Pharmacists are seen as a trustworthy source of advice and information to many people. Their accessibility, approachability and availability enable them numerous opportunities to offer health education and advice in an informal environment. Patient use of and demand for complementary and alternative practitioners including chiropractors, continues to increase, however there have been no studies to determine the extent of the pharmacists knowledge and perceptions/attitudes towards these alternative practitioners. Thus the purpose of this study was to determine the current perceptions, attitudes and knowledge of selected South African pharmacists with respect to the chiropractic profession. This will provide a basis for future studies, as well as a knowledge base to facilitate greater understanding and co-operation between pharmacists and chiropractors.


ABSTRACT This essay explores the political implications of the flash mob dance in Dhaka, Bangladesh performed in response to the 2012 global viral sensation of South Korean rapper PSY's "Gangnam Style" music video. The global fame of "Gangnam Style" has much to do with its success online and in the U.S. popular music industry. It, however, also solicited suspicion from popular culture critics that the images of comical PSY worked successfully thanks to unchecked consumption of the racial stereotypes of Asian men. While recognizing these problems as more than valid, this essay simultaneously calls for a more transnational and inter-Asian understanding of the material to argue for a productive quality of PSY's performance. Using "refraction" as a mode of thinking about inter-Asian circulation of pop culture, this essay considers the flash mob performed in Dhaka, Bangladesh as an important yet underexplored case study that shows different performative practices associated with "Gangnam Style" deeply rooted in historicity of colonialism and nationalism. The case study shows that the circulation of "Gangnam Style" materialized through a performance in Dhaka enlarged contemporary discourse among young urban Bangladeshi spectators around Bangladeshiness and its cultural identity. This complicated an easy assumption about "Gangnam Style" and its success in the U.S. mainstream pop culture, while simultaneously displacing the Bangladeshi cultural subjects from the immobile position of "the Other."


Background Many epidemiological studies have linked small size at birth to adverse adult health outcomes but the relative influence of environmental exposures is less well established. Methods The authors investigated the impact of prenatal environmental exposure by comparing 2750 participants born before (1925–1929) and during (1930–1934) the Great Depression in Reykjavik, Iceland. Calendar year served as proxy for environmental effects. Anthropometric measurements at birth and school-age (8–13 years) were collected from national registries. Participants were medically examined as adults (33–65 years). Results Mean birth weight, adjusted for maternal age and parity, decreased by 97 g (95% confidence interval (CI): 39, 156) for men and 70 g (95% CI: 11, 129) for women from 1925 to 1934; growth at school-age was significantly reduced for participants growing during the Depression. As adults, women prenatally exposed to the Depression had higher body mass index (Δ0.6 kg/m2, 95% CI: 0.2, 1.1), higher fasting blood glucose levels (Δ0.16 mmol/L, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.23) and greater odds of being obese 1.43 (95% CI: 1.01, 2.02) compared to unexposed counterparts. Non-significant associations were observed in men. Conclusion Reduction in birth weight due to rapid shifts in the economic environment appears to have a modest but significant association with later obesity for women while male offspring appear to be less affected by these conditions.


Drug trafficking is an ever growing international security conundrum. Transnational crime syndicates have proved to be extremely resilient to counter-narcotics initiatives. Despite the efforts of national and international institutions, enormous amounts of drugs are produced, trafficked and consumed throughout the world. Transnational crime syndicates manufacture new psychoactive substances when the governments increase controls over existing drugs. Annual number of drug-related deaths has increased to 250,000 globally. Illicit drug trade proved to be an insidious threat that finances terrorism, instigates corruption, undermines economic development and erodes state authority. Turkey is exposed to massive flows of narcotics as it lies at a strategic location between major production and consumption markets. Turkish National Security Council (MGK), however, downplays narcotics as a national security problem. Counter-narcotics policy is often subdued by counter-terrorism and geopolitical conflicts in the MGK summits. Indeed, for many high-level security officials, narcotics threat is as important as its affiliation with the counter-terrorism campaign of the government. This paper investigates the broader security implications of illicit drug trade for Turkey. It presents the socio-economic costs of the drug problem as well as analysis of the impacts on corruption, public order and state authority. It argues that illicit drug trade should be a greater national security agenda in the upcoming years.


Acanthamoeba keratitis is a blinding infection that is becoming increasingly important in human health. Early diagnosis is a prerequisite for successful treatment and requires identification of Acanthamoeba at the genotypic level. The genus Acanthamoeba consists of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic species and has been recently classified into 13 different genotypes, T1-T12 and T14. More importantly, 95% of Acanthamoeba isolates that produce keratitis belong to T4 genotypes. In this study, we attempted to determine whether predominance of T4 isolates in Acanthamoeba keratitis is due to greater virulence or greater prevalence. We isolated 18 Acanthamoeba isolates from environmental samples in Ankara, Turkey and determined their pathogenic potential by means osmotolerance, temperature tolerance and in vitro cytotoxicity assays using corneal epithelial cells. Ribosomal DNA sequencing revealed that 10 isolates belong to T2, 5 belong to T3, 2 belong to T4 and one belongs to T7 genotype. As expected, T3 and T4 isolates exhibited the most pathogenic traits and were osmotolerant, temperature tolerant and exhibited severe corneal epithelial cell cytotoxicity indicating their pathogenic potential. Overall these data indicate that high frequency of T4 isolates in keratitis cases may well be due to their greater virulence. This is the first report presenting environmental distribution of Acanthamoeba in Ankara, Turkey.


This article extends previous empirical research on the benefits and barriers for researchers in the field of Information Systems (IS) to engage in University-Industry Collaboration (UIC), a term that is used to describe the active engagement of a company or government agency in a joint research project with academics. The objectives and motivations of UIC have been discussed widely and controversially in the literature. We were particularly interested in the perceived benefits and barriers that influence an individual researcher to engage (or not engage) in a joint research project. An in-depth literature analysis showed that a very small number of research articles contain empirical data and that there are serious methodological issues. In order to address these issues, we collected primary data from 328 IS researchers with experience in UIC and conducted an explorative study. We developed parsimonious formative measures for the benefits and barriers of UIC and we found that academic and economic benefits positively influence the intention to conduct UIC in the future, while economic barriers negatively influence the intention to engage in UIC. A cluster analysis found five clusters (groups of researchers) that differ in their perception of benefits and barriers and the future intention to conduct UIC. However, the majority of the researchers have a very high intention to conduct UIC in the future.


Title of dissertation: PRINCIPALS, AGENTS, AND DISTANT MARKETS: THE ROLE OF INFORMATION IN NON-STATE MARKET-DRIVEN PUBLIC POLICY Kenneth Edward Cousins, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Dissertation directed by: Professor Ken Conca Department of Government and Politics Although non-state market-driven (NSMD) policies are increasingly promoted as more efficient and effective alternatives to state-based regulation, there have been few comparative studies of the two approaches, and none that focus on their relative reliability as a means of policy delivery. To facilitate comparison of state and non-state policy systems, I develop a two-part comparative framework that highlights key structural features expected to produce slippage (i.e., a divergence of principals' expectations and agents' actions). The first integrates new insights about principal-agent theory with formal network analysis, emphasizing internal structural factors that can be expected to impact communication between policymakers those to whom they delegate implementation responsibilities (i.e., structural complexity). The second focuses on exogenous factors; namely the tendency for communication errors to increase as people are separated by culture and experience (i.e., social distance). I apply this framework to compare state forest laws and two NSMD systems currently operating in Chile. Since NSMD authority – and persistence as market alternatives – are predicated on informed demand, I analyze media content throughout the global products chain, controlling for geography, culture, and epistemic community. I conclude that an important NSMD instrument (the chain-of-custody) weakens the reliability of such models as means of implementing public policy. Moreover, since the quality of communication about NSMD systems strongly declines with geographical distance, this suggests we may be replacing governmental systems of safeguarding public goods (however flawed) with alternatives that are likely to be less effective in the long run. PRINCIPALS, AGENTS, AND DISTANT MARKETS: THE ROLE OF INFORMATION IN NON-STATE MARKET-DRIVEN PUBLIC POLICY


The impact of the 2008 financial crisis led to the imposition of severe 'crisis measures' focused on alleviating budget deficits at all levels of Spanish government. In this context, the central government sought to restrict regional and local government spending. One of the key mechanisms at the Spanish government's disposal was restricting public sector employment. This paper examines the responses to these centrally imposed measures in two local municipal governments, Bilbao (Basque Country) and Parla (Madrid) between 2010 and 2015. The paper applies a 'varieties of capitalism' conceptual approach to investigate what it refers to as subnational institutional systems and suggests that processes of economic and social adjustment in Spain are also influenced by distinctive regional and local political economic arrangements. Key factors contributing to the different industrial relations outcomes observed in the two case study locations are described and discussed. The results show that different types and degrees of coordination can co-exist within a decentralised national political economy.


This paper is a report of the National Bankruptcy Conference. It analyzes one of the issues currently before the Supreme Court in the case of Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison — the constitutional effectiveness of party consent to adjudication by a non-Article III judge. The paper examines how the Supreme Court's precedents should guide the Court's analysis of that issue and discusses the negative impact a decision rejecting consent could have on the operation of the bankruptcy system, adjudication of civil actions by magistrate judges, and the workload of the district courts. After reviewing past decisions in which the Court or individual justices suggested that party consent enables bankruptcy courts to decide matters that Article III would otherwise prevent them from adjudicating, this paper examines the Court's leading precedent on the constitutional effect of consent to non-Article III adjudication — the 1986 decision in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor. The paper contends that the Court's analysis in Schor supports the constitutionality of bankruptcy court adjudication of private rights with the parties' consent, notwithstanding the decision of three federal circuits to the contrary. The paper concludes with a discussion of the practical importance of the Court's decision of the consent issue in Arkison. It provides examples of the delays and added costs that would result from a bifurcation of bankruptcy adjudication between bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy courts. It also notes the likely effect of the decision on magistrate judges and discusses the impact that a decision rejecting consent to adjudication by bankruptcy and magistrates judges would have on the workload of district courts.


