Hardwood understories can contribute significantly to total ecosystem biomass and fuel loads, but few models are available to directly quantify this component. In part, this is due to the small size of the hardwoods. Many understory trees simply do not reach the height required to determine diameter at breast height (d.b.h.), so conventional models (e.g., the National Biomass Estimators [NBE]) that rely on this predictor are unavailable. Further, understory hardwoods can be present in such numbers or have inconvenient growth forms such that biomass estimates based on diameters are impractical. However, a quick and easily measured attribute, stem length, can be used instead of diameter to facilitate understory hardwood biomass estimation. We destructively sampled 513 small hardwood shrubs and trees in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi and oven dried their aboveground live biomass (stems, branches, leaves) to a constant weight. The high degree of variability in plant form, branch patterning, and wood density among the 31 different taxa sampled suggested that a single hardwood grouping would be as effective as more specific equations. Nonlinear ordinary least squares regression was then used to predict aboveground live biomass with a modified version of the NBE (using stem length rather than d.b.h.). The coefficient of determination of the resulting model was reasonably high (R2 = 0.71), particularly for data comprising such varied individuals. Further confirmation of the utility of this understory biomass model followed a comparison of several species with varying wood density.


Vegetation canopy structure plays an important role in the partitioning of incident solar radiation, photosynthesis, transpiration, and other scalar fluxes. The vertical foliage distribution of the plant canopy is represented by leaf area density (LAD), which is defined as the one-sided leaf area per unit volume. Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) offers the possibility to characterize the 3-D variation of LAD over space, which still remains a challenge to estimate. Moreover, the low density of point cloud data generally offered by airborne LiDAR may be insufficient for accurate LAD estimation in dense overlapping forest canopies. We develop a method for the estimation of the LAD profile using a combination of airborne LiDAR and hyperspectral data using a feature-based data fusion approach. After identifying vegetation species using hyperspectral data, point cloud LiDAR data is used in a "tree-shaped" voxel approach to characterize the LAD of trees in a riparian forest setting. We also propose a set of relationships on simple geometry of overlap for the construction of tree shaped voxels. In a forest setting with overlapping canopies, the results indicate that the tree-shaped voxels are better able to attribute the LAD to the upper and middle parts of the overall canopy as well as individual tall and short trees compared with traditional cylindrical voxels.


The research study was conducted in two rural schools in the same district that served as the sample .One school is a wellresourced Dinaledi school and the other one is an underresourced school. According to the National Diagnostic reports of the last few years, the performance of learners in the National Senior Certificate examination in Physical Sciences was poor especially in those questions that require learners' higher order thinking skills. It appeared that educators found it difficult to teach some of the topics that were based on practical work because the majority of the rural schools were underresourced. Due to the disparities and poor performance in the achievement of learners in the districts, the researcher decided to conduct this research study in an attempt to compare the teaching and learning of Ohm's law in Physical Sciences in resourced and under-resourced schools in the district. The theoretical framework that underpins this research is constructivism, as the focus is on constructing meaning and knowledge gained by the learners using apparatus such as electric circuit boards. Two classes of Grade 10 learners, one each from a resourced school and under-resourced school, were selected purposively. The classes were observed whilst being taught Ohm's law. All the learners wrote the same test and their performance was compared. The two Physical Sciences educators who taught the classes were interviewed after the lessons. The study found that in the resourced school learners were exposed to hands-on activities as part of a practical-oriented class. Their interaction with the apparatus while learning about Ohm's law put them in a much better position to answer questions, especially higher order questions. On the other hand in the under-resourced school learners were exposed to a theoretical-based teaching method which placed them at a severe disadvantage in answering questions during assessments. This study has implications for fellow science teachers, curriculum advisors and other education department officials as it describes actual practices of educators in two schools and examines the influence that resources have on learners' performances.


[Poster]: Ultrastructural studies in our laboratory have demonstrated that restraint stress significantly reduces axospinous synaptic density in the CA3 subfield of the rat hippocampus (Sandi et al. Euro. J. Neurosci. 17: 2446-2476). Because the CA1 subfield receives direct innervation from CA3 and is the major output area of the hippocampus, we examined the effects of restraint stress upon synaptic parameters in this strategic region.
An unbiased stereological approach was used to compare numerical asymmetrical synaptic densities (Nv) and post-synaptic membrane lengths, between control and stress (restraint stress; 6h/day for 21 days started at c. 13wks of age) groups in CA1 hippocampus of rats (n=3, per experimental group). Measurements were taken throughout the stratum radiatum (StRad) and lacunosum moleculare (LacMol). Our data show that no statistically significant changes occur in Nv or post synaptic membrane length within the StRad of CA1. However, further statistical analysis (Student's two-tailed t-test) reveal a significant increase in the lengths of individual post-synaptic membranes in the LacMol of CA1 (control group mean = 252.4nm; stress group mean = 355.2nm; p=0.027).
These results indicate a stress-induced remodelling of synaptic connectivity in LacMol of CA1 that may underlie neurobiological mechanisms related to stress.


Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) predict renal disfunction in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Methods: This prospective study consisted of 102 patients with FMF in attack-free period, and 40 matched healthy controls. Of the patients, nine were diagnosed as amyloidosis. The patients were divided into two groups according to eGFR as below 120 mL per minute and above 120 mL per minute. Also, patients were divided into three groups according to the degree of urinary albumin excretion as normoalbuminuric, microalbuminuric, and macroalbuminuric. The serum levels of IL-18 (sIL-18) and NGAL (sNGAL), and urinary levels of IL-18 (uIL-18) and NGAL (uNGAL) were measured by using ELISA kits. Results: The levels of sIL-18, sNGAL, uIL-18, and uNGAL were detected significantly higher in FMF patients, particularly in patients with amyloidosis, when compared to controls. sNGAL, uIL-18, and uNGAL were significantly higher in patients with eGFR < 120 mL per minute than in patients with eGFR ≥ 120 mL per minute. sNGAL, uIL-18, and uNGAL were correlated significantly with urinary albumin excretion, additionally, were inverse correlated with eGFR. The most remarkable findings of this study are of the higher values of sIL-18, sNGAL, uIL-18, and uNGAL in both normoalbuminuric FMF patients and patients with eGFR ≥ 120 mL per minute. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that sIL-18, uIL-18, sNGAL, and uNGAL are reliable markers of early renal disfunction in FMF patients, and may let us take measures from the early stage of renal involvement.


Purpose of review Understanding whether hormonal contraception increases women's risk of HIV acquisition is a public health priority. This review summarizes recent epidemiologic and biologic data, and considers the implications of new evidence on research and programmatic efforts. Recent findings Two secondary analyses of HIV prevention trials demonstrated increased HIV risk among depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) users compared with nonhormonal/no method users and norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN) users. A study of women in serodiscordant partnerships found no significant association for DMPA or implants. Two meta-analyses found elevated risks of HIV among DMPA users compared with nonhormonal/no method users, with no association for NET-EN or combined oral contraceptive pills. In-vitro and animal model studies identified plausible biological mechanisms by which progestin exposure could increase risk of HIV, depending on the type and dose of progestin, but such mechanisms have not been definitively observed in humans. Summary Recent epidemiologic and biologic evidence on hormonal contraception and HIV suggests a harmful profile for DMPA but not combined oral contraceptives. In limited data, NET-EN appears safer than DMPA. More research is needed on other progestin-based methods, especially implants and Sayana Press. Future priorities include updating modeling studies with new pooled estimates, continued basic science to understand biological mechanisms, expanding contraceptive choice, and identifying effective ways to promote dual method use.


Crises of varying magnitudes punctuate our everyday lives, most
recently exemplified by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but also evident
in the impact of the Anthropocene on the environment, mass human
displacements, human rights abuses, economic inequity and collapse,
among other disasters. The arts, including comics, represent,
reconfigure, imagine, and understand the potential impact of crises on
individuals, communities, and the broader socio-political landscape.
Comics have proven to be a highly fertile and productive medium for
exploring crisis and trauma in the way that they externalise these
issues through their form and function. The combination of image and
text supports creative and exploratory responses to physical and mental
health issues (Squier & Marks 2014; Williams 2012). The social
impact of drawing as a form of art therapy has been widely documented
(Hardy 2013), as has the use of comics as art therapy (Mulholland 2004;
Williams 2011), in play therapy (Rubin et al 2006) as well as in zines
(Houpt et al 2016). This presentation analyses the role of praxis in
relation to crises of personal loss and bereavement through a case study
 entitled 'Developing confident life stories about child bereavement:
normalising and supporting bereavement experiences through storytelling
and comics'. A joint research project between the Universities of Dundee
 and Strathclyde and conducted between 2018 – 2019, this initiative used
 an original, iterative methodology to communicate the impact of
bereavement on young people aged 12–18 years, working with groups of
young people to construct and represent their insights on bereavement in
 comics. The project was designed to investigate the claim that creating
 and reading comics helps generate confident life stories, and that the
latter is a key component in building resilience (Bosticco &
Thompson 2005). The primary project output – an original comic – was
powerful, and the discussion will highlight its content and impact.


