This article presents a guided introduction to a general class of interacting particle methods and explains throughout how such methods may be adapted to solve general classes of inference problems encountered in actuarial science and risk management. Along the way, the resulting specialized Monte Carlo solutions are discussed in the context of how they complemented alternative approaches adopted in risk management, including closed form bounds and asymptotic results for functionals of tails of risk processes. The development of the article starts from the premise that whilst interacting particle methods are increasingly used to sample from complex and high-dimensional distributions, they have yet to be generally adopted in inferential problems in risk and insurance. Therefore, we introduce a range of methods which can all be interpreted in the general framework of interacting particle methods, which goes well beyond the standard particle filtering framework and Sequential Monte Carlo frameworks. For the applications we consider in risk and insurance we focus on particular classes of interacting particle genetic type algorithms. These stochastic particle integration techniques can be interpreted as a universal acceptance-rejection sequential particle sampler equipped with adaptive and interacting recycling mechanisms. We detail how one may reinterpret these stochastic particle integration techniques under a Feynman-Kac particle integration framework. In the process, we illustrate how such frameworks act as natural mathematical extensions of the traditional change of probability measures, common in designing importance samplers for risk managements applications. P. Del Moral INRIA Research Director, INRIA Bordeaux-Sud Ouest, & Bordeaux Mathematical Institute. Professeur chargé de cours, Ecole Polytechnique (CMAP) Palaiseau. e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com G.W. Peters Department of Statistical Science, University College London; Associate Fellow, Oxford-Man Institute, University of Oxford; Associate Fellow, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, CSIRO-CMIS, e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Ch. Vergé ONERA The French Aerospace Lab, F-91761 PALAISEAU e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


A number (240) of Tanzanian schoolchildren, 60 from each of grades 1, 3, 5, 7, were individually tested on conservation of area, conservation of distance, and the concept of horizontality in the coordinate reference system. Responses were categorized on Piagetian stages of spatial competence and on a pass/fail basis. Results of chi-square anlayses showed that, at nearly all grade levels, the developmental sequence is: conservation of distance, conservation of area, and finally mastery of the concept of horizontality in the coordinate reference system. The stagewise progression was observed, but each stage was achieved at a later age as compared to Piaget's norms. It is argued that the acquisition of these concepts in children is a function of the spatial dimensions involved in each concept, and that environmental factors retard the developmental tempo of spatial concepts among the African children.


Abstract 1Introduction 1Site Descriptions 2Data Collection 3Physical Characteristics of Highway Runoff 4Chemical Characteristics of Highway Runoff 6Total Phosphorus and Biologically Available Phosphorus 7Sediment Fractionation 8Load Computations 10Annual Export Estimates of Phosphorus and Total Sediment. 14Limitations of the Study 15Summary 16References 18FIGURES1. Map showing location of the highway runoff study sites in west-central Maine........ 22. Illustration of the highway runoff collection and sampling scheme for theRoute 27 site in Rome, Maine. 33. Graph showing the relation between total phosphorus concentration and sediment weight in highway stormwater runoff samples 74. Graph showing the regression function for estimating total phosphorus load, as a function of peak discharge, for unsampled runoff at the Kimball Pond Road site, New Sharon, Maine 115. Graph showing paired phosphorus digestion data for 1995, illustrating the extrapolated function used for estimating biologically-available phosphorus from total phosphorus record. Kimball Pond Road site, New Sharon, Maine 14TABLES1. Precipitation and snowfall data for New Sharon, Maine. 42. Summary of total sediment, specific conductance, and pH data, by site. 63. Summary of phosphorus concentration data, by site. 64-6. Fractionation and phosphorus concentrations for a sediment sample collected May 20, 1993 from:4. The ditch of Kimball Pond Road runoff site New Sharon, Maine 85. The shoulder of Route 27 runoff site, Rome, Maine 96. The sanding pile at the Maine Department of Transportation lot,Mercer, Maine 97. Number of events and total runoff sampled, by site, during study 108. Standard error of estimate for load estimating regression models by siteand constituent. 119. Total and biologically-available phosphorus data for sediment samples taken from the highway runoff sites and Maine Department of Transportation sanding piles 1210. Export estimates for dissolved orthophosphate, total phosphorus,biologically-available phosphorus, and total sediment at three highway sites in west-central Maine, September 1992 through August 1993 15


The accurate prediction of satellite orbits has attracted much attention due to efforts in avoiding collisions between orbital objects. A key element in improving satellite orbital predictions is the correct specification of the ionosphere-thermosphere environment, given that atmospheric density exerts significant drag over satellites. This work presents a parametric sensitivity analysis study, as well as implementation of data assimilation method, to the Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model (GITM), a physics-based model. The parameters to be analyzed and calibrated are F10.7 and IMF parameters. IMPACT project information: www.impact.lanl.gov


Ependymomas (EMs) are primary tumors of the central nervous system that preferentially occur in children. Recent deep molecular analyses have revealed that these tumors are divided into molecularly distinct subgroups; particularly supra- and infratentorial EMs have significantly different genetic alterations. Chromothripsis is a massive genomic rearrangement event rarely occurring in various types of tumors, potentially resulting in oncogenic gene fusion. Recently, several types of C11orf95-associated fusion gene caused by gene rearrangements via chromothripsis were identified in a large fraction of supratentorial EMs. These fusion genes have been shown to be oncogenic when transferred to CNS stem cells in allograft model, these fusion genes may be promising therapeutic targets for the tumor type. Pysiologically relevant genetic mouse models are useful for the understanding of oncogenic mechanisms and drivers and for the exploration of theraputic targets in particular tumor types. Therefore, we used the RCAS/tv-a system to determine the ability for the C11orf95-RELA fusion to induce the formation of ependymomas in vivo in mice. When RCAS vector expressing the C11orf95-RELA fusion was introduced into Nestin/tv-a mice, tumors formed in a few months. Additional Cdkn2a loss in the context leads to an increased tumor penetrance. These tumors were observed as a circumscribed tumor adjacent to ventricular surface and formed abundant branching vascular network in the tumor, likely recapitulating histologic features of the human counterpart. This model should be a useful tool for understanding EM biology, therapeutic response, and recurrence.


To understand the combustion process in a spark ignition engine with an unscavenged horizontal prechamber, the flame propagations in both the pre- and main chambers are simultaneously visualized with a high-speed camera, while keeping the volumetric efficiency, air-fuel ratio, and engine speed constant. By using a CCD video camera and an A/D converter, the flame photographs are converted to digital image data (512×512 pixels) and image-processed with a personal computer through thresholding and edge-detecting operations.Consequently, the flame front images edge-enhanced are used to make flame front maps, which are able to examine in detail the combustion process. The brightness distributions of burnt gas in the main chamber are also obtained from the flame image data. The averaged brightness diagrams show a reasonable agreement with the gas temperature diagrams measured by an infrared pyrometer.To understand the combustion process in a spark ignition engine with an unscavenged horizontal prechamber, the flame propagations in both the pre- and main chambers are simultaneously visualized with a high-speed camera, while keeping the volumetric efficiency, air-fuel ratio, and engine speed constant. By using a CCD video camera and an A/D converter, the flame photographs are converted to digital image data (512×512 pixels) and image-processed with a personal computer through thresholding and edge-detecting operations.Consequently, the flame front images edge-enhanced are used to make flame front maps, which are able to examine in detail the combustion process. The brightness distributions of burnt gas in the main chamber are also obtained from the flame image data. The averaged brightness diagrams show a reasonable agreement with the gas temperature diagrams measured by an infrared pyrometer.


This paper proposes a new fuzzy logic-based navigation method for a mobile robot moving in an unknown environment. This method endows the robot with the capabilities of obstacles avoidance and goal seeking without being stuck in local minima. A simple Fuzzy controller is constructed based on the human sense and a reinforcement learning algorithm is used to fine tune the fuzzy rule base parameters. The advantages of the proposed method are its simplicity, its easy implementation for industrial applications, and the robot joins its objective despite the environment complexity. Some simulation results of the proposed method and a comparison with some previous works are provided.


Abstract Understanding the ubiquitous human phenomena associated with sports requires a "depth" psychology like psychoanalysis, among other theoretical tools. Sports exemplify basic Freudian concepts, such as unconscious motivation, unconscious conflict and compromise, and the centrality of sexual, aggressive, narcissistic, and attachment themes throughout the human life cycle. Sports also provide powerful illustrations of some of the important recent developments in psychoanalytic theory, including Lacan's work on the Imaginary and Symbolic registers; Kohut's psychology of the self and the role of selfobjects in development; Butler's feminist-psychoanalytic theories on performativity, gender binaries, and the unmourned losses at the root of gender; Laplanche's "general theory of seduction"; and the work of the psychoanalytically influenced sociologist Rene Girard. Finally, sports have a natural kinship with psychoanalysis because both involve the interrelationships among the intrapsychic, interpersonal, and social realms.


Using an approach that integrates technology to broaden and to reinforce what was learnt in class catches attention, particularly if this approach is used to promote a foreign language learning. The present study involves the use of Blended Learning Approach, which is an updated approach that integrates face-to-face and online instruction. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of blended learning on the development of vocabulary and reading in students of first level. For this purpose, it was necessary to examine three questions: Does the application of active techniques in face-to-face instruction improve vocabulary and reading? Does the implementation of interactive activities in a Moodle course improve vocabulary and reading? What is the students' level of satisfaction regarding the blended learning implemented? To analyze these questions, it was developed and applied activities taking into account active techniques and strategies and it was also designed a Moodle course. Indeed, the techniques and strategies applied in the face-to-face sessions and the activities in Moodle improved vocabulary and reading significantly. Besides, the blended learning implemented caused high level of satisfaction in students. These findings suggest that a Blended Learning Approach that includes techniques, strategies, and activities on Moodle enhances lexis and reading and also provides great satisfaction in students. However, this study needs to be applied to a bigger population.


