This article presents a new tool—the Wilderness Courage Scale. The Wilderness Courage Scale is a scale that diagnoses undertaking activity in dangerous natural environments, despite personal fears. The validity of the Wilderness Courage Scale was tested using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The results of factor analyses verified the one-factor structure. The questionnaire's internal consistency and intercorrelations were also tested. The Wilderness Courage Scale correlates with sensation seeking, some personality traits, and coping forms. The author discusses the findings in regard to the Wilderness Courage Scale as an instrument to measure exploration of dangerous natural environments. However, further studies need to be carried out in other sample groups to further validate


OBJECTIVE
The relationship between depression and sports-related concussion is complex and has implications both pre- and post-injury. The current study established the construct validity, convergent and discriminant, of the affective symptom cluster of The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT) post-concussion symptom scale (PCSS) as a screening tool for depression.

METHOD
Nine hundred and thirty (M = 695, F = 235) college athletes were assessed at baseline using the ImPACT PCSS and Beck-Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS). Previous factor analysis identified four symptom clusters on the PCSS: affective, physical, cognitive, and sleep. Clinically significant depression was operationalized as a BDI-FS score ≥4. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves (ROC) were used to determine the ideal cutoff, Chi-square tests of independence were calculated to establish convergent validity, and Fisher's r-to-z comparisons were used to establish discriminant validity of the affective symptom cluster.

RESULTS
The 90th percentile cutoff yielded the highest sensitivity and specificity on the affective symptom cluster for males (4) and females (6). The correlation between BDI-FS and the 90th percentile cutoff was statistically significantly higher in females (φ = .96) than males (φ = .83), Z = 9.49, p < .001. When correlating the BDI-FS with each PCSS symptom cluster, the correlation with the affective symptom cluster was stronger than its correlation with cognitive, sleep, and physical clusters across gender.

DISCUSSION
By utilizing a measure of depression within an existing and commonly used assessment, clinicians can easily screen for depression and identify athletes at risk for complicated recovery even in the absence of a supplemental depression assessment.


Background and significance: Increased arterial stiffness causes vessel damage of the end-organs. Thus, in the brain, small vessels may be susceptible to increased arterial stiffness. Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are topographically categorized as non-lobar type, mostly due to hypertensive vasculopathy and lobar type, due to cerebral amyloid angiopathy. When considering CMBs in the nonlobar region are associated with small vessel pathology, arterial stiffness may be related with CMBs in the nonlobar region. We investigated relationship between CMBs by using brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) representing arterial stiffness. Method: Between June 2006 and January 2012, we included 1290 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to hospital within 7 days after symptom onset and who underwent baPWV and brain gradient echo (GRE) and Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) MRI. Patients with potential cardiac sources of embolism or peripheral arterial occlusive disease were not included. BaPWV was measured during ankle-brachial index examination using an automatic device. CMBs were classified as lobar and nonlobar type. Severity of leukoaraiosis was determined using the Fazekas' scoring system. Binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine variables that were associated with presence and location of CMBs. Results: Mean age of the patients was 64±12 years and 61.9% (799/1290) were male. Of 1290 patients, CMBs were found in 28.6%. The patients with CMBs were older than those without CMBs (69±10 years versus 63±12 years, p=0.001). Mean baPWV was higher in patients with CMBs than those without (2240±512cm/s versus 1896±505cm/s, p=0.001). On multivariate binary logistic analysis, baPWV and high grade leukoaraiosis were independent predictors of the presence of CMBs. However, after adjustment of age, sex and variables with p value of less than 0.1on the univariate analysis, baPWV was independently associated with nonlobar CMBs. Conclusion: Arterial stiffness was independently associated with nonlobar CMBs but not with lobar CMBs. These findings suggest pathophysiologic association between arterial stiffness and CMBs in the nonlobar region.


In this study, carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzyme was purified and characterized from blood samples of Kangal Akkaraman sheep and inhibitory properties on certain antibiotics were examined. CA purification was composed of preparation of the hemolysate and conducting the Sepharose‐4B‐tyrosine‐sulfanilamide affinity gel chromatography in having specific activity of 11626 EU mg−1, yield of 14.40%, and 242.76‐fold purification. Sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed to assess the enzyme purity and a single band was observed. Some antibiotics were exhibited in vitro inhibition on the CA activity. IC50 values of these inhibitors were calculated by plotting activity percentage. IC50 values of certain drugs (dexamethasone; caffeine; metamizole sodium; tetramisol; ceftiofur HCl; ivermectin; tavilin 50; penokain G; neosym; and sulfamezathine) were found as 0.38, 8.24, 285.53, 114.77, 5.33, 2.76, 27.58, 213.50, 208.28, and 36.60 μM, respectively. Ki values of different drugs on Kangal Akkaraman sheep blood CA activity were found in the range of 0.21 ± 0.038–266.64 ± 37.11 μM.


From the Publisher:
This state-of-the-art look at the emerging profession of Information Architecture shows readers from a broad range of technical areas—e.g., visual design, information design, library science, information science, and human-computer interaction —how this new multidisciplinary profession integrates the skills and practices of their respective professions. An important complement to typical IA books (which focus only on the "how to" of designing and building web sites), this foundations book explores IA from its historical roots to its exciting future, showing how this new profession requires a comprehensive knowledge of a highly complex design process, using a variety of media and technologies, for the purpose of creating information environments that are beautiful, valuable, and easy to use. Information Architecture: From Craft to Profession. The Spoken Word. The Written Word. The Printed Word. The Telegraph. The Telephone. The Radio. Television. ENIAC. ERMA. The Alto. The PC Evolution. Internauts. ARPAnet. Email. WWW. Info Glut, Info Trash, Info Hype, and Info Stress. IA: The Process, The Practitioner, The Profession. Educating Information Architects. Envisioning the Future of IA. For Information Architects, Interaction Designers, User Experience Designers, Information Designers, Human-computer Interaction Designers, Web Masters, Interface Designers, Information Scientists, Information Technologists, Information Technology Specialists.


Identifying and accessing reliable, relevant consumer health information rapidly on the Internet may challenge the health sciences librarian and layperson alike. In this study, seven search engines are compared using representative consumer health topics for their content relevancy, system features, and attributes. The paper discusses evaluation criteria; systematically compares relevant results; analyzes performance in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the search engines; and illustrates effective search engine selection, search formulation, and strategies.


In 2009, Oregon enacted a law allowing employees to opt out of company meetings for the communication of the company's position on religion or political issues including union representation. The law was immediately challenged as a violation of free speech and as preempted by the National Labor Relations Act. The suit was dismissed on ripeness grounds; and so these issues remain judicially to be addressed. This article argues that the right not to be subjected to captive audition is deeply rooted in the protection of human dignity. It is recognized as much in the laws of Germany, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, and New Zealand; that is, across a variety of legal families and cultures. Viewed from that perspective, the Oregon law is in no way discordant with an employee's right of freedom of speech nor preempted by the Labor Act.


Internet advertising is a new and exciting area where feedback control has proven tremendously valuable and is expected to play an increasingly important role as the industry continues its rapid growth. The objective of algorithms in a display advertising network is to create value for advertisers, publishers, and the network owner, via optimal decisions on where, when, how, and to whom to show ads. Feedback controllers provide a system that learns from its mistakes and takes proper reactive and proactive actions to meet goals set by advertisers. This paper is a brief tutorial to the field with control engineers as the intended audience.


The plethora of the emerged radio frequency applications makes the frequency spectrum crowded by many applications and hence the ability to detect specific application's frequency without distortion is a difficult task to achieve.The goal is to achieve a method to mitigate the highest interferer power in the frequency spectrum in order to eliminate the distortion.This paper presents the application of the proposed tunable 6th-order notch filter on Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) utilising self-forward body bias (SFBB).The proposed filter presents 23.5dBm minimum interferer rejection (IR) and attenuates the interferer signal from -43dBm to -67dBm at frequency 5.17GHz. In addition, the maximum IR is 40dBm and attenuates the interferer signal from -41dBm to -81dBm at frequency 5.785GHz. The proposed filter provides coarse tuning with frequency spacing (10MHz) and soft tuning with frequency spacing (1MHz). The UWB CMOS LNA consumes only 5.22mW from a supply voltage of 1.2V and presents a maximum gain of 14dB at frequency 6.25GHz in the -3dB bandwidth from 4.75GHz to 7.5GHz. In addition, the average noise figure is 3.1dB and the input insertion losses (S11) is less than -12dB along the designed bandwidth. The simulation is performed in Advanced Design System (ADS2016.01) software utilising 180nm Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) Berkeley Short-channel Insulated Gate Field Effect Model (BSIM3v3) model files.The proposed method achieves high interferer power rejection with both soft and coarse tuning.


A symmetry analysis of degenerate four-wave-mixing equations in photorefractive crystals is carried out. Using underlying SU symmetries, a systematic derivation of conserved quantities is performed, and a method of integration of the equations is introduced. Five conserved quantities are found, suggesting that the initial four complex equations can be expressed in terms of three real quantities (Euler angles or other). However, due to the form of the equations, only one independent variable is found necessary to solve the problem


The waste management practices used at red-meat abattoirs in the Free State province for disposal of condemned products generated in abattoirs and the problems associated with the different waste disposal methods were investigated. Problems caused by various products generated at abattoirs. such as abattoir waste water, blood, stomach contents, manure, whole carcasses, fetuses and all products unsuitable for human consumption requiring disposal were identified. Recommended solutions took into account the most effective handling manner, causing minimum environmental pollution, reducing any health risks to communities, and converting condemned products into value-added by-products by changing certain waste management processes / strategies. The handling of waste, specifically of condemned products, at 78 red meat abattoirs was analysed.