Characteristics of the spawning population of Atlantic herring along the Maine coast are inferred from an examination of larval catch rates and the distribution of larval cohorts based on otolith growth increments. Comparison of larval catch rates with the harvests of adult herring indicated that larval production decreased precipitously in 1978 following the removal of the 1970 year-class from the coastal spawning population and a general increase in the catch of adults. Reduced larval production persisted after 1978 and reached a low level in 1981 which resulted in the collapse of the fishery for juveniles (age 2) in 1983. Comparison of catch rates from larval surveys along the coast and the occurrence of larval cohorts inshore during 1980-81 with those reported for the mid-1960's and early 1970's indicated little change in the location of spawning grounds and the presence of larval cohorts, but the mechanisms which enhance larval survival and recruitment were probably not the same for the spawning grounds off eastern and central-western Maine. It is suggested that the survival of larvae hatched in the eastern area was increased by their dispersion westward along the coast to overwinter in the many estuaries and embayments, whereas larvae hatched in the central-western area were less widely dispersed but their survival was increased by the shorter winter experienced by some because of late spawning. The absence of late spawning in the central-western area in 1981. evident from the absence of larval cohorts inshore during the winter. was probably responsible in part for the very small catch of juvenile herring in 1983. The implications of reducing the spawning population below some critical level by intensive harvesting of weak year-classes are discussed in relation to management problems.


Because of Bt corn's efficacy in controlling European corn borer, farmers are required to implement an insect resistance management (IRM) program that constrains each farmer to plant no more than 80% of the farm's corn to Bt varieties. This refuge must be planted within a half-mile of Bt corn and must be contained on the same farm. Community refuge schemes, those which allow the refuge area to be planted on a neighboring farm, have been proposed. In this analysis, we estimate the potential gains to all farms in the community in two representative locations: Pennsylvania and Iowa. The results of a decision analysis model show that the potential gains are very small; the greatest is only $652 over a 2000-acre community ($0.33 per acre). This gain would almost certainly be offset by the costs of developing such a community.


Proposing efficient spectrum utilization techniques to alleviate spectrum congestion is
one of the most important challenges in wireless communication technologies operating at
specific spectrum bands. In fact, the growth of wireless application demands has caused
the frequency allocation table for wireless services to become over congested. On the other
hand, recent measurement studies have shown that the radio frequency spectrum in its current
shape is inefficiently utilized. Hence, for the purpose of alleviating the long-standing
problem of spectrum congestion, the federal communication commission (FCC) is actively
revising the traditional spectrum allocation policies and moving towards the adoption of
opportunistic spectrum-sharing techniques using cognitive radio. Cognitive radio (CR) is
a technology that has the ability of sensing the environment in which it operates and adapting
to its changes. For instance, through sensing, CR detects the portions of the spectrum
that are un-occupied (also referred to as spectrum holes) at a specific location or time.
One of the most efficient ways to identify spectrum holes is to sense the activity of the
primary users operating within the secondary users' (cognitive user) range of communication.
In this dissertation, we study different approaches for adaptive resource allocation in
spectrum-sharing CR networks. In this context, we propose utilizing spectrum sensing information
about the primary users' activity and secondary channel knowledge to adaptively
adjust the secondary transmission parameters such as time, power and rate while adhering
to the generated interference at the primary receivers. In this case, a proper resource management
is needed so as to maximize the throughput performance of the secondary users
and avoid performance degradation for the primary users. The existence and specification
of such resource allocation are necessary issues and will be investigated in this dissertation
for different operating scenarios. We also propose adopting cooperative relaying
techniques in spectrum-sharing CR systems to more effectively and efficiently utilize the
available transmission resources while adhering to the quality of service requirements of
the primary (licensed) users of the shared spectrum band. In particular, while the moment
generating function approach is commonly used to evaluate the performance analysis of
cooperative relaying systems, we propose a unified framework which relies on the first-order
statistics and convolutional methods to investigate the end-to-end performance of
cooperative relaying spectrum-sharing systems. Furthermore, we quantify the advantages
of utilizing relaying transmissions in spectrum-sharing CR networks for different operating
scenarios and conditions.


INTRODUCTION: Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a neurotrophin that exerts an important role in the development and functions of the central and peripheral nervous system, as it was originally discovered for its properties of simulating growth and differentiation of neurons; however, it was recently documented that several immune cells, such as mast cells, lymphocytes, and eosinophils, produce, store, and release NGF. Neurotrophins, including NGF, are constitutively expressed by resident lung cells and produced in increasing quantities by immune cells that invade the airways under inflammatory conditions. Furthermore, NGF appears as a promoter of allergic airway inflammation by increasing eosinophil and lymphocyte recruitment into the lungs. Neurotrophin receptors are expressed on several immune cells, including mast cells, T cells, B cells, and macrophages. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to clarify the role of NGF in allergic and inflammatory lung diseases. METHODS: Our study was conducted of 90 children who attended the outpatient pediatric clinic or were admitted to the inpatient pediatric department of Elminia University Hospital. They were classified into 3 groups as follows: group 1, 35 children with asthma during the acute attack; group 2, 35 children with severe inflammatory lung disease and bronchopneumonia; group 3, 20 seemingly healthy children who were age and gender matched to the children with disease. For all children, the following were done: careful history taking, thorough clinical examination, chest radiograph, complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect NGF receptor mRNA expression on purified eosinophils that were obtained from peripheral blood. RESULTS: We found only 3 patients who had asthma and had positive NGF receptors on isolated eosinophils from the peripheral blood by RT-PCR; however, all studied patients with bronchopneumonia had negative results. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between patients with positive and negative results for NGF receptors on isolated eosinophils by RT-PCR regarding age, the frequency of recurrence of asthma attacks, and positive history of other atopic diseases such as allergic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis; however, there was no statistically significant difference between patients with positive and negative results regarding gender, type of feeding, or family history. CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong association between NGF receptors on isolated eosinophils and the severity of allergic lung diseases and bronchial asthma.


Halkomelem is a Central Salish language of the Pacific Northwest with dialects of Upriver, Downriver, and Island. Color terms are adjectival verbs in Upriver Halkomelem, used syntactically and cognitively as both verbs and adjectives. Fieldwork with Munsell chips reveals that speakers of Upriver Halkomelem use a variety of strategies to name shades of color. Galloway 1992 reported on the use of aspect inflection to name the shades; thus color term roots are inflected for stative (be red), inceptive (get red, turn red), and these can be combined with continuative aspect (being red, getting/tuming red, getting in a state of red) and even with diminutives (a little red, getting/tuming a little red). There is one augmentative affix but adverbs like 'very' and 'real' are preposed by certain speakers to express some shades. Color adjectives, with or without adverbs and affixes, may be used sentence-initially as verbs or may be preposed to nouns within noun phrases. It seems, then, that different speakers use distinct metaphorical cognitive models in creating these terms. All speakers share the metaphorical model that COLORS ARE PROCESSES. This cognitive model allows further metaphors to be applied, for example, INCREASING SATURATION & BRIGHTNESS ARE CONTINUATIVES. Another metaphorical model is seen with the diminutive: DECREASING SATURATION & BRIGHTNESS ARE DIMINISHING IN SIZE OR AMOUNT. These last two mental models are coherent with each other and, therefore, can be used together. There are also adjectives meaning 'light' and 'dark' which some speakers use with color terms, and some use two basic color terms together to express variations in hue (like blue-green in English). Investigation continues into whether there are submodels ofmodifiers used to express variations in saturation independently from those in brightness. In Upriver Halkomelem, thinking of color in terms of culturally sanctioned metaphors is a convention that exceeds mere application of linguistic form to unprocessed color perception. Communicative subtlety depends on them.


P-selectin is an integral membrane glycoprotein on stimulated platelets and endothelial cells that serves as a receptor for leukocytes. To estimate the density of P-selectin in membranes necessary to support adhesion, we incorporated purified P-selectin at varying concentrations into phospholipid bilayers that encapsulated glass microspheres. Maximal binding of these lipospheres to HL60 cells, a P-selectin ligand-expressing cell line, was approached at a P-selectin density of about 100 molecules per microns 2; half-maximal binding was observed at about 50 to 60 molecules per microns 2. Compatible results were obtained with P-selectin expressed on Chinese hamster ovary cells. The P-selectin density on stimulated platelets was estimated to be 150 to 200 molecules/microns 2. To identify the domains of P-selectin required for HL60 cell binding, chimeras of P-selectin and L-selectin were stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and clones that expressed the chimeras at the estimated physiologic density were selected. Chimeras containing the P-selectin lectin and epidermal growth factor (EGF) domains or the lectin, EGF, and short consensus repeats bound HL60 cells equivalently, but a chimera containing the P-selectin lectin domain alone bound HL60 cells much less well. These results indicate that at a physiologically relevant P-selectin density on membrane surfaces, the lectin, and EGF domains of P-selectin are together required for optimal leukocyte binding.


