Obliteration study of lambdatic and obelionic region sutures in ruminant, carnivores and hominids

The morphology of Orce cranial fragment VM-0 is contrasted with the frontoparietal region in artiodactyls, and the obelionic region in carnivores and primates including hominids. Sutural development at obelion is compared in those taxa throughout the growth period up to the onset of sutural obliteration, and ontogenetic differences between non-primates and primates lead us to conclude that the configuration in VM-0 more resembles that found in hominids than in artiodactyls or carnivores. Moreover, cranial capacity for VM-0 is estimated at >470cm 3 , comparable to Plio-Pleistocene hominids, but greater than in young equids.

The Core ideas and axioms of classical fascism (1919-1945)

This article presents and explores the axioms and core ideas, or idées-force, of the Fascist ideologies of the first third of the twentieth century. The aim is to identify the features that define the term “Classical Fascism” as a conceptual category in the study of politics and to uncover the core ideas of its political theory. This analysis requires an appraisal of both the idées-force themselves and the political use that is made of them. If these appreciations are correct, Classical Fascism is characterized by a set of ideological and political aims and methods in which ideas, attitudes and behaviours are determined by an anti-democratic palingenetic ultranationalism underpinned by a sacralized ideology; the quest for a united, indissoluble society as apolitical system and, at the same time, the collective myth that mobilizes and redeems the nation; and third, violence as a political vehicle applied unchecked against internal opposition and against external enemies who challenge the nation´s progression towards the dream of rebirth and the culmination of this progression in the form of an empire.

New delay-dependent stability criteria for uncertain neutral systems with mixed time-varying delays and nonlinear perturbations

The problem of stability analysis for a class of neutral systems with mixed time-varying neutral, discrete and distributed delays and nonlinear parameter perturbations is addressed. By introducing a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and combining the descriptor model transformation, the Leibniz-Newton formula, some free-weighting matrices, and a suitable change of variables, new sufficient conditions are established for the stability of the considered system, which are neutral-delay-dependent, discrete-delay-range dependent, and distributeddelay-dependent. The conditions are presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) and can be efficiently solved using convex programming techniques. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method

Proteomic analysis of peach fruit mesocarp softening and chilling injury using difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE)

Background: Peach fruit undergoes a rapid softening process that involves a number of metabolic changes. Storing fruit at low temperatures has been widely used to extend its postharvest life. However, this leads to undesired changes, such as mealiness and browning, which affect the quality of the fruit. In this study, a 2-D DIGE approach was designed to screen for differentially accumulated proteins in peach fruit during normal softening as well as under conditions that led to fruit chilling injury. Results:The analysis allowed us to identify 43 spots -representing about 18% of the total number analyzed- that show statistically significant changes. Thirty-nine of the proteins could be identified by mass spectrometry. Some of the proteins that changed during postharvest had been related to peach fruit ripening and cold stress in the past. However, we identified other proteins that had not been linked to these processes. A graphical display of the relationship between the differentially accumulated proteins was obtained using pairwise average-linkage cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Proteins such as endopolygalacturonase, catalase, NADP-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase, pectin methylesterase and dehydrins were found to be very important for distinguishing between healthy and chill injured fruit. A categorization of the differentially accumulated proteins was performed using Gene Ontology annotation. The results showed that the 'response to stress', 'cellular homeostasis', 'metabolism of carbohydrates' and 'amino acid metabolism' biological processes were affected the most during the postharvest. Conclusions: Using a comparative proteomic approach with 2-D DIGE allowed us to identify proteins that showed stage-specific changes in their accumulation pattern. Several proteins that are related to response to stress, cellular homeostasis, cellular component organization and carbohydrate metabolism were detected as being differentially accumulated. Finally, a significant proportion of the proteins identified had not been associated with softening, cold storage or chilling injury-altered fruit before; thus, comparative proteomics has proven to be a valuable tool for understanding fruit softening and postharvest.