Objective To explore the effects of the outpatient management information system in the management of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.Methods The measures included establishing the task group and developing the management processes,which included acquisition cases,establishment of health records,assessment of patients,nursing intervention and effect evaluation.Results After implementation of the information system,the score of cognition about the disease was(79.24±1.58).The rate of referral compliance increased from 26.25% to 91.25%,and the rate of medication compliance increased from 71.25% to 95.00%.The satisfaction degree of patients with medical staff increased from 90.00% to 100.00%.Conclusion The model of the outpatient disease management information system applied in the management of the patients with systemic lupus erythematosus is an effective outpatients management model.It is suitable to implement long-term and continuous management in non-hospitalized patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.


Abstract Dielectric data of a polymer siloxane derivative have been analysed. The deviation from the Debye behaviour has been interpreted using the many body, cooperative model. Comparison with the results for liquid crystals composed of elongated molecules has been made from the point of view of short and long range correlations.


As Jason Mittell reminds his readers in the introduction to his fascinating new book, Genre and Television: From Cop Shows to Cartoons in American Culture, television genres have been widely employed as organizational tools used by fans, venders, journalists, and, of course, academics. A central objective of Mittell's scholarly project is defining the work of genres—differently, focusing on their position as "cultural categories." Throughout his book, Mittell attempts to carve out his unique critical/theoretical space by liberating television genre studies from what he identifies as its inhibiting over-reliance on film and literary theory in general, and the limits of textual(ist) assumptions and analyses in particular. Therein lie many of the book's great strengths (and a few frustrations), as it consistently and deliberately asserts a new model: a "television-specific" genre theory. Rather than a sweeping overview of generic practices, Mittell provides case studies from U.S. television (the quiz show, cartoons, talk shows, the classic police show Dragnet, and the use of parody in Soap and The Simpsons) to demonstrate "how genres work at the micro-level of media practice" (xv). Versions of pieces of a number of Mittell's chapters in Genre and Television appeared in earlier forms in major cinema, television, and/or media studies journals and anthologies, and they are reworked and expanded cogently here. Mittell opens with a chapter aptly titled "Television Genres as Cultural Categories," convincingly arguing for "the complex interrelations between texts, industries, audiences, and historical contexts" in genre studies (10). However, given that this is not actually a novel concept, within television genre studies or otherwise, at this juncture I would like to vent a bit about what I perceive to be the book's main minor annoyances: The author has a tendency throughout to employ over-generalized discourse of the scholarly processes of the "typical," the "many," and the "few" in writing his own narrative of theoretical invention. Rather than being more generously dialogic, he occasionally briskly reduces, dismisses, and buries into his footnotes both individualized critique and acknowledgement of the contributions of fellow genre scholars. While the book succeeds at firmly positioning television at the theoretical center, it sometimes strains at differentiating it so discretely; "film," "television," and "media" (and film studies, television studies, and media studies)


The implementation of IEEE 802.11 wireless networks has grown notably in recent years. Handoff management in wireless networks, i.e., transferring an active data session from one cell defined by an access point to another, is a critical function. In IEEE 802.11 networks, this function interrupts mobile users' connection to the network, ultimately resulting in service disruption. Currently, the Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm presents innovations and abstractions in the network architecture that can improve network management in wireless networks. SDN, through Light Virtual Access Point abstraction, enables the network to take control of the handoff process in IEEE 802.11 without network disconnection (seamless handoff) which is not possible in IEEE 802.11 traditional networks. In this paper, we show through experimentation over real network devices that SDN enables to perform the seamless handoff process in IEEE 802.11 without modification to the end user' s mobile station and completely controlled by the network. We show that it is possible to reduce the handoff delay from one second or more in traditional networks to milliseconds in SDN networks by means of the LVAP abstraction.


This paper describes an approach to digesting threads of archived discussion lists by clustering messages into approximate topical groups, and then extracting shorter overviews, and longer summaries for each group.


-The purpose of this study was to help in the process of examining the theory of motivztion proposed in The Dymmics of Action (Atkinson & Birch, 1970), to clarify certain theoretical issues, and to aid in the formulation of experimental research strategies. Computer simulation was used so that a variety of experimental paradigms could be investigated in a highly condensed time period. Results of this srudy were very encouraging. First, they showed that the theory could be simulated. The simulation brought out several theoretical issues which were examined and resolved. An experiment in progress was simulated and as a result some changes in procedure were suggested. Certain behavioral patterns, following from the theory, were also found in the simulation. It is concluded that ( a ) computer simulation can be a highly valuable tool in theory building and testing, ( b ) the theory for which the simulation was undertaken implies certain identifiable behavioral patterns, and (c) simulation can aid in the design of experiments to test theoretical issues.


Objective To determine the content of Aragaloside IV in Radix Astragali by spectrophotofluorimetry.MethodsThe fluorescence characteristics of astragaloside anisic reaction product were used to dertermine aragaloside IV by spectrophotofluorimetr.ResultsThe reaction product of astrogaloside and anisic acid had excitation and emission maxima at 320and 387nm,respectively.The recovery of measurement was 97.22%(RSD =2.31,n=5).ConclusionThe method has advantages of high sensitivity,low detection limit and no interference.It also can be used for quality control of Aragaloside IV in Radix Astragali.


The painDETECT questionnaire (PD‐Q) has been used as a tool to characterize sensory abnormalities in patients with persistent pain. This study investigated whether the self‐reported sensory descriptors of patients with painful cervical radiculopathy (CxRAD) and patients with fibromyalgia (FM), as characterized by responses to verbal sensory descriptors from PD‐Q (sensitivity to light touch, cold, heat, slight pressure, feeling of numbness in the main area of pain), were associated with the corresponding sensory parameters as demonstrated by quantitative sensory testing (QST).


A gas sampling apparatus mainly comprises a gas flow velocity sensor 1, a sampling nozzle 3, a sampling channel 4, a suction pump 5, a frequency converter 6 and a flow regulator 2. The apparatus is disclosed to guarantee reliable, fast and convenient constant speed sampling in the detection sampling of flue gas, dusts and particles. The apparatus is characterized in that the gas flow velocity of a sampling point is measured through the gas flow velocity sensor 1, a measured gas flow velocity signal is timely transmitted to the flow regulator 2 in order to calculate the flow amount of the sampling channel, matching of the sampling point gas flow velocity with the sampling point gas flow is realized through adjusting by the frequency converter in order to maintain consistence of the flow velocity in the sampling channel 4 with the sampling point gas flow velocity in the sampling process, so constant speed sampling is realized in order to obtain a representative sample.


This paper proposes a linguistic fuzzy method to evaluate the reliability of emergency logistics system based on incomplete weight information. The proposed methodology involves two mechanisms: (1). Establish the fuzzy comment set about sub-criteria and criteria by linguistics information; (2). Compute the aggregated ratings of the criteria and the emergency logistics system reliability of emergency logistics alternative using the linguistic weighted averaging. Empirical results are given to verify the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed approach.


This paper concerns cross-lingual acoustic modeling in the case when there are limited target language resources. We build on an approach in which a subspace Gaussian mixture model (SGMM) is adapted to the target language by reusing the globally shared parameters estimated from out-of-language training data. In current cross-lingual systems, these parameters are fixed when training the target system, which can give rise to a mismatch between the source and target systems. We investigate a maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation approach to alleviate the potential mismatch. In particular, we focus on the adaptation of phonetic subspace parameters using a matrix variate Gaussian prior distribution. Experiments on the GlobalPhone corpus using the MAP adaptation approach results in word error rate reductions, compared with the cross-lingual base-line systems and systems updated using maximum likelihood, for training conditions with 1 hour and 5 hours of target language data.


Self-efficacy evaluations have been studied rather extensively in smoking cessation, but only initially for alcohol and eating disorders. Results of current studies indicate that self-efficacy is a valuable and useful construct for exploring successful change in addictive behaviors. This is especially true for the prediction of relapse and maintenance. Self-efficacy evaluations not only predict successful abstinence, but are also related to coping activities during maintenance. Research in the area of the addictive behaviors, on the other hand, has supported several critical theoretical assumptions of the self-efficacy construct. Perceived self-efficacy is a unique and complex self-evaluation related to performance and the process of change. However, issues regarding adequacy of measurement, clarity of target behaviors, and the development or erosion of self-efficacy expectations remain largely unanswered.


Genotyping individuals for Tay‐Sachs disease (TSD) is mainly based on the heat lability of β‐hexosaminidase (Hex) A (αβ) and the heat stability of Hex B (ββ). Mutations in the HEXB gene encoding the β‐subunits of Hex that result in heat‐labile Hex B thus may lead to erroneous enzymatic genotyping regarding TSD. Utilizing single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis for all 14 exons of HEXB followed by direct sequencing of aberrant fragments, we screened individuals whose Hex B was heat labile. A novel heat labile mutation, previously concluded to exist in the HEXB gene, was identified among Jews and Arabs as 1627 G→A. One individual with heat labile Hex B (HLB) was negative for this novel mutation and for the known 1514 G→A HLB mutation, proving that there exists at least one other unidentified HLB mutation. Based on these results, it is advisable to perform DNA tests for 1627 G→A mutation in suspected HLB individuals. Hum Mutat 10:424–429, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The goal of this investigation is show that, even after orthodontic treatment, persist important esthetic anomalies of the facial profile in most patients which would require complementary treatments to get a better facial equilibrium. Twenty three cephalometric soft tissues tracings and photographs of patients previously treated with orthodontics were studied. The results showed high prevalence of nasal and chin deformities which would require complementary operations to get a good facial esthetic balance. In the article the perception of facial esthetics among different people is also discussed.


