Background. Analytical variability in CD4 enumeration is well known, but few studies from southern Africa have quantified the inter- and intra-laboratory variability in CD4 count measurements. In addition, the possible impact of time lapse after sample collection on CD4 reliability is not well understood.

Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation Hospital and three laboratories, Lab A (comparator), Lab B (national reference) and Lab C (rural hospital). Blood from HIV-infected individuals was collected using routine venepuncture into separate specimens for each of the three laboratories. The samples were further subdivided at each laboratory: one was run at 12 hours and the second at 24 hours after venepuncture. The results of absolute CD4 count and CD4 percentage testing were compared within (intra-laboratory) and between (inter-laboratory) laboratories.

Results. Among 53 participants, the mean CD4 count at 12 hours was 373 cells/μl, 396 cells/μl and 439 cells/μl, and at 24 hours 359 cells/μl, 389 cells/ μl and 431 cells/μl, for laboratories A, B and C, respectively. The coefficient of intra-laboratory variation was 4%, 8% and 20% for CD4 count for laboratories A, B and C, respectively. Comparing 12- and 24-hour measurements, the mean difference (bias) within the laboratories between the two time points (and limits of agreement, LOAs) was 14 (-46 to 73), 8 (-161 to 177) and 7 (20 to 33) cells/μl for labs A, B and C, respectively. Comparing Lab A versus Lab B, lab A versus Lab C and Lab B versus Lab C, the inter-laboratory bias for the CD4 count at 12 hours was -32, -64 and -38 cells/μl, respectively. The corresponding LOAs were -213 to 150, -183 to 55, and -300 to 224, respectively. At 24 hours, the biases and LOAs were similar to those at 12 hours.

Conclusions. CD4 counts appeared reliable at all three laboratories. Lab B and Lab C were clinically interchangeable with the comparator laboratory, Lab A, but not between themselves. Time to measurement does not affect the interlaboratory agreement within 12 and 24 hours.

S Afr J HIV Med 2012;13(2):59-63.


Parkinson disease (PD) is a chronic, progressive and debilitating disease. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the dimensions of Roy Adaptation Model (RAM) and General Health (GH) and Satisfaction with Life (SWL) in patients with Parkinson disease. This was a descriptive, analytic and cross-sectional study. The samples were selected from the patients with PD in 2016. The data was gathered by demographic, RAM, GH and SWL Scale questionnaires. The data was analyzed with SPSS software. In patients with PD, total adaptation score was 21.26±3.24. About the dimensions of adaptation, the scores of the physiologic mode, self-concept, role function and interdependence were 74.7±9.33, 32.37±6.04, 24.30±5.00 and 20.93±2.46, respectively. There was significant relationship between education and physiologic mode (P=0.048) and also there were significant relationships between PD experience, employment and gender and total adaptation score (P=0.002, P=0.007, P=0.006, respectively). Mean and standard deviation of total general health score was 30.97±5.03 and the means and standard deviations of its dimensions, including somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and depression were 10.26±2.71, 9.73±2.77, 5.13±2.23 and 5.83±1.91, respectively. There were significant relationships between social dysfunction and physiologic mode and self-concept (P=0.024 and P=0.012, respectively). The mean and standard deviation of satisfaction with life score was 21.47±3.57. Satisfaction with life had no relationship with the dimensions of RAM and general health. RAM, GH and SWL make the development of high quality care planning possible by assessing the health status of patients with PD. This leads to engagement of the patients in self-care, better adaptation, improved quality of life and also helps the nurses to make medical decisions.


Brazilian literature, when dedicated to recreating contemporary social fractures, has frequently chosen a minimalist perspective in order to counteract the representationalist lineage overly expressed in our tradition. Nowadays, there two writers operating in the minimalist scene and elaborating on the disjunctions of a problematic sociability of a rather impersonal diction in favor of a stylized theater of alterity: Andre Sant'Anna and Marcelino Freire. The latter, in his modulated short-stories, adopts the rhythms and the assonances of a reduced vocabulary to give form to the situation of marginal characters and, in so doing, he is capable of making them sing. Andre Sant'Anna, for his part, works through dissonance and seeks to disarrange language by adopting a coordinated syntax, full of repetitions and recurrences. His style causes the tedious effect that underlies the grotesque comicality of certain dictions. Consequently, the examined short-stories, although they offer differences in their conception, practice the rituals of performance, due to their respective efforts to influence reception, as they include elements of reality and equally try to produce literature open to an ethical commitment to life.


In Pakistan, women's empowerment has always been a subjective matter of debate among the media, civil society and the state machinery because of its multifarious connotations and dimensions. The focus of my study is to evaluate how, along with many other agents of modernization (for example, media, state legislation, and civil society), female education plays a fundamental role in transforming the traditionally conceived submissive role of Punjabi women into individuals, whose potentials are fully realized. Although in comparison with males, the female literacy rate and workforce percentages have been disappointing in Pakistan. Nevertheless some improvement can be witnessed, depending on the geographic location. This study, through a survey questionnaire and focused group discussions targeting undergraduate female university students of Punjab, observes that in comparison with illiterate women, educated and professional women are not only sensitized but also equipped to deal with various issues of life, ranging from health to financial needs. My findings from qualitative and quantitative data analysis further imply that despite gaining education and professional expertise a majority of women are not completely free in their decisions about basic personal matters of life like marriage, divorce, mobility and claims over ancestral inheritance. The results of my research indicate various reasons for this lacuna. First, are centuries old gender biased socio-cultural practices, which unlike for men, confine, scrutinize and specify the roles of women in society. Second, is misinterpretation of religion by orthodoxy, overlooking the contextual meaning of Quranic verses. These cultural practices and religious orientations are two separate domains; however, in Pakistani society over a period of time, these distinctive realms have overlapped in ways that have become difficult to disentangle, for common individuals. My research concludes that there is a need to transform the mind-set of the over-all society through effective education, mass media campaigns (print, electronic and social), and civil society support in order for society to begin to understand the value of women's education with an endorsement of their equal rights in all decisions of their lives, manifesting women's empowerment as a reality.


Multidimensional (MD) modeling is the basis for data warehouses (DW), multidimensional databases (MDB) and on-line analytical processing (OLAP) applications. In this paper, we present how the unified modeling language (UML) can be successfully used to represent both structural and dynamic properties of these systems at the conceptual level. The structure of the system is specified by means of a UML class diagram that considers the main properties of MD modeling with minimal use of constraints and extensions of the UML. If the system to be modeled is too complex, thereby leading us to a considerable number of classes and relationships, we describe how to use the package grouping mechanism provided by the UML to simplify the final model. Furthermore, we provide a UML-compliant class notation (called cube class) to represent OLAP users' initial requirements. We also describe how we can use the UML state and interaction diagrams to model the behavior of a data warehouse system. To facilitate the interchange of conceptual MD models, we provide a Document Type Definition (DTD) which allows us to represent the same MD modeling properties that can be considered by using our approach. From this DTD, we can directly generate valid eXtensible Markup Language (XML) documents that represent MD models at the conceptual level. We believe that our innovative approach provides a theoretical foundation for simplifying the conceptual design of MD systems and the examples included in this paper clearly illustrate the use of our approach.


The death penalty in America has been studied, discussed, and written about extensively. The vast majority of researchers, however, have focused their study of the death penalty, or capital punishment, on male prisoners. This article examines the data related to women on death row since 1973, with particular attention to similar problems that have been documented for men, while highlighting racial differences and/or racial disparities where found. The subjects were 157 women who received death row sentences, forty-nine women currently on death row, and the eleven women executed since 1973. The data demonstrated that some racial disparities do exist with regard to women receiving death row sentences. However, definitive conclusions explaining why these differences exist are speculative due to the relatively small number of females receiving the death penalty.


This paper probes the origin, sources, nature, dimensions and outcomes of technological innovations carried out in two small-scale foundries in Belgaum city, Belgaum district, Karnataka state. The two foundries have initiated technological innovations primarily due to the vision and motivation of their respective entrepreneurs. One of the two entrepreneurs in both the foundries is a technical graduate, who is instrumental in initiating and carrying out technological innovations. This brings out the crucial importance of educational background in the promotion of entrepreneurial dynamism. Technical innovations are carried out with self-efforts, with little external assistance, particularly from that of the government. Incremental innovations characterized by changing product designs/shapes/dimensions, reduction of cost, quality improvement and import substitution through 'reverse engineering' are the major features of technological innovations. Enhancement of competitiveness due to cost reduction, quality improvement and consequently, reduction in rejection rates, customers' need satisfaction, import substitution and penetration of the international market through exports are the major achievements. INTRODUCTION Small-scale industries occupy a place of strategic importance in Indian economy due to their considerable contribution to employment, production and exports. In 2000/01, small-scale industries accounted for 95% of the industrial units, 40% of the manufacturing value added, 80% of the manufacturing employment and 35% of the total exports (PlanningCommission, 2001). However, since 1991 Indian small-scale industries have been exposed to intensifying competitive environment internally as well as externally and therefore, their performance in terms of growth of units, employment, production and exports and their relative contribution to national income have come down (BaIa Subrahmanya M H; forthcoming). In view of the above, enhancing the competitiveness of small-scale industries has assumed significance in order to sustain and promote its contribution to the national economy. According to Fisher and Reuber (2000), those Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that are internationally competitive are better able to grow as well as to survive in their domestic markets. In order to become internationally competitive, SMEs must be market-oriented and offer products and services of international quality (Fisher and Reuber, 2000). Technological innovations, which contribute to technology development, market orientation, cost reduction and quality improvement, among others, enable firms/ enterprises to compete effectively in national and international markets. Therefore, it is essential to facilitate and encourage in-house technological innovations of enterprises, irrespective of size, if they have to acquire competitiveness. In most developing countries, majority of the enterprises as well as highest proportion of employment is accounted by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and therefore, technology progress in SMEs is of crucial importance to such countries. The same holds good for India where majority of the industrial sector comprises SMEs, particularly small-scale industries, as referred above. Therefore, Government of India has made technology development as one of the major objectives of small-scale industries policy. However, the mechanism evolved for technology development in small-scale industries relies heavily on technology transfer rather than promoting technological innovations (BaIa Subrahmanya, M H, et al., 2002). Government policy has largely overlooked the R & D efforts and technological innovations of small-scale enterprises. But in Karnataka, a considerable proportion of small-scale enterprises across industries does carry out technological innovations, largely informally, to enhance competitiveness through cost reduction and quality improvement, among others. Innovation expenditure makes a significant contribution to the value of output (BaIa Subrahmanya, M H, et al. …


