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Methionine metabolism is dysregulated in multiple sclerosis (MS). The methyl donor betaine is depleted in the MS brain where it is linked to changes in levels of histone H3 trimethylated on lysine 4 (H3K4me3) and mitochondrial impairment. We investigated the effects of replacing this depleted betaine in the cuprizone mouse model of MS. Supplementation with betaine restored epigenetic control and alleviated neurological disability in cuprizone mice. Betaine increased the methylation potential (SAM/SAH ratio), levels of H3K4me3, enhanced neuronal respiration, and prevented axonal damage. We show that the methyl donor betaine and the betaine homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT) enzyme can act in the nucleus to repair epigenetic control and activate neuroprotective transcriptional programmes. ChIP-seq data suggest that BHMT acts on chromatin to increase the SAM/SAH ratio and histone methyltransferase activity locally to increase H3K4me3 and activate gene expression that supports neuronal energetics. These data suggest that the methyl donor betaine may provide neuroprotection in MS where mitochondrial impairment damages axons and causes disability.

To evaluate correlation between the lateral ventricle ratio (LVR) and the risk of conservative treatment failure (CTF) among patients with acute subdural hematoma (ASDH) after non-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), we retrieved from the hospital database and performed a retrospective analysis of 1339 cases with TBI treated during the 2008-2016 period.112 patients with ASDH, GCS≥ 9 and initial conservative treatment were enrolled. They were divided according to the final treatment method applied (surgical or conservative). Clinical and radiological data was evaluated. We used ROC curve analysis and multivariate logistic regression model to identify risk factors of CTF.LVR higher than 1.48 calculated on admission CT scans was the strongest predictor of CTF, with sensitivity of 78.9% and specificity of 93.5% (AUC: 0.774-0.994). LVR, prolonged prothrombin time and coexisting traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage were independent risk factors.Despite limitations, study results support the view that patients after non-severe TBI with ASDH and with lateral ventricle asymmetry, defined as LVR 1.48, require surgical treatment. LVR seems to be indirect, but still the closest method to quantify intracranial compliance. Thus, in the selected group of patients without clinical symptoms of critically diminished compensatory reserve, LVR could indicate those who need a surgical decompression.

The need of business enterprises for professionals trained for the challenges of cross-border assignments will increase exponentially through the decade. Business schools will be hard pressed to deliver programs with the scope, scale, and effectiveness necessary to address the unique competencies required for cross-cultural understanding and communication, and the complexity of global business operations. This article reviews the existing literature in order to identify the competencies that are needed by global managers and the training approaches that can successfully build those competencies. A template of 10 criteria that should be addressed by training programs for cross-border professionals is proposed and applied to a sample of business schools that currently offer executive programs. Although there are good examples of programs that meet one or more of the 10 criteria, most business schools will be required to expand and to innovate their programs in order to meet the projected demand for training.

Irradiated eggs of Anastrepha ludens were evaluated as hosts of two fruit-fly parasitoids for mass rearing. Three different ages of A. ludens eggs (24-, 48- and 72-h-old) were analyzed for hatchability after being subjected to radiation doses of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, 20, 22.5, 25, 27.5 and 30 Gy. No significant reduction in hatchability occurred with the 72-h-old eggs at any of the radiation dose levels and no adult emergence occurred at radiation doses greater than 25 Gy. Seventy two-h-old eggs irradiated above 25 Gy were found to be the best age and dose for fruit fly egg hosts to be used in mass rearing the egg parasitoid Fopius arisanus. It was demonstrated that larvae hatching from the irradiated A. ludens eggs can also be used as hosts for Diachasmimorpha longicaudata. Parasitoid emergence of both species was not statistically different from the control group (parasitoids emerged from non-irradiated host). The fecundity of parasitoids emerged from irradiated hosts also was simila...

Just as nuclear energy seems poised for a global comeback, nuclear weapon threats grow in Iran and North Korea. The security risk from expanding nuclear energy programmes could potentially be contained by the commercial provision of nuclear-fuel services. Countries that already possess uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing facilities could guarantee client countries with cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel services. The guarantee, backed by governmental or international entities, could persuade governments to abstain from building their own fuel-cycle facilities. Decisions to reject such an arrangement, which provides direct economic benefit and relieves waste management challenges, would spotlight a government's intentions and invite a coordinated international response. Iran and Brazil present crucial early tests.

