To the Editor: The emergence of plasmid-mediated, and thus transferable, quinolone resistance determinants has been recently discovered (1) and shown to involve the pentapeptide repeat protein Qnr, which interacts with DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV to prevent quinolone inhibition (2,3). Qnr determinants confer resistance to nalidixic acid and reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones (3). They have been identified worldwide in a variety of enterobacterial species and were often associated to expanded-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) (2). The association between the ESBL VEB-1 and the QnrA1 determinants was reported (4). Because plasmid co-localization of QnrA and VEB-1 encoding genes has been reported repeatedly from scattered clonally-unrelated enterobacterial isolates, our objective was to use replicon typing to trace a possible dissemination of a common plasmid worldwide.

The blaVEB-1 and/or qnrA-positive plasmids that have been included in the study were from 17 isolates previously described in detail (3–8) (Table). Escherichia coli transconjugants (Tc) were obtained for 14 of 17 clinical isolates, allowing an accurate replicon typing since original clinical isolates might harbor several plasmids. They were collected from 1999 to 2005, from patients hospitalized in different parts of the world (Table). The 13 blaVEB-1-positive isolates were from 5 countries (France, Turkey, Algeria, Thailand, and Canada), scattered on 4 continents. Among them, the Providencia stuartii and Proteus mirabilis isolates from Algeria were negative for qnrA1. In addition, 4 blaVEB-1-negative but qnrA1-positive isolates recovered from France and Australia were also included in the study.

Table

Features of the VEB-1– or QnrA-positive isolates used in this study*

PCR-based replicon typing (PBRT), which recognizes FIA, FIB, FIC, HI1, HI2, I1-Ig, L/M, N, P, W, T, A/C, K, B/O, X, Y, and FII replicons (9), was applied to type the resistance plasmids from all the strains. Amplicons were confirmed by DNA sequencing and used as probes in hybridization experiments on purified plasmids (data not shown).

PBRT results showed that the 13 blaVEB-1-positive plasmids (including 11 qnrA1-positive) belonged to the IncA/C incompatibility group. DNA sequencing identified the A/C2 replicon variant (European Molecular Biology Laboratory no. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"AM087198","term_id":"90855305","term_text":"AM087198"}}AM087198) in all these plasmids (Table). Plasmids of this type were recently identified in the United States and in Italy carrying the AmpC-type cephalosporinase CMY-4–encoding gene (10). In 2 strains (E. coli TcGOC and Citrobacter freundii LUT), the IncA/C2 plasmids were associated with additional replicons, which suggests the presence of multiple plasmids or fusions between plasmids of different backbones. By contrast, all the 4 blaVEB-1-negative isolates but qnrA1-positive were negative for the A/C replicon, except transconjugant TcK147; however, sequencing identified an A/C1-type replicon in that strain. These results indicated that the genes encoding QnrA1 and VEB-1, when identified concomitantly in a given isolate, were always located on plasmids belonging to the same IncA/C2-incompatibility group that may vary in size and digestion pattern (Table; unpub. data). In addition, we showed that plasmids carrying the blaVEB-1 gene but lacking qnrA1 were also of the IncA/C2 type (Table). Plasmids that were blaVEB-1-negative but qnrA1-positive were of distinct replicon types, thus suggesting independent acquisition of the qnrA1 gene on different plasmids. It is remarkable that since VEB-1 is apparently always encoded by IncA/C2 plasmids, when genes for QnrA1 and VEB-1 are found together, they also occur on IncA/C2 plasmids.

Thus, evidence here shows that the IncA/C2 plasmid is the main vehicle of the blaVEB-1 gene worldwide, on which the qnrA1 gene may be added. The possibility that both blaVEB-1 and qnrA1 genes may be identified on a single genetic structure in several isolates has been recently shown with their identification within the same sul1-type integron (6).

Since results of these experiments provided a good marker for tracing blaVEB-1-positive plasmids, and taking in account the property of A/C-type plasmids to have a broad range of hosts (note: this has not been demonstrated for the specific A/C2 subgroup), we tried to amplify the A/C2 replicon in a collection of 15 blaVEB-1-positive and clonally unrelated Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from France, Thailand, India, and Kuwait. The blaVEB-1 gene was supposed to be chromosome-encoded in those isolates. PCR failed to give any positive results, confirming the absence of an IncA/C-type plasmid and also ruling out the hypothesis of IncA/C2-type plasmid co-integration at the origin of blaVEB-1 acquisition in P. aeruginosa.

The spread of plasmids carrying a large array of resistance genes among Enterobacteriaceae is of concern since this provides a convenient genetic mechanism for a given strain to become panresistant to antimicrobial drugs. In particular, the recent identification of the Qnr determinants have shown that plasmids may provide resistance (or at least reduced susceptibility) to quinolones and fluoroquinolones, whereas they are already known to carry resistance to β-lactams, aminoglycosides, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, rifampin, sulfonamides, and disinfectants. pQR1 (4) or p1 (6) are examples of well-characterized plasmids that mediate multidrug resistance by carrying blaVEB-1 and qnrA1, together with aminoglycoside resistance genes aadB, aacA1, and aadA1, chloramphenicol resistance gene cmlA, rifampin resistance gene arr2, disinfectant resistance gene qacI, and sulfonamides resistance gene sul1.

Our study showed that the IncA/C2-type plasmids may be the source of such worldwide dissemination. It means that 1 plasmid scaffold has brought the same (or at least very similar) multidrug resistance to multiple enterobacterial species in different continents.


Objective: To determine the publicly funded health care system lifetime cost-of-illness of spinal cord injury (SCI) from the perspective of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. Methods: Individuals hospitalized for their first SCI between the years 2005 and 2011 were identified and their health care costs were calculated using Ontario administrative health care data. From this information, lifetime costs were estimated using phase-based costing methods. The spinal cord injured cohort was matched to a non-spinal cord injured using propensity score matching. Net costs were determined by calculating the difference in costs between the two matched groups. Net costs were also presented for subgroups stratified by demographic characteristics. Results: A total of 1,716 individuals with SCI were identified and matched in our study. The net lifetime cost of SCI was $336,000 per person. Much of the costs were observed in the first year post-SCI. The lifetime cost of SCI for individuals with a concurrent pressure ulcer at the initial hospitalization rises to $479,600. Costs were also higher for individuals with cervical or thoracic injury or requiring inpatient rehabilitation. Conclusions: Spinal cord injury is a substantial burden to the health care system. Our results are limited to the direct health care costs from the publicly funded health care payer perspective. Further analysis with a broader perspective is needed to understand the full economic impact of this catastrophic condition.


Sexual violence continues to be a major public health problem affecting millions of adults and children in the United States. Medical consequences of sexual assault include sexually transmitted infections; mental health conditions, including posttraumatic stress disorder; and risk of unintended pregnancy in reproductive-aged survivors of sexual assault. Obstetrician-gynecologists and other women's health care providers play a key role in the evaluation and management of sexual assault survivors and should screen routinely for a history of sexual assault. When sexual violence is identified, individuals should receive appropriate and timely care. A clinician who examines sexual assault survivors in the acute-care setting has a responsibility to comply with state and local statutory or policy requirements for the use of evidence-gathering kits. This document has been updated to include model screening protocols and questions, relevant guidelines from other medical associations, trauma-informed care, and additional guidance regarding acute evaluation of survivors and evidence-gathering kits.


Exposure to high-frequency (HF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) at 18 GHz was previously found to induce reversible cell permeabilization in eukaryotic cells; however, the fate of internalized foreign objects inside the cell remains unclear. Here, silica core–shell gold nanospheres (Au NS) of 20 ± 5 nm diameter were used to study the localization of Au NS in pheochromocytoma (PC 12) cells after exposure to HF EMFs at 18 GHz. Internalization of Au NS was confirmed using fluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Analysis based on corresponding scanning transmission electron microscopy energy-dispersive spectroscopy revealed the presence of the Au NS free within the PC 12 cell membrane, cytoplasm, enclosed within intracellular vesicles and sequestered in vacuoles. The results obtained in this work highlight that exposure to HF EMFs could be used as an efficient technique with potential for effective delivery of drugs, genetic material, and nanomaterials into cells for the purpose of cellular manipulation or therapy.


A new adaptive algorithm for the robust estimation of parameters of linear dynamic discrete-time systems in the presence of non-Gaussian impulsive noise within a measurement sequence is proposed in this study. Starting from the theory of robust estimation, a simple, adaptive, practically applicable robust approximate maximum likelihood algorithm is derived that, in the cases of contaminated normal distribution of measurement noise, demonstrates a high level of efficiency. The QQ-plot technique, combined with data cleaning based on the robustified winsorisation technique, is used as a framework for the classification of sorted data into the class of regular normally distributed data and the class of irregular data belonging to the contaminating distribution with a variance that is much greater than nominal. The link between the QQ-plot technique and a specific linear regression is established, so that the estimation of statistical parameters of the contaminated measurement distribution is performed using the least-squares technique. Then, the suboptimal maximum likelihood criterion is defined, and the system parameter estimation problem is solved robustly, using the proposed recursive robust parameter estimation scheme. Simulation results illustrate the discussion and show the efficiency of the proposed adaptive recursive parameter estimation algorithm in the presence of glint spikes or outliers.


