Foam fractionation is an economical and environmentally friendly separation method for surface active material using a rising column of foam. The system of foam fractionation column with reflux is selected since such a system can improve the enrichment of the product collected from the top of the column. Due to the reflux, it is assumed that there is more surface active material (surfactant and/or protein) in the Plateau border than that in the foam lamella, so that the Plateau border acts as a surfactant/protein reservoir. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the adsorption and transport of surface active material such as surfactant and/or protein onto the surface of a lamella in a foam fractionation column with reflux using mathematical simulation.There are two steps involved in adsorption of surface active material onto a bubble surface within foam, which are diffusion from the bulk solution into the subsurface, a layer next to the interface, followed by adsorption of that material from the subsurface onto the interface. The diffusion follows the Fick's second law, while the adsorption may follow the Henry, Langmuir or Frumkin isotherms, depending on the properties of the surface active material. The adsorption of mixed protein-surfactant follows the Frumkin isotherm. When there is a competition between protein and surfactant, the protein arrives onto the interface at a later time due to a slower diffusion rate and it displaces the surfactant molecules already on the surface since protein has a higher affinity for that surface than surfactant. The surfactant transport from a Plateau border onto a foam lamella is determined by the interaction of forces applied on the lamella surface, such as film drainage, due to the pressure gradient between the lamella and the Plateau border, the Marangoni effect, due to the gradient of surface tension, and surface viscosity, as a reaction to surface motion. In this thesis, there are two different models of film drainage. One approach uses assumption of a film with a mobile interface and the other model assumes a film with a rigid interface. In the absence of surface viscosity, the Marangoni effect dominates the film drainage resulting in accumulation of surfactant on the surface of the foam lamella in the case of a lamella with a rigid interface. In the case of a film with a mobile interface, the film drainage dominates the Marangoni effect and surfactant is washed away from the surface of the lamella. When the drainage is very fast, such as that which is achieved by a film with a mobile interface, the film could be predicted to attain the thickness of a common black film, well within the residence time in a foam fractionation column, at which point the film stops draining and surfactant starts to accumulate on the lamella surface. The desirable condition in operation of a foam fractionation column however is when the Marangoni effect dominates the film drainage and surfactant accumulates on the surface of a foam lamella such as the one achieved by a film with a rigid interface. In the presence of surface viscosity and the absence of film drainage, the surface viscous forces oppose the Marangoni effect and reduce the amount of surfactant transport onto the foam lamella. A larger surface viscosity results in less surfactant transport onto the foam lamella. In addition, the characteristic time scale required for surfactant transport is shorter with a shorter film length.


Background: Immunotherapy based on BCG has been a standard therapy to prevent tumor recurrence and progression in bladder cancer. Activation of immune checkpoint pathways by binding of PD-1 to its ligands, PD-L1 or PD-L2, is vital for the physiologic regulation of the immune system. Tumor cells can at times co-opt the PD-1 pathway to escape from immunosurveillance mechanism. We investigated expression of immune checkpoints and their effects on T cells in bladder cancer. Methods: A panel of transitional cell carcinoma cell lines (UC-3, T24, K1919 and 253J) and normal human bladder urothelial cells (SVHUC1) were used to evaluate expression of immune checkpoints including PD-1, PDL1, PD-L2 and CTLA-4. Western blot analysis was used for protein expressions from cell lines and qPCR for RNA expression from human bladder tissues. Human bladder cancer/normal paired tissues were obtained at two time points; surgical resection and then after BCG immunotherapy. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to assess infiltration and distribution of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in bladder tumor tissues and normal bladder tissues. Immune cells were isolated and T cells were isolated by FACS sorting after immune cell isolation from tumor/normal tissues. Results: PD-L1 and PD-L2 proteins were highly expressed in bladder cancer cell lines compared to normal bladder epithelial cell line (SVHUC-1). In paired human samples (cancer and normal tissues), PD-L1 and 2 were also highly expressed in bladder cancer tissues compared with paired normal tissues. Real time RT-PCR comfirmed the high expression of PD-L1/2 in bladder cancer tissues. Interestingly, normal epithelial tissues regenerated after surgical resection of the tumor and BCG immunotherapy had low PD-L1/2 expression while recurred tissues after surgical resection of the tumor and BCG had high expression of PD-L1/2, which suggest that PD-L1/2 might be involved in tumor relapse after surgical resection and BCG immunotherapy. Immunohistochemical staining with CD4 and CD8 showed that the number of T cells was in bladder cancer tissues compared with paired normal tissues regardless of PD-L1/2 expression. T lymphocytes isolated from human bladder cancer tissues and paired normal tissues showed that infiltrating T cell function is significantly deteriorated in bladder cancer tissue compared with cells from paired normal tissues. Conclusions: PD-L1 and PD-L2 are highly expressed in bladder cancer and though to be involved in relapse after BCG intravesical immunotherapy through suppressing infiltrating T cell function. Our data suggest that immunecheckpoint might be a novel targets in bladder cancer. Citation Format: Jun Hyeok Heo, Ki Chung Park, Kang Su Cho, Sung Joon Hong, Kyung Seok Han. Expression of programmed cell death ligand 1/2 and BCG immunotherapy in bladder cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1322. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1322


Water management interventions play an important role in ensuring sustainable food production and mitigating climate risks. This study was carried out in a watershed located in low rainfall (400-600 mm) region of western India. The paper analyses the changes in hydrological processes with the implementation of various rainwater harvesting (RWH) interventions using field measurements and SWAT simulation. The model was calibrated using the runoff gauging, storage levels, soil loss and groundwater measurements between 2000 and 2006. Various agricultural water management interventions have helped to enhance groundwater recharge from 30 mm to 80 mm, reduced surface runoff from 250 mm to 100 mm and enhanced base flow. The structures were filled 2 to 3 times depending on rainfall variability and total precipitation. The RWH interventions were found to build system resilience by enhancing groundwater availability even in dry years, which was the main reason for crop intensification and protected the landscape from heavy erosion. Sediment erosion reduced more than 75 percent compared to non-intervention stage. Moreover, 100-150 ha fallow land was brought under cultivation with high value crops such as horticulture, vegetables and fodder. The household income increased manifolds compared to non-intervention stage. The study showed about 50 percent reduction in downstream water availability, which could be the major concern. However, there are number of ecosystem trade-offs such as improved base flow and reduction in soil loss. The study is useful for larger scale decision making about optimal water harvesting for achieving sustainable development goals.


Numerous materials, from biopolymers to filled rubbers, exhibit strain softening at high strain amplitudes during a strain sweep in oscillatory rheology: The modulus decreases with increasing deformation. On the other hand, if the nonlinear elastic response is analyzed within a single oscillation cycle (described by a Lissajous curve), these systems are often reported to exhibit strain hardening. We compare strain sweeps and single cycle LAOS (large amplitude oscillatory shear) analyses of stress vs strain on three very different materials. We conclude that the reported strain hardening is due to the use of a tangent modulus in the LAOS analysis, and that the overall rheology remains strain softening. To show that this conclusion is robust, we demonstrate a rescaling of the modulus that collapses the data from all the oscillatory measurements onto a single master curve that clearly exhibits the correct strain softening behavior.


Reactive transport modeling for heterogeneous aquifers is challenging and computationally intensive. While numerical packages allow simulation of multiple species transport with aquifer heterogeneity, run times on high speed PCs and workstations make many jobs impractical. Stream tube approaches are computationally efficient numerical methods, and offer significant advantages in run time over more numerical methods. In this study, a new stream tube model was developed for multiple species reactive transport in a heterogeneous aquifer. The model is based on a primary hypothesis that reactive transport in heterogeneous aquifers can be approximated with a linear transforms where reactivity and flow distributions are not coupled. For many cases, the method allows good accuracy and significant computational advantages, especially for complex reaction networks and more heterogeneous aquifers. The numerical experiments in this study have proved the hypothesis is correct. Comparisons are made between the new modeling approach, other analytical models and numerical models. Numerical agreements are reasonable for all of the tested cases, and significant computational time is saved with the new modeling approach. For a 2D aquifer simulation discussion in this study, the new approach is 1500 times faster than RT3D, one of the most popular numerical applications.


Hyphomonas strain MHS-3 (MHS-3) is a marine procaryote with a biphasic life cycle and which has prosthecate stages that adhere to submerged substrata. We found that adherent forms produced an exopolysaccharide (EPS) capsule that bound Glycine max lectin, Arachis hypogaea lectin, and Bauhinia purpurea lectin (BPA), each having affinity for N-acetyl-d-galactosamine. It also bound the dye Calcofluor. BPA and Calcofluor were tested for the ability to hinder MHS-3 adhesion to glass surfaces; they reduced attachment by >50 and >85%, respectively. Periodate treatment also reduced attachment (by >80%), but pronase treatment did not. Furthermore, an EPS(sup-) variant, Hyphomonas strain MHS-3 rad, did not attach well to surfaces. These results suggest that the MHS-3 EPS capsule is an adhesin.


Different induction machine (IM) models are evaluated, with the aim to determine its usefulness in efficiency studies for electric vehicles (EV) traction drives. In particular, two simple IM models proposed in the literature, which take into account the additional losses, are compared. With this aim, model parameters are adjusted from experimental tests performed on a 4 kW IM. Then, results obtained from both models at different operating points are compared. Even when the estimation errors are similar when using both models, one of them is chosen because of its simplicity. Finally, a simple application of this model is proposed, which consists in use the model for obtaining a complete efficiency map of the IM, without need further essays. Such efficiency map can be used to evaluate the overall efficiency of the traction drive of an EV, or in EV design.


