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Tetrodotoxin (TTX) has been usually analyzed in marine and other sources by HPLC separation, followed by alkaline treatment and fluorescence assay. However, the applications of such methods were limited because of their tedious extraction and derivation procedures. A simpler, rapid LC-MS method, using selected ion-monitoring, has now been developed, and used to identify and quantitate TTX in a marine gastropod of the genus Nassarius, collected from Fijian province of China. The toxin was confirmed comparable to authentic TTX by MS and MSn. In addition, a moderate amount of TTX was detected in the Nassarius by this novel approach, suggesting that Nassarius would be a potential food poison source.

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a safe monitoring modality with broad applications in non-cardiac surgery. A moderate amount of exposure to its use and knowledge of the principles of echocardiography can yield the practitioner competent to make basic assessments of a patient’s cardiac status and help guide initial management decisions. The practitioner should also be able to determine when the nature of the surgery or the patient’s cardiovascular status necessitates a comprehensive examination by a board certified advanced echocardiographer. Each patient should be evaluated individually to assess for contraindications and potential complications associated with the use of TEE. Most complications are associated with probe insertion and manipulation and providers should ensure that these maneuvers are performed carefully and appropriately.

Data are available in the literature for the clinical pharmacologies of three newer antiepileptic drugs which have achieved a moderate amount of use in pregnant women, viz. lamotrigine, topiramate and levetiracetam. There is more information available for the first of these drugs than for the other two. The clearance value for lamotrigine, which is almost fully biotransformed to glucuronides, is considerably increased during pregnancy, with the clearances of topiramate (eliminated by a mix of metabolism and renal excretion unchanged) and levetiracetam (eliminated mainly by renal excretion without prior metabolism) being less increased. Relatively little information is available concerning the dispositions of the three drugs in the neonate, though there are published data for maternal plasma to breast milk concentration ratios.

Structural Vector Autoregressions with a differenced specification of hours (DSVAR) suggest that productivity shocks identified using long-run restrictions lead to a persistent and significant decline in hours worked. Economists have interpreted this evidence as showing that standard business cycle models in which a positive technology shock leads to a rise in hours are inconsistent with the data. In this paper we argue that such a conclusion is unwarranted because model's data and actual data are not treated symmetrically. To illustrate this problem, we estimate and test a flexible-price DSGE model with non-stationary hours using Indirect Inference on impulse responses of hours and output after technology and non-technology shocks. We find that, once augmented with a moderate amount of real frictions, the model can mimic well impulse responses obtained from a DSVAR on actual data. Using this model as a data generating process, we show that our estimation method is less subject to bias than a method that would directly compare theoretical responses with responses from the DSVAR.

Evidence suggests that a moderate amount of variance in patient outcomes is attributable to therapist differences. However, explained variance estimates vary widely, perhaps because some therapists achieve greater success with certain kinds of patients. This study assessed the amount of variance in across-session change in symptom intensity scores explained by therapist differences in a large naturalistic data set (1,198 patients and 60 therapists, who each treated 10–77 of the patients). Results indicated that approximately 8% of the total variance and approximately 17% of the variance in rates of patient improvement could be attributed to the therapists. Cross-validation and extreme group analyses validated the existence of these therapist effects.

OBJECTIVE Examine overall level of and variation in local health department (LHD) use and perceived impact of the County Health Rankings report (Rankings) in Florida (2010, 2011) and North Carolina (2010-2012, 2013). DESIGN Two cross-sectional surveys among LHDs. PARTICIPANTS Local health directors and relevant staff. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Use of the Rankings was measured by asking respondents if their LHD had used the Rankings in any of 10 ways and through assessment of community engagement. Perceived impact was measured by amount of attention the Rankings received from various stakeholders and whether they had already produced or would likely produce any of 7 possible results. RESULTS Overall, LHDs used the Rankings most often to educate staff in Florida (78%) and North Carolina (56%). Engagement with community groups around the Rankings was variable. Media engagement, through press releases (41%; 40%) or interviews (51%; 36%) in Florida and North Carolina, was moderate. Florida LHDs used the Rankings in more ways and significantly more frequently than North Carolina LHDs. There were few significant differences in perceived impact by state. At least a moderate amount of attention was received from media in Florida (52%) and North Carolina (46%). Twenty-percent of LHDs reported the Rankings received at least moderate attention from the general public in both states and 38% (Florida) and 33% (North Carolina) from policy makers. Tangible benefits to communities from the Rankings, such as having already influenced adoption of new policies, were modest in Florida (3%) and North Carolina (11%). CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that tangible benefits to communities from use of the Rankings have yet to be fully realized but are encouraging. More effective media engagement could produce the community awareness necessary to maximize the Rankings' potential to mobilize communities for health improvement. State variation in Rankings use suggests that more support to LHDs may be helpful.

Outcomes: Over 700 children were engaged. Over 7 schools were reached. 100% or all 10 responses from 7 schools indicated they were content with the STEMShips educational content. 90% of the responses stated they felt the educational content extremely well exceeded expectations, where as 10% stated it met the expectations moderately well. 80% of the participating educators enjoyed the science center learning extremely well and 20% stated they enjoyed the science centers quite well. 90% of the participants felt extremely satisfied about the science inspiration presented within the STEMShip. 10% felt quite satisfied and inspired. 70% of the educators felt the curriculum was extremely useful to use within the classroom where as 30% that it was quite useful. 70% of the educators thought the science centers made a great deal of impact (highest ranking) in STEM inspiration; 20% felt is made a lot of impact (second highest ranking) and 10% stated is made a moderate amount of impact in science inspiration. 100% of the past schools have asked for us to come back next year and make this an annual event.

МОРФОФУНКЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ СТАН НЕЙРОЦИТІВ СОМАТОСЕНСОРНОЇ ЗОНИ КОРИ ВЕЛИКОГО МОЗКУ ЗА УМОВ ХРОНІЧНОЇ ЕНДОТОКСЕМІЇ ТА ЇЇ СОРБЦІЙНОЇ КОРЕКЦІЇ - При експериментальному хронічному ендотоксикозі в пірамідальному та гангліонарному шарах соматосенсорної зони кори мозку наявні значні зміни нейроцитів, які характеризуються поліморфізмом: тигроліз у частині клітин має тотальний характер, присутні також гіперхромні та різко гіперхромні нейроцити. Значно витончені відростки нейронів інтенсивно зафарбовані, мають хвилястий вигляд. Спостерігаються гемокапіляри з вузькими просвітами, заповненими еритроцитами, їх нерівномірної товщини стінка утворена зміненими ендотеліо- цитами, базальна мембрана нечітко контурована, навколо них наявні значні периваскулярні простори, що утворюються за рахунок набряку астроцитарної глії. Порушення міжнейрональ- ної взаємодії в соматосенсорній зоні кори великого мозку спричиняють зміни температурної чутливості у піддослідних тварин, які характеризуються збільшенням латентного періоду больової реакції у тесті «hot plate». Еферентна детоксикація сприяє покращенню структурної організації соматосенсорної зони кори великого мозку і відновленню ноцицептивної реактивності в умовах температурного впливу.МОРФОФУНКЦИОНАЛЬНОЕ СОСТОЯНИЕ НЕЙРОЦИТОВ СОМАТОСЕНСОРНОЙ ЗОНЫ КОРЫ БОЛЬШОГО МОЗГА В УСЛОВИЯХ ХРОНИЧЕСКОЙ ЭНДОТОКСЕМИИ И ЕЕ СОРБЦИОННОЙ КОРРЕКЦИИ - В условиях экспериментального хронического эндотоксикоза в пирамидальном и ганглионарном слоях соматосенсорной зоны коры мозга отмечены значительные изменения нейроцитов, характеризующиеся полиморфизмом: тигроз в части клеток носит тотальный характер, присутствуют также гиперхромные и резко гиперхромные нейроциты. Отростки нейронов существенно истончены, имеют волнообразный вид, интенсивно окрашены. Просветы гемокапилляров сужены, заполнены эритроцитами, их стенка неравномерно утолщена, наблюдаются структурные изменения эндотелиоцитов, базальная мембрана нечетко контуриро- вана. Вокруг капилляров имеются значительные периваскуляр- ные пространства, образующиеся за счет отека астроцитарной глии. Нарушение межнейронального взаимодействия в соматосенсорной зоне коры большого мозга вызывает изменения температурной чувствительности у подопытных животных, которые характеризуются увеличением латентного периода болевой реакции за результатами теста «hot plate». Эфферентная детоксикация способствует улучшению структурной организации соматосенсорной зоны коры большого мозга и восстановлению ноцицептивной реактивности в условиях температурного воздействия.MORPHOFUNCTIONAL STATE OF NEUROCYTES IN SOMATOSENSORY ZONE OF CEREBRAL CORTEX UNDER CONDITIONS OF CHRONIC ENDOTOXEMIA AND ITS SORPTION - The significant changes of neurocytes structure in somatosensory zone of parietal areas in cerebral cortex of rats are histologically revealed under conditions of experimental chronic endotoxemia. It is observed “dark” and “light” neurocytes which is an analogous to hyper- and hypochromic nerve cells in the pyramidal and ganglionic layers of the cortex. Hemocapillaries are with narrowed lumen filled with erythrocytes and have corrugated surface formed by swollen endotheliocytes. Significant perivascular edema around them are marked. Data from hot-plate tests show changes in temperature sensitivity of experimental animals, which are characterized by an increase in latent period of pain reaction. Neuronal tigrolysis is notso significant when applying the efferent detoxification in the pyramidal and ganglionic layers of the cortex, there is a moderate amount of hyperchromie cells, the increase in the number of normochromal neurocytes and improvement of the structure of their processes are observed. The normalization of hemocapillaries structure is reached: their lumens are moderately dilated, surface and endotheliocytes are explicitly outlined, perivascular edema is significantly smaller. It is defined the tendency to decrease in latent period of pain reaction under the temperature influence, that indicates the recovery of nociceptive sensitivity.Ключові слова: кора мозку, нейроцити, хронічна ендотоксемія, ноцицепція, сорбція.Ключевые слова: кора мозга, нейроциты, хроническая эндотоксемия, ноцицепция, сорбция.Key words: cerebral cortex, neurocytes, chronic endotoxemia, nociception, sorption.

Most health authorities suggest limiting added sugar consumption. In Canada and the US, current nutrition labels require information for total sugars, with no differentiation between naturally occurring sugars or added sugars, and do not provide a % daily value (%DV) as a reference of recommended consumption. An online study was conducted with 2,010 young people ages 16 to 24 from across Canada. Participants were asked questions regarding perceptions of sugar and recommendations for sugar intake. Participants were then shown one of three current nutrition labels including ingredients lists labeled with information for: total sugar only; total + added sugar; or total + added sugar + %DV for added sugar, and asked if there was any added sugar in the product, and if the amount of added sugar was a little, a moderate amount, or a lot. In total, 59% reported thinking of sugar in grams, 33% in teaspoons and 8% in other measures. Overall, 3% of participants correctly reported the recommended limit for added suga...

