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Virtual reality (VR) is a potentially powerful technology for enhancing assessment in mental health. At any time or place, individuals can be transported into immersive and interactive virtual worlds that are fully controlled by the researcher or clinician. This capability is central to recent interest in how VR might be harnessed in both treatment and assessment of mental health conditions. The current review provides a summary of the advantages of using VR for assessment in mental health, focusing on increasing ecological validity of highly controlled environments, enhancing personalization and engagement, and capturing real-time, automated data in real-world contexts. Considerations for the implementation of VR in research and clinical settings are discussed, including current issues with cost and access, developing evidence base, technical challenges, and ethical implications. The opportunities and challenges of VR are important to understand as researchers and clinicians look to harness this technology to improve mental health outcomes. .La realidad virtual (RV) es una tecnología potencialmente poderosa para mejorar la evaluación en salud mental. En cualquier momento o lugar, las personas pueden ser transportadas y quedar inmersos en mundos virtuales interactivos que están totalmente controlados por el investigador o el clínico. Esta capacidad es parte fundamental del interés reciente por la manera en cómo se podría aprovechar la RV tanto en el tratamiento como en la evaluación de las condiciones de salud mental. Esta revisión proporciona un resumen de las ventajas del empleo de la RV para la evaluación en salud mental, enfocándose en el aumento de la validez ecológica de entornos altamente controlados, en mejorar la personalización y el compromiso, y capturar datos automatizados en tiempo real en contextos del mundo real. Se discuten las consideraciones para la implementación de la realidad virtual en investigación y en situaciones clínicas, incluidos los problemas actuales de costo y acceso, el desarrollo en base a la evidencia, los desafíos técnicos y las implicancias éticas. Es importante comprender las oportunidades y los desafíos de la realidad virtual, ya que los investigadores y los médicos buscan aprovechar esta tecnología para mejorar los resultados de salud mental.L’évaluation de la santé mentale pourrait bénéficier de la puissance de la technologie de la réalité virtuelle (RV). Les sujets peuvent être transportés en immersion à tout moment ou en tout lieu dans des mondes virtuels interactifs totalement contrôlés par le chercheur ou le médecin. C’est ce qui motive l'intérêt récent sur la façon d’exploiter la RV à la fois dans le traitement et l'évaluation des maladies mentales. Notre présentation résume les avantages de la RV dans ce cadre ; elle est centrée sur la validité écologique renforcée des environnements très contrôlés, sur une meilleure personnalisation et participation du sujet, et sur la saisie de données automatisées en temps et contextes réels. Nous analysons les conditions de l’introduction de la RV en recherche et en clinique, y compris les enjeux actuels de coût et d'accès, le développement d’une base de données, les défis techniques et les questions éthiques. Chercheurs et médecins souhaitent expérimenter la réalité virtuelle pour améliorer les résultats dans le contexte de la santé mentale, il est donc important d’en comprendre les opportunités et les difficultés.

The purpose of this study was to examine parental values associated with children’s participation in organized sports, how these values are shaped by social class, race and age, and the influence o...

When, in spring 1969, I first arrived at the concluding lines of Cien anos de soledad, this reader burst into tears and wept for minutes without end—so smitten was I by the sheer vision, beauty, an...

This work presents an equation of state that contains the residual Helmholtz free energy as a ratio of polynomials in density with temperature-dependent coefficients and demonstrates that it is a viable alternative for describing thermodynamic properties accurately. The specific form of the equation in this work has six density terms in the numerator, three density terms in the denominator, and five temperature parameters for each temperature-dependent coefficient. Nitrogen, argon, and methane serve as prototype fluids to demonstrate the capability of the form to describe p–ρ–T behaviour, vapour pressures, speeds of sound, and isochoric heat capacities up to 1000 MPa. Characteristic curves for several properties of nitrogen generated using the equation exhibit proper behaviour at high temperatures and pressures. Because the equation contains no exponential terms or non-integer exponents, the computational time associated with the new equation is more than a factor of 10 less than that required for...

Welcome to this special issue! This issue is unique in several ways. First, we have an opening paper discussing some of the operational and integration issues being faced in transforming training—i...