In studies to determine whether vaccination with one strain of Moraxella bovis would protect against challenge with virulent homologous or heterologous strains, calves were intramuscularly inoculated 3 times with formalin-killed M bovis, with 14 days between inoculations. Fourteen days after the 3rd vaccinal dose was given, all calves were exposed to homologous or heterologous virulent cultures of M bovis. The results indicated that vaccination with one strain of M bovis may induce protective immunity against homologous and heterologous challenge exposure; however, because vaccinated cattle resisted infection and disease produced by a homologous strain to a greater extent than they resisted those produced by heterologous strains, polyvalent vaccines or highly immunogenic common antigens may be needed to protect cattle against the numerous strains they might encounter under natural field conditions. There was minimal correlation between the presence of precipitating antibodies against the heterologous strains and the establishment of infection and disease.


The value of foliar dressing is presented to achieve the maximum productivity of cultivated crops in agropedocenoses of the forest-steppe zone of the Russian Federation. When cultivating apple orchards in perennial agropedocenoses according to intensive technologies, the optimization of the nutritional regime is one of the most significant factors in obtaining a stably high crop yield of high-quality fruits. To fully provide apple trees with nutrient elements and growth biostimulators during the growing season, it is necessary to use special fat and water-soluble fertilizers and growth biostimulators. Most effectively, they are applied along the leaf surface as a foliar dressing. The leaf surface systems we developed and tested include the introduction of macro-, meso- and microelements and biological stimulating agents. The latter include various groups and types of amino acids, root, growth and development, flowering and setting, ripening and staining stimulating agents. The use of an integrated foliar dressing system has made it possible to provide the most complete need for apple trees with the necessary nutrients and compounds during the entire growing season. The obtained experimental data showed a high efficiency in changing a balanced system of foliar dressing in an intensive apple orchard. Compared to the control, there was a significant increase in the growth activity of the central conductor and fruit wood. Fruit setting rates, caliber and weight of apples and therefore more than 95% of the yield corresponded to the highest and first grade. The yield increased significantly compared to the control, it was from 28 to 66% for varieties and variants. Experimental studies showed high efficiency of foliar dressing with special fertilizers and growth biostimulating agents.


The paper analyzes a transparency of business activities in relation to social reporting issues. Investors, customers, employees and other stakeholders are less trustful in recent decades. While rethinking what is needed to build trust in business environment, one of the most important subjects to discuss is increasing of business transparency because companies that are in conflict with their stakeholders cannot survive for a long run. Thus, corporate social reporting serves as a true opportunity to improve trust and competitiveness. Companies report on social issues under many different communication forms such as corporate social responsibility report, sustainability report, report to society, social report, communication on progress, social information disclosure on their websites or even annual reports. European countries, including Lithuania, haven't formed a single system of corporate social reporting as social disclosure is voluntary. Thus, not only a relatively small number of companies make these statements, but at the same time they are different in content and structure, and therefore not always comparable. Stakeholders, assessing companies in the context of social responsibility and making socio-economic decisions, have no opportunity to use understandable and comparable information on human resources, products, environment control and public services. Thus the research question is directed to the identification of problems of corporate social reporting development both at the institutional and organizational levels. The objective of this paper is to analyze problems of social reporting and disclosure in Lithuania in order to increase the transparency of business activities. The research methods applied in this article are analysis of legal acts, logical and comparative analysis OFM scientific literature, dynamic and social reporting content analysis, problem analysis. As the article refers to corporate social reporting development in Lithuania, there is the theoretical background of researches mainly made in Lithuania carried out. This paper also presents the problems of social reporting in Lithuania from institutional and organizational views, the results from empirical researches of companies' disclosed social information. The findings of the article show that still more declaratory socially responsible business ideas dominate in Lithuania, while the actual manifestation of social reporting is in the initial level. At the same time the most important thing should be the process of implementation of socially responsible business, as social reporting is rather a process for better business transparency than just a document. The process of corporate social reporting may be improved by strengthening legal framework and improving legal conditions for voluntary reporting. But at the same time the regulatory mechanism is not enough because trust is always related to main values driving the companies and their managers. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.25.1.2356


Being able to discover students" conceptions and more importantly alternate - and misconceptions about a topic is vital in order to be able to assess and thus be able to improve student learning. It is well known that this can be achieved via the use of well-designed diagnostic tests, a widely used example of which is the Force Concept Inventory. Creating the right questions in order to form a reliable diagnostic test can be a lengthy and complicated process. This article reports work on a Development Project funded in 2008 to develop such a test for introductory Quantum Mechanics courses in both physics and chemistry. We present details of our methodology, which involves augmenting a "standard" multiple -choice question set with free-response boxes to determine the reasons for a student choosing a particular answer, and a self-assessment of their level of confidence in their choice. The responses from piloting this initial test in different institutions are used to inform the subsequent refinement of the test, as well as assessing the reliability and validity of the questions. We highlight examples of misconceptions that have been found during the development of the diagnostic tests.


Introduction: Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) is a sexually transmitted microbe associated with urethritis in men and several inflammatory syndromes in women. Macrolides and fluoroquinolones have been recommended treatments for MG infections. However, resistance of both drug classes is increasing worldwide and treatment failures have been described. There are very little data available on antimicrobial resistance in MG from the USA. Methods We investigated the prevalence of macrolide- and fluoroquinolone-resistant MG in African American men and women who presented to a Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama during 2015–2016; most were couples. A real-time PCR assay was validated for detecting MG 23S rRNA mutations known to confer macrolide resistance directly from clinical specimens. Two nested PCRs were used to detect mutations in the quinolone resistant determination regions (QRDRs) in gyrA and parC genes. Results Oral, rectal, urine, and/or vaginal specimens from 90 men and 81 women have been tested thus far. A total of 23 MG-positive patients have been identified (4 couples and 15 singles), giving a prevalence rate for MG of 13.5% in this cohort; 11 (12.2%) of men and 12 (14.8%) of women were MG positive. Eleven (47.8%) patients (6 men and 5 women) carried macrolide-resistant MG. Sequencing of the PCR products indicated that A2071G and A2072G transitions in the 23S rRNA gene was the major mutations. No mutation was found in gyrA QRDR. Three patients (13.6%), including 1 couple, carried G248T (S83I) mutation in parC QRDR. The female of the couple also carried a parC G259C (D87H) mutant group. Two individuals (a couple) carried organisms that had markers for both macrolide and fluoroquinolone resistance. Conclusion This is the first study based in the USA to document both fluoroquinolone and macrolide resistance in MG using a molecular-based assay. We plan to genotype MG directly from the clinical specimens to investigate the genetic relatedness of antimicrobial-susceptible and resistant-MG, as well as the concordance of MG in couples.


This paper presents a novel perceptually hybrid vector-scalar quantization scheme for high quality subband audio coding at low bit rates. A QMF filter bank is used to decompose, in the frequency domain, the input audio signal into constant width subbands. Each subband is then quantized using either a multi-stage vector quantizer or a scalar quantizer. In order to obtain a high quality audio, a dynamic bit-allocation algorithm is used to select the best quantizer for each subband based on the outputs of a psychoacoustic model and the total quantization bits available. The performance of the proposed coder is assessed from segmental signal-to-noise ratios (SEGSNR) and informal listening tests, which show that the proposed audio coder with the perceptually hybrid vector-scalar quantization scheme is superior in both objective and subjective performances compared with a subband audio coder with full scalar quantization.


Network slicing is one of the key enabling technologies for 5G due to its ability to customize and "slice" a common resource to support diverse services and verticals. This paper introduces a novel inter-operator network slicing framework in which multiple mobile network operators (MNOs) can coordinate and jointly slice their accessible spectrum resources in both licensed and unlicensed bands. For licensed band slicing, we propose an inter-operator spectrum aggregation method that allows two or more MNOs to cooperate and share their licensed bands to support a common set of service types. We then consider the sharing of unlicensed bands. Because all MNOs enjoy equal rights to access these bands, we introduce the concept of right sharing for MNOs to share and trade their spectrum access rights. We develop a modified back-of-the-envelope method for MNOs to evaluate their Value-of-Rights when coexisting with other wireless technologies. A network slicing game based on the overlapping coalition formation game is formulated to investigate the possible cooperation among MNOs. We prove that our proposed game always has at least one stable slicing structure that maximizes the social welfare. To implement our proposed framework without requiring MNOs to reveal private information to other MNOs, we develop a distributed algorithm called distributed alternating direction method of multipliers with partially variable splitting. Performance evaluation of our proposed framework is provided using a discrete-event simulator that is driven by real MNO deployment scenarios based on over 400 base station locations deployed by two primary cellular operators in the city of Dublin. Numerical results show that our proposed frameworks can almost double the capacity for all supported services for each MNO in an urban setting.


This article describes a novel parallel multi-unit resource deadlock detection algorithm (MDDA) and its hardware implementation (MDDU). The contributions are (i) the first O(1) hardware deadlock detection, (ii) reduced O(min(m, n)) preparation, where m and n are the number of processes and resources, respectively, and (iii) support for multi-unit resources. O(min(m, n)), previously O(mtimesn), is achieved by performing all the searches for sink nodes for each and every resource in parallel in hardware over two matrices representing resource allocations as well as other auxiliary matrices. MDDU provides a fast and deterministic deadlock detection mechanism for multiprocessor system-on-chips (MPSoCs), which we predict will become prevalent in the near future in system designs. Our experiments demonstrate that MDDU always takes two clock cycles to detect deadlock regardless the size of the system. Lastly, the MPSoC area overhead due to MDDU is small, approximately 0.024 percent for MDDU16 x 16 on our example MPSoC.