Graphitic and iron-rich rocks commonly are considered to be efficient sites for deposition of gold in lode-gold systems, and are given special attention in exploration programs. In this work, thermodynamic modelling methods are used to clarify the mechanisms and efficiency of deposition of native gold in graphite- and iron-bearing wallrocks of lode-gold deposits under greenschist facies conditions. In all of the models, a fully equilibrated ``lode-gold-type' mineralising fluid is initially generated by reaction of a simplified CO2-H2S- NaCl-Au-bearing fluid with granodiorite at middle greenschist facies conditions (P=300MPa, T=420°C), followed by reaction of the fluid with a specified rock composition at lower greenschist facies conditions (P=200MPa, T=320°C) reflecting uprise of the mineralising fluid to a higher crustal level. Effects of variable graphite and iron on gold deposition are evaluated by calculating mineral alteration assemblages (including native gold) where graphite and iron are allowed to vary across specified ranges, and effects of increasing amounts of mineralising fluid are evaluated by allowing fluid/rock (F/R) ratio to range widely. The results reveal that no gold is deposited where graphite and iron are absent from the wallrock, only a small amount of graphite is required in a graphite-bearing rock to achieve maximum deposition of native gold, only a moderate amount of Fe is required in an Fe-bearing rock to achieve maximum deposition of native gold, and Fe-bearing rocks deposit gold much more efficiently than graphite-bearing rocks. These results confirm the known importance of redox conditions for deposition of native gold, but elevate the importance of sulphidation reactions over graphite oxidation reactions in efficiency of gold deposition from lode-gold mineralising fluids.

The Internet is increasingly being viewed as a health promotion tool with enormous potential. However, this potential cannot be realized if Web sites do not utilize the features that make the Internet a "hybrid" mass and interpersonal communication medium. The purpose of this study was to examine interactive safer sex Web sites on a number of dimensions. A comprehensive search that included Internet search engines, links from well-known sites, and previously published reviews yielded 21 Web sites that met criteria. Web sites were coded on dimensions including targeting of the Web sites, safer sex messages presented, theoretical strategies utilized, interactivity, and other characteristics. Results indicate that a moderate amount of targeting of Web sites exists, especially on age group (e.g., teenagers); the most prevalent safer sex messages were to "use condoms" and "be sexually abstinent"; raising the perceived threat of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV was the most prevalent theoretical strategy used to motivate safer sex; and finally, a moderate amount of interactivity was found on the Web sites, with most Web sites containing 4 or 5 features out of 15 features examined. Evidence that Web sites were tailoring information or messages to individuals was not found. Implications of these results for improving safer sex Web sites and developing interventions online are discussed.

This study was conducted to provide descriptive data of accelerometer-determined ambulatory physical activity in a sample of free-living college students and to examine college students' ambulatory physical activity patterns.All participants (245 females, age = 19.9 +/- 1.6 yr, body mass index (BMI) = 22.9 +/- 3.3 kg x m(-2); 209 males, age = 20.2 +/- 2.0 yr, BMI = 25.2 +/- 4.0 kg x m(-2)) wore an accelerometer for seven consecutive days. Accumulated physical activity (ct.d, ct x min(-1) x d(-1), and min x d(-1) spent at different intensities) and minutes per day spent in moderate or vigorous physical activity in sessions of at least 10 min were analyzed to describe the physical activity of the sample and examine physical activity patterns.The entire sample accumulated 362,750.1 +/- 112,824.1 ct x d(-1) (males = 383,787.2 +/- 112,001.3 vs females = 344,804.1 +/- 110,619.5 ct x d(-1), P0.01) and 46.7 +/- 18.9 min x d(-1) in moderate physical activity (males = 51.7 +/- 19.8 vs females = 42.5 +/- 17.0 min x d(-1), P0.01). They were more active on weekdays than weekend days (P0.05), and they spent 13.6 +/- 12.7 min x d(-1) (males = 13.2 +/- 12.0 vs females = 13.8 +/- 13.3, P0.05) in moderate or vigorous physical activity sessions of at least 10 min.Participants in this study accumulated a moderate amount of physical activity on most weekdays. Most participants, however, were not meeting the current moderate physical activity recommendation when moderate or vigorous physical activity sessions of at least 10 min were examined.

Resources available to parasites are often dependent on resources available to hosts. If a resource is limiting to parasites because it is limiting to hosts, supplementing that resource for hosts should affect parasites. Water availability is a limiting factor for plant productivity in many desert systems. We watered blue palo verde ( Cercidium floridum ) with desert mistletoe ( Phoradendron californicum ) infestations during a drought in the Mojave Desert during winter of 2002–2003. Mistletoe berries were monitored over a 19-week period on nine trees receiving no water, nine trees receiving “normal” water, and nine trees receiving 10× normal water. No differences were seen in overall berry numbers between treatments. However, berry crops on mistletoe plants parasitizing watered palo verdes matured and numbers declined faster than berry crops on control trees. There were no differences between plants watered a moderate amount and those watered a magnitude more, suggesting that berry maturation may be limited by a factor other than water in wet years, or that palo verde do not uptake significantly more water than is typically present. Future research is needed to conclusively determine factors limiting desert mistletoe berry maturation.