New radiocarbon ages for wood samples retrieved from the base of the Acheron rock avalanche near Porters Pass, Canterbury, show a clustering of ages between 1370 and 1101 yr BP. This is significantly dissimilar to the established radiocarbon age of 500±69 yr BP (NZ547), from weathering-rind thickness measurements and from lichen studies. This contradiction impacts on current calibrations of lichenometric and weathering-rind dating methods, which has serious implications for landslide and earthquake dates based on them. A 500–600 yr BP earthquake event along the Porters Pass–Amberley Fault Zone has been dated in an adjacent trench and is consistent with previous dates but does not correspond to the Acheron rock avalanche emplacement as previously proposed. The landslide may have been caused by either a Porters Pass Fault event (1100–800 yr BP) or by the better-constrained Round Top event (1010±50 yr BP) on the Alpine Fault.

The Diamond Harbour Volcanic Group (DHVG; 8.1–5.8 Ma) was deposited during the last stage of volcanism on Banks Peninsula, New Zealand. Interbedded with eruptives of the DHVG are volcanogenic sequences that constrain erosional extent, processes, timing, and degradation of Lyttelton Volcano. Such phases of erosion and deposition are commonly recorded in volcanic ring plains, but exposures within the highly eroded Lyttelton Volcano provide an excellent example of degradation processes and deposition in the interior of an eroding volcano. At Black Point, eastern Lyttelton Harbour, the Hays Bay Volcanogenic Sequence of the DHVG comprises interbedded conglomerate and sandstone, formed by debris flows to stream flows in an E–W valley-controlled alluvial fan system. Volcanogenic sequences elsewhere around Lyttelton Harbour are formed from multiple alluvial fan systems depositing into a braided alluvial/fluvial, single outlet depositional basin, indicating the inception of a NNE draining proto-Lyttelton ...

It is well known that significant fouling by particulate matter can have a deleterious effect on the performance of enhanced surface heat exchangers, and the same is true for hybrid heat exchangers. Hybrid heat exchangers are heat exchangers that are typically run in dry mode to reject heat. When the ambient conditions require more heat rejection than can be provided by sensible heat transfer, a water pump is turned on and water flows over the fins, and the evaporation of water provides a further cooling effect. Fouling in dry-mode operation is physically similar to that of air-cooled heat exchangers, but in evaporative mode the flow of the water over the coil eliminates the impact of fouling. A hybrid dry cooler heat exchanger of 60 cm × 60 cm frontal area has been installed in a well-instrumented wind tunnel to measure the heat exchanger's performance. Hot water flows through the coil to provide the load, and air flows over the coil to provide cooling. During evaporative mode operation another stream of...

In this paper we develop a catalog of metaphor families that Silicon Valley venture capitalists use in their public communications. In establishing this preliminary catalog we aim to provide additional insight into the venture capitalist perspective and also lay the foundation for the development of a grounded cultural model of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. To develop this catalog we surveyed on average 30 venture capitalists each quarter from Q1 2004 to Q1 2009. We analyzed these 21 qualitative datasets, coding and categorizing more than 10,000 words of direct venture capitalists' communications. We found that VC communications fall into 14 dominant metaphor families (e.g. Darwinism, physics, religion, etc.). We contribute to the literature on venture capital by establishing a catalog of predominant VC metaphor families as an initial step toward a grounded cultural model of venture capital. This catalog may also provide further context for related studies on VC decision-making and an additional too...

The New England Appalachians contain some of the first documented gneiss domes. The classic domes of southeast Vermont are typical of these structures in that they appear to have formed by doming of both the gneissosity in basement gneisses and the dominant matrix schistosity in the overlying rocks, after these foliations had formed. However, the three matrix foliations (other than bedding) present in these rocks, which include the one parallel to all compositional layering, post-date dome development. The domes formed as upright anticlines after deposition of the overlying Lower Palaeozoic sediments and volcanics on a Precambrian granitic or gneissic basement. This occurred during orogenesis driven by horizontally directed compressional forces with interspersed periods of relatively coaxial gravitational collapse, rather than through early nappe development followed by folding or diapiric granite emplacement, or crustal extension and upwards bowing of a necked portion of the crust. In spite of numerous s...