Modern energy consumption and economic modernisation in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1890 and 1925

In the absence of comparable macroeconomic indicators for most of the Latin Americaneconomies before the 1930s, the apparent consumption of energy is used in this paper as a proxyof the degree of modernisation of Latin America and the Caribbean. This paper presents anestimate of the apparent consumption per head of modern energies (coal, petroleum andhydroelectricity) for 30 countries of Latin American and the Caribbean for 1890 to 1925,multiplying the number of countries for which energy consumption estimates were previouslyavailable. As a result, the paper provides the basis for a quantitative comparative analysis ofmodernisation performance beyond the few countries for which historical national accounts areavailable in Latin America.

Lending to the borrower from hell: Debt and default in the age of Philip II, 1556-1598

What sustained borrowing without third-party enforcement, in the early days of sovereignlending? Philip II of Spain accumulated towering debts while stopping all payments tohis lenders four times. How could the sovereign borrow much and default often? Weargue that bankers ability to cut off Philip II s access to smoothing services was key. Aform of syndicated lending created cohesion among his Genoese bankers. As a result,lending moratoria were sustained through a cheat the cheater mechanism (Kletzer andWright, 2000). Our paper thus lends empirical support to a recent literature emphasizingthe role of bankers incentives for continued sovereign borrowing.

Analysis of leakage properties and guiding conditions of rib antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides

Power leakage properties and guiding conditions of rib antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides (rib-ARROW) have been theoretically and experimentally studied as a function of wavelength and polarization of the light for different geometrical and optical parameters that characterize the rib-ARROW structure. Obtained results show that rib-ARROWs can only be fabricated with low losses in a wavelength range when determined rib configurations are adopted. Furthermore, these waveguides exhibit a polarization sensitivity that largely depends on the core-substrate refractive index difference. Together with the experimental results, theoretical calculations from different modeling methods are also presented and discussed.

Financial crisis: theory and practice

In the last 50 years, we have had approximately 40 events with characteristics related to financial crisis. The most severe crisis was in 1929, when the financial markets plummet and the US gross domestic product decline in more than 30 percent. Recently some years ago, a new crisis developed in the United States, but instantly caused consequences and effects in the rest of the world.This new economic and financial crisis has increased the interest and motivation for the academic community, professors and researchers, to understand the causes and effects of the crisis, to learn from it. This is the one of the main reasons for the compilation of this book, which begins with a meeting of a group of IAFI researchers from the University of Barcelona, where researchers form Mexico and Spain, explain causes and consequences of the crisis of 2007.For that reason, we believed this set of chapters related to methodologies, applications and theories, would conveniently explained the characteristics and events of the past and future financial crisisThis book consists in 3 main sections, the first one called "State of the Art and current situation", the second named "Econometric applications to estimate crisis time periods" , and the third one "Solutions to diminish the effects of the crisis". The first section explains the current point of view of many research papers related to financial crisis, it has 2 chapters. In the first one, it describe and analyzes the models that historically have been used to explain financial crisis, furthermore, it proposes to used alternative methodologies such as Fuzzy Cognitive Maps. On the other hand , Chapter 2 , explains the characteristics and details of the 2007 crisis from the US perspective and its comparison to 1929 crisis, presenting some effects in Mexico and Latin America.The second section presents two econometric applications to estimate possible crisis periods. For this matter, Chapter 3, studies 3 Latin-American countries: Argentina, Brazil and Peru in the 1994 crisis and estimates the multifractal characteristics to identify financial and economic distress.Chapter 4 explains the crisis situations in Argentina (2001), Mexico (1994) and the recent one in the United States (2007) and its effects in other countries through a financial series methodology related to the stock market.The last section shows an alternative to prevent the effects of the crisis. The first chapter explains the financial stability effects through the financial system regulation and some globalization standards. Chapter 6, study the benefits of the Investor activism and a way to protect personal and national wealth to face the financial crisis risks.