The relation between cultural mistrust and psychological health was examined using a sample of 125 African American students. Results did not support the notion that mistrust of Whites is psychologically healthy but suggested that a moderate amount of trust of Whites is related to perceptions of personal well-being. La relacion entre la descofianza cultural y la salud psicologica se examino utilizando una muestra de 125 estudiantes Americanos Africanos. Los resultados no sostuvieron la nocion que la desconfianza de los Blancos es psicologicamente sana pero sugirio que una cantidad moderada de la desconfianza de los Blancos es relacionada a percepciones del bienestar personal.

Investigations of network security breaches are both complex and costly. Even a moderate amount of forensic preparation in an organization can mitigate the impact of a major incident and can enable the organization to obtain restitution. A case study of an intrusion is outlined in which the victim organization worked with law enforcement agencies to apprehend the perpetrator. This case study contains examples of challenges that can arise during this type of investigation, and discusses practical steps that an organization can take to prepare for a major incident. The overlapping roles of System Administrators, Incident Handlers, and Forensic Examiners in a network intrusion are explored, with an emphasis on the need for collaboration and proper evidence handling. This case study also shows how effective case management and methodical reconstruction of events can help create a more complete picture of the crime and help establish links between computer intruders and their illegal activities.

FEM analysis was used to study the interactions between die friction, backpressure and strain rate sensitivity during equal channel angular pressing. One of the key findings is that strain rate sensitivity causes strain redistribution, resulting in higher equivalent strains and a substantial component of compression in the workpiece. This compression gives rise to effects such as lift-off of the leading end of the workpiece from the die bottom and improved die fill. Friction has different effects at room and elevated temperatures. While a moderate amount is beneficial at room temperature, friction has a detrimental interaction with strain rate sensitivity at high temperature. Backpressure, though largely beneficial, is shown to have negative effects when combined with friction and a high strain rate sensitivity.

A case of adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified, was documented, mainly from a radiographic perspective. The lesion, which occurred in the maxillary sinus, destroyed only a moderate amount of bone considering the tumor’s large size. There was no sign of necrosis on either computed tomography or magnetic resonance images. This case demonstrated one of the radiographic characteristics of this type of tumor: moderate bone destruction considering the area of the maxillary sinus occupied.

The experimental programme described in this paper indicated that concrete grade and specimen preconditioning were the major factors influencing sorptivity, whereas specimen size and coating had relatively little effect. The paper recommends that sorptivity be carried out on specimens coated on their side surfaces—that is, the curved surface in the case of cylinders. A 25 mm thick slice incorporating the original cast surface of a cylinder or core could be used as a sorptivity specimen, leaving the rest of the specimen for strength testing. A moderate amount of oven drying (e.g. 3 days at 50°C) is also recommended in order to increase the sensitivity of the sorptivity index. This research also demonstrated that sorptivity results from a variety of conditions could be generalised as a function of the desorption ratio; this is an index of the amount of drying that has taken place at the time of sorptivity testing.

A film thickness correction for shear-thinning in elastohydrodynamic contacts has been available that requires parameters obtained from flow curves generated for the specific liquid. For instances for which reduced accuracy is acceptable, a new rough film thickness correction has been formulated for pure rolling and a moderate amount of sliding based on Van Krevelen's graphical technique of estimating shear-thinning from the molecular weight. It has been shown to be useful for high-molecular-weight base oils, when lubricant specific shear-thinning data is absent, although it should most often overestimate the film thinning.

Recently, a number of commentators have suggested that growth in use of the Internet may be slowing, and its impact may have been exaggerated. However, a disproportionate number of the nonusers tend to be those over the age of 50, and the young are most likely to go online eventually. Therefore, the most appropriate people to survey with regard to Internet use are adolescents and young adults who are likely to be the Internet users or nonusers of the future. This survey was conducted to find out more about the activities and opinions of secondary-school aged children who do, and do not, use the Internet. Mobile phone use was also examined in this survey as this has also shown a meteoric rise in adults and more particularly in young people. Generally, the survey revealed that children aged between 11 and 16 years old are quite comfortable with the Internet, use it a moderate amount and for a variety of purposes. However, boys were more likely to use the Internet than girls and sometimes for slightly different purposes. Reasons for not using the Internet generally revolved around a lack of access to equipment. Furthermore, a higher percentage of adolescents have mobile phones than adults and girls are more likely to own a mobile phone than boys. Mobile phones were also used for a variety of purposes, most notably making and receiving calls and text-messaging. The most common reasons for children not owning a mobile phone was because they had no need for one. Finally, a significant positive relationship between the use of emails and text messaging suggests that the mobile phone may supplement some of the previous functions of the Internet.

The aim of this study was to review the evidence in the literature for organised cancer screening programmes. A Medline search for publications related to organised cancer screening programmes and their components was done. While there is a broad descriptive literature on various cancer screening programmes, there are few published studies that evaluate the impact of organised cancer screening. Most of the evidence to date is from Scandinavian cervical and breast cancer screening programmes. There is a moderate amount of literature that evaluates specific components of cancer screening programmes (such as quality control and recruitment). There is a substantial body of literature on organised cancer screening programmes. However, the studies tend to describe organised screening programmes rather than evaluate their effectiveness relative to opportunistic screening. Furthermore, most studies focus on individual components of organised screening programmes, rather than on the programmes as a whole. More research is needed that directly compares organised with opportunistic cancer screening.