Using white noise estimation theory and modern time series analysis method, this paper presents a steady state Kalman estimators based on the ARMA innovation model for systems with correlation noises and measurement delay,which can handle the filtering,smoothing and prediction problems in a unified framework,and can be applied in real time.A simulation example shows usefulness of the proposed estimators.


The histology of periodontal innervation in man and of the neural endings in the periodontal ligament in particular remains a controversial matter. Quantitative ultrastructural studies are needed and would help clarifying some functional characteristics of periodontal mechanoreceptors. Most of these characteristics are comparable to those of tegumental receptors elsewhere in the body. Some discrepancies exist however between the findings in perpheral afferent nerves and the findings in the intra-crainal centres.

Concerning the functional significance of periodontal reeceptors, the jaw-opening reflex and the silent period in jaw muscle activity are related to each other, and their importance is questioned. Although much work has been accomplished on the silent period, the concurrent monosynaptic reflex has been mostly neglected and it has not been demonstrated whether periodontal receptors are the only origin of these reflexes.

The perdominant role of periodontal receptors in detecting and discriminating forces acting on a tooth and in the control of the mandibular position when an occlusal contact is present has been proven.


Y Lu, J McLellan, YXia. "Synthesis and Crystallization of Hybrid Spherical Colloids Composed of Polystyrene Cores and Silica Shells." Langmuir, vol. 20, 2004, pp. 3646-3670.* W Zhou, P Gao, L Shao, D Caruntu, MYu, J Chen, CJ O'Connor. "Drug-loaded, magnetic, hollow silica nanocomposites for nanomedicine." Nanomedicine, Nanotechnology, Biology and Medi cine, vol. 1, 2005, pp. 233-237.* KJCV Bommel, JH Jung, S Shinkai. "Poly(L-lysine) Aggregates as Templates for the Formation of Hollow Silica Spheres." Advanced Materials, vol. 13 No. 19, Oct. 2001, pp. 1472-1476.* CJ Brinker. "Hydrolysis and Condensation of Silicates: Effects on Structure." Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol. 100, 1988, pp. 31-50.* H Mori, MG Lanzendorfer, AHE Muller. "Organic-Inorganic Nanoassembly Based on Complexation of Cationic Silica Nanoparticles and Weak Anionic Polyelectrolytes in Aqueous and Alcohol Media." Langmuir, vol. 20, 2004, pp. 1934-1944.* Baharlou, Simin, International Preliminary Reporton Patentability & Written Opinion, Date of Issuance of Report: Feb. 16, 2010, Interna tional Application No. PCT/US2008/072972. Lu et al. "Synthesis and crystallization of hybrid spherical colloids composed of polystyrene cores and silica shells." Langmuir, Ameri can Chemical Society, 2004, pp. 3464-3470, vol. 20, No. 8. Bunker et al., "Low-Temperature Stability and High-Temperature Reactivity of Iron-Based Core-Shell Nanoparticles," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2004, pp. 10852-10853, vol. 126, No. 35. Parida et al., "Adsorption of organic molecules on silica surface.'Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 2006, vol. 121, Issue: 1-3, pp. 77-110. Lee Sung Reol, International Search Report and Written Opinion, PCT/US08/072972, Feb. 18, 2009, Korean Intellectual Property Office.


A new titanosaurian taxon,Qingxiusaurus youjiangensis gen.et sp.nov.,from the Upper Cretaceous red beds of Nanning City,Guangxi,China is reported.It is represented by several postcranial elements including a cranial caudal neural spine,a pair of sternal plates,and a pair of humeri.The new taxon is diagnosed on the basis of a combination of following features:sim- ply-built cranial caudal neural spine elongated and paddle-shaped and the length ratio between sternal plate and humerus low(about 0.65).The new form,as well as other recently recovered titanosaurian taxa from Asia,indicates a highly modified postcranial morphology and large di- versity within this sauropod clade in the Cretaceous of Asia.


In this year, 1928, the radiological apparatus available for installation in modern departments has reached a high degree of efficiency; the gradual introduction and improvements in the design of the closed-iron transformer and its adoption in association with the hot cathode tube has placed at the disposal of the radiologist the means of obtaining a standardisation of results quite outside his reach some few years ago; it is perhaps with gratitude to those whose work we are indebted for our apparatus, and to our manufacturers for the progress which has been made, that we view our modern departments. Efforts are being made to standardise the apparatus to such an extent that the radiologist can devote himself to the diagnosis of the radiograms without having to concern himself with exact electrical data; this one feels is a step in the right direction. At the present day it would appear that demand is being made for extremely high milliamperage outfits, and the apparatus is available which will deliver two...


A 70-year-old patient, hypertensive, presented with epigastric pain evolving in the last 2 months. The clinical examination revealed tenderness in the epigastric region without any palpable mass. Laboratory findings and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were normal. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a limited formation with a hydric content, spontaneously hyperdense adhering to the lesser gastric curvature of 6 cm (Fig. 1). Endoscopic ultrasonography of the stomach revealed a hyperechoic structure having contact with the lesser curvature. Biopsies were not performed to avoid the risk of bleeding. We performed a laparotomy revealing a hypervascular mass in the lesser omentum independent from the stomach (Fig. 2). Careful resection of the mass was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. Histopathology concluded in a cystic lesion with arteriovenous malformations. We reported successful surgical treatment for a cystic mass with arteriovenous malformations of the lesser omentum. Arteriovenous malformation is an aberrant vascular shunt between the arterial and venous systems. Most abdominal arteriovenous malformations are located in the right colon and small intestine and can be complicated with gastrointestinal bleeding. Their occurrence in the lesser omentum is extremely rare. To our knowledge, it was never described in English literature. Microscopy findings show irregularly dilated, curved, thick-walled vessels and small arteries in the cyst wall. The aetiology is unclear. The proposed causes include congenital malformation and acquired causes such as trauma or inflammation. Surgical treatment is essential in relieving the symptoms and confirming the diagnosis via histology. Recognition of this anomaly is crucial knowing that the risk of bleeding is increased during surgery. Preoperative embolization of the feeding vessel may be important in avoiding major bleeding. Patient consent has been obtained before publishing this report. The research meets ethical and legal guidelines.


In 2007, experiments studying noise in optical supercontinuum generation suggested that instabilities observed in nonlinear optical fibre propagation could be analogous to hydrodynamic rogue waves. This proposal was greeted with great interest in both the optics and hydrodynamics communities, but it soon became apparent that establishing such an analogy rigorously would require a great deal of additional work. After giving a general overview of the progress made over the last 15 years, we will describe recent developments, and in particular the use of tools from artificial intelligence such as neural networks and sparse regression to yield new insights into complex nonlinear rogue wave dynamics in optics. The talk will present both numerical and experimental results. This work has been carried out together with: M. Mabed, A. Ermolaev, C. Lapre (Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté FEMTO-ST); F. Meng (Jilin University ICB); A. Sheveleva, C. Finot (Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté); and G. Genty (Tampere University).


Background: With the ageing population, number of dementia patients is on the rise, as well as the public interest. The population who would visit memory disorder clinic will also grow. The diagnostic significance of brain MRI in dementia lies in idetifying hippocampal atrophy or ischemic lesions. However, patients visiting memory disorder clinic are mostly old-aged with multiple vascular risk factors, raising the risk of cerebrovascular abnormalities. The authors set out to evaluate the need for cerebrevascular imaging in patients who visited memory disorder clinic. Methods: The study recruited patients who visited the memory clinic in Seoul medical center between July 2011 and June 2012. Among those, patients who had taken the neuropsychiatric test and had both brain MRI and MRA taken were included for analysis. In brain MRI, severities of white matter hyperintensities and presence of cerebral infarction were assessed. In brain MRA, intraand extra-cranial arterial stenosis and presence of aneurysm were noted. Results: A total of 173 patients was included, and 64 were men. The mean age was 71±9.4 years, and the mean education period was 7±5.2 years. In brain MRI, white matter hyperintensities were observed in 113 patients (65.3%), and cerebral infarction was present in 57 patients (32.9%). In brain MRA, 88 (50.9%) patients showed more than one stenotic segment in intracranial vessel or proximal ICA and 6 patients (3.5%) were diagnosed with unruptured aneurysm. Conclusions: The incidence of white matter hyperintensities or stenosis of cerebral vessels on magnetic resonance imaging is very high. Therefore, brain MRI and MRA should be included in diagnostic work up for dementia in patients who are old aged and have multiple vascular risk factors. It would provide clinicians with valuable information in making treatment decisions and prevention of future cerebrovascular accident. Received: September 6, 2012 Revision received: November 15, 2012 Accepted: November 27, 2012


In this chapter a state-of-the-art review on analog integrated circuit (IC) design automation tools applied to the specification translation problem is presented. Having the right topology for a given set of specifications is indispensable for a high performance design. An inadequate topology makes the design more difficult (or even impossible), and may require unnecessary resources, which is not acceptable in high performance designs. Once the topology is selected, the specifications for the overall block are translated to the specifications for the subblocks. The specifications are, in this way, passed through the hierarchy. At the lowest level, the translation reduces to circuit sizing, whereas at the higher levels it produce the sub-blocks performance parameters. In the last years, the scientific community proposed many techniques for the automation of the translation task; some apply only at circuit-level or only at system level, while others apply to both. In this study, several circuit-level sizing techniques are sketched and compared, and then, different model-based optimization approaches are outlined.