An outbreak caused by amoxicillin-resistant Haemophilus influenzae type b was noted among patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Since infections were clustered in time and place, an ongoing outbreak was suspected. The spread of the strain and the course of the outbreak could be followed by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of the different bacterial isolates. In addition, studies were aimed at the determination of length polymorphism in regions of repetitive DNA. By PCR-mediated amplification of variable number of tandem repeat regions (VNTRs), additional insight into the genome composition of the epidemic strain was gained. Our results show that VNTRs comprising repeat units that are 3, 5, or 6 nucleotides in length provided stable genetic markers that can be used for molecular typing of H. influenzae type b. VNTRs built from tetranucleotide units, however, appear to be hypervariable and not suited for epidemiological studies. The observed variability in this latter class of VNTRs might be reminiscent of the bacterium's capacity to deal with unfavorable host factors.


The aim of this study was to investigate pre-service science teachers' views and knowledge of models and modeling. The data were collected from seven participants through semistructured interviews and an open-ended questionnaire. The results indicated that variations and deficiencies existed among the participants' views and knowledge of models. The participants were unable to distinguish exclusive characteristics of scientific models. It was also found that the pre-service science teachers favored a teaching model according to model's aesthetic appeal, scientific context, and practicality. It is recommended that pre-service science teachers should engage in more modeling activities and gain more modeling experiences throughout their training programs to improve their content knowledge of models and modeling


In the debate about the question if, when, and how humanitarian interventions can afford peace and justice, military action needs to be taken into consideration. To discuss the meaning of justice in relation to military intervention, conclusions can be drawn from a historical view of the bellum iustum topic, as treated by the Spanish scholars Sepulveda, Vitoria and Las Casas. Historical analysis reveals the principles both for the ius ad bellum and the ius in bello, that can be found in a recent proposal, the report The Responsibility To Protect (2001) of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS). In addition, for the recovery of justice, a ius post bellum for the prosecution of "crimes against humanity," as intended by the International Criminal Court (ICC), seems important.


Our understanding of the Soviet defence burden remains woefully inadaquate. The official Soviet defence expenditure figure is not helpful. It is not inclusive. There is no concensus on what or how much is covered by other budget accounts. Soviet statistics do not allow independent calculation. Official Western estimates, on the other hand, are equally dubious. They reflect more on Western political dynamics than on Soviet reality. The Soviet defence industry is not immune from the vicissitudes of the economy at large. The Soviet military do not enjoy carte blanche. They contribute extensively to civilian needs, both in terms of goods and services. But, in turn, they extract benefits from a wide range of civilian endeavors. The military-political culture, rooted in an older Moscovy, and reinforced by Lenin's Clausewitzian leanings, is quite different from that which prevails in the west. There is no military-industrial complex threatening the Soviet State. In the USSR the military is OF the State, integral to a wider establishment. The military burden cannot be specified, for much is inextricably fused with the burden of State, and culture. It is systemic. It will be sustained. Because it is OF the System. Western debate is ethnocentric. We need new research, new under standing.


This paper describes the non-parametric shape optimization process for a football boot bottom plate. The non-parametric shape optimization process changes the nodes' location of a model and outputs an optimum shape, which satisfies an optimization objective. The methodology presented in this study was able to change the shape of the football boot bottom plate, especially the dimensions of key features, to achieve four different target bending stiffnesses. Tosca Structure sensitivity-based shape optimization was used to perform the optimization process and output optimum bottom plates. Future research is needed to investigate the accuracy of the process in comparison with that of the previously developed parametric optimization process.


Geoprospect TD is a set of computer codes constituting a so-called "showing workshop" for geoprospective studies. It has been developed at BRGM, from the geoprospective concepts of the past 10 years and belong to the line of tools that have been developed since 1984 (Castor, Herode, Castor PC, Geoprospect). The concept Geoprospect TD is improved in parallel with research, carried out in collaboration with the Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique (Informatics Research Laboratory) of the University of Orsay on the application of Artificial Intelligence techniques to the field of geoprospective. The two lines of research are complementary and in time will enable the design of operational tools for simulating the future evolution of the geosphere. This paper, in the first instance, will present the key concepts of geoprospective, especially: - relationships between phenomena and time scale, - definition of geographic scales (global, regional and local), - topology of relationships between different-scale processes. Next, the conceptual bases on which Geoprospect TD is founded will be explained. These concern: - notions of landscapes and inheritance, - the coupling of phenomena; consideration, model limits, restrictions, - the "SAD" concept (Scenario-Actor-Director) in geoprospective research. The architecture of the system will then be briefly described so as to illustrate the instanciation of the above concepts. The paper will end by illustrating some of the results obtained and outlining the directions to be followed in future research.


This research firstly focuses on a Yorkshire woman, Mary Ward (1585-1645), who
founded the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Sisters) in 1609. Ward
believed that she was mandated by God to adopt the Constitutions of the Society of
Jesus for women. Such a move openly challenged the constraints placed on women
and proved too novel for the ecclesiastical authorities; in 1631 she was arrested and
imprisoned on a charge of heresy and her Institute was suppressed.
Despite the suppression the Institute survived. An anomaly existed whereby schools
and convents of the Institute were being founded yet, because of the Papal decree,
Quamvis iusto (1749), the members of Mary Ward's Institute, were prohibited from
recognising Ward as foundress. Secondly, the dissertation seeks: to explore the
anomaly whereby Loreto schools were founded in Ireland (1821) yet the memory of
the foundress was suppressed; to investigate the extent to which the foundation of
Loreto schools in Ireland was prompted by a distinctive vision for women's
education; to examine how the memory of Mary Ward survived in Ireland, through
the educational enterprise of the Loreto Sisters, with particular reference to Michael
Frances Corcoran (1846-1927).


Resistive bridge defects have Vdd dependent behavior, a fact that is not yet considered in commercial DfT tools. So far, all Vdd-aware models have relied on computationally intensive SPICE simulation to calculate the voltage on the bridged nodes. The computation time limits the use of such models on large designs. Therefore, Vdd-aware models should employ a simplified set of equations that does not require computationally intensive simulation. The observation that enables such a set of simplified equations is that less variables need to be taken into account for modeling bridge behavior compared to SPICE simulations, which need to consider all available variables to model a wide set of circuits and behaviors. Previous approaches to define simplified equations to replace SPICE simulation for modeling resistive bridge behavior are either inaccurate for recent IC technologies or have not explicitly taken Vdd into account. Therefore, this paper proposes simplified equations to model the voltage on the bridged nodes in a computationally efficient manner. The approach is to find accurate equations for the drain-source currents of transistors that are involved in determining the bridge behavior. This paper describes an algorithm for applying the model by calculating the voltage on the bridged nodes given the drain-source currents of the involved transistors. The model is demonstrated by comparing the results from the proposed approach with simulation results for two gate libraries.


We present the first polynomial time algorithm to learn nontrivial classes of languages of infinite trees. Specifically, our algorithm uses membership and equivalence queries to learn classes of $\omega$-tree languages derived from weak regular $\omega$-word languages in polynomial time. The method is a general polynomial time reduction of learning a class of derived $\omega$-tree languages to learning the underlying class of $\omega$-word languages, for any class of $\omega$-word languages recognized by a deterministic B\"{u}chi acceptor. Our reduction, combined with the polynomial time learning algorithm of Maler and Pnueli [1995] for the class of weak regular $\omega$-word languages yields the main result. We also show that subset queries that return counterexamples can be implemented in polynomial time using subset queries that return no counterexamples for deterministic or non-deterministic finite word acceptors, and deterministic or non-deterministic B\"{u}chi $\omega$-word acceptors.
A previous claim of an algorithm to learn regular $\omega$-trees due to Jayasrirani, Begam and Thomas [2008] is unfortunately incorrect, as shown in Angluin [2016].


As shown in previous articles (Roenne' 8) artificial intrabulbar infections can be cured by .injecting chloramine-T into the vitreous body. This treatment. has, however, only limited effect, as an inoculum of more than, 5,000 microbes is difficult to sterilize. This being the case the, testing of£other .bactericides was desirable, principally the sulphonamides and penicillin., From preliminary experiments it was found that sulphonamides, in conformity with the reports of other workers, have but a very slight effect, whereas penicillin proved to be particularly efficacious. Even with weak concentrations of 1-2 Oxford Units, the effect on infections in the vitreous humour-was considerable. The effectivity improved with increasing' concentrations of 'penicillin, even an inoculum of 5,000,000 virulent staphylococci was overcome and the eye preserved. It was also observed, that penicillin injected into the vitreous was extremely durable; it disappears so slowly that a bacterio-static concentration is preserved for many hours, up to 48, all depending on the otriginal quantity of penicillin (Roenne4 7). American workers have also taken an interest in the treatment of intrabulbar infections with penicillin. von Sallmann, for instance, tested the effectiveness of treatment of infections induced by pneumococci and staphylococci injected into the anterior chamber. i..