One of the essential assumptions made in estimating the terminal velocity and the drop‐size distribution of hydrometeor from the precipitation Doppler spectrum observed by VHF/UHF radar (or wind profiler) is that all of the precipitation particles are moving together at the same velocity as the ambient wind. However, this may not be the case. In this paper, taking advantage of the capability of simultaneously measuring the motions of precipitation particles and the clear‐air turbulence with a VHF radar, we develop a method to examine the wind‐driven effect on the drift of precipitation particles using the Chung‐Li VHF radar. By appropriately setting the radar parameters and steering the radar beams, experimental results show that the drift velocity of the precipitation particles in response to the drag force exerted by the background atmosphere is not the same as the ambient wind velocity, approximately 83% of the latter in this case. This feature indicates that the precipitation particles are not moving with the background wind, causing inaccurate estimations of the terminal velocity and the drop‐size distribution of hydrometeor if this effect is not taken into account.


AbstractTOWARDS A PEOPLE'S SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY:An Intergenerational Study of Place, Embodiment, & Health viaParticipatory Action Research with Residents of Public HousingByRyan J. PettewayDoctor of Public healthUniversity of California, BerkeleyProfessor Rachel Morello-Frosch, ChairSocial Epidemiology has made critical contributions to understanding health inequities. However, translation of social epidemiology science into meaningful and timely action remains a challenge. With so much focus within the field on issues like social position, discrimination, racism, power, and privilege, there has been surprisingly little deliberation about the extent and value of social inclusion and equity within the field itself, and how the challenge of translation might be more readily met through re-envisioning the role of the people in the research enterprise—reimagining what "social" could, or even should, mean for the future of the field. Place-health research represents a particularly promising subfield within which to emphasize these principles, especially within the context of public housing.Thus, the overall aim for my dissertation work was to conduct research at the nexus of public health and public housing by integrating participatory research methods and information communication technologies (ICTs) to democratize the research process and facilitate local action. In this spirit, my work develops, introduces, and field-tests 3 interrelated and nested concepts that, in application, represent a model for inclusive and equitable social epidemiology: A People's Social Epidemiology, the Placescape, and Geographies of Embodiment.First, Chapter 1 introduces a conceptual framework for A People's Social Epidemiology—a multicomponent and tiered framework to guide social epidemiology research/practice to become more inclusive and equitable, improve knowledge translation, and facilitate timely, locally relevant action—essentially, to enhance the "social" in social epidemiology. The framework draws upon theory, concepts, and principles from social epidemiology, community-based participatory research (CBPR), and information and communication technologies for development (ICTD). This work specifically highlights place-health research as a subfield particularly suited for A People's Social Epidemiology approach, and the framework was accordingly "field-tested" through my development and implementation of the People's Social Epidemiology Project (PSEP)—an intergenerational CBPR study of place, embodiment, and health with residents of public housing.For the PSEP, parent-youth dyads were recruited from a predominantly Black public housing community and trained in core principles related to social epidemiology and health equity, and fundamental aspects of public health research and CBPR. They were then trained in 4 participatory research methods: Photovoice, Activity Space Mapping, X-Ray Mapping, and2Participatory GIS. All research methods were completed by the participants themselves. First, participants used Photovoice (via cellphones) to identify, photo-document, and describe their important daily places and specific exposures/opportunities within each place they perceive affects their health. Next, they used Activity Space Mapping to geolocate and map their Photovoice photos, identify any additional non-photographed places, and to rate and provide time estimates for each mapped place. Then, using a cognitive mapping method known as X-Ray Mapping, they created symbolic representations of place-embodiment reflecting how each of their mapped places affects their bodies/health. Finally, constituting Participatory GIS, they integrated and digitally mapped their work via a web-based multimedia-enabled ICT platform, Local Ground. This platform allows participants to create, print, and digitally share their place-health research maps with the broader community and city officials.Anchored in A People's Social Epidemiology, Chapter 2 introduces the Placescape framework. The goal of the work presented here was to develop and field-test a place-health framework that: 1) accounts for the multi-nodal nature of "place" and its contingent spatial, temporal, and social inter-nodal connections/divisions; 2) elucidates potential intergenerational and life-stage differences in place experiences/perceptions; and 3) explicitly engages the sociopolitical mechanisms that make, unmake, and remake place over time. A framework for a placescape approach was developed drawing from place-health, social epidemiology, participatory research, geography, and sociology literatures. This framework was then applied to the PSEP study, with parents and youth using the above combination of participatory methods to map their "placescapes". Findings revealed clear spatial and temporal differences in adult and youth placescapes, as well as a very distinct pattern of place "nodes" among youth—indicating a multinodal placescape.Lastly, rooted in the Placescape framework, Chapter 3 introduces the Geographies of Embodiment concept through detailing the process and findings of a novel cognitive mapping methodology to elucidate subjective notions of place-embodiment within place-health research—X-Ray Mapping. This work aims to enhance place-health research efforts by furthering our understanding of: 1) which places matter for health and when (i.e. spatially- and temporally-specific notions of "place"); 2) how these places matter—the processes/mechanisms of the physiological embodiment of place; and 3) intergenerational and life-stage differences in place-embodiment experiences/perceptions. Findings revealed clear spatial differences between adult and youth geographies of embodiment, as well clear perceptual differences in which body areas are affected by place and how.Overall, the work presented in these three chapters outlines a framework for conducting more inclusive and equitable—and more practicable and actionable—social epidemiology research, develops a new paradigm for understanding/researching place and health—especially within public housing communities—rooted in intergenerational and participatory approaches, and introduces a novel research methodology to elucidate subjective notions of place-embodiment within place-health research. These combined contributions improve efforts to appropriately conceptualize and measure "place", and further understanding of place, place-embodiment, and health within public housing. Moreover, these contributions offer guidance on how to move towards a more inclusive and equitable social epidemiology research practice—one that is of, for, and by the people, and not simply about them/us.


Organizational blockout is the ability to remove obsolescence and inefficient knowledge and is considered to comprise an important part of knowledge dynamics within organizations. Organization Blockout is closely linked with knowledge dynamics. For keeping pace with present environment, organizational learning needs to adopt new programs and standard procedures. To this end, focus on organizational blockout could have impact on the success of organizational learning programs. Following a brief discourse on concepts such as organizational knowledge and learning organizations, the paper discusses organizational blockout and its role in organizations.


During this project NoSQL technologies for Hotel IT have been evaluated. It has been determined that among NoSQL technologies, document database fits the best this use-case.Couchbase and MongoDB, the two main documents stores have been evaluated, their similarities and differences have been highlighted. This reveals that document-oriented features were more developed in MongoDB than Couchbase, this has a direct impact on search of reservations functionality. However Couchbase offers a better way to replicate data across two remote data centers. As one of the goals was to provide a powerful search functionality, it has been decided to use MongoDB as a database for this project.A proof of concept has been developed, it enables to search reservations by property code, guest name, check-in date and check-out date using a REST/JSON interface and confirms that MongoDB could work for storing hotel reservations in terms of functionality.Then different experiments have been conducted on this system such as throughput and response time using specific hotel reservation search query and data set. The results we got reached our targets. We also performed a scalability test, using MongoDB sharding functionalities to distribute data across several machines (shards) using different strategies (shard keys) so as to provide configuration recommendations. Our main finding was that it was not necessary to always distribute the database. Then if "sharding" is needed, distributing the data according to the property code will make the database go faster, because queries will be sent directly to the good machine(s) in the cluster and thus avoid "scatter-gather" query.Finally some search optimizations have been proposed, and in particular how an advanced search by names could be implemented with MongoDB.


Adomian decomposition method and He's variational Iteration method are applied to nonlinear oscillator problems that involve conservative type of oscillators. The methods proved to be effective for the general and specific cases due to their algorithms that admit nonlinear terms in the problems. The two methods are tested on some specific problems in the literature, and the results obtained compared favourably with those obtained via the use of Energy balance method.


The two large earthquakes to occur in Mexico in 1999 were both normal-faulting, intraplate events in the subducted Cocos Plate. There is, however, a significant difference in their locations with respect to the coast, and, hence, with respect to the strongly coupled plate interface. The 15 June 1999 Tehuacan earthquake ( H ∼60 km; Mw = 7.0) was located about 200 km inland from the coast (Singh et al., 1999) and in this sense was a typical intraplate event in the subducted slab. The Oaxaca earthquake of 30 September 1999 ( H ∼45 km; Mw = 7.5), on the other hand, occurred almost below the coast. As we point out later, the 1999 Oaxaca earthquake is not unique; two other, recent intraplate events had similar characteristics. In some aspects the 1999 earthquake is similar to the great intraplate Oaxaca earthquake of 15 January 1931 ( M = 7.8), which caused great destruction in the state of Oaxaca, especially in the city of Oaxaca.

For the 1999 Oaxaca earthquake the National Seismological Service (SSN) of Mexico reported a magnitude of 7.4 and assigned an epicentral location near the coastal town of Puerto Escondido. Since the real-time network coverage of SSN is poor, the depth of the earthquake was poorly determined. A coastal epicenter suggested a thrust earthquake on the plate interface. It was not until the Harvard CMT solution became available that it was realized that it was a normal-faulting intraplate earthquake.