The contemporary research on the development of teachers' professional learning and professional identity for a large section of teachers in English as a foreign language (EFL) is woefully underdeveloped. Where previous research focuses on traditionally trained teachers, this project works with teachers trained and certified by private language schools. It examines their perception of development in learning and identity through the lens of Lave and Wenger's theories on professional learning and identity. The data comes from three in-depth interviews from a pilot project of a larger doctoral research project. The primary research questions are: (1) How do non-traditionally trained EFL teachers construct their professional identity? And (2) How do such teachers construct their professional development? The findings push back against and add nuance to the current framework for the development of learning and identity through practice as this teaching population come to and stay in teaching for reasons different yet related to their traditionally trained counterparts.


This volume contains the proceedings of the Conference on Conformal Dynamics and Hyperbolic Geometry, held October 21-23, 2010, in honor of Linda Keen's 70th birthday. This volume provides a valuable introduction to problems in conformal and hyperbolic geometry and one dimensional, conformal dynamics. It includes a classic expository article by John Milnor on the structure of hyperbolic components of the parameter space for dynamical systems arising from the iteration of polynomial maps in the complex plane. In addition there are foundational results concerning Teichmuller theory, the geometry of Fuchsian and Kleinian groups, domain convergence properties for the Poincare metric, elaboration of the theory of the universal solenoid, the geometry of dynamical systems acting on a circle, and realization of Thompson's group as a mapping class group for a uniformly asymptotically affine circle endomorphism. The portion of the volume dealing with complex dynamics will appeal to a diverse group of mathematicians. Recently many researchers working in a wide range of topics, including topology, algebraic geometry, complex analysis, and dynamical systems, have become involved in aspects of this field.


EN.675.600. Systems Engineering for Space. 3 Credits. This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of systems engineering and their particular application to the development of space systems. It describes how the systems engineering viewpoint differs from that of the engineering specialist, as well as the essential role that systems engineering plays across the mission design life cycle. Topics include requirements analysis, trade studies, concept definition, interface definition, system synthesis, and engineering design. Techniques and analysis methods for making supportable quantitative decisions will also be explored, along with risk assessment and mitigation planning. The importance of thorough systems engineering from the initiation of the project through launch and flight operations will be emphasized. This is intended as the first course in the Space Systems Engineering program curriculum so that the student establishes a firm grasp of the fundamentals of systems engineering as applied to space programs. Examples will be presented from real space missions and programs, with assignments, special topics, and a team project focused on typical space systems engineering problems and applied methods of technical problem resolution. Prerequisite(s): Admission into the SSE program, or with approval of the instructor. Prerequisite(s): Cannot have already completed EN.645.662 Intro to Systems Engineering


Whole body irradiation (WBI) to a single dose of 3 Gy of γ-rays has earlier been shown in our laboratory to induce thymic lymphoma (TL) after 4-5 months in Swiss mice. The tumour induction was significantly found suppressed when animals were pre-exposed to radiation doses in the range of a few cGy. Recent research efforts have been focused to investigate the molecular mechanism of these observations. In vitro studies on thymocytes from irradiated mice have shown a radiation dose (1-5 Gy) and post-irradiation (3 Gy) time dependent increase in intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) as measured by 2,7-dichlorodihydroflurescein diacetate (DCH-FDA) and enhanced apoptosis as measured by fluorescent probe, merocyanine-540 (MC-540). Typically, a five-fold increase in ROS and apoptosis was observed in thymocytes collected 30 minutes after exposure of mice to a dose of 5 Gy suggesting substantial up-regulation of ROS in cells after exposure of animal to moderate oxidative stress. It was further found that increased cellular ROS was correlated with induction of apoptosis in thymocytes of irradiated mice. Pre-exposure of animals with 1 cGy was found to significantly inhibit ROS generation and apoptosis induction in thymocytes from whole body irradiated (3 Gy) mice suggesting suppressive effect of low dose irradiation. Moreover, exposure of animals with fractionated low doses of 1 × 1, 3 × 1 and 5 × 1 cGy yielded increasing level of ROS in cells suggesting dose-dependent accumulative radiation damage. These results would have significant implications in understanding the mechanism of low dose induced suppression in tumour induction by radiation.


Based on constructive type theory, we study two idealized imperative languages GC and IC and verify the correctness of a compiler from GC to IC. GC is a guarded command language with underspecified execution order defined with an axiomatic semantics. IC is a deterministic low-level language with linear sequential composition and lexically scoped gotos defined with a small-step semantics. We characterize IC with an axiomatic semantics and prove that the compiler from GC to IC preserves specifications. The axiomatic semantics we consider model total correctness and map programs to continuous predicate transformers. We define the axiomatic semantics of GC and IC with elementary inductive predicates and show that the predicate transformer described by a program can be obtained compositionally by recursion on the syntax of the program using a fixed point operator for loops and continuations. We also show that two IC programs are contextually equivalent if and only if their predicate transformers are equivalent.


Abstract The hot emplacement of the Ronda peridotites (Betic Cordilleras) developed a dynamothermal aureole and partial melts that led to the intrusion of granite dykes in the peridotites. Previous geochronological data place rather broad limits for this event between 22 and 19 Ma. Analyses of neocrystalline zircon rims from large zircon populations yield a U–Pb SHRIMP age of 22.3±0.7 Ma for the dynamothermal aureole formation, and intrusion ages of granite dykes between 22.6±1.8 and 21.5±3.8 support that conclusion. Therefore, these new ages provide a more robust constraint on the hot emplacement of the Ronda peridotites at middle crustal levels.


This paper presents a method to recognize human actions from sequences of depth maps. Specifically, we employ an action graph to model explicitly the dynamics of the actions and a bag of 3D points to characterize a set of salient postures that correspond to the nodes in the action graph. In addition, we propose a simple, but effective projection based sampling scheme to sample the bag of 3D points from the depth maps. Experimental results have shown that over 90% recognition accuracy were achieved by sampling only about 1% 3D points from the depth maps. Compared to the 2D silhouette based recognition, the recognition errors were halved. In addition, we demonstrate the potential of the bag of points posture model to deal with occlusions through simulation.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E') by tissue Doppler echocardiography (TD) has been reported to be a load-independent index of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, allowing the early diastolic mitral inflow velocity (E)/E' ratio to be used clinically to predict LV filling pressures. However, preload independence of E' has remained controversial, and E/E' may not consistently be predictive of LV filling pressures. Our objectives were to test the hypotheses that E' is affected by preload, and that alterations of preload, afterload, and contractility also affect E/E'. DESIGN, INTERVENTIONS, AND MEASUREMENTS: An open-chest dog model was used (n = 8). High-fidelity pressure and conductance catheters were used for pressure-volume relations, and E' was obtained by pulsed TD from the apical four-chamber view. Changes in preload and afterload were induced by vena caval and partial aortic occlusions, respectively. Data were collected during control phase and during infusions of dobutamine and esmolol to alter contractility.

RESULTS
E' was consistently and significantly associated with acute decreases in LV end-diastolic pressure in each dog (n = 200 beats; r = 0.93 +/- 0.06 [mean +/- SD]). Similar results occurred with dobutamine and esmolol infusions. This preload sensitivity was reflected in E/E', which was inversely (rather than directly) correlated with LV diastolic pressure (r = - 0.67). E/E' was less affected by preload when diastolic dysfunction was induced by sustained partial aortic occlusion (time constant of relaxation increased from 46 +/- 19 to 53 +/- 21 ms, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
E' was significantly influenced by preload with preserved LV function and low filling pressures (< 12 mm Hg); accordingly, E/E' was less predictive of LV filling pressures in this scenario. E/E' was more predictive of LV filling pressures in the presence of diastolic dysfunction.


Active matter, composed of self-propelled entities, forms a wide class of out-of-equilibrium systems that display striking collective behaviors, among which, the so-called active turbulence where spatially and time-disordered flow patterns spontaneously arise in a variety of active systems. De facto, the active turbulence naming suggests a connection with a second seminal class of out-of-equilibrium systems, inertial turbulence, even though the latter is of very different nature with energy injected at global system scale rather than at the elementary scale of single constituents. Indeed, the existence of a possible strong tie between active and canonical turbulence remains an open question and a field of profuse research. Using an assembly of self-propelled interfacial particles, we show experimentally that the statistical properties of particles' velocities display a turbulentlike behavior, as described by the celebrated 1941 phenomenology of Kolmogorov. Moreover, the analogy between the dynamics of the self-propelled particles and inertial turbulence is observed to hold consistently both in the Eulerian and Lagrangian frameworks. Unlike the swimmers' velocities distribution, the subsurface fluid flow is found not turbulent, thus making Marangoni surfers' assemblies different from other active systems generating turbulence, such as living matter. Identifying an active system in the universality class of inertial turbulence not only benefits its future development but may also provide new insights into the long-standing description of turbulent flows, arguably one of the biggest remaining mysteries in classical physics.