Postsecondary institutions and their learning assistance professionals should care about not only whether students achieve but also whether they feel they have achieved. In addition, a student's concept of achievement may be crucial for academic success. How do 1st-year students who see themselves as underachieving define achievement? Eleven self-defined underachievers were interviewed. In keeping with phenomenographic methods, the concepts were classified into a typology. Grades most frequently defined achievement, but students held 13 definitions. Each student held more than 1 definition of achieving, some definitions in the forefront affecting actions, others in the background, mentioned but not influential. Each researcher responded to the typology personally, intending to have the contrast of their unique responses spark critical reflection in readers.

The prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV) in Northern Europe has not been well described. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and spectrum of hepatitis C infection in the general adult population of Oslo, Norway.The study was part of the Oslo Health Study 2000-2001 and included a random selection of individuals older than 30 years living in Oslo County. Sera from 11,456 participants were screened for anti-HCV (EIA-3), positive samples were confirmed (RIBA-3) and examined for HCV RNA (PCR). All anti-HCV positive patients were offered clinical evaluation. Routine biochemical liver tests were performed. Candidates for HCV treatment were asked to undergo a percutanous liver biopsy.Among 11,456 participants HCV RNA was detected in 62 (0.5%) and HCV RNA with raised serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in 46 (0.4%). Anti-HCV was detected in 78 (0.7%) with a peak prevalence of 1.5% among subjects 40 and 45 years old. Being anti-HCV positive was associated with being unmarried, unemployed and having low education. Anti-HCV prevalence was higher among subjects with alcohol-related problems compared to those without (4.4% versus 0.6%, P0.001). It was also higher among smokers compared to non-smokers (2.0% versus 0.2%, P0.001). In 33 liver biopsies, bridging fibrosis was seen in 8 (24%) and cirrhosis in 1 (3%). The route of transmission was injecting drug use in 67%, transfusion in 6% and unknown in 27%.In this population-based survey the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C was 0.5% and ALT was raised in 80% of those with chronic infection.

Do undergraduate students who attend one-to-one writing conferences on rough drafts improve as writers? To answer this, Faigley and Witte's (1981) taxonomy of revision changes was used to compare intermediate and final drafts, and Reigstad's (1980/1981) and Hock, Deshler, and Schumaker's (1999) typologies of tutoring were used to describe the tutoring. The first year focused on peer tutors, but because they edited most drafts during sessions, few changes remained for students to make; thus the study could not say whether the students became better writers. The second year focused on a professional tutor who used an instructional approach, and 68% of revisions were made after the sessions. Sixty-five percent of revisions made afterwards were in line with conference objectives, and 82% of these changes were positive, suggesting that the tutoring directed the revision and that the students became better writers.

Two radiocarbon ages are reported: 4610 ± 60 yr BP (Wk‐5874) for wood in lake sediments which were later buried by till during a glacier advance; and 1800 ± 50 yr BP (Wk‐5875) for wood in glacio‐fluvial outwash. Each of these ages is assumed to record events which had already been dated, although in both cases the new samples come from different locations. The stratigraphic and geomorphic evidence from the dated sedimentary strata provides new perspectives on events in the lower Waiho River valley associated with glacial advance and recession, and fluvial deposition and erosion, during the mid‐ and late‐Aranui Interglacial. These include the presence of a lake at least 300 m long c. 4600 yr BP; a clear indication that an extensive glacial advance occurred soon after that time; and the occurrence of a substantial glacial event associated with the deposition of a thick sheet of outwash which filled the width of the valley, c. 1800 yr BP.

In this case study, an undergraduate brings into a writing center a poor and partial draft of a research paper due the next morning. This situation raises questions of what a peer tutor should do in such a predicament, what a tutor's responsibilities are, what is most important to work on in a session, and just how much of a difference a looming deadline should make to tutoring.