1. Small mammal population fluctuations, cyclic or not, have been an ecological puzzle and a source of heated debate among ecologists. Identifying the demographic parameters that covary closely with density changes can help elucidate the underlying causes of population fluctuations, but few studies have reported rigorous estimates of these parameters. 2. We applied capture-mark-recapture analysis to twice-weekly trapping data from a long-term study of a fluctuating Microtus ochrogaster (prairie vole) population in Illinois, USA to estimate stage-specific apparent survival and maturation rates. We also estimated population density, fecundity rate, age at maturity and life span on a weekly basis. 3. Survival, maturation and fecundity rates exhibited phase-related changes during major density fluctuations, but they showed density-independent temporal variations during the prolonged low-density phases. Among these variables, maturation and juvenile survival rates covaried most closely with population density. 4. These results suggest that phase-related changes in maturation and juvenile survival rates are likely to be the main demographic factors driving the dynamics of our study population. 5. Phase-related changes in maturation rates provide a plausible demographic explanation of density fluctuations in our study population. Our results suggest that direct predation may not be necessary for large-scale fluctuations in M. ochrogaster abundance.


Introduction Endovascular interventions for intracranial aneurysms have evolved substantially over the past several decades. A citation rank list is used to measure the scientific and/or clinical impact of an article. Our objective was to identify and analyze the characteristics of the 100 most cited articles in the field of endovascular therapy for intracranial aneurysms. Methods We performed a retrospective bibliometric analysis between July and August 2017. Articles were searched on the Science Citation Index Expanded database using Web of Science in order to identify the most cited articles in the endovascular therapy of intracranial aneurysms since 1945. Using selected key terms ('intracranial aneurysm', 'aneurysm', 'aneurysmal subarachnoid', 'endovascular', 'coiling', 'stent-assisted', 'balloon-assisted', 'flow-diversion') yielded a total of 16 314 articles. The top 100 articles were identified and analyzed to extract relevant information, including citation count, authorship, article type, subject matter, institution, country of origin, and year of publication. Results Citations for the top 100 articles ranged from 133 to 1832. All articles were cited an average of 27 times per year. There were 45 prospective studies, including 7 level–II randomized controlled trials. Most articles were published in the 2000s (n=53), and the majority constituted level III or level IV evidence. Half of the top 100 articles arose from the USA. Conclusion This study provides a comprehensive overview of the most cited articles in the endovascular management of intracranial aneurysms. It recognizes the contributions made by key authors and institutions, providing an important framework to an enhanced understanding of the evidence behind the endovascular treatment of aneurysms.


Condition monitoring of the gear power transmis-sions teeth meshing vibrations and bearings vibration evaluation are studied in this article. The research results were acquired in practice during long term diagnostics of energy generating machines in situ. The ordinary helical gear train has few times higher vibration acceleration level in comparison with epicyclical gear train. The gears vibra-tion acceleration parameter was used for diagnostics and evaluation teeth meshing quality as high frequency vibra-tion in antifriction bearing diagnostics.


We determined the time‐course and general pattern of thalamocortical development of Monodelphis domestica by tracing projections with carbocyanine dye in fixed postnatal brains between postnatal day 2 (P2) and P30. By P2, the first neurons have migrated to form the preplate of the lateral cortex and have sent out axons into the intermediate zone. By P3, fibers from the preplate of more dorsal cortex have entered the intermediate zone, and, by P5, they reach the primitive internal capsule. Crystal placements in the dorsal thalamus at P2–P3 reveal thalamic axons extending down through the diencephalon and growing out through the internal capsule among groups of back‐labelled cells that already project into the thalamus. Thalamic axons arrive at the cortex after the arrival of cells of the true cortical plate has split the preplate into marginal zone and subplate. Axons from the ventral part of the dorsal thalamus reach the lateral cortex by P5: Dorsal thalamic fibers arrive at the extreme dorsal cortex by P9. The deeper layers of the cortex appear to mature relatively earlier in Monodelphis than in eutherian mammals, and the subplate becomes less distinct. Thalamic fibers and their side branches proceed into the cortex without an obvious period of waiting in the subplate, but they do not penetrate the dense cortical plate itself. Monodelphis could provide an excellent model species, because the development of its thalamocortical connections is entirely an extrauterine process: The period P0–P15 corresponds to that of E12‐P0 in the rat. J. Comp. Neurol. 398:491–514, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


We introduce a new approach for implementing cryptographic arithmetic in short high-level code with machine-checked proofs of functional correctness. We further demonstrate that simple partial evaluation is sufficient to transform into the fastest-known C code, breaking the decades-old pattern that the only fast implementations are those whose instruction-level steps were written out by hand. These techniques were used to build an elliptic-curve library that achieves competitive performance for 80 prime fields and multiple CPU architectures, showing that implementation and proof effort scales with the number and complexity of conceptually different algorithms, not their use cases. As one outcome, we present the first verified high-performance implementation of P-256, the most widely used elliptic curve. implementations from our library were included in BoringSSL to replace existing specialized code, for inclusion in several large deployments for Chrome, Android, and CloudFlare.


Recent observations show a decrease in the fraction of precipitation falling as snowfall in the western United States. In this work we evaluate a historical and future climate simulation over the Colorado River Basin using a 35 km continuous 111 year simulation (1969–2079) of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model with boundary forcing from the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research/Met Office's HadCM3 model with A2 emission scenario. The focus of this work is to (1) evaluate the simulated spatiotemporal variability of snowfall in the historical period when compared to observations and (2) project changes in snowfall and the fraction of precipitation that falls as snow during the 21st century. We find that the spatial variability in modeled snowfall in the historical period (1981–2005) is realistically represented when compared to observations. The trends of modeled snowfall are similar to the observed trends except at higher elevations. Examining the continuous 111 year simulation, we find the future projections show statistically significant increases in temperature with larger increases in the northern part of the basin. There are statistically insignificant increases in precipitation, while snowfall shows a statistically significant decrease throughout the period in all but the highest elevations and latitudes. The fraction of total precipitation falling as snow shows statistically significant declines in all regions. The strongest decrease in snowfall is seen at high elevations in the southern part of the basin and low elevations in the northern part of the basin. The regions of most intense decreases in snow experience a decline of approximately 50% in snowfall throughout the 111 year simulation period. The regions of strongest declines in snowfall roughly correspond to the region of migration of the zero degree Celsius line and emphasize snowfall dependence on both altitude and latitude.


In 1931, Robert Gibrat found that the number of the employees of a firm and urban population follow the lognormal distribution. Numerous studies results show that the Gibrat's law provides a basis for the analysis of the dynamics of the number of the employees of mature and large firms, which have already carved out a niche. Furthermore, the Gibrat's law allows analyzing the dynamics and laws of the spatial distribution of the population of different countries in a case if their socioeconomic development is sustainable and equilibrium. The purpose of the study is testing the Gibrat's law for Russian cities and towns of different sizes. If the Gibrat's law is valid, we can conclude that the spatial distribution of the population in the country is equilibrium and the labour distribution is close to optimal. The opposite result demonstrates the imbalance between the allocation of manufacture and labour force. The author took 2010 national census results as source data. I have tested the hypothesis of the lognormal law of population distribution in Russia over different cities and towns using the Pearson fitting criterion with the value a = 0,05. The results of the study have shown that the distribution of the population over Russia does not follow the Gibrat's law. As a result, the distribution of the population is uneven, which translates into the significant labour migration from settlements with the small population to large cities. The knowledge of the laws of the territorial distribution of the population and driving factors of population mobility is of importance for the development and implementation of effective socio-economic policy in the country. The definition of the population distribution imbalance over various population centers and the development of recommendations for the creation and optimal location of new production in the country may be the promising area for future research. The study of spatial clustering of population centers and comparative analysis of such clusters with Russian regions in their current administrative borders are important as well.


ABSTRACT Exposure to disinfection by-products can occur through various pathways such as inhalation, dermal contact, and ingestion for swimmers. In the present study, swimming exposure to disinfection by-products through ingestion and dermal route at the indoor swimming pool was assessed and health risks caused by exposure to these compounds were studied. Water samples were first collected from Eslamshahr (Tehran, Iran) and water quality parameters were analyzed. Then, a multi-pathway model was conducted to assess and estimate the chronic daily intakes (CDI) and lifetime cancer risk (LTCR). The results showed that the mean values of CDIs for chloroform, DCBM, DBCM, and bromoform were 2.12 × 10−6, 7.35 × 10−7, 8.12 × 10−9, and 1.28 × 10−8 mg/kg-d, respectively through ingestion pathways, and 3.95 × 10−5, 1.56 × 10–6, 1.88 × 10–8, and 3.08 × 10−8 mg/kg-d through the dermal pathway, respectively. Also our findings showed that the mean of total LTCR for swimmers was 4.63 × 10−8 and the cancer risks through dermal route were higher than ingestion route. Also, cancer risks of chlorinated compounds were higher to implement a set of strategies in order to improve water treatment of swimming pools.


