Beta-lactam antibiotics are used for the treatment of various infections such as intra-abdominal infections and bacterial meningitis. Beta-lactams act at the infection site and their antibacterial effects relate to the exposure time during which the drug concentrations remain above the minimum inhibitory concentration for bacteria (T>MIC). The penetration into and exposure of beta-lactams at the target sites, such as the abdominal cavity and the cerebrospinal space, are therefore considered to be good indicators of their efficacies. However, earlier clinical research has focused primary on the drug concentrations in plasma. We therefore examined the pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics of beta-lactams at the target sites, and analyzed them using a population pharmacokinetic modeling and statistical technique called Monte Carlo simulation. This review summarizes our recent findings on carbapenem and cephem antibiotics in peritoneal and cerebrospinal fluids, and our new approaches to personalize and optimize beta-lactam dosing regimens based on their site-specific pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic profiles.


Objective—±Candoxatrilat was used to raise atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) concentrations in patients with heart failure, and the effects on left ventricular systolic and diastolic function were studied to determine the contribution of peripheral and central mechanisms to the haemodynamic effects. Design—This was a single blind, randomised comparison of ±candoxatrilat and placebo in patients with mild heart failure. All patients received two intravenous doses of ±candoxatrilat and two placebo doses on four consecutive days. Setting—A teaching hospital department of cardiology. Patients—Six men (mean age 52 years) with mild heart failure (New York Heart Association class II) due to ischaemic heart disease (four patients) or dilated cardiomyopathy (two patients) were included. Mean ejection fraction was 37·5% and mean peak oxygen consumption was 20·4 ml/min/kg. Main outcome measures—Plasma ANF concentrations, haemodynamic indices and left ventricular diastolic function measured by early to atrial filling rate (E:A ratio) with Doppler echocardiography were determined before and after ±candoxatrilat and placebo. Results—±Candoxatrilat caused a threefold rise of plasma ANF compared with placebo (p < 0·005), but there was no significant change in heart rate, blood pressure, or cardiac output. Mean right atrial pressure fell from 6·7 to 4·7 mm Hg (NS) and pulmonary artery wedge pressure fell from 9·2 to 6·7 mm Hg (p < 0·05). Doppler echocardiographic measurements of transmitral blood flow showed a significant fall in peak early left ventricular filling velocity from 39·5 to 34·2 cm/s (p < 0·05), along with a non-significant rise in peak atrial filling velocity from 39·7–41·6 cm/s after ±candoxatrilat. The E:A ratio, a Doppler index of left ventricular diastolic function, fell from a mean of 1·04 to 0·87 (p < 0·05). Conclusions—±Candoxatrilat increased plasma ANF concentrations and reduced right atrial and pulmonary artery wedge pressures. No evidence of an improvement in left ventricular systolic or diastolic function was found, so the fall in preload was due to peripheral effects, either an increase in venous capacitance or a fall in circulating blood volume.


Extract ----- Abstract This paper explores the activities and roles of two state-owned enterprises of the Quebec government, Hydro-Quebec and the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), that evolved from instruments of economic nationalism to commercial enterprises with a growing focus on international trade. The first part of the paper explores how these two agencies were created in the 1960s and the ideas that governed their growth over the remaining of the 20th century. The second part looks at their commercial dimension and the intensification of their international trade activities since the end of the last century. The conclusion highlights the paradoxical situation which Hydro-Quebec and the CDPQ are facing in the present days: initially carried by a wave of economic nationalism and state modernisation, they now must face elsewhere the same nationalist and protectionist environments in which they were born. Keywords: economic nationalism, state-owned enterprises, sub-national states, international trade


The state of energy (SoE) is a critical indicator for energy management in supercapacitor (SC) energy storage systems. The estimation accuracy of the SoE relies on the model fidelity, which means that the model parameters are required to be identified online to mitigate the aging effect. However, since the SC model is naturally nonlinear and high dimensional, it is typically difficult to identify the model parameters online. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose a generalized extended state observer (GESO) for SC SoE estimation based on an online identified model. A nonlinear mathematical model for SC is established based on the three branch equivalent circuit models, where the model parameters are online estimated with a designed modified recursive least square. A GESO is designed to estimate the SoE of SC in real time. A laboratory test bed has been built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The experiment results show that the proposed method provides a better SoE estimation accuracy than the existing methods.


Tyrosine, a simple and well-available natural amino acid, is featured by the small size of the compound that contains multiple reactive groups. This study developed an efficient bioconjugation strategy using tyrosine-based dual-functional interfaces. When tyrosine molecules are immobilized on the surface of a supporting material through amino groups, their carboxyl groups can function as an attracting trap due to their anionic nature at neutral pH and ability to chelate nickel(II) ions (Ni2+), allowing the capture and enrichment of cationic proteins and histidine (His)-tagged proteins on the surface. The trapped proteins can be further covalently immobilized on site through ruthenium-mediated photochemical cross-linking, which has been found to be highly efficient and can be completed within minutes. This strategy was successfully applied to two different material systems. We found that tyrosine-modified agarose beads had a binding capacity of the His-tagged enhanced green fluorescent protein comparable to that of commonly used nitrilotriacetic acid-based resins, and further covalent coupling via dityrosine cross-linking achieved a yield of 85% within 5 min, without compromising much on its fluorescence activity. On the surface of tyrosine-modified 316L stainless steel, lysozyme was captured through electrostatic interaction and further immobilized. The resultant surface exhibited remarkable antibacterial activity against both Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Such a tyrosine-based capture-then-coupling method is featured by its simplicity, high coupling efficiency, and high utilization rate of target molecules, making it particularly suitable for the proteins that are highly priced or vulnerable to general immobilization chemistry.


The cataclysmic variable SDSS J015543.40+002807.2 is confirmed to be a magnetic system of the AM Herculis type. With an orbital period of 87.13 minutes, it is also the shortest period eclipsing Polar known. Monitoring with XMM-Newton finds a high-state light curve dominated by a single X-ray-emitting accretion pole located slightly prograde of the secondary star. The hard X-ray spectrum is typical of radial shocks on magnetic white dwarfs (kT ~ 10 keV), and there is evidence for a soft X-ray component consistent with reprocessing from the stellar surface. The optical circular polarization is weak (v ≲ 3%) when the accretion rate is high (mV ~ 15.5), as a result of optically thick cyclotron emission and the apparent competition between two accreting poles. However, in low states (mV ~ 18), the polarization increases smoothly to the blue, reaching 20% at 4200 Å, and the flux spectrum displays a rich set of thermally broadened cyclotron harmonics that indicate a polar field of 29 MG. The phase interval preceding the 6.5 minute eclipse depicts the development of P Cygni components followed by complete absorption reversals in the emission lines. This phenomenon is not unexpected for a strongly accreting magnetic system viewed through the cool base of the funnel, and high-quality spectroscopy through this interval will likely lead to new insights into the dynamics of magnetic coupling and gas flow onto the white dwarf.


OBJECTIVE
We studied the time course of hepatic dysfunction, seropositivity to hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies, viremia, and histologic evidence of hepatic injury to evaluate the course of HCV infection in children infected by blood transfusion.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Twenty-nine patients (ages 4 to 18 years) who underwent open-heart surgeries for congenital heart disease were grouped into three categories based on alterations in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels: Group A, acute infection; Group B, subacute infection; and Group C, chronic infection.

RESULTS
In Group C, all 13 patients had detectable HCV RNA in serum. In contrast, all patients in Group A had no detectable HCV RNA: In Group B, one of nine patients had detectable HCV RNA and two of four patients examined had persistent chronic hepatitis by histologic criteria. Antibodies directed against C100-3 antigen or core-antigen were more useful than second-generation HCV antibody assays in determining the relationship between viremia and immunologic response. Infection with HCV genotype II and the presence of higher HCV RNA copy numbers were associated with histologic evidence of hepatic damage.

CONCLUSION
An abnormal ALT value is frequently associated with viremia, and biochemically resolved acute infection reflects clearance of HCV. However, a normal ALT does not always reflect an absence of hepatocyte damage and HCV replication in patients with subacute disease. The measures outlined in this study are useful indicators of disease activity during the chronic


HYPOTHESIS
Obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in critically injured blunt trauma patients.

DESIGN
Case-control study of all critically injured blunt trauma patients between January 2002 and December 2002.

SETTING
Academic level I trauma center at a county referral hospital.

PATIENTS
Two hundred forty-two consecutive patients admitted to the intensive care unit following blunt trauma. Patients were divided into 2 groups by body mass index. The obese group was defined as having a body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher, and the nonobese group was defined as having a body mass index lower than 30 kg/m2.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors for mortality. Complications and length of stay were also evaluated.

RESULTS
Of the 242 patients, 63 (26%) were obese, and 179 (74%) were nonobese. The obese and nonobese groups were similar with regard to age (mean +/- SD, 49 +/- 18 years vs 45 +/- 22 years), male sex (63% vs 72%), Glasgow Coma Scale score (mean +/- SD, 11 +/- 5 vs 11 +/- 5), and injury severity score (mean +/- SD, 21 +/- 13 vs 20 +/- 14). The obese group had a higher body mass index (mean +/- SD, 35 +/- 7 vs 24 +/- 3; P<.001). Mechanisms of injury and injury patterns were similar between groups. The obese group had a higher incidence of multiple organ failure (13% vs 3%; P =.02) and mortality (32% vs 16%; P=.008). Obesity was an independent predictor of mortality with an adjusted odds ratio of 5.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.9-19.6; P=.003).

