Terenska istraživanja bakterijske etiologije pobačaja u nomadskih ovaca i koza u sjeverozapadnim brdovitim područjima Indije

A field study on the bacterial etiology of abortions among sheep and goats having migratory practices in the northwest hilly states of India was carried out. A total of 203 flocks were investigated. Abortion outbreaks occurred in 51 flocks and sporadic abortions occurred in 114 flocks. Vaginal swabs from aborted sheep and goats were collected and processed for isolation of bacterial agents from 37 flocks with abortion outbreaks and 56 flocks with sporadic abortions. Bacteria known to cause abortions were identified in 30 flocks with abortion outbreaks including Chlamydophila spp. (17 flocks), Brucella melitensis (4 flocks), Listeria monocytogenes (8 flocks), and one Salmonella Dublin. L. ivanovii was also isolated from sheep in one of the flocks with L. monocytogenes. No specific causes of abortion were identified in flocks having sporadic abortions. The results also show that Chlamydophila spp. abortions are more likely to occur in goats than in sheep and that Brucella abortions occur more often in sheep.U radu su provedena terenska istraživanja bakterijske etiologije pobačaja u ovaca i koza kod nomadskog načina stočarenja u sjevero-zapadnim brdovitim državama Indije. Pretražena su 203 stada. Pobačaji su se masovno javljali u 51, a sporadično u 114 stada. Vaginalni obrisci uzeti su od ovaca i koza iz 37 stada s masovnom pojavom pobačaja te iz 56 stada sa sporadičnim pobačajima. Bakterije poznate kao uzročnici pobačaja dokazane su u 30 stada s masovnom pojavom pobačaja. Tako je dokazana Chlamydophila spp. (u 17 stada), Brucella melitensis (u 4 stada), Listeria monocytogenes (u 8 stada), a u jednom stadu Salmonella Dublin. L. Ivanovii izdvojena je iz ovaca u jednom stadu zajedno s vrstom L. monocytogenes. Specifični uzročnici pobačaja nisu bili dokazani u stadima sa sporadičnom pojavom pobačaja. Rezultati su pokazali da su se klamidijski pobačaji češće javljali u koza nego u ovaca, a oni uzrokovani brucelama češće u ovaca

Mass Models for Spiral Galaxies from 2-D Velocity Maps

We model the mass distributions of 40 high surface brightness spiral galaxies inside their optical radii, deriving parameters of mass models by matching the predicted velocities to observed velocity maps. We use constant mass-to-light disk and bulge models, and we have tried fits with no halo and with three different halo density profiles. The data require a halo in most, but not all, cases, while in others the best fit occurs with negligible mass in the luminous component, which we regard as unphysical. All three adopted halo profiles lead to fits of about the same quality, and our data therefore do not constrain the functional form of the halo profile. The halo parameters display large degeneracies for two of the three adopted halo functions, but the separate luminous and dark masses are better constrained. However, the fitted disk and halo masses vary substantially between the adopted halo models, indicating that even high quality 2-D optical velocity maps do not provide significant constraints on the dark matter content of a galaxy. We demonstrate that data from longslit observations are likely to provide still weaker constraints. We conclude that additional information is needed in order to constrain the separate disk and halo masses in a galaxy.Comment: 41 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A

A Nonlinear Super-Exponential Rational Model of Speculative Financial Bubbles

Keeping a basic tenet of economic theory, rational expectations, we model the nonlinear positive feedback between agents in the stock market as an interplay between nonlinearity and multiplicative noise. The derived hyperbolic stochastic finite-time singularity formula transforms a Gaussian white noise into a rich time series possessing all the stylized facts of empirical prices, as well as accelerated speculative bubbles preceding crashes. We use the formula to invert the two years of price history prior to the recent crash on the Nasdaq (april 2000) and prior to the crash in the Hong Kong market associated with the Asian crisis in early 1994. These complex price dynamics are captured using only one exponent controlling the explosion, the variance and mean of the underlying random walk. This offers a new and powerful detection tool of speculative bubbles and herding behavior.Comment: Latex document of 24 pages including 5 eps figure

Coulomb correlation and magnetic ordering in double-layered manganites: LaSr2_2Mn2_2O7_7

A detailed study of the electronic structure and magnetic configurations of the 50 % hole-doped double layered manganite LaSr$_2$Mn$_2$O$_7$ is presented. We demonstrate that the on-site Coulomb correlation (U) of Mn d electrons {\it (i)} significantly modifies the electronic structure, magnetic ordering (from FM to AFM), and interlayer exchange interactions, and {\it (ii)} promotes strong anisotropy in electrical transport, reducing the effective hopping parameter along the {\it c} axis for electrically active $e_g$ electrons. This findng is consistent with observations of anisotropic transport -- a property which sets this manganite apart from conventional 3D systems. A half-metallic band structure is predicted with both the LSDA and LSDA+U methods. The experimentally observed A-type AFM ordering in LaSr$_2$Mn$_2$O$_7$ is found to be energetically more favorable with U $\geq$ 7 eV. A simple interpretation of interlayer exchange coupling is given within double and super-exchange mechanisms based on the dependencies on U of the effective exchange parameters and $e_g$ state sub-band widths.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Complimentary Narrative Commentaries of Statutory Accounts in the Annual Reports of UK Listed Companies