This software simplifies the process of having to set up an Eclipse IDE programming environment for the members of the cross-NASA center project, Ensemble. It achieves this by assembling all the necessary add-ons and custom tools/preferences. This software is unique in that it allows developers in the Ensemble Project (approximately 20 to 40 at any time) across multiple NASA centers to set up a development environment almost instantly and work on Ensemble software. The software automatically has the source code repositories and other vital information and settings included. The Eclipse IDE is an open-source development framework. The NASA (Ensemble-specific) version of the software includes Ensemble-specific plug-ins as well as settings for the Ensemble project. This software saves developers the time and hassle of setting up a programming environment, making sure that everything is set up in the correct manner for Ensemble development. Existing software (i.e., standard Eclipse) requires an intensive setup process that is both time-consuming and error prone. This software is built once by a single user and tested, allowing other developers to simply download and use the software


We compared heart rate and blood pressure changes to intubation produced by conventional laryngoscopic-guided intubation to those
produced by blind intubation through the intubating laryngeal mask (ILM) in normotensive adults with normal airways. Forty
paralysed, anaesthetised adults undergoing elective surgery were randomly assigned to one of two groups : 1. Blind intubation through
the ILM using a straight silicone tracheal tube manufactured for specific use with the ILM; 2. Intubation with a size 3 macintosh
laryngoscope using a polyvinyl chloride tube. Intubation success rate, number of intubation attempts, time to intubation were recorded.
Heart rate and non-invasive blood pressure preinduction, preintubation and at one minute intervals after intubation until ten minutes
post intubation were recorded. The intubation success rate was 90% (68% first attempt) for the ILM group and 100% (all first attempt) for the laryngoscopic group. Time to successful intubation was longer (50 vs 22s) and more intubation attempts were required in the
ILM group (p<0.0001). Changes from pre-intubation values showed a significantly lower heart rate response in the ILM group at 4 to
10 minutes post intubation (p<0.05). The ILM may have a role in managing the intubation response in patients where an increase in
heart rate is associated with an increased risk, such as in patients with ischaemic heart disease.


What does it mean to give professional advice, and how do things change when various forms of technology, such as decision-support software or predictive advice-generating algorithms, are inserted into the process of professional advice-giving? Professional advice is valuable to clients because of the asymmetry between lay and expert knowledge where professionals have knowledge that their clients lack. But technology is increasingly changing the traditional process of professional advice-giving.

This Article considers the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) into the healthcare provider-patient relationship. Technological innovation in medical advice-giving occurs in a densely regulated space. The legal framework governing professional advice-giving exists to protect the values underlying the provider-patient relationship. This Article first sketches the regulatory landscape of professional advice-giving, focusing on the values protected by the existing legal framework. It then considers various technological interventions into the advice-giving relationship, identifying the changes that result. Finally, it outlines legal responses aimed to integrate AI-based innovations into medical advice-giving while at the same time upholding the values underlying the professional advice-giving relationship. To the extent the existent regulatory framework is responsive to these changes, it ought to be kept in place. But when the introduction of AI into medical advice-giving changes the dynamics of the relationship in a way that threatens the underlying values, new regulatory responses become necessary.


A variety of lunar soils (bulk soils, grain size fractions and mineral separates) and regolith breccias are studied for nitrogen abundance and isotopic composition. in order to investigate the isotopic variation in the lunar regolith and to constrain the origin of the nitrogen. The lunar soils and breccias are analysed using a high sensitivity static-vacuum mass spectrometer. capable of measuring nanogram quantities of nitrogen with a δ15N precision of ±0.5‰. In addition to nitrogen abundance measurements, conjoint carbon and argon abundances (allthough the latter are semi-quantitative) are also measured. Lunar soils and breccias are analysed by stepped combustion and pyrolysis extraction. Typically employing temperature resolution of 25-50°C. However, some soils and breccias are analysed by high-resolution extraction using temperature increments of 10°C. constituting the highest resolution studies performed to date.

The high-resolution extractions of lunar soils and breccias has confirmed the existence of the heavy-light-heavy-light-heavy (W-shaped) isotopic profile observed by previous workers for pyrolysis extractions of lunar breccias. The current study has confirmed that the W-shaped profile is restricted to pyrolysis extractions, but is present in both soils and breccias. The well documented heavy-light-heavy (V-shaped) isotopic profile is observed in stepped combustion extractions.
The nitrogen in the lunar regolith has been shown to be of both solar and non-solar origin. The former is confirmed from the solar-like C/N ratios in lunar soils. and the latter is confirmed from the excess N/36Ar ratio. between 5 and 39 times the solar value. Although neither nitrogen source is believed to be a minor component, the solar wind is believed to contribute -30% of the total nitrogen, although the relative proportions of solar and non-solar nitrogen are not well constrained.

The surface-correlation of the low temperature nitrogen release (LTN), from the <10μm fraction from soil A12023. has enabled calculation of the isotopic composition of this component with δ15N = +35.3 ±3.6‰. It is believed that this value is representative of the isotopic composition of the recent solar wind. Furthermore, the absence of isotopically light nitrogen in agglutinates separated from A12073. and the increasing contribution of high temperature nitrogen (HTN) with increasing grain size from the same soil. has suggested that the volume-correlated nitrogen is released at temperatures ≥1050°C. This is believed to be representative of the ancient solar wind, and has a mean δl5N = +77.0 ± 6.0‰. This work has shown that the maximum secular variation of 15N/14N in the lunar regolith is -2.8%. significantly lower than previous estimates.
The low temperature. isotopically heavy nitrogen component. NLT. and the isotopically light nitrogen components. NMT and NHT (although the latter is only observed during stepped pyrolysis extractions). display a l5N/l4N variation of 38%. This cannot be accounted for by a secular variation of 15N/l4N in this work. The origin of NLT is not well constrained. but may be due to re-implantation of atmospheric nitrogen. or fractionation of solar wind gases during the formation of amorphous rims around soils grains. A proportion 1-3% I of NHT has been observed in soil A12023. with δ15N = -186‰, the lightest observed in a lunar soil. The similarity of this value with that obtained for lunar breccia A79035. has suggested the possibility of a relict component. implanted prior to breccia consolidation. No evidence of presolar grains could be identified in A79035, although there is some evidence for amorphous carbon. This may also be associated with the presence of fine-grained metallic iron as a significant proportion of this in lunar soils is believed to originate from meteorite contamination.


CMOS image sensors are widely used on Earth and are becoming increasingly favourable for use in space. Advantages, such as low power consumption, and ever-improving imaging peformance make CMOS an attractive option. The ability to integrate camera functions on-chip, such as biasing and sequencing, simplifies designing with CMOS sensors and can improve system reliablity. One potential disadvantage to the use of CMOS is the possibility of single event effects, such as single event latchup (SEL), which can cause malfunctions or even permanent destruction of the sensor. These single event effects occur in the space environment due to the high levels of radiation incident on the sensor. This work investigates the ocurrence of SEL in CMOS image sensors subjected to heavy-ion irradiation. Three devices are investigated, two of which have triple-well doping implants. The resulting latchup cross-sections are presented. It is shown that using a deep p well on 18 μm epitaxial silicon increases the radiation hardness of the sensor against latchup. The linear energy transfer (LET) threshold for latchup is increased when using this configuration. Our findings suggest deep p wells can be used to increase the radiation tollerance of CMOS image sensors for use in future space missions.


Classification decision tree algorithms have recently been used in pattern-recognition problems. In this paper, we propose a self-designing system that uses the classification tree algorithms and that is capable of recognizing a large number of signals. Preprocessing techniques are used to make the recognition process more effective. A combination of the original, as well as the preprocessed, signals is projected into different transform domains. Enormous sets of criteria that characterize the signals can be developed from the signal representations in these domains. At each node of the classification tree, an appropriately selected criterion is optimized with respect to desirable performance features such as complexity and noise immunity. The criterion is then employed in conjunction with a vector quantizer to divide the signals presented at a particular node in that stage into two approximately equal groups. When the process is complete, each signal is represented by a unique composite binary word index, which corresponds to the signal path through the tree, from the input to one of the terminal nodes of the tree. Experimental results verify the excellent classification accuracy of this system. High performance is maintained for both noisy and corrupt data.


Pomelo [Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck] has the largest fruit size among citrus species. There are several cultivars for pomelo species which is sensitive to low temperatures thus its cultivation is possible in relatively preserved areas in subtropical regions. The interest to pomelo production has increased due to several reasons such as, its has a little or no bitterness in fruit flesh conversaly to grapefruit, avaibility of pigmented varieties, high concentration of vitamin C, total phenolics and carotenoids in fruit flesh, as well as its efficiency in destroying free radicals such as superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide. Several pomelo varieties have been introduced to Turkey and adaptation studies have been established. In the present study, Reinking, Pomelo WN, Kao Panne and Citrus hassaku which is a spontaneous hybrid between pomelo and mandarin were investigated in terms of fruit yield and pomological characteristics. In addition, Henderson grapefruit was included in this study in order to obtain a comparasion between pomelo and grapefruit. A large variation was observed in fruit yield of cultivars established in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, the highest yield was determined in Henderson whereas it was obtained from Citrus hassaku in 2012. Pomelo varieties yielded between 5-60 kg fruit per tree and 8.6-50 kg fruit per tree in 2011 and 2012, respectively. In terms of pomological traits, Citrus hassaku had the highest fruit weight; Pink, Kao Panne and Reinking pomelos had the highest peel thickness and Pomelo WN yielded the highest TSS/TA ratio.