CONCLUSIONS
Critically injured obese trauma patients have similar demographics and injury patterns as nonobese patients. Obesity is an independent predictor of mortality following severe blunt trauma.


Managing change could be one of the most, if not the most, common daily activities performed by managers/practitioners of modern organizations. From the advent of Taylor's (1911) scientific management and Lewin's force-field approach (1947), most change management models and typologies (such as discussed by Kanter et al (1992); Ford and Ford, 1994; Van de Ven and Poole, 1995; Kotter, 1996; Morgan and Sturdy, 2000; Luecke 2003 etc.) were developed upon the basic assumption that change could indeed be managed and controlled (Sturdy and Grey, 2003). Such deterministic, mechanistic and planned perspectives could be significantly challenged if our organizational realities were to be observed through the lenses of Complex Adaptive System (CAS) and Social Constructionism (SC). Within the purview of CAS and SC, organizations' actions, which were delivered through its free-willed actors, were essentially unpredictable and hence difficult to control and manage. This thesis research was conducted to investigate how, by adopting the CAS and SC perspectives, could the author's change management practice be impacted through a first-person inquiry action research (AR) approach in the context of a real-life workplace change management project. Due to a dearth of similar work, particularly within the areas of CAS and SC, the expectation for any significant findings was not high. Nevertheless, the data collected managed to demonstrate the usefulness of incorporating the CAS and SC perspectives into one's change management practice (in addition of traditional and foundational change approaches). In particular, continual iterations of sense-making and sense-giving, which the author has termed as "sense-exchanging", had been observed to be a key action trait throughout the inquiry. The author has achieved significant sustained learning from this AR experience and further believes that through sense-exchanging, managers/practitioners could yield greater impact, in terms of enhanced agility in managing challenging situations, sensitivity toward alternate/weakened/silenced voices/mindsets and leadership in building trust and alliance, when managing change in their workplace.


This article aims to assess the economic impact of COVID-19 outbreak on these businesses to provide policy recommendations to support MSE. Primary data and secondary data were used for this study as the source of data. Three multistage sampling techniques was employ to select 372 MSE in six district towns of Western Shewa Zone by administering personal interview. Descriptive statistics such as percentage, frequency, maximum, minimum, mean and standard deviation were used to measure the association and growth probability of MSEs. The major problems finding in the study area were facing multiple issues such as increase in cost of production, shortage of workers and reduction in sales and profit. More than 70% of participating respondents reported that they could not survive if the present trend lasts more than three months. As a temporary solution to sustain their business 169 (45.40%) reduced the number of their employees, 73 (19.60%) laid off their employees as the result of the pandemic crisis. The findings of study are consistent with previous studies and so that national authorities must continue taking a host of measures to provide support to ensure continuity and minimize damage in the small and micro enterprises sector. Therefore, for this study, Policymakers have to come together, and coordinate their work in the financial as well as the productive and service sectors in Ethiopia. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.


The emergence of a self-organized reversed-field pinch (RFP) helical regime, first shown by 3D MHD numerical simulations, has been highlighted in the RFX-mod experiment at high current operation (IP above 1 MA). In fact, a quasi-stationary helical configuration spontaneously appears, characterized by strong internal electron transport barriers. In such regime electron temperature and density become, to a very good approximation, functions of the helical flux coordinate related to the dominant helical magnetic component. In addition, this regime is diagnosed to be associated with the topological transition to a single-helical-axis (SHAx) state, achieved after the expulsion of the separatrix of the dominant mode's magnetic island. The SHAx state is theoretically predicted to be resilient to the magnetic chaos induced by secondary modes. In this paper, we present initial results of the volume-preserving field line tracing code NEMATO [Finn J M and Chacón L 2005 Phys. Plasmas 12 054503] applied to study the magnetic topology resulting from 3D MHD simulations of the RFP. First, a successful 2D verification test of the code is shown, then, initial application to a systematic study of chaos healing in the helical RFP is discussed. The separatrix disappearance is confirmed to play an essential role for chaos healing. The triggering effect of a reversed magnetic shear for the formation of ordered surfaces within magnetic chaos is also diagnosed.


The APC gene was identified in 1991 at chromosome 5 q 21, which is responsible for the familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). The gene has been classified as one of the tumor suppressor genes. The APC gene mutations were suggested to initiate sporadic as well as inherited colorectal neoplasia and to be related to mental retardation. The different forms of APC gene expression and their association to carcinogenesis have been carefully studied. However, the function of APC gene in the central nervous system has not been known. In this study, on the basis of the cDNA cloning of APC homologue in the guinea pig by Dr. Fan Meng, we rescued this fragment including the full length encoding region from plasmid pMe 18s and then subcloned it into the polylink site of the plasmid pBluscript KS. Both digoxigenin labeled sense and anti-sense RNA were synthesized by in vitro transcription. RNase protection assay and in situ hybridization enable us to examine the distribution of APC transcripts in guinea pig brain. Strong signals were detected in hippocampus. APC mRNA was mainly localized in the pyramidal neurons of CA 1, CA 3, as well as in the dentate granule cells; the cerebellum granular cells also showed strong staining; in the cerebrum, the parietal and primary olfactory cortex showed stronger signals than the frontal cortex; in olfactory bulb, positive cells with strong signals were observed: the brain stem showed a relatively weaker staining. Very similar expression pattern was also shown in embryonic guinea pig brain; except that the expression of APC gene in frontal cortex and olfactory bulb was stronger than that in adult animals. The results suggest that the APC transcripts in brain may play an important role during the early development of the central nervous system. Further study may enable us to take a deeper insight into the mechanism underlying inherited mental deficiency.


Working with young people on research projects means we need to consider many elements of research methodology and approach. This article draws on the experience of the author and other writers to consider how young people's involvement in research challenges current practice and influences research and researchers. It explores critically why so little has actually changed and seeks to identify future changes that need to happen, raising some important questions about the nature of research — its purpose and ideology. It concludes that in order for young people's active involvement in research to develop, we need to explore some crucial questions through a mutual interchange and dialogue between all researchers committed to participative research and youth participation advocates to ensure that both the inner and outer science dimensions of young people's research are given due attention.


The history of the location of the knot in intestinal surgery might be said to be the history of that branch of surgery itself, for, it would appear, that everything has hinged on the knot and its location. When this was outside of the abdominal wall intestinal surgery was in its infancy. The methods were crude, and the mortality high. As the knot began to make its way inward this branch of surgery advanced as a science. Crudity was replaced by a more perfect technic, and, as a result, the mortality rate was greatly reduced. Literally, the involution of the knot might be looked upon as the evolution of enterorrhaphy. A brief glance at the various steps may not be out of order. It confirms the above and shows that the trend of surgical thought from the earliest times to the present has been a search for the best location


Many events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have accelerated the implementation of teledermatology pathways within dermatology departments and across healthcare organizations. Quality of Life (QoL) assessment in dermatology is also a rapidly developing field with a gradual shift from theory to practice. The purpose of this paper organized jointly by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Task Force (TF) on QoL and patient-oriented outcomes and the EADV TF on teledermatology is to present current knowledge about QoL assessment during the use of teledermatology approaches, including data on health-related (HR) QoL instruments used in teledermatology, comparison of influence of different treatment methods on HRQoL after face-to-face and teledermatology consultations and to make practical recommendations concerning the assessment of QoL in teledermatology. The EADV TFs made the following position statements: HRQoL assessment may be an important part in most of teledermatology activities; HRQoL assessment may be easily and effectively performed during teledermatology consultations. It is especially important to monitor HRQoL of patients with chronic skin diseases during lockdowns or in areas where it is difficult to reach a hospital for face-to-face consultation; regular assessment of HRQoL of patients with skin diseases during teledermatology consultations may help to monitor therapy efficacy and visualize individual patient's needs; we recommend the use of the DLQI in teledermatology, including the use of the DLQI app which is available in seven languages; it is important to develop apps for dermatology-specific HRQoL instruments for use in children (for example the CDLQI and InToDermQoL) and for disease-specific instruments.


Ground‐based remote sensing measurements from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM) West Antarctic Radiation Experiment (AWARE) campaign at the McMurdo station and the ARM North Slope of Alaska (NSA) Utqiaġvik site are used to retrieve and analyze single‐layer stratiform mixed‐phase cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties for these different polar environments. Single‐layer stratiform mixed‐phase clouds have annual frequencies of occurrence of ~14.7% at Utqiaġvik and ~7.3% at McMurdo, with the highest occurrences in early autumn. Compared to Utqiaġvik, stratiform mixed‐phase clouds at McMurdo have overall higher and colder cloud‐tops, thicker ice layer depth, thinner liquid‐dominated layer depth, and smaller liquid water path. These properties show clear seasonal variations. Supercooled liquid fraction at McMurdo is greater than at Utqiaġvik because, at a given temperature, McMurdo clouds have comparable liquid water paths but smaller ice water paths. Analyses of retrieved cloud microphysical properties show that compared to Utqiaġvik, stratiform mixed‐phase clouds at McMurdo have greater liquid droplet number concentration, smaller layer‐mean effective radius, and smaller ice water content and ice number concentration at a given cloud‐top temperature. These relationships may be related to different aerosol loading and chemical composition, and environment dynamics. Results presented in this study can be used as observational constraints for model representations of stratiform mixed‐phase clouds.