In this thesis, the author reports on a ceramic process leading to transparent ytterbium doped yttrium oxide ceramics. The full production route was investigated, namely: powder preparation, compaction and sintering. First, yttria nano-powder was fabricated from a precursor with transient morphology, i.e. yttrium hydroxynitrate platelets that decomposed into spherical yttria nano-particles during calcination. The influence of different dewatering methods on such precursors was investigated. Water removal by freeze-drying was shown to be optimal for the production of non- agglomerated nano-particles compared to other methods that involve solvent removal by evaporation. This was attributed to the ability of freeze-drying to avoid the formation of solid bridges, since water is directly removed by sublimation. In a second step, doping with ytterbium was performed. Two precipitation routes were compared: precipitation of hydroxynitrate platelets and precipitation of amorphous carbonate. The latter route was shown to allow a better distribution of ytterbium in the yttrium oxide matrix after calcination of the corresponding precursor. This was attributed to good cation mixing within the amorphous particles, while formation of the hydroxynitrate platelets resulted in segregation of ytterbium because of the precipitation of an ytterbium-rich secondary phase. Because of the laborious character of the above techniques, an alternative method for synthesizing yttrium oxide powder was developed. This method not only allows for producing weakly-agglomerated nano-particles with equiaxed morphology, but is also a very time-efficient process. Its characteristic feature lies in the ability to skip two processing steps encountered in common precipitation techniques (i.e. filtration and drying). The method is based on combustion synthesis, sulfation, and calcination at high temperature. Through careful tailoring of the process parameters, evolution of the cellular nanostructure towards individual yttrium oxide nano- particles was obtained during firing. A method combining pre-sintering in vacuum followed by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) using glass encapsulation was shown to be successful to produce transparent yttria ceramics from agglomerated powders. Pre- sintering in vacuum of compact agglomerates enables differential sintering, resulting in only intergranular porosity. Subsequent HIP treatment of the pre-sintered samples caused almost complete pore elimination and achievement of transparency. However, macro-defects were present in the final material. From these results it became obvious that the packing homogeneity must be improved. For comparison, green-bodies were produced by slip-casting or pressing followed by cold isostatic pressing (CIP). Rheology studies were performed in order to tailor the milling conditions and the quantity of dispersant to obtain slurries with minimum viscosity and which were suitable for slip-casting. Although slip-cast pellets exhibited similar densities as pressed samples after pre-sintering, they showed more homogeneous optical properties after HIP. This was attributed to density gradients in the pressed compacts. By using the novel powder synthesis and HIP methods developed in this work, yttrium oxide transparent ceramics doped with 30 at% ytterbium were fabricated. The best sample showed a transmittance of 25% at 400 nm for a thickness of 3mm.


Introduction: Malnutrition is a general problem in hospitalized patients. Enteral feeding in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has been stated to decrease the metabolic response to stress, decline bacterial translocation, and preserve gut mucosal integrity. To assess the efficacy and complications of Nutrika supplement for enteral feeding in Intensive Care unit. Materials and Methods: Nutrika is an enteral nutritional supplement. 12 patients (six male, six female) who received Nutrika supplement through Nasogastric Tube (NGT) in ICU department of Ghaem Hospital were studied. Evaluating gastrointestinal tolerance, biochemical tests, daily calorie intake and the measurement of arm circumference were done daily. Mean admission duration of these hospitalized patients was ten days and it should be noted that the average amount of received gavage was 200 ml/2h. Results: four patients (two male, two female) had diarrhea when they received this supplement in consecutive meals. Two patients (female) experienced abdominal pain after consuming this supplement; however the prevalence of all gastrointestinal intolerance symptoms among patients were not statistically significant (P=0.25, P=0.50, P=0.50). Albumin and Urea level alter significantly during supplementation (P=0.001, P=0.002). Rest of the laboratory values did not change significantly. In two patients (one male, one female) who were completely intolerant to this solution, arm circumference had two cm decrease. Conclusion: Although this supplement has some complication including distension and diarrhea, however it is strongly suggested to use due to severe malnutrition in ICU ward and plays a significant role in improving general condition of these patients.


In this project, we have determined the quantitative parameters governing the transition phases of charged toroidal droplets. An instability reminiscent of the Saffman-Taylor Instability (viscous fingers) has been observed when toroidal droplets are exposed to a significantly high voltage source, but this is the only recorded development of this instability in a three-dimensional situation (Alberto Fernandez-Nieves 2016). We created a silicon oil environment of extremely high viscosity with aminopropyl terminated silicon oil (ATSO) added to lower surface tension. We utilized surfactants to minimize the surface tension between the inner and outer fluids to slow down the dynamics of the system enough to give the surface a chance to reach equipotential, thus allowing us to test the theories that currently exist in the field. In an attempt to disprove the possibility that this was the Saffman-Taylor Instability, we also attempted viscosity inversion experiments. These failed, thus giving us almost conclusive proof that this was indeed the Saffman-Taylor Instability. By proving that this is indeed the Saffman-Taylor Instability, we have also proven that this three-dimensional problem can be analyzed as a series of two-dimensional problems. This approach vastly simplifies further calculations and analysis of similar systems. A secondary focus of this project was to perfect a method of automated generation of inherently unstable shapes in viscoelastic materials. By using a novel method of 3D printing, the project attempted to increase the efficiency with which we can generate samples for testing and observation while also adding uniformity and consistency to the trials and experiments.


An expert panel will share insights from the National Disaster Medical System, Vermont Department of Health, the National Park Service, and Department of Defense, regarding the application of big data analytics on situational awareness of Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs). Moderated by Booz Allen Hamilton, the panel will share examples from their agencies about the information/data challenges of responding to MCIs, and suggest how analytic methods used to detect disease outbreaks, for example, could be applied. Booz Allen will present 10 situational awareness information-needs criteria identified in a survey of federal experts that could be used to build an analytics tool.


Arizona cotton experienced a severe crisis in 1995 stemming from resistance of whiteflies to synergized pyrethroid insecticides. The insect growth regulators (IGRs), Knack® (pyriproxyfen) and Applaud® (buprofezin), served a pivotal role in resolving this problem. Similarly, Admire® (imidacloprid), the first neonicotinoid insecticide to obtain registration in Arizona, has been the foundation of whitefly control in vegetables and melons. In this paper we provide an update regarding the susceptibility to key insecticides of whiteflies from Arizona cotton, melons, and greenhouses. Overall, whitefly control in Arizona cotton remained excellent in the 2000 season and there were no reported field failures. However, there was a significant decrease in susceptibility to Applaud of whiteflies collected from cotton. One collection from Eloy, Arizona, in 2000 had susceptibility to Applaud that was reduced 129-fold relative to a reference strain. Whiteflies resistant to Knack, detected for the first time in Arizona in 1999, were again detected in 2000 but at lower frequencies than in 1999. Though whiteflies resistant to Admire/Provado® continued to be found at specific locations, overall susceptibility to Admire/Provado in 2000 remained high in whitefly collections from cotton. The new neonicotinoid insecticides, thiamethoxam and acetamiprid, were similar in toxicity to Arizona whiteflies in laboratory bioassays and we confirmed the significant but relatively low-order cross-resistance we previously reported between these neonicotinoids and Admire/Provado. Arizona whiteflies continued to be relatively susceptible to mixtures of Danitol® (fenpropathrin) and Orthene® (acephate). Factors that could undermine the current success of whitefly resistance management in Arizona are discussed. These include: 1) more severe resistance to IGRs in whiteflies from cotton, stemming from increased IGR use within and outside of cotton; 2) resistance of vegetable, melon and greenhouse whiteflies to the various formulations of imidacloprid (Admire, Provado, Merit®, Marathon®); 3) the imminent registration of new neonicotinoid active ingredients in cotton, greenhouses and other Arizona crops. _____________________ This is a part of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture 2001 Vegetable Report, index at: http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/crop/az1252/


This chapter provides a complete reference on mobile phone forensics to students, researchers, lawyers, forensics examiners, information security officers, as well as organizational security personnel. First, the author reviews the currently used guidelines and procedures in digital forensic investigations, and then presents their current adaptations to mobile phone forensics, including criteria for the selection of forensics tool for mobile phone. Due to the world popularity of GSM phones, a detailed description of the SIM file system is presented. The forensic strength and weaknesses of the classes of physical and logical forensic tools are discussed .Current approaches to overcome the impediments of both classes are reviewed in terms of usability and forensic soundness. Then, the newest challenge to the digital forensic community, anti-forensics (AF) is raised, including the risks faced by mobile phone forensics investigation. Finally, the author addresses the issue of current research as well as trends on mobile phone forensics. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-507-6.ch004


Although it is not an element with structural function in plants, potassium (K) is demanded in considerable quantities by plants due to multifunctional role in plant physiology and metabolism. Nevertheless, the interface of plant mineral nutrition and food safety evidences needs for a better understanding of functional mechanisms of this nutrient in plants, taking into account its management in hydroponic cultivation and food production with nutritional quality. Thus, the nutritional content of K in vegetables is indicative of post-harvest and nutritional quality. This fact is important considering that modern life has induced increased consumption of processed foods whose preparation implies reduction of K levels and increase of Na levels, with the consequent low K intake and appearance of diseases related to insufficient intake. Therefore, the present chapter aimed to address main nutritional, physiological, and biochemical aspects of K in a context of hydroponic plant production and importance of potassium nutrition to human health.


This brief afterword comments on the papers from this special issue, arguing that each explores current complexities of interactions between national and transnational orientations, but also helps to nuance understandings of the global through the invocation of history. As a result, we not only observe the interplay between colonial and post-colonial regimes of religion and politics, but also gain an appreciation of transnational religious impulses that were in operation well before the last few decades of explicitly 'global consciousness'. Christianisation has a significant history in the regions covered, but it cannot be understood through crude, unilinear models of development or progress.