Abstract This study analyzes the effective patent life of antiretroviral (ARV) new molecular entities (NMEs) approved for marketing in the United States (US) between 1987 and 2007. The study includes all NMEs approved during the study period with at least one patent listed in the Orange Book (OB). Drugs discontinued from the market were excluded from the analysis. Data sources are the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Patent and Trademark Office. A comparison between the effective patent life of ARV NMEs and NMEs from other therapeutic classes was performed. The first and last patents were used to estimate the minimum and maximum effective patent life of NMEs. Group differences were assessed using group comparison t-tests, Chi-Square and Fishers' exact tests. The FDA approved 547 NMEs during the study period; 153 NMEs did not have a patent listed in the OB or were discontinued from the US market. The patent analysis included 22 ARV NMEs and 372 other NMEs. ARV MNEs had a range from 1 to 15 patents listed in the OB. The FDA new drug application (NDA) review time was shorter for ARVs (5.8±2.3 months) than for other NMEs (23.6±18.7 months). ARV NMEs had an average of 13.2±3.8 years of effective patent life for the first patent versus 11.0±4.2 years for other NMEs. ARV NMEs had an average of 17.5±3.6 years of effective patent life for the last patent versus the 14.8±4.8 years for other NMEs. The effective patent life listed for the last patent of seven ARV NMEs (31.8%) exceeded 20 years. Shortening the drug approval process increased the effective patent life of ARVs and facilitated faster entry of new drugs into the market. ARVs had an average of 2–3 more years of effective patent life than other therapeutic classes and, therefore, a longer period without generic competition.


Despite the substantial body of academic research regarding the metalinguistic and cognitive effects of bilingual education, most of the literature reports on large-scale experimental studies (e.g., Bialystok et al., 2010) while little is known about how individuals who have participated in bilingual programs view their learning outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there are trends in the self-perceived outcomes of bilingual immersion education on people who have spent at least four years in a bilingual educational setting. Ten individuals who met this criterion were interviewed and the audio recordings of their interviews were transcribed and analyzed inductively to allow themes to emerge from the participants' words. Findings indicate there were identifiable themes in how participants perceived their education and the amount of time and specific grade levels spent in bilingual programs tended to correspond with certain participant response patterns. This study has implications for the many emerging Georgia dual language immersion programs and their recruitment strategies.
Keywordsbilingual education, dual language immersion, metalinguistic ability, cognitive ability


153 A consecutive series of 80 patients with 110 press-fit metal-backed rotating platform patella resurfacing surgeries were reviewed at an average of 107 months followup (range, 84–167 months). Twenty-eight patients died before followup. Fifty-two patients (70 patellae) were available for clinical and radiographic followups. One patella was revised for failure of the patella component. Four patellae were revised along with revision of the knee replacement. One patella realignment procedure was done for recurrent subluxation of the patella. There were no patellar dislocations in this series, no patella fractures, and no disruption of the quadriceps tendon or infrapatellar ligament. Six patellae had subluxation seen on postoperative radiographs. The incidence of patellar tilt greater than 5 was 13%. No patellae were considered radiographically loose. The incidence of radiolucencies was 37%. Subsidence of the component superiorly was identified in 39% of the patellae, and inferiorly in 36% of the patellae. Of the 49 patients (67 knees) returning for followup, 70% of the knees were rated as excellent, 10% were rated good, 15% were rated fair, and 5% were rated poor. Press-fit metal-backed patella provided good component durability with only one revision because of component failure. Radiographic analyses showed a high incidence of subsidence associated with good clinical results.


: This paper illustrate present a constructive design research process centred around 3D printing with a wood-based material. This process was highly explorative: it involves the development of a new material and the use and hacking of a machine to materialize a design intention. Along the way, elements of craft emerge, as the designers develop skills in navigating the tensions that exist between material, machine and design intention. We present the process of navigating this design space by unpacking the act of making, using a digital fabrication technique, through a lens of craftsmanship. We employ the notions of ambiguity and resistance, to understand the factors and forces at play that may not typically be considered to be part of a highly automated digital fabrication method, such as 3D printing. As a result of this detailed reflection, new parts of the design space were articulated. All resistances appear as a result of the tension between and designer's skills and intention, capabilities of the machine and possibilities of the material, all materialised in the Printed Future Vase. This publication contributes to the development of a new additive manufacturing method, and increases our awareness of what factors and forces are at play in this new additive manufacturing method, in which the development of the designer's tacit skills have been articulated more explicitly.


Objectives and Background: To investigate short-term hemodynamic improvement following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with severe aortic valve stenosis (AS) using the non-invasive NICaS® whole body electrical bio-impedance monitoring system.

Methods: 52 unselected patients subjected to TAVI were analysed between January and September 2018. Endovascular TAVI was applied in local anaesthesia and analgosedation in all patients using the Medtronic Evolut R® (n=32), Edwards Sapien 3® (n=14) or Boston Scientific SYMETIS ACURATE neo ™ TF® (n=4) system. NICaS® measurements were performed at baseline, six to eight hours after TAVI procedure and before discharge.

Results and Discussion: When comparing discharge to baseline, there was a successful increase in cardiac output (CO) from 5.01 ± 1.62 to 5.73 ± 1.41 L/min (P=0.009) corresponding to a cardiac index (CI) increase from 2.64 ± 0.80 to 3.13 ± 0.83 L/min/m2 (P=0.002) and of increase in cardiac power index (CPI) from 0.53 ± 0.18 to 0.61 ± 0.16 w/m2 (P=0.008). Additionally, total peripheral resistance (TPR) significantly decrease from 1597.58 ± 624.92 to 1291.29 ± 450.12 dynes*s/cm5 (P=0.0045) corresponding to a total peripheral resistance index (TPRI) decrease from 2968.88 ± 1078.78 to 2436.72 ± 902.37 dynes*s/cm5/m2 (P=0.006).

Conclusion: Non-invasive hemodynamic measurements with NICaS® represent an accurate bedside-tool for monitoring short-term adaptive hemodynamic changes in unselected patients subjected to TAVI. Thus, results can be easily used for tailored peri-procedural management early patients´ mobilization and discharge planning.


A growing body of post-crisis legal and economic literature suggests that future financial crises might be averted by tinkering with the internal governance structures of banks and other financial institutions. In particular, contributors to this literature propose tightening the fiduciary duties under which officers and directors of the relevant financial institutions labor. I argue in this symposium article that such proposals are doomed to failure under all circumstances save one - namely, that under which the relevant financial institutions are in whole or in part treated as publicly owned. The argument proceeds in two parts. I first show that the financial dysfunctions that culminate in financial crises are not primarily the products of defects in individual rationality or morality, ubiquitous as such defects of course always are. Rather, I argue, fragility in the financial markets stems from what I elsewhere dub recursive collective action problems, pursuant to which multiple acts of individual rationality aggregate into instances of collective calamity. This form of vulnerability is endemic to banking and financial markets. I next show that the best understanding of fiduciary obligation is that pursuant to which she who is subject to the obligation minimizes the 'space,' or separateness, that subsists between her and the beneficiary of her obligation. Ideal fiduciaries, in other words, stand-in for those to whom they are fiduciaries, while legal allowances for departure from this exacting ideal amount to pragmatic compromises we make with the brute fact of fiduciaries' being separate persons with interests of their own.It follows from these two lines of argument that merely tightening fiduciary duties back up in the case of financial fiduciaries will be no help at all if our object is to address financial fragility. It will simply ensure that fiduciaries behave more as their beneficiaries would behave - beneficiaries whose individually rational behavior is precisely the problem where markets beset by recursive collective action problems are concerned. Because the only way to solve a collective action problem is through collective agency, the only way to fashion a 'fiduciary fix' to financial dysfunction is to reconceive financial fiduciaries as collective agents, not individual agents. And that is to reconceive financial institutions as public institutions.


ABSTRACT This paper provides a detailed unit plan format for use by teacher trainers in early childhood education classes to teach students how to write integrated thematic unit plans for developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children. The paper first provides the outline for the thematic unit plan, and then explains each of the plan's 16 elements: (1) theme; (2) grade and class size; (3) explanation of developmental appropriateness; (4) general goals; (5) skill and concept development; (6) brief summary of the unit; (7) integration with other curriculum areas; (8) introductory activity; (9) culminating activity; (10) methods of evaluation; (11) topic webs; (12) curriculum areas plan chart; (13) lesson plans; (14) bibliography of children's books; (15) bibliography of teacher resources; and (16) picture file. Four appendixes provide a list of possible learning centers in a classroom for 3to 5-year-olds, a list of learning experiences that can be incorporated into thematic units, a curriculum areas plan chart, and an outline for a lesson plan. (MDM)


Background COVID-19 has impacted on healthcare provision. Anecdotally, investigations for children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been restricted, resulting in diagnosis with no histological confirmation and potential secondary morbidity. In this study, we detail practice across the UK to assess impact on services and document the impact of the pandemic. Methods For the month of April 2020, 20 tertiary paediatric IBD centres were invited to contribute data detailing: (1) diagnosis/management of suspected new patients with IBD; (2) facilities available; (3) ongoing management of IBD; and (4) direct impact of COVID-19 on patients with IBD. Results All centres contributed. Two centres retained routine endoscopy, with three unable to perform even urgent IBD endoscopy. 122 patients were diagnosed with IBD, and 53.3% (n=65) were presumed diagnoses and had not undergone endoscopy with histological confirmation. The most common induction was exclusive enteral nutrition (44.6%). No patients with a presumed rather than confirmed diagnosis were started on anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy. Most IBD follow-up appointments were able to occur using phone/webcam or face to face. No biologics/immunomodulators were stopped. All centres were able to continue IBD surgery if required, with 14 procedures occurring across seven centres. Conclusions Diagnostic IBD practice has been hugely impacted by COVID-19, with >50% of new diagnoses not having endoscopy. To date, therapy and review of known paediatric patients with IBD has continued. Planning and resourcing for recovery is crucial to minimise continued secondary morbidity.