As-grown Bi(Pb)SrCaCuO thin films formed on MgO(100) substrates at various temperatures by RF magnetron sputtering from three Pb-doped targets: Bi3Pb3Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox, Bi2Pb2Sr3Ca3Cu3Ox and Bi2Pb2Sr2Ca2Cu4.5Ox. As-grown films formed at 660 degrees C typically showed a Tc (onset) of 110 K and a Tc (zero) of 78 K. The Tc (zero) value was higher than that of the film formed from nondoped targets. However, using the Pb-doped targets did not enhance the formation of the high-Tc phase.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

c-Met is a receptor tyrosine kinase with oncogenic potential for which several small molecule inhibitors are currently being tested in clinical trials. There are suggestions in the literature that c-Met inhibitors could have anti-tumor effects under a variety of contexts, including in tumors in which the MET gene is amplified, contains a gain-of-function mutation or in tumors with receptor overexpression. We have developed ATP-competitive c-Met inhibitors that possess different selectivity profiles and fall into two categories. Class I molecules are highly selective for c-Met while class II molecules are multi-kinase inhibitors. These molecules were profiled in vitro and in vivo to identify biomarkers of c-Met dependence. We show that both classes of molecules inhibited c-Met kinase activity in vitro and in vivo. However, class I and class II molecules differed extensively in their spectrum of anti-tumor activity. The anti-proliferative effects of the different c-Met inhibitors were tested in 359 cancer cell lines in vitro. The activity of class I molecules was exclusively restricted to cell lines that harbor MET amplification. Western blotting in sensitive or resistant cell lines showed that c-Met inhibitors effectively block signaling downstream of c-Met only in MET amplified cell lines. In vivo, class I molecules inhibited only the growth of tumor models that are highly dependent on c-Met activity due to MET amplification or due to a hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-driven autocrine loop. The same models that were sensitive to class I inhibitors were also sensitive to class II inhibitors. However, class II inhibitors had additional anti-tumor activities in vitro and in vivo in models that did not respond to class I inhibitors. The majority of cell lines that responded only to a class II molecule in vitro required much higher drug concentrations than those required to inhibit the growth of MET amplified cell lines. Finally, the growth inhibitory effects observed in vitro and in vivo were consistent with the selectivity profiles of the different c-Met inhibitors. Together our data demonstrate that MET amplification is a clinically identifiable, potential sensitivity biomarker for selective c-Met kinase inhibitors. c-Met expression alone is not a sensitivity biomarker in preclinical models. The spectrum of c-Met inhibitor sensitive models defined in this work could be used to understand whether other small molecule c-Met inhibitors are exquisitely selective for c-Met or harbor additional activities.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3558. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3558


Introduction: Mindfulness based cognitive therapy for depression (MBCT) has shown to be effective for the reduction of depressive relapse. However, additional information regarding baseline patient characteristics and process features related to positive response could be helpful both for the provision of MBCT in clinical practice, as well as for its further development. Method: Baseline characteristics, process data, and immediate outcome (symptom change, change in attitudes and trait mindfulness) of 108 patients receiving MBCT in routine care were recorded. A newly developed self-report measure (Daily Mindfulness Scale, DMS) was applied daily during the MBCT program. Additionally, patients filed daily reports on their mindfulness practice. There was no control group available. Results: Patients with more severe initial symptoms indicated greater amounts of symptom improvement, but did not show great rates of dropout from the MBCT intervention. Younger age was related to higher rates of dropout. Contradictory to some previous data, patients with lower levels of initial trait mindfulness showed greater improvement in symptoms, even after controlling for initial levels of symptoms. Adherence to daily mindfulness practice was high. Consistent with this result, the duration of daily mindfulness practice was not related to immediate outcome. Process studies using multivariate time series analysis revealed a specific role of daily mindfulness in reducing subsequent negative mood. Conclusions: Within the range of patient present in this study and the given study design, results support the use of MBCT in more heterogeneous groups. This demanding intervention was well tolerated by patients with higher levels of symptoms, and resulted in significant improvements regarding residual symptoms. Process-outcome analyses of initial trait mindfulness and daily mindfulness both support the crucial role of changes in mindfulness for the effects of MBCT.


Vehicle driving cycles have great effect on the energy consumption. Due to the battery capability of EV and in order to reduce the energy consumption of EV, the study of planning the most energy-saving driving route for EV before its trip will be a prospective and guiding work. It is the obtaining time-variant driving cycles that be the basis of this work. The Markov Process based on stochastic process and probability theory is a new method, which is used to design the time-variant driving cycles in this paper. It is conclude from the design results that the driving cycles are different from each other during both free flow time and peak time and the results is more closed to the real driving cycles.


Seven synthetic peptide fragments of thymic hormones were investigated using behavioral and electrophysiological methods. Splenopentin was shown to increase markedly learning capacities and memory. In contrast, alpha 1-thymosin fragment decreased them. Other peptides only slightly affected the capacities. Two active peptides seem to affect the level of activation of subcortical structures responsible for the excitation and inhibition.


We investigate the dynamics of the low(L) ! high(H) transition using a time-dependent, one dimensional (in radius) model which self-consistently describes the time evolution of zonal flows (ZFs), mean flows (MFs), poloidal spin-up, and density and pressure profiles. The model represents the physics of ZF and MF competition, turbulence suppression via E (cid:2) B shearing, and poloidal flows driven by turbulence. Numerical solutions of this model show that the L ! H transition can occur via an intermediate phase (I-phase) which involves oscillations of profiles due to ZF and MF competition. The I-phase appears as a nonlinear transition wave originating at the edge boundary and propagates inward. Locally, I-phase exhibits the characteristics of a limit-cycle oscillation. All these observations are consistent with recent experimental results. We examine the trigger of the L ! H transition, by defining a ratio of the rate of energy transfer from the turbulence to the zonal flow to the rate of energy input into the turbulence. When the ratio exceeds order unity, ZF shear gains energy, and a net decay of the turbulence is possible, thus triggering the L ! H transition. Numerical calculations indicate that the L ! H transition is triggered by this peak of the normalized ZF shearing. Zonal flows act as "reservoir," in which to store increasing fluctuation energy without increasing transport, thus allowing the mean flow shear to increase and lock in the transition. A counterpart of the L ! I ! H transition, i.e., an L ! H transition without I-phase, is obtained in a fast power ramp, for which I-phase is compressed into a single burst of ZF, which triggers the transition. Effects of neutral charge exchange on the L ! H transition are studied by varying ZF damping and neoclassical viscosity. Results show that the predicted L ! H transition power increases when either ZF damping or viscosity increase, suggesting a link between recycling, ZF damping, and the L ! H threshold. Studies of fueling effects on the transition and pedestal structure with an emphasis on the particle pinch are reported. V C 2012 American Institute of Physics .


Dear Sir I read the article, 'Serotonin syndrome and rhabdomyolysis induced by concomitant use of triptans, fluoxetine and hypericum' by Bonetto et al. with concern (1). Their conclusion that the patient had serotonin syndrome precipitated by the use of eletriptan was incorrect if the diagnosis was based upon meeting criteria and not conjecture. The authors do not state specifically which criteria they used for serotonin syndrome. Their patient does not meet the Hunter serotonin toxicity criteria (2). The patient fulfilled the clinical features, but did not meet the Sterbach criteria because other aetiologies were not ruled out (2). In this case, an infectious aetiology (meningoencephalitis) was not excluded by a lumbar puncture, serology or cultures. This case may very well have been due to an enterovirus meningitis such as group B coxsackievirus, which could have caused all of the symptoms and signs including the complications of seizure, rhabdomyolysis, and renal failure (3). The elevated D-dimer level, which the authors state is not a laboratory finding of serotonin syndrome, may also have been associated with the viral disease and complications. In 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert to potentially lifethreatening complications from the combined use of triptans with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRI) or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) based upon 27 cases reported worldwide (4). Following a Freedom of Information Act request, the FDA provided me all of the case information on 29 cases, not just 27 as described in the alert. On analysis, seven of the cases met the Sternbach criteria and no case met the Hunter criteria (5). The biological plausibility of the serotonin syndrome with combined use is not clear, as triptans are 5HT1B/5HT1D/5HT1F subtype receptor agonists, whereas serotonin syndrome is believed to be due to activation of the 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors (6). Although the incidence of serotonin syndrome among patients on SSRI monotherapy has been estimated in the range of 0.5–0.9 cases per 1000 patient-months of treatment (7), there have been no reported cases of serotonin syndrome due to triptans taken alone (8). A prospective postmarketing safety study (9) for up to 1 year of subcutaneous sumatriptan use in 1784 migraineurs on SSRIs found no cases of serotonin syndrome. However, it is possible that additional definite cases may be reported with greater physician awareness of these potential drug interactions and serotonin syndrome. As Bonetto et al. concur, 'The FDA recommends that patients treated concomitantly with a triptan and an SSRI/SNRI be informed of the possibility of serotonin syndrome'. This recommendation seems premature when more than 1 million patients have been exposed to the drug combinations (8) with only seven cases meeting just one set of criteria for serotonin syndrome. Routinely advising our patients may be a poor use of time, unnecessarily alarm some patients, and may be harmful when efficacious medications are not used.


Abstract. Climate changes seriously affect people's daily life. Temperature and precipitation have been the focus of many studies dealing with regional climate changes in recent decades. In this study, the climatic trends in Xinjiang, northwest of China during 1961–2008 are analysed in detail on the basis of several parameters: annual and seasonal mean precipitation, and annual mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures. The results show a significant increasing trend of 7.40 mm decade−1 in the annual mean precipitation and a relatively minimal upward trend of 1.45 mm decade−1 in winter in Xinjiang. The annual mean temperature increases significantly in Xinjiang with an increasing trend of 0.30 °C decade−1. There is an increasing trend of 0.25 °C decade−1 in the annual maximum temperature and an increasing trend of 0.52 °C decade−1 in the annual minimum temperature.