Interferon monotherapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection leads to sustained viral eradication in a minority of patients. However, in selected groups of patients, sustained virological response is observed in as many as 50% of patients. High initial interferon dose (induction therapy) has been reported to increase the initial response rate. We have studied the effect of interferon induction therapy in patients infected with HCV genotype 2b/3a, low viral load and no cirrhosis.A total of 71 treatment-naive HCV RNA-positive patients with biopsy-confirmed chronic hepatitis, with genotype 2b or 3a, viral loador = 3 million copies per ml and no cirrhosis were randomized to receive either standard interferon therapy (3 MIU interferon-alpha-2a thrice weekly) for 26 weeks or 6 MIU interferon-alpha-2a daily for 4 weeks (induction group) followed by the standard dose (3 MIU thrice weekly) for 22 weeks. Those with persistent HCV RNA at 4 weeks stopped treatment. Patients were monitored for HCV RNA during and following treatment, and data were interpreted according to intention-to-treat analysis.Viral clearance occurred more rapidly (after 4 weeks) in the induction group (33/36 = 92%) compared to the standard interferon group (21/35 = 60%) (P = 0.01). Among the initial responders, 23/33 (induction group) compared to 16/21 (standard group) were persistently HCV RNA-negative at the end of treatment. At 52 weeks (6 months' follow-up), 22/36 (61%) (induction group) compared to 10/35 (29%) (standard group) were HCV RNA-negative. Among initial responders, 22/33 (induction group) and 10/21 (standard group) achieved a sustained virological response. Among end-of-treatment responders, 22/24 (induction group) and 10/16 (standard group) were HCV RNA-negative at 6 months' follow-up (P = 0.013).In patients infected with HCV genotype 2b/3a, low viral load and without cirrhosis, IFN induction therapy increases the initial viral clearance and reduces the risk of relapse in end-of-treatment responders. A sustained virological response was achieved in 61% of the patients receiving IFN induction therapy.

David Dutton's many friends have long known that his pursuit of historical understanding and his keen enthusiasm for archival research have led him to become an immensely productive writer. His boo...

In this educational case study, an English as a Second Language student brings a draft of his argument essay for freshman composition to a tutor in a university writing center. The situation raises questions about what is most important for tutoring to focus on and how a tutor should go about working on it.

This educational case study describes a session between a graduate student tutor and a mature student who is enrolled in a first-year composition course. This case study presents selected portions of the student's essay and transcripts from interviews with the student and tutor who separately discuss their perspectives on the session. The study raises questions such as who is responsible—and to what degree—for the paper? Should students have any responsibility to make the revisions talked about during writing conferences? And what is a good tutoring session?

This study investigated whether scores on the Learning and Study Skills Inventory (LASSI) could be used to identify postsecondary students who had deficiencies in reading comprehension and vocabulary as measured by the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT). The sample consisted of 110 voluntary respondents from among students entering UNBC. While there were significant correlations between some of the LASSI scales and percentile ranks on the NDRT, the significant LASSI scales could not be used to reliably classify poor readers. Participants who obtained low percentile rankings on vocabulary and comprehension were most often misclassified as average or good readers. Further research is required to obtain an understanding of the relationship between scores on the LASSI scales and levels of reading proficiency.

The military is focusing a great deal of effort on developing virtual world technologies that will allow training combat skills in flight simulators. Considerably less attention is being directed toward documenting the effectiveness of such training. In this article, we review Air Force and Navy efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of training the combat skills necessary for attack and fighter aircraft in flight simulators. The majority of these efforts indicate that simulation can be a valuable complement to the aircraft. Unfortunately, this conclusion is based primarily on opinion data from experienced aviators. There are very few transfer of training experiments, and those experiments have examined only a limited set of combat tasks. We also describe the typical paradigms used to conduct training evaluations and outline a multistep evaluation program for determining training effectiveness.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis G virus (HGV) or GBV-C is frequently detected in patients co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). This study investigated host and virologic factors influencing the response to HGV/GBV-C to alpha-interferon treatment. METHODS: HGV/GBV-C was detected and quantified by nested polymerase chain reaction. The influence of variables such as liver biopsy appearance, liver function abnormalities, and response of HCV to interferon treatment was monitored. RESULTS: Fourteen of the 25 HGV/GBV-C-infected patients treated with interferon (3-6 MIU three times a week for 6 months) became non-viraemic during treatment, although all relapsed after treatment withdrawal at 6 months, with no net change in virus load between 0 and 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Predictive factors for clearance of HGV/GBV-C viraemia by interferon were pre-treatment severity of liver disease (median Knodell score of 4, compared with 7 for non-responders; P = 0.030) and alanine aminotransferase levels (median, 114, 182 for non-responders; P = 0.039). Clearance was associated with the treatment response of HCV. Nine of 13 who cleared HGV/GBV-C also cleared HCV, compared with 3 of 11 HGV/GBV-C non-responders; P = 0.05). The shared susceptibility of HGV/GBV-C and HCV to interferon treatment suggests a link between the mechanism of clearance of the two viruses.