Translesion synthesis (TLS) helps cells to accomplish chromosomal replication in the presence of unrepaired DNA lesions. In eukaryotes, the bypass of most lesions involves a nucleotide insertion opposite the lesion by either a replicative or a specialized DNA polymerase, followed by extension of the resulting distorted primer terminus by DNA polymerase ζ (Polζ). The subsequent events leading to disengagement of the error-prone Polζ from the primer terminus and its replacement with an accurate replicative DNA polymerase remain largely unknown. As a first step toward understanding these events, we aimed to determine the length of DNA stretches synthesized in an error-prone manner during the Polζ-dependent lesion bypass. We developed new in vivo assays to identify the products of mutagenic TLS through a plasmid-borne tetrahydrofuran lesion and a UV-induced chromosomal lesion. We then surveyed the region downstream of the lesion site (in respect to the direction of TLS) for the presence of mutations indicative of an error-prone polymerase activity. The bypass of both lesions was associated with an approximately 300,000-fold increase in the mutation rate in the adjacent DNA segment, in comparison to the mutation rate during normal replication. The hypermutated tract extended 200 bp from the lesion in the plasmid-based assay and as far as 1 kb from the lesion in the chromosome-based assay. The mutation rate in this region was similar to the rate of errors produced by purified Polζ during copying of undamaged DNA in vitro. Further, no mutations downstream of the lesion were observed in rare TLS products recovered from Polζ-deficient cells. This led us to conclude that error-prone Polζ synthesis continues for several hundred nucleotides after the lesion bypass is completed. These results provide insight into the late steps of TLS and show that error-prone TLS tracts span a substantially larger region than previously appreciated.


books, but Hodgson also refers the reader to Brecht's own writing. This seems an excellent proceeding, as does his inclusion of recent critical terminology such as 'semiotics' and 'intertextuality' (dealt with in a way which demonstrates relevance to theatre practice). There is always a problem of built-in obsolescence with such books, but both are good value. Because it tries to grasp the nettle of critical theory, I found the Hodgson more interesting (and of more potential use for undergraduate reference) but I would not wish to undervalue Pickering's claims to being 'a comprehensive guide to the theatrical world'.


found in practice to be of equal value and also safe in the diagnosis of two small series of mute psychiatric inpatients.2 "Poor-risk" patients, especially those susceptible to respiratory or cardiovascular depression, will need extra care, but even then intravenous diazepam and lorazepam have been shown to be less hazardous than intravenous barbiturates.4 Care is also necessary with epileptics receiving parenteral barbiturates or paraldehyde,5 patients taking Mandrax6 and during curarization.7 Apnoea with diazepam alone has been reported in an 80-year-old patient.8 Such risks must be balanced against the importance of diagnosing and treating the underlying cause of the mutism.-I am, etc., H. G. EGDELL Airedale General Hospital. Keighley, Yorks


The GTECH project, funded through a grant from the GTE Foundation, prepared school teams of science, mathematics and technology teachers and an administrator to set goals for their local schools regarding implementation of electronic technology and integration of content across curricular areas. A variety of teacher-centered staff development strategies were used to enable participants to achieve local school objectives, model and encourage active learning environments involving technology, develop integrated curriculum and provide training to their peers. GTECH staff provided workshops and summer institutes based on teacher feedback and classroom observations. Data from the Stages of Concerns Questionnaire assisted the staff in designing effective staff development activities. Over the 2-year period, teacher teams developed and implemented integrated instructional materials and developed skills in using HyperStudio, PowerPoint, telecommunications applications, and instructional resources from the Internet. They also linked instruction to new state and national standards in science, mathematics, and technology. GTECH teachers reported that their students have expanded their knowledge and skill in problem solving, teamwork, technical expertise, and creativity.


Study o Ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMAs) is an interesting topic of present day research because of their large magnetic field induced shape recovery. They are important materials for the development of sensors and actuator based applications. Attempt for miniaturization of these actuators and sensors have led to the study of thin films. Bulk CoNiAl alloys are promising FSMAs because of their higher ductility and large range of control over the magnetic and structural transformation temperatures. To investigate the physical properties in thin film form we fabricated CoNiAl alloy films by D.C. sputtering method on glass substrates (kept at room temperature) under various conditions. They were annealed in vacuum at 500 0C for 1h. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and ellipsometry. Thickness of the films was found to be lying between 70 and 272 nm. Fine grained microstructure was found for all the deposited films. The transformation temperatures of the samples were taken from the resistivity measurement done between 80 and 350 K. Magnetization measurements were also done between 80 and 400 K by using a vibrating sample magnetometer, but the Curie temperatures of the present films were not found to be below 400 K and magnetoelastic couplings were found to be rather weak.


Objectives: The pituitary gland is critically important in the function of the endocrine axis. So far, antenatal demonstration of the pituitary gland was possible only by using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) modality. The objective of our study was to describe antenatal visualization of the pituitary gland using two and three dimensional ultrasound modality. Methods: Using a Voluson E-8 (E8 systems, GE Medical Systems, Zipf, Austria) ultrasound machine, equipped with transabdominal multifrequency 4–8-MHz probe, during the third trimester of pregnancy, two dimensional images and three dimensional volume acquisition were taken. Results: We identified the unique shape of the pituitary gland using two and three dimensional ultrasound modality, on axial plane of the skull, parallel to and slightly below the biparietal diameter plane, showing the circle of Willis. Four manipulated steps from the native volume were needed for 3D reconstruction of the gland using transabdominal sonography. The insertion of the stalk to the posterior part of the gland can be seen. The circle of Willis was found to be an excellent marker for the gland location. Conclusions: This is the first report to date indicating that prenatal visualization of the pituitary gland using ultrasound imaging is feasible. In cases with midline anomalies of the brain, face or cranium, the demonstration of the pituitary gland, which is an essential endocrine gland, is recommended.


A Monte Carlo method is used to study the propagation of temperature uncertainties into relative humidity with respect to ice (RHi) calculated from specific humidity. For a flat specific humidity distribution and Gaussian temperature uncertainties the resulting RHi distribution drops exponentially at high RHi values—much slower than a Gaussian. This agrees well with the RHi distribution measured by the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), which means that such remotely measured RHi distributions can be explained, at least partly, by temperature uncertainties.


Exploration of active manipulation of bioparticles has been impacted by the development of micro-/nanofluidic technologies, enabling evident observation of particle responses by means of applied tunable external force field, namely, dielectrophoresis (DEP), magne - tophoresis (MAG), acoustophoresis (ACT), thermophoresis (THM), and optical tweezing or trapping (OPT). In this chapter, each mechanism is presented in brief yet concise, for broad range of readers, as strong foundation for amateur as well as brainstorming source for experts. The discussion covers the fundamental mechanism that underlying the phe - nomenon, presenting the theoretical and schematic description; how the response being tuned; and utmost practical, the understanding by specific implementation into bioparti - cles manipulation engaging from micron-sized material down to molecular level particles.


This paper extends the Pearson chi-square testing method to non-dynamic parametric econometric models, in particular, to models with covariates. The paper establishes the asymptotic distribution of the test statistic under the null and local alternatives, when the test statistic is based on data-dependent random cells of a general form, and on an arbitrary asymptotically normal estimator. These results are attained by extending recent probabilistic results for the weak convergence of empirical processes indexed by sets. The chi-square test that is introduced can be used to test goodness-of-fit of a parametric model, as well as to test particular aspects of the parametric model that are of interest. In the event of rejection of the null hypothesis, the test provides information concerning the direction of departure from the null. The diagnostics provided by the test are intuitive and particularly easy to interpret.


Malaria in pregnancy alters l-arginine biosynthesis in Malawian women, and l-arginine supplementation improves placental vasculature and birth outcomes in a preclinical model. Malaria relief, one amino acid at a time Malaria infection during pregnancy can disrupt placental vasculature and cause complications during the pregnancy and delivery. Nitric oxide plays a key role in placental vascular function, and its synthesis requires l-arginine. Knowing that l-arginine and nitric oxide are both depleted during malaria-induced hemolysis and that many people in malaria-endemic areas lack sufficient l-arginine in their diets, McDonald et al. examined the effects of dietary l-arginine supplementation. The authors first studied a cohort of pregnant women in Malawi and showed that the blood of patients with malaria had less l-arginine and that this was associated with worse pregnancy outcomes. Conversely, l-arginine supplementation in a mouse model of malaria in pregnancy improved fetal weight and viability, indicating the potential value of this intervention. Reducing adverse birth outcomes due to malaria in pregnancy (MIP) is a global health priority. However, there are few safe and effective interventions. l-Arginine is an essential amino acid in pregnancy and an immediate precursor in the biosynthesis of nitric oxide (NO), but there are limited data on the impact of MIP on NO biogenesis. We hypothesized that hypoarginemia contributes to the pathophysiology of MIP and that l-arginine supplementation would improve birth outcomes. In a prospective study of pregnant Malawian women, we show that MIP was associated with lower concentrations of l-arginine and higher concentrations of endogenous inhibitors of NO biosynthesis, asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine, which were associated with adverse birth outcomes. In a model of experimental MIP, l-arginine supplementation in dams improved birth outcomes (decreased stillbirth and increased birth weight) compared with controls. The mechanism of action was via normalized angiogenic pathways and enhanced placental vascular development, as visualized by placental microcomputerized tomography imaging. These data define a role for dysregulation of NO biosynthetic pathways in the pathogenesis of MIP and support the evaluation of interventions to enhance l-arginine bioavailability as strategies to improve birth outcomes.