This final rule sets forth requirements for how hospitals must notify Medicare beneficiaries who are hospital inpatients about their hospital discharge rights. Notice is required both for original Medicare beneficiaries and for beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and other Medicare health plans subject to the MA regulations. (For purposes of this preamble, these entities will collectively be known as "Medicare health plans"). Hospitals will use a revised version of the Important Message from Medicare (IM), an existing statutorily required notice, to explain the discharge rights. Hospitals must issue the IM within 2 days of admission, and must obtain the signature of the beneficiary or his or her representative. Hospitals will also deliver a copy of the signed notice prior to discharge, but not more than 2 days before the discharge. For beneficiaries who request an appeal, the hospital will deliver a more detailed notice.


A mathematical model is developed to describe the heat transfer and fluid flow in stationary keyhole plasma arc welding. Using the volume of fluid method, the processes of heating, melting, collapsing and subsequent solidifying in the molten pool are dynamically studied. The predicted results have been compared with the experimental weld and keyhole shape. Using the LaserStrobe video system, the captured images of the upper surface of the weld pool are used to verify the predicted transient development of the weld pool. It is indicated that theoretical predictions and the experimental results are in close agreement.


In this paper we provide a process algebra to formally analyze ad hoc protocols above network layer. Mainly our focus in this paper is on formal modeling and analysis of routing protocols. We explain the semantics of our algebra using labeled transition systems and then define an equivalence relation between them. Finally we illustrate application of our algebra by a case study on cluster formation process of cluster based ad hoc routing protocol.


Partial frequency reuse (PFR) is one of the key techniques to improving max-min fairness for cell-edge user equipment in the fourth generation of mobile communication systems. Recently, multilayer PFR schemes have been proposed, which are considered to be a promising evolution of this technique. In this paper, we propose an analytical framework for multilayer PFR scheme design, which uses a triplet to completely describe a given PFR scheme. Then, closed-form expressions of the average spatial capacities of certain typical regions of a cell are derived. Based on a comprehensive analysis using this framework, a novel multilayer PFR scheme is designed, which divides each cell into inner, middle, and outer layers, with two homolographic sublayers for the middle layer. Reuse factors for the three layers are 1, 3/2, and 3, respectively, and an orthogonal division of the spectrum among different layers is guaranteed. Based on our numerical results, this novel scheme outperforms the traditional two-layer PFR scheme in max-min fairness without degrading the average spatial capacity. Compared with several representative multilayer PFR schemes, it achieves a better tradeoff between these two metrics.


Objective: To reduce eye disease, a simple surgical technique for the treatment of ectropion and scleral show was performed in patients affected by monolateral facial palsy. Methods: Fifteen patients affected by facial palsy, degrees IV-VI according to the House-Brackmann grading scale, were evaluated with our surgical procedure, and the results were compared with several other procedures. Results: We used an eye protection technique. Based on this, the dissection of the orbicular muscle was the more important procedure. It was possible to correct the ectropion and the lateral scleral show with only medial or lateral muscle flap sutures. A detailed description of the surgical procedures with a photographic history and instructions is given. Conclusion: Noninvasive surgery yielded good clinical results in 100% of the cases without any risk or subsequent reoccurrence.


The cyclotron resonance of very high-mobility holes in GaAs - (Ga, Al)As heterojunctions grown on (111), (311) and (100) substrates has been studied in high magnetic fields of up to 40 T. As the temperature is increased from to , the cyclotron resonance is found to shift to lower magnetic fields, the size of shift depending on the cyclotron frequency and the substrate orientation. These observations may be explained using the model of interacting hole subsystems developed by Cole et al.


An ambiguity resolution plays the key role in GNSS carrier phase processing. Recently the LAMBDA method is widely used for this purpose. The algorithm of this method contains integer de-correlation procedure. An ambiguity covariance matrix is input data in this procedure. This matrix should to be positive definite. In traditional approach the observation data has to be complemented with additional group of code observations. It is necessary to obtain 'positive definiteness' in the case of single-epoch positioning. In the article new formula for approximation of positive definite ambiguity covariance matrix is presented. This formula does not require code observations. The numerical tests were carried out in order to show the efficiency of proposed solution. The results of these tests are presented.


Surface mounds and depressions are the basic patterns of microtopography. Their geometric forms and physical properties affect rainfall infiltration, runoff generation and runoff confluence process. In this study, soil beds were set up with seven different types of microtopography to study the effects of surface mounds and depressions on runoff. They were the control check (CK), alternate mounds (AM), continuous mounds (CM), alternate depressions (AD), continuous depressions (CD), alternate mounds and depressions (AMD) and continuous mounds and depressions (CMD). There was only one microtopography type for monomorphic surface relief (MSR) while two for compound surface relief (CSR). All soil beds were exposed under 60, 90 or 120 mm/h rainfall intensity for 90 min. The main results are as follows: surface mounds could promote surface runoff, triggering and shortening runoff generation time, while surface depressions showed contrary results. Whether there was an interval between mounds or depressions also affected the characteristics of runoff. The runoff generation time was 3.8–5.0 times higher for continuous slope than for interval slope, while the runoff yield and runoff coefficient both decreased by approximately 40%. CSR can significantly neutralize the flow-promoting effects of the mounds and the flow-inhibiting effects of the depressions, making the runoff yield and runoff process present a neutral state between the mounds and depressions. CSR prolongs runoff generation time from 1–10 min of MSR to 5–16 min. The runoff yield of CSR presented as 0.12, between 0.17 for mounds and 0.10 for depressions, and so did the runoff coefficient and hydrodynamic parameters. In addition, with rainfall intensity increased, the runoff pattern of CSR and MSR became more similar to each other, and the retarding effects of topography on overland flow were more effective.


Our experiments showed that fatty acids bound to bovine serum albumin V (BSA) played an important role in the growth of cells in primary culture. A serum-free culture medium containing BSA could support continuous growth of various normal and malignant cells from primary culture, and the amount of BSA in the medium could be reduced by supplementation with minute amounts of basic high polymers.


The article deals with the various theories, hypotheses, localisations and experiments in connection with the genesis of uterine and extrauterine endometriosis. It is explained that there is not just one single valid cause; rather, it will be necessary to resort to various theories, depending on the localisation of the endometrial heterotopia. The article describes the case of a young woman with genital malformation combined with ovarial endometriosis. This malformation syndrome is known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster syndrome with congenital aplasia of the vagina and a rudimentary uterus bicornis solidus. Since such uteri do not contain any endometrium which is capable of functioning, this would exclude any canalicular, haematogenic, lymphogenic, embolic, metastatic or homotransplantational cause of endometriosis. In fact, ovarial endometrial tissue heterotopia is due to pluropotentiality of the coelomic epithelium and is produced by indentation of cortical epithelium and segmentation.


BACKGROUND
Pulmonary arterial hypertension is of importance in congenital cardiac surgery as being a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Although therapy options are limited, inhaled nitric oxide (NO) is used as a standard therapy. The present study aimed to compare inhaled NO and aerosolized iloprost in children with secondary pulmonary hypertension who underwent congenital cardiac surgery.

METHODS
Sixteen children included in the study were randomized into either inhaled NO or aerosolized iloprost group. For both groups, the observation period terminated at 72 h after cardiopulmonary bypass.

RESULTS
There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of mean age, weight, cross clamp time, pump time, and extubation time. No significant change was observed in the arterial tension and central venous pressure of both groups before the operation, 30 min after the pump, 45 min after the pump, and after extubation, whereas an increase was observed in the heart rate and cardiac output, and a decrease was observed in the pulmonary artery pressure. The mean values at the above-mentioned time points showed no difference between the groups. No serious adverse event and mortality was detected.

CONCLUSIONS
Both inhaled NO and aerosolized iloprost were found to be effective and comparable in the management of pulmonary hypertension.


This volume reviews the physics studied at the CERN proton-antiproton collider during its first phase of operation, from the first physics run in 1981 to the last one at the end of 1985.The volume consists of a series of review articles written by physicists who are actively involved with the collider research program. The first article describes the proton-antiproton collider facility itself, including the antiproton source and its principle of operation based on stochastic cooling.The subsequent six articles deal with the various physics subjects studied at the collider. Each article describes in detail the experimental results on a particular subject, and also provides the theoretical framework necessary for their interpretation. Finally the last two articles discuss the physics expectations from the improved collider (the so-called ACOL program, which has just started operation), and also from the next generation of "supercolliders" which are being considered both in Europe and in the United States America.