We report here photoluminescence studies of multilayer InAs quantum dot structures grown by MOVPE on (001)‐oriented GaAs substrates. AFM measurements reveal prolate shapes of the dots, oriented along the [1–10] direction. Different orientations relative to the interfaces between the GaAs matrix and InAs dots are probed using polarized excitation and detection. We suggest a possible role of local fields in models of the matrix‐dot mixtures in the in‐plane anisotropic response.


In this paper, I review recent attempts by experimental philosophers and psychologists to study folk metaethics empirically and discuss some of the difficulties that researchers face when trying to construct the right kind of research materials and interpreting the results that they obtain. At first glance, the findings obtained so far do not look good for the thesis that people are everywhere moral realists about every moral issue. However, because of difficulties in interpreting these results, I argue that better research is needed to move the debate forward.


The increasing availability of new generation remote sensing satellite multispectral images provides an unprecedented source of information for Earth observation and monitoring. Multispectral images can be now collected at high resolution covering (almost) all land surfaces with extremely short revisit time (up to a few days), making it possible the mapping of global changes. Extracting useful information from such huge amount of data requires a systematic use of automatic techiques in almost all applicative contexts. In some cases, the strict application requirements force the pratictioner to develop strongly data-driven approaches in the development of the processing chain. As a consequence, the exact relationship between the theoretical models adopted and the physical meaning of the solutions is sometimes hidden in the data analysis techniques, or not clear at all. Altough this is not a limitation for the success of the application itself, it makes however dicult to transfer the knowledge learned from one specic problem to another. In this thesis we mainly focus on this aspect and we propose a general mathematical framework for the representation and analysis of multispectral images. The proposed models are then used in the applicative context of change detection. Here, the generality of the proposed models allows us to both: (1) provide a mathematical explanation of already existing methodologies for change detection, and (2) extend them to more general cases for addressing problems of increasing complexity. Typical spatial/spectral properties of last generation multispectral images emphasize the need of having more exible models to image representation. In fact, classical methods to change detection that have worked well on previous generations of multispectral images provide sub-optimal results due to their poor capability of modeling all the complex spectral/spatial detail available in last generation products. The theoretical models presented in this thesis are aimed at giving more degrees of freedom in the representation of the images. The eectiveness of the proposed novel approaches and related techniques is demonstrated on several experiments involving both synthetic datasets and real multispectral images. Here, the improved flexibility of the models adopted allows for a better representation of the data and is always followed by a substantial improvement of the change detection performance.


Experiments on a high power spherically symmetric positive corona discharge in molecular hydrogen are reported upon. These are collisional plasmas in the H2 pressure range of about 0.75 Torr to 3 Torr. Applied voltages ranged up to 600 V on the anode with currents ranging up to 3 A. As others have observed in prior published experiments going back to 1997, we have observed spherically symmetric striations or double layers. Others have observed such striations in O2, CO2, and in mixtures of N2 and acetone or methanol, or benzene. Like H2 all these gases, except N2 itself, readily dissociate and form negative ions by dissociative attachment with electrons. We propose that the striations are instabilities arising from copious formation of negative ions that modify the radial space charge and electric field distributions in such high aspect ratio spherical discharges.


Temperature imposes significant constraints on ectothermic animals, and these organisms have evolved numerous adaptations to respond to these constraints. While the impacts of temperature on the physiology of ectotherms have been extensively studied, there are currently no frameworks available that outline the multiple and often simultaneous pathways by which temperature can affect behaviour. Drawing from the literature on insects, we propose a unified framework that should apply to all ectothermic animals, generalizing temperature's behavioural effects into (1) Kinetic effects, resulting from temperature's bottom-up constraining influence on metabolism and neurophysiology over a range of timescales (from short-to long-term), and (2) Integrated effects, where the top-down integration of thermal information intentionally initiates or modifies a behaviour (behavioural thermoregulation, thermal orientation, thermosensory behavioural adjustments). We discuss the difficulty in distinguishing adaptive behavioural changes due to temperature from behavioural changes that are the products of constraints, and propose two complementary approaches to help make this distinction and class behaviours according to our framework: (i) behavioural kinetic null modeling and (ii) behavioural ecology experiments using temperature-insensitive mutants. Our framework should help to guide future research on the complex relationship between temperature and behaviour in ectothermic animals.


This thesis is structured in three chapters, each pertaining to a specific problem in financial economics. The first chapter, titled 'High-Frequency Jump Analysis of the Bitcoin Market' and co-authored with Prof. Olivier Scaillet and Adrien Treccani of the University of Geneva, studies the market for bitcoin, a pioneer virtual currency, and its price dynamics. Using data for all the trades that took place on the exchange Mt. Gox during the period June 2011 to November 2013, we analyse the occurrence of jumps in the price process and conclude that they are frequent (one jump per week, on average) and that they tend to cluster in time. They are predicted by the order flow imbalance and the preponderance of aggressive traders. Jumps have a short-term positive impact on market activity and illiquidity and see a persistent change in the price. The second chapter, titled 'Price Formation in the Bitcoin Market', studies the same bitcoin market from the point of view of information and the way it is incorporated in the price. I analyse different measures of liquidity and price impact and find that bitcoin exhibits more adverse selection than comparable stocks. I examine the potential profits of liquidity provision and conclude that they are insufficient, which explains the absence of market makers and consequently the low market depth. I estimate a vector autoregressive model for the returns and a trade indicator and find that the effect of past returns and past trades on contemporaneous trades is significant and singular, indicating that agents infer considerable information which leads them to update their beliefs about the future evolution of the price, consistent with the view that bitcoin is a Keynesian beauty contest. The third chapter, titled 'Cash Holdings and Credit Risk', investigates the a priori surprising empirical phenomenon that firms with larger cash holdings appear to be riskier with regards to the valuation of their debt. It is explained by the endogeneity affecting the relation between a firm's cash holdings and credit spread. Indeed, a firm facing more risk (for instance, because its cash flows are more volatile) will optimally choose larger cash holdings as a hedge. I review the related literature and present a class of continuous-time capital structure models capable of capturing this phenomenon.


Background: Uterine contractions and an appropriate cervix are two important factors in labor contributing to good pregnancy outcomes. Oxytocin and prostaglandins, such as misoprostol, are used for the induction of labor. Misoprostol is used for cervical ripening and labor induction. The aim of this trial was to compare the efficacy and safety of titrated oral misoprostol solution with oxytocin for labor induction in pregnant women with an unfavorable cervix. Methods: In this randomized double-blind clinical trial, 140 women with a gestational age of 34 − 42 weeks and an unfavorable cervix were recruited. The participants had an indication for labor induction and had been referred to the Women's Hospital in Tehran, Iran between January 2010 and January 2011 . The participants were randomly assigned to receive 20 µg/hour titrated oral misoprostol plus intravenous placebo or 6 m U /min oxytocin plus oral placebo. In case contractions were inadequate, the drug doses were gradually increased. Pharmacological complications, the mean interval from the start of induction till vaginal delivery and delivery type were monitored and analyzed in both groups. Results: The mean interval from the start of induction till vaginal delivery in misoprostol group was shorter than the oxytocin group ( 11.07±3.42 vs . 14.87±3.21 hours, P=0.001 ). The frequency of pharmacological complications and vaginal or cesarean deliveries were similar between the two groups (P>0.05) . Conclusion: Use of titrated oral misoprostol is a safe and effective method for labor induction in pregnant women with unfavorable cervix. Misoprostol is associated with a shorter interval from induction to vaginal delivery than oxytocin. Abstract


Oil and gas have been produced on the Norwegian continental shelf since 1971. Exploration rates, extraction rates, employment, expertise levels, exports of oil and gas have all increased many fold during 1971-‐2013. The State has several roles in the Norwegian petroleum sector including basic research provider, allocator of exploration rights, investor, infrastructure owner, taxation collector, Sovereign Wealth Fund owner. In this paper I review the development of the petroleum sector in Norway, and highlight the various roles of the State in the development of the sector. The paper provides an overview of the macroeconomic importance of oil and gas in the Norwegian economy and critiques selected petroleum related policies.


Abstract. The 3D triangle mesh is widely used to represent indoor space. One of widely used methods of generating 3D triangle mesh data of indoor space is the construction from the point cloud collected using LIDAR. However, there are many problems in using generated triangle mesh data as a geometric representation of the indoor space. First, the number of triangles forming the triangle mesh is very large, which results in a bottleneck of the performance for storage and management. Second, no consideration on the properties of indoor space has been done by the previous work on mesh simplification for indoor geometric representation. Third, there is no research to construct indoor spatial standard data from triangle mesh data. For resolving these problems, we propose the a method for generating triangular mesh data for indoor geometric representation based in the observations mentioned above. First this method removes unnecessary objects and reduces the number of surfaces from the original fine-grained triangular mesh data using the properties of indoor space. Second, it also produces indoor geometric data in IndoorGML – an OGC standard for indoor spatial data model. In experimental studies, we present a case study of indoor triangle mesh data from real world and compare results with raw data.