The earthquake caused serious damage in the state of Oaxaca. The heavy rains which preceded and followed the earthquake compounded the loss and presented enormous difficulties in providing emergency help. In this report, we present the plate tectonic framework of the region, the seismological aspects of the earthquake, an isoacceleration map, the attenuation of peak ground motion with distance, a …


In this study, the performance of different aluminium hydroxide.based adsorbents was compared in terms of fluoride adsorption capacity, potential for repetitive regeneration, surface acidity and surface site concentrations. The adsorbents were aluminium hydro(oxide) (AO), activated alumina (AA), and pseudoboehmite (PB). The AO adsorbent was synthesised at different OH:Al ratios to optimise the fluoride adsorption capacity. The AO was pilot tested in a rural community in the Ethiopian Rift Valley where groundwaters are heavily enriched with fluoride. The maximum fluoride uptake was achieved for the AO adsorbent synthesised at OH:Al ratios between 2.5 and 2.7. The fluoride adsorption capacity of the adsorbents determined from mini-column studies was found to be 10.6, 1.9, and 2.4 mg/g for AO, AA, and PB, respectively. This significant difference in fluoride adsorption capacity is strongly related to the surface acidity and surface site concentration. The surface acidity (1.57 meq/g) and surface site concentration (0.74 meq/g) for AO is higher than that for AA and PB. The elemental composition analysis showed that AO has a lower % Al2O3 content than AA and PB, but higher sulphate (19.4%) and iron (2.2%) content. High resolution 27Al Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (27Al MAS NMR) spectra of AO, AA, and PB were recorded, to analyse the coordination geometry of solid Al species and the results showed that aluminium is coordinated octahedrally and tetrahedrally in all cases. Regeneration experiments showed that AA and PB can be regenerated for more than 3 cycles, whereas the potential for regeneration of AO for more than 3 cycles is limited. The results from a community defluoridation plant showed that fluoride in the feed water (8.10 mg/.) is removed below 0.1 mg/.. The average adsorption capacity was determined to be 2.11 mg/g based on continuous field monitoring results obtained until the fluoride content in the treated water exceeded the breakthrough value of 1.5 mg/.. No major operational problems and complaints from the beneficiaries were experienced during operation. Keywords : fluoride, adsorption, surface acidity, regeneration,  defluoridation, Ethiopia


A strategy for assessing potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) based on a simulated intestinal concentration is described. The proposed predictionmethodwas applied to the DDI assessment of luseogliflozin, a novel antidiabetic drug, against miglitol absorbed via the intestinal sodium-glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1). The method involves four steps: collection of physicochemical and pharmacokinetic parameters of luseogliflozin for use in a computer simulation; evaluation of the validity of these parameters by verifying the goodness of fit between simulated and observed plasma profiles; simulation of the intestinal luseogliflozin concentration-time profile using the Advanced Compartment Absorption and Transit (ACAT) model in a computer program and estimation of the time spent above a value 10-fold higher than the IC50 value (TAIC) for SGLT1; and evaluation of the DDI potential of luseogliflozin by considering the percentage of TAIC against the miglitol Tmax (time for Cmax) value (TAIC/Tmax). An initial attempt to prove the validity of this method was performed in rats. The resulting TAIC/Tmax in rats was 32%, suggesting a low DDI potential of luseogliflozin against miglitol absorption. The validity was then confirmed using an in vivo interaction study in rats. In humans, luseogliflozin was expected to have no DDI potential against miglitol absorption, since the TAIC/Tmax in humans was lower than that in rats. This prediction was proven, as expected, in a clinical interaction study. In conclusion, the present strategy based on a simulation of the intestinal concentration-time profile using dynamic modeling would be useful for assessing the clinical DDI potential of a concomitant agent against drugs absorbed via an intestinal transporter.


Background: Cardiovascular disease is the number one global killer, with over three quarters of these deaths arising from the populations of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Addressing the burden of cardiovascular disease in LMICs must include medical and surgical services for these patients. In this article, we model the needs and costs to scale up the cardiac provider workforce in Kenya, which can be adapted to other LMICs based on country-specific workforce hours and workforce salaries. Methods: Using published epidemiological reports from sub-Saharan Africa, we structured the model based on the expected disease burden of congenital and rheumatic disease in a simulated 1,000-person population. Services modeled include clinic visits, echocardiograms, diagnostic cardiac catheterizations, interventional catheterizations, and heart surgery. Costs were modeled based on Kenyan public sector salaries. After scaling the model, we created a sensitivity analysis of change in service duration and salaries. Results: Based on a 1,000-person Kenyan population, we estimate that 2.5 heart surgeries will be needed every year, with a corresponding annual workforce cost of US$526. Including accompanying services of clinic visits, echocardiograms, and both diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterizations, the total annual workforce cost is US$899. Based on estimated productive hours for public sector workforce, 196 full-time equivalent cardiac surgeons will be needed for the entire population of Kenya (2017 figure). Conclusions: We present a model for appropriate cardiovascular service staffing based on disease burden and workforce costs. This model can be scaled up as needed to plan for local capacity building.


In this research project characteristics of effective instructional development were identified that are appealing to medical teachers and relevant for medical education. Furthermore, we wanted to know if medical teachers' learning improved if an instructional development program was adapted in such a way that it included more of these characteristics.
In this project we conducted two studies. In the first study, described in Chapters 2 and 3, we focused on selecting characteristics of effective instructional development programs for the medical context. In this study teachers and teacher educators were asked to indicate which of 35 characteristics that had been derived from the literature on effective instructional development (Guskey, 2003; Steinert et al., 2006) were important to them. In the second study, on which we report in Chapters 4 and 5, we used the characteristics collected in the first study as a framework to analyze a successful instructional course called Train the Trainers. This provided insight into its effectiveness and impact. We constructed a new instructional development course, using the information from the framework, and studied the learning processes of the medical teachers who participated in this Plus Course


Two techniques that analyze prediction accuracy and enhance predictive power of a software reliability model are presented. The u-plot technique detects systematic differences between predicted and observed failure behavior, allowing the recalibration of a software reliability model to obtain more accurate predictions. The perpetual likelihood ratio (PLR) technique compares two models' abilities to predict a particular data source so that the one that has been most accurate over a sequence of predictions can be selected. The application of these techniques is illustrated using three sets of real failure data. >


According to the recognition heuristic, people infer that an object they recognize has a higher value on a criterion of interest than an object they do not recognize. This model has been analyzed mathematically and conditions for the less-is-more effect -- where recognizing fewer objects increases inferential accuracy -- have been derived. We propose an extension of the heuristic that incorporates the empirical finding that people recognize some objects for which they believe they have low criterion value. We call these recognized objects unsatisfying, in contrast to recognized-satisfying objects which the inference-maker believes to have a high criterion value. We analyze the model and provide a number of results: First, we derive closed-form expressions for the parameters of our model, as well as for the parameters of the original model, in terms of the distributions of recognition and other cues over the objects. Second, we use the expressions to analyze the less-is-more effect for both models. Third, we use the expressions to calculate and compare the accuracy of the two models and derive conditions under which the models equal or surpass the accuracy of random inference. Our results are general and can thus be linked to any model of recognition-based inference.


Objectives: This study aimed to perform a non-invasive nutritional assessment in a group of elderly care home residents over a two-month period to estimate nutritional status using the malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST), the mini-nutritional assessment (MNA)-short form (-SF) and full version (-FULL), and bioelectrical impedance assessment (BIA). Design: An observational study performed over a 2 month period. Setting: A residential nursing care home in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. Participants: 14 elderly Caucasian participants with presence of significant comorbidity were recruited (8 females and 6 males), mean age 85.6 ±6.2 (77-96). Measurements: Anthropometric measurements (height, weight, mid-upper arm and calf circumferences), calculation of body mass index (BMI), MUST and MNA scoring, and BIA at 50 kHz were completed at weeks 0, 4 and 8. BIA phase angle (PA) and BIA vector analysis (BIVA) at 50 kHz was investigated. Results: Group BMI indicated that the residents were a mixed group of body sizes and on average generally well nourished (e.g. week 0: 26.4kg/m2±6.5 (18.3-35.9). The MUST tool categorised residents predominantly within the low risk/normal range (62-67%); whereas MNA-SF placed the majority within medium/at risk category (57-77%); and MNA-FULL within medium/at risk (64-92%). PA (group at 0: 4.1±1.2 (2.2-6.7)) and BIVA indicated group data was similar to reference data for comorbid elderly populations with a lower nutritional and functional status. Conclusion: Study results indicate a potential data trend whereby there may be a mismatch in the assessment of nutritional status using MUST compared to the MNA. BIA PA and BIVA data supported the MNA results and were found to be consistent with reference population groups. Further studies in larger cohort groups will be necessary to confirm or refute this finding.


The demand for very special optical coatings, having unusual optical characteristics that have no similarities with the traditional coatings, steadily increases. Typical examples are colour temperature converters, some types of narrow band reflectors, etc. A thin-film designer often encounters the very well known problem of the starting design. In this paper, a strategy of multilayer design is described. Taking an example, the target function is defined and then the complete design procedure is illustrated. The use of only two popular optical multilayer materials, namely SiO2 and TiO2 is assumed. BK7 glass and air are assumed as surrounding media. In all analysed cases, only a certain number of alternating layers can be assumed as the starting point of the design procedure. The method of global multilayer design is used in the first step, it is followed by the Tikhonravov's design method, and finally by the gradient refinement. Other possible ways and methods are discussed, and some hints are given.


We have recently reported that low tumor levels of SMAD4, a key mediator of transforming growth factor-β superfamily signaling, can predict the probability of recurrence in patients with Dukes C colorectal cancer who had surgery as the only form of treatment. However, standard treatment for Dukes C colorectal cancer patients currently involves the administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)–based adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery. Approximately 30% to 40% of these patients present with recurrence and die within 5 years, and there is great need for markers capable of predicting poor prognosis after the combined surgery/adjuvant treatment. In this study, we evaluate the prognostic value of SMAD4 in patients treated with surgery and 5-FU-based adjuvant therapy. We used immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR to measure the levels of SMAD4 protein and mRNA expression in the primary tumors and a number of lymph node metastases from a series of 75 Dukes C colorectal cancer patients with at least 6 years of follow-up. Patients with tumors expressing low levels of SMAD4 protein or mRNA showed significantly shorted disease-free and overall survival than patients with high tumor levels of SMAD4. The median survival of patients with low SMAD4 protein or mRNA tumor levels was 1.4 and 1.2 years, respectively, whereas patients with high SMAD4 tumor level had a median survival of >9.3 years. In addition, the protein and mRNA levels of SMAD4 in lymph node metastases was significantly lower than in primary tumors (P = 0.006). In contrast, allelic imbalance in chromosome 18q21 was of no prognostic significance in these patients. In conclusion, low SMAD4 tumor levels identified a subset of patients with poor prognosis following surgery and 5-FU-based adjuvant therapy; therefore, these patients could be good candidates to receive combined treatment with additional chemotherapeutic agents such as CPT-11 and/or oxaliplatin.