.. Objectives: To compare the outcome of Vesicovaginal fistula repair by omental transposition and perivesical fat emplacement in terms of recurrence and maximum bladder capacity. Study Design: Randomized control trial. Setting: Urology department of Peoples University Hospital Nawabshah, Sindh, Pakistan. Period: From January 2018 to December 2018. Material & Method: Overall 40 patients with VVF were added in the research, split into two identical groups, each consisting of 20. In group 1, omental transposition and in group 2, perivesical fat emplacement was done. Adult female patients with Vesicovaginal fistula, resulting from obstetrical and as a complication of surgery was included. This was confirmed by physical examination, IVU, pelvic computerized tomography scan with contrast, retrograde uretherocystogram, ultrasound KUB and cystoscopy. Exclusion criteria were Patients with systemic illness like diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure and chronic liver disease etc, immunosuppressant therapy like: steroids intake, patient's undergone irradiation of the pelvis due to any malignant disease. Follow up after 6, 12 and 24 weeks, all the patients were assessed for recurrence. The complications like wound infections, urgency, urge incontinence and paralytic ileus were also noted. The data was collected in a specially designed proforma. Results: In this study 40 patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included, 20 patients in each group. The success rate was 95 %( 19 /20) in group 1, only one case had recurrence. While in group 2 all the cases were successful. Chi square analysis was employed for comparison of adequacy of both the techniques, the P value was found to be 0.311 which suggests that the difference between the efficacies was not statistically significant. Conclusion: It is concluded that both the techniques of Vesicovaginal fistula repair, either with omental transposition or perivesical fat emplacement are equally good in terms of recurrence and maximum bladder capacity.


Self-described 'fiction writer, poet, freelance journalist, and sociopolitical commentator' Tze Ming Mok (莫志明) crosses and questions the boundaries not only between literature and politics but also between identities such as 'New Zealand', 'Chinese', and 'Asian', between various languages, including Chinese and English, between private and public space, and between media and genres. Like the American literature for which Yunte Huang calls, Mok's practice 'transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries', proposing 'a national literature rooted in transnationalism and committed to translingual practices' (5). Mok's writing points to the need to pay attention not just to explicit political assertions and overt interplays between cultures and languages within the negotiation of identity in Aotearoa/New Zealand, but also to the forms, media, and genres in which they are conveyed. Her writing, I argue, complicates ethnic, cultural, and national identities not just through her polemical rhetoric and her thematizing of multiple, hybrid identities, but also through form, through the way in which she plays with and across the borderlines between genres, media, and modes of selfand literary representation. Mok's work is particularly suited to addressing the changing role of literature and the writer in contemporary culture. Writing recently in a special issue of New Literary History focused on the question 'What Is Literature


The study covered features of psychologic state, mental, physical performance and hemodynamic parameters in healthy individuals and patients having high blood pressure, both facing psychoemotional strain at work. The patients suffering from hypertension of I B-II A stages developed inadequate psychic adaptation, asthenic and hypochondriac signs, worse mental and physical performance, lower cognitive functions of memory and attention.


but on examination of the marriage certificates of these two sibs the names of their parents were found to be identical, and their relationship was confirmed from the 1861 census when they were living in the same household and were recorded as brother and sister. Unfortunately, we have no documentary evidence that the brother was affected. Their mother (I.1, fig 2) was born in 1819 and can be quite confidently presumed to be a carrier whose abnormal X chromosome was inherited by these two children. Accordingly, the proband had not inherited his disease from his normal father's side of the family but from his carrier mother. This case shows the importance of taking a full family history of both sides of the family and of enquiring about consanguinity. We might have missed this diagnosis if the maternal grandmother had also been a carrier (with a normal, instead of an affected, husband), a possibility often forgotten in relation toX linked disease. Conversely, without the details available from Register House, we might have postulated some highly speculative mechanism whereby the proband inherited his X linked disease through an unaffected father. In summary, we were greatly exercised to try to find an explanation for X linked retinoschisis in a male proband with a typical X linked pedigree on the paternal side, especially as his own father was unaffected (though a paternal uncle was blind). The solution to the problem was achieved by gentle persistence in history taking from the mother, who believed that her father who died when she was very young was blind, and that she had once been told that she was a distant relative of her husband. Tracing of both families in the public records system of Scotland established that the proband's paternal great great great grandmother was a sister of the maternal great great grandfather, with X linked recessive blindness in descendants of both.


Interactive isosurface extraction has recently become possible through successful efforts to map algorithms such as Marching Cubes (MC) and Marching Tetrahedra (MT) to modern Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) architectures. Other isosurfacing algorithms, however, are not so easily portable to GPUs, either because they involve more complex operations or because they are not based on discrete case tables, as is the case with most marching techniques. In this paper, we revisit the Dual Contouring (MC) and Macet isosurface extraction algorithms and propose, respectively: (i) a novel, efficient and parallelizable version of Dual Contouring and (ii) a set of GPU modules which extend the original Marching Cubes algorithm. Similar to marching methods, our novel technique is based on a case table, which allows for a very efficient GPU implementation. In addition, we enumerate and evaluate several alternatives to implement efficient contouring algorithms on the GPU, and present trade‐offs among all approaches. Finally, we validate the efficiency and quality of the tessellations produced in all these alternatives.


We demonstrate that a two-dimensional complete photonic band-gap (PBG) can be realized in a layered periodic structure with a double-layer unit cell containing an anisotropic left-handed metamaterial layer. A set of criteria is derived for the geometric and material parameters to realize a two-dimensional complete PBG in such systems, and a detailed phase diagram is given. We discuss the underlying physics of the mechanism and illustrate the complete band-gap effects with several concrete examples.


Dear Sirs/Madam, Esteban et al. (2002) describe the serious human fascioliasis problem in a high-altitude area of Peru which they claim is associated with man-made irrigation systems colonized by lymnaeid snails. Therefore, as one of the outcomes of their study, they question the rationality of the ongoing construction of new irrigation schemes. This recommendation is surprising in view of the statement in the same paper that inhabitants obtain water from irrigation canals and drainage channels for all their needs (drinking, cooking, personal hygiene, cleaning and washing) and that 97.9% of the inhabitants obtain their drinking water from the irrigation resources. This suggests that the irrigation system provides important health benefits by making water available for domestic use. If the amounts of water are in excess of what the inhabitants would have available without the irrigation canals, a reduction of hygiene-related diarrhoeal, skin and eye diseases could be expected. We have documented the importance of irrigation canal water for human health in Pakistan (Van der Hoek et al. 2001). In addition to the potential health benefits, irrigation could generate better livelihoods by improving socio-economic and nutritional standards. Irrigation should not be banned because of the risks associated with fascioliasis. Instead, a health impact assessment should be compulsory for all new irrigation projects (Birley & Lock 1999), which should take all potential negative as well as positive health consequences into consideration and make sure that mitigating measures are incorporated into any new project or rehabilitation process. This means that after identifying the risks, a fascioliasis control effort should be implemented and the capacity of protective agencies improved as part of any project in the area. Also, special ecological risks associated with the cultivation practices or infrastructure should be addressed. Only then, with this more balanced approach, can the health sector be a serious partner in intersectoral decision-making and contribute to the overall cost-benefit analysis of development projects. Wim van der Hoek, Flemming Konradsen and Feliz Amerasinghe International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka Department of International Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark


On the basis of previous study results about the seismic anomaly precursor information quantity, universal and synthetic mathematical expressions that describe the precursor information quantity of various seismic anomalies are further given. Starting from large amounts of data of earthquake cases, the problem of the sustained effective time of seismic anomaly was studied again and the mathematical relationship between the sustained effective time of seismic anomaly and continuing effective time of seismic anomaly was further established. About one million pieces of precursor observation data belonging to 371 items of hydrochemistry, deformation, geomagnetism, stress, water level, geoelectricity, etc. In North China region in the period of 1980 - 1997 were collected and sorted out, and the seismic anomaly precursor information quantity of these items was calculated item by item. The evolutionary characteristics of seismic anomaly precursor information field in North China region in about 20 years and their relation to earthquakes were studied; an index system for medium- and short-term predictions of earthquakes with Ms 5≥5.0 in North China region was established. After having checked by the R-value scoring method, the index system for synthetic earthquake prediction was proved to be of certain efficacy in medium- and short-term earthquake prediction.


The retention of classical eyeblink conditioning was investigated in amnesic patients 10 days and 2 months after original learning. During reacquisition, the first CR occurred earlier and the CR frequencies during the first 10 trials were higher than in the baseline session. The overall CR rates increased significantly across sessions during both acquisition and extinction. The amnesics did not differ from matched controls on any of these effects, although they did not recall previous conditioning sessions and did not become fully aware of CS-US contingencies. The smaller number of electrodermal responses to the CS tone during extinction in the amnesics may relate to their lack of insight into the change in the reinforcement schedule.


BACKGROUND: To determine the frequency of damage index in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) and the association between damage index and disease severity, flare up numbers, disease duration and anti-phospholipid antibodies. METHODS: Eighty SLE patients were included. The damage was measured using the SLICC (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics)/ACR damage index (SDI). The disease flare was defined by the increase in the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Dis ease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K). The disease severity surrogates were the presence of class III/IV glomerulonephritis, the presence of severe central nervous system (CNS) involvement and cyclophosphamide administration.Analysis was performed by independent student-t and chi square tests in SPSS 16 software was used for the analysis. RESULTS: There were significant association between the damage accrual and the disease severity, flare up and anti-phospholipid antibodies (p = 0.001, p = 0.004, p = 0.05 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The disease severity, frequency of flares and positive anti-phospholipid antibodies are associated with damage accrual. KEYWORDS: Systemic lupus erythematosus, damage index, anti-phospholipid antibody .


This paper investigates pluractionality in Ranmo, an understudied, underdocumented Papuan (non-Austronesian) language spoken in southwest Papua New Guinea. Based on original fieldwork, this paper brings novel data to bear on the issue of how we delimit the term "pluractional." It has been frequently observed that pluractional verbs denote not just plural events, but also carry the implication of 'many'; however, the relationship between "plurality" and "multiplicity" has not been sufficiently explored in the literature. Ranmo has much to contribute in this area because the two notions correspond to two morphologically distinguishable phenomena: root alternation and -an-suffixation. Based on their interaction, I propose that pluractional predicates involve two semantically distinct components, namely, PL (plural) and DEG (degree) meaning 'a lot'; the latter contributes the 'many' reading.