A 2015 survey of veterinary educators at AVMA accredited veterinary colleges indicated use of a wide variety of teaching modalities and a broad disparity among colleges about the amount of EBVM skills taught and their place in the curriculum. Evidence in learning theory suggests that teaching the skills of EBVM requires consideration of ways to optimise the transfer of skills from the didactic or pre-clinical to the clinical setting. We partnered to successfully integrate asking a clinical question, searching the literature, appraising the literature, and applying evidence to the clinical question to make a clinical recommendation in a pre-clinical, 2nd year, course (pharmacology) and two 4th year clinical rotations (Small Animal Dermatology and Food Animal). We use lecture and paired work to introduce identifying knowledge gaps and writing background and PICO questions. Searching the biomedical literature is taught in hands-on labs with lecture followed up with open tutorial hands-on lab opportunities. Students initially work in small groups to learn critical appraisal using a literature evaluation form we created, and then learn to apply the evidence in order to make a clinical recommendation. We will report on the learning activities, assignments, rubrics, and student outcomes. Teaching materials are Creative Commons licensed and will be distributed. We will also describe challenges and recommendations for integrating EBVM skills into other disciplines.


The system proposed in this paper is an advanced solution for monitoring the weather conditions at a particular place and make the information visible anywhere in the world. The technology behind this is Internet of Things (IoT), which is an advanced and efficient solution for connecting the things to the internet and to connect the entire world of things in a network. Here things might be whatever like electronic gadgets, sensors and automotive electronic equipment. The system deals with monitoring and controlling the environmental conditions like temperature, relative humidity and CO level with sensors and sends the information to the web page and then plot the sensor data as graphical statistics. The data updated from the implemented system can be accessible in the internet from anywhere in the world. KeywordsInternet of Things (IoT) Embedded Computing System; Arduino Software, ESP8266, Smart Environment.


The purpose of this study was to develop Japanese version of General Procrastination Scale (J-GPS) and to examine its reliability and validity. In Study 1, data obtained from 174 undergraduates were analyzed. Results showed sufficient internal consistency, factorial and concurrent validity with another procrastination scale. In Study 2, further data were obtained from 77 undergraduates. These data were analyzed to examine concurrent validity in terms of clinical and behavioral scales. Results indicated that J-GPS had a positive correlation with depression, anxiety, and actual procrastinatory behavior. These findings provided sufficient support for reliability and validity of J-GPS.


As Cretaceous species previously placed in Bigenerina, Siphotextularia, and Textularia differ from typical Cenozoic representatives of these genera in having solid non-canaliculate walls, 16 species from the Fredericksburg and Washita Groups (Albian-Cenomanian) of Texas and Oklahoma have been restudied. The new genera Heterantyx with type species H. antonovae sp. nov. and Quasispiroplectammina with type species Spiroplectammina longa are assigned to the family Spiroplectamminidae. A new family Textulariopsidae is proposed for basically biserial taxa with solid walls and includes Plectinella, Textulariopsis, of which two species T. lechriosa and T. texhomensis are new, the reinstated genus Bimonilina, with a new species B. reciprocata, and three new genera, Aaptoioichus, Haimasiella and Minyaichme.


number of large resource finds are in the developing world, reflecting growing openness in their economies HIGH-income countries have long been the main users and suppliers of natural resources. It could be bauxite, copper, and iron ore across much of Europe—not to mention coal, lead, mercury, zinc, and oil and natural gas. English and Belgian coal deposits fueled the Industrial Revolution. When the United States achieved independence in the late 18th century it was widely thought of as a country with "an abundance of land but virtually no mining potential." (O'Toole, 1997). But a century later, after the rebellious colonies had developed into a stable country, the United States not only became a high-income country in today's parlance but it overtook Europe to become the world's major resource producer. Today, though, the high-income-country share of global resource deposits has fallen, driven by growth in discoveries in other, lessdeveloped parts of the world. We document a major shift in resource exploration and extraction from high-income regions, or the "North," to emerging market and developing economies, or the "South." This shift in resource discovery and extraction is associated with efforts in emerging market and developing economies to open up to foreign investment and/or improve their institutions— including through more stable government and stronger rule of law. That North-South shift mirrors on a global scale what happened in the United States after independence. The new policies that have sparked a move south in global resource exploration and extraction operate over and above other forces that affect natural resource exploitation, such as rising global demand, especially from emerging markets, and depletion of deposits in the North. That shift has important implications both for the welfare of individual countries and for our global understanding of the balance of forces shaping commodity markets. Moreover, the increasing number of finds in developing economies puts to rest concerns that the world will soon run out of mineral and oil resources.


Abstract. This paper reports the first record of extreme ozone measurements in Africa. As part of the AMMA program, the ozone vertical profile recorded on 20 December over Cotonou presents exceptionally high ozone concentrations with up to 295 ppb at 1 km altitude. Retroplumes from the Flexpart model show that the air masses sampled at 1 km over Cotonou on this day came from the burning area situated north-east of Cotonou and passed over Lagos, Nigeria, which is highly impacted by urban pollution. We used the Master Mechanism box model to simulate the chemical composition of the plume during its transit. We find that neither the biomass burning emissions of ozone precursors nor additional urban emissions from Lagos are high enough to simulate more than 120–150 ppb of ozone. The only way to reach almost 300 ppb of ozone within a few hours is to feed the air mass with large amounts of reactive VOCs as those recorded in the vicinity of petrochemical area. Sensitivity tests show that 250–600 ppb of VOCs combined with 35–80 ppb of NOx allow the ozone concentrations to be higher than 250 ppb. Nigeria is the first African country with gas extraction and petrochemical industries, and petrochemical explosions frequently happen in the vicinity of Lagos. The hypothesis of a petrochemical explosion in this area is the most likely scenario which could explain the 295 ppb ozone maximum measured over Cotonou, downwind of Lagos.


Many learning tasks in adversarial domains tend to be highly dependent on the opponent. Predefined strategies optimized for play against a specific opponent are not likely to succeed when employed against another opponent. Learning a strategy for each new opponent from scratch, though, is inefficient as one is likely to encounter the same or similar opponents again. We call this particular variant of inductive transfer a concept recall problem. We present an extension to AdaBoost called ExpBoost that is especially designed for such a sequential learning tasks. It automatically balances between an ensemble of experts each trained on one known opponent and learning the concept of the new opponent. We present and compare results of Exp-Boost and other algorithms on both synthetic data and in a simulated robot soccer task. ExpBoost can rapidly adjust to new concepts and achieve performance comparable to a classifier trained exclusively on a particular opponent with far more data.


© 2020, Athabasca University. Many course designers trying to evaluate the experience of participants in a MOOC will find it difficult to track and analyse the online actions and interactions of students because there may be thousands of learners enrolled in courses that sometimes last only a few weeks. This study explores the use of automated sentiment analysis in assessing student experience in a beginner computer programming MOOC. A dataset of more than 25,000 online posts made by participants during the course was analysed and compared to student feedback. The results were further analysed by grouping participants according to their prior knowledge of the subject: beginner, experienced, and unknown. In this study, the average sentiment expressed through online posts reflected the feedback statements. Beginners, the target group for the MOOC, were more positive about the course than experienced participants, largely due to the extra assistance they received. Many experienced participants had expected to learn about topics that were beyond the scope of the MOOC. The results suggest that MOOC designers should consider using sentiment analysis to evaluate student feedback and inform MOOC design.


OBJECTIVE
In Africa antimalarials are often prescribed when malaria is unlikely, a problem that is becoming critical as more expensive antimalarials replace established drugs. However, little is known about what drives the overuse of antimalarials. We conducted this study to explore to what extent current prescribing behaviour in hospitals is driven by patient demand.

METHODS
Consultations were observed followed by exit interviews with patients or caretakers. Five district hospitals where microscopy was routinely available were selected in areas of low (n = 3) and high (n = 2) malaria transmission in north-eastern Tanzania. All outpatient consultations during the study period were observed (n = 669). Those sent for a malaria blood slide or treated with antimalarials presumptively were interviewed (n = 326). At the end of the study, clinicians were interviewed for their opinions on the use of antimalarials.

FINDINGS
Patients were not observed to demand antimalarials from clinicians, but occasionally asked for a malaria slide. Patient satisfaction on exit was similar between those prescribed antimalarials and those not prescribed antimalarials, but more patients or carers expressed satisfaction when the patient had been tested than when not. Clinicians rarely reported perceiving patient demand for antimalarials and asserted that such demand for medication would not affect their prescribing behaviour.

CONCLUSIONS
Patient demand was not found to be driving the over-prescription of antimalarials found in the hospitals in our setting. To the contrary, the involvement of patients may provide an opportunity to improve prescribing practice if their expectations for testing and treatment in line with test results can be effectively communicated to clinicians.


Ultrasound probe localization is essential for volumetric imaging with a 2D ultrasound probe, and for establishing a recorded anatomical context for ultrasound-guided surgery and for longitudinal studies. The existing techniques for probe localization, however, require external tracking devices, making them inconvenient for clinical use. In addition, the probe pose is typically measured with respect to a fixed coordinate system independent of the patient's anatomy, making it difficult to correlate ultrasound studies across time.

This dissertation concerns the development and evaluation of a novel self-contained ultrasound probe tracking system, which navigates the probe in patient space using camera pose estimation relative to the anatomical context. As the probe moves in patient space, a video camera on the probe is used to automatically identify natural skin features and subdermal cues, and match them with a pre-acquiring high-resolution 3D surface map that serves as an atlas of the anatomy. We have addressed the problem of distinguishing rotation from translation by including an inertial navigation system (INS) to accurately measure rotation. Experiments on both a phantom containing an image of human skin (palm) as well as actual human upper extremity (fingers, palm, and wrist) validate the effectiveness of our approach.