We describe a method designed to significantly reduce the effort required to retarget a compiler to a new architecture, while at the same time producing fast and effective compilers. The basic idea is to use the native C compiler at compiler construction time to discover architectural features of the new architecture. From this information a formal machine description is produced. Given this machine description, a native code-generator can be generated by a back-end generator such as BEG or burg. A prototype automatic Architecture Discovery Tool (called ADT) has been implemented. This tool is completely automatic and requires minimal input from the user. Given the Internet address of the target machine and the command-lines by which the native C compiler, assembler, and linker are invoked, ADT will generate a BEG machine specification containing the register set, addressing modes, instruction set, and instruction timings for the architecture. The current version of ADT is general enough to produce machine descriptions for the integer instruction sets of common RISC and CISC architectures such as the Sun SPARC, Digital Alpha, MIPS, DEC VAX, and Intel x86.


Face synthesis from thermal to visible spectrum is fundamental to perform cross-spectrum face recognition as it simplifies its integration in existing commercial face recognition systems and enables manual face verification. In this paper, a new solution based on cascaded refinement networks is proposed. This method generates visible-like colored images of high visual quality without requiring large amounts of training data. By employing a contextual loss function during training, the proposed network is inherently scale and rotation invariant. We discuss the visual perception of the generated visible-like faces in comparison with recent works. We also provide an objective evaluation in terms of cross-spectrum face recognition, where the generated faces were compared against a gallery in visible spectrum using two state-of-the-art deep learning based face recognition systems. When compared to the recently published TV-GAN solution, the performance of the face recognition systems, OpenFace and LightCNN, was improved by a 42.48% (i.e. from 10.76% to 15.37%) and a 71.43% (i.e. from 33.606% to 57.612%), respectively.


Background: The transitional care model ensures the continuity of care and has significant impact on patients' health outcomes. Transitional care services need to be developed based on patients' needs.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the care needs of patients following hospital discharge.

Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 484 patients using a questionnaire to investigate patients' transitional care needs, covering the types of the services and patient preferred services providers.

Results: The investigation revealed that only 17.98% (n = 87) of participants were aware that the tertiary hospital provided transitional care following hospital discharge, even though more than half of participants (n = 265) expressed a preference for doctors and nurses from tertiary hospitals to provide this. Regarding types of transitional care service, 46.9% participants (n = 227) considered health education to be their priority, followed by medication guidance (35.33%), and rehabilitation needs (34.71%).

Conclusion: The most preferred service model perceived by patients are transitional care services provided by health professionals from tertiary hospitals. Transitional care must encompass a broad range of health services including health education, medication management, and rehabilitation in order to meet patients' needs. This is to promote the care continuity across various care settings.


Coming from a place that is so divided by geo-political conflict as Palestine/Israel, it is crucial to define one's role as an architect. Choosing an ideology of practice in such circumstances is not a technical activity; rather, it becomes an 'ethical' approach as well as a political statement.
Architecture cannot be dissociated from political power. However, whenever it becomes a technique of executing politics, it becomes a very dangerous tool, especially if the politics aims to fragment and control. Architecture in such circumstances can lose all its meaning of creating habitable spaces and become instead a weapon to destroy. In the case of contemporary Israel in its hegemonic relationship to the Palestinian people, the lines drawn on paper are based on military expansion, destroying the space of land and space of imagination.
To work against the Israeli project of marginalization, the need to rethink architecture in Palestine calls for a new ideology which can overcome the highly orchestrated matrix of Israeli occupation. The current impact of hardening the border Abstractzones in Palestine/Israel does not only bring with it division and destruction, but it also exhibits new cultural and urban realities shaped by the act of occupation, and by the corresponding will to resist and survive. One of the outstanding outcomes of such a reality is the everyday forms of Palestinian resistance, which have in their own way constructed an attitude towards the built environment and created a new character to the spaces, as well as to the official map. Those who live within these fragments are now introducing new solid facts through their everyday activities, displaying a power to resist with creative tools that architecture and planning have so far failed to achieve.
In my design-based research, I will be taking Palestine as my key testing ground, looking at the spaces between people, lines, documents and maps for the meaning of architecture of resistance; searching for potential spaces of possibilities that can empower the fragmented society and bridge the gap between their divided spaces. My main focus in this PhD by Design thesis will be on understanding and revealing the informal daily forms of counter-resistance and survival tactics, which in their subversive and invisible micro scale events are cutting into the very heart of the Israeli occupation strategy. Special emphasis will be put on the ordinary citizens of Palestine, who count on the urban street as a platform for performing and living.
Paradoxically, this contribution to the act of resisting Israeli occupation mightn't require the concepts of architecture, transparency or technology in the way these have hitherto been imagined: instead, this thesis suggests an architect-figure who can sustain social behaviour and facilitate the kinds of conditions that will create more of these silent and invisible networks. Building on an understanding of these forms, and analyzing the reason behind their emergence, my outcomes will go beyond commentary into responsive design interventions for spaces of possibility and imagination along the Palestinian/Israeli frontier.


Multiscale methods have proved to be successful tools in image denoising, edge enhancement and shape recovery. They are based on the numerical solution of a nonlinear diffusion problem where a noisy or damaged image which has to be smoothed or restorated is considered as initial data. Here a novel approach is presented which will soon be capable to ensure real time performance of these methods. It is based on an implementation of a corresponding finite element scheme in texture hardware of modern graphics engines. The method regards vectors as textures and represents linear algebra operations as texture processing operations. Thus, the resulting performance can profit from the superior bandwidth and the build in parallelism of the graphics hardware. Here the concept of this approach is introduced and perspectives are outlined picking up the basic Perona Malik model on 2D images.


In addition to the considerable developments in medical and surgery techniques, patients with burn injuries are at risk of many complications such as mortality. The current cross-sectional study evaluated the effect of different variables, such as age, gender, pregnancy, underlying diseases, total body surface area (TBSA), burning degree, the burned member, motivation, addiction, inhalation injury, admission to the intensive care unit, intubation, initial fluid therapy, simultaneous trauma, the time elapsed from the burning to admission, and the name of referring center (if the patient was referred) on the treatment response. The current prospective study evaluated all patients hospitalized in Shahid Motahari Burn Hospital of Tehran, Iran, from Sep. 2014 for four months, due to severe burning. Hence, a checklist was completed for each patient. To evaluate the effect of the mentioned variables the univariate logistic regression was employed for statistical analysis. Four hundred-fifty-two patients were admitted to the hospital for burning within the four months period of the study. In the current study, the rate of mortality was 14.18%. Mortality was independently related to the inhalation injury (aOR: 11.6, P < 0.001), burning degree (aOR: 1.7, P = 0.006), TBSA (aOR: 1.1, P < 0.001) and age (aOR: 1.1, P < 0.001). Values are significant at P < 0.05. It is important to consider inhalation injury, burning degree, TBSA, and age of the patient in rapid evaluations. To reduce burning events, it is necessary to teach educational and preventing programs for the general public. It is also recommended to design and implement retraining programs regarding handling the patients with burning injuries for the medical staff.


The overall goal of clinical pharmacy activities is to promote the correct and appropriate use of medicinal products that respect patient preferences.
Indonesia currently has a population of about 252,370,792 inhabitants spread over the 13.466 islands. The whole country is the size of 1,910,931.32 km2, nearly half of the Union Europe, which stretches for 5.150 km along the equator between Malaysia and Australia. There are about 600 different languages and dialects. However, the majority speak the national Indonesian language.
Clinical Pharmacy Practice
The development of Clinical Pharmacy in Indonesia started in the year 2000 and published in The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 264 No. 7098 p. 817-819 May 27, 2000 by C.K. Tan, PhD, MRPharmS, and M. Aslam, PhD, FRPharmS.
In 2015, the total number of hospitals has reached 2,456 with details around 1,925 General Hospitals and 531 Special Hospitals. The total number of Accredited Hospitals is 1,321. The total Primary Health Centers are as much as 9.692, with the details of 3.363 primary health centers with inpatient facilities and 6,329 primary health centers without inpatient facilities. The total amount of pharmacies is as much as 21,058. In 2015, 53,092 pharmacists were registered with the details of 12,042 men and 41,050 women.
There are some Standards of Pharmaceutical Care that support Clinical Pharmacy Practice: Regulation of Health Minister No. 58 Year 2014 Standard of Pharmaceutical Care in Hospitals, Regulation of Health Minister No. 30 Year 2014 The Standards of Pharmaceutical Care at the Primary Health Center, and Regulation of Health Minister No. 35 Year 2014 The Standards of Pharmaceutical Care in Pharmacy.
The percentage of Government Hospital and Primary Health Center comply to Pharmaceutical Care Standard by 2014 is approximately 46%.
Clinical Pharmacy Education
S1 education curriculum that teaches clinical pharmacy began in 2003 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Surabaya. However, at the current time almost all pharmacy colleges teach clinical pharmacy. The number of pharmacy colleges of S1 in 2015 is as many as 121 colleges while in 2000 there were only 16. Nowadays, college education pharmacist profession is as much as 29. There are some regulations that support Pharmacist Education:
Law No. 20 Year 2003 on National Education System
Law No. 14 Year 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers
Law No. 36 Year 2009 on Health
Presidential Decree No. 19 Year 2005 on National Education Standards
Presidential Decree No. 51 Year 2009 on Pharmaceutical Works
Presidential Decree No. 17 Year 2010 on Education Management and Implementation
Pharmacists Profession Education Standard requires 2 semesters with at least 28 credits and 40 credits maximum.
In an effort to make the level of competence and qualifications that can reconcile, equalize, and integrate the fields of education and job training as well as work experience in order to award the work in accordance with the recognition of the competence of employment structure in various sectors, the Indonesian Government has issued Presidential Decree No. 08 Year 2012 on the Indonesian National Qualifications Framework (KKNI) and the Appendix used in the preparation of the learning outcomes of graduates from each level of education nationwide. There are as following:
Pharmacist Professional Education Standards issued by Indonesian Association of Pharmacy College (APTFI) and Work Practice Standards of Professional Pharmacists Indonesia issued in 2008.