Abstract Context. In Serbia, common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production largely relies on improved commercial cultivars; however, many farmers still grow and maintain landraces. Productivity assessment of common bean landraces from Serbia may enrich knowledge of bean diversity from Western Balkans, Europe and worldwide. Aims. The study aims were to describe the underlying structure of a selected set of landraces and commercial cultivars of common bean, identify relatedness of accessions, and determine breeding values. Methods and key results. Overall productivity was assessed through main yield components during a 2-year field trial. Average seed yield per plant was 7.9 g, with 1000-seed weight 425 g, 7.4 pods per plant and 22.9 seeds per plant. Accessions were classified according to seed colour and shape, with the Albus group generally showing highest productivity traits. Phenotypic and genotypic variability of the selected set was previously determined. Principal component analysis was used to assess bean germplasm structure, revealing subdivisions partially according to gene pool (Mesoamerican or Andean), evident through the existence of one larger Andean group. Relatedness of genotypes was assessed by hierarchical cluster analysis. Additional variation concentrated within the Andean gene pool was detected. Positive correlations were observed among numbers of pods and seeds per plant, yield per plant and plant height. According to the Mantel test, positive associations were observed among productivity trait distance, genetic distance and descriptive trait distance. Conclusions. Substantial variation in productivity was observed for bean landraces, with differences among gene pools and seed forms, revealing their agronomic value. Acknowledged structure of agronomic traits and recognised stratification will assist in multilevel organisation of common bean breeding programs. Implications. Combined information on phenotypic, genotypic and productivity value should benefit selection of promising parental lines associating good agronomic performance with sufficient variability, according to consumer preferences.


Research findings from the field of psychology in the practice of psychotherapy The common objective of the articles included in this issue of Roczniki Psychologiczne is to explain some psychological mechanisms of psychotherapy by drawing on research findings from different areas of psychology. The need for such analyses is justified by the status of research on psychotherapy, which shows that psychotherapy works, but it is not known how or why it does. Such analyses are carried out in accordance with the paradigm of evidence-based clinical practice, suggesting that a potential source of answers to questions or resolution of controversies arising in the practice of psychotherapy can be all the available research findings. The articles in this issue of Roczniki illustrate the practical execution of this suggestion by using research findings from the field of psychology in search of answers to the questions arising in the practice of psychotherapy. Four of the papers concern the determinants of the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions and explain issues such as: (1) in whom and how to modify coping with stress in order to prevent the recurrence of mental disorder symptoms; (2) how to deal with negative emotions in patients; (3) under what circumstances patients have a chance to change their behavior under the influence of insight into the transference phenomenon; (4) what the effects are of psychotherapists perceiving patients in terms of stereotypical assumptions, and whether and how psychotherapists can control such perception. The fifth article refers to changes in mental functioning in patients treated with psychotherapy and answers the question of what the transformation of self-image is associated with in changing the behavior of patients under the influence of psychotherapy.


We consider several cosmological models which allow for nongravitational direct couplings between dark matter and dark energy. The distinguishing cosmological features of these couplings can be probed by current cosmological observations, thus enabling us to place constraints on these specific interactions which are composed of the conformal and disformal coupling functions. We perform a global analysis in order to independently constrain the conformal, disformal, and mixed interactions between dark matter and dark energy by combining current data from: Planck observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropies, a combination of measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations, a supernova type Ia sample, a compilation of Hubble parameter measurements estimated from the cosmic chronometers approach, direct measurements of the expansion rate of the Universe today, and a compilation of growth of structure measurements. We find that in these coupled dark-energy models, the influence of the local value of the Hubble constant does not significantly alter the inferred constraints when we consider joint analyses that include all cosmological probes. Moreover, the parameter constraints are remarkably improved with the inclusion of the growth of structure data set measurements. We find no compelling evidence for an interaction within the dark sector of the Universe.


Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are types of chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) of which the actual causes remain unknown. Emerging data indicate that alterations in cytokine synthesis may be involved in IBD pathogenesis. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α mRNA expression level and rs1799964 polymorphism are the genetic susceptibility component of IBD development. The TNF-α mRNA expression level of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was measured using comparative reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Genomic DNA from 201 individuals (CD: n=15; UC: n=86; control subjects: n=100) was analyzed for the presence of the TNF-α-1031 polymorphism by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. An increased TNF-α mRNA expression level was additionally observed in the CC genotype of the -1031 TNF-α gene polymorphism compared with the TC and TT genotypes (P<0.05). Furthermore, the present results revealed that there was no significant difference in the genotype/allele frequencies of the -1031 TNF-α gene polymorphism in Iranian IBD patients. By comparison, the TNF-α mRNA expression level was evaluated in patients with a history of taking medications and demonstrated a significant association in the group that received the 5-ASA + Pred + AZA,5. 5-ASA + Pred + AZA + IFX when compared with the other groups (P<0.05). Thus, these results support the hypothesis that overexpression of the TNF-α gene, which correlated with the CC genotype, may represent a genetic risk factor for Iranian IBD.


There are strong indications that the radial electron thermal diffusivity is not a smooth function of the radius, but shows strong local variations. To investigate this irregularity systematically, a number of dedicated experiments have been carried out in the RTP tokamak: intense central heating, pellet ablation experiments, perturbative transport studies and steady state off-axis heating. The crucial diagnostic in these experiments is the Thomson scattering system, with a radial resolution of 1% of the minor radius. In sawtoothing plasmas a transport barrier has been identified near the sawtooth inversion radius. With steady state off-axis heating, hollow current density profiles have been sustained, and the region of reversed magnetic shear is characterized by very low thermal transport


Purpose. To disclose the role of systems thinking as a competence in leadership. Findings. Correlational and regression analyses revealed that systems thinking competency was associated with higher leadership performance. Originality/value. This paper establishes a link between systems thinking and leadership performance. The relevance of systems thinking as a competence was disclosed in the context of leadership. Based on the analysis and synthesis of the scientific literature a conceptual model of relationship between intelligence competencies and leadership performance was developed. The theoretical model was supported by empirical evidence from the two industries perspectives: the paper compares the impact of systems thinking on leadership performance in manufacturing and retail trade enterprises. Design/methodology/approach. The paper follows a quantitative research approach. Firstly, exploratory factor analysis was employed to assess the dimensionality of scales. Secondly, relationships between variables were explored using Spearman's correlation. Thirdly, multiple linear regression was run to test the hypothesized model of relationships. Research limitations/implications. The research is limited in few aspects. Firstly, the model was tested empirically only in two industries: in retail trade and in manufacturing. Secondly, the sample of this research was limited only to national level, therefore, there is no possibility to compare results across different countries. In order to generalize the research findings, further research should include more companies from different industries. Practical significance. The model along with the conception of competence development can be used practically as a tool in leadership assessment centre to identify level or leadership and to build an individual competence development plan.


ABSTRACT

The use of filters to control air quality has been implemented widely in all types of structures. Unfortunately, filters risk becoming platforms for the growth of bacteria, which can then be dispersed further in the air stream. To combat this, antibacterial materials are being incorporated into filter media. In this work, we tested two routes for introducing nanoscale silver into filters containing activated carbon fibers (ACF): first, by adding silver nanofibers directly to the fiber fabrication process and second, by coating a pre-existing filter with silver nanoparticles generated by a liquid flame spray (LFS). The resultant filters were evaluated for methanol adsorption, particle penetration and antibacterial activity. The results show that both methods are suitable for producing antibacterial filters as well as being highly tailorable and scalable for specific needs.


Bound entangled (BE) states are strange in nature: non-zero amount of free entanglement is required to create them but no free entanglement can be distilled from them under local operations and classical communication (LOCC). Even though usefulness of such states has been shown in several information processing tasks, there exists no simple method to characterize all these states for an arbitrary composite quantum system. Here we present a $(d-3)/2$-parameter family of BE states each with positive partial transpose (PPT). This family of PPT-BE states is introduced by constructing an unextendible product basis (UPB) in $\mathbb{C}^d\otimes\mathbb{C}^d$ with $d$ odd and $d\ge 5$. We also provide the `tile structure' corresponding to these UPBs. The range of each such PPT-BE state is contained in a $2(d-1)$ dimensional entangled subspace whereas the associated UPB-subspace is of dimension $(d-1)^2+1$. We further show that each of these PPT-BE states can be written as a convex combination of $(d-1)/2$ number of rank-4 PPT-BE states. Moreover, we prove that these rank-4 PPT-BE states are extreme points of the convex compact set $\mathcal{P}$ of all PPT states in $\mathbb{C}^d\otimes\mathbb{C}^d$, namely the {\it Peres} set. An interesting geometric implication of our result is that the convex hull of these rank-4 PPT-BE extreme points -- the $(d-3)/2$-simplex -- is sitting on the boundary between the set $\mathcal{P}$ and the set of non-PPT states. We also discuss consequences of our construction in the context of quantum state discrimination by LOCC.