The Kyoto Protocol was a success in the sense that it established legally binding commitments to reduce carbon emissions for a very specific set of actions and a specific set of actions and a specific set of countries - emission reduction of Annex B sources (mainly combustion of fossil fuels) in industrialized countries. However, the Protocol failed to establish a comprehensive set of markets of full geographic (all countries) and full structural coverage (all sources of GHGs). In this paper, we argue that it is mainly the economic and technological dissimilarity between carbon systems (e.g., country specific fossil fuel emissions, regional terrestrial methane fluxes to the atmosphere) that impede the formation of a single global GHG market covering all sources. It appears that the international realpolitik requires second best (worst) solutions in order to be agreeable to all potential parties. This paper discusses a methodology of developing such a solution by forming Common Carbon Market Systems (CCMS), which is an analogy to the existing international trading blocks. An optimal emission target for a specific carbon system functions as a measure to assign membership in such a trading block. It reflects the carbon systems specific dynamics and the related uncertainties. In this paper, we argue that clusters of similar GHG emission patterns expressed by similar targets will find themselves more willing to establish common rules among themselves than in one global market, since the winner-loser gap can drastically be reduced within a CCMS and the established market rules will better fit the dynamics of the respective carbon systems. Furthermore, products to be traded in a CCMS will be more readily identified, more comparable, and thus markets of CCMS will be more transparent and predictable. We conclude that in a post-Kyoto world CCMS might be instrumental in increasing the participation in, the comprehensiveness and finally the effectiveness of, international actions to combat global climate change. However, we will have to live with some efficiency losses.


The vertical water entry of asymmetric two-dimensional bodies with flow separation is considered. As long as there is no flow separation, linearised Wagner's theory combined with the Modified Logvinovich Model has been shown to provide computationally fast and reliable estimates of slamming loads during water entry. Tassin et al. (2014) introduced the Fictitious Body Continuation (FBC) concept as a way to extend the use of Wagner's theory to separated flow configurations, but they only considered symmetric bodies. In the present study, we investigate the ability of the FBC concept to provide accurate estimates of slamming loads for asymmetric bodies. In this case, flow separation may not occur simultaneously on both sides of the body. During an intermediate phase, slamming loads are governed by a competition between the local drop in pressure due to partial flow separation and the ongoing expansion of the wetted area. As a first benchmark for the model, we consider the water entry of an inclined flat plate and compare the FBC estimates with the results of a nonlinear model. Then, we consider the case of a foil and compare the FBC results with Computational Fluid Dynamics predictions. In both cases, we find that the FBC model is able to provide reliable estimates of the slamming loads.


Letter to the Editor

We read with interest the guidelines by Tripathi et al 1 and the leading article by Rosselli et al ,2 reporting the role of transient elastography for the diagnosis of oesophageal varices (OV).

Before screening endoscopy, non-invasive measures are needed to ascertain cirrhotic patients at high risk for oesophageal variceal bleeding (OVB) to decrease the number receiving unnecessary prophylactic treatments. In our recent study,3 spleen stiffness (SS) evaluated by acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging was shown to be closely correlated with the presence of OV. This study aimed to evaluate SS determined by ARFI imaging as a predictor of OVB. We measured SS in 446 cirrhotic patients and followed them prospectively at Kurashiki Central Hospital between 2010 and 2014. We examined the diagnostic accuracy of SS for predicting OVB …


Aims. This study was to estimate the demographic and psychological predictors of substances and drug abuse (SDA) in disabled veterans (DV). Methods. This correlation study performed in DVs population of Qom city in 2007. 452 DVs with severity of disability from 25 to 70% were selected by systematic categorical random sampling. Data were collected by Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST), Addiction Severity Index (ASI), Automatic Thoughts Scale (ATS), Brief COPE, Chronic Stress Symptoms Checklist (CSSC), Post-Traumatic Symptom Scale-10 items (PTSS-10), Personal Well-being Index (PWI) and demographic questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS 11 and Pearson correlation test, partial correlation tees and multivariate linear regression analysis using stepwise. Results. SDA correlated with behavior disengagement, ATS, ASI, CSSC and PTSD (PTSS) scores, but no correlation was seen with PWI scores. Regression analysis by all demographic and psychological variables showed that refuge to substances and drug against stress, cigarettes and hookah addiction, withdrawal, ATS, dissatisfaction by healthy status, disability time, home hours spending during day and group membership satisfaction explained 62% of SDA variances. Conclusion. SDA correlates with PTSS, DAST, ASI, ATS, Brief COPE, PWI and CSSC scores.


BACKGROUND: Currently, conventional cycle echocardiography is the recommended method for diagnosing diastolic dysfunction in patients with unexplained dyspnea upon exertion. However, this method has several underlying limitations including movement and respiratory artifact. These limitations are often exaggerated in patients who are obese and suffer from exertional dyspnea, and therefore limit its application in clinical diagnosis. Our group recently demonstrated that isometric handgrip echocardiography is a powerful sub-clinical diastolic discriminator that avoids the limitations of conventional cycle echocardiography and that can be easily implemented in the clinic. PURPOSE: However, to date it remains unclear how these two methodologies compare, and thus was the focus of the present investigation. We hypothesized that isometric handgrip echocardiography would be a more robust method for unmasking exercise induced diastolic dysfunction compared to conventional cycle echocardiography, due to its markedly different hemodynamic load. METHODS: To test this hypothesis, we recruited 24 individuals from the community (9 male, 15 female, age range: 18 80), who all performed 3 minutes of isometric handgrip echocardiography followed by 3 minutes of dynamic cycle exercise (20 W). At rest and during the final minute of each exercise protocol heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and Doppler derived E/e' were recorded. Consistent with our previous work, and that of others, individuals who had a change in E/e' from rest to exercise of >1.5 (ΔE/e' > 1.5) were defined as responders, while non-responders were defined as ΔE/e' < 1.5. RESULTS: Both isometric handgrip and low-intensity cycle exercise resulted in a similar rise in HR (ΔHR: 22 ± 13 vs. 25 ± 7, handgrip vs. cycle exercise, P > 0.05), while isometric handgrip resulted in a larger increase in MAP (ΔMAP: 28 ± 14 vs. 16 ± 12, handgrip vs. cycle exercise, P = 0.0003). Remarkably, the increased afterload stress experienced by the myocardium during isometric handgrip exercise was more robust at unmasking sub-clinical diastolic dysfunction in asymptomatic elderly individuals compared to conventional cycle exercise (handgrip: n = 14 vs. n = 10; and cycle: n = 10 vs. n = 14, responders vs. non-responders). CONCLUSION: Taken together, these data highlight the usefulness of isometric handgrip echocardiography at isolating myocardial diastolic relaxation abnormalities in community dwelling individuals, beyond that of dynamic cycle exercise. Future work should focus on confirming the sensitivity of this method in individuals at risk for or with diagnosed heart failure.


The establishment of the Councils for the Protection of the Rights of the Child of municipal communities started in 2003. Their purpose is to submit (within the Council's competence) proposals to municipal councils on the formation of the strategy and policy for the protection of children rights, the establishment of community priorities, as well as the elaboration and implementation of measures for the protection of children rights and prevention measures against the violation of children rights in a community (Official Gazette, 2002, No. 110-4866.). Although the establishment of the above group is one of the major steps in ensuring and strengthening the protection of children rights, it has exceptionally an advisory function; therefore, with a view to approximating the services to beneficiaries, child assistance groups are instrumental at the level of neighbourhoods for the assurance of complex assistance to children. Pursuant to the results of the interview of the members of the Working Groups for Protection of the Rights of the Child (hereinafter referred to as the GPRC), the present article analyzes practical operational aspects of the GPRC at a community level: the principles for the establishment of the above groups, the organization and coordination of activities. At the end of the article the model of the resolution of the violations of the main rights of the child in social risk families is presented.


When a young white man from the small town of Swartruggens chose the informal settlement of Skierlik to go on a killing spree, this was labelled racist by the media. Only black people lived in Skierlik, and small towns in the North West province had a reputation for being racially divided. This study examined the impact of this event on residents' identities, specifically because it was widely publicised and discrediting to the town. Problematised places potentially threaten residents' sense of self. The concept of placeidentity was used here from a discursive psychological framework, arguing that self-inrelation-to-place is socially constructed in the conversational space of human dialogue. Thus, this analysis exposed the spoken discourses that maintain and reproduce racialised constructions of place-identity in post-apartheid South Africa. Forty two semi-structured interviews were conducted in either English, Afrikaans or Setswana, during a two-week stay in the town. Despite the literature showing that place-identity threat in problematised places result in residents trying to preserve a positive place-identity, the data in this study shows a different trend. The central argument is that discourses of victimhood are constructed by both black and white residents, but for divergent purposes. White residents argue against negative media versions of Swartruggens, while black residents amplify disadvantage and promote media versions. Indian residents, largely omitted from media reports, maintain a positive place-identity by constructing an ambivalent third space of participant-observer in the town, geographically and socially separate in a black/white divide. The analysis is situated in relevant broader preand post-apartheid ideologies.


Present report describe the preparation, solubility and conductivity study of Li-Picrate in different pecntage of propylene carbonate (PC) and tetrahydro furan (THF)mixture. Fromsupported by absorbance data this primary study itmay be concluded that roomtemperature solubility of Li- Picrate inmixed (PC+THF) solvents at different percentage is higher than the higher temperatures. Conductivity data helps us to concluded that if we go fromroomtemperature to higher temperature conductance increases for Li-Picrate in (PC+THF) solvents at different percentage. It is due to the switch over of ion-pair to ionic dissociation of Li-Picrate salt.