American sentencing policy has gone through four stages in the past 50 years. Indeterminate sentencing was followed by a sentencing reform period in which policy initiatives sought to make sentencing fairer and more consistent, a tough on crime period in which initiatives sought to make sentences harsher and more certain, and the current period, which is hard to characterize. Most tough on crime initiatives remain in place, coexisting with rehabilitative and restorative programs that aim to individualize sentencing and programming. Social science evidence was influential in the second period and to a limited degree in the current period. Indeterminate sentencing was broadly compatible with prevailing utilitarian ideas about the purposes of punishment and the sentencing reform period was broadly compatible with retributive ideas. The initiatives of the tough on crime period are difficult to reconcile with any coherent set of normative ideas. Current sentencing policies are a crazy quilt, making it impossible to generalize about prevailing normative ideas or an "American system of sentencing."


Exercise reduces ischemia and reperfusion injury in rat stroke models. We investigated whether gradual increases in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) reported during exercise down-regulates expression of TNF-alpha receptors I and II (TNFRI and II) in stroke, leading to reduced brain damage. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to 30 minutes of exercise on a treadmill each day for 3 weeks. Then, stroke was induced by a 2-hour middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion using an intra-luminal filament. Expressions of TNFRI and II mRNA in the brain were detected using a real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Protein expressions of TNFRI and II were determined by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA) in serum and brain homogenates. Spatial distribution of TNF-alpha receptors in brain regions was determined with immunocytochemistry. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), we addressed the causal effect of TNF-alpha pretreatment on TNF I and II expression using ELISA and real-time PCR. In exercised rats after stroke, brain infarct was significantly (p<0.01) reduced in the entire MCA supplied regions, associated with a mild expression of TNFRI and II mRNA and protein. The TNF-alpha receptors were restricted to the ischemic core. In contrast, a robust expression of TNFRI and II molecules was found in non-exercised rats subjected to similar ischemia/reperfusion insults. An in vitro study revealed a causal link between TNF-alpha pretreatment and reduced cellular expression of TNF-alpha receptors under hypoxic/reoxygenated conditions. Our results suggest that reduced-brain damage in ischemic rats after exercise preconditioning may be attributable to the reduced expression of TNF-alpha receptors. Chronically increased TNF-alpha expression was also found to reduce TNFI and II responding to acute ischemia/reperfusion insult.


Interstate 90 over the Cascades is significant barrier to over 250 species of wildlife, including cougar, elk, deer, mustelids (otters, fishers, badgers, etc.), amphibians and reptiles. In the vicinity of Snoqualmie Pass, urban development to the west and agriculture and resort development on the east has shrunk the forest connecting north and south Cascades to less than 64.6 kilometers wide. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is proposing to expand a 24.15-kilometer stretch of Interstate 90 just east of Snoqualmie Pass through a particularly critical zone for north-south wildlife corridors. These corridors have been identified through numerous studies, and the state has made ecological connectivity a project goal, along with increasing capacity, straightening curves, and repaving. A preferred alternative design for this project was chosen in summer 2006 that includes numerous high quality crossing structures, and was endorsed by the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition. The I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition is made up of over 40 local and national conservation organizations and has been working with WSDOT, other public officials, transportation interests, and the public to promote high quality wildlife crossing structures in this project while educating the public in our state about transportation and ecology issues. An additional role beyond advocacy and education that the coalition has engaged in during 2006 is citizen wildlife monitoring at the proposed crossing structure locations. Good data is available to inform where to build crossing structures. WSDOT and the US Forest Service collaborated on a study entitled I-90 Snoqualmie Pass Wildlife Habitat Linkage Assessment (Singleton and Lehmkuhl, 2000) that used tracking and and road-kill counts to map existing crossing activity. Additional relevant information comes from analysis leading to the Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive Management Area Plan and I-90 Land Exchange (US Forest Service, 1997 and 1999) and Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife studies of cougar movements using radio collars. Recent land acquisitions and national forest management changes have dramatically improved the outlook for habitat quality near the project. In recent years, purchases, donations, and exchanges have brought more than 50,000 acres of land valued at $200 million into public ownership and protection. The Forest Service is committing to additional habitat restoration, such as road removal. In light of these changes to the landscape and the large investment of the crossing structures, the coalition is acting to contribute to the data collection of current and future wildlife usage of habitat in the project vicinity. The coalition has sponsored digital remote cameras that have been installed at proposed crossing structure locations to gather still photograph and video images of wildlife moving through the area. These cameras are maintained by coalition volunteer teams, and data is shared through the website. This winter the coalition has launched a partnership with the Wilderness Awareness School to begin snow tracking monitoring at selected proposed crossing structure locations to compliment our current remote camera program. Both of these programs have begun this year, and are intended for long term monitoring. The coalition has grown out of a history of grassroots activism and collaboration around the Central Cascades region. Citizen involvement has played a critical role in the management policies of this area. The I-90 project will be a greater success due to the high level of attention, input, and assistance received from the public. Public involvement peaked in the spring of 2005 with the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement bringing in thousands of public comments. Involvement continues throughout the state through efforts of education such as our annual Bridging Futures contest, advocacy, and monitoring by the coalition.


Passive solar heating of homes is a dynamic process for which solar energy is transmitted through glazing and then absorbed by the interior building components and released to the indoor air over time. This paper presents solar design days as a useful method for understanding passive solar buildings' dynamic behavior for the purpose of increasing energy performance and thermal comfort through interactive design at the conceptual design stage. Rather than relying on rules of thumb or assessing whole-year performance from building energy simulations to optimize passive solar measures, solar design days can be used to compare different design options by diagnosing potential problems such as excessive heat loss, peak loads, and overheating. Solar design days consist of representative cold sunny, cold cloudy, warm sunny, and mild sunny days. This paper provides a background on recent advances in passive solar design, a methodology for selecting and applying solar design days, a modeling approach for passive solar houses in EnergyPlus, and finally, an example.


Advances in technology have led to an increased presence of multi-touch interfaces in consumer products in recent years. Still, many challenges remain that designers need to face when designing for multi-touch interaction. As multitouch interfaces are becoming more ubiquitous it is important to investigate not only their performance for certain tasks, but also the user experience of interacting with such interfaces. In this paper we discuss eight challenges that need to be considered when designing the user experience of multi-touch interfaces. The challenges also reveal potential areas for future research in the field of multi-touch interaction.


This manuscript addresses a methodology for investigating compound synchronization in a class of commensurate FO chaotic Genesio-Tesi system using DOB adaptive sliding mode control technique among fractional order chaotic systems with unknown bounded disturbances. The unknown disturbances are estimated using the nonlinear fractional order disturbance observer. Sliding mode technique has been employed by considering a simple sliding surface among four identical fractional order chaotic systems to achieve the desired synchronization which is further based on Lyapunov stability theory. The obtained results have been compared with prior published literature to realize the robustness of the proposed strategy. Finally, some numerical results using MATLAB are illustrated for visualizing the effectiveness and the correctness of the developed approach on the considered system in the presence of external disturbances.


We examine global patterns of benthic macroinvertebrate biomass and its distribution among functional feeding guilds in marine intertidal cOnmlunities. Variation in ash-free dry biomass was related to physical variables (mean annual air and water temperatures, sediment grain size, inter- tidal slope, tide range and type, wave height and exposure) by least-squares regression analysis of data for 36 rocky shores and 245 sedimentary shores. Linear combinations of physical variables explain up to 44 % of the variance in total biomass on sedimentary shores and 40 % of the variance in the biomass on rocky shores. Grain size and wave exposure are the best single predictors of total biomass for sedi- mentary shores and rocky shores, respectively. Biomass estimates peak in temperate regions and are an order of magnitude higher on rocky shores than on sedimentary shores. In fact, macroinvertebrate biomass on temperate rocky shores attains levels 10 to 100 times higher than those documented for other benthic marine environments. Suspension feeders tend to dominate temperate intertidal commu- nities (they typically comprise> 30 to 60 % of the macroinvertebrate biomass), reflecting the importance of benthic-pelagic coupling in these ecosystems. Contrary to consumer stress models for rocky shores,. there is no compelling evidence for biomass limitation of grazers and carnivores at high wave exposure.


The antigenic properties of an oncornavirus persisting in a continuous Syrian hamster cell culture (X-100) were studied. By the mutual immunodiffusion test it was shown that virions and virion-producing cells contained a protein antigenically identical to the main structural protein of oncornaviruses type C of Syrian hamsters. The materials tested contained no "GS-1" antigens (species-specific antigenic determinants of the main structural protein of mammalian oncornaviruses type C) of murine, feline, simian viruses or group-specific antigens of Bitner and Mason-Pfiser viruses.


Abstract Fidelity of King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) to breeding and wing molt sites was examined using satellite telemetry data obtained opportunistically when battery life of transmitters provided locations in a second year. Consecutive breeding locations were obtained for eleven female and 23 male King Eiders. All females exhibited breeding site fidelity by returning to sites within 15 km of first year breeding areas on the North Slope of Alaska. Breeding locations of males in a subsequent year were located on average >1000 km from their prior breeding sites and were primarily outside Alaska, on the coasts of Russia and Canada. Second-year wing molt locations were obtained for two female and six male King Eiders. Wing molt sites of males were located 6.2 ± 3.1 km apart on average in successive years, while female wing molt locations averaged almost 50 km apart. Our results demonstrate site fidelity of female King Eiders to a breeding area on the North Slope of Alaska, document the dispersal of male King Eiders between breeding seasons, and present the first evidence for wing molt site fidelity in males.