This paper discusses and empirically evaluates alternative methodologies in modeling functional outliers for high frequency time series forecasting. In spite of several modeling and forecasting methodologies that have been proposed, there have been limited advancements in monitoring and automatically identifying outlying patterns and even less in modeling those for such times series. This is a significant gap considering the difficulty and the cost associated with manual exploration and treatment of such data, due to the vast number of observations. This study proposes and assesses the performance of different modeling methodologies focusing on two key aspects, the accuracy that the outliers are modeled and the impact of each methodology on modeling normal observations. The evaluated methodologies model functional outliers using binary, integer or trigonometric dummy variables, outlier profiles or isolate them into new time series and forecast them separately. Neural networks are employed to produce the forecasts, taking advantage of their flexible nature to accommodate the different methodologies and their superior performance in high frequency time series forecasting. Hourly electricity load data from the UK are used to empirically evaluate the performance of the different methodologies.


One of the main issues in the statistical literature of extremes concerns the tail index estimation, closely linked to the determination of a threshold above which a Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) can be tted. Approaches to this estimation may be classi ed into two classes, one using standard Peak Over Threshold (POT) methods, in which the threshold to estimate the tail is chosen graphically according to the problem, the other suggesting self-calibrating methods, where the threshold is algorithmically determined. Our approach belongs to this second class proposing a hybrid distribution for heavy tailed data modeling, which links a normal (or lognormal) distribution to a GPD via an exponential distribution that bridges the gap between mean and asymptotic behaviors. A new unsupervised algorithm is then developed for estimating the parameters of this model. The effectiveness of our self-calibrating method is studied in terms of goodness-of-fi t on simulated data. Then, it is applied to real data from neuroscience and fi nance, respectively. A comparison with other more standard extreme approaches follows.


The following article is a critical institutional analysis of the academy; its purpose is to turn our critical gaze inward to openly examine higher education's tenure, promotion, and peer-review practices. These practices, once meant to ensure quality and rigour, now instead operate as sites of subjugation, perverted by the audit culture so pervasive at my institution and, I would suggest, many others as well. The paper aims to interrogate a system where indentured academicians are either forced into academic servitude by the heavy debt loads they carry or are consciously or unconsciously players in the audit culture game. The subsequent pages will provide a brief overview of the audit culture, its effects, a critique, and, with the intent to move beyond critique, propose alternatives to be added to peer-reviewed journal articles as measures by which to credibly evaluate our scholarly work.


In tomographic reconstruction, the goal is to reconstruct an unknown object from a collection of line integrals. Given a complete sampling of such line integrals for various angles and directions, explicit inverse formulas exist to reconstruct the object. Given noisy and incomplete measurements, the inverse problem is typically solved through a regularized least-squares approach. A challenge for both approaches is that in practice the exact directions and offsets of the x-rays are only known approximately due to, e.g. calibration errors. Such errors lead to artifacts in the reconstructed image. In the case of sufficient sampling and geometrically simple misalignment, the measurements can be corrected by exploiting so-called consistency conditions. In other cases, such conditions may not apply and we have to solve an additional inverse problem to retrieve the angles and shifts. In this paper we propose a general algorithmic framework for retrieving these parameters in conjunction with an algebraic reconstruction technique. The proposed approach is illustrated by numerical examples for both simulated data and an electron tomography dataset.


Modern financial institutions have cashed in on the electronic business opportunities of the Internet by developing numerous payment systems to meet various payment service requirements. Advanced computer systems and telecommunications technology are being used to offer fast, convenient, and secure ways to conduct financial transactions at service and security levels that are hardly or never achieved by traditional payment systems. In this paper, we examine the function and operation flow of the electronic funds transfer process as well as its security control mechanism. To evaluate telecommunication and data security techniques, a standard-leading inter-bank payment system called the Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunications System is introduced. Some important security features are investigated in detail.


Evolution is commonly measured using comparative phylogenetic analysis. Comparisons of orthologous characters and sequences from different species are used to infer organismal evolution. Analyses of duplicated genes can be used to root phylogenetic trees and infer ancestral groups. The expansion of gene families through gene and genome duplications allowed more complex regulatory and developmental pathways to evolve in multicellular eukaryotes. In prokaryotes and single-celled eukaryotes, the acquisition of foreign genes by horizontal gene transfer is the main mechanism for gene family expansion; it allows genomes to evolve new traits quickly and facilitates the assembly of new metabolic pathways. Additionally, prokaryotic organisms with short generation times will accumulate genetic adaptations at a much faster rate than organisms with longer generation times (e.g. humans). In multicellular animals where somatic cells and gametes are separate, acquisition of foreign genes is rare, leading to high levels of similarity in gene content. However, multicellular eukaryotes have evolved in close association with prokaryotic symbionts that impact development, physiology and ecology of the association. To understand the evolution of the complex human systems, we must consider the genomes of the associated microbiota, known as the microbiome. We must therefore consider the human as a holobiont, a complex ecosystem, whose evolutionary fitness is determined by the host, the symbionts and their interactions.

Key Concepts:

Orthologous structures or sequences in two organisms are homologues that evolved from the same feature in their last common ancestor; orthologues reflect organismal evolution.

Paralogues are homologues whose evolution reflects gene duplication events.

Genomes can evolve by acquiring genes through horizontal gene transfer or from the fusion of complete genomes through symbiosis.

Individual humans can differ slightly in genome content with variation related primarily to deletions or regions of segmental duplication.

Apparent differences in complexity between species may be due to a varying amount of noncoding regulatory sequence, regulating a fairly stable core of protein-coding genes.

Repeated sequences derived from transposable elements comprise a large portion of the genome and can have a significant role in gene duplication through the formation of pseudogenes that lack introns.

Duplicated segments in the human genome are generally enriched in protein coding genes and have the potential to evolve novel transcripts, either as whole-gene duplications or through the creation of mosaic genes.

Variations in the number of paralogues in humans reveal genomic regions under selective pressures.

Orthologous regions amongst genomes are found in both protein coding exons and noncoding regions of the genome. Rapidly evolving regions of the human genome include intergenic regions that may be important for gene regulation.

Humans can be viewed as a holobiont, a complex ecosystem whose evolutionary fitness is determined by interactions of the host and microbiota.

The microbiome, the sum of microbial genomes carried in our symbionts, encode metabolic capacities that we have not had to evolve in our nuclear genome.

Keywords:

orthologous;
paralogous;
symbiosis;
holobiont;
hologenome;
coevolution;
gene duplication;
horizontal gene transfer


This work is situated in the context of collaboratively solving the localization problem for unknown initial conditions. We address this problem with a novel, fully decentralized, real-time particle filter algorithm, designed to accommodate realistic robotic assumptions including noisy sensors, and asynchronous and lossy communication. In particular, we introduce a collaborative reciprocal sampling algorithm which allows a drastic reduction in the number of particles needed to achieve localization. We elaborate an analysis of our reciprocal sampling method and support our conclusions with simulation results. Finally, we validate our approach on a team of four real robots within a controlled experimental setup.


Dr C. S. Exley has sent the following written contribution. Tammemagi & Smith {Journal 1975 vol. 131, 415–27) make two points which call for comment. The first relates to the collection and presentation of some of their data. When discussing sampling techniques (p. 418) the authors explain first that while they took fresh specimens of granite wherever possible, some weathered material was included in their collection, and secondly that the rocks were classified into (relatively) 'fresh' and 'weathered' categories. It transpires that they used a 'kaolinized' category too, but this was not mentioned. Of the 56 granite samples listed in Supplementary Publication No SUP 18009, only 27 have been classified in this fashion and of the 50 used in the compilation of their table 1 and fig. 2 only 22 have been so classified; indeed the authors state that 'intermediate' and borrowed specimens were not classified at all. Since it is almost always possible to separate 'fresh' from 'altered' granites from SW England on a fairly arbitrary basis this is surprising but not necessarily important. What does seem to be important is that a rather significant conclusion, based on whether or not the rocks were altered, was reached by the authors to explain some of the results of their U and Th analyses. The concentrations of these elements vary considerably and in table 1 standard deviations are given as 4·3 ppm for U and 5·7 ppm for Th. The scatter becomes very apparent in the histograms presented as fig.


Let $\bf\Gamma$ be a Borel class, or a Wadge class of Borel sets, and $2\!\leq\! d\!\leq\!\omega$ be a cardinal. A Borel subset $B$ of ${\mathbb R}^d$ is potentially in $\bf\Gamma$ if there is a finer Polish topology on $\mathbb R$ such that $B$ is in $\bf\Gamma$ when ${\mathbb R}^d$ is equipped with the new product topology. The author provides a way to recognize the sets potentially in $\bf\Gamma$ and applies this to the classes of graphs (oriented or not), quasi-orders and partial orders.


Missing data is a common problem encountered by empirical researchers and practitioners. This dissertation is a collection of three essays on handling imperfectly observed economic data. The first essay addresses temporal aggregation where some high frequency data are missing but their sum or average are observed in the form of low frequency data. In a vector autoregression model with varied frequency data, the explicit form of the likelihood function and the posterior distribution of missing values are found without resorting to the recursive Kalman filter. The second essay further discusses data aggregation in a two-equation model in which the missing values are imputed by a regression. In two scenarios, the likelihood function is shown to be separable and the analytic maximum likelihood estimator can be obtained by two auxiliary regressions, which is advantageous to the conventional least squares imputation approach in terms of both efficiency and computability. The third essay concerns the finite-sample bias of estimators associated with the monotone instrumental variables, which is a useful assumption to partially identify the counterfactual outcomes. It is shown that a multi-level bootstrap procedure can reduce and gradually eliminate the bias. A simultaneous simulation strategy is also proposed to make multi-level bootstrap computationally feasible.


