Ultrafast laser inscription (ULI) has previously been employed to fabricate volume diffraction gratings in chalcogenide glasses, which operate in transmission mode in the mid-infrared spectral region. Prior gratings were manufactured for applications in astrophotonics, at wavelengths around 2.5 μm. Rugged volume gratings also have potential use in remote atmospheric sensing and molecular spectroscopy; for these applications, longer wavelength operation is required to coincide with atmospheric transparency windows (3-5 μm) and intense ro-vibrational molecular absorption bands. We report on ULI gratings inscribed in IG2 chalcogenide glass, enabling access to the full 3-5 μm window. High-resolution broadband spectral characterization of fabricated gratings was performed using a Fourier transform spectrometer. The zeroth order transmission was characterized to derive the diffraction efficiency into higher orders, up to the fourth orders in the case of gratings optimized for first order diffraction at 3 μm. The outcomes imply that ULI in IG2 is well suited for the fabrication of volume gratings in the mid infrared, providing the impact of the ULI fabrication parameters on the grating properties are well understood. To develop this understanding, grating modeling was conducted. Parameters studied include grating thickness, refractive index modification, and aspect ratio of the modulation achieved by ULI. Knowledge of the contribution and sensitivity of these parameters was used to inform the design of a 4.3 μm grating expected to achieve > 95% first order efficiency. We will also present the characterization of these latest mid-infrared diffraction gratings in IG2.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and it is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and all‐cause mortality. Our aim was to determine the impact of preexisting AF on patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT). A retrospective case‐control study was performed. Records from patients who underwent LT between January 2005 and December 2008 at Mayo Clinic Florida were reviewed. Patients with preexisting AF were identified and matched to patients who did not have a diagnosis of AF. Thirty‐two of 717 LT recipients (4.5%) had AF before LT. These patients were compared to a control group of 63 LT recipients. Pre‐LT left ventricular hypertrophy (P = 0.03), a history of congestive heart failure (P = 0.04), and a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack (P = 0.03) were significantly more prevalent in patients with AF versus controls. Intraoperative adverse cardiac events (P = 0.02) and AF‐related adverse postoperative events (P < 0.001) were more common in the recipients with known AF. Six patients with paroxysmal AF (19%) developed chronic/persistent AF postoperatively. Graft survival and patient survival were similar in the groups. Although patients with AF had a higher incidence of intraoperative cardiac events, a higher cardiovascular morbidity rate, and a complicated postoperative course, this did not affect overall graft and patient survival. Liver Transpl 21:314–320, 2015. © 2014 AASLD.


The kinetics of the acid hydrolysis of glycine ethyl ester, β-alanine ethyl ester, methylbetaine methyl ester, and acetylcholine have been studied over a range of temperatures by use of a conventional titration technique. The effect of ionic strength has also been studied. The Arrhenius parameters for the reactions have been found. The electrostatic effects of the positively charged centres in the ester molecules have been discussed.


We introduce a cloud-enabled defense mechanism for Internet services against network and computational Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. Our approach performs selective server replication and intelligent client re-assignment, turning victim servers into moving targets for attack isolation. We introduce a novel system architecture that leverages a "shuffling" mechanism to compute the optimal re-assignment strategy for clients on attacked servers, effectively separating benign clients from even sophisticated adversaries that persistently follow the moving targets. We introduce a family of algorithms to optimize the runtime client-to-server re-assignment plans and minimize the number of shuffles to achieve attack mitigation. The proposed shuffling-based moving target mechanism enables effective attack containment using fewer resources than attack dilution strategies using pure server expansion. Our simulations and proof-of-concept prototype using Amazon EC2 [1] demonstrate that we can successfully mitigate large-scale DDoS attacks in a small number of shuffles, each of which incurs a few seconds of user-perceived latency.


INTRODUCTION
Inherited thrombocytopenias, including inherited giant platelet disorders (IGPD) are relatively rare, but their prevalence is probably underestimated. Harris platelet syndrome, the most common IGPD reported from Indian subcontinent, mostly from eastern part, is characterised by a low platelet count, high mean platelet volume (MPV) and absence of bleeding.

AIM
A short study was conducted to assess the prevalence of giant platelets in voluntary donors of single donor platelets (SDP) and analyse the effect of transfusion of such SDPs in patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Voluntary donors of SDPs were screened as per standard guidelines prior to the procedure. A complete blood count (including MPV) along with a peripheral smear was done. A total of 45 donors were screened for plateletpheresis. Following plateletpheresis from these donors, a platelet count from the collection bag was done after one hour. The SDP was transfused as a single unit or divided into two and transfused to the same patient at two different occasions, as per clinical need. Platelet counts on pateints were done after one hour and the platelet recovery was noted.

RESULTS
Out of the 45 donors who were screened, 30 (66.67%) were found to have giant platelets. It was observed that the pre procedure platelet counts in donors having giant platelets were relatively low (1.5 -1.7 lacs) and so also the platelet yield (2.7-3x10(11)) compared to donors who did not, but the post transfusion platelet recovery was greater.

CONCLUSION
Since presence of giant platelets has been seen to be common in the Eastern part of India, a peripheral smear examination should always be considered during screening of plateletpheresis donors to avoid rejecting donors with giant platelets whose platelet counts are given falsely low by autoanalysers.


Increasingly, the demand to monitor structures in service is driving technology in new directions. Advances in many areas including novel sensor technologies afford new opportunities in structural health monitoring. We present efforts to develop structural composite materials which include networks of embedded sensors with decision-making capabilities that extend the functionality of the composite materials to be information-aware. The next generation of structural systems will include the capability to acquire, process, and if necessary respond to structural or other types of information. This work brings together many important developments over the last few years in several areas: developments in composites and the emergence of multifunctional composites, the emergence of a broad range of new sensors, smaller and lower power microelectronics with increased and multiple integrated functionality, and the emergence of algorithms that extract important structural health information from large data sets. This work seeks to leverage these individual advances by solving the challenges needed to integrate these into an information-aware composite structure. We present details of efforts to integrate and entrap connectorized microelectronic components within fiber/conductor braided bundles to minimize their impact as composite crack initiation centers. The bundles include conductors to transmit electric signals for power and communications. They are suitable for inclusion in woven composite fabrics or directly in the composite lay-up. The low-power electronic devices can operate on a multi-drop and point-to-point networks. Future directions include implementing in-network local processing, adding a greater range of sensors, and developing the composite processing techniques that allow sensor network integration.


Do you need to know how to develop more efficient digital communication systems? Based on the author's experience of over thirty years in industrial design, this practical guide provides detailed coverage of synchronization subsystems and their relationship with other system components. Readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the techniques needed for the design, performance analysis and implementation of synchronization functions for a range of different modern communication technologies. Specific topics covered include frequency-looked loops in wireless receivers, optimal OFDM timing phase determination and implementation, and interpolation filter design and analysis in digital resamplers. Numerous implementation examples help readers to develop the necessary practical skills, and slides summarizing key concepts accompany the book online. This is an invaluable guide and essential reference for both practicing engineers and graduate students working in digital communications.


Quaternary ammonium (QA) cations with high alkaline stability are crucial for the long term performance of anion-exchange membrane (AEM) fuel cells. Here, we have tethered poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) with 8 different hetero-cycloaliphatic QA cations via pentyl spacer chains. The thermal and alkaline stabilities, as well as hydroxide ion conductivity, were systematically evaluated with the primary aim to identify degradation reactions and establish cation design principles. The study included AEMs functionalized with 1-methylazepanium, 1-methylpyrrolidinium, 1-methylmorpholinium, quinuclidinium, as well as 1-methyl-, 1,4-dimethyl-, 1,3,5-trimethyl-, and 1,2,6-trimethylpiperidinium, all within a narrow ion exchange capacity (IEC) range. For reference, PPO was also functionalized with trimethylammonium and dipropylmethylammonium cations on pentyl spacers, and with trimethylammonium and 1-methylpiperidinium QAs in benzylic positions directly on the PPO backbone. The alkaline stability of hetero-cycloaliphatic QA cations was found to depend critically on their position in the polymer structure, ring size, the presence of an additional heteroatom and ring substitution pattern. For example, 1,2,6-trimethylpiperidinium and 1-methylazepanium degraded via Hofmann elimination and 1-methylmorpholinium via ring opening by both Hofmann elimination and substitution reactions, while no degradation was detected by 1H NMR spectroscopy of other cations after 16 days in 1 M NaOH at 90 °C. The hydroxide ion conductivity of the AEMs in the study reached values between 64 and 150 mS cm−1 at 80 °C, depending on the cation and IEC. AEMs tethered with piperidinium and quinuclidinium cations via pentyl spacers were found to show the best overall properties. Hence, the combined results provide insights that may guide the selection of cationic groups and membrane materials to improve the durability and performance of alkaline electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices.


Tomanek, Robert J., Kapildeo Lotun, Edward B. Clark, Padma R. Suvarna, and Norman Hu. VEGF and bFGF stimulate myocardial vascularization in embryonic chick. Am. J. Physiol. 274 (Heart Circ. Physiol. 43): H1620– H1626, 1998.—We tested the hypothesis that early vascularization of the embryonic heart is enhanced after bolus injections of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) into the vitelline vein before the onset of myocardial vasculogenesis (3.5 days, stage 21). Electron and light microscopy were utilized to obtain morphometric data. At stages 29 and 31, myocardial vessel volume or numerical density were higher in embryos injected with 50 ng bFGF than in the saline-injected controls. A VEGF injection increased vascular volume density at stage 29 and both volume and numerical density at stage 31. bFGF, but not VEGF, was associated with an enhancement of the sinusoidal system (spongy layer of the ventricle) at stage 29. This effect disappeared by stage 31. In conclusion, 1) enhancement of bFGF or VEGF before myocardial vascularization increases vascular growth, but the initial effect of bFGF is greater; 2) the effects of these growth factors on vascular volume and numerical density are temporally dependent; and 3) bFGF, in addition to its effects on the coronary vasculature, influences ventricular modeling by apparently acting on myocytes as well as endothelial cells.