We have also developed a real-time 3D interactive visualization system that superimposes the ultrasound data within the anatomical context of the exterior of the patient, to permit accurate anatomic localization of ultrasound data. The combination of the proposed tracking approach and the visualization system may have broad implications for ultrasound imaging, permitting the compilation of volumetric ultrasound data as the 2D probe is moved, as well as comparison of real-time ultrasound scans registered with previous scans from the same anatomical location. In a broader sense, tools that self-locate by viewing the patient's exterior could have broad beneficial impact on clinical medicine.


A 42‐kDa recombinant protein, PX141, consisting of the trans‐activator protein encoded by human T‐cell leukemia virus (HTLV‐I) (tax, antigen) and the amino‐terminal fusion peptide of 12 amino acid residues of the a‐peptide encoded by the plasmid pUC19 was produced. In order to investigate the immunogenicity of the tax, antigen, mice were immunized with the purified PX141 and 4 anti‐tax, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) designated TAXY‐I, TAXY‐6, TAXY‐7 and TAXY‐8 were generated, and their reactivity was characterized along with another anti‐tax, MAb, Lt‐4. Immunoblot assays showed that all the MAbs reacted with the PX141, the native tax, antigen expressed in various HTLV‐I‐infected cell lines and the gp68 of MT‐2 cells expressing the tax, amino acids 94–353. Immunoblot assays using recombinant, truncated tax, antigens, XD59 (expressing amino acids 180–338) and XD128 (expressing amino acids 1–47 and 286–353) showed that: (I) TAXY‐I and Lt‐4 did not react with either antigen; (2) TAXY‐6 and TAXY‐8 reacted with only XD128; and (3) TAXY‐7 reacted with both. In addition, TAXY‐I, but not the other MAbs, reacted with a putative tax antigen of an STLV‐I‐infected cell line, designated RfM26‐I. Competitive binding assays showed that TAXY‐6 and TAXY‐8 did not compete against each other. Sera from HTLV‐I‐infected humans interfered with the binding of all of these anti‐tax, MAbs. These results indicate that the tax1 antigen and the PX141 express at least 5 distinct epitopes recognized by human and mouse antibodies.


The objective of the Education Excellence and Equity Project (EEEP) for Albania is improved quality of learning conditions for all students and increased enrollment in general secondary education, especially for the poor. It is anticipated that environmental risks for the Albania EEEP will be relatively modest in the proposed program. Plans on minor reconstruction, rehabilitation, or renovation of school facilities are considered and form part of the overall program to mitigate potential adverse environmental impacts. These potential adverse environmental impacts are summarized and are restricted in scope and severity: dust and noise due to demolition and construction; dumping of demolition and construction wastes; accidental spillage of machine oil and lubricants; encroachment to private property; and risk of damage to historical or cultural property or unknown archaeological sites. Mitigation measurse comprise: including a clause for disposing of painted wood; specifng in the procurement documents that no lead-based paint will be used; cleaning the building site; disposing of debris and waste materials according to written agreement; insuring that disposal sites will be government-approved; and rehabilitating sites with tree planting.


Aim: To describe the construction process of a toy and a story for use in a therapeutic play session involving children who are to be submitted to cardiac catheterization.
Design: Methodological development study.
Methods: The toys and stories were elaborated in the following phases: systematic observation of care delivered to children submitted to cardiac catheterization; semistructured interview with the team that works before, during and after the procedure; elaboration of the work plan to make the toy and planning to elaborate the story.
Results: The toy developed in this study consists of the following material: dolls, prototypes of angiograph, anesthesia device and multi-parameter monitor, hospital material for anesthesia and venipuncture. It serves to prepare children between three and ten years old who will be submitted to cardiac catheterization. The story is based on the dialogue between the characters, permitting the construction of shared knowledge involving the child, family members and health professionals, through a playful approach that considers cognitive, procedural and attitudinal aspects.
Conclusion: It is recommended that technologies be developed with a playful approach and that health professionals be trained to use them in the context of child healthcare, aiming to support the coping with potentially threatening situations. In this research, the development process was outlined of a toy and story for use in a therapeutic play session, contributing to guide the elaboration of materials for this purpose, which is rare thus far in the literature.


This thesis investigates the phenomenon of polysemy: a single lexical form with two or multiple related senses (e.g. catch the rabbit/order the rabbit; lose a wallet/lose a relative; a handsome man/a handsome gift).
I develop a pragmatic account of polysemy within the framework of Sperber and
Wilson's relevance theory, where new senses for a word are constructed during on-line
comprehension by means of a single process of ad hoc concept construction, which
adjusts the meanings of individual words in different directions.
While polysemy is largely unproblematic from the perspective of
communication, it poses a range of theoretical and descriptive problems. This is
sometimes termed the polysemy paradox. A widely held view in lexical semantics is that
word meanings must consist of complex representations in order to capture the sense
relations involved in polysemy. Contrary to this view, I argue that a conceptual atomist
approach, which treats word meanings as unstructured atoms and thereby avoids the
range of problems associated with decompositional theories of word meaning, may be at
least as able to account for polysemy when paired with an adequate pragmatic theory.
My proposed solution to the polysemy paradox is to treat polysemy as a
fundamentally communicative phenomenon, which arises as a result of encoded lexical
concepts being massively underdetermining of speaker-intended concepts, and is
grounded in our pragmatic inferential ability. According to this approach, the role of
the linguistic system in giving rise to polysemy is to provide a minimal input, or clue,
which the pragmatic system uses as evidence to yield hypotheses about occasion-specific,
speaker-intended meanings. I further show how this pragmatic approach can
account for cases of 'systematic polysemy', usually seen as prime candidates for an
analysis in terms of lexical rule application. Finally, I develop an account of metonymy
within the overall framework of relevance-theory.


The number and complexity of networked sensors and actuators in industrial monitoring and control systems is rapidly increasing. This calls for flexible yet efficient methods (w.r.t. time and money) for designing, deploying and maintaining such systems. To this end, Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs) and wireless technologies are foreseen to play important roles. In the area of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), TinyOS (TOS) has gained wide spread use, mainly because it offers a simple programming model. Moreover TOS comes with a ready made code base (e.g., protocol stacks needed to implement SOA enabled devices) and is available for a large number of light-weight target platforms. However, TOS has yet to make its way into industrial applications where real-time operation is required (which is typical to monitoring and control systems). As being designed primarily with simplicity in mind, the TOS execution model for tasks is non-preemptive, limiting system responsiveness and schedulability. To overcome this problem preemptive TOSThreads has been introduced. However, this introduces the additional complexity of traditional multi-thread programming, thus the main benefit of TOS is lost. In this paper we present an alternative execution model for TOS, that allows preemptive execution while preserving the simplicity of vintage TOS. We exemplify the impact of scheduling to a typical sensor/actuator node scenario. Our results indicate that the proposed preemptive execution model is capable of reducing both delay and drop rate for the given scenario.


The moist savannah zone in sub-Saharan Africa is regarded as a high potential area for crop and livestock production. Currently, human labour is the principal source of power for crop production and the level of commercial energy use is very low. Agropastoralism and pastoralism are the principal methods of livestock production. Crop-livestock mixed farming, in which manure and animal power are important energy sources in the production process, is only now emerging. The integration of crops and livestock and the implications for agricultural energy sources are related to population pressure and labour intensity, the intensification of crop production with and without livestock, the role of traction in general and in specific niches, the contribution of livestock to the development process in terms of food or other inputs, and the role of public policy and intervention in development.


The injured brain is susceptible to insults that, under physiological conditions, would not cause damage.
Preventing and treating secondary insults seems to offer the most hope for optimising outcome following TBI.
Prevention of hypoxia, hypotension, seizures and the rapid evacuation of intracranial haematomas offer the best advantages.
Hypothermia, routine hyperventilation and steroids offer no benefit.
Life-saving surgery may take priority over the TBI.
Non-life-saving surgery should be delayed until the TBI has stabilised, ideally 48 - 72 hours or more after injury.
If used carefully most anaesthetic techniques and drugs are suitable, with a few exceptions.
Attention to the general principles of care, especially avoiding hypotension, is key to maximising the neurological outcome.


Introduction: Burnout among Registered Nurses has been a great concern within the U.S. healthcare system and has been reported in many hospitals. Nurse Burnout has been defined as a chronic response to work-related stress comprising three components or dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. The purpose of this research was to analyze the nurse-to-patient ratio to determine how it affects the psychological, mental, emotional health and the nurse overall productivity in the workplace. Methodology: The methodology was a review of literatures and a semi-structured interview. There were four primary databases and one website used in this research, and 31 articles were consulted for this literature review. Results: Study on Psychological, Mental, and Emotional Health and Nurse Productivity in Burnout Syndrome Regarding Nurse-to-Patient Ratio Discussion: The expert's observed causes for nurse dissatisfaction in their position and general fatigue were attributed to mismanagement of personnel and resources, lack of follow through, extended shifts and stretched personal requirements all of which lead to feelings of burnout. Conclusion: The nurse-patient ratio is a direct determinate of the effects of psychological, mental, emotional health and nurse productivity in the workplace which also determines the patients' overall health.


The virtual source method is a breakthrough that allows us to image and monitor the subsurface in cases where surface seismic or VSP fail to deliver. In settings where the overburden is complex or changing, traditional time-lapse signals are weak or nonrepeatable, leading to ineffective seismic input to reservoir modeling and little of value generated by repeated seismic surveys. On the other hand, the virtual source method allows us to image under complex overburden, yields repeatable data for reservoir monitoring, enables shear seismic, and may help us "look ahead" as we drill.