A substantial body of literature has recently been concerned with the structure and dynamics of the collaboration networks that underlie the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge. Despite the growing interest in these networks, relatively little emphasis has been placed on two broad areas of investigation: on the one hand, the interplay of the growth mechanisms underpinning the evolution of collaborative arrangements; on the other, the implications that the structure and multiplexity of these arrangements have on knowledge creation and diffusion. The articles in this Special Issue aim to bridge these gaps in the literature and, by embracing a variety of perspectives, contribute towards a better understanding of how collaboration networks originate, function, and evolve. This Introduction offers a theoretical and methodological framework for the articles here included. It begins by discussing problems of measurement of scientific collaboration, and goes on to examine the role that growth mechanisms, structural variety and multiplexity play in shaping the genesis and functioning of collaboration networks. In reviewing current and emerging research themes, the discussion will also identify promising research directions that will stimulate future work on collaboration networks in science and technology.


Neuroprotective agents are becoming significant tools in the repair of central nervous system injuries. In this study, we determined whether ginkgolides (Gin, extract of GinkgoBiloba) and Acanthopanax senticosus saponins (ASS, flavonoids extracted from Acanthopanax herbal preparations) have protective effects on rat spinal cords exposed to anoxia and we explored the mechanisms that underlie the protective effects. Spinal motor neurons (SMNs) from rat spinal cords were obtained and divided into five groups with 10 wells in each group. In control group, SMNs suffered no injury under normal oxygen; in hypoxia- inducible (HI) group, SMNs suffered injury from hypoxia; in Gin group, 37.5µg/ml Gin were used before 24 hrs of hypoxia; in ASS group, 50µg/ml ASS were used before 24 hrs of hypoxia;in glial cell-lined derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) group, 0.1µg/ml GDNF were used before 24 hrs of hypoxia. Changes in morphology, neuron viability, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were observed. In addition, the expression of HIF-1α induced by hypoxia was measured. The neuronal viability in the Gin, ASS, and GDNF pretreated groups was higher than that in the HI group (P<0.05). The viability in the Gin group was better than that in the ASS group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the ASS and GDNF groups (P>0.05). The quantity of LDH released in the three pretreated groups was lower than that in the HI group (P<0.05). The expression of HIF-1α in the HI group was greater than that in the control group (P<0.05), and the expression in the three pretreated groups was greater than that in the HI and the control groups (P<0.05). Our results indicate that Gin and ASS which was not as effective as Gin, but its effects were similar to those of GNDF could all enhance the viability of SMNs and have protective effects on hypoxic neurons.


Objectives The aim of the study was to find out the possible neurological and psychiatric comorbid disorders that might be associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to assess the intelligence quotient (IQ) in the diagnosed patients, and hence improve the accurate diagnosis of ADHD and its management. Patients and methods This study is a comparative cross-sectional study (the study group and the control group). Participants were recruited from the Neuropsychiatric and Pediatric Clinics in Benha University Hospital, in addition to some private clinics and centers. The sample size of this study was 74 (divided into two groups, the study and the control groups). Participants were chosen by nonrandom technique; all patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and accepted (their parents) to participate were included in the study. All case and control groups were subjected to a semistructured interview, complete neuropsychiatric clinical assessment, psychometric testing using Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Conners Parent Rating Scale-revised, long version, and Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. Electroencephalography was performed for some cases and controls. Results The mean age of the ADHD children was 8.78 years old; it was more prevalent among boys. Perinatal problems were significantly prevailing among cases of ADHD. In all, 70.3% had ADHD combined type, 10.8% had ADHD predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, and 18.9% had ADHD predominantly inattentive type. The control group showed higher mean IQ of 105.4 ± 9.6 compared with the ADHD case group who showed mean IQ of 93.8 ± 10.7. There were several significant comorbidities such as delayed language development, delayed developmental milestones, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, depressive symptoms, sleep disturbance, nocturnal enuresis, and soft neurological signs. Conners scale showed that the ADHD children showed higher mean in all Conners test items than the control group. ADHD children had higher mean along all Revised Behavior Problem Checklist compared with the control group. With respect to correlations, the oppositional defiant disorder was significantly correlated to the combined type ADHD. There was statistical significant difference in the whole sample where children who did not have oppositional defiant disorder had higher IQ (101.5 ± 11.5) than those who did (95 ± 11.1). Conclusion ADHD is a disorder that carries several neuropsychiatric comorbidities. Assessment of children with ADHD should address these comorbidities, and management should focus on them to obtain best outcomes for the patients.


Why is inflation, 15 years after transition started, still considerably higher in Romania than in the eight EU member states (EU-8) that joined in May 2004? Panel estimation based on ten central and eastern European countries allows us to decompose the inflation differential between Romania and the EU-8. The decomposition suggests that neither the revenue, nor the balance of payments, nor the financial stability motive are driving inflation; rather structural differences are at play. The employment motive, together with indicators reflecting the prolonged structural change, explain most of the inflation gap vis-?-vis the EU-8.


Paper-Presentation; In North Carolina, UNC's TEACCH Autism program is the program that most parents who have children with autism turn to for help. TEACCH typically uses an applied behavioral analysis (ABA) approach when working with children. However just recently, Pitt County School's preschool program for cildren with autism, HUGs , has introduced a new instructional approach. This new approach is based on verbal behavioral analysis (VBA) which was developed by B.F.Skinner. / A TEACCH classroom is generally very structured; different areas of the classroom are designated for different activities, such as an area for playing, an area for individual activities and an area for group activities. The children adhere to schedules made with pictures and/or words to help them transition throughout the day. Usually, social interacting and verbal communicating isn't focused on as much as other programs. A VBA classroom will normally focus on trying to get the child to communicate to get the things they want. It is believed that a better grasp on communicating will help improve behavior. The teachers use different styles of speech known as "mands" (requests), "echoes" (verbal imitations), "tacts" (verbal imitations), and "intraverbals" (conversational responses) to help the children. / Three research questions guide my study: / What are the similarities and differences between the TEACCH and the VBA classroom models? / How are the IEP goals implemented within the classrooms? / Can certain characteristics of children with autism be identified to help improve program placement? /


The paper explores a claim made by Hermann Ulrich Kantorowicz in a historically signification pamphlet, which may in some respect well have prepared the intellectual ground for the American legal realist movement. The claim is that the legal science is a source of law. It is startling, to say the least, to find this claim articulated in the context of a piece of "sociological" jurisprudence. The paper then contrasts Kantorowicz's claim with the the parallel claim made by the historical school and concludes that the ideas articulated by its members - Georg Friedrich Puchta, in particular - were exceedingly more plausible. In order to understand this, however, it is necessary to conceive of all legal knowledge as a species of self-knowledge. This is the idea that the paper tries to make plausible and, indeed, to defend.


In this paper, we describe a low delay real-time multimodal cue detection engine for a living room environment. The system is designed to be used in open, unconstrained environments to allow multiple people to enter, interact and leave the observable world with no constraints. It comprises detection and tracking of up to 4 faces, estimation of head poses and visual focus of attention, detection and localisation of verbal and paralinguistic events, their association and fusion. The system is designed as a flexible component to be used in conjunction with an orchestrated video conferencing system to improve the overall experience of interaction between spatially separated families and friends. Reduced latency levels achieved to date have shown improved responsiveness of the system.


Aim: Agreeing on a Code of Ethical Conduct is an essential step in the formation and definition of a public health profession in its own right. In this paper we attempt to identify a limited number of key ethical principles to be reflected as professional guidance.
Methods: We used a consensus building approach based on narrative review of pivotal literature and theoretical argumentation in search for corresponding terms and - in a second step - attempted to align them to a limited number of key values. The resulting draft code of ethical conduct was validated employing a framework of the Council of Europe and reviewed in two quasi Delphi rounds by members of a global think tank.
Results: The alignment exercise demonstrated the acceptability of five preselected key principles: solidarity, equity, efficiency, respect for autonomy, and justice whereas three additional principles were identified during the discussion rounds: common good, stewardship, and keeping promises.
Conclusions: In the context of emerging and re-emerging diseases as well as increase in lifestyle-related diseases, the proposed Code of Ethical Conduct may serve as a mirror which public health professionals will use to design and implement public health interventions. Future public health professional chambers or an analogous structure should become responsible for the acknowledgement and enforcement of the Code.


One of the challenges in Dynamic Software Product Line (DSPL) is how to support the coordination of multiple instances of a service feature. In particular, there is a need for a decentralized decision-making capability that will be able to seamlessly integrate new instances of a service feature without an omniscient central controller. Because of the need for decentralization, we are investigating principles from self-organization in biological organisms. As an initial proof of concept, we have applied three bio-inspired techniques to a simple smart home scenario: quorum sensing based service activation, a firefly algorithm for synchronization, and a gossiping (epidemic) protocol for information dissemination. In this paper, we first explain why we selected those techniques using a set of motivating scenarios of a smart home and then describe our experiences in adopting them.