Prosecution and convictions for driving or attempting to drive a motor propelled vehicle while drunk is another consequence which has been the subject of great variation both in relation to the law and its application during the time period under survey. In the earlier years of the 1950s and the 1960s prosecutions for drunkenness were supported by "soft" medical evidence as to drunkenness. Later in the 1960s a urine test followed by a blood sample was introduced. At first the level was 125 milligrams % where blood alcohol was concerned, later in 1978 this level was reduced to 100 milligrams %. Since 1961 the number of prosecutions has increased from 651 with a peak of 8364 in 1980, followed by a sharp decline. However, it appears that 1979 and 1978 have seen a more determined attitude on the part of the police with a very high number of prosecutions and also a relatively successful conviction rate. (Author/ TRRL)


SUMMARY

Mixed-species flocks of birds were observed during the wet season (July to September 1975) in savanna woodland in Ghana. Thirty-four flocks contained birds of 56 species in 20 families, including insectivorous, granivorous, and nectarivorous species, using a wide range of foraging methods. Only two species occurred in more than half the flocks. There was no correlation between the number of flocks joined by a species and its abundance in the community.

Among insectivores, but not granivores, the species which joined most flocks were those which habitually occurred in the largest single-species groups. All stages of breeding activity were represented by the various members. Some species joined flocks only while these were passing through their territories.

Of the two species which were present most frequently, there were no differences between mixed and single-species flocks for Eremomela pusilla, but Parus leucomelas foraged and called on more occasions in mixed flocks than single-species flocks, though the rates of foraging and calling were related only to the number of P. leucomelas present.

Groups of P. leucomelas appeared to initiate some flocks by attraction due to their conspicuous wing-bars, active movement, and loud calls. Black-and-white species joined them first, followed by birds of other plumage patterns.

The advantages of mixed flocking are thought to be connected with finding patches of the food of bark- and foliage-searching insectivores, which were the only species regularly seen foraging in the flocks. Because of dry season burning which leaves small unburnt patches of savanna, these insect species may share a common, patchy distribution. Birds may also gain protection from predators, and some species probably gain no advantages.

The species composition and behaviour of flocks previously recorded elsewhere in African savannas are similar to the Ghana flocks.


Acute left atrial ridge (LAR) lesions have been observed following atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. However, LAR lesions had not yet been quantitatively evaluated and their influence on procedure combining cryoballoon (CB) ablation with left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) remained to be explored.


ABSTRACT Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) are nowadays taking advantage of a wide range of information and intelligence sources (e.g. human intelligence (HUMINT), open source intelligence (OSINT), image analysis (IMINT)) in their efforts to anticipate potential terrorist actions. However, activity prediction based on these sources requires datasets for training reasoning algorithms, which are not typically available. In this paper we introduce a gaming approach to the generation of datasets that can be used for training reasoning algorithms that are able to predict the likelihood of terrorist actions against specific assets and locations in urban environment. At the heart of our approach resides a two-player game, whose moves map to actions that are usually associated with the various stages of planning, preparing and executing terrorist attacks in urban environments. Apart from presenting the game, the paper introduces also the range of reasoning algorithms that have been trained based on its output. It also explains the terrorist semantics that underpin the implementation of the game and the design/modelling of the rules of the game. Early validation results demonstrate that the presented reasoning algorithms can successfully classify terrorist activity, through distinguishing it from seemingly suspicious but unrelated events that are typically generated by non-terrorist activities.


Nuclear fuel performance modeling relies on accurate representation of material properties as function of fuel chemistry and micro-structure, and changes to these properties induced by, for example, irradiation, temperature variations and chemical evolution during reactor operation. We have used atomistic simulations based on density functional theory (DFT) and semi-empirical force-field representations of inter-atomic interactions to study the behavior of point defects in pristine and irradiated nuclear fuels [1-11]. The results feed meso-scale models of point defect and microstructure evolution, which provide input to models of fission gas retention/release, swelling and thermal conductivity [12-14]. The meso-scale models use the MARMOT phase-field code [15] and, at the engineering scale, reduced order models of material properties are implemented in the BISON fuel performance code [16], which are both based on the MOOSE framework [17] developed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). In this summary, we provide brief overviews of three examples of atomistic modeling of point defects in nuclear fuels to support mesoand engineering scale simulations of nuclear fuel performance. First, fission gas diffusion and its relation to gas release in irradiated UO2 is discussed in the context of vacancies and vacancy clusters interacting with fission gas atoms and giving rise to diffusion. Second, we explore the defect chemistry of UO2 doped with cations such as chromium, which are added by fuel vendors to improve performance, and we provide an explanation supported by modeling results for the increased grain size observed in chromium-doped UO2 [18]. The mechanism responsible for large grains in chromium doped UO2 is also investigated for other doping elements [18]. Third, the work on point defects and fission gas diffusion in UO2 is extended to the U3Si2 accident tolerant fuel candidate. All of the studies are performed under the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program.


Based on the problems encountered in teaching physical chemistry experiment in pharmacy,we mainly attempt to reform the experiment teaching from the following aspects: to construct the new curriculum system for physical chemistry experiment,modify the experiment content,and process experiment data by utilizing MATLAB program and so on.


A multi-modal vibration energy harvester has been developed for use on a helicopter transmission. The harvester is based on a topology optimised spring-steel cantilever-beam, with a pair of [011] poled Mn-PMN-PZT relaxor ferroelectric single crystal (RFSC) disk transducers. Finite element modelling is used optimise the position and crystal orientation to maximise the harvester output. The harvester is applied to a Bell 206-B Kiowa helicopter main rotor transmission, which has three main vibration components at 1900 Hz, 2300 Hz, and 2500 Hz. Superposition of the three vibratory components produced maximum measured peak accelerations of 100g (where g is 9.81 m s-2). The harvester was mounted on the transmission and tested under near-operational conditions, with the transmission oil temperature reaching 86 degrees Celsius. During testing the harvester typically produced peak open-circuit output voltages of 12.8 V and 10.6 V for the left and right RFSC transducers respectively. With an optimised resistive load of 60,000 Ohms, the harvester generated a peak power of 2.37 mW from the multi-component vibrations present on the transmission casing.


Patients with complex congenital cardiac malformations who have been converted to the Fontan circulation with partial exclusion of the hepatic veins may develop progressive cyanosis because of formation of intrahepatic veno-venous malformations. We describe transcatheter closure of a major intrahepatic fistula in such a setting using an Amplatzer septal occluder delivered by the left jugular venous approach in a 5 year old boy.


Isotropic materials have the same properties in all directions of space, with the same magnitude. Strict isotropy requires a spherical symmetry, hence a cubic unit-cell. All other crystal systems give rise to property anisotropy, i.e. direction dependence of properties and of their magnitude, although the anisotropy may often be weak enough to be quite insignificant. However, some materials show very strong anisotropy, owing to their layered structure, which is the result of unequal bond strength versus direction in space. Property anisotropy is usually the consequence of bonding anisotropy that gives anisotropic crystal growth, i.e. the crystals grow faster in some directions and slower in others, resulting in a crystallite shape that is often sheet-like (two-dimensional) or needle-like (one-dimensional). Many tin(II)-containing materials are found to have very strong low dimensionality: (1) SnF2/MCl (M = alkali metals and NH4) give needle shaped crystals even long hair-shaped. For example, in M3Sn5Cl3F10, the intersection of planes of lone pairs creates cleavage planes in two directions, giving needle shaped crystals. Extreme cases of two-dimensionality were observed in MSnF4, particularly in α-PbSnF4. Bonding anisotropy in tin(II)-containing materials is due to the tin stereoactive lone pair, when the lone pairs cluster in sheets, since no bonding to tin can take place in the lone pair direction. This gives rise to high preferred orientation of polycrystalline samples. The presentation will show how the anisotropy of the tin(II) quadrupole doublet, measured on polycrystalline samples subjected to an extremely enhanced preferred orientation, can be used to predict the direction of the lone pairs in the unit-cell and this, in turn, explain the direction of the cleavage planes. The presentation will focus on the use of X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy to characterize highly anisotropic phases and understand their structure-textural properties.


The tremendousgrowth of the Greater Athens Metropolitan Area during the last two decades is reflected in the fact that the largest percentage of its inhabitants were born and brought up in other regions. Thus, the analysis of the families residing in Athens by regions of origin can, in fact, represent a regional analysis of family structure and dynamics. Of course, it is difficult to control for the possible effects of selective rural-to-urban immigration or for the effects of urbanization upon the families from other regions. These effects, however, may not be very significant in this case since the selectivity bias in the rural-to-urban migration may be quite small; such migration has been taking place in Greece for several decades and has by now become "normalized" since it has involved men and women with different types of backgrounds and characteristics. The impact of urbanization, on the other hand, has been found t o be considerable only among immigrants who come to Athens as children and who, therefore, are at least partially socialized in an urban environment through urban school experiences and peers. But even so, this type of urbanization impact is by no means uniform and is less felt in family-related values and behaviors. Furthermore, in our sample, only a small minority of migrants from different regions came t o Athens before 12 years of age, with the exception of those from Dodekanese and Kyklades, one-fourth of whom migrated with their families of orientation before 12. Also, two-fifths of those from Asia Minor fall into this category. In order to avoid fragmenting the sample further, however, this factor, which is relevant only for these three regions, was not controlled for. Despite some possible limitations, it can be assumed that the regional analysis of the families residing in Athens can provide us with significant information about the explanatory power of the spouses' region for understanding family patterns.