Li 2 S–GeS 2 –Ga 2 S 3 glasses and thin films were prepared and their conductivities were compared. Bulk glasses were melted in Si-coated silica tubes. The glass-forming region was observed at cation ratios of 0 or 40–70% Li and less than 50% Ga. Thin films with a wider composition range were formed by RF sputtering. Conductivities were almost identical in bulk glasses and films of similar composition and increased along with increasing Li 2 S content. Conductivity and glass transition temperature ( T g ) increased slightly with addition of a moderate amount of Ga 2 S 3 . These results are due to the mixed-former effect.

Background Exposure to PCDD/PCDF (dioxin and furan) through consumption of fish and shellfish is closely related to the occurrence of skin diseases, such as chloracne and hyperpigmentation. This study aimed to determine the exposure of PCDD/PCDF and its congeners in fish and shellfish obtained from different regions of the Straits of Malacca among the fishing community. Methods The risk of fish and shellfish consumption and exposure to PCDD/PCDF among fishermen living in coastal areas of the Straits were evaluated based on a cross-sectional study involving face to face interviews, blood pressure and anthropometric measurements, and administration of food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). Skin examination was done by a dermatologist after the interview session. Determination of 17 congeners of PCDD/PCDF in 48 composite samples of fish and shellfish was performed based on HRGC/HRMS analysis. Results The total PCDD/PCDF in the seafood samples ranged from 0.12 to 1.24 pg WHO-TEQ/g fresh weight (4.6-21.8 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat). No significant difference found for the concentrations of PCDD/PCDF between the same types of seafood samples obtained from the three different regions. The concentrations of the most potent congener, 2,3,7,8-TCDD in the seafood samples ranged from 0.01 to 0.11 pg WHO-TEQ/g FW (1.9 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat). A positive moderate correlation was found between the fat contents and concentrations of PCDD/PCDF determined in the seafood samples. The total PCDD/PCDF in all seafood samples were below the 1 pg WHO-TEQ/g fresh weight, with the exception of grey eel-catfish. The respondents had consumed fish and shellfish with the amounts ranging between 2.02 g and 44.06 g per person per day. The total PCDD/PCDF exposures through consumption of fish and shellfish among the respondents were between 0.01 and 0.16 pg WHO-TEQ/kg BW/day. With regard to the two PCDD/PCDF-related skin diseases, no chloracne case was found among the respondents, but 2.2 % of the respondents were diagnosed to have hyperpigmentation. Conclusion Intake of a moderate amount of fish and shellfish from the area is safe and does not pose a risk for skin diseases. An over-consumption of seafood from the potentially polluted area of the Straits should be monitored in future.

WOS: 000351932700015 The chromosomal banding analysis of the karyotypes of Turkish populations of Eptesicus serotinus, Nyctalus lasiopterus and Barbastellus barbastellus was performed with the use of C-banding and Ag-NOR staining. The results obtained in E. serotinus and N. lasiopterus were congruent with previous data reported from other regions. The karyotype of E. serotinus (2n = 50, NF = 52) contained a moderate amount of centromeric C-heterochromatin and a single NOR was localized in an acrocentric autosomal pairs. The karyotype of N. lasiopterus (2n = 42, NF = 54) contained a higher amount of centromeric C-heterochromatin and the NORs were localized in two autosomal pairs. The karyotype of B. barbastellus was standard in its general characteristics (2n = 32, NF = 54, low amount of C-heterochromatin) but the NOR was localized in only one acrocentric autosomal pair. In studies from other regions, the NORs were recognized in all five acrocentric autosomal pairs of the complement of B. barbastellus. Republic of Turkey; Ministry of Forest and Water Works; Nature Protection Head Office of National Parks; VII. Region Directorate, Osmaniye Branch Directorate and EKOIZ Limited Company This work was supported by the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Forest and Water Works, Nature Protection Head Office of National Parks, VII. Region Directorate, Osmaniye Branch Directorate and EKOIZ Limited Company.

This paper provides a temporal stochastic framework that is used to analyze economic transitions of countries in the world-system. As such, it provides a contribution to a general quantitative rendering of the world-systems perspective. State space modeling using Markov chains provides a powerful stochastic instrument for global economic modeling when structure is known but relational uncertainty is present as well as for examining temporal change of geographic phenomena. Two phenomena are exam- ined: (1) country mobility among regional classes within the world-economy; and (2) the stability of the rate of country-level transitions. Results suggest that although a moderate amount of movement has taken place in the period 1960-1990, the overall structure of the world-economy has not changed significantly. Thus, although the developmental hypothe- sis that countries are upwardly mobile has merit, empirical results suggest that very little impact is observed in the world-system because countries moving upward in the world- economy region sequence are nearly balanced by countries moving down the sequence.

The entry of calcium ions from the nixtamalization solution into maize kernels over time was followed in model experiments using radiolabeled calcium ions, with autoradiographic evaluation of the kernels after different cooking and steeping times. Calcium ions immediately entered the pericarp and were rapidly fixed at the outer boundary of the endosperm, especially at the external surface of the germ. Entry of calcium into the endosperm occurred gradually after long steeping times, except in the case of broken kernels, for which massive invasion by calcium was observed. After extended steeping times, a moderate amount of calcium-45 was evident in the germ. Specific perforation of the outer layers of the grains provided a defined route of facilitated entry of calcium into the endosperm. No fundamental difference with respect to penetrability by calcium ion was seen in a comparison between flint-type grains and grains containing only floury endosperm.