This paper describes a new feature of the GAPT framework, namely the ability to import refutations obtained from external automated theorem provers. To cope with coarsegrained, under-specified and non-standard inference rules used by various theorem provers, the technique of proof replaying is employed. The refutations provided by external theorem provers are replayed using GAPT's built-in resolution prover (TAP), which generates refutations that use only three basic fine-grained inference rules (resolution, factoring and paramodulation) and are therefore more suitable to be manipulated by the proof-theoretic algorithms implemented in GAPT.


Ferroelectric PbTiO(3) films 0.5- to 2.0-mum thick were prepared by the metalloorganic decomposition (MOD) process using multilayer spinning with firing temperatures of 490-630 degrees C. The temperature dependence of the dielectric constant was found to be a function of the c/a ratio, which could be modified by control of either the single-layer thickness or the strength of the electric field during film preparation near the Curie temperature. The films were near theoretical density and defect-free over 2 cmx2 cm areas.


: Past reports ignored the functional relationship between the upper and lower lacrimal canaliculi. The authors measured the lacrimal function in 50 normal eyes of 27 subjects and found that the drainage was more rapid in the lower lacrimal canaliculi of 25 eyes and in the upper canaliculi of 22 eyes, while the drainage time was equal in 3 eyes. The drainage in 25 eyes with both the upper and lower canaliculi open was more rapid than with any one canaliculus occluded. The authors suggested that the function of the lacrimal canaliculi might be classified into three types: the dominating, the dominated and the balanced. There was no statistical difference (P greater than 0.05) between the numbers of dominating upper or lower canaliculi in this series. The function of the upper and lower canaliculi operated synergically and complete drainage was not accomplished by any one canaliculus alone.


The three-dimensional orientation distribution was calculated from neutron diffraction pole figures for a copper 27.2% zinc alloy cold rolled to different degrees of deformation. The results agree qualitatively with those of other authors. There are however differences in the quantitative respect which influence the conclusions to be
drawn. For rolling degrees lower than about 70% the texture exhibits an orientation tube similar to that of the
copper type, but with a significantly different distribution along the tube axis. For rolling degrees larger than 70%
the texture can be described by the orientation {110}〈112〉. The deformation is assumed to occur according to the Wassermann model and the Hu model respectively in these two ranges.


Many IT organizations are confronted with the question whether to modernize their IT infrastructure. While most data centers run on a virtualized environment, Cloud Computing technology emerges with new characteristics on fast provision of standardized resources in a scalable IT infrastructure. Public cloud vendors offer IT services on demand, so that IT organizations do not have to operate their own hardware. Moreover, private cloud architectures gain influence, claiming to provide flexible and elastic IT infrastructure. The paper at hand guides the strategic decision for adoption of Cloud Computing on IT infrastructure. Therefore, we first introduce a taxonomy for IT infrastructure encompassing a technological and a sourcing perspective. Second, we evaluate selective areas of the taxonomy adopting the SWOT framework to understand both opportunities and challenges of Cloud Computing for IT infrastructure from a business perspective.


Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Sudan and has place and time implications. The objective of this paper is to identify the time pattern of tuberculosis at national, regional and seasonal scales in order to assist with its reduction among the majority of poor Sudanese. The design of the paper focuses on tuberculosis time trends from 1995 through 2009, based on Sudan National Tuberculosis Control Program data. Results depict fluctuation of TB, though national data indicates annual increase of 6.6% of all cases of the disease. Tuberculosis was steadily rising prior to 2000 and slightly dropped by 2008. Prevalence rates are decreasing versus population increasing from the year 1999 onward. Wide dispersion of tuberculosis cases is noticed during winter while it was less during Summer, Spring And Autumn. Differences in tuberculosis seasonal distribution are smaller between males and females during winter and spring, but increased slightly towards Summer and Autumn. Tuberculosis is more prevalent among young and old males rather than females. In the sex age group, 0 – 14, females exceeded male by 8.29%. In the sex age group of 15-24 male exceeded female by 17.35%. Thereafter, males recorded higher. During early childhood; females are more vulnerable to infection than males. Regional ranking of tuberculosis puts central region first then eastern, southern, western and northern regions respectively. The findings illustrate disordered and clustered pattern of dispersion of tuberculosis cases and establishes a confident relationship between population and tuberculosis. In conclusion, the author proposes COPOVINNLIT program for reduction of TB in Sudan.


Alternative and complementary medicine is becoming more popular among consumers and prescribed more by health care professionals. Alternative medicine can be traced back thousands of years, however, it wasn't introduced to the United States until the early 1900s. Alternative medicine encompasses a wide range of therapies including homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, massage and bodywork therapy, meditation, nutritional supplements, and herbal remedies. Understanding the background and benefits of these alternatives is important to all health care professionals.


We propose a method to fuse frozen text-only large language models (LLMs) with pre-trained image encoder and decoder models, by mapping between their embedding spaces. Our model demonstrates a wide suite of multimodal capabilities: image retrieval, novel image generation, and multimodal dialogue. Ours is the first approach capable of conditioning on arbitrarily interleaved image and text inputs to generate coherent image (and text) outputs. To achieve strong performance on image generation, we propose an efficient mapping network to ground the LLM to an off-the-shelf text-to-image generation model. This mapping network translates hidden representations of text into the embedding space of the visual models, enabling us to leverage the strong text representations of the LLM for visual outputs. Our approach outperforms baseline generation models on tasks with longer and more complex language. In addition to novel image generation, our model is also capable of image retrieval from a prespecified dataset, and decides whether to retrieve or generate at inference time. This is done with a learnt decision module which conditions on the hidden representations of the LLM. Our model exhibits a wider range of capabilities compared to prior multimodal language models. It can process image-and-text inputs, and produce retrieved images, generated images, and generated text -- outperforming non-LLM based generation models across several text-to-image tasks that measure context dependence.


Access control policies define the rules for accessing system resources. Traditionally, these are designed to take a reactive view for providing access, based on explicit user request. This methodology may not be sufficient in the case of critical events (emergencies) where automatic and timely access to resources may be required to facilitate corrective actions. This paper introduces the novel concept of criticality which measures the level of responsiveness for taking such actions. The paper further incorporates criticality in an access control framework for facilitating the management of critical situations. Specific properties and requirements for such criticality aware access control are identified and a sample model is provided along with its verification


INTRODUCTION
diet quality indexes are tools are aimed at quantifying the compliance to a defined dietary pattern. These indexes are a combined measure of dietary factors (food groups, foods, nutrients and ratios) and/ or lifestyles factors. The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is a dietary pattern characterized by their positive effects against chronic diseases. There have been many indexes proposed for the assessment of this dietary pattern. An evaluation of their composition and health benefits is therefore convenient.

OBJECTIVE
the objective is to evaluate indexes of adherence to the MD with regard to their definition, methodological issues and validation as reported in epidemiological studies.

METHODS
we searched in PubMed for studies that developed MD Indexes up to October 2014.

RESULTS
a total number of 22 indexes were identified, with differences regarding the number of components (7-28), scoring (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 or 10, in case of compliance), range (0-100) and type of components (which could be food groups/foods or their combination, with nutrients). Among the positive components, fruits and vegetables were the most common and meats, among the negative components. There were also differences with regard to their composition and evaluation (e.g. criteria of moderate alcohol consumption), as well as with the scoring system (in medians, terciles or established servings).

CONCLUSIONS
this review suggests that since there is great heterogeneity in the definition of MD. It would be therefore convenient to establish more clearly the components to be included and to establish commonly defined criteria to quantify this dietary pattern.


Objectives This study aimed to assess management of pediatric isolated skull fracture (ISF) patients by determining frequency of admission and describing characteristics associated with patients admitted for observation compared with patients discharged directly from the emergency department (ED) and those requiring a prolonged hospitalization. Methods We evaluated children younger than 5 years who presented with ISF using the South Carolina Traumatic Brain Injury Surveillance and Registry System data from 2001 to 2011. Outcomes analyzed included discharged from ED, admitted for less than 24 hours, and admitted for more than 24 hours (prolonged hospitalization). Bivariate analyses and a polytomous logistic regression model identified factors associated with patient disposition. Results Five hundred twenty-seven patients met the study criteria (ED discharge = 283 [53%]; inpatient <24 hours = 156 [29%]; inpatient >24 hours = 88 [18%]). The mean length of stay for admissions was 1.9 (SD, 1.5) days. In the regression model, ED discharges had greater odds of presenting to levels 2 to 3 hospitals (level 2: odds ratio [OR], 6.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.66–10.39; level 3: OR, 30.98; 95% CI, 10.92–87.91) and lower odds of a high poverty status (OR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.10–0.40). Prolonged hospitalizations had greater odds of concomitant injuries (OR, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.12–4.36). Conclusions Admission after ISF is high despite a low risk of deterioration. High-poverty patients presenting to high-acuity medical centers are more commonly admitted for observation. Only presence of concomitant injuries was clinically predictive of prolonged hospitalization. The ability to better stratify risk after pediatric ISF would help providers make more informed decisions regarding ED disposition.