This paper demonstrates an efficient, mild, and chemoselective synthesis of various thioesters via a HOTf-catalyzed S-acetylation of aromatic and aliphatic thiols using isopropenyl acetate as a cheap and convenient acetylating agent. During our tests, we also investigated the differences between the activities of metal triflates and triflic acid as catalysts in the acetylation of thiols. Finally, the potential of our concept has been increased by the implementation of Nafion as a heterogeneous catalyst for S-acetylation of thiols.


Tendon injury in the horse carries a high morbidity and monetary burden. Despite appropriate therapy, reinjury is estimated to occur in 50–65% of cases. Although intralesional mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has improved tissue architecture and reinjury rates, the mechanisms by which they promote repair are still being investigated. Additionally, reevaluating our application of MSCs in tendon injury is necessary given recent evidence that suggests MSCs exposed to inflammation (deemed MSC licensing) have an enhanced reparative effect. However, applying MSC therapy in this context is limited by the inadequate quantification of the temporal cytokine profile in tendon injury, which hinders our ability to administer MSCs into an environment that could potentiate their effect. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to define the temporal cytokine microenvironment in a surgically induced model of equine tendon injury using ultrafiltration probes and subsequently evaluate changes in MSC gene and protein expression following in vitro inflammatory licensing with cytokines of similar concentration as identified in vivo. In our in vivo surgically induced tendon injury model, IL-1β and IL-6 were the predominant pro-inflammatory cytokines present in tendon ultrafiltrate where a discrete peak in cytokine concentration occurred within 48 h following injury. Thereafter, MSCs were licensed in vitro with IL-1β and IL-6 at a concentration identified from the in vivo study; however, only IL-1β induced upregulation of multiple genes beneficial to tendon healing as identified by RNA-sequencing. Specifically, vascular development, ECM synthesis and remodeling, chemokine and growth factor function alteration, and immunomodulation and tissue reparative genes were significantly upregulated. A significant increase in the protein expression of IL-6, VEGF, and PGE2 was confirmed in IL-1β-licensed MSCs compared to naïve MSCs. This study improves our knowledge of the temporal tendon cytokine microenvironment following injury, which could be beneficial for the development and determining optimal timing of administration of regenerative therapies. Furthermore, these data support the need to further study the benefit of MSCs administered within the inflamed tendon microenvironment or exogenously licensed with IL-1β in vitro prior to treatment as licensed MSCs could enhance their therapeutic benefit in the healing tendon.


After the beginning of the euro area, countries in its periphery engaged in weighty borrowing from foreign private investors, allowing domestic spending to outpace incomes. Now, these countries face debt crises reflecting a loss of creditor confidence in the sustainability of their finances from which results an abrupt end in private foreign lending to these economies. The debt crisis made evident the asymmetry between core and periphery countries, which is visible in trends in saving, consumption and investment. These divergent patterns have contributed to view the debt crisis as a problem of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) that can be contained in the periphery, or as a new version of the fable of the Grasshopper and the Ant. We dispute this reductionism showing that the debt crisis is systemic and its solution cannot be found with more fiscal rules and austerity in peripheral countries alone. It will imply, if not an increase in fiscal and political integration, at least a higher coordination at the political and economic front and a new governance structure.


Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to give an overview on the goals of the legal due diligence in the greater context of commercial real estate transactions.Design/methodology/approach - The paper first analyses the purpose of the legal due diligence in an acquisition process. In a second step it analyses those legal issues that – in the experience of the author – frequently arise in standard transactions and how to address them. Thirdly, it analyses the consequences of each of these issues on the acquisition process.Findings - Legal issues that frequently pop up during a due diligence are categorised in (a) deal breakers, (b) issues that need to be resolved before signing the purchase contract, (c) issues that need to be addressed in the acquisition contract and (d) risks that need to be accepted but may have implications on the purchase price.Research limitations/implications - Although the legal issues are similar in most continental European States, the overview is limited to Austrian law and limited commercial real estate transactions. Non legal issues (in particular: tax, financial, environmental and technical issues) as well as other areas of real estate (residential) are excluded. As each real estate transaction is different, the list is non-exhaustive.


BACKGROUND
The traditional goals of perioperative management of severe aortic stenosis are based on maintaining a high systemic vascular resistance (SVR) to allow for good coronary perfusion.

CASE REPORT
An 87-year-old male presented with septic arthritis of a prosthetic knee joint. Arthroplasty, implant removal, and joint washout were planned as surgical intervention. His comorbidities included severe aortic stenosis (peak/mean gradient 109/60 mmHg, aortic valve area of 0.80 cm(2)), new onset mitral regurgitation secondary to a flail posterior mitral valve leaflet, and a new third-degree conduction block. A nitroprusside infusion was initiated 72 hours preoperatively and continued throughout the intraoperative period and postoperative intensive care stay. This novel use of nitroprusside improved cardiac output and forward flow through the stenotic aortic valve.

CONCLUSIONS
To our knowledge, the use of nitroprusside infusion during the intraoperative period in patients with severe aortic stenosis undergoing noncardiac surgery has not been described previously. Although contrary to the traditional goal of maintaining a high SVR, this important pharmacological intervention optimizes cardiac indices during the perioperative period in these patients.


The Fourth Gospel has contributed to the Church's thinking on several theological themes. This thesis studies the missiology of the Gospel by reading the Fourth Gospel from a missional perspective. The study does not seek to find a pre-defined mission within the Gospel but seeks instead to discover the central message of the Gospel from a missional point of view. The former approach extracts the necessary parts of a text here and there to prove a pre-defined mission while the latter reads the whole story of the Gospel from a missional perspective.

Part I concerns my motivation for this approach, and the meaning and shaping of a missional hermeneutic for reading the Gospel.

Part II concerns the application of the shaped missional hermeneutic to the reading of the given text. The study divides the Gospel into four parts. From the point of view of a missional reading of the Gospel, the first part (1:1-2:12) of the Gospel provides a Johannine grand narrative of the missional God as an introduction for the rest of the Gospel. The second part (2:13-12:50) reveals a two-fold ministry of Jesus. One is his encounters with the Jews demolishing the pride of their natural descent and the other is his interactions with individuals, particularly the marginalized, building a new community through those who believe in him. The third part (13:1-17:26) addresses Jesus' exclusive interaction with his disciples. Jesus explains what is expected of the discipleship community regarding not only what they are to do but also what they are to be, the oneness with the divine community and also among themselves. The fourth part (18:1-21:25) includes the achievement of Christ through his crucifixion and resurrection. The achievement includes both the fulfilment of what was prophesied in the Old Testament and the forming of a believing discipleship community.

Part III of the study concerns the findings from the reading and the implications of them for mission, particularly for the concept of missio Dei. To conclude the thesis, I revisit a missional hermeneutic which I propose for this study, and also present limitations and suggestions of the study.


OBJECTIVE
To assess whether inability to afford dental care is associated with the number of teeth with untreated dental caries and whether this association is independent of socioeconomic factors and ethnicity.

BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN
Data were from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2015-2018), a cross-sectional national survey of non-institutionalised Americans.

CLINICAL SETTING
The survey included clinical assessment of tooth condition, data on sociodemographic factors, use of dental services, health insurance, number of teeth and affordability of dental care when needed.

PARTICIPANTS
The analysis included 9,440 participants aged 18 years and over.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The association between number of teeth with untreated caries and affordability of dental care was assessed adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, dental visits, and health insurance.

RESULTS
The mean number of teeth with untreated caries was 0.51, and 13% reported inability to afford care. Mean numbers of teeth with untreated caries among those unable and able to afford dental care were 1.46 and 0.36, respectively. In the fully adjusted model, the rate ratio for teeth with caries among those who could not afford dental care was 2.45 (95% Confidence Intervals 'CI': 2.04, 2.95). Income and education inequalities were slightly attenuated after accounting for inability to afford care. Other statistically significant predictors included education, and irregular dental visits.

CONCLUSION
Inability to afford dental care may exacerbate inequalities in dental caries. The findings highlight the need for affordable access to dental services.


We successfully replicated Dana, Cain, and Dawes' study (2006) using a dictator game with an exit option with a Japanese sample. The exit option allowed the dictator to leave the recipient with nothing by paying a small fee, while also ensuring that the recipient never noticed that the dictator game was being played. If the dictator was motivated by fairness, or even self-interest, there would be no reason to choose the exit option. However, our study, as well as the original study, demonstrated that approximately 40% of participants chose the exit option. Based on these results, we argue that the altruistic behavior exhibited during the standard dictator game represents a default strategy for reputation management.


Regenerative medicine (RM) is an interdisciplinary field that uses different approaches to accelerate the repair and regeneration or replace damaged or diseased human cells or tissues to achieve normal tissue function. These approaches include the stimulation of the body's own repair processes, transplantation of progenitor cells, stem cells, or tissues, as well as the use of cells and exosomes as delivery-vehicles for cytokines, genes, or other therapeutic agents. COVID-19 pneumonia is a specific disease consistent with diffuse alveolar damage resulting in severe hypoxemia. Therefore, the most serious cause of death from COVID-19 is lung dysfunction. Here, we consider RM approaches to cure COVID-19 pneumonia based on what RM has so far used to treat lung diseases, injuries, or pneumonia induced by other pathogens. These approaches include stem and progenitor cell transplantation, stem cell-derived exosomes, and microRNAs therapy.