Background: Impairment-focused aphasia treatment has an ultimate goal of improving language production in connected speech and communication in daily life. Although impairment-based treatment has typically been carried out in words or sentences, investigations have begun to explore the efficacy of treatment during discourse production. Focusing treatment on an impaired linguistic process during discourse production is a complex and challenging endeavour. Aims: This paper aims to review investigations of discourse treatment for word retrieval impairment in aphasia in order to identify and discuss variables that emerge as being important considerations in clinical practice and continued research. Main Contribution: Seven investigations that applied treatments during structured discourse production to improve word retrieval in participants with aphasia were reviewed. Treatment methods used in the investigations included phonologic and orthographic cues, semantic feature analysis, contingency-based cueing hierarchies, and repeated conversational engagement. The discourse contexts used for treatment were structured conversations or structured narrative discourse. All investigations reported positive outcomes for improved word retrieval abilities. Although treated vocabulary items did not improve in all cases, improvements in general processes of word retrieval were reported. Focusing treatment on the linguistic process of word retrieval resulted in changes to discourse macrostructure, at least in terms of the informativeness of the discourse. When attitudes and perceptions of the participants with aphasia or of naïve judges were assessed, the outcomes were generally favourable. One investigation provided evidence that treatment in structured discourse was related to improved word retrieval in real-life conversations. Conclusions: There are several promising discourse treatment approaches for word retrieval impairments in aphasia. Systematic analysis of changes in the macrolinguistic processes of discourse, in real-life conversations, and in the attitudes and perceptions of participants with aphasia and others in future discourse treatment studies would enhance our insights about their efficacy.


The latest round of climate negotiations that took place in Warsaw (Conference of Parties, COP19) finally resulted in a decision to agree on a timeframe for the new agreement due in COP21 in Paris in 2015, and on ways to enhance the levels of ambition in pre-2020 mitigation pledges. Specifically, Warsaw produced two milestones: i) Parties were asked to communicate "intended nationally-determined contributions" by March 2015 and ii) the Ad-hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action was requested to identify before COP20 in Lima, the information that Parties will provide when putting forward their contributions. This Commentary by Noriko Fujiwara explores what the Warsaw decision means in practice and offers some preliminary ideas about what is still needed.


BACKGROUND
Fever in a patient in the intensive care unit necessitates several nursing tasks. Moreover, factors associated with increased patient care needs may be associated with fever.

OBJECTIVE
To identify relationships between fever and characteristics of fever and nursing workload at the patient level.

METHODS
A prospective study was conducted in a medical-surgical intensive care unit. The sample consisted of 361 patients consecutively admitted from October 2005 to August 2006. Each patient's body temperature was measured by using a tympanic membrane or an axillary thermometer. The Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-28 was used to measure nursing workload.

RESULTS
A total of 188 patients (52.1%) had fever. Mean daily scores on the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System and on 5 of its 7 categories were significantly higher for febrile patients than for nonfebrile patients. Fever was an independent predictor of the mean daily scores for all patients (P < .001). Peak body temperature but not duration of fever also was an independent predictor of mean daily scores for febrile patients (P < .001).

CONCLUSION
In a general intensive care unit, fever in patients should be taken into consideration for the proper allocation of nursing personnel.


Summary.Adaptive contracting occurs when a principal experiments with the delegation of authority through leaving contracts incomplete. We highlight two potential benefits of adaptive contracting: First, the delegation of authority can be advantageous even if the agent acts opportunistically, since expected private benefits will be shared between the parties through price negotiation. Second, the principal extracts information from experimenting with delegation of authority and we identify a positive option value embodied in the principal's ability to extend or withdraw the delegated authority in future contracting periods.


Bedside teaching is a vital component of medical education. It is applicable to any situation where teaching is imparted in the presence of patients. In teaching in the patients' presence, learners have the opportunities to use all of their senses and learn the humanistic aspect of medicine such as role modeling, which is vital but difficult to communicate in words. Unfortunately, bedside teaching has been on the decline. To investigate the reasons for the decline in bedside teaching, its importance and its revival, a review of literature was carried out using PubMed and other data bases. The review revealed that the major concerns of bedside teaching were time constraint, false preceptors' concern about patients' comfort, short stay of patients in hospitals, learner distraction by technology, lack of experience and unrealistic faculty expectation. Whatsoever the reasons, bedside teaching cannot be replaced with anything else. There are newer approaches of effective bedside teaching, and the core focus of all such approaches is educational process. A bedside teacher must learn how to involve patients and learners in the educational processes. Moreover, bedside teaching is the process through which learners acquire the skills of communication by asking patients' permission, establishing ground rules, setting time limit, introducing the team, diagnosing learner, diagnosing patient, conducting focused teaching, using simple language, asking patient if there is any question, closing with encouraging thanks, and giving feedback privately. It is most important to ensure a comfortable environment for all participants, the learner, the patient and the bedside teacher. Ongoing faculty development programs on educational processes and realistic faculty expectations may overcome the problems.


OBJECTIVE
To assess health-related quality of life in individuals with severe traumatic brain injury at 12 months post-injury, applying the Quality of Life after Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) instrument, and to study the relationship between injury-related factors, post-injury functioning and health-related quality of life.

DESIGN/SUBJECTS
The study is part of a prospective, Norwegian multicentre study of adults (≥ 16 years old) with severe traumatic brain injury, as defined by a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 3-8 during the first 24 h post-injury. A total of 126 patients were included.

METHODS
Socio-demographic data and injury severity variables were collected. Functioning at 3 and 12 months was assessed with the Glasgow Outcome Scale Extended (GOSE), the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the Rivermead Post-concussion Questionnaire (RPQ), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Hierarchical regression analysis was applied.

RESULTS
Mean QOLIBRI score was 68.5 (standard deviation = 18.8). Predictors of the QOLIBRI in the final regression model were: employment status (p = 0.05), GOSE (p = 0.05), RPQ (p < 0.001) and HADS (p < 0.001). The adjusted R2 showed that the model explained 64.0% of the variance in the QOLIBRI score.

CONCLUSION
Symptom pressure and global functioning in the sub-acute phase of traumatic brain injury and psychological distress in the post-acute phase are important for health-related quality of life at 12 months post-injury. These domains should be the focus in rehabilitation aiming to improve health-related quality of life in patients with severe traumatic brain injury.


Background: This retrospective cohort study was conducted to explore the association between Red- Blood-Cell Distribution Width (RDW) and Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) among old patients after cardiac surgery.
Methods: Data from consecutive old patients who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were retrospectively analysed according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The primary outcome was AKI within the first postoperative day. Multivariable logistic regression and Receiver's Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to explore the association between RDW and AKI among old patients after cardiac surgery.
Results: The AKI patients had significantly larger RDW compared with non-AKI patients (14.7 ± 0.9 vs. 13.4 ± 0.6). Multiple logistic regression showed the second quartile was not associated with the risk of AKI after cardiac surgery (OR=1.05, 95% CI: 0.72-1.53) compared with the lowest quartile. However, the patients with the third quartile (OR=1.90 95% CI: 1.27-2.83) and fourth quartile (OR=2.03 95% CI: 1.66-4.86) of RDW had higher risk of AKI after cardiac surgery. The area under the ROC curve was 0.766. At the cut-off value of 13.9, the sensitivity was 69.4% and specificity was 68.6%.
Conclusion: RDW is a novel risk predictive factor of AKI after cardiac surgery in old Chinese patients. Physicians should consider the possible occurrence of AKI and apply a pre-emptive therapy for these patients.


People are always concerned about selecting and building careers that meet their aspirations and needs. Career planning process involves both individual and organization responsibility. Thus, every organization has an obligation to utilize its employee's abilities to the fullest and to give them a chance to grow and to realize their full potential for the development of successful career1. On the other hand the individuals must also identify their aspirations and abilities, and through assessment and counseling to understand their needs of training and development. Thus, career planning and development has been given increased emphasis in different organization. This paper has tried to evaluate the career planning policy, as an activity which plays an increasingly representative role in the human resources management. The career planning of the employees is essential for the organizational growth, effective utilization of available human resources and for the optimum productivity. The rationale of this study was to assess the career planning policy which is used by public sector in India to arouse its employees to perform better. In the present paper sample of 129 Class I, Class II and Class III employees working in different offices of New India Assurance Company on the basis of convenience sampling technique were taken to draw the responses and elicit the results.


Current artificial neural networks (ANNs) can perform and excel at a variety of tasks ranging from image classification to spam detection through training on large datasets of labeled data. While the trained network usually performs well on similar testing data, certain inputs that differ even slightly from the training data may trigger unpredictable behavior. Due to this limitation, it is possible to generate inputs with very small designed perturbations that can result in misclassification. These adversarial attacks present a security risk to deployed ANNs and indicate a divergence between how ANNs and humans perform classification. Humans are robust at behaving in the presence of noise and are capable of correctly classifying objects that are occluded, blurred, or otherwise distorted. It has been hypothesized that sleep promotes generalization and improves robustness against noise in animals and humans. In this work, we utilize a biologically inspired sleep phase in ANNs and demonstrate the benefit of sleep on defending against adversarial attacks as well as increasing ANN classification robustness. We compare the sleep algorithm's performance on various robustness tasks with two previously proposed adversarial defenses, defensive distillation and fine-tuning. We report an increase in robustness after sleep to adversarial attacks as well as to general image distortions for three datasets: MNIST, CUB200, and a toy dataset. Overall, these results demonstrate the potential for biologically inspired solutions to solve existing problems in ANNs and guide the development of more robust, human-like ANNs.