Abstract The ideal of Byzantine symphony is still present in contemporary debate on church-state relations. A worldly notion of power interferes with a theological assessment of authority in the Church: hence the identification of the Christian empire with the kingdom of God, in a kind of a realized eschatology. This paper undertakes the deconstruction of the notion of "byzantine symphony" through its interpretations by some Russian religious thinkers at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the whole of Russian society faced dramatic changes. The idea of Christian empire, represented by Constantine the Great, emerges as the foundation of the new orthodox Russian Empire (Tjutčev), contrasted to European civilization (Danilevskij, Leont'ev); but Constantine is also an apocalyptic figure (Bukharev), a political leader (Bolotov), a tyrant (Solov'ev) and the symbol of an entire epoch in Christian history that definitely came to an end (Bulgakov, Berdyaev).


Brian Ladd examines the ongoing conflicts radiating from the fusion of architecture, history and national identity in present-day Berlin. This volume asks such questions as: how will a reunified Germany confront a diverse and authoritarian past rendered tangible by the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag, Hitler's bunker - even the Brandenburg Gate? How can the rich culture of the past, the artistic and intellectual heritage of Berlin's avant garde be rescued from the Cold War blight of Potsdamer Platz? And can the Neue Wache, Berlin's monumental rememberance of the horrors of tyranny and war, become the structural centre-piece and symbollic guardian of this once and future capital? Ladd surveys the urban landscape and deconstructs the public debates and political controversies emerging from Berlin's past and concludes that the ghosts of Berlin may never, indeed, should never, fade away.


Using a multiple regression analysis that includes FDI sector contribution and other macroeconomic variables, this paper explores the impact of FDI on economic growth in Ghana from sector perspective. From the analysis (the pair wise correlation), this study's findings indicate that FDI inflow into the tertiary sector, which involves Export trading, Service, Tourism, Liaison, General trading and Export trading, correlates and for that matter contributes to economic growth more than the secondary and the primary sectors. It is the case that for every unit increases in FDI inflow into the tertiary sector, GDP grows by as large about 85%. The second highest FDI sector contributor to GDP growth is the secondary sector, which comprises mainly the manufacturing and building & construction. This sector has about 67% multiplier effect on economic growth. Last but not least, FDI inflows into the primary sector also influence economic growth by about 57%. Both inflation and interest however has a deleterious impact on economic growth (GDP). As a matter of policy, this study recommends that policymakers and governments should put in much attention and resource in attracting FDI into the tertiary sector as well as reducing inflation and interest rate.


Understanding which aspects contribute to the thermostability of proteins is a challenge that has persisted for decades, and it is of great relevance for protein engineering. Several types of interactions can influence the thermostability of a protein. Among them, the electrostatic interactions have been a target of particular attention. Aiming to explore how this type of interaction can affect protein thermostability, this paper investigated four homologous cold shock proteins from psychrophilic, mesophilic, thermophilic, and hyperthermophilic organisms using a set of theoretical methodologies. It is well-known that electrostatics as well as hydrophobicity are key-elements for the stabilization of these proteins. Therefore, both interactions were initially analyzed in the native structure of each protein. Electrostatic interactions present in the native structures were calculated with the Tanford-Kirkwood model with solvent accessibility, and the amount of hydrophobic surface area buried upon folding was estimated by measuring both folded and extended structures. Based on Energy Landscape Theory, the local frustration and the simplified alpha-carbon structure-based model were modeled with a Debye-Hückel potential to take into account the electrostatics and the effects of an implicit solvent. Thermodynamic data for the structure-based model simulations were collected and analyzed using the Weighted Histogram Analysis and Stochastic Diffusion methods. Kinetic quantities including folding times, transition path times, folding routes, and Φ-values were also obtained. As a result, we found that the methods are able to qualitatively infer that electrostatic interactions play an important role on the stabilization of the most stable thermophilic cold shock proteins, showing an agreement with the experimental data.


The article presents a systematization of distinctions in the converging technologies state policy implemented by foreign countries. NBIC convergence represents a source of a new direction in economic growth, as well as new regional development risks, which require the elaboration of appropriate government policy instruments at all its levels. The authors conclude that effective regional or national innovation policy measures can act as triggers that result in enterprises and scientific organizations entering into a converging technological innovation process, which allow them to take advantage of new emerging markets and industry conditions. In this process, regional or national authorities can play an important role in improving the basic conditions for companies and research institutions in their search for possible application areas, as well as giving them an access to information about modern methods assessing the opportunities and risks associated with converging technologies. The article analyzes the problems and restrictions that enterprises and organizations face on the way to the implementation of NBIC technologies (for example, the lack of specific information about new market opportunities for implementing converging technologies, search and association with new partners outside the sectors where companies operate, etc.) The authors propose directions for the regional specific features analysis, which allow elaborating territorial development programs for implementing converging technologies. Statistical analysis of the digital technologies usage in Russia and cross-country comparison by these indicators carried out by the authors allow concluding that the importance of ICT in the national economy is constantly increasing. The ICT role in building internal business and information interaction between companies and partners is becoming especially important for Russian companies. The level of distribution of cloud services in Russian organizations is comparable to the average for the EU countries. In this area Russia is ahead of France, Germany, and Austria. The industries with the best digitalization rates include the financial sector, retail and communications. At the same time, there remains a significant gap between the achieved level of ICT penetration in Russia and the countries that lead in the broadband Internet access availability, presence in the networks, and the use of information systems.


We investigate the representation theory of finite sets. The correspondence functors are the functors from the category of finite sets and correspondences to the category of k-modules, where k is a commutative ring. They have various specific properties which do not hold for other types of functors. In particular, if k is a field and if F is a correspondence functor, then F is finitely generated if and only if the dimension of F (X) grows exponentially in terms of the cardinality of the finite set X. Moreover, in such a case, F has actually finite length. Also, if k is noetherian, then any subfunctor of a finitely generated functor is finitely generated.


The research wants to observe public opinion about women who work in hotel affairs. The problem about working in hotel is the working hour, sometimes in day time, but also night time. The condition make negative perception about working women in hotel affairs. This is descriptive analysis research. The result shows that most people have positive response about working women in hotel affairs because it increase family income.


As modern programs grow in size and complexity, the importance of program behavior modeling is emerging in various areas. Because of the large amount of data generated by a target program and the difficulty of runtime analysis, previous works in these areas employ deep learning. However, they did not sufficiently consider the input of a target program, since, in our view, program behavior is a history of computational steps consisting of a function and its input arguments. A naive, intuitive way to embed the value of $x$ as it is in a vector representation creates a tremendously large vector size. Instead, we found that all the values inducing the same runtime behavior can be represented as one identical characteristic value (CV). In this paper, we show that not only can a characteristic value sequence replace the argument input, but it is also efficient to use it as an input vector for a neural network. This efficiency comes from modeling the whole program with multiple LSTM-RNN models and reducing the input space of the neural network. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this replacement, we performed experiments on the problem of program behavior anomaly detection. Our results show that our model achieves better detection performance compared to previous models and similar detection performance even with smaller model sizes. We also provide a visualization of the embedded vectors extracted from the embedding layer in the neural network model to prove that the CV sequence well represents the arguments.


Author(s): Propst, Paula | Advisor(s): Wong, Deborah | Abstract: This dissertation examines the relationship between empowerment and emotions at rock and roll camps for girls and queer youth in Southern California through a lens of affect theory. As affiliated members of the umbrella organization known as the Girls Rock Camp Alliance, the five rock and roll camps in this study highlight the interconnected community of feminist organizations in a single region. I explore three ideas through analyses of various aspects of rock and roll camps. First, I argue that organizers and volunteers at these rock camps prepare urban camp spaces (and in some cases, more traditionally rooted summer camp settings) for campers and incorporate intentional feminist-oriented ideas to spark positive affect responses during rock camps. Further, I argue that these spaces remain rooted in local aesthetics, but the production of affective environments is a similar process throughout the region. Second, I examine the development of empowerment through empathetic, intergenerational relationships at rock camps. Different generations present at these rock camps deconstruct ageist thinking and form relational autonomous bonds through practices of empathetic listening skills. Last, I analyze how campers experience their musical voices through musical performances and the use of gender coded instrumentation. Further, I examine the performative relationship between musicians and audience members; I argue that the process of empowerment emerges through practiced performativity and produces a continual circuit during sound performance. These three ideas constitute a model that deploys the emotions performatively and makes empowerment to happen. Affective performativity is activated in accessible feminist-oriented spaces, intergenerational relationships, and embodied knowledge, helping campers to deconstruct gender norms through applied methods of music education.


Mainstream sociology of religion often presumes that its conceptual categories are universal and complete. They are, however, grounded in the Western intellectual tradition and arise from that traditionA¢â'¬â"¢s reflection on Euro-American history. This article outlines an alternative sociology of religion based on the writings of the 14th A'¾century Moslem historian Ibn-KhaldunA'¾whose ideas arise from a very different world. His sociology is not grounded in individuals, nor does it focus only on religious beliefs and institutions. Instead it emphasizes the distinction between tribes and cities as forms of social organization, the importance of Al A¢â'¬EœAssabiyya or A¢â'¬A"group feelingA¢â'¬Â� in social life, and the special role of Islam in transforming that feeling. This locates religious individualism and institutionalism at distinct points in an historical cycle, throwing new light on debates about religious authority, popular religion, and secularization. It also highlights the connections between religion and ethnicityA'¾helping us to understand key late 20th century phenomena.


