarian cancer specific tumor suppressor, inhibits centrosomal MT nucleation via its ubiquitin ligase activity, and one of the known BRCA1 substrates is the key γ-TuRC component, γ-tubulin. We analyzed the mechanism by which BRCA1 regulates centrosome function using an in vitro reconstitution assay, which includes separately staged steps. Our results are most consistent with a model by which the BRCA1 ubiquitin ligase modifies both γ-tubulin plus a second centrosomal protein that controls localization of γ-TuRC to the centrosome. We suggest that this second protein is an adapter protein or protein complex that docks γ-TuRC to the centrosome. By controlling γ-TuRC localization, BRCA1 appropriately inhibits centrosome function, and loss of BRCA1 would result in centrosome hyperactivity, supernumerary centrosomes and, possibly, aneuploidy.