Problems with the control and compliance of pneumatic systems have prevented their widespread use in advanced robotics. However, their compactness, power/weight ratio, and simplicity are factors that could potentially be exploited in sophisticated dextrous manipulator designs. This paper considers the development of a new high power/weight and power/volume braided pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) having considerable power output potential, combined with controllable motion and inherent compliance to prevent damage to handled objects. Control of these muscles is explored via adaptive pole-placement controllers. Experimental results indicate that accurate position control of 1/spl deg/ is feasible, with power/weight outputs in excess of 1kW/kg at 200kPa. >


The nucleotide sequence of the E. coli glnALG operon has been determined. The glnL (ntrB) and glnG (ntrC) genes present a high homology, at the nucleotide and aminoacid levels, with the corresponding genes of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The predicted aminoacid sequence for glutamine synthetase allowed us to locate some of the enzyme domains. The structure of this operon is discussed.


Paecilomyces hepialid, a fungus originating in the Tibetan Plateau, has been used as a substitute for Ophiocordyceps sinensis because the primary chemical compounds and pharmacological effects of P. hepialid are similar to those of O. sinensis. P. hepialid has been developed into a dietary supplement and pharmaceutical products. The antioxidant activity of extracts using 2 solvents (water and ethanol) from mycelia obtained from 2 cultivation modes (solid-state and submerged cultivation) were evaluated in this study. Four strains of P. hepialid obtained from Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan Provinces were included; the total phenolic content and in vitro antioxidant activity of mycelial extracts were compared. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of strains were found to be affected by the cultivation mode and extraction solvent. The ethanol extracts of solid-state cultivation of strain 2138, obtained from Sichuan Province, exhibited the highest antioxidant activity. The results showed that different strains might require different cultivation modes and extraction solvents for better antioxidant activity. However, solid-state cultivation and ethanol extraction are generally recommended based on the analyses conducted. Strain 2138 may be a good candidate for the purpose of producing functional foods. The results suggest that strain selection is important when P. hepialid is used to manufacture pharmaceutical products.


Emergency managers will have to deal with the impending, uncertain, and possibly extreme effects of climate change. Yet, many emergency managers are not aware of the full range of possible effects, and they are unsure of their place in the effort to plan for, adapt to, and cope with those effects. This may partly reflect emergency mangers' reluctance to get caught up in the rancorous—and politically-charged—debate about climate change, but it mostly is due to the worldview shared by most emergency managers. We focus on: extreme events; acute vs. chronic hazards (floods vs. droughts); a shorter event horizon (5 years vs. 75–100 years); and a shorter planning and operational cycle. This paper explores the important intersection of emergency management, environmental management, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. It examines the different definitions of terms common to all three fields, the overlapping strategies used in all three fields, and the best means of collaboration and mutual re-enforcement among the three to confront and solve the many possible futures that we may face in the climate change world.


The unsteady behaviour of delta wing vortical flows is still a subject which is a challenge for numerical methods, such as computational fluid dynamics. New approaches to turbulence modelling, such as detached eddy simulation (DES) have been proposed which allow for greater accuracy of the numerical predictions. However, this increase in accuracy comes with a considerable increase in computational expense compared to traditional turbulence modelling. This investigation considers the use of both DES and unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) turbulence methods in the prediction of unsteady vortical flows. Calculations using DES are initially considered for two test cases and the predicted behaviour and resolution of the flow are considered. These results are then validated against existing experimental data, before the URANS calculations are considered with respect to the DES results. From this investigation it is determined that URANS turbulence models are able to predict the dominant features of the low frequency phenomenon present in the vortex system and in the post-breakdown region. Consideration is also given to the effect of grid refinement for both methods and the effect of temporal resolution for the DES calculations.


During 1964-1973 twenty six patients were operated upon for grave rectal prolapse (6 patients after 1-2 unsuccessful operations elsewhere). The combined method of rectopexy by means of skin autoimplants after the technic suggested by B.A. Barkov was employed. All patients recovered and were completely rehabilitated, the follow-up being from 2 to 10 years. No recurrences were noted.


We consider the task of scheduling a conference based on incomplete data about available resource and scheduling constraints, and describe a procedure for automated elicitation of additional data. This procedure is part of an interactive system for scheduling under uncertainty, which identifies critical missing information, generates related questions to the human administrator, and uses answers to improve the schedule.


INTRODUCTION
The Integrated Programme of Maternal and Child Health aims to reduce maternal and child mortality in Guinea-Bissau. The purpose of this article is to share our experience in building a training programme on maternal and newborn care for health-care professionals in Guinea-Bissau.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Regional directors of the four target areas chose a group of staff who provide prenatal and childbirth care to attend the course (12 to 15 trainees per region). In each region, 15 highly interactive and practical sessions were scheduled over eight weeks. The trainees' summative and reactive assessment was obtained using a multiple choice questionnaire (final test) and an anonymous survey, respectively.

RESULTS
Attendees included 25 nurses, 17 midwives and 14 doctors. About two thirds had five years' practice or less. Test median scores were higher among trainees with two to nine years of practice (54.4% to 60.9%), as compared to those with a year or less (47.8%) or 10 or more years (45.7%). Pedagogical variables were rated as 'good' or 'very good' by 91% to 95% of the attendees.

DISCUSSION
Use of an interactive and practical pedagogical methodology produced positive results and was crucial to tailoring the training to local needs. However, adapting the syllabus according to professional categories and experiences should be considered.

CONCLUSION
Our results warrant further development and evaluation of training programmes on maternal and neonatal care in Guinea-Bissau.


Ca2+ has been shown to be essential for the retention of maximal O2-evolving activity in Photosystem 2 particles extracted by using dodecyldimethylamine oxide from Anacystis nidulans thylakoids. The effect cannot entirely be mimicked by using Mg2+. Ca2+ stimulates electron transport from diphenylcarbazide to 2,6-dichloroindophenol catalysed by lead-inhibited cation-free preparations, showing the presence of two cation-binding sites in these particles. Photosystem 2 preparations extracted in Ca2+-containing buffer show the presence of three polypeptides at mol. wt. 30000, 33000 and 36000, which are absent or much decreased in preparations extracted in Mg2+-containing buffer. The calmodulin antagonist chlorpromazine inhibits activity of the Photosystem 2 preparation, suggesting the presence of a Ca2+-binding protein.


Volume 1: History and Concepts Part 1: History Part 2: Concepts Underlying the Conservation and Preservation Process (a) Process (b) Significance and Value Volume 2: Critical Concepts in Heritage Part 3: Indigenous Issues Part 4: Identity Part 5: Theoretical Issues and Debates Part 6: Memory Volume 3: Heritage as an Industry Part 7: Heritage Industry Part 8: Tourism, Nostalgia and Authenticity Volume 4: Interpretation and Community Part 9: Interpretation Part 10: Community Part 11: Intangible Heritage


Fourth-Grade Teachers Use of MTSS-RTI to Teach Mathematical Word Problem-Solving by Theodell J. Blake MS, Touro College, 2007 Med, University of Sheffield, 1998 BS, Andrews University, 1992 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Special Education Walden University May 2019 Abstract Schools in Florida used the multitiered system of support response to intervention framework to help students achieve the state and national standards but, in the national report card, 61% of the fourth-graders assessed in mathematics failed to achieve proficiency. Research indicated that the students lacked mathematical word problemsolving skills. The purpose of the qualitative study was to discover how fourth-gradeSchools in Florida used the multitiered system of support response to intervention framework to help students achieve the state and national standards but, in the national report card, 61% of the fourth-graders assessed in mathematics failed to achieve proficiency. Research indicated that the students lacked mathematical word problemsolving skills. The purpose of the qualitative study was to discover how fourth-grade special and general education teachers used the response to intervention framework evidence-based curriculum, instruction, intervention, assessment, and student data to teach math word problem-solving skills to children who have persistent and significant difficulties. Welner's zone of mediation framework and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory form the conceptual framework for the study. The teachers provided data through indepth interviews, math intervention program, training document, teachers' guides, assessment tools, and observation. All the data was uploaded to the latest version of NVivo and analyzed based on the research questions. The study findings showed that participants used all the features of the response to intervention framework to teach math word problem-solving skills and address the needs of at-risk students. Teachers should continuously reinforce math vocabulary, terminology, and math reading comprehension skills of students. Administrators and teachers should be able to use the findings of this study to improve the use of the response to intervention features to develop the math word problem-solving skills of students and influence teachers' pedagogical practices. Fourth-Grade Teachers Use of MTSS-RTI to Teach Mathematical Word Problem-Solving by Theodell J. Blake MS, Touro College, 2007 Med, University of Sheffield, 1998 BS, Andrews University, 1992 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy


In this Article, I will identify and discuss the harms that would have occurred had the Schindlers won the Schiavo Case - the harms both to Terri Schiavo in the private case and the larger set of harms to public policy in the public case. The Schindlers fought Michael Schiavo on a variety of battlegrounds - the Florida courts, the Florida legislative and executive branches, the federal courts, and eventually Congress. Had they definitively prevailed in any of these forums, the consequences for end-of-life decisionmaking would have been largely the same. Had they prevailed in Congress or even in the state legislative and executive branches, however, the consequences would have implicated issues beyond end-of-life decisionmaking, potentially altering the balance among legislative, executive, and judicial power and between federal and state power. Separation of powers and federalism, however, are not the topics I will address. Had the Schindlers won the Schiavo case, the legal consensus about end-of-life decisionmaking would have suffered serious setbacks, if it had not been sent into total disarray. From a legal perspective, the Schiavo case is pure anticlimax because after all the litigation and legislation - not to mention fighting, and shouting, and even shoving - it did not work any changes in the law. History will view it as another in a series of high profile cases in which the consensus - the legal consensus, the clinical-professional consensus, indeed the societal consensus - about end-of-life decisionmaking further solidified.


