Pediatric hypertension (PH) is an important public health problem with multiple problems on the health of children and adults. It is an important issue that health professionals and family members have awareness of PH existence, the negative consequences associated with it, the risk factors and it prevention. Its expected the knowledge about this pathology increases with the level of education of the family members. To investigate the caregivers knowledge degree about PH and to check if the assessment of PA in health regular consultations is an usual practice, an experimental questionnaire was built with the aim of easy and quick answers. The statistical analysis and modeling of such questionnaire by Generalized Linear Model (GLM), took into account the presence of dichotomous data, discrete models which are usually estimated by logistic or probit regression. This approach can be found in [19, 20] where each statistical significant question was modeled separately. Continuing such approach and exploring the idea of simplicity and reduced dimensionality, a factor analysis was applied and a multivariate analysis of variance was performed considering as dependent variables the obtained factors by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) as dependent variables. The results are consistent with the ones presented in [19, 20].


The concept of a recognizable cycle in the evolution of tourist areas is presented, using a basic s curve to illustrate their waving and waning popularity. Specific stages in the evolutionary sequence are described, along with a range of possible future trends. The implications of using this model in the planning and management oftourist resources are discussed in the light of a continuing decline in the environmental quality and, hence, the attractiveness of many tourist areas. Le concept principal de cette communication est que les endroits touristiques ont leur propre cycle d'evolution. Le concept se traduit en modele theorique, qui utilise une courbe s pour demontrer I'accroissement et la diminution subsequente de la popularite d'endroits touristiques. La communication se concentre sur certains stages, les plus importants, de I'evolution, et vise a etablir une gamme de directions eventuelle qui pourront itre suivies par ces endroits. On examine les implications de I'utilisation de se modele dans I'amenagement de resources touristiques, surtout dans I'optique des problemes causes par la diminution de la qualite de I'environnement et, par suite, de I'attraction de beaucoup d'endroits touristiques. There can be little doubt that tourist areas are dynamic, that they evolve and change over time. This evolution is brought about by a variety of factors including changes in the preferences and needs of visitors, the gradual deterioration and possible replacement of physical plant and facilities, and the change (or even disappearance) of the original natural and cultural attractions which were responsible for the initial popularity of the area. In some cases, while these attractions remain, they may be utilized for different purposes or come to be regarded as less significant in comparison with imported attractions.' The idea of a consistent process through which tourist areas evolve has been vividly described by Christaller: The typical course of development has the following pattern. Painters search out untouched and unusual places to paint. Step by step the place develops as aso-calledartist colony. Soon a cluster of poets follows, kindred to the painters: then cinema people, gourmets, and the jeunesse dorde. The place becomes fashionable and the entrepreneur takes note. The fisherman's cottage, the shelter-huts become converted into boarding houses and hotels come on the scene. Meanwhile the painters have fled and sought out another periphery periphery as related to space, and metaphorically, as 'forgotten' places and landscapes. Only the painters with a commercial inclination who like to do well in business remain; they capitalize on the good name of this former painter's corner and on the gullibility of tourists. More and more townsmen choose this place, now en vogue and advertised in the newspapers. Subsequently the gourmets, and all those who seek real recreation, stay away. At last the tourist agencies come with their package rate travelling parties; now, the indulged public avoids such places. At the same time, in other places the same cycle occurs again; more and more places come into fashion, change their type, turn into everybody's tourist haunt.2 While this description has most relevance to the European and, particularly, to the Mediterranean setting, others have expressed the same general idea. Stansfield, 5


Microsoft Azure is dedicated to guarantee high quality of service to its customers, in particular, during periods of high customer activity, while controlling cost. We employ a Data Science (DS) driven solution to predict user load and leverage these predictions to optimize resource allocation. To this end, we built the Seagull infrastructure that processes per-server telemetry, validates the data, trains and deploys ML models. The models are used to predict customer load per server (24h into the future), and optimize service operations. Seagull continually re-evaluates accuracy of predictions, fallback to previously known good models and triggers alerts as appropriate. We deployed this infrastructure in production for PostgreSQL and MySQL servers across all Azure regions, and applied it to the problem of scheduling server backups during low-load time. This minimizes interference with user-induced load and improves customer experience.


Using experimental single-particle cryo-EM snapshots of ryanodine receptor (RyR1), a Ca2+-channel involved in skeletal muscle excitation/contraction coupling, we present quantitative free-energy landscapes, reaction coordinates, and three-dimensional movies of the continuous conformational changes associated with the binding of activating ligands. Our results show multiple routes to ligand binding with comparable branching ratios. All high-probability routes involve significant conformational changes before and after the binding of ligands. We also present new insights into the local structural changes along the ligand-binding route, including accommodations at the calcium, ATP, and caffeine binding sites. These observations shed new light on the mechanisms and conformational routes to ligand binding.


As the number of software applications including the widespread of real-time and embedded systems are constantly increasing and tend to grow in complexity, the architecture tends to decay over the years, leading to the occurrence of a spectrum of defects and bad smells (i.e., instances of architectural decay) that are manifested and sustained over time in a software system's life cycle. Thus, the implemented system is not compliant to the specified architecture and such architectural decay becomes an increasing challenge for the developers. We propose a set of constructive architecture views at different levels of granularity, which monitor and ensure that the modifications made by developers at the implementation level are in compliance with those of the different architectural timed-event elements of real-time systems. Thus, we investigated a set of orthogonal architectural decay paradigms timed-event component decay, timed-event interface decay, timed-event connector decay and timed-event port decay. All of this has led to predicting, forecasting, and detecting architectural decay with a greater degree of structure, abstraction techniques, architecture reconstruction; and hence offered a series of potential effectiveness and enhancement in gaining a deeper understanding of implementation-level bad smells in real-time systems. Furthermore, to support this research towards an effective architectural decay prediction and detection geared towards real-time and embedded systems, we investigated and evaluated the effect of our approach through a real-time Internet of Things (IoT) case study.


Sputtered films of 1.5 μm of Mo deposited on (111) ‐oriented Si failed either by blistering or localized eruptions after various thermal treatments. Investigations were carried out to determine the amount of strain in the film associated with this unstable mechanical behavior. Two types of measurements were employed. One employs macroscopic interferometer measurements to measure deflection and the other x‐ray diffraction. A separation is made of intrinsic and thermally induced strains. The intrinsic strains are believed to be due mainly to Ar atoms embedded during sputtering which remain throughout annealing treatments. These atoms also introduce a broadening of the diffraction lines because of the special constraints associated within films. This effect is separated from the usual line broadening due to dislocations and small particle size. Annealing treatments reconfirm that dislocation mechanisms are not as effective in relieving nonuniform microstrain in films as they are in cold‐work filings of the s...


When other libraries had their budgets cut, Middlesbrough College's Learning Resources Centre (LRC) enjoyed a stable (yet not increasing) budget with minor cuts from 2015–2017. For 2017–2018, the LRC was required to save 50% of its non-pay budget. The cuts were not unexpected, but so much in one go was a severe shock. As a matter of good practice, we were already making data-driven decisions for all our resources and were trying to get the best deals we could. It was time for consolidation, tougher decisions and, possibly, some radical thinking. At the beginning of 2017 this process started, and is now reaping rewards. This article will set out how decisions on making the necessary budget cuts were made, what was done to make the reduced budget go further (whilst maintaining the high quality of services) and the results of the exercise. The author presented this work at the UKSG E-resources for Further Education event in November 2018.


An integrated prototyping process for the derivation of complex medical models is introduced. The use of medical models can support today's medicine by improving diagnosis and surgical planning, teaching and patient information. To withstand the challenges of time and accuracy, a process for generating accurate virtual and physical medical models is needed. The introduced process offers the possibility to derive virtual and physical models for biomedical engineering applications.
Reviewing the current situation of medical virtual prototyping and rapid prototyping applications, limitations were found related to the influential variables of data acquisition, data processing, virtual reality use, and rapid prototyping manufacturing.
An integrated prototyping concept (MPP) is introduced for embedding virtual prototyping and rapid prototyping in biomedical applications. Data processing and 3D modeling of complex anatomical structures from computerized image data were investigated and discussed in detail. Finally, parameter analyses were evaluated to derive optimal parameters needed for preparing 3D models for virtual prototyping and rapid prototyping processing in medicine. Summarizing from the accuracy analysis, the present investigation is the first to examine tomographic scanning as decisive factor for inaccuracy of medical prototyping models.
The human nose is an example of a complex anatomical geometry, which has been an object of scientific research interest for several years. One of the applications introduced here uses the developed MPP concept as basis for a procedure that generates animated medical models in a virtual reality environment. Although, attempts are being made to reconstruct the human nose as an experimental rapid prototyping model, a process for accurate reconstruction as a transparent rapid prototyping model is still missing. The MPP concept allows fabricating individual models of the human nose with a high level of accuracy and transparency. Finally, temporal analysis revealed major time improvements in modeling complex anatomical models compared to approaches without optimized process sequences and approved parameters. The prototyping of the human hip was the second example used. The results of this particular example emphasized the strengths of the medial prototyping process in preparing hip models for presurgery planning. Here, accuracy was enhanced considerably. Rapid prototyping hip models can provide assistance as a surgical planning tool in complex cases, especially in improving surgical results and implant stability. Thus, the accuracy and time of model generation is improved, thereby establishing a defined process for medical model generation.
Considering the novel findings of broad improvements in accuracy and time, a new field of research is emerging, serving both virtual surgery applications and physical implant generation. The MPP developed in this work can be viewed as an initial approach for launching international standards of prototyping technologies in medicine.