Salmonella: The Food Poisoner. pp 51 £1 London: British Association for the Advancement of Science Paradoxically, while endemic typhoid was vanquished from Britain almost a century ago, infections due to other members of the Salmonella genus have become an increasing problem in recent years. Safe water supplies and efficient sewage disposal readily controlled the spread of Salmonella typhi from its exclusively human reservoir. In contrast, modem intensive methods of animal production coupled with the increasing popularity of mass catering have greatly assisted the dissemination of food poisoning strains of salmonellae. A study group of the British Association has now published a comprehensive report which reviews all aspects of this problem. Special attention is paid to the effects of salmonellae in man and animals, the conditions including antibiotic misuse favouring the proliferation of the bacteria in livestock, and methods ofcontrol. The report of the Swann Committee in 1969 wisely recommended strict controls on the use of 'medical' antibiotics in livestock. Although these recommendations are now supported by legislation, the results have been disappointing; multiple-resistant Gram-negative bacilli are still common in pigs, poultry and cattle. This could be due to the selection of resistance plasmids by the continued use of 'non-medical' antibiotics as animal growth promoters. The Zoonoses Order (1975) has been a more immediately successful piece of legislation. It facilitates close cooperation between medical and veterinary bacteriologists and epidemiologists in the investigation and control of salmonellosis and other animal-derived infections of man. The Order helps to ameliorate the unfortunate schism between the Medical Officers of Environmental Health and the Environmental Health Officers, which was brought about by the reorganization of the National Health Service. These, and other important questions, including methods of preparing and storing food, are admirably discussed. This modest booklet is the embodiment of clarity and conciseness, and it can be recommended for a wide audience of professional and lay people alike. SYDNEY SELWYN Reader in Medical Microbiology Westminster Medical School Kidney Function and Disease in Pregnancy M D Lindheimer & A I Katz pp 235 £10.50 London: Henry Kimpton 1977 This is an excellent little book. It starts by covering the normal structure and functional changes which occur in the kidney during pregnancy. It then describes that most contentious of all subjects in relation to pregnancy: the control of volume in normal pregnancy. This chapter is a masterly summary of the literature; much of the work having been performed by the authors themselves. The chapter on clinical tests in renal function is not of such a high standard. The second part of the book consists of excellent short accounts of the various diseases which pregnant patients may suffer, e.g. hypertensive complications, urinary infections, immunological diseases and the treatment of chronic renal failure. H E de WARDENER Professor ofMedicine Charing Cross Hospital Medical School


We define and solve classes of sparse matrix problems that arise in multilevel modeling and data analysis. The classes are indexed by the number of nested units, with two-level problems corresponding to the common situation in which data on level 1 units are grouped within a two-level structure. We provide full solutions for two-level and three-level problems and their derivations provide blueprints for the challenging, albeit rarer in applications, higher level versions of the problem. Whilst our linear system solutions are a concise recasting of existing results, our matrix inverse sub-block results are novel and facilitate streamlined computation of standard errors in frequentist inference as well as allowing streamlined mean field variational Bayesian inference for models containing higher level random effects.


To study the persistence of Y. pestis capsular antigen, or fraction 1 (F1), in the body of less important plague carriers in the Mountain Altai and Transbaikal natural foci, as well as in experimentally infected ticks, the liquid-phase competitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used for the first time. In this study RIA showed, due to its sensitivity, doubtless advantages over traditional methods, such as the passive hemagglutination (PHA) test and the antibody neutralization (AN) test, and made it possible to detect F1 in picogram amounts. RIA revealed that F1 persisted in Siberian long-tailed gophers for up 14 months after the infection of the animals in diffusion chambers and for 7 months after their infection by subcutaneous injection. Experiments on Daurian pikas confirmed that, in comparison with the PHA and AN tests, RIA ensured fourfold effectiveness in the detection of antigen F1. The study of infected mites revealed that antigen F1 could be retained in them for more than a year and detected by RIA techniques in 10% of cases. The data obtained in this investigation indicate that the persistence of microorganisms should be studied mainly with the use of new-generation tests, and RIA, being one of the most sensitive techniques, deserves wide approval and introduction into the practical work of institutions intended for plague control.


Checkpointing is today's common mean for dealing with transient failures in supercomputers. However, the effectiveness of checkpointing and recovery protocols under the assumption that failures may happen during their operation is not well understood. We present an evaluation of the checkpointing and recovery based on Sender Based Message Logging protocols (SBML). We evaluate it by means of a model which is gathered from an extensive field data campaign performed on the SCOPE supercomputer at the University of Naples. A comprehensive model is built to evaluate reliability, scalability and performance of SBML. The proposed model takes into account failures during the checkpointing and recovery. Result provide insights on the limit of the number of nodes that can be allocated to the same job considering i) the overhead for the distributed coordination for rollback, and ii) network resources (e.g. bandwidth).


This paper discusses the challenges associated with collecting time-use data in developing countries. The paper suggests potential solutions, concentrating on the two most common time-use methods used in development settings: stylized questions and time diaries. The paper identifies a significant lack of rigorous empirical research comparing these methods in development settings, and begins to fill this gap by analyzing data from Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index surveys in Bangladesh and Uganda. The surveys include stylized questions and time diary estimates for the same individual. The study finds limited evidence that stylized questions are more feasible (in terms of interview length) but also less accurate, compared with time diaries. These results are attributed to the relatively greater cognitive burden imposed on respondents by stylized questions. The paper discusses the importance of broadening the scope of time-use research to capture the quantity and quality of time, to achieve richer insights into gendered time-use patterns and trends. The paper suggests a path forward that combines mainstream time-use data collection methods with promising methodological innovations from other disciplines.


The bulbils of Dioscorea sansibarensis fall at maturity and are carried away from the parent plant, if at all, by water: they rest through the Dry season; and germinate when the soil under them is able to supply moisture. The new plant, is thrust into the surface of the soil and there shaped by its geotropic responsiveness. Its tuber is the result of a more or less one-sided enlargement of the first internode of the axis: it is perennial and its greatest growth becomes annular. The annual stems, which rise from the tuber are produced cymosely, each from the lowest axil of its parent axis; and, by arrest of internodes between them, all are sessile on the tuber. Thus crowded they are unable to grow in positions which are theirs theoretically and are accommodated by a certain amount of fluidity in the growth of the top of the tuber. D. sansibarensis must be excluded from the section Opsophyton because its tubers are more specialized organs than its bulbils, as well as on differences in the male inflorescences.


A quick and convenient approach that combines a printing process and chemical vapor deposition is developed for facile construction of nanostructured metal–carbon composite structures. Films of porous RANEY® nickel catalyst particles are deposited on various substrates by stencil printing from dispersions of the catalyst and poly(methyl methacrylate) in 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethyl acetate. After removing the organic binders at elevated temperatures, the mesoporous Ni film is applied as a growth template for synthesizing nanostructured carbon materials on the surface. Depending on the synthesis conditions, carbon nanofibers and nanotubes, as well as graphite deposits, are found to form on the substrates, allowing a robust and scalable production of carbon based inert electrodes of high specific surface area. In addition to structural characterization of the composites by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric and surface adsorption analyses, the produced carbon/RANEY® nickel composites are also studied as electrodes in electrochemical capacitors (specific capacitance of ∼12 F g−1) and in field emitter devices with a low turn-on field (<1.0 V μm−1). The results indicate the carbon/RANEY® nickel composites are suitable for direct integration on substrates used frequently in microelectronics.


This paper examines the possibility to construct a Game Theory model to describe Social Media with a Quantal Response Equilibrium. It is based on a literature study. The paper is influenced by "A Game-theoretic Model of Attention in Social Networks" written by Goel and Ronaghi but creates a more realistic model by replacing their Nash Equilibrium with a Quantal Response Equilibrium. Such model is constructed in the Result section and elaborated further in the Discussion. This paper also discusses the difficulties of Game Theory in Social Media and the flaws of the model created in the Result. The model helps provide an understanding of success in Social Media. It is possible to do continued research with more emphasis on the value of different players or how the order of content affects the level of attention.


The complex interaction between engineering, technology, social needs and values challenges engineering education programs to prepare new professionals to respond to real engineering problems with more than technical skills. The goal of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez is to develop a full-scale program of Ethics Across the Engineering Curriculum. As a first step we have developed an Ethics Module for ECE students. Ethics workshops were given to students of Pattern Recognition and Power Engineering. Instruments were developed to assess student learning and perception about the ethical and social implications in engineering. At the end of each workshop, participants completed the assessment instrument. The assessment instruments were used to evaluate the impact of the Ethics Module in two aspects: the learning process of the students and their perception, and the impact on their ethical conduct


In the present context an organization competes in terms of its knowledge intensity. In this article we are focusing on human resource development, sustenance and enhancement as a process in non‐corporate research and technology organizations (RTOs), based on an international study on "Benchmarking the best practices for research and technology organizations", coordinated by WAITRO. The basic function of these RTOs is to generate knowledge to effectively enhance their client's competitive strength. A best RTO can be the one that provides a structure, which encourages people to take initiatives to generate new knowledge and effectively translate clients' technological requirements into research results. For this, the RTO has to be a learning organization. To develop and sustain capabilities is essential for any RTO's survival and growth. How best an organization performs depends upon its capability to build and enhance this knowledge base, i.e. the human capital. This in turn depends upon the way various activities are organized to generate human resource from the manpower they have.