The function of the loader arm of the high-speed pneumatic loader is to load the work piece from the conveyer belt into the die machine and vice-versa. The purpose of the work was to develop a Finite Element Model of the loader arm by using ANSYS Software. And with the help of the FEA model, the loader arm is optimized from stress and minimum deflection point of view. The knowledge of FEA and optimization is required to achieve the desired optimization in the existing structure.


Abstract Mycobacterium spp. infection is an important health concern for Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) populations worldwide. The disease is of particular concern considering its potential to affect not only the individual animal but also herd and public health. Although elephant tuberculosis susceptibility is poorly understood, immune function alterations are central to disease pathogenesis in other species and probably affect outcome of mycobacterial infections in elephants. Measurement of immune mediator (cytokine) levels within blood samples can provide information regarding immune function that may elucidate disease susceptibility. For this study, mRNA levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-10, and IL-12; interferon (IFN)-γ; tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α; and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β were measured using elephant-specific, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays in RNA-preserved whole blood samples from 106 Asian elephants, 15% of which were Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex seropositive. The Elephant TB STAT-PAK® (Chembio Diagnostics, Inc., Medford, New York 11763, USA), a novel lateral flow antibody detection assay developed for specific use in elephants, was used to determine serologic status for the study. Seropositive animals had higher levels of TNF-α and lower levels of TGF-β than seronegative animals; these differences between groups were statistically significant when levels were analyzed as categorical variables. Trends toward higher levels of IFN-γ and IL-4 and slightly lower levels of IL-10 and IL-12 were noted in the seropositive group, although differences between groups were not statistically significant. Presence of other inflammatory conditions was found to be a significant confounding variable in the analysis of the relationship between tuberculosis status and TNF-α levels, necessitating its inclusion in statistical models. Age and sex were not found to significantly affect the relationship between tuberculosis status and any of the cytokines measured. Interleukin-2 levels were below the sensitivity of the real-time RT-PCR assay irrespective of tuberculosis status. These findings provide a foundation for future research into the immunopathogenesis of elephant tuberculosis.


Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common human sarcoma, frequently characterized by an oncogenic mutation in the KIT or platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRA) genes. We performed RNA sequencing of 75 human GIST tumors from 75 patients, comprising the largest cohort of GISTs sequenced to date, in order to discover differences in the immune infiltrates of KIT and PDGFRA-mutant GIST. Through bioinformatics, immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry, we found that PDGFRA-mutant GISTs harbored more immune cells with increased cytolytic activity when compared to KIT-mutant GISTs. PDGFRA-mutant GISTs expressed many chemokines, such as CXCL14, at a significantly higher level when compared to KIT-mutant GISTs and exhibited more diverse driver-derived neoepitope:HLA binding, both of which may contribute to PDGFRA-mutant GIST immunogenicity. Through machine learning, we generated gene expression-based immune profiles capable of differentiating KIT and PDGFRA-mutant GISTs, and also identified additional immune features of high PD-1 and PD-L1 expressing tumors across all GIST mutational subtypes, which may provide insight into immunotherapeutic opportunities and limitations in GIST.


Cu–Co3O4 hybrids and activated carbon were employed to fabricate flexible solid-state electrochemical energy storage devices via facile processing. The resulting flexible devices showed a large specific capacitance of 530 mF cm−2 with excellent mechanical flexibility, which offered a maximum volumetric energy density of 0.71 mW h cm−3, and delivered a maximum power density of 88.6 mW cm−3. What's more, the device showed an excellent cycling stability with only ∼5.2% decay after 6000 cycles.


This paper presents a design method of force rebalance control for the sense mode of a micromachined vibratory gyroscope with multiobjective. The control strategy is mainly based on constraining sensitivity margin specifications via numerical optimization approach, which embeds the sense mode in a closed-loop system to possess more robust performance. This paper also provides a quantitative methodology of configuring the system parameters to realize the functional electrostatic force feedback control for the microgyroscope in the case of nonideal coupling and external angular disturbance. Theoretical results predicted by the control loop are shown to be in close agreement with the experimental results using a practical microgyroscope, which indicated a satisfactory performance of the proposed control algorithm. The maximums of the sensitivity function and complementary sensitivity function are measured to be 4.5 and 1 dB, resulting in GM ≥ 7.84 dB and PM ≥ 35°. The gyroscope achieves a scale factor of 7.1 mV/deg/s with nonlinearity of 0.2% which is improved by one order of magnitude compared with that of the open loop. The bandwidth is extended to about 98 Hz from 30 Hz in the open loop. The quadrature error and temperature stability of the scale factor are reduced from - 10.33 to -59.22 dB and from 4858 to 646 ppm/°C with the force rebalance control, respectively.


Background: Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality among Latina women in the US. Physical activity (PA) and exercise have been shown to reduce morbidity and mortality from cardiometabolic diseases and cancer while improving individual fitness; disability and health related quality of life (HRQoL). However, Latinas, particularly those who speak only Spanish, have not been included in studies in sufficient numbers to identify factors to promote their participation in cancer prevention interventions. Purpose: To compare physical fitness, disability, and HRQoL between physically active and sedentary Hispanic breast cancer survivors. Methods: A total of 94 women (Age: 55.4 ± 9.9; BMI: 29.87 ± 5.62; ) from the Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX participating in Project VIVA! were recruited for this study. The VIVA! Program is a 16-week exercise intervention emphasizing in the minimum guidelines from The American College of Sports Medicine targeting aerobic endurance, muscular strength, balance, and muscle endurance. Participants visited the clinic for fitness testing and assessment of physical activity (PA), disability, and HRQoL through a battery of self-administered questionnaires previous to starting the intervention. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) in the preferred language of the participant; English or Spanish. The physical fitness assessment included: anthropometrics (BMI & waist to hip ratio) measures, adiposity (% body fat) by skinfolds measurement, six-minute walk test (6MWT), lumbar and isquiotibial flexibility by sit-and-reach, grip strength by hand dynamometry, lower extremity endurance testing by sit-to-stand in 30 seconds, upper extremity, low back, and leg strength by Jackson strength testing protocol, shoulder range of motion (ROM) with inclinometer, and balance testing by a functional reach test. Upper and lower extremity function, joint motion and disability were assessed by The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Score (QuickDASH) and The Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), respectively. HRQoL was measured by the short version of the QOL (SF-36) questionnaire. For physical activity analyses, sample was divided into two groups based on results from the IPAQ; those with less than 150 min/wk (n = 58) and those exceeding 150 min/wk (n = 36). For analyses of sedentary time, sample was also divided into two groups based on the IPAQ; those spending less than 180 min/day in sitting (n = 46) and those spending greater than 180 mins/day sitting (n = 45). Groups were compared for all variables using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: ANOVA for physical activity revealed that those participants engaging in more than 150 min/wk of PA have better 6MWT (p = 0.04) and 30-second sit-to-stand ( p = 0.027) results demonstrating greater cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular endurance, respectively. Those participants spending less than 180 mins/day sitting exhibited better mental component scores in the SF-36 than those spending more time sitting (p = 0.012). Conclusion: It appears that meeting or exceeding the minimum recommended amount of PA and decreasing time spent in sedentary activities have positive physical fitness and HRQoL outcomes in Hispanic women breast cancer survivors. Even though the relationship between PA and sedentary behaviors with measures of physical fitness, disability, and HRQoL are difficult to establish, it is sound for clinicians to start considering PA as a preventive and rehabilitative strategy to improve breast cancer survivors HRQoL. Funding Sources: This project was partially supported by the Center for Energy Balance in Cancer Prevention and Survivorship, Duncan Family Institute, and by the following NIH awards: U54 CA 96297; P30 CA016672; R25T CA057730; and K01 CA 134550. Citation Format: Alexis Ortiz, Maribel Tirado-Gomez, Daniel C. Hughes, Velda Gonzalez, Karen Basen-Engquist. Differences in physical fitness, disability, and health-related quality of life between physical active and sedentary Hispanic breast cancer survivors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Seventh AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 9-12, 2014; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2015;24(10 Suppl):Abstract nr B29.


In vitro cultures of Hypericum heterophyllum Vent. was established by using MS and MS-B5 medium contained plant growth regulators such as kinetin, BAP, IAA, TDZ and picloram. Flower, leaf, stem and in vitro samples (callus and in vitro plantlets) of H. heterophyllum were analysed by LC-MS/MS for their chemical contents such as quinic acid, gallic acid, (+)-catechin, ferulic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and quercetin; moreover their radical scavening activities conducted by DPPH and ABTS methods were evaluated. Among all the analysed samples, the in vitro plantlets shown the highest antioxidant activity (IC50, 220 μg/mL for DPPH and 254 μg/mL for ABTS), probably due to the presence of phenolic acids and flavonoids, specifically the higher total phenolic content (64.4 mg GAE/g extract) than other samples. The phytochemical variation among all samples was discussed through principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The in vitro plantlets might offer possibilities for the production of high-value secondary metabolites as pharmaceuticals and food preservatives. This study is the first report on analyses and comparison of secondary metabolites and antioxidant activities in different plant parts and in vitro samples of endemic H. heterophyllum.