Coastal wetlands are suffering from anthropogenic alterations worldwide. Aquatic monitoring based on macroinvertebrates has been successfully used to assess the ecological condition of many aquatic systems worldwide. Nonetheless, studies are still insufficient for the coastal wetlands of the South Pacific. Here, we present a preliminary attempt to select metrics based on aquatic macroinvertebrates to incorporate into coastal wetlands biomonitoring in the Chilean Mediterranean ecoregion. We sampled 25 sites in ten coastal wetlands during the austral spring of 2019. We used an integrated index that considers both human activities at catchment and at local scales to identify sites less or more disturbed. We tested a total of 70 metrics (either traditional or new metrics) representing different aspects of community structure/composition, functions and tolerance to pollution. Two metrics were finally retained: detritivore abundance (traditional metric) and geometric mean body size (new metric). These metrics were able to detect sites impacted by human activities. Thus, they might be considered as candidate metrics for the biomonitoring of these systems and to develop future indices. Moreover, because of their generality, they might also be applicable to coastal wetlands in other Mediterranean regions, including sites where taxonomic identification is still a challenge.


A number of areas relating to RF heating and thermal barrier formation in a tandem mirror have been investigated. The possibility of creating axisymmetric confinement through the use of sloshing-ions has been investigated. We have also suggested the complimentary concept of sloshing-electrons. Self-consistent thermal barrier formation has been studied and ion drift orbits in non-axisymmetric barriers are being investigated. The study of dynamic stabilization of the DCLC by RF fields has been extended to ..omega.. near 2 ..omega../sub ci/; significant stabilization is found. Fast and slow wave heating have been extensively studied using single particle theory. A new theory of relativistic ECH is under development.


The temperature field and the influence of electrode conduct electricity property and conduct heat property on the electrode tip temperature during spot welding aluminium alloy was studied by numerical simulation method. To study electrode tip temperature field which is the part of spot welding process temperature field the axisymmetric finite element model of mechanical, thermal and electrical coupled analysis was developed. The influence of electrode conduct electricity property and electrode conduct heat property on electrode tip temperature during spot welding aluminium alloy was studied by finite element analysis software ANSYS. The numerical simulation results show that the temperature of the contact surface center between the common electrode and the wokepiece is 548 ℃ at 17 ms which is Cu/Al alloying temperature, and 577 ℃ at 58 ms. But when electrode conduct electricity property and electrode conduct heat property increase by one times than the common electrode, the temperature of the contact surface center between common electrode and wokepiece is 488 ℃ at 57 ms and is lower than Cu/Al alloying temperature during spot welding process. The electrode conduct electricity property and conduct heat property greatly influence electrode tip temperature.


A method for reconstruction of atomistic models of dislocations and stacking faults in the interfacial region of heterostructures is presented. Its mathematical foundations come back to the algebra of the fi ni e deformation fields related to introducing of discrete dislocations into an initially coherent interface. From the practical point of v iew the method concerns generation of interfacial regions with misfit/treading partial dislocations and stacking faults being formed in the in erfacial region between crystal structures of different crystallographic type.


This study investigates the level of financial literacy among undergraduate and graduate students. The study also examines the association between the students' demographic factors and their financial literacy rate. Data were collected by distributing 800 questionnaires to undergraduate and graduate students of Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, covering cross educational majors, ages, gender, education levels, marital status, income, and work experience. Out of the sample, a total of 348 respondents returned completed questionnaires, which gave a response rate of 43.5 percent. The findings show that on average 45.39 percent of the respondents answered the questions correctly, which is relatively low compared to what other studies found in other countries, such as Chen and Volpe (1998) in the US (52.87 percent), or Beal and Delpachitra (2003) in Australia (53 percent). It also seems that male students, students with economics and business majors, those with higher incomes, and more work experience have a higher financial literacy rate. Using probit and tobit regression tests, the study revealed that education levels and academic disciplines are positively associated with the financial literacy rate. Keywords: financial information, literacy rate, education, finance, Indonesia


In the entrepreneurship literature, the phenomenon of industry emergence has been largely investigated from an institutional perspective. Appropriate institutions would allow then a group of individual entrepreneurs ("the heroes") to create an industry through innovative ventures. New ventures create new industries and firm entry, survival, and exit drive industry evolution. Our research, however, explores what creates the favorable set of circumstances for new ventures to emerge and focuses on the pre-emergence phase and we propose that the patterns of emergence resemble those of social movements. Through an actor perspective, this research highlights the existence of diverse actors, not necessarily entrepreneurs, who are necessary to trigger a collective action during the pre-emergence phase of industries. This research is also distinct from entrepreneurial ecosystems as its development already requires some successful entrepreneurial action. The 3D printing industry was chosen as a single longitudinal case study, where the actors are the embedded units of analysis. The findings of the study lead to the identification of three aggregate dimensions—"Social Movement Composition," Temporal Engagement," and "Coalitions Development"—that were prevalent during the pre-emergence phase of the 3D printing industry. Our propositions emphasize the importance of large collective action and the role of multiple actors in order to create the conditions for, first, firm emergence and, the second, to the process of industry emergence.


Residual stress may be generated during the deformation process; cold and hot treatments on magnesium alloy, causing deformation; cracking; and other effects. Reducing the residual stress of magnesium alloys is of great significance for its size stability and quality. In this paper, the residual stress in the AZ31B plate was compared with different uphill quenching processes: no uphill quenching (NUQ), liquid nitrogen–boiling water (100 °C) (LNB), liquid nitrogen–hot air (160 °C) (LNHA) and liquid nitrogen–water (25 °C) (LNR). Residual stresses with and without treatment were measured by X-ray diffraction. The effect of uphill quenching on hardness was discussed. The microstructure and diffraction pattern of the samples treated with different uphill quenching processes was investigated by EBSD and XRD. The results showed that the microstructure of magnesium alloy rolling plate was refined by the uphill quenching treatment, which can reduce the residual stress without decreasing the mechanical properties. The largest residual stress reduction rate was obtained by the liquid nitrogen–boiling water process. This treatment process can not only reduce the residual stress of the magnesium alloy rolling plates by 56% but also increase the hardness by 29%.


Technology has no limits today we have lot of software available in the market by which we can alter any image.Peaple usually copies image from the internet and after some changes they claim that these are their own properties.Insuring digital image integrity has therefore become a major issue.Watermarking has become a popular technique for copyright enforcement and image authentication. With the help of watermark we can proof the ownership of the image. In this paper, we give overview of some present watermarking methods available in the market.


Strengthening system construction is the basic path to alleviate the financing problems of medium and small-sized enterprises in Huadu District.This article suggests the following framework of financing system construction of Huadu District's medium and small-sized enterprises on the basis of abundant research and analysis:(1) to establish and perfect the multi-layer and diversified indirect financing system which meets the demands of medium and small enterprises;(2) to construct and better the multi-layer and multi-channel direct financing system of medium and small enterprises;(3) to establish professional medium and small-sized enterprise investment companies;(4) to establish credit guarantee system;(5) to establish social credit information system;(6) to carry out the running quality and credit project of medium and small enterprises;and(7) establish a political and legal system which gives multilayer supports to medium and small enterprises' development.


Unlike text-based input to an intelligent tutoring system, a diagram is perceived as a whole state; the operation sequence is less important. Traditional step-wise coaching is not as appropriate in diagram-based intelligent tutoring systems (DITS). From two previous tutoring systems, StaticsTutor and Thermo Cycle Tutor, we propose cross-domain pedagogical guidelines for DITS. In particular, instruction needs to be mapped to a hierarchical understanding of the diagram, where each level focuses on different characteristics of the drawing. Also, instruction needs to address conceptual knowledge and procedure expertise separately. Some practical suggestions are described to achieve these goals, such as 1) different tolerance for error at different level of evaluation, 2) use of Q&A to resolve diagram ambiguity and 3) early loading of expertise that is important for avoiding difficult-to-fix diagrammatic states.


On Ash Wednesday 1968, Karl Barth gave his last public lecture. He delivered it conjointly with Hans Urs von Balthasar. Both spoke on church unity and the Second Vatican Council. Not long after, on 10 December 1968, Barth died at the age of eighty-two. Their joint lectures reflected a collaborative friendship of nearly three decades that began shortly after Balthasar moved to Basel at the end of 1939. Balthasar was a young Jesuit of thirty-four, a new university chaplain at Basel; Barth, twenty years his senior, was already an established scholar and teacher. The younger man wrote asking Barth if they could meet. In Saving Karl Barth, Stephen Long tells the story of what happened as a result of that meeting on 29 April 1940. This is a passionately ecumenical study. As a story, Saving Karl Barth dramatizes, in impressive historical detail, the shape theology would have were it done as "the practice of friendship."1 If Catholicism "haunted" Barth and Barth "preoccupied" Balthasar, Long shares deeply in their common preoccupation with the rätselhafte Riss, the "puzzling crack" or "enigmatic rift" (239) that gave Christian urgency to Barth's and Balthasar's ongoing conversation and still divides Protestants and Catholics in the West. We can neither explain nor ignore this rift. Long began


Interferometry of a bright region in the newly discovered Cygnus supernova remnant has been performed in the H..cap alpha.. line with a high-contrast Fabry--Perot etalon and a contact image tube. The gas in the remnant exhibits fast internal motions, reaching Vatsub LSRatl100 km/sec.


