The Elements of Experimental Phonetics.

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Liberal Democracy

This open access book aims to show which factors have been decisive in the rise of successful countries. Never before have so many people been so well off. However, prosperity is not a law of nature; it has to be worked for. A liberal economy stands at the forefront of this success – not as a political system, but as a set of economic rules promoting competition, which in turn leads to innovation, research and enormous productivity. Sustainable prosperity is built on a foundation of freedom, equal opportunity and a functioning government. This requires a stable democracy that cannot be defeated by an autocrat. Autocrats claim that “illiberalism” is more efficient, an assertion that justifies their own power. Although autocrats can efficiently guide the first steps out of poverty, once a certain level of prosperity has been achieved, people begin to demand a sense of well-being – freedom and codetermination. Only when this is possible will they feel comfortable, and progress will continue. Respect for human rights is crucial. The rules of the free market do not lean to either the right or left politically. Liberalism and the welfare state are not mutually exclusive. The “conflict” concerns the amount of government intervention. Should there be more or less? As a lawyer, entrepreneur, and board member with over 40 years of experience in this field of conflict, the author clearly describes the conditions necessary for a country to maintain its position at the top

Extreme rays of the (N,k)(N, k)-Schur Cone

We discuss several partial results towards proving Dennis White's conjecture on the extreme rays of the $(N,2)$-Schur cone. We are interested in which vectors are extreme in the cone generated by all products of Schur functions of partitions with $k$ or fewer parts. For the case where $k =2$, White conjectured that the extreme rays are obtained by excluding a certain family of "bad pairs," and proved a special case of the conjecture using Farkas' Lemma. We present an alternate proof of the special case, in addition to showing more infinite families of extreme rays and reducing White's conjecture to two simpler conjectures.Comment: This paper has been withdrawn by the authors due to a misinterpretation of the generalized Littlewood-Richardson rule in several proof

Analysis of selective mobilization of L-selectin and Mac-1 reservoirs in bovine neutrophils and eosinophils

Following activation of granulocytes, L-selectin (CD62L) is generally shed from the cellular surface, whereas Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18) expression is well known to increase. However, a number of studies in bovines and humans show that the expression of L-selectin may increase as well. This urged us to examine the possible existence of both L-selectin and Mac-1 reservoirs in bovine neutrophil and eosinophil populations through the use of flow cytometry in combination with an optimized method for cell membrane permeabilization. Augmented L-selectin and Mac-1 expression was detected in both granulocyte populations upon saponin treatment. Confocal microscopic studies indicated that both molecules exhibit a different pattern of subcellular localization. Incubation with sialidase revealed the existence of hidden L-selectin epitopes at the cell surface, while no additional Mac-1 epitopes were exposed. Platelet-activating factor stimulation decreased surface and total expression of L-selectin to the same extent in both populations, but solely affected Mac-1 surface expression on eosinophils. Moreover, cytoskeletal actin filaments and microtubules were found to be involved in the regulation of Mac-1 surface expression on bovine neutrophils and eosinophils. In marked contrast, expression of L-selectin was minimally affected by cytoskeleton perturbing agents. The present study indicates that L-selectin and Mac-1 adhesion molecules reside in distinctly located reservoirs in bovine granulocytes and can be selectively mobilized upon in vitro stimulation

Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis: A Clinical Case with Rapid Resolution on Imaging

Introduction Hypersensitivity pneumonitis is a rare interstitial disorder characterized by an immune reaction of the lung parenchyma, usually to a sensitized allergen. Pneumonitis is a common cause of respiratory decline among those with comorbid conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure. The use of corticosteroids in patients with pneumonitis is well documented, but their role in the treatment is not clearly understood. Case Presentation Patient is a 58-year-old female with past medical history of polymyalgia rheumatica, osteoporosis, and current smoker who presented with a three day history of progressive shortness of breath, dyspnea on exertion, orthopnea, weight gain, and a chronic nonproductive cough. The study pointed to the initial diagnosis of congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Further study and diagnostic imaging revealed a case of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The patient underwent treatment with Solu-medrol, resulting in resolution of symptoms within five days. Repeat chest x-ray and CT pulmonary angiogram on day six showed nearly resolved pneumonia with improving adenopathy. Discussion The authors present this case to emphasize the challenging differential diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis due to the lack of specificity of clinical manifestations and treatment. A multidisciplinary discussion of clinical and radiologic data can play a role in the diagnosis and thus early management of rapid respiratory deterioration

Ampullectomy for an unexpected ampullary hamartoma in a heterotaxic patient

AbstractINTRODUCTIONHeterotaxy designates rare congenital disorders of organ positioning in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, which can be associated with numerous anomalies, complicating the surgical management because of the loss of conventional anatomic landmarks.PRESENTATION OF CASEA 72-year-old man was found to have asymptomatic cholestasis. Further workup included computed tomography and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography that revealed anomalies of lateralization of digestive organs associated with intestinal malrotation and polysplenia, and a stone-like element in the main bile duct. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography failed to extract the lesion. Laparotomy found no stone, but a polypoid tumor with ampullary implantation. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was judged unreasonable due to the presence of macroscopic cirrhosis and a complete ampullectomy was performed. Histopathological examination revealed a hamartomatous polyp.DISCUSSIONThe unusual angle of the duodenoscope in a left-sided duodenum may have contributed to the improper pre-operative diagnosis. Endosonography could have recognized the tissular origin of the lesion and prompted a more detailed preoperative planning. It was fortunate that the patient ended up receiving the appropriate treatment despite the absence of an adequate pre-operative diagnosis, as the option of performing an extended resection was ruled out due to the presence of cirrhosis.CONCLUSIONAlthough heterotaxy leads to increased technical difficulties in performing usual endoscopic and surgical procedures, it can be safely managed by experienced surgeons as illustrated by the present case. Imaging modalities have limited sensitivity in the diagnosis of small ampullary tumors. As false-negatives are likely to occur, this possibility should guide the choice of the best operation