This article addresses the importance of teaching legal ethics in law schools. After a brief introduction, this article outlines several reasons why it is necessary to have formal ethical training in law schools. The article then explains the different methods of teaching legal ethics that are utilized in the United States. The article also details why it is important and how to teaching comparative legal ethics in law schools due to increased globalization. The article concludes by identifying sources, such as the internet, for teaching comparative legal ethics.


The gold standard was a key factor behind the Great Depression, but why did it produce such an intense worldwide deflation and associated economic contraction? While the tightening of U.S. monetary policy in 1928 is often blamed for having initiated the downturn, France increased its share of world gold reserves from 7 percent to 27 percent between 1927 and 1932 and effectively sterilized most of this accumulation. This "gold hoarding" created an artificial shortage of reserves and put other countries under enormous deflationary pressure. Counterfactual simulations indicate that world prices would have increased slightly between 1929 and 1933, instead of declining calamitously, if the historical relationship between world gold reserves and world prices had continued. The results indicate that France was somewhat more to blame than the United States for the worldwide deflation of 1929-33. The deflation could have been avoided if central banks had simply maintained their 1928 cover ratios.


Volatile components enter the atmosphere, oceans, and other surface waters through pre-, syn-, and post-eruptive volcanic processes that involve a variety of fluids. Aluminosilicate-poor fluids include aqueous or carbonic to sulfide-, sulfate-, chloride-, fluoride-, carbonate-, and phosphate-rich compositions in volcanic environments, but other more complex combinations of these constituents may be involved (Giggenbach 1977; Roedder 1984, 1992; Lowenstern 1995). Other, rare gases and dissolved constituents (e.g., H2, N2, He, Ar, H3BO3, Hg, CH4 and other hydrocarbon compounds, metals, and metalloids) are also present, but in general they are not sufficiently concentrated to form their own phases or control bulk-fluid composition and volcanic processes. As a result of their diverse compositions, volcanic fluids ranging from vapor to liquid exhibit widely different densities and show strong distinctions in heat capacity, dielectric behavior, viscosity, and other chemical and physical characteristics (Geiger et al. 2006a). The density of a saline liquid in the system NaCl-H2O at 50 MPa and 800 °C, for example, is more than 7 times that of the coexisting aqueous vapor (e.g., 0.2 gm/cm3) (Henley and McNabb 1978).

Multiple fluids move, mix, and/or unmix in magma chambers and volcanic conduits, in the root zone of fumaroles, and in the convective hydrothermal systems that are ubiquitous to volcanic environments. Hydrothermal systems are typically centered on magmatic intrusions and may include crater lakes at the top of eruptive conduits. Hydrothermal processes involving two or more fluid phases operate through a variety of geologically relevant, shallow-crustal pressure-temperature-composition conditions. Volcanic fluids occur at supersolidus to subsolidus conditions, meaning that the dense aluminosilicate melt that is common to volcanism may or may not be present. This chapter addresses the evidence for and occurrence of two or more low-density, aluminosilicate-poor fluids …


Abstract
 Plant geography seeks to describe the patterns of species distributions and understand the underlying mechanisms. The foundation of the field is attributed to Alexander von Humboldt following the broad-scale insights he gained on his explorations of the New World two centuries ago. Today, in the age of "Big Data," advances in methods and data availability allow us to better assess the complex drivers of species distributions. In this essay, we give an overview of the relevant legacy of Humboldt in the field of plant geography. Comparing the foremost insights and approaches of Humboldt's time and of today, we highlight areas in which major changes have taken place and areas in which Humboldt's approach is still relevant. We present advances in the description and understanding of plant geography, which have changed our entire worldview to a much more dynamic one. Further, we present some of the outstanding challenges of the field, and how solving them requires going back to the "Humboldtian" approach to science, i.e., combining precise, quantitative empirical studies with a holistic approach. Finally, we discuss how our recognition of the planetary impact of humans in the Anthropocene means that much of our research is no longer exclusively driven by curiosity, but also by the societal need to make predictions of ecosystem responses to environmental change. There is thus a strong need for combining quantitative empiricism with a holistic perspective to address the complex challenges of the current epoch.


A ground-breaking new book, Beyond Human Error: Taxonomies and Safety Science deconstructs the conventional concept of "human error" and provides a whole new way of looking at accidents and how they might be prevented. Based on research carried out in the rail, nuclear, and defense industries, the authors show how, by concentrating solely on "human error," systems and sociological factors are frequently ignored in contemporary safety science. They also argue that the "information processing" view of human cognition, the foundation of the majority of safety science and ergonomics, is hopelessly simplistic and leads to ineffective or even misguided intervention strategies. Wallace and Ross explore how what they call the "technically rational" view of science can hamper the process of creating a taxonomy of error events, and the implications this has for the current orthodoxy. In laying out the limitations of the "technically rational" viewpoint, they clearly define their own alternative approach. They begin by demonstrating that the creation of reliable taxonomies is crucial and provide examples of how they created such taxonomies in the nuclear and rail industries. They go on to offer a critique of conventional "frequentist" statistics and provide coherent, easy to use alternatives. They conclude by re-analyzing infamous disasters such as the Space Shuttle Challenger accident to demonstrate how the "standard" view of these events ignores social and distributed factors. The book concludes with a stimulating and provocative description of the implications of this new approach for safety science, and the social sciences as a whole. While providing a clear and intelligible introduction to the theory of human error and contemporary thinking in safety science, Wallace and Ross mount a challenge to the old orthodoxy and provide a practical alternative paradigm.


In a growing interest in spatial visualisation of historical data emphasized within the field of the new cinema history, identifying the methodologies, their benefits as well as obstacles, is crucial for the development of optimal approaches to the research of the past of the local film culture. The main goal of this paper is to introduce several possibilities of treatment of historical data in a geospatial context. On the case study on the local cinema history and culture in Brno, the Czech Republic, during the 1930s, this paper proposes methodologies of visualisation and analysis of historical data transferred to the spatial context, identifies the challenges of visualisation of ambiguous qualitative data and introduces the treatment of temporal dimension of data within geographical space. This paper aspires to become a contribution to growing field of spatial approaches to cinema history. It proposes several methodologies of how to visualize, analyse and understand historical data in spatial-temporal context.


A 425 ka long record from piston core GIK17925-3 taken in the northeastern South China Sea was used to study the environmental conditions controlling the distribution of the Zoophycos trace fossil. The 12 m long core offers a unique opportunity to study the response of the Zoophycos-producing animal to environmental variations over four glacial–interglacial cycles. The trace fossils show a strong glacial to interglacial variation in their abundance with a special preference for intervals with low sedimentation rates. Additional X-ray radiograph studies of piston cores from the Southeast Asian Marginal Seas show that the trace fossil Zoophycos is widespread in slope and deep-marine sediments, with the highest abundances encountered in low sedimentation rate settings. The preference of the Zoophycos producer for low sedimentation rates in a setting with strong seasonal fluctuations in food supply due to the shift between winter and summer monsoons, is interpreted to be the result of a cache-model behaviour, where food is collected during rich times and squirrelled away for poor times. Core GIK17925-3 also offers an opportunity to assess the impact of Zoophycos bioturbation on various palaeoenvironmental proxies. In this core, more than 30 % of the measured data points were more or less strongly affected by Zoophycos bioturbation. Together with the widespread occurrence this percentage indicates that Zoophycos may pose a serious threat to palaeoclimatic reconstructions in cores from low to moderate sedimentation rate sites.


: In the present work, the nitrite degradation activity and probiotic potential of heterofermentative Leuconostoc mesenteroides (LM) and homofermentative Lactobacillus plantarum (LP) were demonstrated. The potential probiotic properties of these bacteria were determined in vitro based on their antimicrobial activity, antibiotic resistance, aggregation properties, hydrophobicity, survival under simulated gastrointestinal tract conditions, and hemolytic activity. The results suggested that these two lactic acid bacteria (LAB) species possess hydrophobicity as they exhibited microbial adhesion to xylene, chloroform, and ethyl acetate. The two strains also showed general resistance to simulated gastric and intestinal conditions. The LM was resistant to erythromycin, chloramphenicol, norfloxacin, and vancomycin, while the LP showed resistance to clindamycin, tetracycline, erythromycin, norfloxacin, and vancomycin. Both LAB were efficient antimicrobials toward Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus based on their inhibition zones. Furthermore, these LAB showed good tolerance toward nitrite, and displayed α - and γ -hemolysis. These results suggest that LM and LP are promising probiotic candidates.


Abstract. We have performed a three-year series of routine lidar measurements at preselected times. The measurements were performed between 1 December 1997, and 30 November 2000, at Kuhlungsborn, Germany (54°07' N, 11°46' E). Using a Rayleigh/Mie/Raman lidar system, we measured the aerosol backscatter coefficients at three wavelengths and the extinction coefficient at one wavelength. The present data analysis focuses on after-sunset Raman measurements obtained on cloud-free days. Aerosol backscatter profiles are available for altitudes above 100 m, while the majority of the extinction measurements has been restricted to heights above the residual layer. The residual layer shows an annual cycle with its maximum height in summer (2000 m) and minimum height in winter (850 m). The backscatter coefficients in the residual layer were found to be about 10 times higher than above. The mean aerosol optical depth above the residual layer and below 5 km is 0.3(±1.0) x10-2 in summer, and 1.5(±1.0) x10-2 in winter, which almost is negligible compared to values measured in during daytime in the planetary boundary layer. A cluster analysis of the backward trajectories yielded two major directions of air mass origin above the residual layer and 4 major directions inside. A marked difference between the aerosol properties dependent on the air mass origin could be found for air masses originating from the west and travelling at high wind speeds. Comparing the measured spectral dependence of the backscatter coefficients with data from the Global Aerosol Data Set, we found a general agreement, but only a few conclusions with respect to the aerosol type could be drawn due to the high variability of the measured backscatter coefficients.