The relative frequencies of the autoimmune liver diseases primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) have not been studied. We therefore performed an epidemiologic investigation to describe the incidence and prevalence of the three diseases in a defined population.Patients with PBC, PSC, or AIH admitted to Aker University Hospital in Oslo were prospectively registered during the 10-year period 1986-95. This hospital serves a defined population of 130,000 inhabitants. The mean yearly incidence and the point prevalences at the end of each year were calculated.During the 10-year period 21 patients with PBC, 17 with PSC, and 25 with AIH were diagnosed. The mean annual incidence per 100,000 was 1.6 for PBC, 1.3 for PSC, and 1.9 for AIH. The point prevalences per 100,000 on 31 December 1995 were 14.6, 8.5, and 16.9 for PBC, PSC, and AIH, respectively.The prevalences of PBC and AIH are of the same order of magnitude and about twice as high as that of PSC. These epidemiologic data can be used to estimate the number of liver transplantations required due to autoimmune liver diseases.

Patients with chronic hepatitis C respond differently when treated with interferon. We randomized 116 patients with chronic hepatitis C in order to compare two dosage regimens of recombinant interferon alpha 2a:3 MIU x 3 per week for 6 months (arm A) or 6 MIU x 3 per week for 3 months and then 3 MIU x 3 per week for 3 months (arm B). There were no significant differences concerning outcome between the two dose regimens: sustained clearance of HCV viremia 6 months after the end of treatment was obtained in 12/59 (20%) in group A compared with 18/57 (32%) in group B (p = 0.24). In patients with genotype 1a, 4/31 (13%), in genotype 1b, none of 9 (0%), 9/15 (60%) in genotype 2, and 17/58 (29%) in genotype 3, showed sustained clearance of HCV viremia 6 months after the end of treatment (p = 0.002). In a stepwise logistic regression analysis, only pretreatment viral load (p = 0.0001), genotype (p = 0.001) and age (p = 0.04) were identified as independent predictors of sustained clearance of HCV viremia. Liver histology as assessed by Knodell index was significantly improved in patients with sustained HCV RNA response 6 months after the end of treatment (5.2 +/- 2.2 vs 2.6 +/- 2.2, p < 0.001), but not in responders with relapse or in non-responders. In conclusion, stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that viral load, HCV genotype and age were the only independent predictors for sustained HCV RNA response.

Udgivelsesdato: 1997-Dec BACKGROUND: Many patients with chronic hepatitis C have long periods of normal or near-normal liver enzyme levels, even though histologic alterations have been confirmed. The recommendation today is not to treat this patient group. METHODS: In a pilot study 23 hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA-positive patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) levels less than 1.5 times upper normal limits for at least 6 months on more than three occasions and with histologic liver abnormalities compatible with chronic hepatitis C were treated with 3 MU of interferon-alpha 2b three times a week for 6 months. RESULTS: Nine patients (39%) became HCV RNA-negative in serum during treatment, but only two (8.7%) remained so after 6 months' follow-up. Significantly more patients with genotype other than type 1 became HCV RNA-negative than patients with genotype 1 during treatment (P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with low-activity chronic hepatitis C have a response to interferon-alpha treatment similar to that of patients with increased ALAT levels. Genotype seems to influence the rate of response.