This report marks the first stage of AFSUN's goal of expanding knowledge about urban food systems and experiences of household food insecurity in secondary African cities. It contributes to an understanding of poverty and sustainability in Mzuzu, Malawi, through the lens of household food security. The focus on food as an urban issue not only speaks to the development challenges presented by urbanization, but it also brings a fresh perspective to debates about food security in Malawi. The urban setting highlights the changing food system in Malawi where people in rural and urban areas are increasingly reliant on cash income to buy food. The report's key findings include that the most vulnerable households are those without a formal wage income, households headed by older people, especially older women, and households that are not able to produce food in the rural areas. The research also shows that the food system is dynamic and diverse, with households accessing food from a variety of formal and informal food sources and relying on rural-urban linkages for urban survival. Urban and rural agriculture are important features of the food system, but there is little evidence that these are the ?self-help? responses to poverty that advocates for urban agriculture in Africa sometimes imply.


This study applies a set of measures developed by Diebold and Yilmaz (2012, 2016) to examine connectedness via return and volatility spillovers across six large cryptocurrencies from August 7, 2015 to February 22, 2018. Regardless of the sign of returns, the results show that Litecoin is at the centre of the connected network of returns, followed by the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. This finding implies that return shocks arising from these two cryptocurrencies have the most effect on other cryptocurrencies. Further analysis shows that connectedness via negative returns is largely stronger than via positive ones. Ripple and Ethereum are the top recipients of negative-return shocks, whereas Ethereum and Dash exhibit very weak connectedness via positive returns. Regarding volatility spillovers, Bitcoin is the most influential, followed by Litecoin; Dash exhibits a very weak connectedness, suggesting its utility for hedging and diversification opportunities in the cryptocurrency market. Taken together, results imply that the importance of each cryptocurrency in return and volatility connectedness is not necessarily related to its market size. Further analyses reveal that trading volume and global financial and uncertainty effects as well as the investment-substitution effect are determinants of net directional spillovers. Interestingly, higher gold prices and US uncertainty increase the net directional negative-return spillovers, whereas they do the opposite for net directional positive-return spillovers. Furthermore, gold prices exhibit a negative sign for net directional-volatility spillovers, whereas US uncertainty shows a positive sign. Economic actors interested in the cryptocurrency market can build on our findings when weighing their decisions.


Kane and Mele predicted that in the presence of spin-orbit interaction graphene realizes the quantum spin Hall state [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 226801 (2005)]. However, exceptionally weak intrinsic spin-orbit splitting in graphene (approximate to 10(-5) eV) inhibits experimental observation of this topological insulating phase. To circumvent this problem, we propose an approach towards controlling spin-orbit interactions in graphene by means of covalent functionalization of graphene edges with functional groups containing heavy elements. Proof-of-concept first-principles calculations show that very strong spin-orbit coupling can be induced in realistic models of narrow graphene nanoribbons with tellurium-terminated edges. We demonstrate that electronic bands with strong Rashba splitting as well as the quantum spin Hall state spanning broad energy ranges can be realized in such systems. Our work thus helps pave the way towards engineering topological electronic phases in nanostructures based on graphene and other materials by means of locally introduced spin-orbit interactions.


Patterns of the high‐latitude ionospheric convection and field‐aligned current (FAC) are a manifestation of the solar wind‐magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling. By observing them we can acquire information on magnetopause reconnection, a process through which solar wind energy enters the magnetosphere. We use over 10 years of magnetic field and convection data from the CHAMP satellite and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars, respectively, to display combined distributions of the FACs and convection for different interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientations and amplitudes. During southward IMF, convection follows the established two‐cell pattern with associated Region 1 and Region 2 FACs, indicating subsolar reconnection. During northward IMF, superposed on a weak two‐cell pattern there is a reversed two‐cell pattern with associated Region 0 and Region 1 FACs on the dayside, indicating lobe reconnection. For dominant IMF Bx, the sign of Bz determines whether lobe or subsolar reconnection signatures will be observed, but Bx will weaken the signatures compared to pure northward or southward IMF. When the IMF rotates from northward to duskward or dawnward, the distinct reversed and forward two‐cell patterns start to merge into a distorted two‐cell pattern. This is in agreement with the IMF By displacing the reconnection location from the open lobe field lines to closed dawn or dusk field lines, even though IMF Bz>0. As the IMF continues to rotate southward, the distorted pattern transforms smoothly to that of the symmetric two‐cell pattern. While the IMF direction determines the configuration of the FACs and convection, the IMF amplitude affects their intensity.


In 1999, the Bureau of the Census documented approximately 35,125 businesses in the 58-county region of southeast Georgia. Each of these businesses provides some combination of goods and services by transforming labor, capital, material, and information inputs into outputs that have value to their customers. This transformation process is called the company's "operations". Since, by definition, all businesses conduct operations, they must also employ people who manage those operations.However, a review of business degrees granted within the state of Georgia reveals that few degree programs exist to produce operations managers and that only a small handful of graduates emerge from those programs each year. According to the University System of Georgia's (2004) Student Information Reporting System, 5,751 bachelor's degrees in business were granted by Georgia's state universities in FY03. Only 16 of those degrees (0.28%) specialized in operations management. By contrast, approximately 12.4 percent specialized in accounting, 18.6 percent in finance, and 19.8 percent in marketing.An obvious question would seem to be "If not those educated in operations management, who's running the operations of businesses in our region?" The answer to this question has important implications for business executives faced with hiring decisions, educational institutions seeking to provide relevant programs, and students seeking to become qualified job candidates. Accordingly, the objectives of this research were to determine a) the educational backgrounds of current operations managers and b) the relative contribution of their education in helping them meet the challenges of their jobs.Literature ReviewThere is substantial recognition of the importance of the operations management function in business (Andrew & Johnson, 1982; Skinner, 1973), whether in manufacturing (Taj, Hormozi, & Mirshab, 1996) or in service industries (Armistead, Johnson, & Voss, 1986). Consequently, there have also been many studies of operations management education throughout the world (Ala, 1987; Bahl, 1989; Basnet, 2000; Berry, 1979; Berry, Watson, & Greenwood, 1978; Bregman & Flores, 1991; Chase 8 Zhang, 1998; Goffin, 1998; Hill, 1987; Machuca & Luque, 2003; Morgan, 1989; Raiszadeh & Ettkin, 1989; Wild, 1984; Wood 8 Britney, 1988/1989). Most of these studies, however, have focused on the content of operations management curriculum. In other words, these studies have started with an existing or presupposed degree program and worked forward in time to consider how to make that program more helpful to future operations managers. By contrast, the proposed study starts with current managers of operations and looks backward at the educational and other preparatory experiences that led them to their current positions.The disconnect between the number of operations managers and the production of operations management majors by universities is not unique to Georgia. For example, as part of a process of on-going improvement, AACSB International (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) expects its accredited members to seek input from multiple stakeholders and to use various forms of assessment to determine how well they are serving their customers (AACSB 2005). This is typically done through surveys of current students, graduates, and employers of graduates. However, such methods are limited to assessment of customers that have already been served. These customers may or may not be representative of the region's businesses in general. By targeting existing operations managers, regardless of any prior affiliation with the author's university, the current study addresses a known need of business that is apparently NOT being directly addressed by targeted programs.MethodologyA single-page survey completed by the person most recently hired into an entrylevel operations management position in target organizations was used. …


Context. Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the main constituent of the gas in the planet-forming disks that surround many pre-main-sequence stars. H2 can be incorporated in the atmosphere of the nascent giant planets in disks. Deuterium hydride (HD) has been detected in a few disks and can be considered the most reliable tracer of H2, provided that its abundance throughout the disks with respect to H2 is well understood.
Aims. We wish to form H2 and HD efficiently for the varied conditions encountered in protoplanetary disks: the densities vary from 104 to 1016 cm−3; the dust temperatures range from 5 to 1500 K, the gas temperatures go from 5 to a few 1000 Kelvin, and the ultraviolet radiation field can be 107 stronger than the standard interstellar field.
Methods. We implemented a comprehensive model of H2 and HD formation on cold and warm grain surfaces and via hydrogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the physico-chemical code PROtoplanetary DIsk MOdel. The H2 and HD formation on dust grains can proceed via the Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Eley-Ridel mechanisms for physisorbed or chemisorbed H (D) atoms. H2 and HD also form by H (D) abstraction from hydrogenated neutral and ionised PAHs and via gas phase reactions.
Results. H2 and HD are formed efficiently on dust grain surfaces from 10 to ~700 K. All the deuterium is converted into HD in UV shielded regions as soon as H2 is formed by gas-phase D abstraction reactions. The detailed model compares well with standard analytical prescriptions for H2 (HD) formation. At low temperature, H2 is formed from the encounter of two physisorbed atoms. HD molecules form on the grain surfaces and in the gas-phase. At temperatures greater than 20 K, the encounter between a weakly bound H- (or D-) atom or a gas-phase H (D) atom and a chemisorbed atom is the most efficient H2 formation route. H2 formation through hydrogenated PAHs alone is efficient above 80 K. However, the contribution of hydrogenated PAHs to the overall H2 and HD formation is relatively low if chemisorption on silicate is taken into account and if a small hydrogen abstraction cross-section is used. The H2 and HD warm grain surface network is a first step in the construction of a network of high-temperature surface reactions.