The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the The Trivedi Effect®- Consciousness Energy Healing Treatment based new proprietary herbomineral formulation and cell medium (DMEM) on various skin health parameters using HFF-1, HaCaT, and B16-F10 cell lines. It contained minerals (zinc chloride, sodium selenate, and sodium molybdate), L-ascorbic acid, along with the mixture of Centella asiatica extract and tetrahydrocurcumin (THC). The test formulation and DMEM were divided into two parts each, one part of each was coded as untreated (UT), while the second part of each was treated with the Biofield Treatment by Johanne Dodon and denoted as the Biofield Energy Treated (BT) test items. MTT assay result showed that the test formulation was safe and nontoxic up to 80 µg/mL concentration. The fibroblast cell proliferation assay using BrdU method showed a significant increased cell proliferation at 2.13, 8.75, and 17.53 µg/mL by 3.90%, 14.68% and 29.54%, respectively in the BT-DMEM + BT-Test formulation group compared to the untreated group. The collagen data showed an increased synthesis by 7.42% and 3.84% in the UT-DMEM + BT-Test formulation and BT-DMEM + BT-Test formulation groups, respectively at 0.625 µg/mL with respect to the untreated group. Similarly, the elastin synthesis was increased by 19.8% and 25.8% in the UT-DMEM + BT-Test formulation and BT-DMEM + BT-Test formulation groups, respectively at 5 µg/mL with respect to the untreated group. However, the Biofield Energy Treated test formulation showed an increased level of hyaluronic acid by 1.7% in UT-DMEM + BT-Test formulation group compared to the untreated group. Melanin synthesis inhibition was observed by 15.21% and 11.43% in UT-DMEM + BT-Test Formulation and BT-DMEM + BT-Test Formulation groups, respectively at 0.125 µg/mL compared with the untreated group in B16-F10 melanoma cell line. Anti-wrinkling effects showed an improved cell viability by 7.65% at 1.25 µg/mL in the BT-DMEM + BT-Test formulation experimental group compared with the untreated test group. In addition, the Biofield Energy Treated Test formulation/DMEM showed a significant wound healing activity and high cellular migration of fibroblast and keratinocytes in HFF-1 and HaCaT cells, respectively. Overall, the data suggested that Biofield Treated formulation/DMEM could be helpful for skin healing, improvement the skin health, elasticity, and tightness, as well as, improving skin health issues such as wrinkling, pigmentation disorders, redness, swelling, skin cancer, aging, rashes, and skin sagging.


BACKGROUND
Individuals are reinfected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) repeatedly. The nature of reinfection, in relation to RSV genetic and antigenic diversity, is ill defined and has implications for persistence and vaccine control.

METHODS
We examined the molecular relatedness of RSV causing primary and repeat infections, by phylogenetic analysis of the attachment (G) gene in 12 infants from a birth cohort in rural Kenya, using nasal wash samples collected during a 16-month period in 2002-2003, which spanned 2 successive epidemics.

RESULTS
Six infants were infected during both epidemics, 4 with RSV-A in the first epidemic followed by RSV-B during the second epidemic and 2 with RSV-A during both epidemics, with no significant G gene sequence variability between samples. Two infants were infected and reinfected with different RSV-A strains during the same epidemic. Possible viral persistence was suspected in the remaining 4 infants, although reinfection with the same variant cannot be excluded.

CONCLUSIONS
These are the first data that specifically address strain-specific reinfections in infancy in relation to the primary infecting variant. The data strongly suggest that, following primary infection, some infants lose strain-specific immunity within 7-9 months (between epidemics) and group-specific immunity within 2-4 months (during an epidemic period).


The advent of smartphones enables more and more consumers to use the mobile internet. In addition, there is a continuing integration of location-based services (LBS). By means of Global Positioning Systems or WiFi-triangulation LBS provide context-aware information to consumers. This leads to a convergence of online and offline worlds. The usage of LBS delivers additional information to consumers (e.g., alternative offers or detailed product information). Particularly during the search process, information about prices or geographic distances, that are relevant for the purchase, are of importance. The goal of this study is to estimate search costs in a mobile internet context. We first illustrate the relevant literature on search theory (online/offline, mobile/desktop) and consumer behavior. Then we estimate search costs via a choice-based conjoint analysis for a large representative online sample. Our empirical results show that mobile search and LBS have a significant impact on consumer behavior. We quantify search costs in monetary units on an individual level by using geographic distance as a trade-off for price. We find that consumers trade off one extra minute of travel to another store with an average price reduction of 0.87 €.


We propose and test a framework of the antecedents of contribution in two technology-mediated citizen science projects, with different degrees of task granularity. Comparing earlier findings on the motivations of volunteers in a web-based image analysis project (high granularity), with new findings on the motivations of volunteers in a volunteer computing project (low granularity), we found that participation task granularity is correlated with motivation levels. Further, we found that collective and intrinsic motives are the most salient motivational factors, whereas reward motives are less important for volunteers. Intrinsic, norm-oriented and reputation-seeking motives were most strongly associated with participation intentions, which were, in turn, associated with participation. Finally, comparing the relationship between motives and participation among the two volunteer populations, we found that active-participation volunteers are characterized by significantly stronger association between collective motives and contribution intention, whereas passive-participation volunteers are characterized by significantly stronger association between identification with the community and contribution intention. Implications for research and practice are discussed.


This article examines Mishima Michiyoshi 三島通良 (1866–1925) and his school hygiene 学校衛生 research in relation to the significance of posture to physical and political modernity in Meiji Japan. Investigating Mishima's nationwide survey of primary-school children's health and physical development in Japan and subsequent contested discussions of children's posture, the article explores how new kinds of Japanese physique were envisioned by medical experts and state authorities. The postures of the schoolchildren were viewed as reflections of Japan's developing modernity in a variety of forms. Different theories contended, and a range of visions of a modern civilization was advanced, some of which had an influence on theories and practices of hygienic modernity even into the twenty-first century.


OBJECTIVE
National health guidelines advocate increased physical activity in children and adolescents, but specific goals are not being achieved. Data are needed on variables that influence children's decision to be active or sedentary.

METHODS
We tested the association of weight criticism during physical activity (WCA) with attitudes toward physical activity and reported physical activity levels in children. We also tested whether these associations were moderated by children's ability to cope with weight criticism. Subjects were 576 fifth- through eighth-graders who completed a questionnaire on physical activity patterns, weight criticism history, and coping skills.

RESULTS
WCA was more common among girls than boys and among heavier children. In multiple regression analyses, WCA was associated with reduced sports enjoyment, perceived activity compared with peers, and mild-intensity leisure activity. These associations, however, were moderated by problem-focused coping skills such that the relationships were attenuated in children who were better able to cope with weight criticism. Avoidant coping skills also moderated the relationship between WCA and sports enjoyment.

CONCLUSIONS
Children who are the targets of weight criticism by family and peers have negative attitudes toward sports and report reduced physical activity levels, although these relationships may be buffered by certain coping skills. Assessing WCA and related coping skills may be clinically useful for identifying barriers to physical activity in certain children (eg, the obese) and may be a potential target for interventions.


ABSTRACT Instructional supervision is a highly complex endeavor as supervisors work to enhance teacher, teacher candidate, and school effectiveness. The process of learning to supervise well can be daunting and difficult. Recent research on teaching has focused on enhancing teachers' ability to notice or observe aspects of teaching and student learning. The ability to assist teacher candidates to "notice" and observe is equally important when supervising them. This qualitative case study builds upon the research on teaching and on supervision. It illustrates that "noticing" is one of a constellation of pedagogical skills supervisors use to support the learning of others. In addition, the authors identify six other pedagogical skills including ignoring, marking, intervening, pointing, unpacking, and processing. Further defining these skills is useful for understanding the intricacies of clinical pedagogy in instructional supervision. The results of this study suggest that supervision in clinically rich contexts is a pedagogical or teaching function which extends beyond traditional conceptions of observation and feedback.


Five healthy Golden Retrievers aged from 1.5 to 3 years old, three males and two females, were studied during a normal "playing" time considered as submaximal exercise, under ordinary circumstances, preserving the usual routine (location, normal weather conditions, to the same group). From the medical history, it was excluded previous symptoms as fatigue or other cardiac related symptoms based on subjective observations. Each individual heart rate was measured ten minutes intervals, during 60 minutes exercises, using a heart rate monitor device. Blood lactate was measured with fast strip, at the beginning and at the end of the test. The results showed that heart rate was normal in 4 cases, ranging between 101 and 173 beats per minute( bpm), and abnormal in one dog reaching the maximal heart rate during a submaximal test, with four consecutive values between 215 and 245 bpm. The lactate values were normal for all the subjects, at the end of the test, none of the dogs achieving the superior lactate threshold. After performing a cardiac examination in all five subjects (including Doppler echocardiography and Holter electrocardiogram), a good correlation was observed between heart rate values of the dog that reached maximal heart rate and a suspicion of a cardiac problem (preclinical case of dilated cardiomyopathy), but no evidence of altered or a raise in blood lactate under this submaximal test.


A home range represents the outcome of the interplay between an environment, an animal's understanding of that environment, and its subsequent movement decisions. Yet, recent studies suggest that recursive movement strategies have been overlooked in the shaping of animal home range patterns. Using fourteen GPS collared red foxes, we investigated within home range movements for recursive movement behaviour, suggesting a cognitive map, and explored how these shape animal space-use patterns. We found that red foxes showed significant clustering in recorded positions, indicative of recursive site use. An average of 43% of positions were found in defined clusters that covered a proportional area of only 1% of their recorded range. Ground-truthing revealed that clusters were attributed to recursive visits, and extended residence time at clumped food sources, bed or den sites, routes and vantage points in the landscape. Our results provide evidence that, while red foxes maintained exploratory movement, recursive site use played a significant role in optimising movements between distinct core areas. We conclude that these patterns support the concept of cognitive mapping enabling recursive resource use, which can lead to emergence of bounded space use, rather than a continuous drifting across the landscape. We propose that by identifying resource locations that are used recursively; it is possible to move a step closer in revealing an animal's cognitive map, or indeed, the movement behaviour underlying home range formation.