This paper, for the first time, classifies narrative information into complementary and supplementary. For the purpose of the paper, complementary narrative information is defined as that information which refers to specific numbers presented in the statutory accounts (profit and loss and balance sheet). Non-specific narrative information is classified as supplementary. Having made the distinction and provided reasons for such a distinction the study investigates the extent of complementary narrative commentaries on numbers from the statutory accounts. The study also investigates which company-specific characteristics are associated with the extent of complementary narrative commentaries. An index consisting of 46 items which must be reported in the statutory accounts was used to measure the extent of complementary narrative commentaries in the annual reports of 170 listed UK companies. the findings suggest that, on average, the companies comment on 3909% of the numbers appearing in their statutory accounts. using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model, the results indicate that company size, gearing, profitability, liquidity ratio, the presence of exceptional items, and substantial institutional investment are significantly associated with the extent of complementary narrative commentaries. However, auditory type, directors' share ownership, and the proportion of non-executive directors are not significantly associated with the extent of complementary narrative commentaries. The research has important implications for accounting regulators, users of annual reports and future research into the usefulness narrative information provided in annual reports

Current challenges of research on filamentous fungi in relation to human welfare and a sustainable bio-economy: a white paper.

The EUROFUNG network is a virtual centre of multidisciplinary expertise in the field of fungal biotechnology. The first academic-industry Think Tank was hosted by EUROFUNG to summarise the state of the art and future challenges in fungal biology and biotechnology in the coming decade. Currently, fungal cell factories are important for bulk manufacturing of organic acids, proteins, enzymes, secondary metabolites and active pharmaceutical ingredients in white and red biotechnology. In contrast, fungal pathogens of humans kill more people than malaria or tuberculosis. Fungi are significantly impacting on global food security, damaging global crop production, causing disease in domesticated animals, and spoiling an estimated 10 % of harvested crops. A number of challenges now need to be addressed to improve our strategies to control fungal pathogenicity and to optimise the use of fungi as sources for novel compounds and as cell factories for large scale manufacture of bio-based products. This white paper reports on the discussions of the Think Tank meeting and the suggestions made for moving fungal bio(techno)logy forward

The Non-linear Dynamics of Meaning-Processing in Social Systems

Social order cannot be considered as a stable phenomenon because it contains an order of reproduced expectations. When the expectations operate upon one another, they generate a non-linear dynamics that processes meaning. Specific meaning can be stabilized, for example, in social institutions, but all meaning arises from a horizon of possible meanings. Using Luhmann's (1984) social systems theory and Rosen's (1985) theory of anticipatory systems, I submit equations for modeling the processing of meaning in inter-human communication. First, a self-referential system can use a model of itself for the anticipation. Under the condition of functional differentiation, the social system can be expected to entertain a set of models; each model can also contain a model of the other models. Two anticipatory mechanisms are then possible: one transversal between the models, and a longitudinal one providing the modeled systems with meaning from the perspective of hindsight. A system containing two anticipatory mechanisms can become hyper-incursive. Without making decisions, however, a hyper-incursive system would be overloaded with uncertainty. Under this pressure, informed decisions tend to replace the "natural preferences" of agents and an order of cultural expectations can increasingly be shaped

cDNA sequence and genomic structure of EVI2B, a gene lying within an intron of the neurofibromatosis type 1 gene

The gene responsible for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), one of the more common inherited human disorders, was identified recently, and segments of it were cloned. Two translocation breakpoints that interrupt the NF1 gene in NF1 patients flank a 60-kb segment of DNA that contains the EVI2A locus (previously reported as the EVI2 locus), the human homolog of a mouse gene, Evi-2A, implicated in retrovirus-induced murine myeloid tumors. EVI2A lies within an intron of the NF1 gene and is transcribed from telomere toward centromere, opposite to the direction of transcription of the NF1 gene. Here we describe a second locus, EVI2B, also located between the two NF1 translocation breakpoints. Full-length cDNAs from the EVI2B locus detect a 2.1-kb transcript in bone marrow, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and fibroblasts. Sequencing studies predict an EVI2B protein of 448 amino acids that is proline-rich and contains an N-terminal signal peptide, an extracellular domain with four potential glycosylation sites, a single hydrophobic transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic hydrophilic domain. At the level of genomic DNA the EVI2B locus lies within the same intron of the NF1 gene as EVI2A and contains a 57-bp 5' exon that is noncoding, an 8-kb intron, and a 2078-bp 3' exon that includes the entire open reading frame. EVI2B is transcribed in the same direction as EVI2A; its 5' exon lies only 4 kb downstream from the 3' exon of the EVI2A locus. In the mouse the 5' exon of the homologous gene, Evi-2B, lies approximately 2.8 kb from the 3' end of Evi-2A, in the midst of a cluster of viral integration sites identified in retrovirus-induced myeloid tumors; thus, Evi-2B may function as an oncogene in these tumors.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29439/1/0000521.pd