Background and Objectives: Proximal third fractures of femur like intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures, are a leading cause of hospital admissions in elderly people. The number of such admissions is on a raise because of increasing life span and sedentary habits. Conservative methods of treatment results in malunion with shortening and limitation of hip movement as well as complications of prolonged immobilization like bed sores, deep vein thrombosis and respiratory infections. This study is done to analyze the surgical management of proximal third fractures of femur using Proximal Femoral Nail.
Methods: This is a prospective study of 40 cases of fresh trochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures admitted to Mamata general Hospital, Khammam, A.P., From Aug 2010 to Sep 2012. Cases were taken according to inclusion and exclusion criteria i.e., patients with Proximal third fracture femur above the age of 18yrs. Medically unsuitable and patients not willing for surgery were excluded from the study.
Results: In our series of 40 cases there were 24 male and 16 female, maximum age of 85 yrs and minimum age of 20 yrs, most of the patients were between 60 to 80 yrs. Mean age of 53.9yrs. 45% of cases were admitted due to slip and fall and with slight predominance of right side. Out of 40 cases, 10 were trochanteric and 30 were subtrochanteric. In Trochanteric class 60% were Boyd and Griffin type 2, in Subtrochanteric class 40% were Sinsheimer type 3a and 30% were 2b. Mean duration of hospital stay is 19.62 days and mean time of full weight bearing is 10.6 wks. Out of 40 cases 5 cases expired before first follow up time of 6 wks and 5 cases were lost for follow up. Out of 30 remaining cases 6 were Trochanteric and 24 were Subtrochanteric. Good to excellent results are seen in 100% cases of trochanteric fractures and 91.5% cases in subtrochanteric fractures.
Conclusion: From this sample study, we consider that PFN is an excellent implant for the treatment of Peritrochanteric fractures. The terms of successful outcome include a good understanding of fracture biomechanics, proper patient selection, good preoperative planning, accurate instrumentation, good image intensifier and exactly performed osteosynthesis.


Purpose: To investigate the reliability and validity of 2 aquatic functionalassessment tests (Water Orientation Test of Alyn 1 and 2: WOTA1, WOTA2) for evaluating adjustment and functional ability in the aquatic environment based on the Halliwick concept. Methods: Thirty-two children with disabilities participated in the reliability study. Thirty-three other children participated in the validity study, which tested the correlations between the WOTA total score and motor performance on land. Results: Test–retest reliability for total score was found to be excellent for both WOTA1 (ICC = .97) and WOTA2 (ICC = .97). The reliability for most of the individual item scores was fair to good (kappa > .4). A positive moderately significant association was found between the WOTA total score and motor performance on land. Conclusion: Both assessments appear to be reliable and valid for assessing mental adjustment and aquatic function in children with disabilities.


Human–nonhuman chimeras have been the focus of ethical controversies for more than a decade, yet some related issues remain unaddressed. For example, little has been said about the relationship between the origin of transferred cells and the morally relevant capacities to which they may give rise. Consider, for example, a developing mouse fetus that receives a brain stem cell transplant from a human and another that receives a brain stem cell transplant from a dolphin. If both chimeras acquire morally relevant capacities as a result of transplantation, and if those capacities are indistinguishable, should the difference in cell origin matter to how we classify these creatures? I argue that if morally relevant capacities are easy to detect, cell origin is irrelevant to how the chimera ought to be treated. However, if such capacities are hard to detect, cell origin should play a role in considerations about how to treat the chimera.


A central focus of population genetics has been examining the contribution of selective and neutral processes in shaping patterns of intraspecies diversity. In terms of selection specifically, surveys of higher organisms have shown considerable variation in the relative contributions of background selection and genetic hitchhiking in shaping the distribution of polymorphisms, although these analyses have rarely been extended to bacteria and viruses. Here, we study the evolution of a ubiquitous, viral pathogen, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), by analysing the relationship among intraspecies diversity, interspecies divergence and rates of recombination. We show that there is a strong correlation between diversity and divergence, consistent with expectations of neutral evolution. However, after correcting for divergence, there remains a significant correlation between intraspecies diversity and recombination rates, with additional analyses suggesting that this correlation is largely due to the effects of background selection. In addition, a small number of loci, centred on long noncoding RNAs, also show evidence of selective sweeps. These data suggest that HCMV evolution is dominated by neutral mechanisms as well as background selection, expanding our understanding of linked selection to a novel class of organisms.


The collection of wild larvae seed as a source of raw material is a major sub industry of shellfish aquaculture. To predict when, where and in what quantities wild seed will be available, it is necessary to track the appearance and growth of planktonic larvae. One of the most difficult groups to identify, particularly at the species level are the Bivalvia. This difficulty arises from the fact that fundamentally all bivalve larvae have a similar shape and colour. Identification based on gross morphological appearance is limited by the time-consuming nature of the microscopic examination and by the limited availability of expertise in this field. Molecular and immunological methods are also being studied. We describe the application of computational pattern recognition methods to the automated identification and size analysis of scallop larvae. For identification, the shape features used are binary invariant moments; that is, the features are invariant to shift (position within the image), scale (induced either by growth or differential image magnification) and rotation. Images of a sample of scallop and non-scallop larvae covering a range of maturities have been analysed. In order to overcome the automatic identification, as well as to allow the system to receive new unknown samples at any moment, a self-organized and unsupervised ant-like clustering algorithm based on Swarm Intelligence is proposed, followed by simple k-NNR nearest neighbour classification on the final map. Results achieve a full recognition rate of 100% under several situations (k =1 or 3).


Image auto-annotation is an important open problem in computer vision. For this task we propose TagProp, a discriminatively trained nearest neighbor model. Tags of test images are predicted using a weighted nearest-neighbor model to exploit labeled training images. Neighbor weights are based on neighbor rank or distance. TagProp allows the integration of metric learning by directly maximizing the log-likelihood of the tag predictions in the training set. In this manner, we can optimally combine a collection of image similarity metrics that cover different aspects of image content, such as local shape descriptors, or global color histograms. We also introduce a word specific sigmoidal modulation of the weighted neighbor tag predictions to boost the recall of rare words. We investigate the performance of different variants of our model and compare to existing work. We present experimental results for three challenging data sets. On all three, TagProp makes a marked improvement as compared to the current state-of-the-art.


We study the quantum measurement problem in the context of an infinite, statistically uniform space, as could be generated by eternal inflation. It has recently been argued that when identical copies of a quantum measurement system exist, the standard projection operators and Born rule method for calculating probabilities must be supplemented by estimates of relative frequencies of observers. We argue that an infinite space actually renders the Born rule redundant, by physically realizing all outcomes of a quantum measurement in different regions, with relative frequencies given by the square of the wavefunction amplitudes. Our formal argument hinges on properties of what we term the quantum confusion operator, which projects onto the Hilbert subspace where the Born rule fails, and we comment on its relation to the oft-discussed quantum frequency operator. This analysis unifies the classical and quantum levels of parallel universes that have been discussed in the literature, and has implications for several issues in quantum measurement theory. Replacing the standard hypothetical ensemble of measurements repeated ad infinitum by a concrete decohered spatial collection of experiments carried out in different distant regions of space provides a natural context for a statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics. It also shows how, even for a single measurement, probabilities may be interpreted as relative frequencies in unitary (Everettian) quantum mechanics. We also argue that after discarding a zero-norm part of the wave function, the remainder consists of a superposition of indistinguishable terms, so that arguably ''collapse'' of the wave function is irrelevant, and the ''many worlds'' of Everett's interpretation are unified into one. Finally, the analysis suggests a ''cosmological interpretation'' of quantum theory in which the wave function describes the actual spatial collection of identical quantum systems, and quantum uncertainty is attributable to the observer's inability to self-locate in this collection.


The Late Period (747–332 BC)/Early Ptolemaic (332–30 BC) monuments at the necropolis of North Saqqara have historically been investigated either in isolation or within small spatially close groups. The monuments have rarely been compared within their wider landscape setting, or their relationship with the topography upon which they are imposed considered. This study seeks to redress the situation for the monuments associated with the sacred animal cults through the investigation of topographic associations, monument interconnectedness, and affordances and entanglements within the sacred landscape.

To achieve this, a new and detailed GIS (Geographical Information System) of the North Saqqara and South Abusir archaeological areas was researched and compiled, as there was no other currently available. The GIS provided the foundation for the construction of an innovative multi-layered digital 3D representation of the ancient necropolis, which was used to examine the landscape from a terrestrial viewpoint. This was fundamental to developing an holistic understanding of a sacred landscape which is no longer wholly extant. By employing the creative power of digital reconstruction, the task of visualisation and the investigation of divergent viewpoints becomes achievable in ways that otherwise might not be possible.

The employment of archaeological theory, not previously applied widely within the field of Egyptological studies, has permitted a nuanced interpretation of the funerary landscape visualised through the digital representation. Investigation of the landscape in this manner has offered new perspectives into the place of the monuments, and their topographic and interconnected relationships: a correlation between the sacred animal monuments, networks of movement, and specific milieus of terrain has been recognised; a mechanism of visual performance employed by the monument builders has been identified; and a new mixed-media narrative account of the landscape has been constructed.