In this paper, we develop new mixed-mode implementations for particle Biters and compare them to a digital implementation. The motivation for the mixed-mode implementation is to achieve low-power implementation of particle filters. The specific application considered is a bearings-only, single-target tracking algorithm. Specifically, we develop mixed-mode implementations that use analog components to realize nonlinear functions in the particle filter algorithm. The analog implementation of nonlinear functions uses low-power multiple-input translinear element (MITE) networks. Simulation results for one mixed-mode implementation of the bearings-only tracker show that the analog errors are low enough to support accurate tracking. Redesign of the mixed-mode implementation in a second form with more analog components will result in nearly twenty times less power dissipation.


Cats are pivotal in the transmission of Toxoplasma gondii. To develop a sensitive and specific serodiagnostic method for feline toxoplasmosis, surface antigen 2 (SAG2) of T. gondii was expressed in Escherichia coli and its diagnostic potential evaluated in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The ELISA with recombinant SAG2 (rSAG2) was able to differentiate very clearly between sera from cats experimentally infected with T. gondii and sera from normal cats. Serum samples collected from domestic cats in Japan were investigated by the ELISA, and the results were compared with those of a commercially available latex agglutination test (LAT) kit. Of the 192 samples screened, 42 (21.9%) were positive by ELISA. Among the 42 ELISA-positive samples, 39 were positive by LAT. There was a significant correlation between ELISA and LAT titers. All the 150 ELISA-negative samples were negative by LAT. These results indicate that the ELISA with rSAG2 expressed in E. coli should be a useful method for detection of T. gondii infection in cats.


Summary. The objectives of our study was to answer the following questions: (1) What are the socioeconomic costs and benefits of different haemophilia treatment strategies? (2) Which savings can be achieved through a comprehensive care program? (3) How are haemophiliacs integrated into their social life? (4) What are the annual costs of treating haemophilia from a third party payer perspective? In this cross‐sectional study, 840 consecutive haemophiliacs attending 16 haemophiliac treatment centres in 10 European countries at were entered in the study. The following six parameters were analysed: sociodemographic patient data, the type of substitution (on demand or prophylaxis), transfusion‐transmitted diseases, the functional joint status, quality of life as well as the total costs of therapy. Three kinds of substitution modalities were distinguished: on demand therapy, pure and modified prophylaxis. The average number of medical visits, the average length of hospital stay, regular drug therapy and the average number of days off work per bleeding joint were recorded from the medical charts as a basis for the subsequent assessment of the costs of therapy. The total study sample comprised of 566 patients. Interestingly, statistically more significant (P= 0.0005) patients were unemployed in the on‐demand group (14%) than in the prophylaxis group (3.4%). There was a higher ratio of white collar workers in the on‐demand group as compared to the prophylaxis group and vice versa for blue collar workers. The distribution of blue collar workers, clerk, self‐employed persons, students and housemen were quite comparable between the patients of the on‐demand and prophylactic therapeutic regimen. The labor force participation rate was 55.2% in the patients in the on demand and 59.3% in the patients in the modified prophylactic group. The labor force participation rate across all patients was 56%. Patients on demand therapy used on average 38.3 (median: 12.5) units/kg/week as compared to 68.6 (median: 6) units/kg/ week in the prophylaxis group. The mean usage across all patients was 46.1 (median 19.7) units/kg/week. There were an average of 7.4 (median: 3) joint bleeds per patient across all patients during the 6‐month observation period. In the on‐demand group 8.8 (median: 5) joint bleeds were recorded versus 3.1 joint bleeds (median: 0) in the prophylactic group. This differences was statistically different (95% CI of difference: 4.33–7.07). Our data suggest that patients receiving prophylactic clotting factor therapy require less additional health care resources, mainly due to the reduction in the number of joint bleeds.


In many stochastic models, in particular Markov chains in discrete or continuous time and Markov renewal processes, a Markov chain is present either directly or indirectly through some form of embedding. The analysis of many problems of interest associated with these models, eg. stationary distributions, moments of first passage time distributions and moments of occupation time random variables, often concerns the solution of a system of linear equations involving I – P, where P is the transition matrix of a finite, irreducible, discrete time Markov chain. Generalized inverses play an important role in the solution of such singular sets of equations. In this paper we survey the application of generalized inverses to the aforementioned problems. The presentation will include results concerning the analysis of perturbed systems and the characterization of types of generalized inverses associated with Markovian kernels.


An increase in the functional surface area (FSA) of the gills of freshwater fish facilitates increased oxygen consumption ( M O O2 ) but also increases ion loss across the gills - a phenomenon that has been termed the osmorespiratory compromise. This study on the rainbow trout confirms that Na + loss ( J out Na ) accelerates with increasing M O 2 but also shows that the former always exceeds the latter, i.e. the ion/gas ratio (IGR, J out Na / M O 2 ) increases. Since an increase in FSA should affect J Na out and M O 2 equally, the increase in the IGR is attributed to an increase in ion permeability and is thought to arise through opening of paracellular diffusion channels via disruption of tight junctions — a conclusion supported by the effects of brief osmotic shock, low external Ca 2+ concentration and catecholamine infusion on ion losses across the gills. By analogy with extensive studies on 'leaky' epithelia, these treatments disrupt tight junctions by cell shrinkage, by displacement of Ca 2+ from tight junction surfaces or by increasing intralamellar pressure, respectively. While enforced exercise or handling stress substantially increased the IGR of the trout above routine levels, animals were also capable of reducing IGR to about one-tenth of routine levels. This regulation may, in part, be due to decreasing intralamellar pressure, achieved in part by down-regulation of adrenergic receptors, but there appears to be a significant additional level of control that is probably exerted directly at the tight junctions. Such a degree of control is only possible, however, if animals do not continue to exercise and if Ca 2+ levels in the water are not reduced. With continued exercise, the IGR returns to routine levels. Consequently, ion losses remain substantially elevated, suggesting that they may ultimately limit maximum sustainable activity. Measurement of the IGR under routine conditions is proposed as a simple means of predicting ion losses during activity and of analyzing the nature of the osmorespiratory compromise.


BACKGROUND
The oncologic safety of transanal total mesorectal excision (TaTME) for rectal cancer has recently been questioned, with high local recurrence (LR) rates reported in Dutch and Norwegian experiences. The objective of this study was to evaluate the oncologic safety of TaTME in a large cohort of patients with primary rectal cancer, primarily in terms of LR, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
This was a prospective international registry cohort study, including all patients who underwent TaTME for primary rectal adenocarcinoma from February 2010 through December 2018. The main endpoints were 2-year LR rate, pattern of LR, and independent risk factors for LR. Secondary endpoints included 2-year DFS and OS rates. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to calculate actuarial LR, DFS, and OS rates.

RESULTS
A total of 2,803 patients receiving primary TaTME were included, predominantly men (71%) with a median age of 65 years (interquartile ratio, 57-73 years). After a median follow-up of 24 months (interquartile ratio, 12-38 months), the 2-year LR rate was 4.8% (95% CI, 3.8%-5.8%) with a unifocal LR pattern in 99 of 103 patients (96%). Independent risk factors for LR were male sex, threatened resection margin on baseline MRI, pathologic stage III cancer, and a positive circumferential resection margin on final histopathology. The 2-year DFS and OS rates were 77% (95% CI, 75%-79%) and 92% (95% CI, 91%-93%), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
This largest TaTME cohort to date supports the oncologic safety of the TaTME technique for rectal cancer in patients treated in units that contributed to an international registry, with an acceptable 2-year LR rate and a predominantly unifocal LR pattern.


In the article necessity and significance to study of financial risks, which are a constant factor in the activity of any enterprise, are substantiated. It is established that for a broader understanding of the essence of financial risk it is necessary to consider it as a cumulative risk of the enterprise. The growing impact of financial risks on the results of financial and economic activities is associated with the uncertain economic situation, the instability of financial market conditions, the rapid introduction of new financial technologies and financial instruments, expanding the scope of financial relations of the enterprise. Methods of financial risk assessment are investigated, which involve the identification of risks, determining the causes of their occurrence and potential risk areas, as well as the negative consequences of making a risky decision or possible benefits. Comparing the methods of quantitative assessment of financial risk, it was found that the level of risk may vary depending on the chosen method of assessment. A system of financial ratios has been formed to quantify the risk of enterprises of different sizes, namely for large, medium and small enterprises, which most accurately reflect the current financial situation. An assessment of the financial results of enterprises operating in the field of wholesale trade. The financial results before the taxation of activity as an indicator that characterizes the potential for profit generation of wholesale trade enterprises by size distribution are studied. The value of financial results (balance) before taxation of wholesale trade enterprises is forecasted. It is established that the growing pressure of the crisis and insecurity on the part of the state will lead to the transition from the crisis in which enterprises are today, to a state of economic bankruptcy. This situation requires the formation and use of financial resources of enterprises, based on the system and complexity of making and implementing management decisions. Quantitative and qualitative assessment of financial risks of wholesale trade enterprises belonging to groups of large, medium and small enterprises was carried out. Based on these calculations, the ranking of priorities in the management of financial stability. It is established that the first place among the blocks of financial coefficients of risk assessment of enterprises is occupied by the block of business activity, then the block of profitability indicators, the block of liquidity indicators, the final block of capital structure. For each of the defined blocks the directions of increase, or optimization that will provide financial stability of the enterprise are presented.