Like the sports franchises and foreign auto plants that preceded them, state and local governments are touting prisons as the latest means of economic miracle‐making, often for small towns and communities that are economically depressed. The building of prisons is supposedly tied to the development of a just, fair, and rational criminal justice policy in a civil democratic society. Prison building has positive and negative social and political consequences for these communities. This critical essay explores some of these consequences in light of the literature on prison siting, the experiences of communities and prisoners, and relevant statistical data in the public domain. It also offers an alternative framework for evaluating prison recruitment as a strategy for local economic development.

The initial development of a South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company process for supporting preventative maintenance optimization by applying the Balance-Of-Plant model and Risk-Informed Asset Management alpha-level software applications is presented. Preventative maintenance activities are evaluated in the South Texas Project Risk- Informed Asset Management software while the plant maintains or improves upon high levels of nuclear safety. In the Balance-Of-Plant availability application, the level of detail in the feedwater system is enhanced to support plant decision-making at the component failure mode and human error mode level of indenture by elaborating on the current model at the super-component level of indenture. The enhanced model and modeling techniques are presented. Results of case studies in feedwater system preventative maintenance optimization using plant-specific data are also presented.

For many customers and consumers, the brand ‘is the product’. Managers and marketing specialists therefore consider branding as a key strategic tool used to create awareness, reputation and build the organisation's image. The brand image results from contacts that stem from both the marketing and communications domains. To develop a synergistic brand identity all levels of consumer interaction or contact with the brand must be addressed and not only those delivered through planned marketing communications efforts. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the theory underlying the perceived nature and role of alternative brand communication contacts, within the context of the outside-in integrated brand contact approach in the South African marketing and communications industry. Certain propositions will be formulated to serve as stimuli that can be used to critically assess the inclusion of alternative brand communications techniques as an extra function of Integrated Marketing Co...

A novel two-step synthesis of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinolin-8-ylamine, involving regioselective nitrosation of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydroquinoline followed by oxime reduction, is described. Oxime hydrolysis affords 6,7-dihydro-5H-quinolin-8-one.

This article reviews how South African marketers portray children in magazine advertisements in two very distinct periods in the country's history, namely before and after the ANC government came i...

Subsequent to 1987, 8 U.S. nuclear plants located at least 113 km from other reactors ceased operations. Strontium-90 levels in local milk declined sharply after closings, as did deaths among infants who had lived downwind and within 64 km of each plant. These reductions occurred during the first 2 yr that followed closing of the plants, were sustained for at least 6 yr, and were especially pronounced for birth defects. Trends in infant deaths in proximate areas not downwind, and more than 64 km from the closed plants, were not different from the national patterns. In proximate areas for which data were available, cancer incidence in children younger than 5 yr of age fell significantly after the shutdowns. Changes in health following nuclear reactor closings may help elucidate the relationship between low-dose radiation exposure and disease.

The practical synthesis of a mixed phenoxy-amidate derivative of PMPA with high oral bioavailability and favorable pharmacokinetics is described. The non-stereoselective synthetic route produces a 1:1 mixture of two diastereomers at phosphorous. Simulated moving bed chromatography using Chiralpak AS enabled kilo-scale isolation of the more potent diastereomer (GS-7340). The GS-7340 phosphorous chiral center was found to be (S) by X-ray crystallography.

(2000). Pinning down Character Education. Kappa Delta Pi Record: Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 154-157.

Radioactive strontium-90 concentrations in baby teeth obtained from Suffolk County, New York, rose steadily during the 1980s. Recent levels of strontium-90 are similar to those reported for babies born in the late 1950s-at the height of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing in Nevada. Strontium-90 concentrations increased concomitantly with increases in cancer incidence among Suffolk children under the age of 5 y, a result that mimicked parallel trends observed in the 1950s and early 1960s. Given that effects of strontium-90 on developing cells are most pronounced during the fetal and infant periods, escalating levels should be viewed as a factor in the recent decline in various child health status measures.

The Internet is relatively new to Africa (1995) compared to developed nations-a situation similar to other developing areas. This paper explores a little noticed aspect of e-commerce: the links between business interest associations (BIAs) that bind them into virtual communities. This work builds on previous research conducted in China, Malaysia and Brazil by turning its attention to Africa. The Chambers of Commerce are an important sub-set of business interest associations, and this paper takes the Chambers in Africa as its starting point, by analysing their Internet activity.