Mometasone and desloratadine additive effect on eosinophil survival and cytokine secretion from epithelial cells

Although antihistamines and topical corticosteroids are used in combination to treat allergic rhinitis, their additive effect has not been yet demonstrated. The aim was investigate the antiinflammatory additive effect of mometasone and desloratadine on cytokine and sICAM-1 secretion by epithelial cells, and on eosinophil survival stimulated by human epithelial cells secretions from nasal mucosa and polyps. Methods Epithelial cells obtained from nasal mucosa or polyps were stimulated with 10% fetal bovine serum in presence of mometasone (10-11M-10-5M) with/without desloratadine (10-5M). Cytokine and sICAM-1 concentrations in supernatants were measured by ELISA. Peripheral blood eosinophils were incubated during 4 days with epithelial cell secretions with (10-11M-10-5M) and/or desloratadine (10-5M) and survival assessed by Trypan blue. Results are expressed as percentage (mean ± SEM) compared to control. Results Fetal bovine serum stimulated IL-6, IL-8, GM-CSF and sICAM-1 secretion. In mucosa and polyp epithelial cells, mometasone inhibited this induced secretion while desloratadine inhibited IL-6 and IL-8. The combination of 10-5M desloratadine and 10-9M mometasone reduced IL-6 secretion (48 ± 11%, p < 0.05) greater extent than mometasone alone (68 ± 10%) compared to control (100%). Epithelial cell secretions induced eosinophil survival from day 1 to 4, this effect being inhibited by mometasone. At day 4, the combination of mometasone (10-11M) and desloratadine (10-5M) provoked an increased inhibition of eosinophil survival induced by cell secretions (27 ± 5%, p < 0.01) than mometasone (44 ± 7%) or desloratadine (46 ± 7%) alone. Conclusions These results suggest that the combination of desloratadine and mometasone furoate have a greater antinflammatory effect in an in vitro model of eosinophil inflammation than those drugs administered alone.

Coherent tunnelling in Cu2+- and Ag2+-doped MgO and CaO: Cu2+ explored through ab initio calculations

The observation of coherent tunnelling in Cu2+ - and Ag2+ -doped MgO and CaO:Cu2+ was a crucial discovery in the realm of the Jahn-Teller (JT) effect. The main reasons favoring this dynamic behavior are now clarified through ab initio calculations on Cu2+ - and Ag2+ -doped cubic oxides. Small JT distortions and an unexpected low anharmonicity of the eg JT mode are behind energy barriers smaller than 25 cm-1 derived through CASPT2 calculations for Cu2+ - and Ag2+ -doped MgO and CaO:Cu2+ . The low anharmonicity is shown to come from a strong vibrational coupling of MO610- units (M=Cu,Ag) to the host lattice. The average distance between the d9 impurity and ligands is found to vary significantly on passing from MgO to SrO following to a good extent the lattice parameter.

Deposition and residues of azoxystrobin and imidacloprid on greenhouse lettuce with implications for human consumption

Lettuce greenhouse experiments were carried out from March to June 2011 in order to analyze how pesticides behave from the time of application until their intake via human consumption taking into account the primary distribution of pesticides, field dissipation, and post-harvest processing. In addition, experimental conditions were used to evaluate a new dynamic plant uptake model comparing its results with the experimentally derived residues. One application of imidacloprid and two of azoxystrobin were conducted. For evaluating primary pesticide distribution, two approaches based on leaf area index and vegetation cover were used and results were compared with those obtained from a tracer test. High influence of lettuce density, growth stage and type of sprayer was observed in primary distribution showing that low densities or early growth stages implied high losses of pesticides on soil. Washed and unwashed samples of lettuce were taken and analyzed from application to harvest to evaluate removal of pesticides by food processing. Results show that residues found on the Spanish preharvest interval days were in all cases below officially set maximum residue limits, although it was observed that time between application and harvest is as important for residues as application amounts. An overall reduction of 40–60% of pesticides residues was obtained from washing lettuce. Experimentally derived residues were compared with modeled residues and deviate from 1.2 to 1.4 for imidacloprid and azoxystrobin, respectively, presenting good model predictions. Resulting human intake fractions range from... for imidacloprid to ... for azoxystrobin.