The aim of the study was to identify the understanding of elementary school students of numerical concepts, and the beliefs of their teachers about this understanding. To achieve this goal, the content of the mathematics sixth grade textbook was analyzed to identify the numerical concepts. Then, a conceptual diagnostic test consisting of 24 multiple-choice questions to measure the understanding of numerical concepts was designed. Another questionnaire was built to measure the teachers' beliefs about their students understanding of these concepts. The teachers' questionnaire included 24 concepts as well. The sample size was 1411 male and female students; and the sample size of teachers was 528 mathematics teachers. Both were drawn randomly from three cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The test of students showed that about 4.2% of the numerical concepts were highly understandable, whereas the questionnaire showed that teachers believed their students understood 17% of the concepts. Furthermore, students moderately understood about 37.5% of the concepts, while the questionnaire showed that teachers believed their students moderately undersood about 83% of the concepts. Moreover, the test showed that about 58.3% of the concepts were poorly understood, whereas the questionnaire showed that there were no concepts that would be poorly understood. The study found that there were statistically significant differences due to gender, credential, and experience; however, there was no statistically significant difference attributed to training on teachers' beliefs about students' understanding of mathematics.


Abstract All jurisdictions supply corporations with legal tools to prevent or punish asset diversion by those, whether managers or dominant shareholders, who are in control. As previous research has shown, these rules, doctrines and remedies are far from uniform across jurisdictions, possibly leading to significant differences in the degree of investor protection they provide. Comparative research in this field is wrought with difficulty. It is tempting to compare corporate laws by taking one benchmark jurisdiction, typically the US, and to assess the quality of other corporate law systems depending on how much they replicate some prominent features. We take a different perspective and describe how three major continental European countries (France, Germany, and Italy) regulate dominant shareholders' self-dealing by looking at all the possible rules, doctrines and remedies available there. While the doctrines and remedies reviewed in this article are familiar enough to corporate lawyers and legal scholars from the respective countries, this is less true for many participants in the international discussion, which remains dominated by Anglophone legal scholars and economists. We suggest that some of these doctrines and remedies, namely the German prohibition against concealed distributions, the role of minority shareholders in the prosecution of abus de biens sociaux in France, and nullification suits in all three countries have not received the attention they deserve.


Using neutron-reflectivity, we study vertical stratification and device performance in bulk hetero-junction organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells consisting of a blend of PC71BM with a carbazole-based donor–acceptor copolymer PCDTBT1. We find that when the blend is cast on a PEDOT:PSS/ITO anode, a PC71BM-depleted (polymer-rich) layer is formed at the PEDOT:PSS interface, whilst a PC71BM-depleted layer is instead located at the air-interface when the same blend is cast on a solution processed MoOx thin film. OPV device characterization measurements indicate that unfavourable vertical segregation can have a profound effect on OPV device characteristics via increased charge recombination.


The R6-5 plasmid-specified outer membrane protein, TraT protein, has previously been shown to mediate resistance to bacterial killing by serum. Colony hybridization with a 700 bp DNA fragment carrying most of the traT gene was used to examine the prevalence of traT in Gram-negative bacteria, particularly strains of Escherichia coli, isolated from clinical specimens. traT was found in isolates of E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Klebsiella, but not in Pseudomonas, Aeromonas or Plesiomonas, nor in the few isolates of Enterobacter, Proteus, Acinetobacter, Citrobacter, Serratia or Yersinia that were examined. It was detected in a significantly higher proportion of the E. coli strains isolated from the blood of patients with bacteraemia/septicaemia or from faeces of patients with enteric infections (50-70%) than in that of strains isolated from normal faeces (20-40%). The incidence of traT in strains isolated from cases of urinary tract infections was variable. traT was found to be frequently associated with production of the K1 capsule and with the carriage of ColV plasmids, but not with the carriage of R plasmids, nor with serum resistance or the production of haemolysin.


The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project is the first major European longitudinal study of a national sample of young children's development (intellectual and social/behavioural) between the ages of 3 and 7 years. To investigate the effects of pre-school education for 3 and 4 year olds, the EPPE team collected a wide range of information on over 3,000 children, their parents, their home environments and the pre-school settings they attended. Settings (141) were drawn from a range of providers (local authority day nursery, integrated centres, playgroups, private day nurseries, maintained nursery schools and maintained nursery classes). A sample of 'home' children (who had no or minimal pre-school experience) was recruited to the study at entry to school for comparison with the pre-school group. In addition to investigating the effects of pre-school provision on young children's development, EPPE explores the characteristics of effective practice (and the pedagogy which underpin them) through twelve intensive case studies of settings with positive child outcomes. EPPE has demonstrated the positive effects of high quality provision on children's intellectual and social/behavioural developmental. This brief on the main findings of the research related to the pre-school period (for children aged 3 or 4 years of age to entry into primary school).


In February 2015, the Community Development Studies & Education (CDS&E) Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a publication titled Affordability and Availability of Rental Housing in the Third Federal Reserve District: 2015. Following the release of the report, housing professionals were interviewed to further investigate the rental housing affordability challenges in the Third Federal Reserve District. This Beyond the Numbers qualitative companion report takes a more in-depth look at the challenges and trends revealed in the quantitative analysis. This report presents themes that emerged from interviews and shares insights from the field on the factors driving increased unaffordability, unit scarcity, and rising demand in the rental housing market.


This paper addresses the problem of verifying the correctness of gate-level implementations of large synchronous sequential circuits with respect to their higher level specifications in a hardware description language (HDL). The verification strategy is to verify containment of the finite state machine (FSM) represented by the HDL description in the gate-level FSM by computing pairs of compatible states. This formulation of the verification problem dissociates the verification process from the specification of initial states, whose encoding may be unknown or obscured during optimization and also enables verification of reset circuitry. To make verification of large circuits with merged data path and control tractable, the concept of strong containment is introduced. This is a conservative approach which exploits correspondence between data path-registers in the two descriptions without requiring any correspondence between the control units. We also present an important result and associated proof that computation of pairs of equivalent or compatible states can be achieved by considering subsets of the circuit outputs. Consequently, verification of circuits with large and diverse input-output sets, which was previously intractable due to lack of a single effective variable order for the binary decision diagrams (BDD's), is now feasible. Experimental results are presented for the verification of several industry level circuits.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the contribution of premorbid function, duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), age of onset, severity of symptoms at presentation, and number of subsequent hospitalisations to the outcome of early onset schizophrenia (EOS; onset before 17th birthday).

METHOD
Twenty-three EOS patients (mean age at onset 15.16 +/- 1.39 years) were re-assessed after a mean interval of 4 +/- 1.08 years. At baseline and follow-up clinical diagnoses were confirmed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and symptoms were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Premorbid function, as measured with the Premorbid Adjustment Scale, age of onset and DUP were assessed at baseline only. Outcome was evaluated using the Social Adaptation Self-Evaluation Scale (SASS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) Scale.

RESULTS
Mean DUP was 2.95 +/- 3.59 months and mean total PAS score was 6.65 +/- 3.02. They had an average of 2.09 +/- 1.44 hospitalisations and their mean SASS and GAF scores were 37.27 +/- 6.5 and 54.19 +/- 18.99, respectively. Poor childhood premorbid function and the severity of negative symptoms at baseline were correlated with worse SASS and GAF scores. No other significant associations were found.

CONCLUSIONS
Poor childhood function is the most significant predictor of outcome in EOS.


AIM
The aim of the study was to examine registered nurses' (RNs) experiences of collaboration in the community health care and psychiatric inpatient care systems.

BACKGROUND
RNs in one area in the west of Sweden have indicated the need for collaborative routines between the community health care and psychiatric inpatient care systems.

METHOD
Qualitative content analysis of focus group interviews.

RESULTS
RNs felt the web-based health-care communication programme was a major obstacle to the development of a collaboration plan. The poor collaboration between RNs was due to the absence of knowledge about the duties of each nursing team.

CONCLUSION
The findings contribute to the understanding of the barriers to collaboration between RNs in community health care and psychiatric inpatient care, and highlight the need for nurse managers to ensure well-functioning routines.


Suspicious thinking in given situations can be useful and helps the adaptation as events occurring in the world also corroborate this. Factors participating in the development of paranoia can be listed as psychodynamic (projection), salience attributional, neurobiological (dopamine), impaired perceptual (hearing loss), sociocultural (minority, pseudocommunity), self-esteem (worrying, depression, mania), and cognitive (jump-to-conclusion) mechanisms. Along the spectrum of thinking, from the mild to the severe, enhanced worrying, salience attribution, overvalued concepts, suspicion/mistrust, paranoid ideations, and crystallized delusions may occur with different contents. In recent years intensive research has been started to reveal the presence of subclinical paranoid thoughts in the general population. Applying various screening methods developed for this purpose (delusions inventories, psychometric tests, virtual reality laboratory) it has been found that suspicious/mistrustful ideations are fairly common in nonclinical samples and some of these are comparable to that seen in patient population. From the larger occurrence of milder forms to the smaller frequency of more severe delusional thoughts the whole hierarchical phenomenon can be described as a 'paranoia pyramid'. Based on this everyday paranoid thinking style lurking in people, it may well be that 'our life is delusional'. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(50), 1979-1988.


ECRIN consists of integrating national clinical research facilities into a EU-wide network, able to provide support to clinical research in any medical field, and for any type of clinical research through information and consulting, and through a set of flexible services for the conduct of multinational clinical studies. This distributed infrastructure, based on the integration of competence centres, provides access to clinical research projects after assessment by its scientific board. A team of European correspondents working in the coordinating centre of each national network is the key actor in the provision of consulting and decentralised services. These services are particularly relevant for academic clinical research, especially under circumstances where international cooperation is required (ie. in rare diseases), or for clinical trials sponsored by biotechnology SMEs who often lack the capacity to act as a sponsor in EU-wide studies.