This paper seeks to explore Canada's response to the global dialogue over sustainable development on two dimensions: policy articulation at the federal and provincial levels and policy implementation at the municipal level. In order to accomplish these goals, this analysis begins by outlining a critical framework for understanding and assessing local sustainable development. Next, it examines the evolution of Canadian federal and provincial policies supportive of sustainable development, including the role played by non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) in enhancing this process. It then contrasts the Canadian promise and experience with that of the USA. In analysing local responses to the call for sustainable communities, it offers a case study of the Hamilton‐Wentworth Vision 2020 sustainable community programme—a North American showcase of sustainable community initiatives.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) adenylate kinase activity was determined in 88 children (mean age 32.6 months) at stage II (n = 40) and stage III (n = 48) tuberculous meningitis (TBM) at, or shortly after, the initiation of treatment, and at weekly intervals thereafter for the first month of treatment, and in 60 children (mean age 40 months) investigated for, but later considered not to have meningitis. CSF adenylate kinase activity in this latter group ranged from 0 to 1.27 u/l (mean 0.59 u/l). Mean CSF adenylate kinase activity during the first week of therapy in children at stage II TBM (2.95 u/l; range 0-9.22 u/l) differed significantly (p = 0.03) from that in children at stage III TBM (5.62 u/l; range 0-18.93 u/l). CSF adenylate kinase activity did not differ between children at stage II and stage III TBM during any of the 3 subsequent weeks. CSF adenylate kinase activity was not related to CSF cell count, total protein or glucose concentration or intracranial pressure at any point during the first month of treatment, but was related to CSF lactate during the first week of therapy (p = 0.001). Consecutive determinations of CSF adenylate kinase activity were available in 34 children. Although CSF adenylate kinase activity tended to increase or decrease in keeping with changes in clinical condition this was not always the case. The close relationship of CSF adenylate kinase activity and lactate concentrations suggests that adenylate kinase activity reflects hypoxic cerebral metabolism and it was unusual for children with increased CSF adenylate kinase activity at the time of diagnosis to be clinically normal on completion of 6 months of antituberculosis treatment. Any treatment modality which significantly reduced CSF adenylate kinase activity in children early in the course of TBM would probably be of clinical benefit to the patients.

Ion channel activity of acutely dissociated type I spiral ganglion cells isolated from rats was investigated using the whole-cell variation of the patch clamp technique. Tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium current and tetraethylammonium-sensitive potassium current were recorded. With a holding potential of -80 mV, peak sodium currents were generated by depolarizations to membrane potentials more positive than -50 mV. Potassium currents were elicited at membrane potentials more positive than -40 mV. Some cells which did not exhibit sodium current exhibited delayed rectifier potassium currents. Steady-state sodium channel inactivation curve yielded a slope of 12 mV and a half-inactivated potential of -83 mV. Recovery from inactivation of the sodium channel proceeded with a fast and slow time course; recovery began as early as 0.8 ms and proceeded with a time constant of 7.5 ms. It is concluded that type I spiral ganglion cells are endowed with sodium and potassium channels which are responsible for generation and propagation of auditory nerve action potentials.

A dominating function for a graph is a function from its vertex set into the unit interval so that the sum of function values, taken over the closed neighbourhood of each vertex, is at least one. Although convex combinations of minimal dominating functions (MDFs) are themselves dominating, they are not always minimal. A universal MDF of a graph is a MDF g such that any convex combination of g with any other MDF of the graph, is minimal. This paper surveys recent results concerning convex combinations of MDFs and universal MDFs of trees. Two new theorems on the existence of certain types of MDFs of trees are established and a new class of trees without universal MDFs is presented.

(1992). Primitive Pythagorean Triples. The College Mathematics Journal: Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 413-417.

(1991). An archival acquisition strategy for the broadcast records of the Canadian broadcasting corporation. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television: Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 253-268.

The irredundant Ramsey number s(m,n) is the least value of p such that for any p-vertex graph G, either G has an irredundant set of at least n vertices or its complement G has an irredundant set of at least m vertices. The existence of these numbers is guaranteed by Ramsey's theorem. We prove that s(3,6) = 15.

A set B of vertices of a graph G = (V,E) is a k-maximal independent set (kMIS) if B is independent but the deletion of any l-subset X from B (where l ≤ k—1) followed by the addition of any l + 1 vertices from V—B, produces a dependent set. We calculate the smallest cardinality of a kMIS for paths and cycles, and obtain Nordhaus-Gaddum type results for these parameters for graphs in general.

One of the frustrations of trying to learn—or teach—about the political economy of the global information and communications technology (ICT) revolution is the small number of relatively accessible...