ABSTRACT International legal scholars have identified and argued for and against new forms of non-consent-based international law. We study variation in Brazilian public opinion about adherence to international law created in three different ways: through a consent-based multilateral treaty, by the U.N. Security Council with the participation of Brazil, and by the U.N. Security Council without the participation of Brazil. Information that Brazil has participated in creating the international legal obligation through a multilateral treaty or membership on the Security Council yields levels of support for adherence to the legal obligation that are similar to those found when the origins of the legal obligation are generic. Information that the international legal obligation was created without Brazil's participation, on the other hand, results in reduced support for compliance. This difference, which is particularly concentrated among highly educated respondents, is not driven by reduced concerns about reputational consequences or sanctions. Our results suggest that the increased use of non-consent-based forms of international law might be challenged by a lack of public support for compliance.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the effect of 3 laryngeal prostheses alone or in combination on rima glottidis area in horses.

STUDY DESIGN
Experimental randomized design.

SAMPLE POPULATION
Cadaveric equine larynges (n = 22).

METHODS
Three prostheses were preplaced in each of 14 larynges. Rima glottidis area was measured after loading each suture in 5 Newton (N) increments from 0 N to 35 N. In 8 larynges, the 3 prostheses were tied alone or in combination at a fixed load of 15 N and rima glottidis area measured.

RESULTS
Rima glottidis cross-sectional area increased as the load on each prosthesis increased with maximum area reached at 20 N for each prosthesis. At a fixed load of 15 N, tying 2 and 3 prostheses in combination resulted in a larger rima glottidis cross-sectional area than achieved with each prosthesis alone.

CONCLUSIONS
A combination of 2 or 3 prostheses tied at a fixed load of 15 N optimized rima glottidis cross-sectional area irrespective of the anatomic location of the prosthesis.


A $\textit{grid shape}$ is a set of boxes chosen from a square grid; any Young diagram is an example. This paper considers a notion of pattern-avoidance for $0-1$ fillings of grid shapes, which generalizes permutation pattern-avoidance. A filling avoids some patterns if none of its sub-shapes equal any of the patterns. We focus on patterns that are $\textit{pairs}$ of $2 \times 2$ fillings. For some shapes, fillings that avoid specific $2 \times 2$ pairs are in bijection with totally nonnegative Grassmann cells, or with acyclic orientations of bipartite graphs. We prove a number of results analogous to Wilf-equivalence for these objects ―- that is, we show that for certain classes of shapes, some pattern-avoiding fillings are equinumerous with others.


As a work ethics system, Akhism is a system that is talked about from centuries ago to now. The aim of this research is evaluation of tradesman's and craftsmen's levels of the ownership of Akhi_Order Values in terms of some variables in Kirsehir. The research population consists of tradesman's and craftsmen's and the workers who work together with them, living in Kirsehir. The research was descriptive and the face-to-face survey technique was used to collect the data. The data collection was performed using the Akhi Order Values Scale. Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis variance analysis were performed on the data. In addition, exploratory factor analysis was applied to test the validity of the scale. Scale scores were statistically significant in terms of age, gender, duty and educational status. Research findings show that Kirsehir tradesman and craftsmen have adopted Akhi values at an intermediate level. When the results of the study are examined, it was seen that tradesman and craftsmen's did not adopt the values of Akhi. This result is similar to other studies.


Author(s): Dehaas, Jocelyn H.; White, Mary E. | Abstract: Knowledge and information are critical components of planning and community decision-making. A key challenge to addressing transportation-related environmental concerns is obtaining enough information to make sound policy decisions. To meet this challenge, ATRI has established a repository for Border Region Information on Transportation and the Environment (BRITE).The BRITE is a comprehensive online and text-based annotated bibliography that provides full bibliographic information and contact sources for pertinent social and natural science research projects. We believe that the BRITE is the first repository of its kind. Such information sharing as is provided by the BRITE can enable precious research dollars to go farther because researchers can avoid the duplication of efforts. It also can allow NGOs and the general public to quickly and easily locate information that may be relevant to local planning and policy efforts. In doing so, the BRITE can create circumstances which will generate collaborative efforts among diverse entities.In 1983, the US and Mexico signed the "La Paz Agreement" which defined the border zone as the region situated 60 miles (100 kilometers) on either side of the 2,000-mile international boundary between the US and Mexico. The BRITE also uses this definition. The region encompasses approximately 240,000 square miles of diverse ecological territory that include wetlands, semi-arid, desert, and coastal regions. In this desert environment, transportation is one of the primary environmental concerns with regard to air quality, water quality, habitat protection, land use, hazardous waste transportation, and noise pollution. As the border area population continues to grow, addressing the links between transportation and the environment will only increase in importance.Border Region Information on Transportation and the Environment (BRITE) was created in 1998 to address the need of information sharing. BRITE is a searchable, on-line database where people can access bibliographic information on what has been written about transportation and environmental issues in the border region. BRITE enables researchers, interest groups, planners, and the general public access to this information. The goal of BRITE is to increase information exchange and collaboration. BRITE was created in sections, the first of which was Air Quality. Subsequently, three other sections have been researched: Water Quality, Habitat, and Land Use. Future plans for BRITE include sections on Hazardous Waste, Noise, and Regulations.Website www.unm.edu/~atr/BRITE


discount the idea that just because a hernia is big it is also safe. Strangulation is not seen in small congenital hernias either. I think strangulation depends mostly on the angle at which the long axis of the presenting part meets the plane of the hole. In congenital umbilical hernias it is usually 90 degrees, but in inguinal hernias the angle is more acute; in acquired adult umbilical hernias the hole is made by the stretching of the interdigitating fibres, and the resulting hole is likely not to be always at right angles to the force producing it, and therefore strangulation sometimes occurs. Possibly associated with the high incidence of hernias in Africans generally is a small but probably significant increased incidence of strangulated internal-that is, retropaitoneal-hernias. Two cases of small-bowel obstruction, both due to herniation into the right duodenojejunal fossa, were seen. In the first the diagnosis was easy because of the large ventral hernia; the short dilated afferent loop of jejunum could be felt leading to the tumour and it was dealt with effectively. In the second no umbilical hernia was present. The patient's continued vomiting was suspected to be due to gastritis following the drinking of pombe (native beer, like fermented gruel) and the true nature of his illness was not discovered until a necropsy was performed. Although the presence of large umbilical hernias facilitate palpation of the abdominal viscera, when the latter are felt to be abnormal the presence of the former cannot usually be made the excuse for laparotomy however tempting this may be. Most unsophisticated Africans seem to be proud of this expansile device and wish to keep it.-I am, etc., STuART H. WYDELL. Camperdown District Hospital, Camperdown, Victoria.


Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) has a broad plant-host range and a wide ecological zone distribution. Virus-like symptoms were observed on tobacco fields of Adıyaman province (Turkey) showing conspicuous mottling, greenish mosaic patterns and severe malformations of leaves. A total of forty tobacco samples tested positive against CMV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using coat protein gene specific primers. Five randomly chosen CMV isolates were cloned into pGEM T-Easy vector and transformed into Escherichia coli JM109 strain. The recombinant bacterial clones containing insert-DNA were further purified and sequenced bidirectionally. In multiplex-RT-PCR studies carried out, it was found that all 40 CMV isolates belong to Subgroup I by resulting a 593 bp long DNA fragments. CMV subgroup IA was found to predominate in 4 out of 5 tobacco samples and CMV subgroup IB was found in 1 out of 5 CMV-positive samples by comparing the isolates with CMV reference isolates in phylogenetic tree. However, no Subgroup II sequences were found by multiplex RT-PCR using discriminating primers. The nucleic acid sequences were analyzed for the investigation of diversity of coat protein (CP) sequences of 5 CMV isolates. The sequence similarity ranged from 94.2-100% with the CMV subgroup I isolates infecting diverse plants in other regions of the world. The evolutionary tree revealed that the CMV IA Adıyaman isolates exhibited a genetic affinity with Australian and Spanish isolates. However, the CMV IB Adıyaman isolate showed a close genetic relationship with only the Australian isolates. To our knowledge, this study shows for the first time the occurrence of CMV IA and IB isolates infecting cultured tobacco plants in Adiyaman province.


Photographs taken through glass windows often contain both the desired scene and undesired reflections. Separating the reflection and transmission layers is an important but ill-posed problem that has both aesthetic and practical applications. In this work, we introduce the use of ghosting cues that exploit asymmetry between the layers, thereby helping to reduce the ill-posedness of the problem. These cues arise from shifted double reflections of the reflected scene off the glass surface. In double-pane windows, each pane reflects shifted and attenuated versions of objects on the same side of the glass as the camera. For single-pane windows, ghosting cues arise from shifted reflections on the two surfaces of the glass pane. Even though the ghosting is sometimes barely perceptible by humans, we can still exploit the cue for layer separation. In this work, we model the ghosted reflection using a double-impulse convolution kernel, and automatically estimate the spatial separation and relative attenuation of the ghosted reflection components. To separate the layers, we propose an algorithm that uses a Gaussian Mixture Model for regularization. Our method is automatic and requires only a single input image. We demonstrate that our approach removes a large fraction of reflections on both synthetic and real-world inputs.