Soils and its resources are of major importance for the production of fiber and food. Recently, the soil functioning as carbon pool has been added to the list of soil functions. To determine soil quality as a resource there is a need for regular monitoring of its chemical and physical properties, both in time and space. Quantitative estimation of the exact amount, spatial distribution and temporal change of soil properties is still challenging. Conventionally, soil samples are analyzed by means of soil extraction procedures. Spatially, soil samples are collected according to a specific sampling scheme. Spatial interpolation techniques are used to prepare continuous maps, but for accurate interpolation intensive sampling is required. To achieve the high sampling density required to map the high spatial variability and slow temporal changes in soil properties new techniques are required. Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy is a promising technique for the quantitative estimation of soil properties and is used frequently for laboratory and field studies. However, the developed models are usually location specific and bridging the gap to imaging spectroscopy introduces spectral mixing problems. The topic of this thesis is how to link spectral reflectance information to soil properties. This is done by the development of statistical models, which can be divided in two classes: multivariate models (PLSR) and univariate models (spectral indices). The objectives were to investigate the robustness of VNIR spectroscopy based soil property prediction models and the influence of vegetation on these models. Furthermore, methods were developed for quantitative mapping of soil properties in fractionally vegetation covered agricultural fields. First, the scaling issues that play a role in VNIR spectroscopy are described. Spatial up-scaling needs to be dealt with when the step from point spectroscopy to imaging spectroscopy is made. Mixed pixels, in our case because of fractional vegetation cover, limit the direct transition of techniques and models from point spectroscopy to imaging spectroscopy. The use of different sensors to acquire spectral information introduces spectral scaling problems, which complicates model transfer from one sensor to another. Finally, directional scaling issues should be considered, including fixed protocols for the measurement setup. Next, the accuracy and robustness of Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) and indices based models to estimate soil properties are investigated. Both with PLSR and indices it is possible to get good model calibrations and predictions for SOC. For the soil iron content, indices in the VIS and beginning of the NIR can be used to get qualitative information, but the full spectrum should be used to get quantitative information about iron content. Spectral indices become inaccurate when they are used to estimate SOC beyond the range of values that were used in the calibration phase, but PLSR is less sensitive to extrapolation. In general, model calibrations are location-specific. Including soil-types that are not used for model calibration leads to large errors in prediction. Transfer of the calibration of one year to another causes a decrease in accuracy, which indicates that practical implementation of spectroscopy requires stable measurement conditions, good calibrations and standard sampling protocols. If we want to get rid of the local calibrations, we will have to accept lower accuracies, but we gain in the ease of use. Users willing to choose one of the techniques for a particular application have to weigh the accuracy against the area to be covered. While laboratory spectroscopy has the advantage to allow stable calibration trough time, it still requires sample preparation (drying, sieving, grinding). Field spectroscopy can reach an accuracy comparable to laboratory spectroscopy, but requires calibration before each campaign. Imaging spectroscopy might be a practical way to spatially evaluate soil properties on large scales. The large number of samples compensates for the lower accuracy. Also for imaging spectroscopy, a calibration before each campaign will be necessary. Imaging spectroscopy based models lack behind in prediction accuracy when the results are studied at the pixel level. The lower prediction accuracies are the result of 1) instrumentation specifications (spectral resolution, low instrument signal-to-noise ratios), 2) disturbing external factors (atmospheric attenuation, geometric and optical distortions, mixed pixels) and 3) internal factors (soil moisture, structure). Remote sensing studies often use the per pixel accuracies as a measure of the quality of imaging spectroscopy derived products. However, for most applications (e.g. precision agriculture, regional carbon stock estimates) a per pixel knowledge of the soil properties is not required. The power of imaging spectroscopy lies in the ease with which a high sampling density can be reached and the spatial distribution of soil properties can be determined, which offers great potential in comparison to traditional soil sampling techniques. The influence of vegetation on the predicted soil properties is large. Already, with low amounts of fractional vegetation cover the predictions becomes inaccurate. How much the predicted soil property deviates from the measured value depends on the amount of fractional vegetation cover, the index used and the amount of the soil property. Despite the strong influence of fractional vegetation cover on soil reflectance, it is possible to determine soil properties in partially vegetated areas. This can be done by processing of the output of multiple indices, or by removing the vegetation influence from the spectral measurements in an early stage of the processing chain. The fact that two iron indices react differently on the influence of vegetation can be used to minimize the vegetation influence. Averaging the results of two indices gives a more accurate iron prediction than using one of these indices individually. How large the improvements are depends on the vegetation type, (local) calibration of the model and soil type. A method that can be applied more general is Residual Spectral Unmixing (RSU). With this approach it is possible to filter the influence of vegetation from the mixed spectra, and the residual soil spectra contain enough information to map the SOC distribution within agricultural fields with a good accuracy. Because RSU deals with the vegetation influence in an early stage of the processing chain, it can easily be implemented for other areas. The vegetation influence is removed before the soil property prediction model is calibrated, which gives more flexibility in choice for the prediction models to be used. Finally, it was concluded that VNIR spectroscopy can be used to estimate soil properties on laboratory, field and image scale. The achieved accuracy for the laboratory and field techniques are good enough for monitoring of the small temporal changes in carbon stock. The high sampling density of imaging spectroscopy offers great potential in comparison to traditional soil sampling techniques. However, high prediction accuracies can only be achieved when models are locally calibrated. In the case of field spectroscopy and imaging spectroscopy calibration for every campaign will be necessary. To get models that are robust to variation in soil types, PLSR should be used. Imaging spectroscopy derived products have low prediction accuracies when evaluated at the pixel level, but can be used to evaluate changes in soil properties over time, or to support the division of fields in management zones for precision agriculture applications. Vegetation has a large influence on soil reflectance and cannot be ignored when soil properties are estimated from mixed reflectance spectra. With a combination of indices or by using advanced pre-processing of the spectral information it is possible to derive spatially continuous information about soil properties from imaging spectroscopy data in partially vegetated areas.


BACKGROUND
Platelet transfusions are used to prevent and treat bleeding in people who are thrombocytopenic. Despite improvements in donor screening and laboratory testing, a small risk of viral, bacterial, or protozoal contamination of platelets remains. There is also an ongoing risk from newly emerging blood transfusion-transmitted infections for which laboratory tests may not be available at the time of initial outbreak.One solution to reduce the risk of blood transfusion-transmitted infections from platelet transfusion is photochemical pathogen reduction, in which pathogens are either inactivated or significantly depleted in number, thereby reducing the chance of transmission. This process might offer additional benefits, including platelet shelf-life extension, and negate the requirement for gamma-irradiation of platelets. Although current pathogen-reduction technologies have been proven to reduce pathogen load in platelet concentrates, a number of published clinical studies have raised concerns about the effectiveness of pathogen-reduced platelets for post-transfusion platelet count recovery and the prevention of bleeding when compared with standard platelets.This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2013.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effectiveness of pathogen-reduced platelets for the prevention of bleeding in people of any age requiring platelet transfusions.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (the Cochrane Library 2016, Issue 9), MEDLINE (from 1946), Embase (from 1974), CINAHL (from 1937), the Transfusion Evidence Library (from 1950), and ongoing trial databases to 24 October 2016.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included RCTs comparing the transfusion of pathogen-reduced platelets with standard platelets, or comparing different types of pathogen-reduced platelets.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We used the standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane.