The efficacy of the Brief Academic Motivational Instrument (BAMI) as an intervention in enhancing the academic self-efficacy and academic motivation of university students was tested. The BAMI is a paper based semi-structural Motivational Interviewing (MI) tool that aims to increase student motivation to change studying habits. Participants consisted of 40 undergraduate students, their age ranged from 18 to 32 years old (mean age 21.23), recruited through convenience sampling at Assumption University, Thailand. Participants were randomly assigned to the BAMI experimental group (n=20) and the non-intervention control group (n=20). All participants completed pre and post questionnaires, which the participants self-reported their academic self-efficacy and academic motivation. The investigator went through the BAMI with the experimental group participants after the pretest. All posttests were collected via internet survey 10 days after the pretest. MANOVA for repeated measures analysis was conducted to test the efficacy of the BAMI intervention against a no intervention control group. The results indicated there were no significant differences in academic self-efficacy and academic motivation between the experimental and control group at the posttest, suggesting that the BAMI intervention was ineffective. The insignificant results could be influenced by the timing of the data collection, nature of the sample population, cultural differences, prescreening ineffectiveness, the small sample size and possible language concerns. Further research needs to be conducted in order to further evaluate the effectiveness of the BAMI or similar devices for increasing academic self-efficacy and academic motivation.


Neutral beam injection (NBI) heating started in the second experimental campaign of the Large Helical Device (September to December 1998) by two tangential beam lines. With 100 keV hydrogen, the beam port through power of up to 3.7 MW was injected for 1 s typically. The energy confinement was systematically better than that predicted by the International Stellerator Scaling 95 up to a factor of 1.5. The temperature pedestal observed contributes to this enhancement. We have also demonstrated a long pulse discharge by NBI in the LHD. By injecting 0.7 MW of beam, a plasma with a density of 0.3 × 1019 m-3 was sustained for 22 s. A unique oscillating phenomenon of plasma quantities with a long time scale was observed in the long pulse discharge. One of the topics of NB discharge is that the plasma can be started up by NB alone. This technique is unique for helical systems that have a vacuum magnetic field confining high energy ions, and it is useful for helical systems to be free from the constraint of magnetic field strength that must coincide with the frequency required by electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH).


Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the stability of immediate implant placement for alveolar bone augmentation and preservation with bovine bone graft following atraumatic tooth extraction. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective interventional study with convenient sampling (n = 10). Thirty patients aged between 18 and 40 years, who needed noncomplicated tooth extraction of mandibular premolar tooth, were sequentially divided equally into three groups. In Group I, simple extraction was done and the empty extraction socket left to heal conventionally. In Group II, extraction sockets were filled with lyophilized bovine granules only. In Group III, immediate implants were placed into extraction sockets, and the buccal gap was also filled with bovine granules. All groups were subjected to cone beam computed tomography scan for radiological evaluation. Assessment of biomechanical stability (radiofrequency analysis [RFA] was performed at 9 months postoperative for Group III to assess the degree of secondary stability of the implants using Osstell. Repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was applied when comparing within each group at three different time intervals, whereas one-way ANOVA was applied followed by post hoc-tukey test when comparing between groups. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Radiological assessment reveals a significant difference of bone resorption in alveolar dimension within Group I; 1.49 mm (P = 0.002), and 0.82 mm (P = 0.005), respectively, between day 0 and 3 months. Comparison between Group I and III showed a highly significant difference of bone resorption in ridge width at 3 months 2.56 mm (P = 0.001) and at 9 months interval 3.2 mm (P < 0.001). High RFA values demonstrating an excellent biomechanical stability were observed in Group III at 9 months postoperatively. Conclusion: The insertion of immediate implants in extraction sockets with bovine bone augmentation of the buccal gap was able to preserve a greater amount of alveolar ridge volume.


Human hand detection problem has important applications in sign language and human machine interfaces. In this work, we present a novel approach for learning a vision-based hand detection system. The main contribution is a robust on-line boosting-based framework for real-time detection of a hand in unconstrained environments. The use of efficient representative features allows fast computation while dealing with vast changing of hand appearances and background. Interactive on-line training allows efficiently train and improve the detector. Moreover, we propose a strategy to efficiently improve the performance meanwhile reduce hand labeling effort. Besides, if necessary, we use a verification process to prevent ldquodriftingrdquo of classifier over time. The proposed method is practically favorable as it meets the requirements of real-time performance, accuracy and robustness. It works well with reasonable amount of training samples and is computational efficient. Experiments for detection of hands in challenging data sets show the outperform of our approach.


Background: The development of employability skills is a concern of educational institutions, which must introduce experiential learning scenarios for undergraduate students. Purpose: This study is aimed at testing the relationship between emotional intelligence and individual task performance in teams, during a recruiting activity for an experiential learning program. Methodology/Approach: Self-reported and third rater's measures were used to assess both variables as part of the selection process of participants on an experiential learning program focused on engineering competitions. Exploratory structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Findings/Conclusions: Results show partial support of the hypothesis by revealing a significant but apparently counterintuitive relationship. Implications: The study reveals the measurement of employability skills as a challenge and a necessity. For employers, it reinforces that teamwork, socialization, and daily organizational endeavors require the appropriate soft skills to obtain good performance levels.


Background: Diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (DMPM) is an aggressive tumor of the lining of the abdomen, characterized by late clinical symptoms and poor prognosis. Systemic chemotherapy together with cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal hyperthermic therapy has been introduced as the best treatment option, resulting in an overall 5-year survival rate of approximately 50%. To further increase survival, novel drugs targeting key molecular factors in DMPM are warranted. Analogous to pleural mesothelioma, such a factor may be alternative splicing which can be modulated by inhibiting the SF3B subunit of the spliceosome. This strategy is an emerging therapeutic opportunity for a number of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. In particular, the spliceosome inhibitor Pladienolide B (PB) has low nanomolar IC50 values against a range of cancer cell lines and leukemic cells, but no data are available regarding its antitumor efficacy in DMPM. Aims: This study investigates (1) the activity of PB (alone or in combination with standard chemotherapeutics) in primary peritoneal mesothelioma cells through in vitro and in vivo assays, and (2) the molecular mechanisms of splicing inhibition through whole-genome RNA-seq and PCR of selected genes involved in apoptosis and invasion. Methods: The antiproliferative effect of PB was investigated using the SRB assay on two primary mesothelioma cell cultures (MESOII and STO), obtained from resected tumors with well-annotated clinical characteristics. Further in vitro studies were performed to evaluate the pro-apoptotic and anti-invasive activities, while splicing profiles of treated and untreated cells were determined with RNA-seq. Results: PB impaired DMPM cell growth in a dose-dependent manner, with IC50 values of 1.57 ± 0.30 nM in MESOII and 1.18 ± 0.16 nM in STO (n = 3, mean ± standard deviation). The specific activity on the spliceosome was demonstrated by PB induced time- and dose-dependent alterations of splicing patterns for several apoptotic genes, such as Mcl-1, Bcl-X, Fas, and for the pro-metastatic tyrosine kinase receptor RON, which was shifted to its un-spliced and non-functional variant. In addition, RNA-seq showed several differentially expressed alternatively spliced genes in PB treated samples. The DMPM cells have also been genetically engineered to express Firefly- and Gaussia- luciferases, enabling monitoring of tumor growth inhibition by PB in in vivo orthotopic models. Conclusions: These data provide evidence that PB has a strong antitumor activity against relevant models of DPMP, associated with modulation of splicing, induction of apoptosis and inhibition of invasion. RNA-seq represents a powerful tool for the identification of alternatively spliced genes that could serve as useful diagnostic markers as well as potential therapeutic targets for DMPM. Citation Format: Rocco Sciarrillo, Valentina E. Gomez, Marzia Pennati, Anna Wojtuszkiewicz, Gert-Jan L. Kaspers, Carla Molthoff, Nadia Zaffaroni, Godefridus J. Peters, Gerrit Jansen, Elisa Giovannetti. Spliceosome inhibition as novel strategy against diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 332.


Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the leading cause of pediatric viral neurological disease in Asia. The JEV-specific IgM antibody-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (MAC-ELISA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum is the recommended method of laboratory diagnosis, but specificity of JEV MAC-ELISA can be low due to cross-reactivity. To increase the specificity of the commercially available JE Detect™ MAC-ELISA (JE Detect), a differential testing algorithm was developed in which samples tested by JE Detect with positive results were subsequently tested by the DEN Detect™ MAC-ELISA (DEN Detect) kit, and results of both tests were used to make the final interpretation. The testing algorithm was evaluated with a reference panel of serum and CSF samples submitted for confirmatory testing. In serum, the false Japanese encephalitis (JE) positive rate was reduced, but sequential testing in CSF resulted in reduced JE specificity, as true JEV+ CSF samples had positive results by both JE Detect and DEN Detect and were classified as JE− (dengue virus [DENV]+). Differential diagnosis of JE by sequential testing with JE Detect and DEN Detect increased specificity for JE in serum, but more data with CSF is needed to make a final determination on the usefulness of this testing algorithm for CSF.