This paper analyzes the numerical solution of a class of nonlinear Schrodinger equations by Galerkin finite elements in space and a mass and energy conserving variant of the Crank–Nicolson method due to Sanz-Serna in time. The novel aspects of the analysis are the incorporation of rough, discontinuous potentials in the context of weak and strong disorder, the consideration of some general class of nonlinearities, and the proof of convergence with rates in L∞(L2) under moderate regularity assumptions that are compatible with discontinuous potentials. For sufficiently smooth potentials, the rates are optimal without any coupling condition between the time step size and the spatial mesh width.


Abstract Critical scholars of sport and physical culture have devoted significant attention to developing critiques of epistemological hierarchies and the discursive power of biomedical knowledge in sport, exercise and physical activity. However, such work has largely failed to engage in an empirically grounded fashion with the processes of knowledge production. Furthermore, relative to its importance in the creation of knowledge, the laboratory is conspicuous in its absence from both critical discussions and as a site for empirical research. By way of response, this study draws on data collected from over 1000 h of participant observation and 53 semi-structured interviews to explore how underlying political and social values are articulated through relationships between knowledge creation, transfer and claims-making, and specific social frames in exercise physiology, a cornerstone of sports science. Rather than rehearse methodological challenges and critiques, the analysis presented demonstrates, contrary to critical analyses of scientific research that charge biomedical sciences with producing de-contextualised knowledge, laboratory-based sports science is thoroughly contextualised, albeit in specific and nuanced ways. Specifically, exercise physiology knowledge production is characterised by dehumanization and rehumanization processes. The relationship between these processes is not unilinear or sequential, but reciprocal and recursive. Nonetheless, dehumanization is the basis upon which exercise physiology knowledge is made applicable. Rehumanization is how it becomes desirable.


U2 is the most extensively modified of all spliceosomal snRNAs. We previously showed that at least some of the internally modified nucleotides in U2 snRNA are required for snRNP biogenesis and pre-mRNA splicing. Recent work from several laboratories suggests that nuclear guide RNAs facilitate U2 snRNA internal modification, including pseudouridylation and 2'-O-methylation. Here, we present a novel approach to identifying guide RNAs for U2 pseudouridylation. Several Xenopus oocyte nuclear RNAs were affinity selected with U2 snRNA substituted with 5-fluorouridine, a pseudouridylation inhibitor that sequesters pseudouridylases. One of these RNAs was sequenced and found to be a novel RNA of 134 nt. This small RNA contains an H/ACA motif and folds into a typical H/ACA RNA structure, and its authenticity as an H/ACA RNA was confirmed by immunoprecipitation analysis. The RNA contains two guide sequences for pseudouridylation (psi) of U2 snRNA at positions 34 and 44 in the branch-site recognition region, and we demonstrate that this RNA indeed guides the formation of psi34 and psi44 in U2 using a Xenopus oocyte reconstitution system. Therefore, this novel RNA was designated pugU2-34/44, for pseudouridylation guide for U2 snRNA U34 and U44. Intranuclear localization analyses indicate that pugU2-34/44 resides within the nucleoplasm rather than nucleoli or Cajal bodies where other guide RNAs have been localized. Our results clarify the mechanism of U2 snRNA pseudouridylation in Xenopus oocytes, and have interesting implications with regard to the intranuclear localization of U2 snRNA pseudouridylation.


A previously unrecognized pool hazard is described in this article. The entrapment of an adolescent female by the filtration system of an above-ground pool and the difficulty in disarming the equipment was significant enough to be potentially quite dangerous.


Psychostimulant medication is the first line of treatment for Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Despite the prevalence of ADHD, there is a lack of understanding of the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of the disorder and its pharmacological treatments. Existing neuroimaging research shows some consistent structural differences in ADHD, but it can be difficult to discern what is relevant. Machine learning algorithms present a novel way of analyzing a large amount of data by making predictions based on pattern detection. The present study applied an elastic-net logistic machine learning model to structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to predict ADHD diagnosis and psychostimulant medication use. Based on Matthews correlation coefficient and receiver operating characteristic curves, the model achieved modest success in classifying ADHD diagnosis and psychostimulant use amongst the whole sample regardless of the inclusion of covariates, along with psychostimulant use amongst males assigned at birth and ADHDnegative subjects. Classifying psychostimulant use was consistently more successful than classifying ADHD diagnosis. In line with existing ADHD research, important features for prediction included subregions in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. Correlations between several subregional volumes and stimulant use had opposing directions in the ADHD-positive sample compared with other groups, implying an ADHD-dependent effect of medication. The finding that stimulant use is more detectable from sMRI data than ADHD urges further investigation of these commonly prescribed drugs and their relationship to the brain, especially in children and adolescents.


The study investigates various models of vehicle suspensions. A quarter-vehicle full active
suspension is chosen for further analysis. A mathematical model, governed by nonlinear differ-
ential equations, is proposed that takes into account dynamic properties of an electrohydraulic
actuator. The mathematical model being implemented, it was expressed in terms of the state
variables. In part two, the physical model was implemented and parametric identification pro-
cedure was applied. Phenomenological model simulation data are compared with results of
experimental testing of a full, active vehicle suspension. The final section is focused on static
and dynamic properties of an open-loop system (without a controller) determined on the basis
of obtained models.


The mechanism of initiation of the second body temperature (Tb) rise of the typically biphasic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) fever is not known. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that the second Tb rise during fever may be initiated as a direct consequence of the elevated Tb of the first febrile rise. Experiments were conducted in conscious guinea pigs implanted with intraperitoneal thermodes, intravenous catheters, and intrahypothalamic thermocouples. Intraperitoneal cooling (IPC) was performed by perfusing water (22 degrees C) through the thermode under afebrile conditions during the first (0-40 min after pyrogen injection) or second (80-120 min) phase of the biphasic LPS (2 g/kg iv) fever or during a monophasic LPS (0.5 g/kg iv) fever. Throughout IPC, the rate of heat withdrawal was maintained at 11.6 +/- 1.2 mW/g. No IPC was performed in the corresponding controls. When started immediately after LPS administration at the higher dose, IPC completely blocked the first phase of the biphasic fever. This blockade was followed by a Tb rise, which, although similar to the rise in the second phase, might alternatively be interpreted as the delayed occurrence of the first phase previously suppressed by IPC. However, we excluded the later possibility by showing the absence of an overshoot in Tb restoration after IPC applied during the second phase of biphasic fever, during monophasic fever, or under afebrile conditions. We conclude, therefore, that the second Tb rise of biphasic LPS fever is not induced by the elevated Tb of the first febrile phase. The cause of the second peak of the characteristic biphasic febrile response to intravenous LPS remains speculative.


In a tragedy of the commons, individual competition over a resource can reduce the resource itself, and thus reduce the fitness of the whole group. An extreme example is evolutionary suicide, which is predicted to occur when the selfish interests of free-riders and cheaters overwhelm cooperative behaviors, and the social good on which they depend ceases to exist. Case studies cite many different and seemingly interacting factors for success. Here we propose an equation-based theoretical model to predict changes in this balance, which determine whether the tragedy of the commons is observed in a particular scenario. Using survey data from 20 Balinese subaks, we explore the explanatory power of two theoretical traditions that are currently used to analyze commons management institutions, revealing multiple regimes with correlated responses to environmental threats. To explore case studies from a comparative perspective requires both theory and methods that can account for differences between regimes and explore transitions between them.


Introduction: Posterior urethral valve (PUV) is the most frequent cause of urethral obstruction in male child. These lesions usually result in lifelong disabilities with incontinence and decreased renal function despite optimal medical management. Primary fulguration without upper tract diversion is the preferred modality of treatment in most cases of PUV. Regular follow-up is needed to check completion of valve fulguration, renal function, status of hydronephrosis, vesicoureteric reflux (VUR), urinary tract infection (UTI), and bladder function. Materials and methods: We conducted interventional study among 30 purposively selected patients of PUV in the Department of Pediatric surgery, Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Dhaka, over a period of 20 months from December 2009 to July 2011. Age of study subjects varied from 2 days to 14 years. Among the 30 patients, 16 were children in the age group between 1year to14 years (53.3%), 11(36.7%) were infants and the rest 03(10%) were neonates. Most of the patients presented with weak urinary stream, dribbling of urine, straining at micturition, UTI and palpable bladder. All children were subjected to ultrasonography (USG), blood urea, serum creatinine, routine urine examination and culture studies. Structured questionnaire was used to collect information regarding improvement or disappearance of VUR and renal functional status before & after primary fulguration of PUV. Results: Average serum creatinine level was found gradually decreased in subsequent follow up in comparison with the previous one. This difference of creatinine level was found statistically significant in t-test (p<0.01). Average blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was also decreased which was found statistically significant (p<0.05). VUR was present in 63.3% cases. Non- VUR was found in 60% cases on right side and 50% cases on left side. On the third follow-up after 3 months it became 73.3% on right side and 63.3% on left side. Positive correlation found in Pearson correlation test about the changes of reflux grades before and after fulguration was significant at the level of 0.01(p<0.001). It was significant on both left and right kidneys. Positive correlation found in Pearson correlation test about the changes of GFR before and after fulguration was also significant at the level of 0.01(p <0.001). Collected data was cleaned, edited and analyzed with the help of software SPSS window version 15.0. Conclusion: In this study, VUR disappeared in some cases and decreased in majority of the cases by 3 months after adequate restoration of urethral patency. Renal function came to normal range in two thirds of the cases. J. Paediatr. Surg. Bangladesh 3 (2): 71-77, 2012 (July)


We introduce a new model of correlated randomly growing graphs and study the fundamental questions of detecting correlation and estimating aspects of the correlated structure. The model is simple and starts with any model of randomly growing graphs, such as uniform attachment (UA) or preferential attachment (PA). Given such a model, a pair of graphs $(G_1, G_2)$ is grown in two stages: until time $t_{\star}$ they are grown together (i.e., $G_1 = G_2$), after which they grow independently according to the underlying growth model.
We show that whenever the seed graph has an influence in the underlying graph growth model---this has been shown for PA and UA trees and is conjectured to hold broadly---then correlation can be detected in this model, even if the graphs are grown together for just a single time step. We also give a general sufficient condition (which holds for PA and UA trees) under which detection is possible with probability going to $1$ as $t_{\star} \to \infty$. Finally, we show for PA and UA trees that the amount of correlation, measured by $t_{\star}$, can be estimated with vanishing relative error as $t_{\star} \to \infty$.