MAIN RESULTS
We identified five new trials in this update of the review. A total of 15 trials were eligible for inclusion in this review, 12 completed trials (2075 participants) and three ongoing trials. Ten of the 12 completed trials were included in the original review. We did not identify any RCTs comparing the transfusion of one type of pathogen-reduced platelets with another.Nine trials compared Intercept® pathogen-reduced platelets to standard platelets, two trials compared Mirasol® pathogen-reduced platelets to standard platelets; and one trial compared both pathogen-reduced platelets types to standard platelets. Three RCTs were randomised cross-over trials, and nine were parallel-group trials. Of the 2075 participants enrolled in the trials, 1981 participants received at least one platelet transfusion (1662 participants in Intercept® platelet trials and 319 in Mirasol® platelet trials).One trial included children requiring cardiac surgery (16 participants) or adults requiring a liver transplant (28 participants). All of the other participants were thrombocytopenic individuals who had a haematological or oncological diagnosis. Eight trials included only adults.Four of the included studies were at low risk of bias in every domain, while the remaining eight included studies had some threats to validity.Overall, the quality of the evidence was low to high across different outcomes according to GRADE methodology.We are very uncertain as to whether pathogen-reduced platelets increase the risk of any bleeding (World Health Organization (WHO) Grade 1 to 4) (5 trials, 1085 participants; fixed-effect risk ratio (RR) 1.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02 to 1.15; I2 = 59%, random-effect RR 1.14, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.38; I2 = 59%; low-quality evidence).There was no evidence of a difference between pathogen-reduced platelets and standard platelets in the incidence of clinically significant bleeding complications (WHO Grade 2 or higher) (5 trials, 1392 participants; RR 1.10, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.25; I2 = 0%; moderate-quality evidence), and there is probably no difference in the risk of developing severe bleeding (WHO Grade 3 or higher) (6 trials, 1495 participants; RR 1.24, 95% CI 0.76 to 2.02; I2 = 32%; moderate-quality evidence).There is probably no difference between pathogen-reduced platelets and standard platelets in the incidence of all-cause mortality at 4 to 12 weeks (6 trials, 1509 participants; RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.29; I2 = 26%; moderate-quality evidence).There is probably no difference between pathogen-reduced platelets and standard platelets in the incidence of serious adverse events (7 trials, 1340 participants; RR 1.09, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.35; I2 = 0%; moderate-quality evidence). However, no bacterial transfusion-transmitted infections occurred in the six trials that reported this outcome.Participants who received pathogen-reduced platelet transfusions had an increased risk of developing platelet refractoriness (7 trials, 1525 participants; RR 2.94, 95% CI 2.08 to 4.16; I2 = 0%; high-quality evidence), though the definition of platelet refractoriness differed between trials.Participants who received pathogen-reduced platelet transfusions required more platelet transfusions (6 trials, 1509 participants; mean difference (MD) 1.23, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.61; I2 = 27%; high-quality evidence), and there was probably a shorter time interval between transfusions (6 trials, 1489 participants; MD -0.42, 95% CI -0.53 to -0.32; I2 = 29%; moderate-quality evidence). Participants who received pathogen-reduced platelet transfusions had a lower 24-hour corrected-count increment (7 trials, 1681 participants; MD -3.02, 95% CI -3.57 to -2.48; I2 = 15%; high-quality evidence).None of the studies reported quality of life.We did not evaluate any economic outcomes.There was evidence of subgroup differences in multiple transfusion trials between the two pathogen-reduced platelet technologies assessed in this review (Intercept® and Mirasol®) for all-cause mortality and the interval between platelet transfusions (favouring Intercept®).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Findings from this review were based on 12 trials, and of the 1981 participants who received a platelet transfusion only 44 did not have a haematological or oncological diagnosis.In people with haematological or oncological disorders who are thrombocytopenic due to their disease or its treatment, we found high-quality evidence that pathogen-reduced platelet transfusions increase the risk of platelet refractoriness and the platelet transfusion requirement. We found moderate-quality evidence that pathogen-reduced platelet transfusions do not affect all-cause mortality, the risk of clinically significant or severe bleeding, or the risk of a serious adverse event. There was insufficient evidence for people with other diagnoses.All three ongoing trials are in adults (planned recruitment 1375 participants) with a haematological or oncological diagnosis.


Collaborative communities—where participants collaboratively solve problems and integrate their contributions—are increasingly popular organizational forms in a wide variety of domains. As with any cooperative effort, communities involve differential interests and information asymmetries, creating potential agency problems. I undertake an exploratory multiple-case study of four communities within the domains of enterprise information technology, sustainable products and services, drug discovery, and digital marketing and communication. I find that agency relationships in the collaborative communities are characterized by three distinct multiple-agency structures: commons, team production, and brokering. These are governed by four main categories of mechanism: (1) mutual monitoring, enabling self-regulation and peer-based control; (2) membership restrictions, regulating admission to the community; (3) values and rules, guiding member action and collaboration; and (4) property rights and incentives, regulating rights to community resources and distribution of rewards. I also identify contingencies between governance mechanisms and agency problems.


This paper is an attempt to understand the changing characteristics of urban poverty in Turkey since 1980. First, it analyses how the urban poor in Turkey had adopted aggressive survival strategies by strengthening their solidarity networks on religious, ethnic and cultural bases until the 2000s. Then it sheds light on how those networks have dissolved later on thanks to a set of internal and external factors and concludes that Turkey now faces deepening poverty levels and engendering new forms and dynamics of poverty. This paper is based on the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul, a district almost entirely composed of unauthorized houses whose population grew at an unprecedented rate after 1980; and it is a perfect case for the study of issues relating to migration, urbanization and poverty in Turkish cities.


In a 1961 interview with the journalist Studs Terkel, James Baldwin offered a riveting assessment of Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues." "It's a fantastic kind of understatement," Baldwin tells Terkel. "It's the way I want to write." Baldwin hears something in Bessie, a sonic and discursive quality he aspires to and identifies as "fantastic." This essay considers the speculative undertones of Bessie's blues and Baldwin's literary realism. I argue that Bessie's doubled vocalization in "Backwater Blues" lyrically declares her immobility and circumscription, while tonally staging freedom and boundlessness. Baldwin is drawn to this dual orientation and enunciation, a vocalization that in its iteration of the real transcends the social, spatial, and imaginative limitations of that order. If we read "Sonny's Blues" the way Baldwin hears Bessie, as a fantastic kind of understatement, we discern subtle sonic and spatial iterations of the irreal. Attending to microtonal sounds in "Sonny's Blues"—screams, whistling, jukeboxes—I show that the speculative emerges in Baldwin's story when the sonic overrides the racialized inscription of space.


In the Council of the European Union (EU), a qualified majority is mostly required to adopt legislative acts. Based on this majority rule, individual member states can be outvoted and are subsequently obliged to implement the law. This article analyses whether opposition in the Council of the EU affects the transposition of directives into national law by using the example of Austria from 2000 to 2008. The results demonstrate that domestic factors, rather than a negative political attitude, were responsible for delays and procedures when implementing previously contested directives. However, the effects of opposition in the Council on implementation were particularly apparent in cases where there was a high degree of misfit between EU provisions and the domestic legal structure.


Machine learning is a rapidly developing field in computer research. Deep neural network architectures such as Resnet have allowed computers to process unstructured data such as images and videos with an extremely high degree of accuracy while at the same time managing to deliver those results with a reasonably low amount of latency. However, while deep neural networks are capable of achieving very impressive results, they are still very memory and computationally intensive, limiting their use to clusters with significant amounts of resources. This paper examines the possibility of running deep neural networks on mobile hardware, platforms with much more limited memory and computational bandwidth. We first examine the limitations of a mobile platform and what steps have to be taken to overcome those limitations in order to allow a deep neural network to operate on a mobile device with a reasonable level of performance. We then proceed into an examination of ApproxNet, a neural network designed to be run on mobile devices. ApproxNet provides a demonstration of how mobile hardware limits the performance of deep neural networks while also showing that these issues can be to an extent overcome, allowing a neural network to maintain usable levels of latency and accuracy.


Transcriptional coregulators are important components of nuclear receptor (NR) signaling machinery and provide additional mechanisms for modulation of NR activity. Expression of a mutated nuclear corepressor 1 (NCoR1) that lacks 2 NR interacting domains (NCoRΔID) in the liver leads to elevated expression of genes regulated by thyroid hormone receptor (TR) and liver X receptor (LXR), both of which control hepatic cholesterol metabolism. Here, we demonstrate that expression of NCoRΔID in mouse liver improves dietary cholesterol tolerance in an LXRα-independent manner. NCoRΔID-associated cholesterol tolerance was primarily due to diminished intestinal cholesterol absorption as the result of changes in the composition and hydrophobicity of the bile salt pool. Alterations of the bile salt pool were mediated by increased expression of genes encoding the bile acid metabolism enzymes CYP27A1 and CYP3A11 as well as canalicular bile salt pump ABCB11. We have determined that these genes are regulated by thyroid hormone and that TRβ1 is recruited to their regulatory regions. Together, these data indicate that interactions between NCoR1 and TR control a specific pathway involved in regulation of cholesterol metabolism and clearance.


Business-to-government (B2G) electronic auction (e-auction) markets are increasingly being used to create opportunities for suppliers to expand their market as well as trading activities. However, little has been done to understand the behaviour of suppliers participating in these markets. In this paper, we propose a framework to explain suppliers' intention to participate, and the level of participation in B2G e-auction markets, which will be tested in the Thai B2G e-auction markets. Low supplier participation has been a major problem in the Thai e-auction markets. We posit that suppliers' participation depends on organisational motivation, environmental uncertainty, and their capabilities. The conceptual framework draws from the Motivation-Ability Framework, Transaction Cost Theory, Institutional Theory, and Resource-Based Theory. It proposes that four key constructs efficiency motive, legitimacy motive, environmental uncertainty, and organisational capabilities influence suppliers' intention to participate as well as their participation level in B2G e-auction markets.


It is well known that smoking causes severe adverse health effects, and it seems evident that governments are justified or even obliged to implement measures of tobacco control to mitigate these effects. Yet, as this paper argues with a distinct focus on Germany, the three most important and still largely open questions in the design and implementation of economic and health policy are, whether government action is justified at all, what behavioral patterns this policy should try to alter, and whether the policy measures chosen indeed exert any substantial effects on the targeted outcomes. We conclude that the case for control measures aiming at the prevention of smoking initiation among adolescents is indeed strong, but also that their proper design would benefit from a better understanding of behavioral issues and that their empirical evaluation requires (non-experimental) study designs that facilitate the identification of causal effects.


Above the Izu-Ogasawara Trench south of Japan, direct current measurements were made at 34°N from 1987 to 1996, and hydrographic observations were carried out at 34° and 30°N in 1995. The geostrophic shears calculated from the conductivity-temperature-depth data were consistent with the shears calculated from the current data. It is found that there are opposing currents that flow southward on the western flank and northward on the eastern flank along the isobaths. In the cross-trench direction the magnitude of the mean velocity tended to increase with the distance from the deepest point of the trench and exceeded 10 cm s−1 on the eastern flank. In the vertical direction the mean velocity increased with depth, but it decreased just above the bottom, probably because of friction. The southward transport above the western flank was estimated to be 5–8 Sv both at 34° and 30°N. However, the northward transport above the eastern flank increased from 5 Sv at 30°N to 22 Sv at 34°N, suggesting a large inflow from the west.