We present a simple, deterministic protocol for ledger consensus that tolerates Byzantine faults. The protocol is executed by n servers over a synchronous network and can tolerate any number t of Byzantine faults with t < n/3. Furthermore, the protocol can offer (i.) transaction processing at full network speed in the optimistic case where no faults occur, (ii.) instant confirmation: the client can be assured in a single round-trip time that a submitted transaction will be settled, (iii.) instant proof of settlement: the client can obtain a receipt that a submitted transaction will be settled. An equally simple binary consensus protocol can be easily derived as well. We also analyze the protocol in case of network splits and temporary loss of synchrony, arguing the safety of the protocol when synchrony is restored. Finally, we examine the covert adversarial model showing that Byzantine resilience is increased to t < n/2.


Bryant and others have interpreted geomorphological and archaeological evidence from south-central New South Wales (NSW) to infer repeated inundation of this coast by mega-tsunamis in late Holocene time. However, the stratigraphy of two well-dated archaeological sites (Pambula Lake, Bass Point) shows no evidence that these camps were abandoned, or that the marine component of the diet of local Aboriginal peoples changed at or about 500 or 1500 cal. BP, the time of the two most recent inferred mega-tsunamis. In addition, the mean probability distribution of the youngest calibrated radiocarbon ages from 52 archaeological sites on the south-central NSW coast (grouped in three tsunami-susceptibility classes on the basis of site elevation and distance from the shore) does not differ from random expectations, and shows no evidence that sites were permanently abandoned in the aftermath of these inferred events. The mean probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon ages from 108 charcoal samples from these sites does not differ from random expectations, and offers little support for the inference that the sites were temporarily abandoned about 500 or 1500 cal. BP. Probability distributions based on 70 marine shell ages show strong century-scale cyclicity, but this is likely too regular to be a product of mega-tsunamis. Moreover, changes in shellfish exploitation patterns and adoption of new fishing technologies by Aboriginal people on this coast do not coincide with the times of inferred tsunamis. The archaeological evidence offers no support for the hypothesis that mega-tsunamis inundated this coastline in the late Holocene.


t(6;11)(p21;q12)/TFEB gene fusion-associated renal cell carcinoma is a recently recognized renal cell carcinoma caused by the formation of Alpha-TFEB fusion genes. Herein, we have reported a rare case. A 20-year-old female patient presented with a mass measuring 4.1 cm × 3.3 cm in left kidney, and radical left nephrectomy was performed. Then the patient underwent unmarkable prognosis without recurrence or metastasis in the 18-month follow-up. Microscopic findings showed the tumor mainly composed of medium and large epithelioid cells with the structures of solid nesting and pseudopapillary. The tumor cells showed well-circumscribed, abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and obvious small nucleoli. Furthermore, multifocal hemosiderin deposition and focal osseous metaplasia were observed. The tumor cells were positive for E-cadherin and focally positive for HMB45, Melan-A, AE1/AE3, Vimentin, RCC and CK19. FISH analysis for TFEB break-apart probe revealed a break-apart signal pattern meaning TFEB gene rearrangement. t(6;11)(p21;q12)/TFEB gene fusion-associated renal cell carcinoma is a rare tumor that mostly occurs in young adults with a beneficial prognosis. Diagnosis is usually performed according to the age of the patients, the pathologic morphology and immunophenotype. Positive TFEB expression in neoplastic cell nuclei can be regarded as sensitive and specific diagnostic event for this type of tumor. TFEB gene break-apart and rearrangement in FISH test is crucial to the diagnosis of the disease.


This study shows what the online editions of Sweden's two major daily newspapers put on the agenda with regards to climate change and environment. It also illustrates the ideas, values, ideologies and hegemonic ideas entailed within the presented articles' and news items' way of narrating. The result demonstrates how the readers are presented not merely with facts concerning climate change, but moreover with general sets of values holding that, for example, Chinese and Russian people are not entirely trustworthy, that Swedish authorities are utterly dependable and that the climate crises shall be solved by means of technology – not through a change in our way of living or through political economical measures.


There has been the need to assess the effectiveness of the Hotel Operations course at Rochester Institute of Technology. The purpose of this report is to analyze the perceptions of these students and determine the effectiveness of the case method of instruction in the Hotel Operations course. A survey tool was used to obtain student ~ &). '--I responses. The tool was distributed to~~htdents; there was a response rate of 46 percent yielding a sample size of .1-?vt~~~esponseswere analyzed using SPSS software. Also a list of seven universities was compiled in order to get an idea how many other universities are utilizing a similar teaching format. The universities were chosen at random, however all either work closely with the industry or have a captive hotel. Only five universities responded, the University of New Hampshire was the only one that collaborated with industry while conducting case studies. It was found that there was strong support for the case studies teaching method. Students feel that it was a valid technique that increases their theory retention. The majority of students do not believe that cases conducted in the Industry are more valuable that those conducted in the classroom. A manager can develop the most effective case studies from real situations. They should also be conducted in small groups followed by short presentations and class discussions. Also the manager that had to deal with the case in real life should be available to inform the students of the decisions that were made by management and why. Case studies should also utilize class time in order to obtain maximum participation.


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible not only for approving drugs but also for monitoring their safety after they reach the market. The complete adverse event profile of a drug is not known at the time of approval because of the small sample size, short duration, and limited generalizability of pre-approval clinical trials. This report describes the FDA's postmarketing surveillance system, to which many clinicians submit reports of adverse drug events encountered while treating their patients. Despite its limitations, the spontaneous reporting system is an extremely valuable mechanism by which hazards with drugs that were not observed or recognized at the time of approval are identified. Physicians are strongly encouraged to submit reports of adverse outcomes with suspect drugs to the FDA, and their reports make a difference. The FDA is strengthening its postmarketing surveillance with access to new data sources that have the potential to further improve the identification, quantification, and subsequent management of drug risk.


The answer depends on how broker clients would have invested in the absence of broker recommendations. To identify counterfactual retirement portfolios, we exploit time-series variation in access to brokers by new plan participants. When brokers are available, they are chosen by new participants who value recommendations on asset allocation and fund selection because they are less financially experienced. When brokers are no longer available, demand for target-date funds (TDFs) increases differentially among participants with the highest predicted demand for brokers. Broker client portfolios earn significantly lower risk-adjusted returns and Sharpe ratios than matched portfolios based on TDFs—due in part to broker fees that average 0.90% per year—but offer similar levels of risk. More generally, the portfolios of participants with high predicted demand for brokers who lack access to brokers comparable favorably to the portfolios of similar participants who had access to brokers when they joined. Exploiting across-fund variation in the level of broker fees, we find that broker clients allocate more dollars to higher fee funds. This finding increases our confidence that actual broker client portfolios reflect broker recommendations, and it highlights an agency conflict that can be eliminated when TDFs replace brokers.


BACKGROUND
The use of pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin (PegIFN/RBV) for the retreatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection without a sustained virological response (SVR) prior to PegIFN/RBV treatment has resulted in low success rates.

AIMS
To investigate the efficacy and safety of telaprevir (TVR) in combination with PegIFN/RBV in patients infected with HCV genotypes 1 and 4 who were previously treated with PegIFN/RBV and failed to achieve SVR.

STUDY DESIGN
Multi-center, retrospective, cross-sectional study.

METHODS
The study included 111 patients: 80 prior relapsers, 25 prior null responders, and six prior partial responders to PegIFN/RBV treatment. The patients were given TVR/PegIFN/RBV for 12 weeks, followed by a 12-week PegIFN/RBV treatment; virological response results were assessed at weeks 4, 12, and 24. Treatment was discontinued in patients with HCV RNA >1000 IU/mL at week 4 or with negative RNA results at week 4 but >1000 IU/mL at week 12. Rapid virological response (RVR), early virological response (EVR), extended rapid virological response (eRVR), and virological response at 24th week of treatment were evaluated. The side effects of combination therapy and the rates of treatment discontinuation were investigated.

RESULTS
The mean age of the patients was 56.02±9.96 years and 45.9% were male. Ninety-one percent of the patients were infected with viral genotype 1, 69.6% with the interleukin (IL) 28B genotype CT and 20.2% were cirrhotic. The RVR rate was 86.3% in prior relapsers, 56% in prior null responders, and 50% in prior partial responders (p=0.002). EVR rates in those groups were 91.3%, 56%, and 83.3%, respectively (p<0.001). eRVR rates were 83.8% in prior relapsers, 48% in prior null responders, and 50% in prior partial responders (<0.001). The virological response at the 24th week of treatment was found to be the highest in prior relapsers (88.8%); it was 56% in prior null responders and 66.7% in prior partial responders (p<0.001). Common side effects were fatigue, headache, anorexia, malaise, anemia, pruritus, dry skin, rash, dyspepsia, nausea, pyrexia, stomachache, and anorectal discomfort. All treatments were discontinued due to side effects in 9.9% of patients.