We investigate the relationship between the loss of synchronization and the onset of shadowing breakdown via unstable dimension variability in complex systems. In the neighborhood of the critical transition to strongly nonhyperbolic behavior, the system undergoes on-off intermittency with respect to the synchronization state. There are potentially severe consequences of these facts on the validity of the computer-generated trajectories obtained from dynamical systems whose synchronization manifolds share the same nonhyperbolic properties.


Irregularly shaped spatial disease clusters occur commonly in epidemiological studies, but their geographic delineation is poorly defined. Most current spatial scan software usually displays only one of the many possible cluster solutions with different shapes, from the most compact round cluster to the most irregularly shaped one, corresponding to varying degrees of penalization parameters imposed on the freedom of shape. Even when a fairly complete set of solutions is available, the choice of the most appropriate parameter setting is left to the practitioner, whose decision is often subjective. We propose quantitative criteria for choosing the best cluster solution, through multiobjective optimization, by finding the Pareto-set in the solution space. Two competing objectives are involved in the search: regularity of shape and scan statistic value. Instead of running sequentially a cluster-finding algorithm with varying degrees of penalization, the complete set of solutions is found in parallel, employing a genetic algorithm. The cluster significance concept is extended for this set in a natural and unbiased way, being employed as a decision criterion for choosing the optimal solution. The Gumbel distribution is used to approximate the empirical scan statistic distribution, speeding up the significance estimation. The multiobjective methodology is compared with the genetic mono-objective algorithm. The method is fast, with good power of detection. We discuss an application to breast cancer cluster detection. The introduction of the concept of Pareto-set in this problem, followed by the choice of the most significant solution, is shown to allow a rigorous statement about what is a "best solution," without the need of any arbitrary parameter.


Despite a long history of research, interactions between the Tiwanaku polity of the Andean Middle Horizon (ca.A.D. 500-1100) and the San Pedro de Atacama oases of northern Chile remain controversial. Here, we investigate Middle Horizon interactions through an isotopic identification of the geographic origins of individuals buried in San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries and present the largest radiogenic strontium isotope dataset generated, to date, for the Andes. For individuals in Middle Horizon San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries ofCasa Parroquial, Coyo Oriental, Coyo-3, Larache, Quitor-5, Solcor-3, Solcor Plaza, Solor-3, and Tchecar Túmulo Sur, mean tooth enamel and bone 87Sr/86Sr = .70834 ± .00172 (2σ, n = 273). Overall, the mean 87Sr/86Sr values from Middle Horizon San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries support the idea that interactions between Atacameños and inhabitants of other regions varied by ayllu, an Andean kin-based community structure, with some ayllus incorporating individuals with a wider variety of geographic origins than others. When our interpretations of the radiogenic strontium isotope data are contextualized with analyses of mortuary behavior and recent biodistance analyses, we argue that the San Pedro de Atacama oases appear to be have been inhabited by culturally and biologically diverse groups, rather than by large numbers of colonists from the Tiwanaku capital and the Lake Titicaca Basin.


˚ ABSTRACT: This study aimed to describe the conservative surgical management of odontogenic keratocyst, comparing with clinical and demographic findings in the literature, based on a literature review, using the quality criteria established in the literature for clinical cases and case series. We searched for cases of keratocysts published in four databases. We selected cases of patients followed up at least one year after sugical treatment. We described the case of a patient who was asymptomatic, and the lesion was detected by routine radiographic examination. At the same surgical time, we enucleated the lesion, followed by curettage and drain installation. Currently, there are no signs of disease recurrence. We followed the CARE guidelines (Case Report Guidelines), in this report. Literature review ˚disclosed 27 cases. Keratocyst was frequent in male-adult patients, and the mean follow-up time after surgery was 46.7 – 28.1 months. The main clinical findings such as association with teeth, location, extension of lesion, and radiographic pattern corroborate the classic pattern of described cases reported by literature with a low general rate of recurrences. In conclusion, conservative treatment was successful for the clinical case described, over an eight-year follow-up. Most of the described studies did not show lesion recurrence after using the conservative surgical treatment. However, we draw attention to the importance of the long follow up period of our case.


Hot phenol-water-extracted lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Bacteroides gingivalis 381 was purified by Sephadex G-100 chromatography with Tris buffer supplemented with sodium deoxycholate and EDTA (B-LPS). In the present study, B-LPS was examined for its ability to induce interleukin 1 (IL-1) production, a mitogenic response, and macrophage activation in LPS high-responder C3H/HeN and low-responder C3H/HeJ mice. A significant increase in IL-1 production was observed in C3H/HeN and C3H/HeJ peritoneal macrophages treated with various doses (1.0 to 50 micrograms/ml) of B-LPS. IL-1 production by C3H/HeN macrophages treated with B-LPS (10 micrograms/ml) was about seven times greater than that by C3H/HeJ macrophages. However, the IL-1 production induced by B-LPS (10 micrograms/ml) in C3H/HeN macrophages was four times lower compared with that induced by Escherichia coli O111 B4 LPS. Also, a significant increase in IL-1 production was found in human monocytes stimulated with B-LPS. That B-LPS-induced IL-1 exhibits some molecular weight heterogeneity was indicated from Sephadex G-75 gel filtration profiles. A significant, high mitogenic response by whole spleen cells with 1 X 10(5) to 5 X 10(4) cells of either mouse strain per well treated with B-LPS (10 to 50 micrograms/ml) was observed. However, the response of C3H/HeJ mice was less than that of the C3H/HeN strain. Also, glucose consumption assays indicated that enhanced macrophage activation occurred in C3H/HeN but not in C3H/HeJ mice treated with B-LPS. In light of recent studies showing that IL-1 stimulates bone resorption in a mouse calvaria system and collagenase production in fibroblasts, we suggest that B-LPS-induced IL-1 may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of adult periodontal disease.


ABSTRACT: An experiment was conducted to investigate the allelopathic effects of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) and arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia (Brummitt & Powell): L.) on seed germination of wheat and two associated weeds, namely, wild oat (Avena fatua L.) and milk thistle (Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.). The experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design during May, 2014. Dried biomasses of lotus and arrowhead leaves were soaked in distilled water for 48 hrs for extract preparation. The extracts were applied at a rate of 5 and 10% concentrations to the seeds of wheat, wild oat and milk thistle at 25 °C in 10 cm wide Petri plates. A control treatment where only distilled water was applied to the seeds, was included for comparison. Data were recorded on germination (%), shoot length (cm), shoot and root fresh weights (g). The results revealed that 10% lotus extract reduced germination of wild oat (0.00%) and milk thistle (13.3%) but comparatively enhanced that of wheat (20%). By contrast, arrowhead totally inhibited germination of wheat and wild oat as compared to milk thistle (16.66%). Similarly, 10% lotus extract favored shoot length and root weight of wheat and milk thistle, whereas 100% inhibited wild oat. By comparison, arrowhead completely inhibited shoot length and root weight of wheat and wild oat at 10% conc. and enhanced milkthistle (3.00 cm and 3 g). A higher lotus extract conc. affected wild oat more than wheat and milkthistle, while arrowhead weed affected almost all test species. In conclusion, these aquatic weeds can be used as mulch in wheat in nearby fields of the infested aquatic water bodies for wild oat control, weed biomass disposal and nutrient addition to the soil.


SIR,-Every practising dermatologist must welcome your timely leading article (24 September, p 782) on this difficult problem, but I think there are two additional aspects which should be stressed if the problem is to lessen. It may seem trite but it would be invaluable for the Dermatologists Subcommittee of the Central Committee for Hospital Medical Services to point out to manufacturers that, perfumes apart, the commonest allergens in cosmetics are lanolin, ethylenediamine, used as a stabiliser, and parabens, used as preservatives, and that substitutes for these should be found. Conversely, and quite the reverse of enforced American law, there is still no requirement in Britain or the EEC for a list of contents to appear on each cosmetic package, though it was quite clearly stated by the relevant EEC committee many years ago that it would seem to be imminent. How can any doctor advise his cosmetic-allergic patient to change to a new preparation, even if "hypoallergic," when he has no more knowledge than she if this is going to make the situation better or worse ?


UNLABELLED
Neonates who require a central venous catheter (CVC) for prolonged vascular access experience high rates of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI).

PURPOSE
A multicenter randomized clinical trial was undertaken to ascertain the efficacy of a novel chlorhexidine-impregnated dressing (Biopatch Antimicrobial Dressing) on the CVC sites of neonates for the prevention of catheter tip colonization, CRBSI, and bloodstream infection (BSI) without a source. Setting. Six level III neonatal intensive care units. Patients Studied. Neonates admitted to study units who would require a CVC for at least 48 hours.

METHODS
Eligible infants were randomized before catheter placement to 1 of the 2 catheter site antisepsis regimens: 1) 10% povidone-iodine (PI) skin scrub, or 2) a 70% alcohol scrub followed by placement of a chlorhexidine-impregnated disk over the catheter insertion site. A transparent polyurethane dressing (Bioclusive Transparent Dressing) was used to cover the insertion site in both study groups. Primary study outcomes evaluated were catheter tip colonization, CRBSI, and BSI without an identified source.