We propose implementing a parallel EA on consumer graphics cards, which we can find in many PCs. This lets more people use our parallel algorithm to solve large-scale, real-world problems such as data mining. Parallel evolutionary algorithms run on consumer-grade graphics hardware achieve better execution times than ordinary evolutionary algorithms and offer greater accessibility than those run on high-performance computers


Symposium 3 - Science Education "Leopoldo de Meis" Chair: Wagner Seixas da Silva, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Abstract: In this talk we will discuss the relevance of the brain neurobiology in the student learning/formal evaluation processes in the classroom. It is important to emphasize that the students "are alive" before and after each class. It means that their brains are receiving a massive amount of environmental stimuli, which are processed by the complex cerebral circuitry involved in learning and memory processes. These stimuli interact with previous memories, which adapt to the new stimuli and are adjusted by them. These constant new interactions induce brain plasticity, changing the behavior in such way that a student that leaves the class is not exactly the same that will enter in the next class. At the same time, when students are in the class, what they are learning is not only (even nor the most relevant) what the teacher is trying to teach. These "anonymous" experiences may impact the brain stronger than the teacher's information. The neurobiological bases of all these interactions are nowadays being more and more revealed; unfortunately this new scientific knowledge is still not integrated in most of the class activities. The idea of this talk is to contribute for the discussion on how important is to incorporate this new scientific information to the current evaluation methods. Importantly, the aim here is not to transform all teachers in neuroscientists, but only motivate the school community for accepting that we learn with the brain and, consequently, the neurobiology of learning and memory should be valorized in formal evaluation of learning. Finally, it is important in terms of evaluation not consider strictly the answers to the question raised in an exam, but what happened within the time between a previous classroom and the time in which the exam is applied.


The clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical features of a hepatobiliary and pancreatic gangli- oneuroma in a seven-month-old dog are described. The dog presented progressive weight loss, anorexia and abdominal pain. At laparoscopic examination numerous whitish nodules ranging from 0.5 to 1 cm in diameter were found in the peripancreatic tissues, the bile duct system and perihepatic tissues. Due to poor prognosis the dog was euthanized and necropsy was conducted. Tumour nodules were not noted in the other examined abdominal organs. Microscopically, the nodules were composed of large, well differentiated neurons embedded in an abundant stroma of nerve fibres and connective fibrous tissue. Through immunohistochemistry analysis, neurons were found to express neurofilaments and did not express S-100 protein. The histopathological and immunohistochemical features were consistent with a diagnosis of ganglioneuroma. This case is atypical as the majority of reported canine ganglioneuromas involve the gastrointestinal tract. The early age of the dog is also considered to be atypical for this tumour.


Seed dormancy in annual canarygrass may lead to unsatisfactory germination in seed tests. The objectives of this study were (i) to quantify the levels of seed dormancy in three morphologically diverse annual canarygrass cultivars ('Keet', 'CDC Maria', & 'CY 184') relative to spring wheat & (ii) to determine the effectiveness of three treatments (GA3, KNO3, & chilling) & two temperature regimes (15/25°C & 15°C) in promoting germination of dormant annual canarygrass seeds. The hard red spring wheat cultivar 'Katepwa' control was included as a representative of a cereal crop that has been extensively characterized with regards to seed dormancy. In 1998 & 1999, the four cultivars were grown at Saskatoon, Canada. At maturity, panicles & spikes were hand harvested & stored at –20°C. Four replications of 50 seeds per cultivar were used in each experiment. Three experiments were conducted: (i) seeds were germinated at 10, 15, 20, & 25°C for one week, (ii) seeds were stored at 24°C for zero to eight weeks prior to germination at 22°C for one week, & (iii) seeds were treated with GA3, KNO3, & chilling prior to germination at 15/25°C (16/8h) or 15°C for two weeks. For experiment one & three, a split-plot analysis was used to analyze arc sin transformed percentage germination data. Average percentage germination data in experiment two were tested to be significantly different from 98% germination (P=0.05) based on one-tailed t-tests. Annual canarygrass developed deeper dormancy than the wheat cultivar in both years, particularly when germinated at 20 & 25°C. The highest percentage germination was observed at 15°C. Two (1998) & four weeks (1999) of storage at 24°C were required to overcome dormancy in annual canarygrass. Pre-chilling or KNO3 treatment prior to germination at 15/25°C (16/8h in darkness) resulted in average germination levels of 94% (1998) & 66% (1999). Potassium nitrate treatment prior to incubation at 15°C in darkness was the most effective method of promoting germination in dormant seeds, resulting in 99% (1998) & 97% (1999) germination. Thus, we recommend the use of the latter method, instead of the former or currently recommended method (pre-chilling or KNO3 treatment prior to germination at 15/25°C [16/8h] in darkness), for testing germination levels of dormant seed of annual canarygrass.


According to Ulpian the jurist Celsus defines ius as the ars boni et aequi and does this eleganter. There is no doubt about the elegantia of this assertion nor that ius is an ars. But this cannot be regarded as a definition. After analysing the meaning of words such as "elegantia", "elegans" and "eleganter" in the Roman legal texts and focusing the art of dealing with ius, this paper confronts the hard task of defining it.


The existence of multiple equilibria is one explanation for why some countries are rich while others are poor. This explanation also allows the possibility that changes in political and economic institutions might help poor countries jump from a bad economic equilibrium into a better one, permanently increasing their output and income. Experiments are a useful methodology to study the effect of institutions on economic growth. In this paper, we study a simple experimental economy in which agents produce output in each period and can allocate the output between consumption and investment (the experiment adds to the design of Lei and Noussair, 2002, 2003). Capital productivity is higher if total investment is above a threshold. The threshold externality generates two equilibria - a suboptimal poverty trap and an optimal rich country equilibrium - which differ by a factor of around three in the income they create. In baseline sessions, in which agents make independent decisions in a decentralized manner, the economies typically sink into the poverty trap and the optimal equilibrium is never reached. However, the ability to communicate before investing, or to vote on binding industrial policy proposals, improves average earnings. Communication enables agents to agree to restrain consumption to cross the capital threshold, and voting enables them to enforce such plans. Combining both of these simple institutions enables all of the economies to escape the poverty trap. This experimental environment constitutes a platform onto which more complex features can be added in a program of experimental growth economics.


Yield loss in agriculture due saline soils is a growing problem in arid and semi-arid regions as traditional crop species are inherently sensitive to salinity in the root zone. In the face of diminishing fresh water resources it is necessary to explore the traits which allow naturally salt tolerant species to exploit high saline environments. In the hope of transferring these traits via genetic modification to traditional crop species, or utilising these species as niche crops in their own right. While a majority of plants appear green, red pigmented plants are commonly associated with marginal environments. In these leaves anthocyanins or less commonly betalains are responsible for leaf reddening. The betalains are small class of tyrosine derived chromo alkaloids found in the core Caryophyllales and in some Basidiomycetes. There are two structural groups: the red/violet betacyanins and the yellow/orange betaxanthins. Due to this distribution pattern, betalain pigments are thought to function in salinity stress tolerance. However, minimal research has been conducted to support this salinity tolerance hypothesis due to a lack of an appropriate model species.  Horokaka (Disphyma australe) exhibits colour dimorphism among populations, green and red morphs grow contiguously in coastal environments where the frequency of red morphs positively correlates with increased substrate salinity. Betacyanins have previously been implicated in serving a photo protective for D. australe. In dimorphic populations D. australe along the south Wellington coastline, the red morph has been shown to be more tolerant to the combination of high light and salinity, as measured by higher CO2 assimilation rates, reduced inhibition of PSII and enhanced water use efficiency relative to the green morph. In these studies, betacyanin production in the red morphs was shown to depend on duel exposure to both salinity and high light, however the green morph was unable to produce betacyanin under the same conditions (Jain & Gould, 2015). This easy manipulation of leaf colour by salinity and high light offers a system to study whether betacyanin pigments aid salinity tolerance. I aimed further investigate the photo protective hypothesis of betalain using D. australe, and how this may influence distribution patterns by focusing on three areas: the capacity for new root growth along a salinity gradient, germination capacity under saline conditions, and ion content in the roots at low, moderate and high NaCl concentrations.  Shoots with no roots and a minimum of two mature leaf pairs were cut from green and red morphs of D.asutrale growing in the greenhouse facilities at Victoria University of Wellington. The shoots were grown hydroponically in 10% Hoaglands solution supplemented or not with (50, 100, or 150 mM) NaCl. To test the light screening capacity of leaf betacyanin a red filter was secured of half the green shoots, the cuttings were grown for 5 weeks under a controlled 16h light/ 8h dark photoperiod. Final weights of the shoot and roots, along with tissue water content of the shoots and roots were obtained to establish the relative capacity for new root growth when subjected to increasing salinity. Seeds were germinated in vitro in the presence of increasing NaCl concentrations (0, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mM NaCl), and subject to recovery tests after stress. The germination percentages and velocity were determined to establish te relative tolerance and competitiveness of the two D. australe morphs. Salt treatments were also applied to plants with an established root system, by 14-day treatment with increasing NaCl concentrations (0, 200, 400, 800 mM). The tissue water content of the shoots and ion contents (Na+ and K+) in the roots were determined in the control and the stressed plants of the two colour morphs. The different germination behaviour of the two morphs and capacity for root development appears to contribute to their distribution along a salinity gradient. Despite some differences under the control treatment, the concentrations of the two ions (Na+ and K+) were similar in the two morphs, not explaining differences in salinity tolerance, except for the increase of K+ in the roots of the green morph in the absence of NaCl. This specific response may be relevant for distribution patterns in D. australe.  The ecological implications of these findings, which can contribute to vegetation distribution of D. australe in coastal environments, and the relevance of betacyanin accumulation in salinity tolerance for halophytes, and potential application for improved crop vigour are discussed.