Extracted from text ... transformation watch
Edcon's group transformation executive
Nelly Mosiane
on transformation
Defining
women
Transformation is about change and you can rarely achieve change without encountering resistance. Change calls for paradigm shifts and for a lot of introspection from various parties - this is an enormous challenge. In my time I've had to deal with numerous challenges, not just from external parties but also in changing how I viewed things. Our history has given us - men and women of all races - a lot of baggage to deal with, however, we must now be ready to ..


This study examines the influence of different analysis techniques on the results concerning the particle size distribution and mineralogical composition of airborne particles. Volcanic ash from the Eyjafjalla volcano was examined with a transmitted light microscope (TLM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), SEM equipped with an automatic single-particle analysis program, and an electron microprobe (EMP) and the results differ considerably. Main error source is the specific particle size determination for each method. Here, a sample containing airborne particles of volcanic material was analyzed for size-differentiated particle number (n) on the evaluation area per unit time (number settling rate). The results of the TLM reveal a higher abundance of particles ≥8 μm than those obtained by manual SEM and EMP analysis, whereas the opposite is observed for particles <8 μm. When using SEM combined with automated single-particle analysis the number of identified particles is reduced compared to the manually obtained values. As error sources we identified uneven surfaces for SEM and EMP, the identification of transparent and light-colored particles under TLM, and the setting of brightness and contrast. The consequence of these discrepancies is that the TLM analysis leads to overestimation of feldspar, whereas the SEM and EMP techniques overestimate the abundances of pyroxene, quartz and other minerals in the studied sample.


Hospital pharmacy in Nepal is in the state of infancy where pharmacists are struggling to gain their professional recognition. The first hospital pharmacy in Nepal was set up some 50 years ago but has not gained the popularity as this achievement was limited to some missionary hospitals. No any governmental hospitals own their pharmacy until 2015, the year in which Hospital Pharmacy Service Directive was passed which stated that every hospital should have their own pharmacy. This has given some hopes for pharmacy professionals as some of the government hospitals have already started running their own pharmacy and stopped renting the pharmacy space on contract. However, multiple challenges exists in setting up a hospital pharmacy and expand the services for the care of patients, some private hospitals have run a well-functioning pharmacy unit on its own. Some of these hospitals have delivered good pharmacy services like use of computerized billing system, dispensing and counseling by qualified pharmacy personnel, drug information. Involvement of dedicated manpower and support from the hospital management are equally important for the smooth running of hospital pharmacy. Key words: Challenges, Experiences, Hospital pharmacy, Nepal, Rational drug use.


Since the development of the light microscope in the 16th century, optical device size and performance have been limited by diffraction. Optoelectronic devices of today are much bigger than the smallest electronic devices for this reason. Achieving control of light—material interactions for photonic device applications at the nanoscale requires structures that guide electromagnetic energy with subwavelength-scale mode confinement. By converting the optical mode into nonradiating surface plasmons, electromagnetic energy can be guided in structures with lateral dimensions of less than 10% of the free-space wavelength. A variety of methods—including electron-beam lithography and self-assembly—have been used to construct both particle and planar plasmon waveguides. Recent experimental studies have confirmed the strongly coupled collective plasmonic modes of metallic nanostructures. In plasmon waveguides consisting of closely spaced silver rods, electromagnetic energy transport over distances of 0.5 m has been observed. Moreover, numerical simulations suggest the possibility of multi-centimeter plasmon propagation in thin metallic stripes. Thus, there appears to be no fundamental scaling limit to the size and density of photonic devices, and ongoing work is aimed at identifying important device performance criteria in the subwavelength size regime. Ultimately, it may be possible to design an entire class of subwavelength-scale optoelectronic components (waveguides, sources, detectors, modulators) that could form the building blocks of an optical device technology—a technology scalable to molecular dimensions, with potential imaging, spectroscopy, and interconnection applications in computing, communications, and chemical/biological detection.


Codonoboea is the largest genus of Gesneriaceae in Peninsular Malaysia with 92 species. Nine sections, Boeopsis, Codonoboea, Didymanthus, Glossadenia, Heteroboea, Pectinati, Reptantes, Salicini and Venusti, have been erected based on morphological characters, such as habit, leaf arrangement and shape, type of inflorescence, number of flowers, corolla type and nectary type. Recent molecular phylogenetic study using ITS and trnL-F sequences show that only section Heteroboea is monophyletic. While the sections of Codonoboea can no longer be maintained as formal taxonomic taxa, as informal groupings they are useful in identification and in constructing keys.


COVID-19 is spreading and has reached the state of a worldwide pandemic and health systems are or will be tested in how they can deal with it. So far, during this early phase of the pandemic, outcomes in terms of case-fatality rates (CFR) differ widely across countries. We explore how differences in living arrangements of generations within families contribute to the cross country differences. We document a strong positive correlation between countries' CFRs and the share of working-age families living with their parents. This suggest that policy needs to focus on inter-generational social distance when combating this pandemic.


Allocating inspection resources over a diverse set of imports to prevent entry of plant pests and pathogens presents a substantial policy design challenge. We model inspections of live plant imports and producer responses to inspections using a "state-dependent" monitoring and enforcement model. We capture exporter abatement response to a set of feasible inspection policies from the regulator. Conditional on this behavioral response, we solve the regulator's problem of selecting the parameters for the state-dependent monitoring regime to minimize entry of infested shipments. We account for exporter heterogeneity, fixed penalties for noncompliance, imperfect abatement control and imperfect inspections at the border. Overall, we estimate that state-dependent targeting (based on historical interceptions) cuts the rate of infested shipments that are accepted by one-fifth, relative to uniformly allocated inspections.


Conventional political economy models predict taxation will increase after franchise expansion to low-income voters. Yet, contrary to expectations, in ranked societies—where social status is a cleavage—elites can instead build cross-class coalitions to undertake a strategy of bureaucratic weakening to limit future redistributive taxation. We study a case where status hierarchies were particularly extreme: the post-Civil War American South. During Reconstruction, under federal oversight, per capita taxation was higher in counties where slavery had been more extensive before the war, as predicted by standard theoretical models. After Reconstruction ended, however, taxes fell and bureaucratic capacity was weaker where slavery had been widespread. Moreover, higher intrawhite economic inequality was associated with lower taxes and weaker capacity after Reconstruction in formerly high-slavery counties. These findings on the interaction between intrawhite economic inequality and pre-War slavery suggest that elites built cross-class coalitions against taxation where whites sought to protect their racial status.


The British sometimes use the phrase "safe as houses" to describe a sure bet or an investment that carries little to no risk. Until a few years ago, this expression held true in America as well, where housing prices had done nothing but steadily rise since the Great Depression, and the general public considered a home to be one of the best investments possible. As the nation headed into a new Millennium, mortgage loans were easy to come by and housing prices soared while the economy appeared to thrive. The government strongly encouraged Americans to own their own home, and with banks devising creative methods to make money off mortgage loans, everyone appeared to win. However, the seemingly stable economy was belied by the underlying fundamentals, leading to a global financial shakeup that has changed the way we perceive the economy. This paper will trace the housing crisis to its roots and examine how it impacted the broader American economy, bringing us to our current financial situation of a depressed housing market and lingering unemployment. This article is available in The Park Place Economist: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/parkplace/vol20/iss1/12 The Park Place Economist, Volume XX 40 CAUSES AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE U.S. HOUSING CRISIS


This thesis constitutes a comprehensive analysis of the molecular and biological characteristics of three potyviruses (genus Potyvirus, family Potyviridae) naturally occurring in cultivated and wild species of family Solanaceae: Peru tomato virus (PTV), Potato virus V (PVV) and Wild potato mosaic virus (WPMV). In addition, the studies presented in this thesis focus on the genetic variability of isolates of PTV and PVV and on the role of the Potato virus A (PVA) 6K2 protein as a host-specific determinant of virus movement and symptom induction. Determination of the complete genomic sequences of PVV, PTV and WPMV demonstrated that these viruses are typical members of the genus Potyvirus. Furthermore, comparison of the polyprotein amino acid sequences and the biological and serological characteristics of these three viruses supported their current taxonomic position as independent species of the genus Potyvirus. The nucleotide sequences of the P1 protein, coat protein and non-translated regions of European and South American PVV isolates were determined and compared. Results showed limited genetic variability among the European isolates, in contrast to the higher variability found among the South American isolates of PVV. Phylogenetic analysis defined two distinct clusters, grouping the European isolates together but placing two South American isolates to a different group; these two isolates of PVV did not induce a hypersensitive response in an Nv gene-carrying potato cultivar in contrast to the European PVV isolates. Thus, European and South American PVV isolates belong to different strain groups. In addition, great genetic variability was detected among PTV isolates. Analysis of phylogenetic relationships among PTV, PVV, WPMV and other members of the genus Potyvirus commonly found infecting solanaceous crop plants showed that PTV, PVV and WPMV are the most closely related viruses which together with Potato virus Y, Pepper mottle virus, Pepper severe mosaic virus and Pepper yellow mosaic virus constitute a group distinguishable from other potyviruses. Thus, members of this group seem to share a common ancestor. The 6K2 protein of PVA was modified by deleting various portions or by introducing six histidine residues (6xHis) into various positions of this protein. These modifications disturbed functions required for viral infection in Nicotiana tabacum. Furthermore, inoculation of the insertion constructs to N. benthamiana plants did not result in systemic infection with the exception of one plant. This plant lacked typical PVA symptoms but had virus titers similar to the plants infected with the wild type virus: a single point mutation (Gly2 ® Cys2) in the 6xHis-containing 6K2 had restored the viral movement functions. However, partial deletion of the 6xHis-tag to gain the original size of the 6K2 protein was required to restore the induction of symptoms in N. benthamiana and to enable systemic infection of N. tabacum. Taken together, these results indicate the 6K2 is a host-specific determinant for long-distance movement and exemplify that mutations that arise during viral propagation represent a mechanisms by which viruses can evolve and adapt to different hosts.