The paper explores the consequences that different behavioral assumptions in the training of managers may have on their future performance. We argue that training with an emphasis on the standard assumptions used in economics (rationality and self-interest) is good for technical posts but may lead future managers to rely excessively on rational and explicit safeguarding, crowding out instinctive relational heuristics and signaling a "bad" human type to potential partners. In contrast, the diverse, implicit and even contradictory nature of behavioral assumptions in management theories does not conflict with innate cooperative tools and may provide a good training ground for using such tools. We present tentative confirmatory evidence by examining how the weight placed on behavioral assumptions in the core courses of the top 100 business schools influences the average salaries of their MBA graduates. Controlling for the self-selected average quality of their students and some other characteristics of schools, average salaries are seen to be significantly greater for MBA programs whose core curriculum contains a larger proportion of management courses.


This paper reports the investigation on the flexural properties of activated carbon filled epoxy composites. The Comparison of the properties between different sources of activated carbon, are illustrated. It has to be disposed safely or used for recovery of valuable materials as agricultural wastes like bamboo stem, coconut shell and Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB). Therefore these wastes have been explored for the preparation of activated carbon and carbon black employing chemical activation by H3PO4 and physical activation, respectively. The effect of pyrolysis and chemical activation on the activated carbon filled epoxy composite properties including mechanical (flexural strength), 5 % percent of carbon filler and Scan Electron Microscope SEM micrograph were analyzed. These determined the interaction between activated carbon filled epoxy composite. This study is to compare the effect of the nature of the different types of fillers on the epoxy composites material properties. The microstructures of the farcture surface was examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) were formed during the different preparation stages.


Efficient solar-to-fuel conversion could be a cost-effective way to power the planet using sunlight. Herein, we demonstrate that Organic Photoelectrochemical Cells (OPECs) constitute a versatile platform for the efficient production of solar fuels. We show that the photogenerated carriers at the organic active layer can be quantitatively extracted to drive photoelectrochemical reactions at the interface with a liquid solution. Indeed, an unprecedented photocurrent of 4 mA cm−2 is extracted for an OPEC device, comparable to that of a solid-state device with similar optical properties. Through the careful choice of the selective contact and the redox couple in the liquid medium, we can tune the energetics of the system and activate either oxidative or reductive chemistry. The design rules to drive the desired electrochemical reaction are provided based on a comprehensive study of the energetic aspects of OPEC configuration. Finally, we demonstrate that OPEC devices effectively produce hydrogen in acetonitrile when a cobaloxime based homogeneous catalyst is present in the solution, and HCl is used a source of protons.


STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective review OBJECTIVE.: To determine if adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) improves overall survival (OS) following surgical resection of chordomas.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
The role of RT for the treatment of chordomas remains incompletely described. Previous studies have not found adjuvant RT to improve OS, but these studies did not group patients based on surgical margin status or radiation dose or modality. We used the National Cancer Database to investigate the role of RT in chordomas following surgical resection.

METHODS
Patients were stratified based on surgical margin status (positive vs negative). Utilizing the Kaplan Meier method, OS was compared between treatment modalities (surgical resection alone, therapeutic RT alone, and surgical resection plus therapeutic RT). OS was subsequently compared between patients treated with palliative dose (<40Gy), low dose (40-65Gy), and high dose (>65Gy) RT. Similarly, OS was compared between advanced RT modalities including proton beam therapy (PBT) and intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), and external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). A multivariable model was used to determine adjusted variables predictive of mortality.

RESULTS
1,478 chordoma patients were identified; skull base (n = 567), sacral (n = 551), and mobile spine (n = 360). Surgical resection and therapeutic adjuvant RT improved 5-year survival in patients with positive surgical margins (82% vs 71%, p = 0.03). No clear survival benefit was observed with the addition of adjuvant RT in patients with negative surgical margins. High dose RT was associated with improved OS compared to palliative and low dose RT (p < 0.001). Advanced RT techniques and SRS were associated with improved OS compared to EBRT. In the multivariate analysis high dose advanced RT (>65Gy) was superior to EBRT.

CONCLUSION
Patients with positive surgical margins benefit from adjuvant RT. Optimal OS is associated with adjuvant RT administered with advanced techniques and cumulative dose >65 Gy.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
4.


With the ongoing increase in installed wind power production and due to the variability of this resource, forecasting the production is becoming a critical process. So far, forecasts have usually been generated individually for a given site of interest (either a wind farm or a group of wind farms). However, it is intuitively expected that owing to the inertia of meteorological forecasting systems, a forecast error made at a given point in space and time will be related to forecast errors at other points in space in the following period. The existence of such underlying correlation patterns is demonstrated and analyzed, considering a simple case-study of western Denmark. Wind direction is shown to play a crucial role, while the effect of wind speed is more complex. Models permitting capture of the interdependence structure of wind power forecast errors are proposed, and their efficiency discussed. Even though focus is on one-hour-ahead forecast errors and on western Denmark only, results show significant improvements and motivates a generalization to further look-ahead times, larger areas, or more complex topographies.


This paper presents a method for generating complex problems that allow multiple nonobvious solutions for the physical traveling salesman problem (PTSP). PTSP is a single-player game adaptation of the classical traveling salesman problem that makes use of a simple physics model: the player has to visit a number of waypoints as quickly as possible by navigating a ship in real time across an obstacle-filled 2-D map. The difficulty of this game depends on the distribution of waypoints and obstacles across the 2-D plane. Due to the physics of the game, the shortest route is not necessarily the fastest, as the ship's momentum makes it difficult to turn sharply at high speed. This paper proposes an evolutionary approach to obtaining maps where the optimal solution is not immediately obvious. In particular, any optimal route for these maps should differ distinctively from: 1) the optimal distance-based TSP route and 2) the route that corresponds to always approaching the nearest waypoint first. To achieve this, the evolutionary algorithm covariance matrix adaptation-evolutionary strategy (CMA-ES) is employed, where maps, indirectly represented as vectors of real numbers, are evolved to differentiate maximally between a game-playing agent that follows two or more different routes. The results presented in this paper show that CMA-ES is able to generate maps that fulfil the desired conditions.


The last few decades have seen huge advances in our understanding of plant biology and in the development of new technologies for the manipulation of crop plants. The application of relatively straightforward breeding and selection methods made possible the "Green Revolution" of the 1960s and 1970s that effectively doubled or trebled cereal production in much of the world and averted mass famine in Asia. During the 2000s, much attention has been focused on genomic approaches to plant breeding with the deployment of a new generation of technologies, such as marker-assisted selection, next-generation sequencing, transgenesis (genetic engineering or GM) and automatic mutagenesis/selection (TILLING, TargetIng Local Lesions IN Genomes). These methods are now being applied to a wide range of crops and have particularly good potential for oil crop improvement in terms of both overall food and non-food yield and nutritional and technical quality of the oils. Key targets include increasing overall oil yield and stability on a per seed or per fruit basis and very high oleic acid content in seed and fruit oils for both premium edible and oleochemical applications. Other more specialised targets include oils enriched in nutritionally desirable "fish oil"-like fatty acids, especially very long chain !-3 acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), or increased levels of lipidic vitamins such as carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienes. Progress in producing such oils in commercial crops has been good in recent years with several varieties being released or at advanced stages of development.


Todays children spend a large amount of their time sedentary. There is limited evidence on the determinants of sedentary behavior in children, and qualitative studies are especially lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to explore determinants of children's sedentary behavior from the child- and parent perspective. Qualitative data were collected during concept mapping sessions with four groups of 11–13 years old children (n = 38) and two online sessions with parents (n = 21). Children and parents generated sedentary behavior motives, sorted related motives, and rated their importance in influencing children's sedentary time. Next, multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to create clusters of motives resulting in a concept map. Finally, the researchers named the clusters in the concept map. Concept maps of children yielded eight to ten perceived determinants, and concept maps of parents six to seven. Children and parents identified six similar potential determinants, and both rated as important: Sitting because… "it is the norm (I have to)", and "I can work/play better that way". In addition, children rated "there is nobody to play with" as an important potential determinant for engaging in sedentary behavior. The most important child- and parent perceived determinants were related to the social/cultural and physical environment, indicating that these are promising targets for future interventions.


In contemporary Confucian political theory, there is surprisingly little effort among the theorists to illuminate the value of democracy. When they do on rare occasions, their focus is largely on democracy's instrumental contribution to Confucian goods. In this paper, I argue that, given democracy's dual aspects as a political system and as a way of life, it has both instrumental and intrinsic values, and insomuch as it is a kind of democracy, Confucian democracy, too, ought to possess both values. Central to my argument is that, once introduced and justified instrumentally as a political system, democracy in a Confucian society attains its noninstrumental value as it becomes consolidated as a democratic-Confucian way of life in which democratic institutions, rights, and practices are socially mediated by and negotiated with Confucian values, civilities, and moral sentiments. I present my overarching normative framework in terms of pragmatic Confucian democracy.