CONCLUSION
High virological response rates were obtained with TVR/PegIFN/RBV treatment. Although side effects were frequently observed, the discontinuation rate of combination therapy was low.


Background In women's health, literacy determines their participation in self and family health promotion. Low health literacy is as barrier for understanding medical recommendations, disease prevention and health care. Aim To assess women's health literacy and relative factors in Mashhad (Iran). Methods Women referring to healthcare centers in Mashhad in 2012 and 2013, participated in this cross-sectional study by stratified sampling method. The validated Persian version of Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-revised questionnaire was used. Vocabulary comprehension and reading scores of health literacy was assessed. Comparisons were done in demographic subgroups by ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Pearson correlation coefficient, and Chi-Square tests. Results In total, 250 women with a mean age of 32.1±10.23 years and the mean education level of 10.58±3.67 years were studied. The mean reading score was 11.58±2.51 and the mean vocabulary comprehension score was 17.24±4.73. Participants' health literacy score had positive correlation with age and education, and significant difference in health literacy scores between occupational groups was seen. Housewives' health literacy scores were lower than others (p<0.05). Conclusion Low health literacy was a common problem amongst younger women, especially among women who had less education. These women are at risk of early marriage and child bearing and require more health care. Health care professionals should use effective methods for easier transfer recommendation, also, producing medical information booklets, texts, and videos for different community subgroups through public media or even in cyberspace with clear and common words consisting of essential information.


Ozone depletion has been a well-researched phenomenon since its discovery in the early 1980s. It is now scientifically accepted that if all other factors (cloudiness, turbidity, surface albedo, etc.) remain the same, decreases in stratospheric ozone concentrations provoke an increase in ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation (in the wavelength range 280-325 nm) at the Earth's surface. Experimental evidence also shows that exposure to UVB radiation can decrease algal productivity, and cause damage to various forms of aquatic larvae and other organisms. Biologically-effective levels of solar UV radiation penetrate water columns well, especially in the clear waters found in the Antarctic pack ice zone. To determine the relationship (if any) between increased biologically-weighted UV doses and damage to various Antarctic organisms, scientists need to know the magnitude of these increases, not only at the surface but throughout the ice and the water column.
This research initially produced surface maps of levels of cloudy-sky erythemal UV, derived from satellite data, for the East Antarctic marginal ice zone (split into four regions for ease of presentation) for the years 1996-2005. Case studies of the relationships between levels of cloudy-sky erythemal UV (at the surface of the sea ice and ocean) and ozone, sea ice concentration and the cloud modification factor are presented by way of various analyses for a selection of sub-areas within the four regions. These analyses show that the levels of erythemal UV in the sub-areas are strongly affected by levels of ozone and by sea ice concentration. The results also indicate that the Shackleton and Amery regions are more affected by lower levels of ozone associated with the Antarctic ozone hole than the Mertz and Dalton regions. Trend analyses for the nine-year study period indicated significant trends for erythemal UV, sea ice concentration and ozone for some of the selected sub-areas. The austral spring of 2001 stood out as a period of unusually high erythemal UV values.
To create maps of cloudy-sky erythemal UV radiation, the radiative transfer model UVSPEC was employed to develop a look-up table (LUT) of levels of erythemal UV radiation for various combinations of ozone, solar zenith angle and surface UV albedo. IDL software was then written to estimate a value of clear-sky erythemal UV at the Earth's surface, using the erythemal UV LUT, for each 5 x 5 km pixel of an Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Polar Pathfinder image for each day that AVHRR irradiance and TOMS ozone data were available for the temporal coverage of the project. The main confounding issue in the determination of erythemal UV radiation at the Earth's surface is the cloud cover, as this can vary not just on a daily basis but also throughout a day. The amount of cloud in a pixel was taken into account by multiplying clear-sky erythemal UV by a cloud modification factor based on the classification of AVHRR images using an expert system.
A subsequent undertaking used the ASPeCt sea ice and snow thickness dataset to produce maps of erythemal UV values at predetermined depths within the sea ice and the water column.Field work completed during the SIPEX voyage to the East Antarctic sea ice zone in 2007 allowed the estimation of UVB attenuation coefficients for ice and snow – these values were used, along with a known UVB attenuation coefficient for water, when determining sub-surface erythemal UV values.
Initially, the erythemal UV values were calculated at 5, 10, 15 and 20 m in the water column. To take into consideration the fact that phytoplankton do not necessarily remain at a specific depth, average erythemal UV values over the upper 5, 10, 15 and 20 m of the water column were also calculated. Erythemal UV values at the top of the sea ice (beneath the snow cover), mid-way through the ice, at the bottom of the ice and at a fixed depth of 20 cm within the ice were calculated specifically for sea ice algae research. The erythemal UV values at the bottom of the ice were used to further calculate erythemal UV in the water column at the re-established depths beneath the ice (taking into account the draft of the sea ice). The sea ice concentration was incorporated into the calculations to determine pixel-averaged values of erythemal UV at 5, 10, 15 and 20 m depth.
A final step was to use spectral biological weighting functions to develop a set of non-linear conversions between erythemal UV dose rate and more biologically-relevant dose rates. Including these aspects in the model allowed the erythemal UV values in the water column to be converted to a phytoplankton-specific dose rate, and the estimated erythemal UV values within a slab of sea ice to be converted to a sea-ice-algae-specific dose rate.
The logistical problems of undertaking in situ research in Antarctica require alternative methods such as satellite remote sensing and radiative transfer modelling. This project has used satellite data and a radiative transfer model (RTM) to create maps of erythemal UV values for the study area. Further research will be required to assess (either from in situ measurements of primary production or with the use of remote sensing of ocean colour) how significant the effects of increased levels of erythemal UV are on the primary production of the Southern Ocean.


From the late nineteenth century through World War II, popular culture portrayed the American South as a region ensconced in its antebellum past, draped in moonlight and magnolias, and represented by such southern icons as the mammy, the belle, the chivalrous planter, white-columned mansions, and even bolls of cotton. In Dreaming of Dixie , Karen Cox shows that the chief purveyors of this constructed nostalgia for the Old South were outsiders of the region, especially advertising agencies, musicians, publishers, radio personalities, writers, and filmmakers playing to consumers' anxiety about modernity by marketing the South as a region still dedicated to America's pastoral traditions. Cox examines how southerners themselves embraced the imaginary romance of the region's past, particularly in the tourist trade as southern states and cities sought to capitalize on popular perceptions by showcasing their Old South heritage. Only when television emerged as the most influential medium of popular culture did views of the South begin to change, as news coverage of the civil rights movement brought images of violence, protest, and conflict in the South into people's living rooms. Until then, Cox argues, most Americans remained content with their romantic vision of Dixie. |Cox shows that the chief purveyors of nostalgia for the Old South were outsiders of the region, playing to consumers' anxiety about modernity by marketing the South as a region still dedicated to America's pastoral traditions. Cox examines how southerners themselves embraced the imaginary romance of the region's past.


We present a new active contour-based, statistical method for simultaneous volumetric segmentation of multiple subcortical structures in the brain. Neighboring anatomical structures in the human brain exhibit co-dependencies which can aid in segmentation, if properly analyzed and modeled. Motivated by this observation, we formulate the segmentation problem as a maximum a posteriori estimation problem, in which we incorporate statistical prior models on the shapes and inter-shape (relative) poses of the structures of interest. This provides a principled mechanism to bring high level information about the shapes and the relationships of anatomical structures into the segmentation problem. For learning the prior densities based on training data, we use a nonparametric multivariate kernel density estimation framework. We combine these priors with data in a variational framework, and develop an active contour-based iterative segmentation algorithm. We test our method on the problem of volumetric segmentation of basal ganglia structures in magnetic resonance (MR) images and present a quantitative performance analysis. We compare our technique with existing methods and demonstrate the improvements it provides in terms of segmentation accuracy.


The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aspire to "leave no-one behind". Universal access to assistive products is a critical link between the realization of the SDGs and those most likely to be left behind. However, assistive technology provision in many countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries, has traditionally been conducted through small-scale local providers, manufacturing products of varying degrees of quality at a limited price range. An effective way to scale these production and provision enterprises to the required level is needed to close the gap between available and required assistive technology. We argue that better access to assistive technology will only be realized through the adoption of a far stronger systems thinking and market shaping approach. We undertook a rapid literature review to explore the relationship between market shaping and assistive technology. Based on our review, we present an emergent framework for conceptualizing intersections between systems thinking and market shaping for assistive technology—the SMART (Systems-Market for Assistive and Related Technologies) Thinking Matrix.


A fixed-grid approach for modeling the motion of a particle-encapsulated droplet carried by a pressure-driven immiscible carrier fluid in a microchannel is presented. Three phases (the carrier fluid, the droplet, and the particle) and two different moving boundaries (the droplet–carrier fluid and droplet–particle interfaces) are involved. This is a moving-boundaries problem with the motion of the three phases strongly coupled. In the present article, the particle is assumed to be a fluid of high viscosity and constrained to move with rigid body motion. A combined formulation using one set of governing equations to treat the three phases is employed. The droplet–carrier fluid interface is represented and evolved using a level-set method with a mass-correction scheme. Surface tension is modeled using the continuum surface force model. An additional signed distance function is employed to define the droplet–particle interface. Its evolution is determined from the particle motion governed by the Newton-Euler equations. The governing equations are solved numerically using a finite-volume method on a fixed Cartesian grid. For demonstration purposes, the flows of particle-encapsulated droplets through a constricted microchannel and through a microchannel system are presented.