Pollen diagrams from upland blanket bogs and mire‐pool complexes on the southern Garvie Mountains and the Old Man Range, and from a sag pond mire on the slopes of the Kawarau Gorge, record the vegetation history of the last 12 000 years in Central Otago, the driest region of New Zealand. During the late‐glacial/early Holocene these subalpine sites supported grassland/shrubland vegetation. Trees or tall scrub were absent. Tree ferns became increasingly common in the early Holocene, most likely as small stands in damp, sheltered locations. At 7500 yr B.P. a coniferous forest of Prumnopitys taxifolia, Dacrycarpus dacrydioides and Podocarpus abruptly replaced the previous grassland communities at lower altitudes, while a coniferous scrub of Phyllocladus alpinus and Halocarpus bidwillii formed the upper treeline. The reafforestation of Central Otago and adjacent regions was completed 2000 years after podocarp‐dominant forest began to occupy coastal regions. The delay is attributed to drier climates in the inte...

>ABSTRACT The development of educational policy making in the European Union is set in the context of teacher training. The Issue of how schooling can be improved through joint action and in‐service education is addressed through the processes of collaborative action research. The benefits of adopting an action research approach to teacher education and school improvement are illustrated with reference to two projects; ‘Europe in the Primary School’ and the ‘Europe School Project’. Some main outcomes of these projects are described and addressed in the light of future trends towards European citizenship and joint programmes in European in‐service education and training. [1] Paper presented to the Standing Committee for the Education and Training of Teachers (SCETT) Conference, London, 10 May 1995. This article is an abridged version of a paper to be published in the proceedings of the 3rd Conference of the Centro Europa per la Scuola Educazione Societa (CESES) 26‐29 April 1995, Sorrento, Italy.

This article explores some problems and issues in developing a common curriculum in European schools and teacher training institutions. The themes of tolerance and interdependence are explored against the background of data from a multi‐lateral action research project and some perspectives arising from a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Les AA. presentent le systeme d'enseignement par modules au Royaume-Uni : origines et philosophie, avis et controverses sous le gouvernement de M. Thatcher, avantages et particularites

In the present study the prophylactic effect of concentrated wheat fibre on duodenal ulcer recurrence was evaluated. Eleven grams of fibre (Fiberform) or placebo was added to an ordinary Norwegian diet for 1 year after endoscopic healing of duodenal ulcer. The ulcer recurrence rates were 84% (31 of 37 patients) in the fibre-supplemented group and 85% (30 of 36 patients) in the placebo group (NS). The effect on ulcer symptoms was similar in both groups. Side effects were infrequently seen. A concentrated wheat fibre supplement seems to have no preventive effect when given to duodenal ulcer patients living on a traditional Norwegian diet.

To assess their accuracies as markers for malignancy, we assayed alpha 2-macroglobulin, C1-inhibitor, alpha 1-protease inhibitor, and total proteins in ascites and plasma from patients with gastrointestinal cancer (n = 15) and non-malignant liver disease (n = 13), using functional and immunologic assays. For all inhibitors and total proteins determined in ascites, the values in the cancer group were significantly higher than the corresponding values in the group with non-malignant liver disease. The diagnostic accuracy for differentiating malignancy-related from non-malignant ascites was 93% for a alpha 1-protease inhibitor valueor = 50% of the pool plasma value and 90% for alpha 2-macroglobulinor = 16%, C1-inhibitoror = 40% (all functional assays), and total proteinsor = 20 g/l (biuret). In conclusion, functional assays for alpha 2-macroglobulin, C1-inhibitor, and alpha 1-protease inhibitor and determination of total proteins in ascites appeared to be very informative tests for the differential diagnosis of ascites. The test for alpha 1-protease inhibitor gave higher specificity (92% versus 77%) and likelihood ratio for a positive test (12 versus 4) compared with the other tests.

(1992). Towards a European Dimension of the Early Years Curriculum. Early Years: Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 22-28.

The He I and He II spectra of the alkyl phenyl disulfides were recorded and interpreted in terms of a composite-molecule model in which the sequence of the first four ionisation energies is: πs—ns < ns < π < πs + ns . This sequence is contrary to the STO-3G* calculations, but in agreement with the more extensive 3–21G* calculations. Furthermore, analysis of the intensity variations on going from He I to He II radiation validates the composite-molecule model and therefore suggests that the sulfur lone-pairs adjacent to the alkyl moiety are localised on the sulfur atom, whereas the sulfur lone-pairs adjacent to the ring are delocalised within the π system of the phenyl ring.