RESULTS
Seven hundred five neonates were enrolled in the trial, 335 randomized to receive the chlorhexidine dressing and 370 to skin disinfection with PI (controls). Neonates randomized to the antimicrobial dressing group were less likely to have colonized CVC tips than control neonates (15.0% vs 24.0%, relative risk [RR]: 0.6 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.5-0.9). Rates of CRBSI (3.8% vs 3.2%, RR: 1.2, CI: 0.5-2.7) and BSI without a source (15.2% vs 14.3%, RR: 1.1, CI: 0.8-1.5) did not differ between the 2 groups. Localized contact dermatitis from the antimicrobial dressing, requiring crossover into the PI treatment group, occurred in 15 (15.3%) of 98 exposed neonates weighing </=1000 g. No neonates in the PI group developed contact dermatitis.

CONCLUSION
The novel chlorhexidine-impregnated dressing, replaced weekly, was as effective as cutaneous disinfection with 10% PI and redressing the site every 3 to 7 days for preventing CRBSI and BSI without a source in critically ill neonates requiring prolonged central venous access. The risk of local contact dermatitis under the chlorhexidine dressing limits its use in low birth weight infants who require prolonged central access during the first 2 weeks of life.


The research belongs to content analysis which focused on analyzing English workbook content used for grade ten in SMKN 1 Gombong. In analyzing the workbook, the researcher considered the five aspects of standardized book suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (2003): audience, aims, content, methodology, and other criteria. The objective of this research was to find out the quality level of English workbook content based on the criteria of standardized book proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (2003). The instruments used in this research were interview, observation, and documentation. The researcher applied both qualitative and simple quantitative method for this research. Qualitative was used for analyzing and delivering the result into depth description; meanwhile, simple quantitative was for computation result of analysis in a form of number. Based on the result of the research, the workbook was in the fair level, also the researcher viewed that the workbook included into a less standardized book. It was proven by the total scoring of analysis that the workbook reached the number of 35. After doing analysis, the workbook used for grade ten in SMKN 1 Gombong contains of General English.


IN THE year 1674, Willis 10 encountered a patient with nonorganic obstruction of the lower esophagus and fashioned for his use a whalebone rod capped with a pad of sponge. With this crude instrument the patient successfully forced food into his stomach for a 15-year period. Although the condition was not called such, this report probably represents the first recorded case of cardiospasm. Mikulicz 19 in 1882 discredited the then-existing terminology "primary esophageal dilatation" and postulated that the syndrome was due to functional cardiospasm. This concept remained unchallenged until Hertz 11 in 1914 introduced the term achalasia, which was suggested to him by Sir Cooper Perry. This term was based on the belief that the region of the cardioesophageal junction failed to receive a relaxing neurogenic stimulus. During the years 1926 26 and 1927, 27 initial pathologic observations involving a deficiency and degeneration of Auerbach's plexus appeared in the literature.


We consider a hypersurface of dimension $d$ imbedded in a $d+1$ dimensional space. For each $x\in Z^d$, let $\eta_t(x)\in R$ be the height of the surface at site $x$ at time $t$. At rate $1$ the $x$-th height is updated to a random convex combination of the heights of the `neighbors' of $x$. The distribution of the convex combination is translation invariant and does not depend on the heights. This motion, named the random average process (RAP), is one of the linear processes introduced by Liggett (1985). Special cases of RAP are a type of smoothing process (when the convex combination is deterministic) and the voter model (when the convex combination concentrates on one site chosen at random). We start the heights located on a hyperplane passing through the origin but different from the trivial one $\eta(x)\equiv 0$. We show that, when the convex combination is neither deterministic nor concentrating on one site, the variance of the height at the origin at time $t$ is proportional to the number of returns to the origin of a symmetric random walk of dimension $d$. Under mild conditions on the distribution of the random convex combination, this gives variance of the order of $t^{1/2}$ in dimension $d=1$, $\log t$ in dimension $d=2$ and bounded in $t$ in dimensions $d\ge 3$. We also show that for each initial hyperplane the process as seen from the height at the origin converges to an invariant measure on the hyper surfaces conserving the initial asymptotic slope. The height at the origin satisfies a central limit theorem. To obtain the results we use a corresponding probabilistic cellular automaton for which similar results are derived. This automaton corresponds to the product of (infinitely dimensional) independent random matrices whose rows are independent.


Abstract : The study was aimed at developing an aluminum alloy suitable for use in a 5.56mm cartridge case. Two distinctly different types of properties were required. In the annealed condition, the alloy must have good formability, such that the many cup and draw operations can be readily performed without the introduction of defects. In the final heat treated condition the alloy must exhibit both high strength and toughness. Ideally, a yield strength of 80,000 psi and a tear strength to-yield strength ratio of 1.5 were desired by the Sponsor. Such a combination of properties is not currently available in any known commercial alloy. Variations of the commercail alloys 7075, 7178, and 7001 were studied. The major elements (Zn, Mg, and Cu) were not changed appreciably from commercial practice. The homogeneity of the alloys was varied, primarily by controlling the levels of those elements with quite low solubility in aluminum, viz. Fe, Si, and Mn. Also the effects of two recrystallization retarding elements, Cr and Zr were studied. (Author)


Globally threatened mangrove forest habitat is often considered an important buffer protecting coastlines from wave and storm impacts and coastal erosion. However, there is little empirical data quantifying the protective effects of mangroves during storms, primarily because of the difficulty of predicting where and when a storm will intersect the shoreline, to facilitate data collection before and after storm events. In 2005, opportunistic results from an ongoing study quanti fying differences between intact and cleared mangrove areas on Turneffe Atoll, Belize, provided such pre-and post-storm data from tropical storms 'Wilma' (later a Category 5 Hurricane) and 'Gamma'. We compared differences in equipment retention rates of 3 types of experimental devices previously installed in adjacent intact and cleared mangrove areas. Retention rates were greater in intact mangrove areas, empirically demonstrating the protective capacity of mangroves during moderate magnitude storm events. The results support the assumption that removal of mangroves diminishes coastal protection not only during catastrophic storm events such as hurricanes or tsunamis, but also during less energetic but more frequent events, such as tropical storms. This high lights the importance of improved coastal zone management, as storm events may increase in frequency and intensity with changing climate, and coastal mangrove forest habitats continue to decline in size and number. Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher


This paper proposes a risk study to suffer from obesity based on genetics and caloric intake. Using the calculation of the amount of glucose ingested and Hopfield networks to detect patterns of kinship between a control group and their relatives with obesity or bad eating habits. Of the volunteers who are at risk of triggering obesity, 43% have good nutrition and obese parents, another 43% have a poor diet with obese parents, those volunteers who have poor nutrition and do not have overweight parents, have a 10% risk of obesity, those who do not have obese parents and have poor nutrition, their risk percentage is 4%. It was possible to detect the predominance of genetics in obesity and the advantages of the use of computer techniques in the support for the timely detection of obesity.


Mobile banking is an emerging concept with great potential but it is facing lower rate of diffusion. This study examines the perception and intention aspects of mobile banking adoption in Pakistan. Modified Technology Acceptance Model is used with the integration of four perceived risk dimensions (financial, privacy, time and security). A sample of valid 389 responses was drawn from the mobile subscribers of Karachi. The techniques of both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to assess the reliability and validity of the measurement model. The structural equation modeling method was also applied to investigate the hypothetical framework with the help of literature's recommended goodness-of-fit measurements. The results indicate a negative association of financial and privacy risks with the attitude towards mobile banking technology. Furthermore, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness established the significant positive impact on people's attitude towards mobile banking. Likewise, attitude towards mobile banking is also found to significantly influence the adoption intention of technology. The findings are favorable for banks that are pursuing mobile banking in designing strategies for enhancing users' acceptance of mobile banking in Pakistan.


Background: The ability of supercritical fluids (SCFs), such as carbon dioxide, to dissolve and expand or extract organic solvents and as result lower their solvation power, makes it possible the use of SCFs for the precipitation of solids from organic solutions. The process could be the injection of a solution of the substrate in an organic solvent into a vessel which is swept by a supercritical fluid. The aim of this study was to ascertain the feasibility of supercritical processing to prepare different particulate forms of fluticasone propionate (FP), and to evaluate the influence of different liquid solvents and precipitation temperatures on the morphology, size and crystal habit of particles. Method: The solution of FP in organic solvents, was precipitated by supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) at two pressure and temperature levels. Effects of process parameters on the physicochemical characteristics of harvested microparticles were evaluated. Results: Particle formation was observed only at the lower selected pressure, whilst at the higher pressure, no precipitation of particles was occurred due to dissolution of FP in supercritical antisolvent. The micrographs of the produced particles showed different morphologies for FP obtained from different conditions. The results of thermal analysis of the resulted particles showed that changes in the processing conditions didn't influence thermal behavior of the precipitated particles. Evaluation of the effect of temperature on the size distribution of particles showed that increase in the temperature from 40 o C to 50 o C, resulted in reduction of the mean particle size from about 30 µm to about 12 ? m. Conclusion: From the results of this study it may be concluded that, processing of FP by supercritical antisolvent could be an approach for production of diverse forms of the drug and drastic changes in the physical characteristics of microparticles could be achieved by changing the type of solvent and temperature of operation.