This paper integrates the strategy and structure constructs using organizational learning theory. Learning theory is refined by arraying strategic and structure constructs along a path dependent, concatenated, continuum that is congruent with the original model of strategy and structure originally proposed by Chandler. The model also enhances methodological rigor by increasing congruence between theory and statistic application. Findings indicate that a single construct of strategy and structure can be employed effectively in management research.


The quantification of rounding errors is crucial for numerical simulations on massively parallel architectures such as GPUs. The CADNA library enables one to estimate rounding errors in simulation programs. A version of CADNA for GPUs had been proposed to show the feasiblity of numerical validation on such architectures. In this paper we show how the performance of CADNA on GPUs has been improved. Thanks to various optimizations that have been validated on several benchmarks, the performance gain is up to 61% with respect to the original prototype. Furthermore the GPU version of CADNA has been completed with features such as the accuracy estimation for double precision computation.


The nanoparticles of CdS were successfully synthesized by Microwave assisted irradiation method. CdS materials can be used for the fabrication of solar cells, nonlinear optical materials, optoelectronic and electronic devices. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique were used for structural and morphological characterization of nanoparticles of CdS. XRD characterization of nanoparticles were taken which verify the crystalline form. The average size of the nanocrystallites were measured by Debye-Scherrer formula as per the XRD spectrum and the particle size lies in the range 4 7 nm. The optical characterization of the nanoparticles of CdS were taken by UV-Visible absorption spectra and the optical bandgap of as synthesized CdS nanoparticles were found to be 3.8 eV.


The objective of this study was to predict bodyweight and estimate body measurements of Limousin cattle using digital image analysis (DIA). Body measurements including body length, wither height, chest depth, and hip height of cattle were determined both manually (by measurements stick) and by using DIA. Body area was determined by using DIA. The images of Limousin cattle were taken while cattle were standing in a squeeze chute by a digital camera and analysed by image analysis software to obtain body measurements of each animal. While comparing the actual and predicted body measurements, the accuracy was determined as 98% for wither height, 97% for hip height, 94% for chest depth and 90.6% for body length. Regression analysis between body area and bodyweight yielded an equation with R2 of 61.5%. The regression equation, which included all body traits, resulted in an R2 value of 88.7%. The results indicated that DIA can be used for accurate prediction of body measurements and bodyweight of Limousin cattle.


ABSTRACT Evaporation accounts for varying shares of water balance under different climatic conditions, and its correct prediction poses a significant challenge before water resources management in watersheds. Given the complex and nonlinear behavior of the evaporation component, and according to the fact that this parameter is not measured at many meteorological stations, at least during some timeframes, and that the meteorological stations measuring this component are not properly distributed in many developing countries, including Iran, the main objective of this work was to predict the evaporation component at two meteorological stations (Rasht and Lahijan) located in Gilan province in northern Iran over the 2006–2016 time period. To that end, those meteorological parameters recorded at the two stations which had the highest impact on evaporation prediction were identified using Pearson correlation coefficient. Selected parameters were then used, under separate scenarios, as inputs to support vector regression (SVR) and SVR model coupled with firefly algorithm (SVR-FA) in order to simulate evaporation values on a daily scale. Evaporation amounts showed the highest correlation with net solar radiation and saturation vapor pressure deficit at Lahijan and Rasht stations, respectively. Root mean square error values of evaporation prediction at testing phase of SVR and SVR-FA ranged from 1.05 to 1.43 and 1.02 to 1.31 mm, respectively, at Lahijan station and from 1.02 to 1.28 and 0.88 to 1.17 mm, respectively, at Rasht station for various scenarios. For underpredicted evaporation data set, the magnitude of RMSE reduction from SVR1 to SVR7 was 27% at Lahijan and 18% at Rasht station; whereas RMSE decrement from SVR-FA1 to SVR-FA7 was 18 and 26 percent at Lahijan and Rasht stations, respectively. This means that for the underpredicted data set, the role of increasing the number of SVR and SVR-FA input parameters in decreasing evaporation prediction error has been more conspicuous at Lahijan and Rasht stations, respectively. Analysis of SVR and SVR-FA performance at various 2-mm intervals of measured evaporation showed that prediction error has generally been increasing with increment of evaporation values, with the highest errors observed at the 8-10 mm interval for both Lahijan and Rasht stations (error rates of 3.42 and 2.42 mm/day at Lahijan and 6.13 and 5.84 mm/day at Rasht station, with SVR1 and SVR-FA1 models, respectively).


This article studies the sensitivity of French households to fiscal incentives, focusing on the French tax credit on home energy efficient renovations. We estimate the ajustment of the householdsaverage expenditures after an unexpected increase in the tax credit rate (intensive margin). This evaluation complements Maurouxs (2012) results on the number of additional beneficiaries (extensive margin). In 2006, a reform was restricted to new owners of pre-1977 dwellings, allowing us to develop an original difference-in-differences model. It is combined with a Tobit model and censored quantile regressions and estimated on exhaustive fiscal data. In reaction to this tax credit increase, households increased their housing improvement expenditures. This effect appears to be highly heterogeneous depending on the level of expenditures and households characteristics. On average the final net expenditures would have stayed constant. The multiplier of this program is assessed at 1.5, due to the extensive margin.


The spectral distribution of parametrically excited dipole-exchange magnons in an in-plane magnetized epitaxial film of yttrium-iron garnet was studied by means of frequency- and wavevector-resolved Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy. The experiment was performed in a parallel pumping geometry where an exciting microwave magnetic field was parallel to the magnetizing field. It was found that for both dipolar and exchange spectral areas parallel pumping excites the lowest volume magnon modes propagating in the film plane perpendicularly to the magnetization direction. In order to interpret the experimental observations, we used a microscopic Heisenberg model that includes exchange as well as dipole-dipole interactions to calculate the magnon spectrum and construct the eigenstates. As proven in our calculations, the observed magnons are characterized by having the highest possible ellipticity of precession which suggests the lowest threshold of parametric generation. Applying different pumping powers we observe modifications in the magnon spectrum that are described theoretically by a softening of the spin stiffness.


Extensive law and policy reforms in the area of domestic violence have occurred in the last several decades in the United States and Canada, the latest being the development of specialized domestic violence (DV) courts. DV courts typically operate in the criminal realm, particularly in Canada. A recent innovation that is relatively unique in the U.S. is Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) courts, where criminal, civil and family matters are heard together in a one judge/one family model. This paper examines the literature on DV and IDV courts in Canada and the U.S., and situates these reforms in the context of domestic violence reforms more broadly. Then, it presents a case study of an IDV court in Manhattan, New York, including the results of interviews with litigant advocates and justice sector and institutional representatives as well as courtroom observations. The author concludes that there are many potential benefits to IDV courts, along with some challenges that Canadian jurisdictions intending to implement such courts should address.


Twenty 3,4,5-triaryl-1-R-1,2-diphospholes were studied within the framework of density functional theory (DFT) and experimentally by UV/vis spectroscopy to check their suitability for opto-electronic applications. Time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations employing the PBE0 hybrid density functional combined with moderately sized def-TZVP basis set were shown to excellently reproduce the experimental absorption spectra of various 1,2-diphospholes. Frontier molecular orbital analysis reveals that HOMO and LUMO are mainly localized on the diphosphole ring and, to some extent, on the aryl moieties. The HOMO-LUMO energy gap can be easily tuned by variation of substituents introduced in para-positions of the aryl moieties and, to a lesser extent, by modification of the R group at phosphorus atom. As a result, both position and intensity of the absorption bands with highest wavelength are strongly influenced by the above structural changes. The UV-spectra simulations reveal that the introduction of donor groups like para-OMe, para-NMe2, and para-N(H)Ph, which are in n-π conjugation with the aryl moieties, should result in absorption of visible light by the corresponding 1,2-diphospholes, thus making them promising candidates for new functional materials.


The assessment of trust between users is essential for collaboration. General reputation and ID mechanisms may support users' trust assessment. However, these mechanisms lack sensitivity to pairwise interactions and specific experience such as betrayal over time. Moreover, they place an interpretation burden that does not scale to dynamic, large-scale systems. While several pairwise trust mechanisms have been proposed, no empirical research examines trust score influence on participant behavior. We study the influence of showing a partner trust score and/or ID on participants' behavior in a small-group collaborative laboratory experiment based on the trust game. We show that trust score availability has the same effect as an ID to improve cooperation as measured by sending behavior and receiver response. Excellent models based on the trust score predict sender behavior and document participant sensitivity to the provision of partner information. Models based on the trust score for recipient behavior have some predictive ability regarding trustworthiness, but suggest the need for more complex functions relating experience to participant response. We conclude that the parameters of a trust score, including pairwise interactions and betrayal, influence the different roles of participants in the trust game differently, but complement traditional ID and have the advantage of scalability.