[1] This is a version of a paper presented to the Commission of the European Communities, European Summer University, Centre for European Education, Villa Falconieri, Frascati, Italy, 12‐21 October 1990.

Geologists have generally accepted the intuitively appealing concept that rigid objects, which are larger than matrix grains, rotate relative to geographic co‐ordinates during non‐coaxial ductile deformation. This has been reinforced by experiments in which rigid body rotation occurs in continuous media deformed under bulk simple shear. Widespread acceptance of this concept, and its application to rock deformation, incorrectly implies that it has been thoroughly and successfully tested in real rocks. When data obtained from deformed rocks suggest that relatively large rigid objects do not rotate, they have generally been rationalized as products of coaxial deformation and considered rarities. This degree of rationalization is no longer acceptable in the light of accumulating data, as well as more recent modelling which suggests that non‐rotation of relatively large rigid objects during ductile deformation is the more common situation, and that very special circumstances are required for such objects to ro...

Critical values of zinc (Zn) concentration in young leaves Here established for the diagnosis of Zn deficiency in peanut by examining the relationship of Zn concentration in leaves to shoot dry matter (DM) at two growth stages of plants grown in pots of Zn deficient sand at seven levels of Zn supply (0, 67, 133, 200 267, 533, and 1067 μg Zn/kg soil). Zinc deficient peanut accumulated reddish pigments in stems, petioles and leaf veins in addition to the more common symptoms of Zn deficiency in plants. Zinc concentrations increased with increasing Zn supply in the blades of the youngest fully expanded leaf (YFEL) and in the blades of the leaves immediately older (YFEL+1) and younger (YFEL‐1) than it: they also increased with increasing Zn supply in the petioles of the YFEL+1 and YFEL and in the basal stem internode but their Zn concentrations Here always much lower than those in the blades. Critical Zn concentrations in the blades of the YFEL and YFEL+1 Here 8–10 mg Zn/kg DM at early pegging and mi...

Two 5x5 diallel experiments were conducted to estimate the relative fertility of cross- and self- pollinations amongst macadamia cultivars as measured by pollen tube growth and initial fruit set. Experiment 1 involved the Hawaiian cultivars 246 (Keauhou), 344 (Kau), 660 (Keaau), 741 (Mauka) and 800 (Makai), and experiment 2 studied 246, 508 (Kakea), 660, 741 and 800. Results were similar in the two experiments and in the two methods of measurement. All selections showed poorer pollen tube growth and initial fruil set following self- than cross-pollination. In both experiments there was significant specific combining ability and general combining ability amongst the cultivars and there were significant reciprocal effects. The selection 246 showed consistently high fertility in both experiments, as assessed by both methods, and as both female and male parent. The selection 508 performed well as female parent as assessed by both methods but was included in experiment 2 only. A number of cultivar combinations...

Among 116 patients with biopsy-confirmed chronic hepatitis C (Riba 2 or Riba 3 positive) in a multicenter study in southern Norway on interferon, we determined hepatitis C virus genotype by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the 5' NCR. The RFLP method was supplemented by and compared with a serological typing method based on the detection of type-specific antibody to peptide from the NS-4 region. A total of 102/106 (96%) patient sera showed detectable type-specific antibody to NS-4 peptides and corresponded in all cases, except two, to the genotype detected by polymerase chain reaction. Combining the results from RFLP genotyping and serotyping, genotype 1 was found in 40 (35%) (27 with 1a and 10 with 1b, 3 subtypes not determined), genotype 2 in 15 (13%) (subtype 2b in 14 and 1 subtype not determined), and genotype 3 in 58 (50%) of patients. The low mean age of the patients (34 years), the low prevalence of cirrhosis (3.5%), the short duration of the disease, and a high prevalence of intravenous-drug abusers may account for the low prevalence of infection with genotype 1b (9%). The epidemiological features of hepatitis C patients are markedly different from patient groups described in southern Europe in terms of risk factors, age, and genotype distribution.

Principally, 3O2 can be easily activated [1] via Single-Electron-Transfer (SET) from a suitable Donor D: and a concomitant proton transfer (PT) from a suitable proton donator H - A [2]