OBJECTIVE To determine whether the long-term use of insulin lispro (LP) affects the counterregulatory hormone response to hypoglycemia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Ten patients (age range 26-51 years; ratio of men to women 9:1; BMI 24.9 ± 0.48; mean HbA1c 7.84 ± 0.25%) with IDDM, treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII; Disetronic H-TRON V100) were studied using a double-blind, crossover design. Patients were randomized to LP or human regular insulin (HR) for 3 months and then crossed over to the other insulin for an additional 3 months. All meal boluses were given 0-5 min before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Counterregulatory hormone responses to a stepped hypoglycemic clamp (consecutive glucose levels in mmol/l: 4.2; 3.5; 2.8, each for 1 h) were evaluated at the end of each treatment period. RESULTS HbA1c was significantly lower with LP versus HR (7.47 ± 0.28% vs. 7.9 ± 0.26%, P = 0.04). The incidence of hypoglycemia per 30 days (capillary blood glucose < 3.0 mmol/l and/or symptoms) during the last month of the study was significantly lower with LP versus HR (8.7 ± 2.9 vs. 11.8 ± 2.9, P = 0.03). The total daily insulin dosage was not different in the two treatment periods. There was no episode of severe hypoglycemia or diabetic ketoacidosis. The peak growth hormone, cortisol, glucagon, and epinephrine responses during the same period of hypoglycemia were not different for each treatment period. CONCLUSIONS The use of LP in CSII results in improved glycemic control and a decrease in the frequency of hypoglycemia without adversely affecting counterregulatory hormone response to hypoglycemia.


This  qualitative  study  investigates  the  extent  to  which Facebook supports EFL teaching and learning, potential and challenges of using Facebook on English writing subject, and teacher and students' responses toward Facebook implementation. Conducted at a junior high school  in  Surakarta,  this  study  involved  one  EFL  teacher  and  five students as participants. Data from classroom observation, interview, and documentation suggest that the use of Facebook as a technology-based media  in  English  writing  classroom  enhances  the  discussion  and participation in teaching-learning activities. After a class discussion on Facebook facilitated by the teacher has allowed the student to visit the Facebook and to have a group discussion. The social media has provided students with a better learning process through a variety of multi-media resources  which enhance autonomous learning strategies and improves their achievement of English writing.


Meloidogyne ethiopica, an aggressive nematode, causes significant economic losses to Vitis crops. Rootstocks can successfully manage phytoparasitic nematodes. However, no studies exist on M. ethiopica-resistant rootstocks under field conditions. This study assessed the resistance of six Vitis rootstocks to M. ethiopica under field and greenhouse conditions. The number of galls and eggs in vine roots, quantity of second stage juveniles and males in 250 ml of soil, root weight, and shoot weight were determined for the Harmony, SO4, 101-14 MG, 110R, 3309C, and Kober 5BB rootstocks, and the own-root Chardonnay variety as a control. In the field, Harmony, SO4, 101-14 MG, Kober 5BB, and 110R were highly resistant to nematode parasitism and reproduction. In turn, 3309C was the least resistant rootstock. In the greenhouse, all rootstocks similarly limited M. ethiopica attack and reproduction. In both conditions, Chardonnay was the most susceptible vine to nematode attack, with high quantities of galls, eggs, and nematode reproduction. In conclusion, most of the evaluated rootstocks reduced M. ethiopica parasitism. Harmony, SO4, 101-14 MG, 110R, and Kober 5BB rootstocks are options for vineyard use, with final selection dependent on winegrower requirements.


UNLABELLED
The ability to predict the prognosis of a pressure ulcer is re- quired to establish appropriate management in the early phase. The present study reports the usefulness of a combined assessment tech- nique using ultrasonography and thermography for predicting delayed wound healing.

METHODS
This retrospective cohort study included 37 patients with Stage I or II pressure ulcers. The patients were followed up for at least 3 weeks. The ultrasonographic and thermographic as- sessments were conducted at the initial multidisciplinary team round. The presence of four ultrasonographic features (unclear layered struc- ture, hypoechoic lesion, discontinuous fascia, and heterogeneous hy- poechoic area) and one thermographic feature (increased temperature) were determined from within the wound bed. Wound healing was re- assessed after 2 weeks and the rate of area reduction was calculated to determine whether the pressure ulcer was healing properly. A mul- tivariate logistic analysis was used to assess the predictive values of the possible assessment features.

RESULTS
A comprehensive review of the ultrasonographic and thermographic assessments of the pressure ulcers found that the combination of unclear layered structure and increased temperature was beneficial for predicting wound healing. When a pressure ulcer presented with an unclear layered structure and increased temperature in the wound bed, the risk of delayed wound healing or wound deterioration was 6.85 times higher compared with a pressure ulcer that did not have these manifestations.

CONCLUSION
The combination of ultrasonographic and thermographic assessments facilitates precise prediction of pressure ulcer outcomes.


Injuries to the hepatic veins and retrohepatic vena cava have a high mortality due to uncontrolled hemorrhage. Successful repair may necessitate interruption of flow through the retrohepatic vena cava. Active bypass of the area is then needed to provide adequate venous return. Published methods for active bypass require cannulation of axillary and femoral veins in addition to clamping of the vena cava above and below the liver, often with limited exposure and significant risk. This report describes active bypass of the retrohepatic vena cava utilizing two right atrial cannulae. The simplicity of establishing the bypass together with the excellent exposure allowed repair of a bullet wound of the vena cava in one patient and the orderly performance of a left trisegmentectomy for a huge hepatic tumor in a second patient.


We investigate the role played by initial clumping of ejecta and by efficient acceleration of cosmic rays (CRs) in determining the density structure of the post-shock region of a Type Ia supernova remnant (SNR) through detailed three-dimensional MHD modeling. Our model describes the expansion of an SNR through a magnetized interstellar medium, including the initial clumping of ejecta and the effects on shock dynamics due to back-reaction of accelerated CRs. The model predictions are compared to the observations of SN 1006. We found that the back-reaction of accelerated CRs alone cannot reproduce the observed separation between the forward shock and the contact discontinuity unless the energy losses through CR acceleration and escape are very large and independent of the obliquity angle. On the contrary, the clumping of ejecta can naturally reproduce the observed small separation and the occurrence of protrusions observed in SN 1006, even without the need of accelerated CRs. We conclude that forward shock–contact discontinuity separation is a probe of the ejecta structure at the time of explosion rather than a probe of the efficiency of CR acceleration in young SNRs.


Dental panoramic radiograph in Indonesia has been widely used. Modern diagnostic imaging equipment with minimum radiation is still very limited. One of the conditions in nuclear safety law, UU 10/1997, is an optimization of all radiation sources with DRL through skin dose measurements. In Indonesia, the national DRL has not been established yet, and there were no reports on the study of panoramic skin dose in Indonesia. The aim of this preliminary study was to obtain a panoramic skin dose radiation as reference to establish DRL in Indonesia. Panoramic radiographs of sixteen female and fifteen male patients, aged 4 – 48 years, were taken using the standard conventional method, with TLD chips attached in location groups. The chips were then read with the detector and integrator of BATAN, in high and low temperature condition at the same time. It was revealed that behind the right and left ear were the regions with the highest radiation dose received, followed by the back of the neck, left jaw, right jaw, and chin. The result of this study has shown the importance of DRL in Indonesia since the use of modern diagnostic imaging equipement that limits radiation dose to the minimum level is still very limited.


People and machines perform tasks differently. Building optimal systems that include people and machines, requires understanding their respective behavioral properties. The task of decision fusion is considered and the performance of people is compared to the optimal fusion rule. Our behavioral experiments demonstrate that people perform decision fusion in a stochastic manner dependent on various factors, whereas optimal rule is deterministic. A Bayesian hierarchical model is developed to characterize the observed human behavior. This model captures the differences observed in people at individual level, crowd level, and population level. The implications of such a model on developing large-scale human-machine systems are presented by developing optimal decision fusion trees with both human and machine agents.


Abstract Many papers have been written on the process of coming out by individuals with predominantly same-sex sexual orientation but few of these papers have explored the concept of how people negotiate the idea of coming out in prison. We conducted in-depth interviews with 13 prisoners and one ex-prisoner in New South Wales, Australia, who self-identified as gay, homosexual or bisexual men. Data was collected and analysed using an inductive or grounded theory framework since very little was known on the sexual behaviours and identities of Australian prisoners prior to the study and elsewhere. We examined and discussed the lived experiences of prisoners whose disclosure stories were seen to fall under four thematic categories: 'coming out', 'forced out', 'going back in' and 'staying out of the closet' on entering prison. Respondents were required continuously and contextually to manage their sexual identities and disclosure to different audiences while incarcerated. Findings suggest that the prison environment and its attendant heteronormative values and hyper-masculine culture, apply significant pressure on gay and bisexual men on how to manage their sexual identities and disclose their sexuality in prison.


Due to intense competition of contemporary business life, companies need to achieve significant quality performance for survival. Considering this fact, this study aims to define the factors affecting the quality performance of manufacturing firms and their influence levels. To accomplish this aim, a thorough literature study was conducted to define the quality performance factors. A model was constructed with the yielded 12 factors. By using these, a survey was conducted in 200 large-scale manufacturing firms randomly selected from a list of 1000 most successful firms defined by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Turkey. Data were collected and analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to determine the influence levels of the quality performance factors on the overall quality of the firms. Reliability, conformance of the product to the design specifications, and durability are found to be the three most highly influencing factors, respectively, whereas delivery lead-time of finished products/services to customers is found to be the least influencing factor. The results are expected to help managers in defining their priorities in their quest for quality.