The social work profession has made a commitment to serve people who are marginalized and address issues at the direct practice level and the policy level. Beyond the Defense of Marriage Act, marriage inequality in the United States negatively impacts millions of individuals and families. A review of the history of same-sex marriage (SSM) and the current state of SSM suggests that actions at the state level continue to have far-reaching negative impacts. Issues of marriage equality and families headed by same-sex couples will require the advocacy and support of social work for decades to come.


This article presents an alternative approach useful for medical prac- titioners who wish to detect malaria and accurately identify the level of severity. Malaria classiers are usually based on feed forward neural networks. In this study, the proposed classier is developed based on the Jordan-Elman neural networks. Its performance is evaluated using a receiver-operati characteristic curve, sensitiv- ity, specicity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, confusion matrix, mean square error, determinant coefficient, and reliability. The effectiveness of the classier is compared to a support vector machine and multiple regression models. The results of the comparative analysis demonstrate a superior performance level of the Jordan-Elman neural network model. Further comparison of the classier with previous literature indicates performance improvement over existing results. The Jordan-Elman neural networks classier can assist medical practitioners in the fast detection of malaria and determining its severity, especially in tropical and subtropical regions where cases of malaria are prevalent.


The great advantages of heavy water as a moderator in nuclear reactors have been very largely offset by the di.culties of establishing a satisfactory and economical manufacturing process. This article reviews possible methods of preparation by catalytic exchange, with particular reference to a process, recently developed in Germany, for the enrichment of heavy water by high pressure exchange between hydrogen and an aqueous platinum catalyst suspension.


The key properties of the wave propagation theory in the magntosphere of radio pulsars based on the Kravtsov-Orlov equation are presented. It is shown that for radio pulsars with known circular polarization and the swing of the linear polarization position angle one can determine which mode, ordinary or extraordinary one, forms mainly the mean profile of the radio emission. The comparison of the observational data with the theory predictions demonstrates their good agreement.


Time was, and not very long ago that hardly anybody had ever heard of distance education. Then, just a few years ago, most students and university instructors believed that distance education was a troublesome but necessary evil -distance learning was education's ugly cousin. But the times, they are a-changing. Distance education is improving and rapidly adapting to its diverse environment. The instructor plays a very important role in designing the course, launching the course and providing feedback to learners. Attitudes, skills, and strategies they employed in distance teaching are making a remarkable effect. It has now become education's close cousin. Therefore, constant effort is needed to ensure that the same kind of attention and care is given to serving distance education students that has always been a hallmark of American education. Detailed description Time was, and not very long ago that hardly anybody had ever heard of distance education. Then, just a few years ago, most students and university instructors believed that distance education was a troublesome but necessary evil -distance learning was education's ugly cousin. Instructors struggled to have their distance courses contain the same course content, rigor, and materials that were present when instruction was held in a conventional classroom (Martin & Rainey, 1993). University administrators were also frustrated because some course content, particularly mathematics, science, engineering, and computer technology classes, contained materials and symbols that were almost impossible to be presented on a computer screen. With the growth of the internet-based instruction, they are a-changing. Some researches show that there is no significant difference in the amount or quality of learning for students taking web-based instruction as compared to classroom instruction (Riddle, 1990). "What is causing the change in student attitudes toward their perceived effectiveness of web-based classes?" and "What are instructors doing to make distance instruction more effective than traditional face-to-face instruction?" First, needs assessment is done before designing the courses, such as target learner analysis, communication and technology analysis, course content and course planning and delivery method analysis etc. Second, how important the role the instructors made in the development of successful distance teaching, such as the attitudes of instructors, the technology skills instructors apply, and the instructional strategies instructors plan, develop, and utilize. In addition, students are viewed as the customers of education who are like customers and clients in the business. The moderate tender of care can encourage their study motivation and get better learning outcomes. Above all, distance education is improving and rapidly adapting to its diverse environment. It has now become education's close cousin. There is no significant difference in the amount or quality of learning between distance education and conventional education. (For this conference, we will use PowerPoint slides or Flash to present our paper.)


Data-driven intelligent computational design (DICD) is a research hotspot that emerged under fast-developing artificial intelligence. It emphasizes utilizing deep learning algorithms to extract and represent the design features hidden in historical or fabricated design process data and then learn the combination and mapping patterns of these design features for design solution retrieval, generation, optimization, evaluation, etc. Due to its capability of automatically and efficiently generating design solutions and thus supporting human-in-the-loop intelligent and innovative design activities, DICD has drawn the attention of both academic and industrial fields. However, as an emerging research subject, many unexplored issues still limit the development and application of DICD, such as specific dataset building, engineering design-related feature engineering, systematic methods and techniques for DICD implementation in the entire product design process, etc. In this regard, a systematic and operable road map for DICD implementation from a full-process perspective is established, including a general workflow for DICD project planning, an overall framework for DICD project implementation, the common mechanisms and calculation principles during DICD, key enabling technologies for detailed DICD implementation, and three case scenarios of DICD application. The road map can help academic researchers to locate their specific research directions for the further development of DICD and provide operable guidance for the engineers in their specific DICD applications.


Elements of Modern ships' main combustion driven engines are subject to immense heat and mechanical loads. It is therefore advisable to supervise the regularity of heat generation in engine's cylinders. In order to diagnose the process of heat generation in engine's cylinders, this article propagates the use of momentmetre. Described method allows estimating faulty combustion on the basis of autocorrelation of moment temporary values on the shaft after three successive rotations. The paper brings to attention how the work of diesel engine may be used for estimation of combustion process correctness in this engine cylinder. The work of diesel engine is connected with transfer of effective energy to ship propeller during its operation. Due to accidental nature of combustion inside engine cylinders it stochastic internally stationary process. To say more it is stochastic internally stationary process with ergodic feature. It makes possible to describe expected engine work by means of stochastic second order characteristics. They are autocorrelation functions and spectrum density of self power functions depending on time and frequency. Both above mentioned functions are uniquely connected with combustion in engine cylinders and it is possible to estimate the correctness of engine operation. It is also possible to estimate if the work of engine in given sail conditions is equal to requirements of imposed tasks. If this requirement is not met in the case of one propeller ship it can lead to the loss of ship stability and as a result can cause the ship sink.


: This work presents a numerical technique for solving the Giesekus constitutive equation for two-dimensional incompressible (cid:29)ows. The governing equations are approximated by the (cid:28)nite di(cid:27)erence method on a staggered grid and solved by second order approximations. The solution of the momentum equations is performed by the implicit Euler method while the Giesekus constitutive equation is resolved by the explicit modi(cid:28)ed Euler method. It is demonstrated that the methodology employed is capable of dealing with both con(cid:28)ned and free surface (cid:29)ows. An analytic solution for fully developed channel (cid:29)ows is presented which is used to verify the numerical technique for channel (cid:29)ows. Mesh re(cid:28)nement studies show the convengence of the methodology in channel (cid:29)ows. The (cid:29)ow through a 4:1 contraction is considered and mesh independence results are provided. This problem is then simulated by a range of Reynolds and Weissenberg numbers and various values of the parameter α . Moreover, the (cid:29)ow produced by a (cid:29)uid jet (cid:29)owing onto a rigid surface is simulated. The e(cid:27)ect of the parameter α on the (cid:29)ow is investigated. They performed simulation in a contraction 4:1 employing a long exit channel and reported that the Oldroyd-B model produced a diminishing vortex size with increasing Wiessenberg numbers and a lip vortex was detected at W i = 0 . 5 , 1 , 1 . 5 . For the PTT models studied, using Re = 0 , the results showed a non-monotonic behaviour of the corner vortex size as a function of the Wiessenberg number and the occurrence of lip vortex was not noticed. recently, FerrÆs sPTT model simular 4:1 Re = 0 and Re = 0 . 04 obtained results 0 ≤ W i ≤ 5 W i 5 , of inertia growing lip vortice attached the corner vortex, large corner vortex that continued to grow Wiessenberg number. This e(cid:27)ect reported both experimentally and numerically for UCM (cid:29)uids under creeping (cid:29)ow conditions. (cid:29)owing onto the rigid plate and the di(cid:27)erences between the results shwon are not too noticeable. Notwithstanding, as time progresses the results at times 0 . 64 and 0 . 80 show that all the three jets had undergone the buckling phenomenon. These results certify that the e(cid:27)ects of elastic forces, represented by the Wiessenberg number, can in(cid:29)uence the (cid:29)ow produced by a jet (cid:29)owing down to a rigid plate and make the jet to buckle.


Abstract This paper has two parts. The first is a critique of the principles upon which traditional narratives of Irish castles are based, and the second a lengthy exploration of the relationship between castle architecture and two particular forms of identity. The aim of these reflections is to reposition the castle at the centre of thinking about self‐identity in medieval and post‐medieval society. They are offered as a demonstration of the power of cross‐disciplinary inquiry in castle‐studies, particularly when that inquiry is informed by contemporary theory in the humanities.


Article 14. Original review of specificity in the interaction between pathogen invasion and host organism Author: Liu Huan (1983- ), Master of Science (First Class Honours), The University of Auckland.


Unlike Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy, it benefits from limited interference by water, and is far better suited for confocal analysis. Thus, for analysis within typical water containing biological media with micron spatial resolution, Raman is the technique of choice. Traditionally, the drawbacks of Raman have been its relatively low sensitivity, and potential interference from fluorescence. For biological studies in particular, these have been major stumbling blocks.


Discussion of the limits on surface temperature (under 190 K) and reflectivity (under 0.5) corresponding to an upper limit set on the 4.9-micron flux from Titan. Special attention is given to the possibility of the presence of an opaque cloud layer or some gaseous absorber on Titan and to the subsequent implications.