Despite the absence of adequate scientific evidence, disulfiram has been prescribed for decades and is still largely advocated. As the arguments sustaining its use cannot be evidence based, they have to be founded on other properties in order to be effective. The present paper reviews different forms of fallacies used to sustain disulfiram's efficacy. We formulate the hypothesis that the frequency of consented use of fallacious arguments (or even sophisms) within an otherwise supposedly evidence based discipline may be indicative of (a) a scientifically immature discipline, and/or (b) a moralistically intermingled discipline. Inversely, the progressive decrease of sophisms should then be suggestive of scientific maturation.


Ecdysone is a steroid hormone best known for triggering the transition from larvae to adult in many insects. The biosynthetic machinery for ecdysone operates in the adult, too, but its purpose has been unclear. Simon et al. show that deficiencies in the ecdysone signaling system of adult Drosophila--either in biosynthesis or in its receptor--lead to flies with extended life-spans and an increased resistance to stress, without concomitant decreases in fertility or activity. Thus, steroids may be important players in the endocrine network that affects life-span in flies and other organisms. A. F. Simon, C. Shih, A. Mack, S. Benzer, Steroid control of longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. Science 299, 1407-1410 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


China has adopted Sustainable Development as a national strategy for all industries. In civil construction sector, sustainability is regarded as the development of Green Building in China. Since 2000, China has introduced a series of policies and laws to promote Green Building. Green Building was defined as buildings that are "energy-efficient, land-efficient, water-efficient, and material-efficient" and emit "minimal pollution" in during its entire life cycle, and meets a specified standard for indoor environment at the same time. However, energy efficiency is the central issue of current Green Building development in China, while issues of resources and pollution are neglected, which is partly due to China's energy structure. Social and economic aspects are also always ignored. The main aim of this thesis is to map pathways towards more comprehensive frameworks for how residential areas in China could be constructed in a more sustainable way in hot –summer and cold-winter area. Case study was the main method used to examine the specifications of Green Residential Building in China. This paper offers a general overview of the current green trend in China and presents a specific analysis on three cases to search for the proper approach for China's unique situation by three specific cases representing three types of Green Building: Modern Vernacular Architecture, Eco-office and Mass-housing, according to their features in scale, location and function. This paper then presents a specific integrated sustainability analysis of the Landsea Housing Project in Nanjing, a hot-summer/cold-winter zone. Hammarby Sjostad, a cutting edge project in Stockholm, is also discussed as a reference area from which experiences can be drawn for China. The aim was to improve the framework for construction of residential buildings in China in a more sustainable way, from energy efficiency to integrated sustainability. The paper also discusses the relationship between the economic growth and energy consumption in the fast-growing situation, presents several scenarios depicting energy and comfort and makes suggestions for China. The roles of government, developers and residents are also addressed. The paper argues that an adaptive and holistic approach, which must be expanded from both spatial scale and temporal span, should be established for the Green Residential Building development in China, as an effective way to meet the sustainability goal.


Problems of statistical and conceptual design of experiments are exacerberated by ethical issues in many, if not most, clinical trials. Statutory requirements of demonstrated effectiveness are far from being clearly resolved--either qualitatively or quantitatively. Ethics, bolstered by informed consent, are likely to keep us from ever learning the answer to many questions. Unbalanced boundaries, focusing-down designs, historical controls, and not-very-sequential designs are among the possible consequences.


This article reviews the existing literature on ecotourism definitions and provides a supply-side view of ecotourism based on the findings of a nationwide survey of 282 U.S.-based ecotour operators. A content analysis of ecotourism definitions revealed that ecotourism is a new form of nonconsumptive, educational, and romantic tourism to relatively undisturbed and undervisited areas of immense natural beauty, and cultural and historical importance for the purposes of understanding and appreciating the natural and sociocultural history of the host destination. The current view of ecotourism by the sample of tour operators reflects and confirms definitions of ecotourism found in existing literature. If the definitions provided by this sample of ecotour operators are to be considered representative of their business vision or mission statement, it is plausible to expect their business objectives and operational behavior to be congruent with their description of ecotourism. Whether or not their actual behavior will reflect their visions remains to be determined.


Fiber amplifiers with high power and high pulse energy are strongly in demand for both scientific research and industrial applications. Ytterbium-doped fiber has been an outstanding choice for its broad-gain bandwidth and excellent power conversion efficiencies. In this dissertation, we introduced a compact high power high pulsed energy laser system with chirally coupled core (3C) Yb-doped fibers as the gain media. Traditional standard fibers and photonic crystal fibers are not suitable for compact high power high pulse energy laser systems because of poor higher order modes (HOMs) management and complicated air-hole structure. Newly invented 3C silica fibers solve these problems. A helical side-core around the Yb-doped central core extracts the HOMs from the central core. By adjusting this chirally structure, the core of the 3C fiber can be enlarged and the transverse mode of the fiber can be single mode at certain wavelengths. To simulate the amplification process with high power high pulse energy better, a new modeling method based on a combination of the rate equations and the nonlinear Schrodinger equations is invented. The gain was calculated from rate equations and the pulse evolution was analyzed using nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The simulation provided a good guidance for building compact high power high pulse energy laser systems. To achieve high power and high pulse energy, the system is designed as a two-stage structure. The laser


Plant transformation vectors for constitutive gene expression were prepared to study the role of Esi47, a gene that encodes a protein kinase, which normally is induced as part of the salt-stress response in Lophopyrum elongatum. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of A. thaliana, by tissue-culture and vacuum infiltration, were both attempted. A number of plant transformation constructs were made for gene promoter analysis. Expression constructs were also made and tested for the production of Esi47 protein in E. coli using the pATH11 trpE fusion vector. The tissue-culture method was partially successful. Callus cultures were established for the Arabidopsis Col-2 genotype, embryogenesis was observed in Col-2, and ten regenerated seedlings arose directly from RLD-1 genotype explants grown on shoot inducing medium (SIM) containing 100 $\mu$g/ml kanamycin. Col-2 callus was maintained for three passages on SIM with antibiotics, while the RLD-1 regenerated seedlings were plated directly on hormone free growth medium (GM) with 100 $\mu$g/ml kanamycin for three weeks. All developed roots and were transferred to the greenhouse, but rapidly wilted and died upon transfer. Attempts were made to regenerate from de novo meristem with Col-2 callus tissue by subculturing on B5 medium with various combinations of benzylaminopurine (BAP) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), but the callus remained unresponsive. Five series of transformations by vacuum infiltration were attempted, but proved unsuccessful. The trpE::Esi47 fusion gene constructs, one with the full protein kinase open reading frame, and the other with the carboxylic-terminus of Esi47, were successfully expressed in E. coli. The TrpE fusion proteins were found in the insoluble fraction of lysed cells. Resolubilized fusion proteins derived from the two expression constructs had apparent molecular masses of 75 and 45 kDa, respectively.


The application of new molecular technology has greatly increased our understanding of the role of chromosomal change in plant evolution. There is now a broad database on genome size variation within and among species and a wide array of nuclear and cytoplasmic genetic markers. There is a variety of literatures addressing this subject but much of it is scattered. This book created a contemporary synthesis or work in this area and addresses issues such as herogeneity, polyploidy, chromosomal rearrangements within species and phenotypic consequences of chromosome doubling.


Patients with hypertension and elevated homocysteine levels have a higher prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) than individuals without either hypertension or elevated homocysteine levels, but the independence of homocysteine as a predictor of hypertension and vice-versa is controversial. This study was to explore the independence of hypertension and homocysteine (HCY) associations using a case-control study design based on a hospital in China. A case-control study was performed using 230 randomly selected 65-yearold and older inpatients with hypertension (cases) and 230 age and sex matched non-hypertensive controls. All participants were assessed for fasting triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CR), uric acid (UA), C-reactive protein (CRP), fasting glucose (BS), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and body mass index (BMI). Data analysis was performed using conditional logistic regression. Compared to patients with hypertension, HCY, TG, TC, HDL, LDL, BUN, UA, CRP, BS and BMI were worse than controls. In multivariate analysis HCY (OR=1.22, P<0.001), BUN (OR=1.25, P=0.03) and CRP (OR=1.25, P=0.02) were independent predictors of hypertension. Amongst all subjects (cases and controls), the presence of elevated homocysteine was independently associated with hypertension (OR=9.93, P<0.001), TG (OR=3.56, P<0.001), LDL (OR=1.64, P=0.01), CRP (OR=1.50, P<0.001), BS (OR=0.75, P=0.02) and BMI (OR=1.14, P=0.001). Elevated homocysteine and hypertension are each independent predictors of each other. Hypertension is also independently associated with BUN and CRP, while elevated homocysteine is independently associated with TG, TC, LDL, CRP, BS and BMI.