Plastic aluminous clays are abundantly available in Tamilnadu. However, at present the utilization of these clays is very low due to lack of detailed characterization. In the present work, the green and fired characteristics of clays obtained from three different locations in Tamilnadu (Udayarpalayam, Panruti and Neyveli) have been investigated to assess their potential use as raw materials. Physical properties, plasticity index, particle size analysis, chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis of these clays have been carried out. Physical properties such as density, bending strength, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy of the fired samples have also been carried out. The properties of the above three clays are compared with each other. The results show that these clays are plastic in nature containing a moderate amount of impurities with high alumina content.

Sexual enhancement medication presents a large market for counterfeit versions. We report here a case of hypoglycemia caused by an illicit sexual enhancement medication containing an extremely large amount of the sulfonylurea drug glibenclamide together with a moderate amount sildenafil citrate.

This paper explores the effectiveness of network attack when the attacker has imperfect information about the network. For Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi networks, we observe that dynamical importance and betweenness centrality-based attacks are surprisingly robust to the presence of a moderate amount of imperfect information and are more effective compared with simpler degree-based attacks even at moderate levels of network information error. In contrast, for scale-free networks the effectiveness of attack is much less degraded by a moderate level of information error. Furthermore, in the Erd\H{o}os-R\'enyi case the effectiveness of network attack is much more degraded by missing links as compared with the same number of false links.

This research provides a picture of how scientists and engineers, particularly those in graduate training programs, respond to the need to create visual communication artifacts in the absence of any formal training in visual communication design. Two interview-based studies were carried out, revealing how scientists and engineers approach visual design tasks; the software tools they use; their sources of images; and their interactions with advisors and colleagues during the design process. I found that the strategies of design-by-imitation and design-by-reuse were common. This research also provides evidence that a moderate amount of design training can influence how scientists and engineers think about design and how they approach design tasks. Finally, suggestions are made for how a curriculum in visual communication design can align with the needs of this population.

Business-related drinking is an important organizational and managerial activity with particular relevance to the negotiation process. This paper investigates the influence of a moderate amount of alcohol on negotiator behavior and negotiated outcomes. We conducted 2 negotiation studies involving inebriated and sober participants, and found that inebriated negotiators used more aggressive tactics, made more mistakes, and reached less integrative agreements than did sober negotiators. Across both studies, we found that inebriated negotiators were unaware that alcohol had affected their negotiations.

This study investigated discovery learning pedagogy and its effects on students’ achievement and attitudes toward instruction in a lower-division biology course, entitled Structure and Function of Organisms. Instruction was primarily lecture-based but included four discovery learning activities. Results indicate that students had greater achievement on content learned through discovery methods than lecture-based instruction. Findings regarding students’ attitudes toward discovery-based instruction suggest that students enjoyed active, discovery-based problems, believed that discovery helped them gain an understanding of the material and helped them to develop skills that could be used in other courses. The study presented here shows that a moderate amount of discovery learning used in combination with traditional methods of instruction may be an effective means for promoting students’ achievement.

Fast parametric macromodeling techniques are important for the design and analysis of microwave structures. Standard approaches in the literature are often limited to problems with a moderate amount of parameters, since the complexity of the problem grows exponentially with the number of dimensions. This letter investigates the use of dimensional analysis as a means to reduce the dimensionality of the approximation problem.

A major issue that dominates the current thinking of catalogers is how to send mail more efficiently in order to increase response rates and decrease wasteful mailing activity. Currently cataloguers assume that a mailing decision should be made when expected profit (or lifetime value) is positive or at best when expected profit exceeds a certain threshold. We offer a new perspective. We suggest that a customer be sent the current catalog only if the expected profit with the current catalog exceeds the expected profit without the current catalog. We develop, estimate, and test a hazard function model with unobserved heterogeneity to estimate the sensitivity of the customers’ purchase intensity to catalog drop and to other factors. We explicitly allow for customers to order from previous catalogs and control for the effects of promotional rest and wearout. We find that it is better to send (not too many but) a few catalogs with (not too long but) a moderate amount of time between them in order to encourage purchases.

A simple five-seed assay method was proposed and investigated. A commercial well ion chamber system with an NIST-traceable single-seed calibration constant was used for the single-seed assays. A batch seed holder was used for batch assays. For the five-seed assays, a second single-seed holder was modified such that all five seeds were loaded in a central region of the well ion chamber. Compared with the same seed in the standard single-seed holder, the relative chamber responses for the five seed positions were 0.993, 0.993, 1.000, 1.001, and 0.977, respectively, indicating little or no position-dependent chamber response and no self-attenuation among seeds. Subsequent comparison of assays with the single-seed and five-seed methods indicated only 0.4% difference in charge collection. The five-seed calibration constant was therefore taken to be the same as the single-seed calibration constant. The reproducibility of the five-seed assay method was found to be better than 0.8%. When a dummy seed replaced an active seed, a nearly 20% reduction in charge was found, indicating that the proposed five-seed assay method can detect a dead seed. Clinical comparison of all three assay methods showed that they produced qualitatively the same assay results when the batch assay method was performed with extra care. Compared with the single-seed assay method, the five-seed method is equally simple, rigid, and reproducible, but it demands much less assay time. Compared with the batch assay method, the five-seed method is much more reproducible and reliable because of its rigid assay geometry; it only demands a moderate amount of assay time and can detect dead seeds. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 40 (AAPM TG40) states that, for brachytherapy, ideally every (i.e., 100%) loose seed should be calibrated. For procedures involving large number of loose seeds, it then recommends that 10% of seeds be calibrated. The proposed five-seed assay is very simple to implement. It will facilitate the compliance of the “10%” recommendation from the AAPM TG40; it will make the “ideally 100%” statement from AAPM TG40 a more realistic and practical QA procedure in seed assaying. Radiat. Oncol. Invest. 7:374–381, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