The purpose of this article is to analyze the legal relationship of a Leasing Business financing contract of three legitimate parties and bind between supplier, lessor and lesse. The research methodology is classified as an applied normative-empirical legal research that examines the implementation of positive legal provisions and factual contracts on each lease contract. The type of research is descriptive, which describes the legal events in the form of leasing of business procurement of goods to run the company and analyzed qualitatively.The results refer to Dipo Star Finance companies in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, concluded that the details of the rights and obligations of the parties were not balanced. The lessor's obligations are limited by a fairly strict exoneration clause. The lessee is responsible for default by the settlement of paying capital goods rent along with late penalties, or withdrawal of capital goods by the lessor. Goodwill of the parties is a supporting factor in the lease contract while the inhibiting factor is the failure to run a business. In order not to burden the lessee, the lessor should be able to set a contract standard containing equal rights and obligations and the parties can enter into a joint agreement in an additional clause that is not separate from the lease contract.


Pyramidal neurons have an asymmetric morphology with the apical dendrites oriented toward the pial (outer) surface of the cortex and the axon oriented toward the subcortical white matter (see the accompanying news and views article by Strittmatter). Axons of pyramidal neurons are directed away from a gradient of the chemorepellant Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) acting through the Neuropilin-1 receptor. Polleux, Morrow, and Ghosh show that the same signal, Sema3A, also acts as a chemoattractant to direct the orientation of the dendrites of pyramidal neurons. Antibodies against the Neuropilin-1 receptor blocked the chemoattractive effect of Sema3A for dendrites, suggesting that chemoattraction and chemorepulsion are mediated by the same receptor. Elevation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate converts the Sema3A signal from repulsion to attraction in other systems, thus, the authors investigated whether guanylyl cyclase may be important for mediating the chemoattractive effect in pyramidal neurons. Soluble guanylyl cyclase is asymmetrically oriented with high levels at the pole of the cell where the dendrite is generated. Pharmacological inhibition of guanylyl cyclase or protein kinase G blocked oriented growth of the dendrites, but did not disrupt the oriented growth of the axons in pyramidal neurons. Thus, the same extracellular signal (Sema3A) is used for both chemoattraction and chemorepulsion via a mechanism involving asymmetric distribution of downstream signaling elements Polleux, F., Morrow, T., and Ghosh, A. (2000) Semaphorin 3A is a chemoattractant for cortical apical dendrites. Nature 404: 567-573. [Online Journal] Strittmatter, S.M. (2000) Dendrites go up, axons go down. Nature 404: 557-558. [Online Journal]


Building energy consumption accounts for 36% of the overall energy end use worldwide and is growing rapidly as developing countries continue to urbanize. Understanding the energy use at urban scale will lay the foundation for identification of energy efficiency opportunities to be deployed at speed. China has almost half of global new constructions and plays an important role in building suitability. However, an open source national building energy consumption database is not available in China. To provide data support for building energy consumptions, this paper used a simulation method to develop an urban building energy consumption database for a pilot city in Wuhan, China. First, residential, small, and large office building archetype energy models were created in EnergyPlus to represent typical building energy consumption in Wuhan. The baseline reference model simulation results were further validated using survey data from the literature. Second, stochastic simulations were conducted to consider different design parameters and occupants' energy usage intensity scenarios, such as thermal properties of the building envelope, lighting power density, equipment power density, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) schedule, etc. A building energy consumption database was generated for typical building archetypes. Third, data-driven regression analysis was conducted to support quick building energy consumption prediction using key high- level building information inputs. Finally, a web-based urban energy platform and an interface were developed to support further third-party application development. The research is expected to provide fast energy efficiency building design solutions for urban planning, new constructions as well as building retrofits.


We describe here the quasi-static crushing behavior of novel classes of multiphase (hybrid) hierarchical lattice metamaterials. The first class is represented by a hybrid architecture combining a hierarchical honeycomb with polyurethane foam filler, while the second is a multiphase structure produced by injecting an alginate hydrogel into the hierarchical voids of the honeycomb metamaterial. Twelve different auxetic (i.e. negative Poisson's ratio) and non-auxetic metamaterial architectures have been 3D printed and subjected to edgewise compression crushing loading. A parametric numerical analysis has been also performed using validated finite element models to identify best metamaterial architecture configurations. Configurations filled with the hydrogel showed a significant stabilization of the deformation mechanism during large deformation edgewise compression. The use of metamaterials designs with internal slots and round in the ribs also filled by polyurethane rigid semi-reticulated foam feature however significant increases in terms of specific stiffness, mean crushing force, strength and energy absorption. The enhancement is particularly evident for the hybrid lattice metamaterials auxetic configurations.


This is an indispensible guide for anyone involved in prescribing exercise programmes for clients or groups. Fitness tests are crucial to measure current fitness and then monitor progress to check the effectiveness of a training programme. The theory and practice of fitness testing, in both exercise and sport settings, are covered in a clear and accessible way. The information is fully up to date with current research and population norms, and lots of diagrams and illustrations make the content easy to understand. The content covers all the topics identified in the competency framework for Levels 3 and 4 of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Instructors within the Health and Fitness Industry. Includes: assessment techniques, sample questions, normal population data, basic measurement and analysis, methods of testing, how to test strength, aerobic endurance, speed and agility, flexibility and power. Written by the authors of The Fitness Instructor's Handbook, and The Advanced Fitness Instructor's Handbook, this is the must-have guide to Fitness Testing for anyone working in fitness or sport.


Epignathus, a congenital oropharyngeal teratoma, is a rare clinical entity with variable clinical outcomes described in the literature. Even fewer cases of epignathus with intracranial extension have been reported, all with poor outcomes. In this manuscript, the authors present a case of epignathus with intracranial extension, emphasizing clinical presentation, imaging findings, a staged surgical approach, multidisciplinary management, and outcome.


We fail to recognize such common symptoms as pain, and the current standard of care often does not achieve the ends we expect. We work in the dark-we do what we can-we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. -Henry James, The Middle Years Over the past thirty years, dedicated workers in palliative care have developed a unique philosophy that focuses on comfort and have worked to translate that philosophy into superb end-of-life care. Palliative care encourages patients to come to terms-at their own pace-with their disease and their prognosis (Doyle, Hanks, and MacDonald, I998). Patients are encouraged to participate in medical decisions and in their own psychological and spiritual care. They can do so because up to the final weeks and days of their lives most retain the ability to give family and caregivers directions about their preferences (Breitbart et al., I995; Pereira, Hanson, and Bruera, 1997; Weinrich and Sarna, I994). Unfortunately, patients with dementia face an entirely different situation, presenting a particular challenge to those who provide palliative care. Our failure to adequately address this challenge has been the cause of unnecessary pain and suffering (Bernabei et al., I998). Palliative care for patients with dementia is different and difficult because clinical science in this area is even more limited than it is in the palliative care of other common and chronic diseases. We know very little about the symptom experience in the terminal stage of dementia and the best ways to manage that experience. Data suggest that we fail to recognize such common symptoms as pain, and the current standard of care often does not achieve the ends we expect (Parmelee, I996; Parmelee, Smith, and Katz, I993). Palliative care for this population is also difficult because patients with dementia progressively lose cognitive function. Their relationships with others and their ability to participate in their care declines as their need for palliative care increases. They are often denied the opportunity to negotiate their status as "terminal" and to direct the development of a plan of care. Moreover, the ambiguity of advance directives and the difficulty of defining the "end stage" of dementia make it difficult for caregivers to look to the patient's wishes for guidance. Caregivers may find that this uncertainty also isolates them from the dominant bioethic that requires that they respect a patient's autonomy by means of substituted judgments, that is, by doing what they believe the patient would want. The problems in providing palliative care for patients with severe dementia are fundamental. The solution lies in adopting a bioethic called narrative consensus and promoting research that fosters an evidence-based practice. THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ART: THE CASE OF MRS. L Mrs. L is an 8$ year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease who has been admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of a fever caused by a urinary tract infection. She is receiving intravenous antibiotics and fluids. This is the patient's third hospital admission in the past five months. Two previous admissions were for urinary tract infections and the other was an episode of aspiration pneumonia. She lives at home with her daughter and her dementia leaves her dependent in all basic activities of daily living. The daughter is not sure if her mother still recognizes her Mrs. L has no advance directive. . While in the hospital, a disagreement has arisen. Mrs L's daughter is concerned that she has been eating very lite. She is co as well that her mother's gestures and vocalizations indicate that she is hungry. The staff believe that Mrs. L is agitated and requires treatment with antipsychotics. The daughter appeals to the staff: "I know my mother This is not her agitation. When she's agitated, she doesnt do this; she yells and even will hit me. …


Apollodorus9 Bibliotheca is often used, though little studied. Like any author, however, Apollodorus has his own aims. As scholars have noticed, he does not include any discussion of Rome and rarely mentions Italy, an absence they link to tendencies of the Second Sophistic, during which period he was writing. I refine this view by exploring the nature of Apollodorus9 project as a whole, showing that he creates a system of genealogies that connects Greece with other places and peoples of the ancient world, specifically the Near East. The nature of the Bibliotheca allows us to see these myths as a closed system, in which these genealogical connections depend upon the perceived importance of these peoples; e.g. the Persians have more connections with the Greeks than the Molossians do. It is from this system that Apollodorus excludes Rome, thereby denying the Romans any genealogical connections with the Greeks and thus marking them as being of little importance. The consciousness of Apollodorus9 decisions is clear from the many opportunities he had to include Rome and the fact that his sources contained myths about Rome or Italy. The Bibliotheca is a tendentious account of Greek myth with its own goals, and our knowledge of Apollodorus9 aims must condition any use of this text.