Microbial pathogens succeed in acquiring essential metals such as iron and manganese despite their limited availability because of the host's immune response. The eukaryotic natural resistance-associated macrophage proteins mediate uptake of divalent metals and, during infection, may compete directly for metal acquisition with the pathogens' transporters. In this study, we characterize the Nramp gene family of Perkinsus marinus, an intracellular parasite of the eastern oyster, and through yeast complementation, we demonstrate for the first time for a protozoan parasite that Nramp imports environmental Fe. Three PmNramp isogenes differ in their exon-intron structures and encode transcripts that display a trans splicing leader at the 5' end. The protein sequences share conserved properties predicted for the Nramp/Solute carrier 11 (Slc11) family, such as 12-transmembrane segment (TMS) topology (N- and C-termini cytoplasmic) and preferential conservation of four TMS predicted to form a pseudosymmetric proton/metal symport pathway. Yeast fet3fet4 mutant complementation assays showed iron transport activity for PmNramp1 and a fusion chimera of the PmNramp3 hydrophobic core and PmNramp1 N- and C-termini. PmNramp1 site-directed mutagenesis demonstrated that Slc11 invariant and predicted pseudosymmetric motifs (TMS1 Asp-Pro-Gly and TMS6 Met-Pro-His) are key for transport function. PmNramp1 TMS1 mutants D76E, G78A, and D76E/G78A prevented membrane protein expression, while TMS6 M250A, H252Y, and M250A/H252Y specifically abrogated Fe uptake; the TMS6 H252Y mutation also correlates with divergence from Nramp specificity for divalent metals.


The use of acoustic liners in aviation industry is a quite common solution for reducing the engines acoustic emissions. Although the current solutions based on single or multilayer liners are efficient and compact for the mid and high frequencies, noise mitigation in the low frequencies would require large volumes, making the integration in the nacelle difficult. Moreover, the passive liners are tuned to attenuate fixed frequencies and are optimized for specific flights regimes. An active electroacoustic skin based on a distribution of loudspeaker and microphones is presented here. The acoustic impedance is controlled by an embedded electronic system and can be changed in real time. Compared to a conventional passive liner, it is shown that the resonance frequency of the active skin can be adjusted to better match the flight phase and that the performance is better at low frequency. An experimental campaign in a wind tunnel has been performed and is presented here.


The confluence of market demand for greatly improved compact power sources for portable electronics with the rapidly expanding capability of micromachining technology has made feasible the development of gas turbines in the millimeter-size range. With airfoil spans measured in 100's of microns rather than meters, these "microengines" have about 1 millionth the air flow of large gas turbines and thus should produce about 1 millionth the power, 10-100 W. Based on semiconductor industry-derived processing of materials such as silicon and silicon carbide to submicron accuracy, such devices are known as micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Current millimeter-scale designs use centrifugal turbomachinery with pressure ratios in the range of 2:1 to 4:1 and turbine inlet temperatures of 1200-1600 K. The projected performance of these engines are on a par with gas turbines of the 1940's. The thermodynamics of MEMS gas turbines are the same as those for large engines but the mechanics differ due to scaling considerations and manufacturing constraints. The principal challenge is to arrive at a design which meets the thermodynamic and component functional requirements while staying within the realm of realizable micromachining technology. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of millimeter-size gas turbine engines, including system design and integration, manufacturing, materials, component design, accessories, applications, and economics. It discusses the underlying technical issues, reviews current design approaches, and discusses future development and applications.


This paper presents sensorless position and speed control for a four-switch three-phase inverter (FSTPI) fed induction motor drive. Accurate knowledge of stator resistance is of utmost importance for correct operation of a number of speed sensorless induction motor control schemes in the low speed region. Since stator resistance inevitably varies with operating conditions, stable and accurate operation at near-zero speed requires an appropriate identification algorithm for the stator resistance. The paper proposes such an identification algorithm, which is developed for the rotor flux based model reference adaptive system (MRAS) type of the speed estimator in conjunction with a rotor flux oriented control scheme. In this speed estimation method only one (out of the two available) degree of freedom is utilized for speed estimation. It is utilize the second available degree of freedom as a mean for adapting the stator resistance. The parallel stator resistance and rotor speed identification algorithm is developed in a systematic manner, using Popov's hyper stability theory. It increases the complexity of the overall control system insignificantly and enables correct speed estimation and stable drive operation at near-zero speeds. The proposed speed and position estimator with parallel stator resistance identification for FSTPI fed induction motor at very low speed under high load operation is verified by simulation. The results show the robustness of the proposed method with FSTPI.


The hexaploid 2 (Gossypium hirsutum L. x G. australe F. Muell.) was backcrossed to G. hirsutum to produce the pentaploid G. hirsutum x G. australe and seven alien monosomic addition lines of Gossypium australe on G. hirsutum. The different hybrids produced were characterized morphologically, cytogenetically and using genomic in situ hybridization and eighty-six Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers. The analysis of their progenies allowed to quantify the frequency of genetic material exchanges between the supernumerary alien chromosome and G. hirsutum. The seven monosomic addition lines obtained constitute valuable genetic stocks to carry out fundamental and applied investigations.


The transition from pregnant non lactating condition to non pregnant lactating status is a period of dramatic changes for the cow, which has to adapt its metabolism to the strong requirements for milk production. From the equilibrium that the cow resolves this period will depend the capacity to maximize milk production and quality, to evade metabolic diseases and ensure the following pregnancy. The nutritional improvement, genetic selection and animal management have increase milk production in the last decades and this is associated with a decrease in the reproductive performance and in the increase of health diseases. This review summarizes the studies performed in the last years in Uruguay, with emphasis in nutritional management, ingestive behaviour, endocrine and molecular mechanisms of nutrient partitioning and its relation with fertility in dairy cows. Studies that investigate the productive efficiency of different dairy biotypes and breeds are reported. Studies in the cow´s health that identify the transition period as a risk factor for metabolic, infections and traumatic diseases are included. We conclude that studies that integrate problems of national relevance are the appropriate methodology to investigate complex biological systems as is the dairy cow during the transition period under grazing conditions.


Caregiving for a loved one can be difficult and negatively affect health and quality of life. This pilot mixed-method study explored an intervention to increase participation in meaningful occupation for women who care for their spouse. Participants completed the World Health Organization Quality of Life: Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). The 4-week intervention consisted of an activity log (Daily Experiences of Pleasure, Productivity, and Restoration Profile) and a reflective journal (Journal of Activities and Experiences). Researchers analyzed data from the reflective journal using content analysis. Preliminary findings showed an increase in the physical health domain (p < .05), and satisfaction with meaningful activities had clinical significance. Qualitative themes included caregiving is a demanding role, writing down experiences helped caregivers take action, and caregivers reorganized daily activities. Although preliminary results showed a positive trend, the intervention was brief, and more research is needed to determine whether greater gains are possible, and can be sustained.


olicymakers and practitioners alike have increasingly positioned instructional materials as essential for achieving high-quality, standards-aligned instruction. State education agencies, school districts, and schools have looked to instructional materials to signal what to teach and to what depth for students to be on track to meet collegeand career-readiness standards. As instructional leaders, principals play a critical mediation role in communicating district curriculum policies to teachers and supporting teachers' enactment of curriculum. However, very little work has explored how principals take on this role and what school leaders need most to engage effectively with issues and decisions regarding instructional materials. This brief brings together key findings from several RAND Corporation reports on principals' roles with respect to instructional materials. The findings point to several recommendations for how various stakeholders—federal and state policy makers, principal preparation programs, districts, and curriculum and professional learning developers—can better prepare and support principals to lead on the selection and use of instructional materials.


We have proposed a micro conveyance system, which is based on the autonomous distributed MEMS. A controlling method suitable for our system has also been proposed. To realize a conveyance part of the system, we have developed an array of air-flow micro actuator by bulk micromachining technology. One-dimensional conveyance of a small object (2.1 mm/spl times/4.1 mm, approximately 4 mg weigh) was demonstrated with the help of the air-flow (17 kPa). A two-dimensional system composed of 560 micro actuators in a 35 mm/spl times/35 mm area was realized. Almost all the actuators were successfully driven by electrostatic force. We have achieve levitation-motion and transfer-motion of the object nevertheless full control of two-dimensional conveyance is under trial. We have also developed an integrated circuit composed of an array of sensors and processors by 0.8 /spl mu/m-rule CMOS fabrication process. The circuit works as a distributed processing system to recognize a shape of a micro object. Assembling of the present actuator array with control circuits is in progress.


: Purpose: The objective of the paper is to present Chinese Big Tech companies and present their increasing activity on domestic financial sector. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the purpose of the paper, the following methods have been applied, critical analysis of literature and research papers as well as descriptive method and comparative analysis of presented data. Findings: Based on the above-mentioned methodology methods, Big Tech can be determined that Chinese Big Tech companies have significant potential to impact not only Chinese domestic financial sector, but also the global financial sector. What is more, COVID-19 fastened several trends undergoing on the banking sector (such as digital transformation) that Chinese financial sector is relying upon. Practical Implications: During COVID-19, Chinese Big Tech companies outperformed key players in Chinese domestic financial sector in key financial metrics such as market capitalization, revenue increase, net income. Originality/value: Chinese Big Tech companies have stronger foothold on the domestic financial markets rather than their counterparts in USA (Amazon, Apple, Google).


Colonization experiments were conducted in a tropical lagoon (Zanzibar Island, off the coast of Tanzania) to investigate the temporal dynamics and mode of colonization of the harpacticoid copepods community on dead coral fragments. There was fast colonization of the coral fragments attaining a substantial diversity after only two days. The ability to colonize dead coral fragments is thought to be related to the morphology and life style of different harpacticoid species. Phytal taxa (e.g. Tisbidae) were fast colonizers, reaching high abundances during the initial colonization phase. Sediment-associated and eurytopic taxa (e.g. Ameiridae, Miraciidae and Ectinosomatidae) showed lower colonization rates and became the dominant group during the later colonization phase. Most species are able to colonize the coral fragments through the water column. However, colonization along the substrate surface is also considered to be an important colonization mode, especially for sediment-associated taxa, which showed lower colonization rates when migration through the sediment was hindered.