Referral from primary care to a physical activity programme: establishing long-term adherence? A randomized controlled trial. Rationale and study design

Background: Declining physical activity is associated with a rising burden of global disease. There is little evidence about effective ways to increase adherence to physical activity. Therefore, interventions are needed that produce sustained increases in adherence to physical activity and are cost-effective. The purpose is to assess the effectiveness of a primary care physical activity intervention in increasing adherence to physical activity in the general population seen in primary care. Method and design: Randomized controlled trial with systematic random sampling. A total of 424 subjects of both sexes will participate; all will be over the age of 18 with a low level of physical activity (according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, IPAQ), self-employed and from 9 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC). They will volunteer to participate in a physical activity programme during 3 months (24 sessions; 2 sessions a week, 60 minutes per session). Participants from each PHC will be randomly allocated to an intervention (IG) and control group (CG). The following parameters will be assessed pre and post intervention in both groups: (1) health-related quality of life (SF-12), (2) physical activity stage of change (Prochaska's stages of change), (3) level of physical activity (IPAQ-short version), (4) change in perception of health (vignettes from the Cooperative World Organization of National Colleges, Academies, and Academic Associations of Family Physicians, COOP/WONCA), (5) level of social support for the physical activity practice (Social Support for Physical Activity Scale, SSPAS), and (6) control based on analysis (HDL, LDL and glycated haemoglobin).Participants' frequency of visits to the PHC will be registered over the six months before and after the programme. There will be a follow up in a face to face interview three, six and twelve months after the programme, with the reduced version of IPAQ, SF-12, SSPAS, and Prochaska's stages. Discussion: The pilot study showed the effectiveness of an enhanced low-cost, evidence-based intervention in increased physical activity and improved social support. If successful in demonstrating long-term improvements, this randomised controlled trial will be the first sustainable physical activity intervention based in primary care in our country to demonstrate longterm adherence to physical activity. Trial Registration: A service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Developed by the National Library of Medicine. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT00714831.

Mutations in the EXT1 and EXT2 genes in Spanish patients with multiple osteochondromas

Multiple osteochondromas is an autosomal dominant skeletal disorder characterized by the formation of multiple cartilage-capped tumours. Two causal genes have been identified, EXT1 and EXT2, which account for 65% and 30% of cases, respectively. We have undertaken a mutation analysis of the EXT1 and EXT2 genes in 39 unrelated Spanish patients, most of them with moderate phenotype, and looked for genotype-phenotype correlations. We found the mutant allele in 37 patients, 29 in EXT1 and 8 in EXT2. Five of the EXT1 mutations were deletions identified by MLPA. Two cases of mosaicism were documented. We detected a lower number of exostoses in patients with missense mutation versus other kinds of mutations. In conclusion, we found a mutation in EXT1 or in EXT2 in 95% of the Spanish patients. Eighteen of the mutations were novel.

Mutations in the EXT1 and EXT2 genes in Spanish patients with multiple osteochondromas

Multiple osteochondromas is an autosomal dominant skeletal disorder characterized by the formation of multiple cartilage-capped tumours. Two causal genes have been identified, EXT1 and EXT2, which account for 65% and 30% of cases, respectively. We have undertaken a mutation analysis of the EXT1 and EXT2 genes in 39 unrelated Spanish patients, most of them with moderate phenotype, and looked for genotype-phenotype correlations. We found the mutant allele in 37 patients, 29 in EXT1 and 8 in EXT2. Five of the EXT1 mutations were deletions identified by MLPA. Two cases of mosaicism were documented. We detected a lower number of exostoses in patients with missense mutation versus other kinds of mutations. In conclusion, we found a mutation in EXT1 or in EXT2 in 95% of the Spanish patients. Eighteen of the mutations were novel.