Treatment with CD19-targeted immunotherapy blinatumomab (Blincyto) as a single agent showed antileukemic activity in patients with minimal residual disease (MRD) Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) whose disease progressed after or was intolerant to a second-generation or later tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). The results were presented at ASH 2015.

"This is a proof-of-principle study with a new compound in an MRD-positive population with an MRD-based end point," said Giovanni Martinelli, MD, Associate Professor, Institute of Haematology, S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, Bologna, Italy. "This is a new indication to use a drug preemptively before patients experience a full relapse."

Blinatumomab is a bispecific T-cell engaging antibody construct that has shown antileukemic activity in adults with relapsed or refractory Ph-negative ALL.

"Blinatumomab induced a high complete MRD response rate of 80%, and 67% of patients were able to receive stem-cell transplant in continuous remission after blinatumomab," Dr Martinelli added.

The prognosis of patients with relapsed or refractory Ph-positive ALL is dismal despite the introduction of TKIs, which may be used as single agents or in combination regimens.

Of the 45 patients treated with blinatumomab, 44 were resistant to second-generation or later TKIs.

"The overall survival of the study was analyzed over the median follow-up of 30 months, so these are really mature data," said Dr Martinelli. "The median overall survival of 36 months is a very favorable result, keeping in mind that in relapsed ALL, median survival is around 6 months."

At 18 months, the median relapse-free survival was also high, Dr Martinelli noted.

"Blinatumomab may have contributed to prolonged relapse-free survival and overall survival in patients with MRD-positive ALL," said Dr Martinelli. "MRD response was associated with improved overall survival, relapse-free survival, and remission duration."

In addition, patients treated in first remission had improved relapse-free survival and remission duration compared with patients who were treated in subsequent remission.

Among patients who experienced neurologic events during the study, the majority had a grade ≤2 adverse effect.

"Twelve patients interrupted or discontinued treatment due to grade 3 or greater neurologic events," Dr Martinelli observed, "but this will be further improved as physicians gain experience with this very new treatment."

"Overall, I think this is a very efficient compound to treat MRD-positive ALL," Dr Martinelli concluded. "I think these are very promising results."


The cellulase production by P. janthinellum mutants on lignocellulosic material such as cellulose or steam exploded bagasse (SEB) in combination with wheat bran was studied in solid state fermentation (SSF). One of the mutants, EU2D21, produced the highest levels of endoglucanase (3710 IU g-1 carbon source) and β-glucosidase (155 IU g-1 carbon source). Ionic liquids are so-called green solvents that have become attractive for biocatalysis. Stability of mutant cellulases was tested in 10-50% of the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([bmim]Cl). FPA and CMCase were significantly stable in 10% ionic liquid after 5h. β-glucosidase showed 85% of its original activity after 5 h incubation in 30% ionic liquid and retained 55% of its activity after 24 h. This enzyme preparation hydrolyzed ionic-liquid-treated SEB completely in 15 h in the presence of 20% ionic liquid. These studies revealed that there is no need of regenerating cellulose after ionic liquid treatment, since cellulase of mutant strain was found to be significantly stable in the ionic liquid.


Antitrust and intellectual property laws promote innovation and competition. As long as the costs of promotion do not exceed the benefit to society, then the laws act in harmony. Discord arises when patent holders use public and private ordering to restrain competition, restrict downstream trade, prevent the development of competing products and limit output by competitors. Using the Patent Act and the misperception of antitrust immunity to create a parallel and under-regulated legal system allows a small number of patent holders to coordinate their behavior to maximize profits and minimize competition. The Patent Act provides no shield to prosecution for antitrust violations - such is a patent misperception only. Harmony comes from balancing the costs of protection with the benefit to society. Innovation is best protected through the protection of intellectual property rights and the protection of competition.


Downstream migrating salmon and steelhead (Oncoryhnchus spp.) smolts were monitored at the Rock Island Dam bypass trap from April 1--August 31, 1996. This was the twelfth consecutive year that the bypass trap was monitored. Data collected included: (1) number of fish collected by species, (2) number of fin clipped and/or Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tagged fish caught by species, (3) total number of fish showing signs of gas bubble trauma (GBT), (4) percent of descaled fish, and (5) daily average river flow, powerhouse {number_sign}1 flow, powerhouse {number_sign}2 flow and daily average spill. These data were transmitted to the Fish Passage Center (FPC), which manages the Smolt Monitoring Program throughout the Columbia River Basin. The Smolt Monitoring Program is used to manage the water budget, releasing upstream reservoir water storage allocated to supplement river flows during the downstream migration of juvenile salmonids.


Computers and ICT have become features of daily life in society, at work places and in the homes in most industrialised countries. Computers and ICT are increasingly used in schools, but large number of schools still have no access or limited access to new technologies. A growing number of teachers frequently use computers and ICT in their classrooms, but in some countries there are also large groups of teachers who do not use computers at all. An increasing number of teachers have received some training in the use of computers and ICT, but still about half of the teachers in the EU countries have so far received no training. Training in the use of computers and ICT seems to be included in the pre-service education of teachers in most countries. Governments have expressed a strong wish to increase the use of ICT in schools. It seems reasonably to assume that the changes we have seen in schools in respect of new technologies are only the beginning of what may be radical changes. Changes can take place in the general way in which education is delivered, in the practice in the classrooms and in the content of education.


The privacy implications of generative adversarial networks (GANs) are a topic of great interest, leading to several recent algorithms for training GANs with privacy guarantees. By drawing connections to the generalization properties of GANs, we prove that under some assumptions, GAN-generated samples inherently satisfy some (weak) privacy guarantees. First, we show that if a GAN is trained on m samples and used to generate n samples, the generated samples are (epsilon, delta)-differentially-private for (epsilon, delta) pairs where delta scales as O(n/m). We show that under some special conditions, this upper bound is tight. Next, we study the robustness of GAN-generated samples to membership inference attacks. We model membership inference as a hypothesis test in which the adversary must determine whether a given sample was drawn from the training dataset or from the underlying data distribution. We show that this adversary can achieve an area under the ROC curve that scales no better than O(m^{-1/4}).


The making of topographic database of the Official Topographic Cartographic Information System (STOKIS) at scale of 1:25 000 is close to its end in Croatia. It is a great success for the country that survived massive war devastation just 10 to 15 years ago. The State Geodetic Administration (SGA), private sector and the Croatian Geodetic Institute (CGI) are involved in STOKIS topographic database making. They are considering all European and international standards in that field and also the demands of the INSPIRE project in that production. The STOKIS system has structure similar to that of the German Official Topographic Cartographic Information System (ATKIS). Today in Croatia, as in many other European countries with similar systems, we are coping with the question how to place a product such as topographic data to the market. In every case, one of the solutions is to make it as close to the user as possible. Today, a cartographic product user is much more demanding than only few years ago. He expects fast and exact information, reachable in every place of the Earth. That is why cartographic community has to get closer to those demands as soon and as efficient as possible. Croatian STOKIS topographic data are 1-10 years old. As such, they cannot completely satisfy all potential STOKIS users. Soon, the time will come when Croatia will have to find certain solutions that will satisfy potential users. One of them is to find efficient updating methods on short-term and long-term basis.


Melastomataceae are among the most abundant and diversified groups of plants throughout the tropics, but their intrafamily relationships and morphological evolution are poorly understood. Here we report the results of parsimony and maximum likelihood (ML) analyses of cpDNA sequences from the rbcL and ndhF genes and the rpl16 intron, generated for eight outgroups (Crypteroniaceae, Alzateaceae, Rhynchocalycaceae, Oliniaceae, Penaeaceae, Myrtaceae, and Onagraceae) and 54 species of melastomes. The sample represents 42 of the family's currently recognized ∼150 genera, the 13 traditional tribes, and the three subfamilies, Astronioideae, Melastomatoideae, and Memecyloideae (= Memecylaceae DC.). Parsimony and ML yield congruent topologies that place Memecylaceae as sister to Melastomataceae. Pternandra, a Southeast Asian genus of 15 species of which five were sampled, is the first- branching Melastomataceae. This placement has low bootstrap support (72%), but agrees with morphological treatments that placed Pternandra in Melastomatacaeae because of its acrodromal leaf venation, usually ranked as a tribe or subfamily. The interxylary phloem islands found in Memecylaceae and Pternandra, but not most other Melastomataceae, likely evolved in parallel because Pternandra resembles Melastomataceae in its other wood characters. A newly discovered plesiomorphic character in Pternandra, also present in Memecylaceae, is a fibrous anther endothecium. Higher Melastomataceae lack an endothecium as do the closest relatives of Melastomataceae and Memecylaceae. The next deepest split is between Astronieae, with anthers opening by slits, and all remaining Melastomataceae, which have anthers opening by pores. Within the latter, several generic groups, corresponding to traditional tribes, receive solid statistical support, but relationships among them, with one exception, are different from anything predicted on the basis of morphological data. Thus, Miconieae and Merianieae are sister groups, and both are sister to a trichotomy of Bertolonieae, Microlicieae + Melastomeae, and Dissochaeteae + Blakeeae. Sonerileae/Oxysporeae are nested within Dissochaeteae, Rhexieae within Melastomeae, and African and Asian Melastomeae within neotropical Melastomeae. These findings have profound implications for our understanding of melastome morphological evolution (and biogeography), implying, for example, that berries evolved from capsules minimally four times, stamen connectives went from dorsally enlarged to basal/ventrally enlarged, and loss of an endothecium preceded poricidal dehiscence.