In this paper impact of climate change on precipitation in the arid environment of Iraq is examined. LARS-WG weather generator was applied to 5 representative regions to model current and future precipitation under climate change. Seven Global Climate Models (GCMs) have been employed to account for any uncertainty on future projection for three selected periods, 2011-2030, 2046-2065 and 2080-2099. Performance of LARS-WG in each site was first evaluated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test for fitting wet/dry days in each site, as well as comparison of the mean and standard deviation between the observed and simulated precipitation. The developed LARS-WG models were found to perform well and skilful in simulating precipitation in the arid regions of Iraq as evidenced by the tests carried and the comparison made. The precipitation models were then used to obtain future projections for precipitation using the IPCC scenario SRES A2. Future precipitation results show that most of the Iraq regions are projected to suffer a reduction in annual mean precipitation, especially by the end of the 21st century, while on a seasonal basis most of the regions are anticipated to be wetter in autumn and winter. Journal


We inscribe a Fabry-Perot (FP) resonator in the microfiber utilizing the 193-nm UV exposure and the phase mask technique. Some new characteristics including strong polarization dependence and large spectral dispersion in contrast to the conventional counterparts are measured, which are attributed to the two-fold symmetry of index change in the grating and the dispersion of the effective grating length, respectively. The thinner microfiber can generally generate stronger polarization dependence. The FP spectral dependencies on external strain, temperature, and refractive index are also investigated. Our fabricated structures can have potential of acting as photonic sensors or polarization related filters.


The efficiency of a vibrating object in converting fluid motion into sound and of an object in reflecting sound depends on whether the fluid in contact with the object has time to get around it during one half an acoustic period. If it does not have adequate time, the fluid is compressed and sound is produced (or reflected). To simulate this invisible process for a classroom of students, a viscous liquid with a large number of small plastic balls is placed in a transparent glass baking dish sitting on a transparency projector. Small, medium, and long paddles sloshing back and forth in the liquid show different behaviors. If the paddle is large and oscillating at a modest or high rate, the particles are seen to be trapped in front of paddle and appear to be compressed. For the small paddle and sufficiently low vibration rates, the particles have enough time to slosh around the paddle. With a minimal amount of analysis, students will quickly learn to appreciate how the efficiency of vibrating surfaces or reflecting objects depends on the relative magnitudes of the object size and the acoustic wavelength.


We propose five original strategies of successively increasing complexity and efficiency that address a novel version of a classical mathematical problem that, in essence, focuses on the determination of an optimal protocol for exchanging limited amounts of information among a group of subjects with various prerogatives. The inherent intricacy of the problemsolving protocols eliminates the possibility to attain an analytical solution. Therefore, we implemented a large-scale simulation study to exhaustively search through an extensive list of competing algorithms associated with the above-mentioned 5 generally defined protocols. Our results show that the consecutive improvements in the average amount of time necessary for the strategy-specific problem-solving completion over the previous simpler and less advantageously structured designs were 18, 30, 12, and 9% respectively. The optimal multi-stage information exchange strategy allows for a successful execution of the task of interest in 1722 days (4.7 years) on average with standard deviation of 385 days. The execution of this protocol took as few as 1004 and as many as 4965 with median of 1616 days.


The high cost and risk associated with human Mars missions have been the primary barriers to its realisation. Much of this risk and cost can be alleviated by the emerging technology of machine self-replication. In a variation on the Mars Direct and derivative scenarios, a single self-replicating seed payload may be launched and landed on Mars prior to the launch of astronauts. The seed may be envisaged as a mobile rover mounting a variety of machine tools to acquire regolith, rock and fluids from the environment, process them and manufacture its various components and assemble them. Thus, the seed would spawn a population of universal constructing machines that would provision the astronauts with essential supplies on the Martian surface. A restricted set of raw materials from the Martian environment - consumables, iron, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, selenium, silicon and carbon - suffice to manufacture any kinematic mechanism from an array of derivative metals, ceramics and silicone plastics. Iron and its alloys form the centrepiece of this material technology. Such robotic mechanisms include powered machine tools, 3D printers, rovers, manipulators, drills, etc from which almost anything can be constructed. Such a universal constructor can by definition manufacture copies of itself thereby leveraging exponential productive capacity. No astronaut should leave Earth without a self-replicating machine - it can construct an entire Martian infrastructure as well as consumables prior to the arrival of astronauts. The key to realising such a self-replicating machine is the ability to 3D print electric motors and electronics. Indeed, the vacuum tube provides the basis for energy generation from solar concentrators (via thermionic conversion) while the electric motor provides the basis for power storage (via flywheels). We shall show our developments in 3D printing electric motors and electronics, and our Fresnel lens-based metal 3D printer that we are developing. Our hypothesis is that if we can 3D print motors and electronics, we can print almost anything. Self-replicating machines have the potential to transform human Mars exploration in terms of both cost and risk.


The distribution of the rare lignicolous species Kavinia alboviridis in the Czech Republic is summarised. Recently the species has been found at three localities in West Bohemia and at one locality in NW Bohemia. It is considered a boreal species rare in Europe and listed as extinct from the Czech Republic. The species is well distinguishable microscopically by the spores which clearly differ from other species with a resupinate, hydnoid basidioma. Remarks on its world distribution are added.


BACKGROUND
Despite an increasing number of studies, findings of structural brain alterations in patients with Tourette syndrome are still inconsistent. Several confounders (comorbid conditions, medication, gender, age, IQ) might explain these discrepancies. In the present study, these confounders were excluded to identify differences in basal ganglia and corpus callosum size that can be ascribed more probably to Tourette syndrome per se.

METHODS
High-resolution T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance images of 49 boys with Tourette syndrome were compared with those of 42 healthy boys. The groups were matched for IQ and age (9 to 15 years). Boys with comorbid conditions and previous treatment were excluded. Volumes of gray and white matter, cerebrospinal fluid as well as the size of the basal ganglia, the thalamus, the corpus callosum and its subregions were estimated.

RESULTS
The left and right putamen and subregion 3 of the corpus callosum were larger in boys with Tourette syndrome than in healthy controls. No differences were found in volumes of caudate nucleus, globus pallidus or thalamus of each hemisphere or in total callosal size and its other subregions.

CONCLUSIONS
Bilateral enlargement of the putamen may reflect dopaminergic dysfunction or neuroimmunologic alterations (PANDAS) underlying Tourette syndrome. The larger callosal motor subregion 3 might be a consequence of daily tic activity. Previous divergent volumetric findings might be ascribed to confounding variables like comorbid conditions or medication, or to different imaging methods.


Magnetoresistance, the modulation of resistance by magnetic fields, has been adopted and continues to evolve in many device applications including hard-disk, memory, and sensors. Magnetoresistance in nonmagnetic semiconductors has recently raised much attention and shows great potential due to its large magnitude that is comparable or even larger than magnetic materials. However, most of the previous work focus on two terminal devices with large dimensions, typically of micrometer scales, which severely limit their performance potential and more importantly, scalability in commercial applications. Here, we investigate magnetoresistance in the impact ionization region in InGaAs nanowires with 20 nm diameter and 40 nm gate length. The deeply scaled dimensions of these nanowires enable high sensibility with less power consumption. Moreover, in these three terminal devices, the magnitude of magnetoresistance can be tuned by the transverse electric field controlled by gate voltage. Large magnetoresistance between 100% at room temperature and 2000% at 4.3 K can be achieved at 2.5 T. These nanoscale devices with large magnetoresistance offer excellent opportunity for future high-density large-scale magneto-electric devices using top-down fabrication approaches, which are compatible with commercial silicon platform.


Topical dermatological formulations of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are reported to show their pharmacological effect partially through the systemic circulation, and to induce systemic side effects. However, pharmaceutical equivalence and pharmacokinetic bioequivalence between brand-name and generic products are not required. Therefore, we aimed to predict systemic drug exposure from brand-name and nine generic ketoprofen tapes. In vitro release profiles were examined using the paddle-over-disk method, then analyzed by the W. I. Higuchi equation incorporating an initial burst effect. Pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated from observed release profiles and the reported time-plasma concentration profile of the brand-name product. Plasma concentration profiles of generic products were predicted from the observed release profiles and the pharmacokinetic parameters of the brand-name product. In vitro release profiles differed markedly, and estimated release rates for initial burst effect and at 24 hours ranged from 4.20 to 88.75% and from 45.27 to 95.83%, respectively. The predicted plasma concentration profile of each product reflected its release profile, and estimated C(max) ranged from 61.70 to 290.30 ng/mL (0.46- to 2.15-fold vs. brand-name product). Generic products were classified into three types, i.e., systemic exposure comparable with, higher than and lower than that of brand-name product. C(max) was predicted to increase with enhanced skin permeability for all products, but the increase rates differed among products. These results suggest that safety and efficacy differ between brand-name and generic ketoprofen tapes. Healthcare professionals should carefully monitor systemic side effects, especially when switching from brand-name to generic products for which higher systemic exposure is predicted.