Abstract Taxonomic identification of small fragments of burned plant tissue in lake sediment profiles can enhance reconstructions of past vegetation, fire regimes, and climate. Vouchered reference collections of charcoal prepared from both soft and woody plant tissues, analogous to modern pollen reference collections, will be required for making rigorous identifications and for knowing the level of certainty achieved. Published methods of laboratory production of charcoal may only poorly mimic pyrolysis as it occurs in wildfires, and tend to require large volumes of plant material. We present a method for preparing reference charcoal from dried plant specimens that is simple, provides a high degree of control, yet requires only small tissue samples. Based on results of a series of experiments, we recommend placing dried samples in 25 cm3 perforated‐base porcelain Gooch filtering crucibles, surrounded by 250–500 μm sand; saturating the sand with water and draining; and placing for eight to nine minutes in a furnace heated to 550°C. The wet sand delays heating so that temperature rise is steep. Pyrolysis is brief and occurs under hypoxic conditions due to temporary oxygen flushing by water vapor. Using our method we achieved excellent results on both woody and soft tissues from a variety of plant taxa.


Long-wavelength single-mode optical fiber transmission technology has recently made rapid progress and is now moving into the commercial operation stage. This paper describes the present state of this technology focusing on the research and development work in the Electrical Communication Laboratories. Based on the results of experiments on optical devices and on preliminary system feasibility analysis, it is shown that, at the present time, an optical wavelength in the 1.3 μm band is desirable for large capacity transmission from the viewpoint of attainable repeater spacings. A field trial plan of a 400 Mbit/s optical transmission system for a long-haul trunk which can compete economically with existing digital transmission systems is outlined.


Methylated chemicals are widely used as key intermediates for the syntheses of pharmaceuticals, fragrances, flavors, biofuels and plastics. In nature, the process of methylation is commonly undertaken by a super-family of S-adenosyl methionine-dependent enzymes known as methyltransferases. Herein, we describe a novel high throughput enzyme-coupled assay for determining methyltransferase activites. Adenosylhomocysteine nucleosidase, xanthine oxidase, and horseradish peroxidase enzymes were shown to function in tandem to generate a fluorescence signal in the presence of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine and Amplex Red (10-acetyl-3,7-dihydroxyphenoxazine). Since S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine is a key by-product of reactions catalyzed by S-adenosyl methionine-dependent methyltransferases, the coupling enzymes were used to assess the activities of EcoRI methyltransferase and a salicylic acid methyltransferase from Clarkia breweri in the presence of S-adenosyl methionine. For the EcoRI methyltransferase, the assay was sensitive enough to allow the monitoring of DNA methylation in the nanomolar range. In the case of the salicylic acid methyltransferase, detectable activity was observed for several substrates including salicylic acid, benzoic acid, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, and vanillic acid. Additionally, the de novo synthesis of the relatively expensive and unstable cosubstrate, S-adenosyl methionine, catalyzed by methionine adenosyltransferase could be incorporated within the assay. Overall, the assay offers an excellent level of sensitivity that permits continuous and reliable monitoring of methyltransferase activities. We anticipate this assay will serve as a useful bioanalytical tool for the rapid screening of S-adenosyl methionine-dependent methyltransferase activities.


Livelihood strategies are identified at the household level as a function of assets held, using survey data. Only endowments that are likely to be predetermined are included in the empirical analysis. As expected, land, household size, age and primary education turn out to be important determinants of livelihood strategies. It appears that the relatively equal land-distribution among small-holders in Malawi still allows some wealthier households, and force others, to do non-farm activities. This, in turn, may lead to small-scale development within villages. Furthermore, investment in primary education, taking into account the low initial level of education in Malawi, is probably a good investment for rural development. And, we find it promising that younger people are able to find non-farm livelihoods. It also turns out to be significant regional variation in livelihood strategies, with more diversification in the Southern region, and with regional variation in the role of ethnic and religious identity as determinants of livelihood strategies. It appears that lack of agricultural opportunities in the south imply that households do, maybe more low-status, salaried work and household businesses in this region. For some households this may still be a way out of poverty. The policy implications for the poorer Southern region are not obvious. But, to the extent feasible, the farmers may learn from the more productive farmers in the Central region, where there is more emphasize on cash-crop production.


Background: There is a proliferation of lifestyle-oriented mobile technologies; however, few have targeted users. Through intervention mapping, investigators and community partners completed Steps 1-3 (needs assessment, formulation of change objectives, and selection of theory-based methods) of a process to develop a mobile cancer prevention application (app) for cancer prevention. The aim of this qualitative study was to complete Step 4 (intervention development) by eliciting input from African American (AA) breast cancer survivors (BCSs) to guide app development. Methods: Six focus group discussions (n=60) and three individual semi-structured interviews (n=36) were conducted with AA BCSs (40-72 years of age) to assess barriers and strategies for lifestyle change. All focus groups and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed with NVivo qualitative data analysis software version 10, allowing categories, themes and patterns to emerge. Results: Three categories and related themes emerged from the analysis: 1) perceptions about modifiable risk factors; 2) strategies related to adherence to cancer prevention guidelines; and 3) app components to address barriers to adherence. Participant perceptions, strategies, and recommended components guided development of the app. Conclusions: For development of a mobile cancer prevention app, these findings will assist investigators in targeting features that are usable, acceptable, and accessible for AA BCSs. Citation Format: Selina A. Smith, Mary Whitehead, Joyce S. Sheats, Brittney Fontenot, Ernest Alema Mensah, Benjamin E. Ansa. Formative research to develop a lifestyle application (app) for African American breast cancer survivors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr C56.


The class of well-behaved evaluation functions simplifies and makes efficient the handling of numerical attributes; for them it suffices to concentrate on the boundary points in searching for the optimal partition. This holds always for binary partitions and also for multisplits if only the function is cumulative in addition to being well-behaved. The class of well-behaved evaluation functions is a proper superclass of convex evaluation functions. Thus, a large proportion of the most important attribute evaluation functions are wellbehaved. This paper explores the extent and boundaries of well-behaved functions. In particular, we examine C4.5's default attribute evaluation function gain ratio, which has been known to have problems with numerical attributes. We show that gain ratio is not convex, but is still well-behaved with respect to binary partitioning. However, it cannot handle higher arity partitioning well. Our empirical experiments show that a very simple cumulative rectification to the poor bias of information gain significantly outperforms gain ratio.


In the stellar forming region NGC 2264 there are objects catalogued as hosting a transitional disk according to spectrum modeling. Four members of this set have optical and infrared light curves coming from the CoRoT and Spitzer telescopes. In this work, we try to simultaneously explain the light curves using the extinction of the stellar radiation and the emission of the dust inside the hole of a transitional disk. For the object Mon-296, we were successful. However, for Mon-314, and Mon-433 our evidence suggests that they host a pre-transitional disk. For Mon-1308 a new spectrum fitting using the 3D radiative transfer code Hyperion allows us to conclude that this object hosts a full disk instead of a transitional disk. This is in accord to previous work on Mon-1308 and with the fact that we cannot find a fit for the light curves using only the contribution of the dust inside the hole of a transitional disk.


Functionally graded aluminium matrix composites reinforced with SiC particles are attractive materials for a broad range of engineering applications whenever a superior combination of surface and bulk mechanical properties is required. In general, these materials are developed for the production of high wear resistant components. Also, often this kind of mechanical part operates in the presence of aggressive environments, such as marine atmospheres. In this work, aluminium composites with functionally graded properties, obtained by centrifugal cast, are characterised by reciprocating pin-on-plate sliding wear tests against nodular cast iron. Three different volume fractions of SiC reinforcing particles in each functionally graded material were considered. Sliding experiments were performed with and without the presence of a lubricant (3% NaCl aqueous solution). In the case of the lubricated tests, electrochemical parameters (corrosion potential) were monitored during sliding. Friction values were in the order of 0.42 for unlubricated conditions, but varied between 0.22 and 0.37 when the aqueous solution was present. For all test conditions, relatively high wear rates (over 1×10-6 gm-1) were obtained, particularly for the cast iron pin. The volume fraction of SiC particles exerted a net effect on the tribological response of the composites, although conditioned by the presence or absence of the aqueous solution. The worn surface morphology of the composites indicated that the presence of the aqueous solution modifies the protective action promoted by the combined effect of the presence of reinforcing particles as load bearing elements and the formation of adherent iron-rich tribolayers. The evolution of the corrosion potential during the sliding action is in accordance to the degradation mechanisms proposed for these systems.


One of the reasons for the failure of some Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is the lack of respect for their boundaries and regulations, which intensifies the need to assess the attitudes of stakeholders affected by MPAs. To this end, it is necessary to know the perception and behavior of resource users in these areas in relation to the management process. This study addressed the perception of different groups of fishermen in three MPAs that allow sustainable use of resources on the Brazilian northeastern coast. The perception analysis was based on four aspects: biodiversity conservation, flexibility and adaptability of fishermen, participation in management and opinions about the MPA. The interviewed fishermen (n1⁄4100) were classified into natives or immigrants,Zthan 40 years old or o40, predominant use of selective or nonselective fishing gear and part or full time fishermen. The results showed that younger fishermen and the ones who use selective fishing gear presented a more conservation prone perception; nonselective fishermen and part-time fishermen were more flexible and adaptable to changes; and younger fishermen tended to agree more with the establishment of the MPAs. Taking these differences in perceptions among fishermen into account could serve as a basis for improvements in the management and conservation of fishing resources, besides helping predict possible future behavior due to changes in management policies. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.