The aim of this project is to develop a system for the stand-o detection (typically ten
metres) of concealed body-worn explosives. The system must be capable of detecting
a layer of explosive material hidden under clothing and distinguishing explosives from
everyday objects. Millimetre wave radar is suitable for this application. Millimetre
Waves are suitable because they are not signi cantly attenuated by atmospheric con-
ditions and clothing textiles are practically transparent to this radiation. Detection
of explosive layers from a few mm in thickness to a few cm thickness is required. A
quasi optical focussing element is required to provide su cient antenna directivity to
form a narrow, highly directional beam of millimetre waves, which can be directed and
scanned over the person being observed.
A system of antennae and focussing optics has been modelled and built using designs
from nite element analysis (FEA) software. Using the developed system, represen-
tative data sets have been acquired using a Vector Network Analyser (VNA) to act
as transmitter and receiver, with the data saved for processing at a later time. A
novel data analysis algorithm using Matlab has been developed to carry out Fourier
Transforms of the data and then perform pattern matching techniques using arti cial
neural networks (ANN's). New ways of aligning and sorting data have been found
using cross-correlation to order the data by similar data slices and then sorting the
data by amplitude to take the strongest 50% of data sets.
The signi cant contribution to knowledge of this project will be a system which can
be eld tested and which will detect a layer of dielectric at a stando distance, typically
of ten metres, and signal processing algorithms which can recognise the di erence
between the response of threat and non-threat objects. This has partially been achieved
by the development of focussing optics to acquire data sets which have then been aligned
by cross-correlation, sorted and then used to train a pattern matching technique using
neural networks. This technique has shown good results in di erentiating between a
person wearing simulated explosives and a person not carrying simulated explosives.
Further work for this project includes acquiring more data sets of everyday objects
and training the neural network to distinguish between threat objects and non-threat
objects. The operational range also needs increasing using either a larger aperture
optical element or a similarly sized Cassegrain antenna. The system needs adapting
for real time use with the data processing techniques developed in Matlab.
The VNA is operated over a band of 14 to 40 GHz, future work includes moving to
a stand-alone transmitter and receiver operating at w-band (75 to 110 GHz).


This paper examines the educational impacts of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative (BWLI), a pilot program that provided 1:1 technology access to all students and teachers across five public and private middle schools in western Massachusetts. Using a pre/post comparative study design, the current study explores a wide range of program impacts over the three years of the project's implementation. Specifically, the current document provides an overview of the project background, implementation, research design and methodology, and a summary of the quantitative results. The study details how teaching and learning practices changed when students and teachers were provided with laptops, wireless learning environments, and additional technology resources. The results found that both the implementation and outcomes of the program were varied across the five 1:1 settings and over the three years of the student laptop implementation. Despite these differences, there was evidence that the types of educational access and opportunities afforded by 1:1 computing through the pilot program led to measurable changes in teacher practices, student achievement, student engagement, and students' research skills.


Many data sets (e.g., reviews, forums, news, etc.) exist parallelly in multiple languages. They all cover the same content, but the linguistic differences make it impossible to use traditional, bag-of-word-based topic models. Models have to be either single-language or suffer from a huge, but extremely sparse vocabulary. Both issues can be addressed by transfer learning. In this paper, we introduce a zero-shot cross-lingual topic model. Our model learns topics on one language (here, English), and predicts them for unseen documents in different languages (here, Italian, French, German, and Portuguese). We evaluate the quality of the topic predictions for the same document in different languages. Our results show that the transferred topics are coherent and stable across languages, which suggests exciting future research directions.


Based on the cumulated experience over the past 25 years in the field of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) we can now envision a new generation of BCI. Such BCIs will not require training; instead they will be smartly initialized using remote massive databases and will adapt to the user fast and effectively in the first minute of use. They will be reliable, robust and will maintain good performances within and across sessions. A general classification framework based on recent advances in Riemannian geometry and possessing these characteristics is presented. It applies equally well to BCI based on event-related potentials (ERP), sensorimotor (mu) rhythms and steady-state evoked potential (SSEP). The framework is very simple, both algorithmically and computationally. Due to its simplicity, its ability to learn rapidly (with little training data) and its good across-subject and across-session generalization, this strategy a very good candidate for building a new generation of BCIs, thus we hereby propose it as a benchmark method for the field.


We describe an "internal collision" model of vibrational predissociation (vpd) in triatomic van der Waals (vdW) molecules based on the angular momentum (AM) model of collision-induced vibration–rotation transfer. The probability of vpd is related to the probability of disposing the vibrational energy into rotational and orbital AM. In T-shaped species, two internal collision configurations are likely to dominate namely, the turning points of excursions by the weakly bound species relative to the diatomic. These two geometries result in a bimodal distribution of final rotational states. Velocity-AM diagrams demonstrate why halogen and hydride vdW molecules have very different properties and illustrate the physics of quantitative calculations that reproduce experimental distributions in a wide range of vdW molecules. We introduce an analogy between a metastable dissociative state and the optical resonator and define a quality factor (Qjl) that relates vpd lifetime to stored energy and to ease of generating rotational and orbital AM by dissociation. Data on vdW molecules of OH are analyzed using the Qjl concept and the accelerated dissociation on forming the vdW complex with an efficient energy acceptor is likened to the formation of a particularly low-Q molecular resonator.


The coupled electrical and transport properties of clay-containing porous media are the topics of interest in this study. Both experimental and numerical (pore network modeling) techniques are employed to gain insight into the macro-scale interaction between electrical and solute transport phenomena in clayey porous media. The electrical properties are determined by the electrical double layer formed on the mineral-solution interface. Due to the unique surface properties, the external electric field is applied across the natural and the plug-like flow is generated which is referred as electro-osmotic flow. Different from the traditional hydraulic flow field used for contaminants removal in the subsurface, the electro-osmotic flow have advantages in less spreading of solute movement. The numerical simulations for solute dispersion under electro-osmotic flow and hydraulic pressure flow are carried out, and the reduced dispersion coefficient for electro-osmotic flow is quantified. With the knowledge of surface properties of clay minerals, several geophysical methods are employed to investigate fluid flow and solute transport properties in natural soils. The self-potential method has been intensely applied in the hydrogeological communications. An experimental set-up for self-potential measurement in a column filled with different types of porous media (i.e. clean sand vs clayey sand) is built-up. By conducting the salt tracer tests in the columns, the self-potential signals induced by solute concentration gradient are observed and the behavior of time-lapse self-potential in different medium is different. The time-lapse self-potential at each location are well reproduced by the continuum scale governing equation. Compared the experimental self-potential signals with the numerical model for a given solute gradient, the effective self-potential coefficient of each type of porous media is derived. The results show that the self-potential coefficient for clayey sand needs to consider the effects of the electrical double layer. The overlapping of electrical double layer is significantly affect the movement of ions inside the pore space and eventually determined the effective electrical and transport coefficient. To detail the pore scale electrokinetic process in clay-free or clay-rich materials, the pore network model is employed to investigate the effective coefficients based on the microscopic material properties (pore radius, surface charge density) and solution property. The quasi-static response of the electrical potential to the salt plume movement in clay-rich materials is well captured by the pore network model. The evaluated solute diffusivity and self-potential coefficient for the clean sand and clay are in good agreement with those obtained in the laboratory experiment, and exhibit the similar behavior of the tendency with respect to the extent of overlapping for the electrical double layer.


Iridium-based stellate (star-shaped) polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane macromolecular dyes were synthesized and an inkjet printing process to deposit inks based on these materials was developed. Polymeric–macromolecular blended light emitting diodes based on these hybrid organic–inorganic dyes were studied. We find peak luminances of ∼10,000 cd/m2 with peak quantum efficiencies of ∼2.5% are possible with the printed layers. White light interferometry measurements suggest that large printed layer thicknesses and interface roughness play a crucial role in limiting device performance. A cumulative coffee-ring effect is considered to be the source of interface roughness.


Data integration is the problem of combining data residing at different sources, and providing the user with a unified view of these data. The problem of designing data integration systems is important in current real world applications, and is characterized by a number of issues that are interesting from a theoretical point of view. This document presents on overview of the material to be presented in a tutorial on data integration. The tutorial is focused on some of the theoretical issues that are relevant for data integration. Special attention will be devoted to the following aspects: modeling a data integration application, processing queries in data integration, dealing with inconsistent data sources, and reasoning on queries.


Tunisian filmmaker Moufida Tlatli's 1994 Arabic-language feature film, The Silences of the Palace, stages the traumatic situation of female servants in the household of Tunisian princes in the period before and after Tunisian independence from France in 1956. The film focuses on the ways in which female gender and sexuality are lived in a traumatic mode in the palace. Issues of gender, social class, and colonization intersect in the film, which centers on the relationship between a teenage daughter whose father is unknown, Alia, and her mother, the servant Khedija, who are both struggling with issues of sexual abuse. The film highlights the following aspects of gender and sexual trauma: flashbacks; endemic sexual abuse that is widespread and repeated over generations; the transgenerational transmission of trauma due to secrets and silences around sexuality and sexual abuse; resulting physical symptoms (such as chronic migraines, fainting, dissociation, neurasthenia and aphasia); the lack of avenues of escape; and finally, paths to possible healing (such as music and singing and, eventually, national independence). Far from representing an individualized situation, the film portrays Alia as embodying the entire country. This national allegory indicates that if Tunisia gained its independence, Tunisian women's liberation is still to come since Alia's life has repeated her mother's patterns. The film thus seeks to make a feminist intervention into contemporary Tunisian politics and culture. At the end of the film, Alia decides to keep her illegitimate child against her boyfriend's wishes and to call her Khedija, after her own mother. This open ending leaves the audience wondering whether little Khedija, who is also lacking a legal father, will repeat her mother's and grandmother's patterns. The film makes it clear that the answer lays in the future gender politics of the Tunisian nation, which Tlatli hopes to inflect for the better.