In a study of 49 graduate and 172 undergraduate marketing project teams, the average of the individual abilities on the team was found to predict student team performance. Team size had little effect, and gender diversity had no effect on team performance. Among graduate teams, those with a moderate amount of nationality diversity outperformed teams with high or no nationality diversity. The implications of these and other findings for course administration and team assignment are discussed.

We investigated the electrooptical properties of a carbon nanotube (CNT)-doped twisted nematic (TN) liquid crystal (LC) cell. Experimental results reveal that the doped CNTs influence the elastic constant of LC–CNT dispersion. Using a small amount of CNT dopant, the field-on response time of the LC cell is nearly invariant; the threshold voltage of the cell increases due to the increase in the elastic constant of LC–CNT dispersion. At a higher CNT concentration, the marked increase in the dielectric anisotropy of LC–CNT dispersion markedly decreases the field-on response time and threshold voltage of the LC cell. The field-off response time of this cell decreases with increasing CNT concentration due to the increase in elastic constant and the slight increase in viscosity of LC–CNT dispersion. The field-on and field-off response times of the LC cell are reduced simultaneously when the LC host is doped with a moderate amount of CNT dopant.

The identification of the Ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) X-2 in M82 as an accreting pulsar has shed new light on the nature of a subset of ULXs, while rising new questions on the nature of the super-Eddington accretion. Here, by numerically solving the torque equation of the accreting pulsar within the framework of the magnetically threaded-disk scenario, we show that three classes of solutions, corresponding to different values of the magnetic field, are mathematically allowed. We argue that the highest magnetic field one, corresponding to B $\sim 10^{13}$ G, is favoured based on physical considerations and the observed properties of the source. In particular, that is the only solution which can account for the observed variations in $\dot{P}$ (over four time intervals) without requiring major changes in $\dot{M}$, which would be at odds with the approximately constant X-ray emission of the source during the same time. For this solution, we find that the source can only accomodate a moderate amount of beaming, 0.5 $\lesssim b < 1$. Last, we show that the upper limit on the luminosity, L$_X < 2.5 \times 10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$ from archival observations, is consistent with a highly-magnetized neutron star being in the propeller phase at that time., 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication on MNRAS

While recommender systems based on collaborative filtering have become an essential tool to help users access items of interest, it has been indicated that collaborative filtering enables an adversary to perform passive privacy attacks, a type of the most damaging and easy-to-perform privacy attacks. In a passive privacy attack, the dynamic nature of a recommender system allows an adversary with a moderate amount of background knowledge to infer a user’s transaction through temporal changes in the public related-item lists (RILs). Unlike the traditional solutions that manipulate the underlying user-item rating matrix, in this paper, we respond to passive privacy attacks by directly anonymizing the RILs, which are the real outputs rendered to an adversary. This fundamental switch allows us to provide a novel rigorous inference-proof privacy guarantee, known as δ-bound, with desirable data utility and scalability. We propose anonymization algorithms based on suppression and a novel mechanism, permutation, tailored to our problem. Experiments on real-life data demonstrate that our solutions are both effective and efficient.

The ITER diagnostics generic upper port plug (GUPP) is developed as a standardized design for all diagnostic upper port plugs, in which a variety of payloads can be mounted. Here, the remote handling compatibility analysis (RHCA) of the GUPP design is presented that was performed for the GUPP final design review. The analysis focuses mainly on the insertion and extraction procedure of the diagnostic shield module (DSM), a removable cassette that contains the diagnostic in-vessel components. It is foreseen that the DSM is a replaceable component – the procedure of which is to be performed inside the ITER hot cell facility (HCF), where the GUPP can be oriented in a vertical position. The DSM removal procedure in the HCF consists of removing locking pins, an M30 sized shoulder bolt and two electrical straps through the use of a dexterous manipulator, after which the DSM is lifted out of the GUPP by an overhead crane. For optimum access to its internals, the DSM is mounted in a handling device. The insertion of a new or refurbished DSM follows the reverse procedure. The RHCA shows that the GUPP design requires a moderate amount of changes to become fully compatible with RH maintenance requirements.

The factorial and predictive validity of the Early Reading Screening Instrument was examined for 105 first grade students. Analysis indicated that the test is unidimensional and can predict first grade reading skills at the end of the school year with at least a moderate amount of accuracy. A previous study indicated predictive validity coefficients of .66 and .73 when the criteria were word recognition and reading comprehension. The current study yielded predictive validity coefficients of .67 and .70 for these criteria.