A new mAb, designated anti-KCA-3, was developed against rat Kupffer cells. The reactivity of anti-KCA-3 was restricted to macrophages with preferential binding to Kupffer cells; only a few macrophages in the spleen, lymph nodes, lungs, and intestine stained with the antibody. A very small number of peritoneal resident and exudate macrophages reacted with the antibody and no reactivity was seen within the thymus, skin, heart, kidneys, brain, peripheral blood, and bone marrow. KCA-3 was expressed predominantly by the Kupffer cells in the periportal region rather than in the centrilobular region of the hepatic lobules. The cells in the portal tract did not stain with the antibody. The staining of the cytosmears and FACS analysis of the Kupffer cell fraction isolated from hepatic sinusoidal cells by centrifugal elutriation revealed that as many as 62% and 49% of the cells were stained with anti-KCA-3, respectively. Immunoelectron microscopic study of the liver indicated that expression of KCA-3 on Kupffer cells was limited to the plasma membrane facing the sinusoid rather than the space of Disse. Immunoprecipitation and SDS-PAGE analysis demonstrated KCA-3 to have a m.w. of approximately 50 kDa under both reducing and nonreducing conditions. After treatment of KCA-3 with N-glycanase, there was no significant change in the m.w., indicating KCA-3 was not highly glycosylated. C3b- and iC3b-mediated rosette formation between Kupffer cells and sensitized SRBC was inhibited by the antibody, implying that KCA-3 functioned as a complement C3 receptor or complement receptor-associated molecule. Furthermore, KCA-3 was eluted from C3b-Sepharose but not HSA-Sepharose after incubation with Kupffer cell lysate, indicating that KCA-3 directly binds C3b. The cell distribution, ligand-binding specificity, and biochemical properties of the protein were found to be different from the complement C3 receptors previously described. Because OX42 (antibody reactive with the rat CR3 receptor) inhibited complement C3-mediated rosette formation with peritoneal resident macrophages but not with Kupffer cells, the findings suggest that C3-mediated binding to Kupffer cells and to peritoneal macrophages is mediated by two different receptors. We conclude that anti-KCA-3 recognizes a novel type of complement C3 receptor preferentially expressed on Kupffer cells.


Background: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) presents a risk factor after general anesthesia, especially for old or cognitively impaired patients. Hence, strategies to identify possible patients at risk could help to decrease the rate of POCD. In this case report we relate the occurrence of electroencephalographic burst suppression and low bispectral indices to the development of neurocognitive decline after 12 months in one homozygous twin, whereas the other twin exhibited neither burst suppression nor neurocognitive decline. Case presentation: Two 68-year-old homozygous twins underwent the same surgical procedure with the same anesthetic regimens in comparable concentrations. For cognitive assessment, we applied a battery of neurocognitive tests at baseline (one day before surgery), at hospital discharge (three days after surgery), and 12 months after the procedure. The twins performed similarly in preoperative and discharge testing, but one twin showed worse test performance after 12 months. During surgery, we tested for possible connected consciousness by applying the isolated forearm technique (IFT). For assessment of the level of anesthesia and visual inspection of the EEG, we used the bispectral index (BIS). Neither of the twins showed signs of connected consciousness during anesthesia and the emergence tone to the return of a positive IFT response were similar. We observed lower intraoperative BIS indices for one twin. Furthermore, this twin also had two episodes of Burst Supppression. Vital parameters, particularly mean blood pressure, were stable and comparable during the entire duration of anaesthesia. The twin who exhibited Burst Suppression and lower BIS indices showed distinctly worse cognitive test scores after 12 months compared to baseline and discharge testing, indicating serious neurocognitive decline. The other twin's cognitive performance did not decrease. Conclusions: We present findings from a unique scenario of homozygous twins with comparable lifestyles undergoing the same surgical intervention. The twin with neurocognitive decline had lower BIS values and multiple episodes of BSupp. These findings suggest that EEG monitoring under general anesthesia could help to identify frail brains that may be at increased risk of developing cognitive impairments.


Conventional antenna measurement systems use a multiplexer or polarization positioner to sequence polarization and or antenna elements as a function of time, requiring two or more measurement intervals. However, a simpler, more cost effective, and faster technique can be implemented by using frequency diversity to distinguish between polarizations or antenna elements. This paper describes how two slightly different frequencies can be used to make two measurements simultaneously instead of sequentially, cutting the measurement time in half or even more. Additional considerations must be taken into account to achieve good measurements. This paper addresses these issues. Actual measurements are presented.


In our previous works we established that in an autoinflammatory condition, familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), the gut microbial diversity is specifically restructured, which also results in the altered profiles of microbial long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) present in the systemic metabolome. The mainstream management of the disease is based on oral administration of colchicine to suppress clinical signs and extend remission periods and our aim was to determine whether this therapy normalizes the microbial LCFA profiles in the metabolome as well. Unexpectedly, the treatment does not normalize these profiles. Moreover, it results in the formation of new distinct microbial LCFA clusters, which are well separated from the corresponding values in healthy controls and FMF patients without the therapy. We hypothesize that the therapy alters the proinflammatory network specific for the disease, with the concomitant changes in gut microbiota and the corresponding microbial LCFAs in the metabolome.


Why has the recent period of global centralization of capital, from the 1970s to the present, also been a period of resurgence of indigenous movements and of forms of global civil society that have supported indigenous rights? This ar- ticle argues that tackling this question can only be done by using concepts that emphasize what Hegel called the 'cunning' of history: the fact that the same his- torical process can on the one hand bring devastation to indigenous habitats and on the other hand create opportunities for political leverage by indigenous soci- eties to gain recognition of the legitimacy of their different social, cultural, and economic systems within their ambient nation-states. Politically engaged anthro- pological theory, it seems, needs concepts that emphasize these contradictions— which in a nutshell means more Marx and less Foucault.


The weakening of the everyday practice of democracy around the world presents profound challenges for social scientists working with an applied focus on issues of inequality and justice in social change. This paper examines community organizing (in the US) as an instrument for equitable and just social change, and argues that three interrelated trends are subtly undermining a core practice of organizing: developing social relationships. An expanding technocratic influence on politics, an inflated focus on individual-level metrics for evaluating organizing, and a growing belief that digital technologies and big data leverage greater power, combine to engender an atomized view of people, who are increasingly treated as consumers rather than producers of social change. In contrast, cultivating social relationships fuels the building of community and expanded networks that enables the exercise of social power necessary to effect change. Scholars promoting change for social justice should work to shape tools and measures to serve social dimensions of organizing and support people and collectivities as agents of democracy.


ABSTRACT This special issue is the second volume originating from the 'Doing Women's Film and Television Histories III' international conference held at the Phoenix Cinema, Leicester, England, in May 2016. It connects with concerns and questions of women's production histories related to the constructed nature of history and how we write a 'history from below' to foreground the hidden, marginalised or forgotten histories of our women ancestors. This collection captures something of the dominant 'structures of feeling' of women's film and broadcasting history scholarship in the contemporary period ranging from considerations of women working in both above and below-the-line roles in film, television and radio, to those whose labour fell outside of mainstream cinema production, as in the instance of the amateur film in the UK between the 1930s and 1980. Together, these case studies span from 1926 to the contemporary period, providing particular flashpoints of women's history across the UK, North America, Italy and Australia.


SUMMARY: The addition of Fe(III) to anoxic lake sediments decreased the quantity of volatile fatty acids which accumulated. Similarly, the addition of several substrates to the sediments stimulated the rate of reduction of the naturally occurring Fe(III). Of the substrates used, malate caused the greatest stimulation, and subsequently a malate-fermenting Vibrio was isolated from the sediment. This organism also reduced NO−
3 and Mn(IV), the addition of which to the growth medium significantly lowered the rate of Fe(II) formation. The presence of Fe(III) in the medium increased the molar growth yield by 28% and this did not appear to be associated with the presence of particulate matter or changes in pH and E
h. The addition of Fe(III) to the growth medium also produced a minor shift in the fermentation end-products, with a decrease in the quantity of ethanol formed and a concomitant increase in volatile fatty acids, both of which were of the same order as the amount of Fe(III) reduced. It would appear, therefore, that the presence of Fe(III) might permit a slight diversion of metabolism to more energetically favourable end products. The scale of iron reduction, both in the field and the laboratory, was very small compared with the reducing potential of the available substrates.


Graphene has demonstrated great potential in new‐generation electronic applications due to its unique electronic properties such as large carrier Fermi velocity, ultrahigh carrier mobility, and high material stability. Interestingly, the electronic structures can be further engineered in multilayer graphene by the introduction of a twist angle between different layers to create van Hove singularities (vHSs) at adjustable binding energy. In this work, using angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy with sub‐micrometer spatial resolution, the band structures and their evolution are systematically studied with twist angle in bilayer and trilayer graphene sheets. A doping effect is directly observed in graphene multilayer system as well as vHSs in bilayer graphene over a wide range of twist angles (from 5° to 31°) with wide tunable energy range over 2 eV. In addition, the formation of multiple vHSs (at different binding energies) is also observed in trilayer graphene. The large tuning range of vHS binding energy in twisted multilayer graphene provides a promising material base for optoelectrical applications with broadband wavelength selectivity from the infrared to the ultraviolet regime, as demonstrated by an example application of wavelength selective photodetector.


Localised mobile channel support is now a feature of Communicating Process Architecture (CPA) based frameworks, from JCSP and C++CSP to occam-pi. Distributed mobile channel support has also been attempted in JCSP Networking and occam-pi via the pony framework, although the capabilities of these two separate approaches is limited and has not led to the widespread usage of distributed mobile channel primitives. In this paper, an initial investigation into possible models that can support distributed channel mobility are presented and analysed for features such as transmission time, robustness and reachability. The goal of this work is to discover a set of models which can be used for channel mobility and also supported within the single unified protocol for distributed CPA frameworks. From the analysis presented in this paper, it has been determined that there are models which can be implemented to support channel end mobility within a single unified protocol which provide suitable capabilities for certain application scenarios.