Two models of gain and thermal guiding effects were derived. In the first one the complex ABCD matrix for a crystal under gain and thermal guiding was applied to describe the operation of microchip near threshold. In the second one, the simple iterative procedure was proposed to calculate effective fundamental mode parameters of a cavity under thermal and gain guiding for given bare cavity ABCD matrix and pumping parameters, including gain saturation, passive cavity losses and reabsorption ones. The influence of gain guiding effects causes changes of waist width in the range up to 50% comparing to expectations derived from thermal guiding theory. Application of such method for resonators of passively Q-switched lasers was developed. Results of calculations for microchips were verified with experiment.


Synopsis : The interaction parameter between Al and Sn in molten iron containing high Al was measured using a chemical equilibrium technique. A molten Fe-Al alloy was equilibrated with a molten Ag-Sn alloy in an Al 2 O 3 crucible at 1823 K. The interaction parameter of Sn and Al in Fe-Al alloys was measured to be ε AlSn =–3.18 while varying the concentration of Al in a range from 0.01-0.17 in mole fraction. The influence of Sn on the deoxidation equilibrium of Al and O was estimated using the above interaction parameter. The results indicate that under a constant Al concentration, a contamination of several percent of Sn slightly raises the O concentration in high Al steel.


Objective The aim of this study was to compare the preliminary results of traditional transfixion excision versus ligation anopexy in the management of advanced (grades III and IV) hemorrhoidal disease with respect to postoperative pain, bleeding, and short-term follow-up complications. Background Ligation anopexy of hemorrhoids is a simple, cost-effective, and convenient modality for treating grade III hemorrhoids. Patients and methods We carried out a prospective, controlled, randomized study including 40 patients with hemorrhoidal disease grades III and IV. The participants were divided into two groups: group I was treated by classical transfixion excision hemorrhoidectomy, and group II was treated by ligation anopexy. Detailed history of all participants was obtained. Effectiveness, safety, postoperative complications, operative time, length of hospital stay, and time off work were evaluated. Results There was no significant difference between groups regarding age, sex, and preoperative symptoms. The duration of surgery was significantly shorter in patients treated with ligation anopexy (P < 0.001). Intraoperative bleeding was significantly decreased in patients treated with ligation anopexy. The postoperative pain score in the ligation anopexy group was significantly lower than that in group I at 24, 48, 72 h, and the second week postoperatively. Time off work in patients treated with ligation anopexy was significantly shorter compared with transfixion excision hemorrhoidectomy. Conclusion Ligation anopexy for prolapsing hemorrhoids is simple and safe with less postoperative bleeding, minimal analgesic requirement, no external wound problems, lower postoperative complications, and earlier return to normal activities.


Modern 3D computer vision leverages learning to boost geometric reasoning, mapping image data to classical structures such as cost volumes or epipolar constraints to improve matching. These architectures are specialized according to the particular problem, and thus require significant task-specific tuning, often leading to poor domain generalization performance. Recently, generalist Transformer architectures have achieved impressive results in tasks such as optical flow and depth estimation by encoding geometric priors as inputs rather than as enforced constraints. In this paper, we extend this idea and propose to learn an implicit, multi-view consistent scene representation, introducing a series of 3D data augmentation techniques as a geometric inductive prior to increase view diversity. We also show that introducing view synthesis as an auxiliary task further improves depth estimation. Our Depth Field Networks (DeFiNe) achieve state-of-the-art results in stereo and video depth estimation without explicit geometric constraints, and improve on zero-shot domain generalization by a wide margin.


As illustrated by this letter, Heidelberger and his colleagues conducted detailed discussions and evaluations of experimental
 results, here with regard to antibody-antigen interaction, through frequent correspondence.


Ly49H+ NK cells play a critical role in innate antiviral immune responses to murine CMV (MCMV). Ly49Hb6 recognition of MCMV-encoded m157 on infected cells activates natural killing required for host resistance. We show that mAb 3D10 (anti-Ly49H) recognizes comparable subsets of NK cells from New Zealand White (NZW), New Zealand Black (NZB), and C57BL/6 spleens. However, virus levels in the spleens of MCMV-infected NZW and NZB mice differed greatly. We found that MCMV replication in infected NZW spleens was limited through NK cells. Alternately, NZB mice were profoundly susceptible to MCMV infection. Although 3D10 mAb injections given before infection interfere with Cmv1-type resistance in C57BL/6 mice, similar mAb injections did not affect NZW resistance, likely because NZW NK cell receptors did not bind MCMV-encoded m157. Instead, anti-MCMV host defenses in hybrid NZ offspring were associated with multiple chromosome locations including several putative quantitative trait loci that did not overlap with H-2 or NK gene complex loci. This study revealed a novel pathway used by NK cells to defend against MCMV infection. Thus, the importance of Ly49H in MCMV infection may be shaped by other additional background genes.


Autonomous vehicles are controlled today either based on sequences of decoupled perception-planning-action operations, either based on End2End or deep reinforcement learning (DRL) systems. Current deep learning solutions for autonomous driving are subject to several limitations (e.g., they estimate driving actions through a direct mapping of sensors to actuators, or require complex reward shaping methods). Although the cost function used for training can aggregate multiple weighted objectives, the gradient descent step is computed by the backpropagation algorithm using a single-objective loss. To address these issues, we introduce NeuroTrajectory, which is a multiobjective neuroevolutionary approach to local state trajectory learning for autonomous driving, where the desired state trajectory of the ego-vehicle is estimated over a finite prediction horizon by a perception-planning deep neural network. In comparison to DRL methods, which predict optimal actions for the upcoming sampling time, we estimate a sequence of optimal states that can be used for motion control. We propose an approach which uses genetic algorithms for training a population of deep neural networks, where each network individual is evaluated based on a multi-objective fitness vector, with the purpose of establishing a so-called Pareto front of optimal deep neural networks. The performance of an individual is given by a fitness vector composed of three elements. Each element describes the vehicle's travel path, lateral velocity and longitudinal speed, respectively. The same network structure can be trained on synthetic, as well as on real-world data sequences. We have benchmarked our system against a baseline Dynamic Window Approach (DWA), as well as against an End2End supervised learning method.


The structural reliability of plank decks designed by the AASHTO codes are determined. Inadequacies in load distribution and plank resistance in the current Specifications are identified.


In fractured media, fluid flow depends on and induces coupled processes (hydrogeological-mechanical-chemical-biological-thermal) across a wide range of time and length scales. Understanding fluid flow and its coupling with different processes is critical for numerous subsurface applications including petroleum and geothermal reservoir management, environmental remediation, carbon sequestration, and long-term radioactive waste isolation. This session focuses on recent research that provides mechanistic understanding and predictive capability of physical processes in fractured media including coupled flow and geomechanics, non-Fickian transport, colloid and bacterial transport, mixing and reaction, fluid/mineral interactions, and biofilm formation. In particular, we encourage submissions related to (1) experiments and field observations, (2) new theoretical and numerical modeling approaches (direct simulation in single fractures, discrete fracture network modeling, upscaling methodologies, and multi-scale methods), and (3) the integration of data and models for observational interpretation and model validation.


This volume is a welcome addition to the limited number of texts specifically devoted to adapted physical education. It is of special interest to the physician because of its concern with modification of the physical-education program to meet the needs of the handicapped. Medical evaluation of the disability involved is essential to proper prescription of an appropriate physical-education program for handicapped children or youth. In this frame of reference, the word "handicapped" may apply to the mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed as well as to the physically disabled. This book discusses the concerns of physical educators who may be involved in corrective-therapy programs in hospitals or clinics. Its chief application, however, relates to school and college programs of physical education. The thesis is that in a properly diversified program of physical education, all pupils, with rare exceptions, will find activities in which they can participate with safety and satisfaction. Such


This paper presents a simple and computationally efficient framework for human action recognition based on modeling the motion of human body parts. Intuitively, a collective understanding of human part movements can lead to better understanding and representation of any human action. In this paper, we propose a generative representation of the motion of the human body parts to learn and classify human actions. The proposed representation combines the advantages of both local and global representations, encoding the relevant motion information as well as being robust to local appearance changes. Our work is motivated by the pictorial structures model and the framework of sparse representations for recognition. Human part movements are represented efficiently through quantization in the polar space. The key discrimination within each action is efficiently encoded by sparse representation to perform classification. The proposed method is evaluated on both the KTH and the UCF action datasets and the results are compared against other state-of-the-art methods.


Malabsorption is an important clinical problem both in visitors to the tropics and in native residents of tropical countries. Infections of the small intestine are the most important cause of tropical malabsorption. Protozoal infections cause malabsorption in immunocompetent hosts, but do so more commonly in the setting of immune deficiency. Helminth infections occasionally cause malabsorption or protein-losing enteropathy. Intestinal tuberculosis, chronic pancreatitis and small-bowel bacterial overgrowth are important causes of tropical malabsorption. In recent years, inflammatory bowel disease and coeliac disease have become major causes of malabsorption in the tropics. Sporadic tropical sprue is still an important cause of malabsorption in adults and in children in South Asia. Investigations to exclude specific infective, immunological or inflammatory causes are important before considering tropical sprue as a diagnosis. This article briefly reviews the management of tropical sprue and presents an algorithm for its investigation and management.


In September 2014, the computing curriculum in English schools changed to one with a much greater emphasis on computer science. However, 66% of existing ICT teachers are non-specialist and require significant continuing professional development (CPD) to deliver this new curriculum. One initiative to provide this is the Computing At School (CAS) Master Teacher programme. This paper describes some physical computing projects that were used in training a cohort of Master Teachers, preparing them to deliver both improved lessons in classrooms and CPD tailored for the requirements of their peers.