Summary Advances in pancreas transplantation have resulted in pancreatic graft long term survivals that are similar to renal allografts. At least some of this achievement is attributed to the technique of draining the exocrine function into the bladder. As a result, we have seen a moderate amount of urologic complications that are related to this procedure. It is just now that we have started acknowledging that these complications may be at least in part as a result of diabetic bladder pathology and not the pancreatic enzymes or manipulation of the bladder. Enteric drainage has gained momentum in the last year or two to avoid the urologic complications. Some of the urological problems will remain and some may be amenable to medical therapy. A trial comparing enteric drainage and bladder drainage is overdue and is currently under progress. Several other controversial issues remain with us. It is possible, by the time we answer all the controversies, that islet cell transplantation becomes the treatment of choice.

The purpose of this study was to identify structural characteristics of center child care that are associated with observed child care quality from a large multi-state project. Hierarchical regressions examined the relations between quality of care and selected characteristics of the lead caregiver, classroom, center, and director. Nonprofit and for-profit centers (228 infant/toddler and 521 preschool classrooms) were randomly sampled in four states. Interviews, questionnaires, and observations were used assess structural and process quality. Overall, process quality was higher in states with more stringent child care regulations, nonprofit centers, and preschool classrooms. In infant/toddler classrooms, process quality was higher in classrooms with moderately experienced and better paid teachers, and more experienced directors. In preschool classrooms, process quality was higher in classrooms with teachers with more education, a moderate amount of experience, and higher wages. The findings suggest the need to increase the stringency of state child care regulations and to rearrange the budgets of child care programs.

This paper describes the microscopic structure and morphology of stern and buttresses of swamp-grown Caryocar nuciferum L. and discusses the function of buttresses. Buttresses are mainly found at the opposite side of the leaning direction of a tree and thus could function as tension members. In contrast to the stern wood, which exhibits a moderate amount of tension wood fibres with a gelatinous layer, the wood of the buttresses on the tension side and the compression side of the leaning tree is characterised by thick-walled tension wood fibres. In addition, the number of vessels in the buttresses is substantially higher than that in the stern wood. The preferential direction of the buttresses and the anatomical differences in the various parts of the tree are discussed.

Pneumocephalus is a common occurrence after cranial surgery, with patients typically remaining asymptomatic from a moderate amount of intracranial air. Postsurgical pneumocephalus rarely causes focal neurological deficits; furthermore, cranial neuropathy from postsurgical pneumocephalus is exceedingly uncommon. Only 3 cases have been previously reported that describe direct cranial nerve compression from intracranial air resulting in an isolated single cranial nerve deficit. The authors present a patient who developed dysconjugate eye movements from bilateral oculomotor nerve palsy. Direct cranial nerve compression occurred as a result of postoperative pneumocephalus in the interpeduncular cistern. The isolated cranial neuropathy gradually recovered as the intracranial air was reabsorbed.

Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) is an effect whereby a classically conditioned stimulus (CS) enhances ongoing instrumental responding. PIT has been extensively studied with appetitive conditioning but barely at all with aversive conditioning. Although it's been argued that conditioned suppression is a form of aversive PIT, this effect is fundamentally different from appetitive PIT because the CS suppresses, instead of facilitates, responding. Five experiments investigated the importance of a variety of factors on aversive PIT in a rodent Sidman avoidance paradigm in which ongoing shuttling behavior (unsignaled active avoidance or USAA) was facilitated by an aversive CS. Experiment 1 demonstrated a basic PIT effect. Experiment 2 found that a moderate amount of USAA extinction produces the strongest PIT with shuttling rates best at around 2 responses per minute prior to the CS. Experiment 3 tested a protocol in which the USAA behavior was required to reach the 2-response per minute mark in order to trigger the CS presentation and found that this produced robust and reliable PIT. Experiment 4 found that the Pavlovian conditioning US intensity was not a major determinant of PIT strength. Experiment 5 demonstrated that if the CS and US were not explicitly paired during Pavlovian conditioning, PIT did not occur, showing that CS-US learning is required. Together, these studies demonstrate a robust, reliable and stable aversive PIT effect that is amenable to analysis of neural circuitry.

This paper shows how a moderate amount of random key stream can be used to generate a lifetime supply of keys for one-time pads. It further shows how arbitrarily many parties can correspond using the same random key, without compromising one another's communications. The net effect is to make the unbreakable one-time pad practical for widespread use.

We calculate the evolution of a large and a medium mass star through the core H and He burning stages using the most recent OPAL opacities, both with and without a moderate amount of convective overshooting. The inclusion of the overshooting produces appreciable changes in the evolutionary track on the H-R diagram, in the durations of the central H and He burning phases and in the location of the H burning shell. In the medium mass case, the central temperature-density depends sensitively on whether or not overshooting is included.

The intralaryngeal muscles of 5 infants and 10 adults were studied by myosin-ATPase histochemistry. We found different proportions of muscle fiber constitution in the intralaryngeal muscles of infants versus adults. In adults, most of the type 1 muscle fibers were found in the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle, a moderate amount was found in the lateral cricoarytenoid (LCA), internalarytenoid (INA) and cricothyroid (CT) muscles, and the least amount of type 1 fibers in the thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle. In infants, the largest amount of type 1 muscle fiber was observed in the PCA, moderate amounts in the CT, and the smallest amounts were found in the LCA, INA and TA muscles. These results showed that the PCA, both in infants and adults, was capable of resisting fatigue and thus adaptable to the requirements of respiration. The TA muscle could contract fast enough to adapt itself to the requirements of voice production, and would function less in the protection of the respiratory tract. The proportion of type 1 fibers in infant's intralaryngeal muscles was greater than in adults, indicating that infants have more immature voice production and poorer protection of their respiratory tract than adults.