Accurate price forecasting for agricultural commodities can have significant decisionmaking implications for suppliers, especially those of biofuels, where the agriculture and energy sectors intersect. Environmental pressures and high oil prices affect demand for biofuels and have reignited the discussion about effects on food prices. Suppliers in the sugar–alcohol sector need to decide the ideal proportion of ethanol and sugar to optimise their financial strategy. Prices can be affected by exogenous factors, such as exchange rates and interest rates, as well as non-observable variables like the convenience yield, which is related to supply shortages. The literature generally uses two approaches: artificial neural networks (ANNs), which are recognised as being in the forefront of exogenous-variable analysis, and stochastic models such as the Kalman filter, which is able to account for non-observable variables. This article proposes a hybrid model for forecasting the prices of agricultural commodities that is built upon both approaches and is applied to forecast the price of sugar. The Kalman filter considers the structure of the stochastic process that describes the evolution of prices. Neural networks allow variables that can impact asset prices in an indirect, nonlinear way, what cannot be incorporated easily into traditional econometric models.


The studies on Cryptosporidium infections of animals in Turkey mostly rely on microscopic observation. Few data are available regarding the prevalence of Cryptosporidium genotypes and subtypes infection. The aim of this study is to analyse the detection of Cryptosporidium genotypes and subtypes from young ruminants. A total of 415 diarrheic fecal specimens from young ruminants were examined for the Cryptosporidium detection by use of nested PCR of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene and the highly polymorphic 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene followed by sequence analyses. The results of this study revealed that 25.6% (106 of 415) of the specimens were positive for Cryptosporidium spp. infection. We identified 27.4% (91/333), 19.4% (13/67), and 13.4% (2/15) of positivity in calves, lambs and goat kids, respectively. Genotyping of the SSU rRNA indicated that almost all positive specimens were of C. parvum, except for one calf which was of C. bovis. Sequence analysis of the gp60 gene revealed the most common zoonotic subtypes (IIa and IId) of C. parvum. We detected 11 subtypes (IIaA11G2R1, IIaA11G3R1, IIaA12G3R1, IIaA13G2R1, IIaA13G4R1, IIaA14G1R1, IIaA14G3R1, IIaA15G2R1, IIdA16G1, IIdA18G1, IIdA22G1); three of them (IIaA12G3R1, IIaA11G3R1 and IIaA13G4R1) was novel subtypes found in calves and lambs. Additionally, three subtypes (IIaA11G2R1, IIaA14G3R1, and IIdA16G1) were detected in young ruminants for the first time in Turkey. This results indicate the high infection of Cryptosporidium in Turkey and suggest that calves, lambs, and goat kids are likely a major reservoir of C. parvum and a potential source of zoonotic transmission.


Linear and Non-Linear Elastic Constants of Crystalline Materials from First-Principles Calculations by David Cuffari Advisor: Angelo Bongiorno Novel methods based on the use of density functional theory (DFT) calculations are developed and applied to calculate linear and non-linear elastic constants of materials at zero and finite temperature. These methods rely on finite difference techniques and are designed to be general, numerically accurate, and suitable to investigate the thermoelastic properties of anharmonic materials. A first method was developed to compute the third-order elastic constants of crystalline materials at zero temperature, a task that is numerically challenging and is currently undertaken by using approaches typically applicable to cubic and hexagonal crystalline systems. This method relies on numerical differentiation of the second PiolaKirchhoff stress tensor, and with respect to existing methods, it is numerically accurate and computationally efficient, and it allows for the calculation of the full set of elastic constants of any crystalline system, regardless of their symmetry. This method has been applied to aluminum, diamond, silicon, magnesium, and graphene. We further develop our methodology by extending it to finite temperature. We base our method on the quasi-harmonic approximation along with conventional and novel techniques to compute Grüneisen parameters to include temperature effects and calculate elastic constants at finite temperature.


—Because of the development of information technologies and the pervasiveness of cloud services, Reducing power consumption in large scale storage systems becomes a very important issue. Recently, we have proposed a method to solve the problem called Replica Assisted Power Saving Disk Array (RAPoSDA) and verified its effectiveness. RAPoSDA utilizes a primary backup configuration on both cache memories and disk drives to ensure system reliability and it dynamically controls the timing and targeting of disk access based on individual disk rotation states. Until now, we have evaluated the effectiveness of RAPoSDA by using simulation program which we had developed. The evaluation shows that RAPoSDA achieves significantly reducing power consumption. However, we have not evaluated it effectiveness on the practical environment. In this paper, we introduce the prototype system of RAPoSDA to evaluate the power saving capability of RAPoSDA.


I think we are getting to a place in the proliferation of technologies in our writing centers where, not unlike that forty-four minute mark in a very intense writing consulting session, there is a need for reflection, for sitting back and looking around and determining what is working and why and what we should buy into and why.
What does technology mean to you? Is it simply a transparent tool, something
that you rely on for convenience, to use when needed and think about only when you want to cuss it out? The broad range of current technologies for writing centers--from PCs, to assistive software, to PDA downloads of FAQs on grammar, to ReadPlease [1], to a threaded discussion board for tutors, to virtual peer tutoring [2]--promises an equally wide range of fixes, problems, and unforeseen costs. I beg you not to be overwhelmed; my hope is to provide a problem-posing approach as you wend your way through a tangle of cables and spreadsheets.


Aim Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects approximately 4–6% of school-aged children. Research into the aetiology of ADHD has focussed on genetic and biological factors, with much less information on environment and social aspects. There is a general perception that ADHD is linked to deprivation, but there are not enough studies in literature to prove or disprove this assumption. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between social deprivation and ADHD. Method We included all patients diagnosed with ADHD by the community paediatric department (only those on medications). Postcodes of these patients were used to produce deprivation scores, which included overall deprivation and sub-scores for income, social and housing factors. Indices of Deprivation 2010 are available for 32,482 small geographical areas (Lower Super Output Areas, LSOAs) in England, ranked from 1 (most deprived) to 32,482 (least deprived). These are further divided into fifths to produce English deprivation quintiles. Each postcode was then allocated to a quintile based on their deprivation score, where quintile 1 represents the most deprived. Results A total of 144 patients diagnosed with ADHD were being treated with medication. The male to female ratio was 4.5:1 (M: F). The deprivation scores were calculated and it showed that 64 patients (44.4%) were in the most deprived quintile (quintile 1), and followed in a relatively linear pattern. A similar pattern was seen for income, crime, employment, education, skills and training domain and health deprivation and disability, where 69, 57, 74, 69 and 59 patients were placed in quintile 1, respectively. Conclusion Our study shows an association between the prevalence of ADHD in children and deprivation index. Also there is clear link between sub scores for income, crime, employment, education, skills and training domain and health deprivation and disability and prevalence of ADHD. Indices of deprivation could be used to predict the expected prevalence of ADHD within the community and thus plan allocation of resources. Ours is a small sample size, but results support further investigation with a larger study.


For patients who gain a troublesome amount of weight on antipsychotics, switching to a less obesogenic agent is an option. Aripiprazole appears to cause less weight gain than many other antipsychotics. We report on changes in weight, and other risk factors for heart disease, in thirty-three schizophrenia patients who agreed to switch from other antipsychotics to aripiprazole in an open, flexible-dose, eight-week trial. All patients were successfully switched. There were no significant changes in PANSS symptom scores or in CGI. Weight (Wt), waist circumference (WC), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) decreased significantly in the group as a whole. In patients switched from olanzapine to aripiprazole, Wt, WC, LDL, fasting glucose, and triglycerides were significantly decreased as compared to baseline. Substantial decreases in several risk factors were also seen in patients switched from quetiapine, but these changes did not reach statistical significance.


Author(s): Alam, Sonia Yasmeena | Advisor(s): Shim, Janet K. | Abstract: In 2007, Apple, Inc. released its first smartphone, the iPhone, which included a built-in accelerometer that continuously collected data on user movements. However, users were not invited to engage with data amassed by the accelerometer until 2014, when the company released "iOS Health," now a standard feature of their devices that allows users to track their movement and other health metrics. What changed? In this dissertation, I situate this shift within the context, rise, and promises of consumer health technologies. I explore the social, economic, and technical conditions through which consumer health technologies become possible, valuable, and desirable, such that they proliferate. Drawing on interviews with venture capitalists, angel investors, and founders and employees of digital health and wellness companies, as well as ethnographic observations of digital health and technology events in the San Francisco Bay Area, I trace the kinds of capital, ideologies, subjects, and infrastructures that both constitute and are constituted by these technologies and their futures. I first explore the consumer electronic infrastructure and financing strategies that I argue together make consumer health technologies possible and contend that speculation around future value is built into how capital is advanced in the present, which critically shapes these technologies' trajectories. I then argue that, despite the failures and limitations of consumer health technologies, investors and founders consider these devices to be valuable because they assemble the infrastructure for a future by stabilizing ideas about how health should be known, collected, measured, practiced, and valued in ways that are increasingly hard to see. Lastly, I argue that consumer health technologies proliferate in part because consumers are being enrolled into the lifestyles and subjectivities through which these technologies make sense and feel self-evident. I contend that this enrollment creates a social infrastructure that secures value in future by inculcating subjects into the logics of a tracked life in the present. Overall, this dissertation reveals how assembling subjects and standardizing data streams circulates promissory value by laying the groundwork for a passively tracked future that assembles and secures life as an asset in the present.


Primary renal tumors comprise 6% of all childhood cancers. Wilms tumor is the most common primary renal tumor in pediatric age group and the peak age of diagnosis is 3-4 years. In 10% of cases tumor extension into hepatic vein and inferior vena cava can be seen. But tumor extension into whole inferior vena cava, right atrium and right ventricle is only seen in less than 1% of patients. A 2-year-old girl was admitted to the hospital because of abdominal distension that was noticed by the parents two weeks ago. Imaging studies revealed that she had a mass at the right renal lodge which was favoring to Wilms tumor and on thorax tomography tumor thrombus was seen in the whole inferior vena cava, right atrium and right ventricle. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given for 7 weeks. On the 8th week of diagnosis, under cardiopulmonary bypass, surgical operation by pediatric and cardiovascular surgery teams for primary renal tumor and for cavo-atrial tumor thrombus was performed. Pathological examination of the mass was reported as stage 3 diffuse anaplastic Wilms tumor. The patient completed 24 weeks of chemotherapy protocol and she is being followed for 15 months without any morbidity. We present our case to emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary approach in Wilms tumor with cardiac extension.