Decentralized eco-sanitation system is a promising and sustainable mode comparing to the century-old centralized conventional sanitation system. The decentralized concept relies on an environmentally and economically sound management of water, nutrient and energy fluxes. Source-separation systems for urban waste management collect different solid waste and wastewater streams separately to facilitate the recovery of valuable resources from wastewater (energy, nutrients). A resource recovery centre constituted for 20,000 people will act as the functional unit for the treatment of urban waste of a high-density population community, like Singapore. The decentralized system includes urine treatment, faeces and food waste co-digestion, and horticultural waste and organic fraction of municipal solid waste treatment in composting plants. A design model is developed to estimate the input and output in terms of materials and energy. The inputs of urine (yellow water, YW) and faeces (brown water, BW) are calculated by considering the daily mean production of urine and faeces by humans and the water consumption of no-mix vacuum toilet (0.2 and 1 L flushing water for urine and faeces, respectively). The food waste (FW) production is estimated to be 150 g wet weight/person/day. The YW is collected and discharged by gravity into tank. It was found that two days are required for urine hydrolysis and struvite precipitation. The maximum nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) recovery are 150-266 kg/day and 20-70 kg/day, respectively. In contrast, BW and FW are mixed for co-digestion in a thermophilic acidification tank and later a decentralized/centralized methanogenic reactor is used for biogas production. It is determined that 6.16-15.67 m 3 /h methane is produced which is equivalent to 0.07-0.19 kWh/ca/day. The digestion residues are treated with horticultural waste and organic fraction of municipal waste in co-composting plants.


This report is based on the analysis of 326 case files of patients that I saw in part-time private practice over a period of five years. The aim of the investigation was to establish the stressful life events that are associated with psychological disorder. Thirteen categories of stressful events were identified. Statistical analyses revealed that these stresses were significantly associated with a number of demographic variables.


Stewart, et al (1) have described a method for the analysis of trace organic compounds in the blood. An absorption cell has been designed which is particularly useful in this type of work and which may be suited to other applications as well. The cell is easily assembled, is less subject to leakage than most infrared cells, and solution transfer losses are minimized by its use.


This review is occasioned by the fact that the problem of translation, which has simmered on the biological sidelines for the last 40 years, is about to erupt center stage--thanks to the recent spectacular advances in ribosome structure. This most complex, beautiful, and fascinating of cellular mechanisms, the translation apparatus, is also the most important. Translation not only defines gene expression, but it is the sine qua non without which modern (protein-based) cells would not have come into existence. Yet from the start, the problem of translation has been misunderstood--a reflection of the molecular perspective that dominated Biology of the last century. In that the our conception of translation will play a significant role in creating the structure that is 21st century Biology, it is critical that our current (and fundamentally flawed) view of translation be understood for what it is and be reformulated to become an all-embracing perspective about which 21st century Biology can develop. Therefore, the present review is both a retrospective and a plea to biologists to establish a new evolutionary, RNA-World-centered concept of translation. What is needed is an evolutionarily oriented perspective that, first and foremost, focuses on the nature (and origin) of a primitive translation apparatus, the apparatus that transformed an ancient evolutionary era of nucleic acid life, the RNA World, into the world of modern cells.


The investigation of neuron structures is an incredibly difficult and complex task that yields relatively low rewards in terms of information from biological forms (either animals or tissue). The structures and connectivity of even the simplest invertebrates are almost impossible to establish with standard laboratory techniques, and even when this is possible it is generally time consuming, complex and expensive. Recent work has shown how a simplified behavioural approach to modelling neurons can allow "virtual" experiments to be carried out that map the behaviour of a simulated structure onto a hypothetical biological one, with correlation of behaviour rather than underlying connectivity. The problems with such approaches are numerous. The first is the difficulty of simulating realistic aggregates efficiently, the second is making sense of the results and finally, it would be helpful to have an implementation that could be synthesised to hardware for acceleration. In this paper we present a VHDL implementation of Neuron models that allow large aggregates to be simulated. The models are demonstrated using a system level VHDL and VHDL-AMS model of the C. Elegans locomotory system.


In this essay, I want to reposition the Big Brother phenomenon in the context of an earlier debate about domestic space which occurred during the emergence of architectural modernism in the first decades of the twentieth century. At issue then was the physical reconstruction of the home, particularly through the increasing use of glass as a design element. While glass architecture is even more prevalent in the present, its spatial impact—particularly in terms of its capacity to alter the relationship between the 'inside' and the 'outside'—has now been matched or exceeded in many respects by the effects of electronic media. By tracing the parallel between the unsettling spatial effects produced by both glass construction and the electronic screen, I will sketch a cultural logic linking the modernist project of architectural transparency to the contemporary repositioning of the home as an interactive media centre.


Celiac disease is an autoimmune enteropathy resulting from the ingestion of gluten and gluten-like proteins from wheat, barley and rye in afflicted individuals. Indigestible gluten-derived peptides rich in proline residues are known to be responsible for eliciting the inappropriate immune response characteristic of the disease. In this investigation, surface level expression of prolyl peptidase activity by genetically engineered probiotic lactobacilli was postulated to be a possible treatment for this disease. Plasmid-based reporter vectors were constructed utilizing a novel, homology-based cloning technique to assess the expression and localization signals from the S-layer protein gene of Lactobacillus acidophilus. These plasmids were mutated during construction due to toxicity associated with the cloned cassettes. The toxicity of the S-layer secretion and/or anchoring domains in E. coli was confirmed by cloning the fused components into an inducible expression system. When the prolyl peptidase, Xaa-Pro, from L. reuteri was incorporated into the S-layer expression cassette, the full-length protein was efficiently expressed but was not active, likely due to protein aggregation and inclusion body formation. Future research directions are discussed and a modified experimental design strategy is presented. This work provides a foundation for continued investigation into the feasibility of utilizing genetically engineered lactobacilli as a potential treatment strategy for celiac disease.


Fragmentation over evolutionary time scales following vicariant and dispersal events has long been recognised as a dominant process in biological diversification and speciation; while anthropogenic habitat fragmentation in recent times is considered a threat to the long-term persistence of species and ecosystems. The eastern freshwater cod Maccullochella ikei is Australia's largest endangered freshwater fish species. Abundant in the Clarence and Richmond River systems at the time of European settlement, populations crashed in the early 1900s causing local extinctions and range reduction. Recovery efforts, including a prohibition on fishing for M. ikei and hatchery breeding programs, were initiated in an attempt to re-establish locally extirpated populations and to support the remnant population. This thesis aims to fill critical gaps in the knowledge of M. ikei by examining genetic diversity over a broad range of evolutionary scales. Microsatellite and mitochondrial markers and a DNA extraction method were developed and applied to address issues of conservation concern including taxonomy, hybridisation, genetic variation, population structure, effective population size and genetic stocking impact. Mitochondrial sequence and nuclear genotypic data were used to infer the evolutionary relationships among the Murray cod Maccullochella peelii peelii from the inland Murray-Darling Basin and taxa from eastern coastal drainages, M. ikei and Mary River cod M. peelii mariensis. Phylogenetic analyses provide strong support for a more recent common ancestry between M. ikei and M. p. mariensis. This finding conflicts with the existing taxonomy and suggests that ancestral cod crossed the Great Dividing Range around 1 million years ago and subsequently colonised east coast drainages during Pleistocene glacial periods. The eastern taxa, persisting in isolated drainages at the periphery of the historical coastal distribution of Maccullochella are estimated to have diverged around 300 thousand years ago. Mary River cod are morphologically and genetically distinct and may warrant recognition as a separate species. High levels of population structure (global FST = 0.13) and a pattern of isolation by distance in M. ikei from the Clarence system are indicative of fragmentation and restricted dispersal. Genetically-distinct upstream populations are small and isolated with effective population sizes below 30. Cluster analysis and assignment tests suggest that gene flow to and among these populations is limited. Bayesian and frequency-based analysis of hatchery progeny suggest population admixture in the hatchery, with most parental stock sourced from upstream sites with reduced genetic variation. Analysis of temporal samples from the largest remnant population showed a significant loss in genetic variation (>20%) since the commencement of stocking, consistent with genetic swamping with hatchery-bred fish. These findings are relevant to the conservation of M. ikei and to captive breeding programs generally as they show that genetic…


Novel spectral methods are formulated in terms of divergence-free vector fields in order to compute finite amplitude time-dependent solutions of incompressible viscous flows in cylindrical and/or annular geometries. The numerical discretization of the method leads to a simple dynamical system of amplitudes from which the stability properties of the solution can be analyzed easily. In addition, the formulation allows easy implementation of continuation algorithms to track solutions that have bifurcated from a known state, or the search for disconnected solution branches by means of homotopy transformations of the Navier-Stokes equations. The method is succesfully applied to the study of generic double Hopf bifurcations in pressure-driven helicoidal flows and to the search of unstable travelling wave solutions in pipe flow.