As programmable logic grows more viable for implementing full design systems, performance has become a primary issue for programmable logic device architectures. This paper presents the high-level design of Dali, a PLD architecture specifically aimed at performance-driven applications. We will present significant portions of the background research that contributed to our architectural decisions, an overview of the core routing architecture and benchmarking experiments used to evaluate the prototype device.


In this paper we study special affine harmonic maps into reductive homogeneous spaces and prove that there exist loop group actions on such harmonic maps.


Abstract : The Army s Individual Mobilization Augmentee Program (IMA) supports active component units with trained, specialized Soldiers in unique career broadening and joint assignments not found in troop program units. Currently, this program lacks effective, unified leadership leaving IMA Soldiers without clear career guidance, leading to a program that is under-filled and under-utilized. This paper explores this IMA program from its origins, links to the national strategic vision, and current status of the Army s IMA program in contrast to other services and recommends courses of action for program redesign and policy, funding, and management changes. IMA program issues are symptoms that the vision of an operational reserve has not been cemented into the culture of the Army. Clear management and measurement efforts will foster cultural change. A fully utilized and valued IMA program is a measure of progress in the culture. Other topics that enhance this culture change present opportunities for future research. Enhancing interoperability between active and reserve components will inculcate the vision of an operational reserve force into the culture necessary for a ready force of the future.


Abstract In an effort to increase a productivity of welding process and to reduce the impact to workers from industrial disaster, the research in the field of welding automation is sharply increasing in shipbuilding industry. DSME had developed and successfully applied a welding robot system for grand assembly line in OKPO shipyard in 1997 and has recently developed multi welding robot system for the sub assembly line. This study describes the essential parts of welding automation for the sub assembly process of a hull when using industrial robots. Study includes description of auto detection process of work-pieces, off line program (OLP), host control program and high speed welding method.


In the past several years the outlines of a comprehensive government campaign for the "defense of worktime" could be observed.1 Measures have been taken to regulate the opening hours of shops, the time when services are fumished, and the consulting hours in offices and other state organizations to make sure that workers are able to settle their daily matters outside workhours. For the same reason, steps have been taken to schedule the bulk of "voluntary activity" outside workhours. The question of increased control of absences caused by sickness has been taken up again. There are new orders determining the minimum number of workdays in a year, the ways of allocating paid holidays, the exemption from serving the term of notice, etc. This leads to the obvious question: Who wants to defend worktime, why, and against whom? If we look at the decrease of worktime in the course of the past two decades and at its present volume, such a "defense of worktime" is extremely justified. In Hungary the six-day, forty-eight-hour workweek and the two-week paid basic holiday became universal only after 1945. Following that, between 1968 and 1984, weekly workhours were reduced four times, while the number of paid holidays and days of rest increased.2 Of the 365 days of the year only 253 are workdays; more than half of the workers have a workweek of forty hours or less, the rest work forty-two hours, five days a week. The average length of paid holidays is over one month. Taking all this into account, among the socialist countries at this time, the worktime as set by law is shortest in Hungary; in the Soviet Union it is about the same; in the GDR and in Czechoslovakia about 10 percent more; and in Romania almost 19 percent more.


The TP53 gene is a highly polymorphic gene with 85 polymorphisms described. Some of these have been associated with an increase of cancer susceptibility, for example rs10425222 that can modulate certain p53 activities. However for others such as rs17878362, the most studied intronic polymorphism, the association with cancer risk is more controversial. To investigate the influence of rs17878362 on cancer susceptibility, we analysed its role in sporadic and familial contexts. The results are paradoxical with an increase of sporadic cancer associated with the rs17878362 A2A2 genotype whereas the rs17878362 A2 allele is associated with a "protective" effect in the context of Li-Fraumeni patients carrying a TP53 germline mutation on an A1 haplotype. These observations suggest that specific TP53 haplotypes could modulate p53's tumour suppression capacities. A possible hypothesis to explain this could be that somatic mutations are carried on different haplotypes of TP53 present at different allele frequencies in the population. In addition, TP53 is expressed as several protein isoforms, such as D40p53, which inhibits p53's suppressive activity. D40p53 can be produced from an alternative spliced transcript that retains intron 2. We have shown that G-quadruplexes, tri-dimensional structures formed in G-rich sequences, are formed in intron 3 and regulate the retention of intron 2 and the formation of the p53I2 transcript. We also observed that rs1642785 (located in intron 2) could regulate p53I2's stability. These results suggest that the TP53 polymorphisms located in a 412 bp region located between exon 2 and exon 4 regulate the expression of p53 isoforms in a temporal sequence of events by modulating the pre-mRNA formation (rs17878362), mRNA stability (rs1642785) and protein functions (rs1042522).p53 isoforms' expression is thus finely regulated by mechanisms involving TP53 polymorphisms, which are also associated with altered cancer susceptibility.


Tax is a very potential alternative. As one of the potential sources of state revenue, the tax sector is a very appropriate choice, apart from the relatively stable amount that is also a reflection of the active participation of the community in financing development. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Leverage and Institutional Ownership on Firm Value through Tax Avoidance. The sampling technique used in this research is purposive sampling. The population in this study is the Food and Beverage Sub-Sector Manufacturing Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2016-2020. Data analysis and hypothesis testing in this study used the Structural Equation Model - Partial Least Square (PLS-SEM).
The results of the direct influence hypothesis test using the Smart PLS 3.0 application, Leverage has a positive but not significant effect on Tax avoidance., Institutional ownership has a positive but not significant effect on Tax avoidance, Leverage has a significant positive effect on firm value, Institutional ownership has a positive but significant effect on firm value , Tax avoidance has a positive but not significant effect on firm value. The results of the indirect effect hypothesis test show that Leverage on Company Value through Tax Avoidance is positive but not significant. Institutional Ownership on Company Value through Tax Avoidance is posiyive but not significant.


Current playworld research in Sweden : Rethinking the role of young children and their teachers in the design and execution of early childhood research


ABSTRACT Aim: The goal of this retrospective study was to investigate the effectiveness of low level laser therapy (LLLT) in managing oral mucositis (OM) in a large group of patients with cancers other than head and neck cancer. Methods: Cancer patients receiving treatment for malignancies other than of the head and neck and having received LLLT for OM were retrospectively selected from our database. LLLT treatment was provided two times a week, using an AsGA diode laser combined with an infrared laser. Treatment was applied to a maximum of seven sites, depending on the location of OM. The severity of OM, graded by trained nurses according to the WHO scale, had been recorded at the start and the end of LLLT. An OM score was calculated for each patient by summing the WHO grades of all treated areas. Results: Data from 245 patients with various tumour locations were included in these analyses. Of these, most had breast cancer (40.82%), stage II-III cancer (49%), and a great majority were treated with chemotherapy (74.7%). Mean age was 59.56 years (SD=11.80, median = 59). At the start of LLLT, mean time under cancer therapy was 55.38 days (SD=69.13, median = 33). The mean duration of LLLT was three weeks (mean number of LLLT-sessions=6.11; SD=5.89; median = 4). At the end of LLLT, there was a significant improvement in the severity of OM: 52.7% of the patients presented OM grade 1 and 47.3% OM≥grade 2, against 11.4% and 88.6% at the start of LLLT, resp. (p Conclusions: This retrospective analysis showed that LLLT significantly reduced the severity of oral mucositis in a large group of patients with various cancer types. LLLT is a standard therapy for OM in patients with head and neck cancer. These findings indicate that it might become a standard management for OM in all cancer patients, independently of tumour type, tumour location, or cancer treatment. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


To evaluate the effect of utilization of corn distillers dried grains with soluble (DDGS) as partial alternative of soybean meal on broiler chicks performance, 96 chicks of ROSS 308 were used and they fed diets with 0, 15, 30 and 45 % DDGS in grower and finisher diets (Control group, T2, T3 and T4, respectively) from 8 to 42 days of age. At the end of the experiment (42 days of age), body weight of the chickens in groups T2 and T3 were (2897.33g and 2967.67 g, respectively) and they were significantly heavier (P<0.05) as comparison with chickens in control group (2537.33 g). Also, weight gain at 36-42 days of age, in groups T2, T3 and T4 (587.33g, 569.33g and 615.33, respectively) were significantly higher (P<0.05) than chickens in control group (444.00g). While, feed intake in T2 was (1250.00g) at the end of the experiment and significantly increased as compared to the control group which was (956.33g). Although, feed conversion ratio at 42 day of age in T1 was (2.16 g) and it is higher in comparison with T4 which was (1.90g). At the end of the experiment, carcass, breast and thigh weights, in the chickens of group T3 recorded significantly (P<0.05) high weight as compared with chickens in control group. While, there were no significant differences among the groups in wing weight and weight of other organs in this experiment. Protein percentage in breast meat at the end of the experiment in group T4 (23.93%) were significantly higher (P<0.05) as compared with chickens in control group (21.17%).


The peroxisome prolifrator-activated receptors(PPARs)α and γ constitute a subfamily of nuclear receptors. PPARα has been shown to be activat ed by the hypolipidemic drugs of the fibrate class; While the antidiabetic TZD a re synthetic ligands for PPARγ. Upon binding and activation by their ligands, t hey regulate the transcription of numerous genes involving lipid metabolism and insulin resistance. The research indicated that PPARβ also plays a key role in lipid metabolism. PPARs therefore constitute interesting targets for the develop ment of single and dual agonists useful in the treatment of obesity and type 2 d iabetes.