Cardiac electric signals are currently the most informative source about the heart rhythm and its disorders, and hence, the use of adequate digital signal processing techniques is necessary to yield reliable diagnostic parameters, either to the clinician or to automatic monitoring systems. A number of systems have been patented during the last years, which are grouped in this review according to their application scope. In this first part, techniques for electrocardiogram and intracardiac electrogram filtering, and for feature extraction, are first examined, then patents on arrhythmia analysis are then summarized. The wide number of basic systems for cardiac signal processing analysis that have been disclosed indicates that this field represents a main scenario in the near and middle future of cardiac health.


Background Epidemiology of spontaneous pneumothorax has been scantily studied. We aimed to assess the incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax and describe patients' characteristics with respect to age, sex, seasonal occurrence, primary or secondary character, surgical management and rehospitalisations on a large-scale database. Methods Data from all patients aged ≥14 years and hospitalised with a diagnosis of non-traumatic pneumothorax in France from 2008 to 2011 were retrieved from the National Hospitalisation Database. Results There were 59 637 hospital stays corresponding to 42 595 patients. Twenty-eight per cent of patients were rehospitalised at least once during the 4-year period. Annual rate of pneumothorax could be estimated at 22.7 (95% CI 22.4 to 23.0) cases for 100 000 habitants. The women to men ratio was 1:3.3. Mean age was significantly higher in women than in men (41±19 vs 37±19 years, p<0.0001). No seasonal variation was observed. A surgical procedure was performed in 14 352 hospital stays (24%). In the group of patients aged <30 years, there was no statistical difference between men and women with regard to type of pneumothorax (primary or secondary), type of hospitalisation unit (surgery vs medicine), treatment modality (surgery or not), intensive care unit (ICU) admission and hospital stay duration. Rehospitalisation was more frequent in women than in men (56% vs 52%, p<0.0001). In the 30–49 years age group, surgery and rehospitalisation were more frequent in women than in men (each, p<0.001). In the 50–64 years age group, surgical procedures and rehospitalisations were more frequent in men than in women (p=0.002 and p<0.0001, respectively). Conclusions Sex and age are determinant factors in the course of spontaneous pneumothorax.


A central theme in the history of the Nigeria press is its political orientation. This is understandable, although it has led to the neglect of other aspects of the history and contemporary structure of the Nigerian press. This paper explores one of the crucial yet neglected aspects of this history, i.e. the origin of the process of commercialization of the press and its implications for journalism practice. It argues that commercialization signalled the end of the so-called 'political' press which many commentators still refer to. It also led to some form of professional consciousness and the need for a professional organization among Nigerian journalists. *Dr. Lai Oso is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Ogun State Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Nigeria.


: How do people arrange themselves when they are free to choose work and residence locations, when commuting is costly, and when increasing returns may affect production? We consider this problem when the location set is discrete and households have heterogenous preferences over workplace-residence pairs. We provide a general characterization of equilibrium throughout the parameter space. The introduction of preference heterogeneity into an otherwise conventional urban model fundamentally changes equilibrium behavior. Multiple equilibria are pervasive although stable equilibria need not exist. Stronger increasing returns to scale need not concentrate economic activity and lower commuting costs need not disperse it. The qualitative behavior of the model as returns to scale increase accords with changes in the patterns of urbanization observed in the Western world between the pre-industrial period and the present.


Heat transfer has always been one of the most important aspects of human life. So far, many sources have been reported on methods of increasing the heat transfer rate. Many of these methods focus on changes in equipment structure. These techniques can hardly cope with the growing demand for heat transfer and compression in equipment. Recent advances in nanoparticle production can be seen as a breakthrough in methods of increasing heat transfer. The purpose of this study is to numerically investigate the flow field and heat transfer of water-aluminium oxide nanofluid in a wavy channel. The channel consists of two parallel plates and is divided into three parts in the longitudinal direction. The beginning and end parts of the channel are insulated and the middle part is sinusoidal and receives a uniform heat flux. The nanofluid enters the channel at a uniform speed and temperature and exits it in an expanded manner. For numerical analyses, the finite difference method based on control volume and simple algorithm is used. In this research, Reynold's effect was analysed. The results showed that by increasing the Reynolds number, the speed, temperature gradient and heat transfer rate was increased and the thickness of the thermal boundary layer was decreased. With increasing Reynolds number, the amount of heat transfer from the wall to the fluid and also the production of entropy increases. In the unsteady state, with increasing time and flow rate, the amount of heat transfer and total entropy and temperature gradient increase to reach the steady state.


There are many published algorithms for generating interaction test suites for software testing, exemplified by AETG, IPO, TCG, TConfig, simulated annealing and other heuristic search, and combinatorial design techniques. Among these, greedy one-test-at-a-time methods (such as AETG and TCG) have proven to be a reasonable compromise between the needs for small test suites, fast test-suite generation, and flexibility to accommodate a variety of testing scenarios. However, such methods suffer from the lack of a worst-case logarithmic guarantee on test suite size, while methods that provide such a guarantee at present are less efficient or flexible, or do not produce test suites that are competitive in size for practical testing scenarios. In this paper, a new algorithm establishes that efficient, greedy, one-test-at-a-time methods can indeed produce a logarithmic worst-case guarantee on the test suite size. In addition, this can be done while still producing test suites that are of competitive size, and in a time that is comparable to the published methods. It is deterministic, guaranteeing reproducibility. It generates only one candidate test at a time, permits users to 'seed' the test suite with specified tests, and allows users to specify constraints of combinations that should be avoided. Further, statistical analysis examines the impact of five variables used to tune this density algorithm for execution time and test suite size: weighting of density for factors, scaling of density, tie-breaking, use of multiple candidates, and multiple repetitions using randomization. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Purpose of review This article reviews recent studies evaluating the efficacy and complication profiles of novel glaucoma procedures promoting aqueous outflow. Recent findings Literature from the 2015 to 2016 review period includes abundant data regarding new and emerging glaucoma procedures. Notable findings from recent randomized clinical trials include titratability of intraocular pressure with multiple trabecular microbypass stents (iStent; Glaukos, Laguna Hills, California, USA) and greater reduction in intraocular pressure and medication usage following intracanalicular scaffolding (Hydrus Microstent; Ivantis Inc., Irvine, California, USA) combined with phacoemulsification vs. phacoemulsification alone. A supraciliary microstent (CyPass Micro-Stent; Transcend Medical, Inc., Menlo Park, California, USA) received approval from the Food and Drug Administration after a pivotal trial demonstrated its efficacy and safety. Early studies of investigational subconjunctival filtering devices (XEN Gel Stent; AqueSys, Inc., Aliso Viejo, California, USA and InnFocus MicroShunt; InnFocus Inc., Miami, Florida, USA) offer promising evidence, but late complications are as yet unknown. Summary Newer glaucoma procedures targeting different aqueous outflow pathways have improved the safety profile of glaucoma surgery while preserving modest efficacy. Most can be combined with phacoemulsification, allowing for simultaneous treatment of comorbid cataract and glaucoma. Well-designed randomized clinical trials with extended follow-up remain necessary to evaluate the long-term efficacy and late complications of these novel procedures.


Summary In Exp. 1, 96 sows (PIC C29) and their litters were used to determine the effects of creep diet complexity on preweaning performance and the proportion of piglets consuming creep feed. The experimental treatments were: (1) no creep feed (n = 26), (2) simple creep diet (n = 26), and (3) complex creep diet (n = 44). Pigs fed the complex creep diet had greater ( P < 0.03) ADG and tended to have greater ( P < 0.06) total gain than pigs fed the simple creep diet, with no creep pigs intermediate. Litters fed the complex creep diet consumed twice the total (2.73 vs. 1.37 lb; P < 0.0006) and daily (0.91 vs. 0.45 lb; P < 0.0006) creep feed intake of litters fed the simple creep diet. The high-complexity creep diet improved ( P < 0.0001) the proportion of eaters from 28% to 68%. A greater ( P < 0.10) proportion of eaters were nursing in the middle and posterior teats (57% and 52%, respectively) than in the anterior teats (38%). In Exp. 2, 675 pigs from Exp. 1 (initial BW 14.1 lb and 21.2 ± 0.2 d) were used to determine whether social facilitation occurs between eaters and non-eaters in commercial nursery groups. The treatments were: non-eater group (pigs that were not provided any creep feed or non-eaters of creep feed), eater group (pigs that positively consumed creep feed), and mix group (pigs that were 51% non-eaters and 49% eaters). Each treatment had 25 pigs per pen and 9 replications (pens). In the initial 3 d postweaning, eaters had greater ( P < 0.01) ADG and ( P < 0.002) ADFI than non-eaters, with the mix group being intermediate. Overall ADG of the eater group was 6.2% higher ( P < 0.05) than that of the non-eater group. For social facilitation to occur, weight gains of non-eaters in the mix pens should be either (1) closer to the weight gains of eaters in the mix pen or (2) greater than the weight gains of the non-eater group. Results showed that non-eaters within the mix pens failed both criteria. In conclusion, the high-complexity creep diet improved preweaning ADG, litter creep feed intake, and the proportion of eaters. Eaters had improved postweaning feed intake, daily gains, and weight uniformity and reduced postweaning lag. Mixing eaters with non-eaters within pens in large commercial groups did not stimulate feed intake and daily gains of non-eaters, which indicates that social facilitation did not occur.