The imbalance of human gut microbiota has been associated with colorectal cancer. In recent years, metagenomics research has provided a large amount of scientific data enabling us to study the dedicated roles of gut microbes in the onset and progression of cancer. We removed unrelated and redundant features during feature selection by mutual information. We then trained a random forest classifier on a large metagenomics dataset of colorectal cancer patients and healthy people assembled from published reports and extracted and analysed the information from the learned decision trees. We identified key microbial species associated with colorectal cancers. These microbes included Porphyromonas asaccharolytica, Peptostreptococcus stomatis, Fusobacterium, Parvimonas sp., Streptococcus vestibularis and Flavonifractor plautii. We obtained the optimal splitting abundance thresholds for these species to distinguish between healthy and colorectal cancer samples. This extracted consensus decision tree may be applied to the diagnosis of colorectal cancers.


Relationship of international law and municipal law — Conduct of foreign relations — Treaty-making power — United Kingdom — Whether exercise of treaty-making power subject to judicial review — Treaty on European Union, 1992 ("Maastricht Treaty") — Extent to which Crown's treaty-making power can be fettered by Parliament — European Communities Act 1972, Section 2(1) — European Parliamentary Elections Act 1978, Section 6 — European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 Treaties — Effect in municipal law — Treaty on European Union, 1992 — Ratification by United Kingdom — Protocols — Whether ratification of Treaty automatically involving ratification of Protocols — Evidence from practice of other signatory States — European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993, Section 1(2) Treaties — Conclusion and operation — Constitutional limitations — Treaty on European Union, 1992 — Protocol on social policy — Ratification by United Kingdom — Exclusion of applicability to United Kingdom by European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993, Section 1(2) — Possible indirect effect of Protocol under domestic law — Whether requiring parliamentary approval 167Treaties — Conclusion and operation — Constitutional limitations — Treaty on European Union, 1992 — Extension of powers of European Community — Establishment of common foreign and security policy — Whether constituting abandonment or transfer of Crown's prerogative powers — Whether requiring municipal legislation International organizations — EEC — Powers — Institutions — Extension of powers by treaty — Treaty on European Union, 1992 — Protocol on social policy — Common foreign and security policy — The law of England


One of David Chidester's long-term fascinations in the academic study of religion is his nuanced scrutiny of the sensorial features of contemporary religious life. Chidester uses an approach of multi-sensorial imagination of matter to investigate the plasticity and elasticity of religion to innovate and accommodate changing religious and spiritual desires and how such adaptions ensure the popularity of religious participation in a contemporary, technologysaturated society. Based on an ethnographic investigation of a new religious movement in Uganda, this essay mobilizes some of the analytical concepts developed by Chidester to think through the material dynamics of African religious life in the context of changing socio-economic, cultural, and political contexts of Africa.Keywords: David Chidester, Owobusobozi, Faith of Unity, post-Catholic, material religion, African religion


Snails inventory in the southern part of Gunung Halimun National Park (GHNP) was conducted in two locations i.e., Ciptarasa and Simaresmi,in July and November 2000.It was found 36 species of snails that belongs to 16 families.It means that snails in the southern part of GHNP differs from that of the central part of the Park. Those snails were discovered in 9 habitat types.


The overhaul of a fire scene is a stage of firefighting where respiratory protection is often disregarded due to the perception of low risk and the desire to remove the heavy and cumbersome self-contained breathing apparatus. The need for alternative options for respiratory protection that are fitted to the task and environment has been voiced by the firefighter community. Choosing the appropriate respiratory protection for individual events can only be accomplished with real-time information about the exposure hazards. Hand-held direct-reading particulate detectors have been used in other environmental monitoring applications, and it may be possible to transfer the technology to meet the needs of the firefighter. The workshop on Real-Time Particulate Monitoring held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on 3-4 May 2007 brought together members of the fire service, particulate detector manufacturers, public health professionals, airborne particulate researchers, and standards organizations to discuss the need for better technology to assess the level of respiratory protection that is required for environments encountered by first responders. The program included invited speakers who presented information on characterization of respiratory threats during fire overhaul and the need for respiratory protection, performance needs and priorities for the fire service application, and state-of-the-art and recent developments in particulate detection. After the presentations, attendees divided into three breakout sessions, and each group responded to a predetermined set of questions related to the following topics: Research Needs, Performance Criteria, Standards, and Technological Advances. The consensus of the workshop participants was that future research is needed to better understand the health effects of particulates on firefighters, to better characterize the particulates present during overhaul, and to better characterize the response of particulate detectors to the overhaul environment. Defining performance criteria to address first responder needs regarding data telemetry and logging, instrument operation and data interpretation, and the physical performance of the instrument were also areas of consensus. The group also felt that developing standards for the physical performance of the instrument was important and that data telemetry and logging would benefit from developing technology. The consensus resulting from workshop discussions is expected to provide a strong foundation for the development of new tools to aid firefighters in selecting the appropriate respiratory protection, standard testing protocols to insure that equipment meets the needs of first responders, and performance criteria that allow industry to adapt the technology to the specific need and improve where necessary.


I stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality and severe disability worldwide (1). "Code stroke" is a time-sensitive and high-stakes clinical scenario alert for acute stroke that requires a rapid team approach to facilitate hyperacute evaluation and management of patients. For each acute stroke case not adequately interpreted, categorized, and treated, there is a high risk of mortality and disability. Management of acute ischemic stroke is evolving rapidly due to highly efficacious endovascular therapy (2–8). Regardless of the imaging modality (CT vs MRI) or type of hospital (tertiary "hub" vs outlying "spoke"), acute stroke management has one unifying need: to treat as quickly as possible. Optimal stroke treatment is a highly timedependent process (9). Every small reduction in time to treatment helps bring lifetime benefits: every minute saved leads to 4 days of disability-free life (10,11). In this scenario, any technology is desirable that improves the diagnosis of stroke and rapidly informs treatment decisions. Artificial intelligence (AI) is rising as a leading component in stroke imaging and is expected to further change acute stroke care (12). There are three main use cases where AI offers potential benefits: 1. Detection of abnormality to improve the performance of the human reader and increase the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of imaging analysis. AI can identify morphologic, mathematical, and geometric characteristics that are hard to detect with the human eye. 2. Workflow efficiency to reduce the time to detect abnormalities and generate reports. AI can recognize the most severe conditions to expedite care and reduce treatment times. 3. Therapeutic decision support to make triage and treatment decisions based on clinical and imaging parameters. There are three primary imaging questions in acute ischemic stroke that need to be answered quickly: extent of acute ischemia, presence of large vessel occlusion (LVO), and extent of brain tissue at risk. The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) provides a prognostic approach for extent of ischemia, where noncontrast head CT is scored by dividing the middle cerebral artery territory into 10 regions of interest (13). LVO accounts for one-third of acute ischemic stroke and can be assessed quickly with CT arteriography or MR arteriography. Perfusion imaging is another powerful tool that can measure ischemic and at-risk brain tissue. The constellation of imaging findings helps physicians make time-sensitive triage and treatment decisions, such as intravenous thrombolysis, endovascular treatment, patient transfer, or a decision not to treat. There are several practical limitations of using imaging tools for acute stroke. First, analysis of imaging information requires time. Second, not all radiologists are trained to analyze and interpret these techniques. Third, there is significantly limited availability of radiologists in community-based and rural hospitals that receive patients with acute stroke. To address these limitations, AI solutions have been built that can automate ASPECTS (14), LVO detection (15), and perfusion analysis. These AI solutions are being used currently in clinical practice with multiple Food and Drug Administration–approved and Conformité Européenne mark–certified commercially available platforms and are no longer a mere academic exercise (16,17). The AI application in stroke care is now integrated into clinical care with level 1 evidence in the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association guidelines (18). Additionally, in September 2020, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved the first reimbursement for such AI-augmented medical care (19). AI-powered software platforms have streamlined stroke care workflows, reduced treatment times, and improved outcomes (12,17,20–22). Moreover, the effect of differing levels of imaging expertise is mitigated by AI models that offer the analysis automatically, which is even more critical for community-based and rural stroke centers that may not have the necessary 24/7 availability of expert radiology interpretation. Delays to treatment are particularly prevalent when patients require a transfer from hospitals that lack endovascular therapy capability onsite. The AI tools can help expedite this workflow and be cost-effective. A recent cost-effectiveness study of automated LVO detection–applied base case scenario (6% missed diagnosis, $40 per AI analysis, and 50% reduction of missed LVOs by AI) showed substantial cost savings and increased qualityadjusted life-years for patients with acute ischemic stroke over their projected lifetime (23). Artificial Intelligence in "Code Stroke"—A Paradigm Shift: Do Radiologists Need to Change Their Practice?


A in the case of the first and second UNCTADs, it is only after some time has elapsed that it will be possible to judge and appraise the true scope and meaning of what was done or not done in Santiago. The Santiago Conference will have to be evaluated not only in reference to the results actually achieved in the course of a few weeks, but also in terms of its impact on the future activities and actions on trade and development matters, within as well as outside UNCTAD.


Current Virtual Reality (VR) applications in healthcare demonstrate potential abilities to address cognitive, psychological, motor, functional impairments and opportunities for training and education of clinical practitioners. Bearing in mind the overall wellness of their communities, healthcare officials had supported the idea of incorporating modern technology by increasing the budget shares and arranging for an access to advanced equipment and professional expertise. Clinicians are becoming more interested in applying VR simulation into their research and clinical trials because of the encouraging feedback published in the medical literature across a wide range of clinical health conditions. Numerous published articles propose novel concepts on applications VR technologies and their potential on disease prevention and management. Finally, the ability of sharing data collected by VR simulation systems through communication networks and electronic health records make it more attractive for the reason that it plays a role in decision making for specific case studies and distance learning.